We reached the Adventurer’s Guild with Rina, the owner of Commedia Artifacts, and her employee, Nanya, following closely behind.
“Mister Luciel...this is the Adventurer’s Guild,” Rina remarked, instantly stiffening when she noticed where we were. It seemed she had been so caught up in her excitement about the airship that she hadn’t realized where we were headed until now.
“Yep. This is where we’ll be having dinner. Don’t worry, it’s not the kind of place you imagine,” I said to reassure her.
For many reincarnators, the term “Adventurer’s Guild” conjured up images of a rough-and-tumble place filled with rowdy individuals armed to the teeth, who drank too much and were ready to pick a fight with anything that moved. The mere thought of stepping inside used to terrify me when I’d first reincarnated, so it made complete sense that Rina would feel scared as well, especially since she was a woman.
We stepped into the building, and several adventurers flocked to me.
“Saint Weirdo! We heard ya found the guy who spread those nasty rumors about ya! And ya showed everyone they were just lies!” one said.
“We worked so hard trying to track ’em down for ya. Can ya at least treat us to a drink?” another chimed in.
“First, though, we thought of a new nickname for— Oh crap! What’s the Tempest doing here?!”
“Evacuate the building, guys! Hurry! She’s come to destroy the guild again!”
“Ugh. Didn’t the owner ban her from the premises?”
“Ya sure got weird taste in women, Saint Weirdo.”
“No, I think he just wants to help her. Knowing Saint Weirdo, he’ll try to save the poor little lost lamb before she turns into a full-blown goddess of destruction.”
“Oooh, ya might be onto somethin’! If anyone can reform her, it’s definitely him.”
“We have high hopes for ya, Saint Weirdo, sir!”
The adventurers had been their usual frank and unreserved selves when we stepped into the building, but for some reason, they were now keeping their distance, eyeing me with a mix of respect and anticipation. I also noticed that they kept glancing at Rina.
“Um, Rina? What did you do to them?” I asked.
She avoided my gaze, her expression stiffening. Her earlier excitement seemed like a distant memory. “Well...there was a teeny tiny little accident when I was testing my artifacts in the training area downstairs,” she explained. “One of my creations malfunctioned, and it kind of blew up the barrier around the training grounds along with a couple of walls and part of the ceiling. Ha ha...”
So that was why she’d been so hesitant to go inside. She hadn’t been scared, just fidgety because she knew what she’d done.
“It’s no laughing matter! We had to give most of our profits to the guild to cover the repair costs. We almost had to close up shop for good,” Nanya said, dealing another blow to Rina’s already weakened confidence.
How was it that none of the researchers and craftspeople I encountered possessed the slightest bit of common sense?
“Artifacts malfunction all the time. Failure is the mother of success,” Pola chimed in.
Lycian nodded. “If you’re too afraid of what might happen, you’ll never make any progress,” she agreed.
“Pola, Lycian...” Rina whispered. Her voice was tight with emotion, and she looked like she was seconds away from crying in relief. The poor thing had no idea what awaited her.
“But you should always make sure to restrain the power and output of your artifacts so that nothing bad happens even if they do malfunction,” Pola continued sternly.
“You should never cut corners when it comes to your experiments!” Lycian added.
Pola’s point was valid, but wasn’t it ironic that Lycian was lecturing Rina about money, considering she’d ended up in slavery because of her own debts from creating magical artifacts? What, did she not like people who had the same flaws as her or something?
“I-I’m being more careful now! But back then, I’d received an order for a device to kill flying monsters, and the deadline was tight, so I didn’t have a choice,” Rina argued defensively.
At least she wasn’t brooding anymore, thanks to Pola and Lycian. I had a feeling the three of them would become fast friends. I glanced at Dhoran, and he returned my gaze with a shrug. Looked like we were on the same wavelength.
With that, I decided it was high time we moved to the dining hall.
My master quickly spotted us when we arrived. “Well, that was fast,” he noted. “We’ve ordered for the group already. Oh, and the others have reserved the table over there for us.”
A crowd of adventurers had gathered around him.
“You’re quite the popular one around here, aren’t you?” I commented.
“Sure am. Those idiots underestimate me now that I’m young again, so I have no shortage of sparring partners to choose from. We were just talking about heading to the training arena downstairs when you showed up,” he said, flashing me a smile.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been doing this at the guild in Merratoni as well. No wonder all the adventurers ran away when they saw him.
“Are you going to fight again?” I asked.
“Nope. I’m just going to watch and give them some advice.”
And then you’ll get into the mood and end up joining in, I thought.
Well, I figured these adventurers would love the chance to spar with someone they admired so much, so it was all good.
“Okay. We’ll let you know when we’re about to leave,” I told him.
“Sounds good. Oh, and I might need your healing at some point, so I’m counting on you, Luciel.”
So, you are planning to fight!
He looked so happy, I decided to indulge him this time. “Just don’t overdo it, all right?”
“Sure thing,” he said before turning to the surrounding adventurers. “Sorry for the wait, guys. Ready to show me what the adventurers of the Holy City are made of?”
“Yes, sir!”
Having the opportunity to talk and get advice from the Whirlwind would be a great source of motivation for them.
“Have fun,” I told him.
“Oh, and before I leave, no booze for you, you hear?”
“I know.”
With that, he headed to the basement with the adventurers. I waved goodbye and turned to my friends. “Can you all head to the table first?” I asked.
“Sure.” Lionel nodded, albeit a little reluctantly, before joining Ketty and the others at the table, along with Pola, Lycian, and Dhoran.
Rina (who was still technically persona non grata at the guild) and Nanya were about to follow him, but I stopped them. “Rina, Nanya, come with me.”
“O-Okay.”
I walked up to Grantz, the guildmaster, with the two young women in tow.
“Good evening, Grantz,” I said.