Chapter Seven:
The Back of a Hero
1
WHILE LESS BUSTLING THAN THE ROYAL capital, the city of Gilbadia did attract a good number of adventurers. It was, after all, a city with a great diversity of visitors and a vibrant trade in all kinds of items, which made it easy for guild members to stock up on weapons, magic tools, restoration potions, and whatever else they required. Another advantage the city offered was ease of travel access. In short, it was an ideal hub for adventurers. Thus, the Adventurers’ Guild in Gilbadia occupied a fine building, quite imposing from the outside.
When Luke, Zack, and Alfred arrived, they were greeted by the smell of food and hard drink and the muffled sounds of laughter from the other side of the door that stood before them. Finally, they had arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild…but just as Luke made to open the door, Zack hesitantly raised his voice.
“Um…do you mind if I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Well…I’m sure you’re aware of this, but aside from the odd former aristocrat, most adventurers are just common folk, same as me. There’s a chance, er, well…some of them might be a bit rude to you, Master Luke. If you could, possibly…I’d like you to overlook some of their bad manners…”
“Hmph, very well.”
“Oh?”
Luke’s immediate agreement was so unexpected that Zack couldn’t help but express a bit of his surprise out loud.
“Eh? Is there something else?”
“N-no…that was all. Thank you.”
At Dalkin’s blacksmith shop, Zack had done as Luke asked and calmed the situation from utter chaos into something more manageable. That made Luke feel a little fellowship with the adventurer. For better or worse, Luke liked the man, in a fashion.
“Let’s go inside, then. Lead the way.”
“A-all right.”
Zack paused for a moment, a last prayer in his heart.
Please…don’t let anything happen in here!
With a determined push, he opened the door to the guild and stepped inside. What he found in there was all familiar to him, but completely new to Luke. The guild also served as a tavern, so it tended to be quite lively. Not only were there groups of armored adventurers milling around but a number of other people drinking at the bar.
“Gah hah hah—oh! Well, well, if it ain’t Zack!” boomed one of the patrons as he turned to greet the newcomers. “Long time no—”
The man who greeted Zack shut his mouth as soon as he laid eyes on the boy standing behind him. As more heads turned toward them, the chatter dropped off sharply into silence. No adventurer in the city of Gilbadia would fail to recognize the heir to the house of Gilbert, nor would they have any idea what he was doing there in the first place. It was more than just confusion and mild concern, however. Luke’s mere presence awakened long-dormant, traumatic memories buried deep in the minds of many an adventurer.
Suddenly, one of the men let loose a terrified scream.
“H-huh?! What’s wrong, Mokkel?! Hey, wait a minute!”
Ignoring his companion, the man sprinted away into a back room.
“What was that for?” asked Luke.
“I wonder, eh…? Upset stomach, maybe?” Zack suggested, his voice weak and unconvincing. “Must’a ate some bad fish or something, I bet. Jeez, what an idiot! I’m sorry about that, ha ha…”
Zack’s quiet, dry laugh seemed to bounce off the walls of the silent guild. He knew what had just happened, of course. The man who had just run away was Mokkel, an A-rank adventurer who was well-known throughout the city. Zack was also aware that, roughly three years ago, he’d had the misfortune to encounter Luke. Just like Zack and countless other men, Mokkel’s self-esteem was irreparably shattered by Luke’s blade, and he carried deeply traumatic memories of the incident. It was, sadly, a very common story in these parts.
Stay strong, Mokkel. I believe in you.
Zack offered him a wordless prayer.
“Ah, um…Zack! What can we do for you today?”
A waitress with a tray of food in her hand called out to him. Her movements were wooden, and she kept glancing over at Luke and Alfred as she spoke.
“Actually, Master Luke is here to register to become an adventurer, so—”
“Huh?!”
The waitress reacted in complete shock to Zack’s mumbled answer. Her exclamation of surprise was quickly echoed by everyone in the building.
“I-I’ll call the guild master at once!” she cried, setting down her tray of food on a nearby table and quickly running off up the stairs into another room.
Luke watched this display in stony silence.
“…Ahh.”
Zack sensed that Luke’s mood was slowly worsening and let out a little wail of despair, but little did he know, they hadn’t hit rock bottom quite yet. Indeed, things were about to take a turn for the terrible.
“Gah ha ha ha! The adventurers in this city are pathetic!!”
A large man began to walk toward Luke. Alfred’s expression grew just a shade sterner at his approach, and he stepped forward to protect his master.
This is the wooooorst! Zack cried internally.
He knew almost everyone in the room, but he’d never seen that particular man before.
He must be a new arrival, then, or he’d never think of doing anything so stupid.
“What, the little noble boy wants’ta play adventurer? Gah ha ha ha! You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me—”
In an instant, three other men were on their feet, dashing toward Luke and his butler. At the same time, the large, aggressive man finally came within range…and Luke promptly sent him flying.
“Stop!” cried three terror-stricken voices in unison.
“Blargh!” grunted the man as he bounced across the room.
Luke was tired of such situations, but also found himself growing used to them. He sighed with something like resignation.
“What the heck are you thinkin’?!”
“Grrrr, what are you doin’?!”
“Eh? I was j-just…”
“Idiot! Dummy! Brain-dead! Cut that out!”
“Yeah, cut it out! Grrrr!”
“Huh?”
The three men took a brief moment to berate their colleague, then flipped around to face Luke.
“Please accept our deepest apologies!” they said as one.
The trio bowed their heads with such perfect synchronicity, Luke thought they must have somehow arranged it ahead of time. He stared at them quietly.
“Hey, you!” one of them exclaimed, turning back to their aggressive companion. “Ain’t you gonna apologize too?!”
He thumped the larger man on the back of the head, forcing him into a bow too.
“Ouch! S-sorry…”
With that, he was summarily dragged off into one of the back rooms. As they left, one of the three glanced over at Zack and gave him a thumbs-up.
“Y-you guys…!”
The three men were fellow adventurers, all of whom Zack knew quite well. The large man who’d approached Luke had only been following the time-honored tradition of hazing the new recruits, but he failed to recognize that Luke was not an average newbie. Zack wondered if the man appreciated just how lucky he’d been to have his three friends rush to his rescue.
“Well, well…Master Luke!” called another man as he rushed out of one of the far side rooms. “And if it isn’t Al…I mean, Sir Alfred! Welcome to the Adventurers’ Guild!”
It was the guild master of the Gilbadia branch, Dolce Pannacotta.
“Am I correct in understanding that you wish to become a licensed adventurer?” the guild master asked, glancing at Luke.
“Yeah.”
“Understood. Then please, allow me to handle your application.”
Luke eyed the man silently.
Isn’t the reception for applications and work requests right over there? Why has the guild master come out to do this personally? Is it because I’m an aristocrat? That’s irritating…
Luke felt a certain frustration at the extra, unnecessary attention that his noble birth brought him.
“Right then, step this way. I’ll be happy to explain our work, scheduling, and rewards systems to you in the other room,” Dolce said, politely ushering them along. “Incidentally, might I ask what your relation to Zack is?”
“Hmph, I’ll be joining his party for a while.”
Dolce’s question had been casual, and so Luke had answered him in kind.
“What?”
It took a moment for Zack to comprehend what Luke had just said. He’d been eagerly awaiting the right opportunity to turn on his heel, announce a jovial “Right then, see you later!” and escape for good this time. He was quiet as he let the meaning of the words slowly seep into his brain, until at last he understood them.
“Whaaaaat?!”
A scream burst forth from Zack’s soul. He instinctively looked to his fellow guild members for salvation, but every adventurer in the room, including the three good friends who had just helped him out with the big man’s attack on Luke, averted their eyes in perfect unison.
2
ON THAT DAY, LUKE BECAME A B-RANK ADVENTURER. Dolce, guild master of the Gilbadia branch, was well aware that, in terms of ability, his recruit could have been placed in the highest rank available. To attain an A rank and above, however, an adventurer needed to get results. Those were the rules, and Dolce could do nothing but bow his head countless times in explaining them. Luke, however, accepted the rank quite readily. To him, becoming an adventurer was just a means of gaining access to the empire across the border, and he cared nothing for their ranking system. Most importantly, though, he was in a good mood—he had finally obtained a real sword and officially become an adventurer. His current plan was basically to kill time with adventuring while preparing for the Sword Saint Festival. He was free of many of the annoyances that had plagued him at the academy. For once, he was excited for the future and really, truly happy.
Once he had registered as a licensed adventurer, Luke visited an inn to assemble Zack’s companions, then returned to his mansion. He needed to explain to his father, Claude, what he was about to do, after all.
By the time he returned home, there was no sign of Eleonora or the Godwins’ carriages. Their presence interested Luke somewhat, but he understood that his father was making moves related to the recent Aslan Magic Academy attack and didn’t press him on what those might be.
Meanwhile, Zack wanted to run away again, but with everything that was going on, he was too exhausted to try. His mind was completely blank as he succeeded in convincing his party companions to come along. He felt almost hollow as he arrived at the mansion, but the terrible gravity of the situation set in soon thereafter. It wasn’t until Claude skewered him with loaded questions like “You do know what will happen should anything befall my son, don’t you?” that Zack’s whole body began to shake.