The Dark Guild was a long way away from Iffole.
Of course, being such a secretive organization, the Dark Guild did not have a crystal gate at its headquarters, and it was not a place that anyone could simply walk into. It took a few days to get there by carriage, and when Glen finally arrived, the Dark Guild did more or less let him in.
Shown into a large reception room with a small old man sitting opposite him at the table, Glen found himself unable to hide the tension he was feeling.
He was sitting across from the guildmaster of the Dark Guild, Zepha Langres.
The man’s age was unknown, and he had been the guildmaster of the Dark Guild for over forty years. He didn’t look much different from an old man you might see anywhere, but his presence alone inspired an indescribable tension within you.
Zepha slowly opened his mouth. “…So then what business does that Adventurers Guild have with us today?” His cold voice was sharp, as if to imply that while he had let Glen in, he would not welcome him with open arms.
“I would like to access information that only your people have,” Glen said briefly, keeping himself from being swallowed by the man’s intimidating presence.
“…Information, you say?”
“It’s about the whereabouts of the Sage, who disappeared thirteen years ago.”
Zepha fell silent. After a long silence, an exasperated sigh slipped from his lips. “You don’t understand anything. You should be aware that the Dark Guild does not think well of your Adventurers Guild.”
“…”
“You people of the Adventurers Guild wouldn’t understand—not when you live in the pretty public world, showered with admiration. You have no idea how we’ve suffered, pushed into the filthy underworld, forced to get our hands dirty to survive as social outcasts, treated as if we don’t exist.” The light in Zepha’s eyes flashed slightly as he stared at Glen. “And I hate you in particular, Glen. You’ve had a ghostliness hiding deep in your eyes ever since your appointment. I can see flashes of deluded conviction behind your dubious smiles. And I don’t like any of it… Give you information? Give you the treasure we spent years gathering? That’s quite the brazen thing to suggest.”
“…”
Sure enough, getting help from the Dark Guild was shaping up to be a challenge.
Glen grit his teeth a bit at Zepha’s ice-cold words. It seemed like he had been left adrift. “…I do believe I understand your situation. But I came because sacrifices are necessary to solve this problem.”
He couldn’t give up so easily now.
Glen returned Zepha’s look with indomitable conviction.
A smile crossed Zepha’s face. “I see. So you’re resolved for this. Very good, very good. Well, then.”
A shiver raced down Glen’s spine.
“—Can I take it that you came to die?”
With a start, Glen realized that he was surrounded by men pointing their blades at him.
“…!”
Behind him, he sensed Fili, holding her breath. They had to be the Dark Guild’s forces. They had appeared soundlessly, wielding similar daggers. Those blades all, without exception, were wreathed in a mysterious blue flame.
Is that magic…? No, it’s no ordinary magic.
Glen narrowed his eyes at the indescribable presence wafting from that blue flame.
“Glen Garia. Now that your fighting days are behind you, you’re insignificant, basically a baby. We can send your head flying before you even use your skill,” Zepha said dispassionately. “Thus far, the Adventurers Guild has avoided direct negotiations with us. While you would send sacrificial pawns, your leader has never come here in person. I acknowledge you for doing what your predecessors didn’t. I take it as proof of your respect—but it was too reckless.”
“Heh-heh-heh,” Zepha laughed, steepling his fingers together. “We will not give in to a mere skill. Just looking at you fools in the Adventurers Guild, submitting yourselves to skills, makes me want to vomit. I will have you carved up and made into food for the dogs.”
“…”
So he had failed. For a few seconds, Glen closed his eyes.
He hadn’t thought that the Dark Guild still resented the Adventurers Guild and skills this much. That sort of thinking was decades old. It appeared that so long as Zepha remained in charge, negotiations with the Dark Guild would keep breaking down.
“So be it,” Glen said, letting out a breath.
“…What?”
“I came here knowing full well I could lose my life. If needed, I will offer my life.”
“…” Zepha fell silent.
Glen returned his probing look with a direct glare. “But I still have something left to do. I can’t resign myself to death just yet. I have a proposal for you.”
Zepha’s eyes opened slightly for an instant, as if he were overwhelmed. Glen placed a black stone before him.
“…This is…?”
“You wanted to know about dark gods, didn’t you?”
Zepha’s breath caught.
“Of course, I didn’t come here saying that I want your information for free. In exchange, I offer you the information the Adventurers Guild has on dark gods. Couldn’t we somehow come to an agreement with this?” Glen proposed, refusing to give in to Zepha.
After a long silence, Zepha suddenly began trembling slightly. “…Heh…heh-heh…ha-ha-ha-ha!”
He finished with a loud “ha-ha-ha-ha!” Seeing Glen startle, Zepha slammed one foot down on the table and then jabbed his thumb up.
“Okay. Then we have an agreement.”
“…Huh?”
Glen blinked at the abrupt change in the atmosphere. Zepha showed no concern at all for Glen’s confusion, sitting back down in his chair and kicking his legs up on the table, whistling as he rocked back and forth.
“Oh, it’s a huge help you came here. Ah, you all can back off now.”
At the old man’s signal, the assassins all bowed, looking somehow embarrassed as they disappeared. Glen watched, unable to say a word.
“Sorry for threatening you. I wanted to try playing a real Dark Guild boss, you know.” Zepha shyly put a hand to his head with a sheepish chuckle and continued when Glen didn’t respond. “I was going for a showdown between guildmasters sort of thing. I’ve been thinking up the right lines for decades now, polishing and polishing them… But the previous guildmasters were all so scared, none of them ever came. Ahhh, that was fun. Now if my time comes, I can just drop dead. Ka-ha-ha!”
“…”
“Come on, this old man just leaned hard into a self-deprecating joke. Not gonna laugh, sonny?” At this point, Zepha was less the guildmaster of the Dark Guild and more a pleasant old man.
Glen slumped when he saw Zepha’s earlier tension and foreboding presence vanish. “You don’t…resent the Adventurers Guild?”
“Resent you? Oh, about skills? I mean, the Adventurers Guild hasn’t done anything wrong. What would I resent them for? The world chose skills. We weren’t chosen. That’s all.
“Not many old folks back then could understand that,” Zepha grumbled carelessly. Suddenly, a smirk came to his face, and he pointed to Glen’s missing arm. “Hey, Glen. You’ve had a better look to you lately. Was that missing left arm of yours possessed by an evil spirit?”
Startling, Glen widened his eyes. Partly, he was surprised that the guildmaster of the Dark Guild had been observing him, but he was also surprised that Zepha was right about his arm. “…An evil spirit, huh…? Yeah, maybe that was what it was. It was a pretty rough exorcism.”
Zepha gave a big nod, as if he were satisfied by Glen’s answer. “Then good. We’d also like to know about the beings known as dark gods—” As he spoke, he suddenly cocked his head. “But how did you know that we want information on them?”
“That was a bluff,” Glen said nonchalantly. “I figured it wouldn’t be strange for the Dark Guild to have learned of their existence. But you did know, after all.”
“…” Zepha opened his eyes wide for a moment, and then he opened his toothless mouth and laughed aloud. “You’re really quite the character.”