1st Guild Master

It took some dark and long time, but we finally got to the region around where the incident happened; the Adventurer’s Guild’s territory around the Beginner’s City.

“Hm… I don’t remember adventurers under [Level: 100] being able to do this kind of stuff”, I commented, managing to stop myself from saying that demons whispered in my ear that something wasn't right.

Looking at the grass fields that surrounded the palace-city turned into a war zone, I saw craters, hardened lava, and unrooted and burned vegetal life dotting the plains.

“Maybe a meteor fell here, or something”, my elder sister sighed, sounding disinterested. “After years roaming the end of the world and seeing nothing but monsters and [Dungeons], I thought we would finally go somewhere nice…”, she concluded, shoulders slumped down.

“L- Look, the interior should still be nice, the destruction happened just outside”, I pointed, and noticed Ur brightening up just a little. “Plus, the lake is untouched. Yes, we should be able to buy some stuff, visit places and still have a nice view.”

The interior wasn’t nice, the lake was stained with blood, and every shop had been closed by terrified merchants.

Sweat formed on my forehead even though the armor enveloping and hiding my entire body in black keep the temperature perfect for its user even inside volcanoes, or deep under snow and ice.

Ignoring the whispers and cries of the newbie adventurers around me (once pain was the natural state of the world), a crowd around the dead body by the lakeshore, I slowly turned to my older sister.

“U- Uh…”, I tried to think about something fun for the two of us to do there, once it was such a rare occasion to get back into civilization, but there was just nothing I could come up with.

Turning my head away from the beauty that was my older sister, I only one thought filled my mind: I failed as a younger brother! After Ur doing so much for me for so long, I couldn’t even take her somewhere nice!

“Kon”, a hand landed on my head. Ur. “It’s okay”, she smiled, showing four long and thin snake-like fangs. “I’m happy just to be with you. Shouldn’t you see if you can help them, now?”

Fuck.

I loved the needy and spoiled Ur that showed herself only when we were alone, but the carrying and lovely Ur, I admired.

Nodding, I sneaked in the crowd, and approached the corpse; there were some annoying complaints, but I only needed to let out the smallest fraction of my aura to shut them up. As the corpse's features became clearer, its tree-man appearance, only then I noticed the stamp hanging around the man’s neck: he was a 10th Guild Master.

“Hu?”, A woman crouching beside the corpse turned her head towards me… And she sounded familiar. “1st Guild Master Kon?”

Let me see, alone, really long brown hair, alone, horns, alone and bothersome, knows me… Oh, the scars covering both her arms! Of course, how could I forget:

“6th- No, I’m sorry. 9th Guild Master, Giselle”, I nodded.

Giselle, one of the few Guild Masters to have ever been “demoted”. If I remember correctly, she had some kind of grudge against the 3rd Guild Master and his followers, though, it wasn’t like I ever carried. They had nothing to do with the Cult of the Unborn Star, after all.

“What are you doing here?”, she asked, getting up and nodding back, as all the newbies around went pale, mouths open with her mention of my rank.

“I heard about some significant activity of the cult in a nearby [Dungeon], and came to investigate… And, I guess, you came here because of this killing”, Giselle always meddled in other people’s business, after all. It was how she got her scars and demotion, for continuously bothering the 3rd Guild Master.

“Yeah. But I came too late”, she tightened her hands into fists, frowning.

I sighed, asking even if just to make my older sister happy:

“So? The shadows tell me that something happened here?”

“The 3rd Guild Master and his minions”, her face was contorted in disgust. “Apparently they heard about Brak, the 10th Guild Master, helping a couple of adventurers who killed an Intermediary [God], and they decided that the old man didn’t deserve to live anymore.”

Internal fighting. That was a problem: this way the Guild would have ever fewer people to deal with the cult… But was it really worth it to me go after the 3rd and his underlings? After all, after me, those three were probably the only ones who could possibly get strong enough to one day hear about the true reason why the Adventurer’s Guild was founded.

“Tch”, the demoted Guild Master clicked her tongue, not hiding her aversion towards me, as her gelid aura hit my body. “There you go, with those calculating eyes… You don’t give a shit, do you?”, her eyes rested upon my older sister for just a second, when I easily pierced through her killing intent with my own, and forced her to keep looking at me. She didn’t take that well: “I wouldn’t target an innocent! …Differently from you. Honestly, you’re like a shittier version of the twins: everyone knows you can't hear shows or demons, and that you're just a stupid man-child! And you want revenge, but don’t care about anyone else. Even when good people like Brak here die. You fought by his side! But I bet you don’t even remember this…”

“...I don’t know who are these twins you’re talking about”, after looking over my shoulders and confirming my older sister hasn't heard anything, I replied, ignoring all the silly and meaningless stuff that woman said about me. I wasn't a man child, after all, but a real tragic hero, and I wouldn't waste my time refuting her.

Then, Giselle finally smiled.

“Well, well, if this isn’t convenient? You said you were investigating cult’s activity in a [Dungeon] nearby right? That must be that serpent one. Well, unfortunately for you, besides the reports that you must have already read, the only source of information about that cult encounter are these twins… which are currently having their life threatened by the 3rd Guild Master.”

Was it worth it to fight that trio for this piece of information? For the twins' utility?

…No, I was asking the wrong question wasn’t I? Would that trio find it worth it to fight me just to get to those twins?

No. No, they wouldn’t.

I spun, turning to my older sister, pulling down the bandana covering my mouth, and smiled, saying:

“Good news, big sister: there’s something I can do to help these poor people in need.”