Cooperation
Cooperation
Before leaving the guild, I asked Seneran and Asilie to check the compensation certificate the guild leader would have to write up and hand over.
"Well then, shall I put in some effort for the sake of our future profitable relationship?"
I'd thought it was lucky enough that Seneran even accepted, but for some reason she was brimming with motivation. Aside from that, nothing unexpected happened—except perhaps Kunz's remarkable professionalism, the way he'd come chasing after me, hesitant even though the guild leader had gotten his ass kicked, and provided information when I said I'd take care of the thieves.
We came back to the inn, huddled together in the room Asilie and I shared since it was the biggest, and took our seats. The impression I got after reading through the documents he'd handed over was simpler than I'd expected.
"Big Sis was right."
The unmaintained ancient waterways. That was where the bastards were.
"It's become clear why the city and the guild are naturally cooperating. Cities with ancient underground waterways receive substantial support under the pretext of maintenance costs, but by the same token, when problems arise they're infamous for strictly assigning responsibility and dealing out severe punishment."
"Heh heh heh. Sounds fun. It's not a common experience."
Looking at Rellie coolly assessing the situation and Mr. Gin getting excited like a true dwarf at the mention of ancient underground waterways, this party was really far from having normal sensibilities.
This was unequivocally proof of corruption running rampant throughout the city. For ordinary adventurers, just getting tangled up in something like this would be enough to make them break out in a cold sweat or rack their brains trying to figure out how not to get silenced. But Gaendal and Yekaterina just reacted indifferently, and even Sen's group did no more than carefully review the details they needed to be aware of. While at first I'd assumed they were a total dud compared to Gaendal's party, I felt anew the reality that they were, after all, red-rank adventurers who'd spent over a dozen years getting battered and rolling through the mud.
"Um... Eldmia? If things go on like this, the guild leader will definitely attack us. Is that what you're expecting?"
Merdela, who'd been particularly quiet since we started traveling together, asked a question for the first time in a long while. I knew what she was getting at, so I shrugged and answered.
"I'm no prophet, how could I predict this? That guy got complacent, screwed up, and got himself tangled in it."
House Ogatorf was loyal to the royal family.
Whatever delusional headcanon he was spinning, the moment he saw a horse stamped with the Ogatorf crest, that man had already drawn his own conclusion—that I would report this corruption to House Ogatorf. If that happened, not only would all the bridges he'd been so carefully building to cover up the corruption come crashing down, but a hopeless future that would easily surpass 60 gold coins would be waiting for him.
For that bastard, the options to avoid it weren't as numerous as one might think. Since he couldn't avoid ruin, the only move left was one to delay that ruin.
"...Then, by any chance..."
"If he stabs me in the back, worried that information about this corruption might get passed to House Ogatorf and reach the royal family? Obviously, the guild leader will die."
Since she'd been speaking so cautiously as someone who'd nearly died once, when I put it bluntly and clearly, the others' gazes also turned toward me. I was actually a bit flustered by those looks—for some reason, no one was surprised to hear me say something that was no different from a bombshell statement.
"...If the guild leader tries to backstab me, I'll take a few of the attackers along as evidence, then kill him on the spot. That was my intention from the very beginning, and at the stable too, I subtly spoke as if I was the principal and the rest of you were separate parties. If he misunderstood our conversation as intended, even in that short exchange, he'll regard our relationship as something like employer and employees, so there'll be no harm coming to any of you. Even if he didn't misunderstand, I can talk my way around it anyway, so it doesn't matter."
Even after I added a detailed explanation just in case, the reaction was still lukewarm.
"So anyone who doesn't want in, wait at the inn. It'll get troublesome in many ways."
When I spoke firmly, worried it might look like I was forcing them, every single one of them nodded indifferently and casually went right back to preparing for the request.
Honestly, I thought at least one question like 'why the hell kill him' would pop out, but everyone accepted it so naturally that I was the one feeling awkward. Still, it was too embarrassing to ask back why they were all reacting that way, so I had no choice but to shift my eyes around sheepishly. Even setting aside Sen's group, I didn't recall ever having passionately proclaimed my convictions in front of Gaendal's party, so why were they accepting it as a matter of course...?
That question of mine was only resolved after Asilie and Seneran safely returned with the compensation certificate and heard my story.
"Huh? I mean, I'm helping because my situation requires cooperating with Eldmia, but don't the rest of you have no particular need to?"
Seneran had thrown the question straight at them.
At that blunt question, Gaendal's party looked at each other and, without anyone needing to go first, broke out in wide grins. As soon as one round of loud laughter swept through, Yekaterina slapped her thigh and said,
"Helping a comrade isn't about necessity. It's what you ought to do. Besides, we're hitting some evil bastards—can't really tremble in fear of the consequences, now can we?"
Gaendal's party nodded as if her words spoke for all of their opinions, and they looked so goddamn cool that I was at a loss for words.
◈
Even after sending Seneran and Asilie away, Geuronzel had sat at his desk suppressing his rage for a long while before irritably tossing the fountain pen he'd broken into the trash can.
He'd only not known the face; he had certainly heard the epithet 'Golden Mage' plenty of times before. But he'd realized far too late that it referred to Seneran, and he'd been unable to stop the compensation certificate, which he'd casually written out without any consultation, from ballooning into something no different from a massive shackle.
If things went on like this, the only thing waiting for him in the future was horrific expenditures.
"Guild master. You have guests."
"...Show them in."
There was no need to confirm who the visitors were. They were among the few business associates he'd built trust with over a long time since becoming guild master. As soon as he gave the answer, three visitors entered through the open door. The man standing in the middle smiled and spoke.
"Yo, guild master. I heard some crazy bastard laid hands on you?"
Despite neat attire and a tidy appearance, he was a rugged man with combat scars scattered across his face. The other two stood stiffly with their arms crossed in front of them on either side of the door like guards, and as soon as the man entered the room, he took off the coat he'd worn, placed it on the sofa, and sat down calmly.
On the surface, he looked much like a mercenary without the slightest hint of manners, but his actions were actually laced with etiquette here and there. He was a man unique enough to be counted on one hand among all the people Geuronzel had encountered in his long years grinding away in Englem. Even though the man himself disliked discomfort and undid his dress shirt cuffs to roll up his sleeves as soon as the coat was off, he still made an effort to wear the trappings of etiquette.
The man, who'd had an incident in the past where his left arm was severed and whose arms now were slightly different shades as he raised them to drape over the sofa, continued speaking in a sly attitude.
"If my guess is right, you're hoping that insolent friend will disappear together in the underground waterways."
"That's precisely why I trust you. No need for words."
On the surface he operated as a red-rank adventurer, but the man's primary trade was no different from that of a hired thug. However, he possessed the exceptional virtues of silence and perceptiveness, and by gradually gathering comrades and expanding his scale, he now commanded enough men that calling it a business wouldn't be an overstatement.
Purely in terms of hunting people, they were human hunters worthy of being called purple-rank. Hunters with the skill to cook up ten red-rank adventurers and a money-hungry mage whenever needed.
Geuronzel rose from his seat and handed him a pre-prepared envelope as he spoke.
"It's information on the inn they're staying at, headcount, and rough equipment. Looks like they've hired two parties. One is Merdela's party, who've been active here for quite a while."
"Ah, that foul-tempered mage? But wasn't it Sen's party?"
"Merdela handles combat, Sen handles negotiation. On paper, it's Merdela's party. And the other side is Gaendal's party."
"My my, the capital baldie came all the way here? Honestly, that party is way too much to handle."
Gaendal's party, which had suddenly started moving as a group at some point after a certain request, was threatening in all four of its members. Even if the man mobilized every method and launched a surprise attack, unless he killed the star-bearing Rellie right from the start, he'd have to account for considerable damage, and after that he'd also have to deal with the reckless human battering ram charge of Yekaterina, that ridiculously brutish female warrior who carried around not a hammer but a siege ram.
Honestly, from the man's perspective, just that was enough to make him not want the request. Gaendal's party was so skilled that if that aforementioned surprise attack failed, it would be them doing the dying.
"The target is that employer. You can leave the party members alone. They don't have claim to the spoils anyway. If the employer dies, they'll naturally split apart."
"Hmm. Both those friends have pretty strong professional ethics, so I wonder about that... Anyway, so the long-awaited employer is... who..."
The man's hand, which had been scanning the documents while looking reluctant but keeping his business smile from fading, stopped as abruptly as if frozen solid.
"A blue-rank adventurer named Eldmia Ega. He..."
Geuronzel, whose back was turned and thus hadn't seen that reaction, was about to leisurely continue his explanation when the man cut him off and interjected.
"Stop right there."
"What... what did you just say?"
"I said stop. No, even if you don't stop, I'm pulling out of this job."
The man, who'd gone pale in an instant, neatly folded the document envelope as if to show he hadn't laid a finger on it, placed it on the table, and hurriedly began gathering his coat. At that sudden reaction, a dumbfounded Geuronzel unconsciously grabbed the man's sleeve and raised his voice.
"Are you joking right now? Do you have any idea how serious this..."
"Look here, guild master. That's my line. Are you in your right mind right now? I get that you were dead drunk on political games in Englem, but haven't you been paying any attention to the news lately? Touching the Guillotine? You want to end up like Envelde?"
The man, doing his best to be polite, didn't shake off Geuronzel's hand, but neither did he bother hiding how badly his face twisted. Geuronzel, however, looked as though he had no idea what the man was talking about, which provoked a scrap of pity from him.
Thinking of the bond they'd shared over the years, the man let out a deep sigh and offered sincere advice.
"Fuck. You are really fucking lucky. If it weren't me, the other bastards who'd have taken this request would all be dead, and you'd be dead too. I've got ears too, so I already heard what you did to this guy this time. It pisses me off that one of your ears must've been blocked and you didn't even catch the name Eldmia till now, but anyway. So I'll tell you what you need to do right now."
Forgetting even to pull down his dress shirt sleeves, the man put on his coat, placed his hand on the shoulder of the dumbstruck Geuronzel, looked him straight in the eye, and said curtly.
"Run. Don't waste time quibbling over tonight or tomorrow. Run right now. Don't think about disposing of what you've got in the city, don't even think about coming back. Just run. You can withdraw the assets you put in the merchant bank from anywhere, anyway. Live on that."
"Wh-what..."
"This guy's vendettas are like that. I swear, if you hang around dawdling and this guy comes back after finishing the request, you're dead for sure. Remember, this is the last piece of advice I give you for all the years we were good business associates. For real."
The man didn't wait for Geuronzel to be convinced. He just hurriedly left as if he wanted to minimize even the time he himself spent in this room. The men who'd been standing there expressionless as if devoid of emotion while following him out had no sooner left the guild master's room than they asked the man with puzzled faces.
"Boss? Is this alright?"
"What is?"
"Well, the advice you gave the guild master, and if word gets out that you refused a request, the rumors..."
The man didn't get angry. He could fully understand his subordinate's reaction. Instead, he waved his left hand in front of his subordinate's eyes.
"Losing a bit of reputation is better than dying. If we get mixed up in this, it's not losing an arm—it's losing our heads. All. Of. Us."
Amid the phantom pain throbbing from the left arm he'd lost in Ogwen long ago, Abnam, once a yellow-rank adventurer, shuddered. It was only after seeing his reaction that his subordinates could recall the tales of experience and laments their boss always brought up whenever he was drunk.
'Dog-shit West, fucked-up Ogwen, goddamn Eldmia. Remember this, you bastards. Know that any sons of bitches who hear the name Eldmia Ega and still get tangled with him will all die. You'll die if you get tangled anyway, but you still ought to know you're gonna die, fuck!'
The same repertoire of drunken rants going on for years. Abnam, recalling the event that had remained as such a massive trauma in his life, quickened his pace further.
"Fuck, I haven't even set foot in the West since then. Seems like he was only in the capital, so why the hell is he suddenly coming all the way down to the South..."
Praying desperately that word of himself wouldn't reach Eldmia's ears.