Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Hero
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Master! Are you really going to drag your feet right up until departure!?”
The World Tree Guild's vice-master, Mirein, was urging her own master on with great enthusiasm ahead of their inspection of the Cradle.
“Still...”
Eloa, the master of the World Tree Guild, was far from pleased with the current situation.
The Cradle was treated as the second most important facility after the sanctuaries where the holy stones were kept in each nation.
It operated completely independently from external interests and power structures, possessing a special nature that even the royals could not easily interfere with.
In other words, an incident like today's—where the Cradle's doors were forcibly opened due to outside pressure—was unprecedented, an utter humiliation for the Cradle itself.
“...Maybe we shouldn't go? It's not like we'll never see the dean again in our lives...”
“Argh, seriously! That again!?”
Mirein burst out, causing Eloa to flinch and shrink her shoulders. Mirein almost felt her anger melt away at her master's soft, endearing reaction, but she forced her frown back into place.
“Boss Monster Killer! Boss Monster Killer! Just like always, the next several decades of the alliance will revolve around him. How incredibly lucky is it that such an apostle emerged from the Skeletonia Cradle—and that we're this nation's top guild on top of that!”
“I know, I know...”
“No matter what it takes!”
Mirein leaned forward, slamming both palms down on the table.
“We! Have to recruit him!”
“...”
Eloa could say no more. Mirein's words were entirely, painfully correct.
It wasn't selfishness on Mirein's part. Even if it meant burning bridges with the dean, the Boss Monster Killer was a treasure that absolutely had to be claimed first. Her mindset, which handled most of the guild's operations, was utterly rational for the guild's sake—and right. Eloa knew that full well.
Mirein wanted to respect her master's opinion whenever possible, but this was too big an issue. She decided to take a hard line this time.
“Let's go already! You've even got your armor on, so quit yapping!”
“Okay, okay...”
Mirein grabbed Eloa's wrist and dragged her along by force. Despite Eloa's stats being pathetically incomparable to Mirein's, she let herself be pulled without resistance.
Their relationship looked less like guild master and vice-master, and more like older and younger sisters. Eloa appeared to be getting dragged around by her feisty little-sister type, Mirein.
But the moment they stepped out of the master's room, Eloa's presence shifted completely. The weight of the air around her changed.
The guild master of the World Tree Guild, exuding a century of presence and charisma. This was the Eloa everyone knew.
In truth, she was a soft-hearted elf who still couldn't forget someone who'd died a hundred years ago.
But only a rare few knew that true side of Eloa.
The two boarded a lavish carriage amid escorts from guards and the coachman.
Eloa leaned back against the plush seat. Once alone with Mirein again, she relaxed her stiff face and sprawled out limply.
“Aah... I have no idea how I'm supposed to face the dean...”
“Toughen up. The dean understands rationally, at least.”
Mirein didn't mind Eloa's constant whining. If anything, it was this human side of her that had kept Mirein serving loyally like a little sister all these years.
“Strength! Strength! The fate of our guild hangs on this! For the guild members' sake! Strength!”
Mirein pulled some chilled chocolate from the carriage's refrigeration magic storage and popped it into the floppy Eloa's mouth. Eloa opened her mouth like a baby chick, listlessly chewing it up.
Mirein sat beside Eloa, reading through the briefing materials while feeding her chocolate after chocolate.
It was like a big sister in the early morning forcing breakfast and school prep on her sleepy elementary-school little sister. Naturally, Eloa was the one over eighty years older, but whatever.
Due to the Cradle's efforts to prevent info leaks, there wasn't much data provided. At best, they knew the Boss Monster Killer was currently top of the rankings.
Eloa leaned on Mirein's shoulder, listening to the briefing while accepting chocolate and tea. Appearances aside, her mind was already whirring with calculations on this matter. The top guild master's seat wasn't won by luck or games.
And when the carriage paused briefly, a gravelly voice came from beyond the curtained window.
“Hey, pointy-ears.”
Eloa, peacefully enjoying her chocolate, scowled deeply. Her long ears twitched upright.
An unwelcome voice that had forced its way into this affair.
The coachman's voice came through the speaker.
[Master. Birn Kingdom's hero is right next door...]
“I know...”
[...Understood.]
The perceptive coachman picked up on his master's sullen tone and cut the mic.
“Sigh...”
The curtain parted.
“Long time no see.”
The man across the way wiggled his fingers in greeting.
His thick-skinned face, tough as tiger hide and etched with deep wrinkles, split into a grin. Scars crisscrossed his rugged features, resembling a tiger baring its fangs.
The uninvited guest of this inspection: Birn Kingdom's hero, Heineken.
“...Yes.”
Eloa replied with her usual blank expression, utterly perfunctory. She made no effort to hide her displeasure.
“Heh heh. I’m hated, huh.”
He didn't seem to mind much, waving past Eloa at Mirein. Mirein stuck her tongue out in response.
Though a bidding war was expected over the Boss Monster Killer recruitment terms, most predicted a World Tree victory.
But in that atmosphere, neighboring kingdom's hero Heineken had muscled in, turning the tables.
Eloa spotted two figures beyond Heineken and frowned. One was Birn Kingdom's finance minister.
‘Rumors said the Birn royals themselves had stepped in...’
This was dangerous. No matter how massive the World Tree Guild was, it couldn't compare to a nation.
If Heineken's guild leveraged the royal treasury in this recruitment battle? World Tree would be in real trouble.
‘How the hell did he find out...’
The kingdom had summoned all the guild masters on a national level, sealing off any info leaks. Yet this guy had sniffed it out like a ghost and wedged himself in.
Birn Kingdom's intelligence network was unmatched on the continent. The Birn royals obsessed over it to an abnormal degree, reportedly pouring absurd, inefficient fortunes into it yearly.
Backed by that intel prowess was Birn's top hero, Heineken's guild. His talent lust had even earned him the nickname "Talent Hunter."
A reliable ally against the demon army usually, but a nightmare rival like this.
Eloa snapped the curtain shut. They'd fought back-to-back on battlefields enough times—no need for formalities.
“Heh heh.”
Heineken chuckled like a tiger growling, scratching roughly. He had backing, and it showed in his leisure.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Soon, the two carriages arrived side by side at the Cradle. Lavish carriages were already clustered before its gates. Every major guild in the nation was here. And.
“Open the gates!!”
The Cradle's long-sealed doors swung open.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “So this is the Cradle...”
“Ah, it's Master's first time here, right?”
Eloa, forgetting all decorum in this place she'd never seen before—and would never see again—gawked around. Mirein watched her adorable master with a smile.
“Whoa... fuck, me back at the Cradle...”
“Quit gawking. You look like a hick.”
An Earthling guild member accompanying Heineken scolded him.
Earthlings, the malignant stock of the talent market. For him, the Cradle was a place stained with the pain of being an outcast.
Returning here after rising in status tickled his ugly inferiority complex into a smug superiority.
“Please let us know the location you'd like to visit, and we'll guide you.”
The inspection team decided to observe the cadets' classes first. Though nominal, they had to at least pretend.
Naturally, the team requested to observe the Boss Monster Killer's class. But the instructor guiding them refused, citing cadet privacy and declining to reveal who it was. He was aligned more with the dean's faction than the guilds.
However, the inspection team wasn't one to back down easily.
“Hey.”
“Y-yes, yes, yes!!”
Hero Heineken slipped away to a secluded spot and threw an intimidating arm around a green-looking assistant instructor. His arm was, with slight exaggeration, as thick as the instructor's head.
“I'm lost, see. Which class is the Cradle's current top cadet in?”
He loomed over the instructor's face, grinning with a grotesque, tiger-like leer.
“Th-that's, uh, an or-order... personal...”
“Hm?”
“Yes!?”
A newbie instructor couldn't possibly withstand the aura of Birn's "White Tiger" hero.
In the end, Heineken led the inspection team to the unarmed combat class, and the guild masters clicked their tongues at his ungentlemanly methods but followed silently.
They soon arrived at the unarmed combat class and observed the cadets training autonomously.