A Suspicious Meeting
The meeting with Zeres came together faster than I'd expected.
We'd shown up without a proper appointment, so I was braced to kill an hour in the lobby — but the moment I spoke to the secretary working on the guild's third floor, we were ushered straight into the Branch Master's office. Judging by how unremarkable her attitude was, this sort of thing must have happened fairly often.
"A pleasure. I'm Zeres, head of the Bolston Guild Branch. Commoner-born, so no family name, I'm afraid. Haha!"
"Ah, yes."
Zeres, unlike what I'd imagined, was a middle-aged man with a remarkably honest, boyish face. He rarely went out into the field, it seemed, and he wore a neatly pressed suit-like outfit, the faint gut that had crept up on him over the years only adding to his approachable air.
Can't let my guard down. Scammers like this always make a good first impression.
I exchanged an awkward handshake with Zeres, who had thrust his hand out eagerly. I could sense a faint trace of mana — he was probably an Awakened — but nothing impressive. How had a man like this climbed to Branch Master?
Fwoosh!
Huh? What was that just now?
Was I imagining it?
Midway through the handshake, I had the distinct feeling that something had been passed over to me.
Had a bug landed on me or something?
"Please, have a seat. Excuse the state of this room... it's rather embarrassing."
I briefly considered rolling up my sleeve to check, but Zeres had already shaken hands with all of us and was ushering us into the office, and I lost my moment.
The office was a wreck, as if a bomb of paperwork had detonated across every surface — though if anything, the chaotic scene lent Zeres an impression of a man diligently buried in his work.
He seated us on the long sofa, the one piece of furniture that looked halfway presentable.
"I've heard quite a lot lately about how you've been making a fearsome name for yourselves. You're the pride of the guild, you might say. Heh heh..."
"You flatter us."
"And this young one must be the youngest in our entire branch—"
"I'm Lena."
Lena subtly sidestepped the hand Zeres reached out to pat her head and answered in an uncharacteristically stiff tone. The kid had strong likes and dislikes, so no doubt she'd picked up on something about Zeres that rubbed her the wrong way.
...To be honest, so had I.
"Oh dear! How rude of me. Young as she is, she's still a full-fledged guild member."
"It's fine."
By his outward appearance and by his internal mana alike, the man was utterly harmless. And yet in every word, every gesture, every flicker of his expression, I sensed something faintly — unmistakably — unpleasant.
How to put it... it was like watching a clown expertly playing a part.
Lena's instincts were sometimes even sharper and more animalistic than mine, so she'd have caught much the same thing.
Zeres must have noticed how oddly stiff we'd gone, because he personally set steaming cups of tea in front of us as he continued.
"Now, now, there's no need to be so tense. I may be the Branch Master, but I'm hardly someone who can dole out disadvantages on a whim. If I tried anything like that, the inspectors from headquarters would have me snapped up in no time."
"Is that so?"
"Of course! The only reason I asked to see you today is nothing special at all. I simply want to understand the difficulties of the people working in the field so we can improve them. If you have any suggestions, please, speak freely."
"Ah... so that's the purpose of this meeting. Then would it be alright if I mentioned a few things?"
"Heh heh. As many as you like."
"First of all..."
I began rattling off one thing and another, as if the tension had drained out of me at Zeres's reassurances. If I kept my guard up too obviously, I'd only invite suspicion.
...
"...So I also think the guild's first floor could use some improvement. We only use it briefly, mind you, but the crowding down there is beyond ridiculous."
"Mm-hm! Complaints about the first floor have been coming in for ages. I'll look into it favorably. We may need to expand, it seems."
Between small talk and suggestions, twenty-odd minutes flew by. Every time the conversation swung toward Noah or Lena, I kept a discreet eye on my Recorder, but the device showed no change whatsoever.
Had Harrington simply been an overprotective worrywart after all?
I was just thinking the interview would wrap up without incident when—
Sniff, sniff...
A delicate, flower-like fragrance drifted in from somewhere.
What a lovely scent.
Just breathing it in made my whole body relax, every knot of tension melting away — my spine literally tingled with the release.
Kind of sleepy...
"By the way, Miss Noah, you're wearing an artifact over your face. Does something about it chafe?"
"...No. I wear it merely to conceal my appearance."
"Is that so? Ah — Miss Lena, are you satisfied with party life at the moment? If you wished, I could introduce you to a much better party."
"...Don't need it. I like Mister and Unni."
"Hm... time does grow short... eh, no matter. There are plenty of substitutes anyway."
Something was off.
Zeres's patter, which until now had consisted entirely of questions that circled around, had blown past directness straight into the territory of outright rudeness.
Ah... well, I suppose that's how a Branch Master might talk?
I couldn't quite tell anymore.
Then Zeres turned his questions on me.
"Mr. Ha Jun. Might you have any interest in power?"
Out of nowhere.
I answered honestly.
"Power... sure. Who wouldn't?"
"Exactly! But the power one can accumulate as a mere guild member has its limits, you know."
"...Does it? Aren't high-ranked guild members granted a fair amount of authority?"
"Certainly, working for an established guild earns you more standing than one of those scattered [Associations] that amount to so much riffraff... but even so, there's a ceiling."
The Guild was a supranational organization founded by agreement among many nations to fend off the threat of monsters. It was granted a measure of authority, sure — but that authority extended no further than protecting itself. Set against the true power held by the nobility, it fell short in every way that mattered.
Having said as much, Zeres smiled brightly and added, as if in passing:
"...Just imagine. Imagine that everything Mr. Ha Jun has built could be snatched away in a single instant by the whim of some noble or royal."
"Could that... actually happen?"
"Why ever not? Ah — you've heard about the noble children abducted from the inner city recently, haven't you? The heretic cult is almost certainly involved. Now, if the lord of Bolston truly set his mind to it, he could requisition the entire guild branch and throw every one of us into the war against the cult."
"..."
"Astonishing, isn't it! Nobles of high rank or above have the legal right to requisition guild assets for [official reasons]. Interpreting 'official reasons' too liberally would invite a backlash, of course... but a Count could manage it easily enough."
...It was hard to believe. But the guild's Branch Master hardly had reason to be leisurely spinning lies to my face.
As I listened to Zeres, an unease began to swell inside my chest—
Crack!
"Ugh!"
The moment something buzzed sharply near my heart, my mind snapped wide awake.
This was... Obsidian, pressed against my skin inside my breast pocket, fighting back against something unknown.
The dagger pulsed faintly in time with my breathing. My sluggish mind jolted as if splashed with cold water, then scattered and shrieked in every direction.
"Hm? Is something the matter?"
"No. Nothing at all. So... what was it you wished to say?"
...Every circumstance made it clear that Zeres had done something to us.
I forced myself to keep up the act of drowsy eyes and listless manners as I continued talking with him.
"The point I'm making is this: everything you currently enjoy is nothing more than a house built on sand — an anxious thing that could collapse at any moment."
"...That's true. It really is unsettling, when you put it that way."
"Which is exactly why I offer promising guild members like yourselves another path — one that leads to real, tangible power. And as it happens, a golden opportunity has just presented itself."
"What kind of...?"
"The Imperial Capital. You've heard the news, I trust. At present, the Imperial Capital is..."
Zeres began casually airing the inner politics of the Imperial Capital — topics the guild considered outright taboo. According to him, the First Prince and Second Prince were locked in a war of nerves at a razor's edge, their factions so evenly matched that even the slightest bit of aid would be gratefully welcomed by either side.
After holding forth on the situation in the capital for quite some time, Zeres tipped his hand and openly championed the Second Prince.
"Personally, I'd recommend His Highness the Second Prince. Unlike the First, he has the makings of a truly enlightened ruler."
"Isn't that terribly risky...?"
"Life itself is nothing but a series of risky choices, my friend. Would you rather spend your days trudging through dungeons you can never leave once you enter, or ruins where human lives fly away like flies... or would you rather place a single, well-made bet?"
"That's... certainly true."
"You're young now, so you can't feel it, but a human's prime is short. Ten years at most? The money you earn is substantial... but look at how much you spend. And the expensive weapons you buy break the moment you turn your back. Live like that, and by the time you're old, the money left in your hands is a pittance."
It was clearly no longer some psychic technique at work — and yet, the more I listened, the strangely convincing it became.
Not that I was moving through this world for money's sake.
Zeres pressed on.
"An opportunity to intervene in a power struggle in the Imperial Capital like this is extraordinarily rare. If you play even a small part in putting him on the throne, I guarantee you — a Countship would be no dream."
"Do you believe the odds are good?"
"Haha. Do you think your party is the only one I'm making this offer to? Do you know how strong the people who do the guild's dirtiest work truly are? Gather enough of them together, and the so-called knights become a laughingstock. Well? Are you tempted? If you wish, I can even arrange introductions."
"..."
...
Zeres painted a future of roses, but of course I had zero intention of accepting the offer.
Was I insane? Jump into a fight for the throne?
Even if the prince I backed won, nothing guaranteed I'd survive the war itself. At best, I'd be used as a pawn on the chessboard and discarded.
But how the hell do I turn this down...?
Noah and Lena, hit by whatever that unknown technique was, were already nodding along to Zeres's arguments as though they'd swallowed them whole. Any moment now they'd start urging me to agree.
I racked my brain desperately for a way to refuse this proposal as naturally as possible.
At this point, if I suddenly acted like my normal self, Zeres would instinctively know his little game had been discovered — and he'd shower me with every disadvantage at his disposal.
Until the day I died.
If the Branch Master sets his mind to sabotage, there's no answer to it. What do I do... Ah!
A good idea struck.
Keeping my face suitably hazy, I hesitated, then opened my mouth.
"I'm... afraid that won't be possible..."
"Hm? Why ever not?"
"It's just... I had a lesson with the Fist King today..."
"Ah — yes, I did hear about that. Did something go wrong?"
Zeres looked bewildered at this sudden turn toward the Fist King.
I did my best to look terrified as I answered his question.
"...The Fist King has taken a liking to me and Lena. She says we're to come to her house every single day."
"Tch. That woman, all muscle and no sense... So, how long is this to go on?"
"I don't know. *Sob*... Branch Master! Can't I report this to the guild? I got beaten half to death again today!"
I showed Zeres my arm — bruised from practicing Kaya's mana manipulation on my own. Noah had treated it, but out of sheer laziness I hadn't removed the bandages yet, so the blood-spotted wrappings looked convincingly real.
Zeres clutched his head, clearly pained by the headache.
"Haah... well... the Fist King is... simply that kind of person. This isn't something the guild can resolve. My apologies."
"Just as I thought!"
"Try to endure for a week or so. Her interest will fade on its own."
"Ughh..."
"In that case, we'll leave word with the Second Prince for later. The Fist King is the sort who'd haul you off personally if need be. Let's say... we meet again in a week."
Not that any of it would matter by then.
Zeres muttered under his breath, so quietly it was barely audible.
It won't matter? What's that supposed to mean?
Having apparently lost interest, Zeres spoke halfheartedly and rose from his seat.
"Let's end today's interview here. Everyone, off to work. And of course — what happened today stays a secret."
""Yes.""
Noah and Lena, still wearing dazed expressions, answered in unison. Sensing my cue, I chimed in and agreed with Zeres's command-shaped remark as well.
One last time, Zeres shook hands with each of us.
Whooosh!
Unlike the first handshake, this time I could distinctly feel something draining out of my body.
So that's what he'd been doing with the handshakes!
After finishing his handshake with me, Zeres tilted his head for a moment.
"...Hm? A rather strong resistance, is he? That was close."
Click.
He muttered some nonsense under his breath, but thankfully said nothing more by the time we made it out of the office.
The Fist King excuse seemed to have worked rather well.
Just how much of a degenerate would she have to be out there, for everyone to take it at face value?