Vier's Day Off

"Hey... So, I heard some rumors about the Vise Guild Master getting arrested due to suspicion of embezzling the budget for the entrance exam food. Is that true?"

"Ehh?... How did you know that? That's supposed to be a secret among the Guild's staff."

Two suspicious individuals sit at a table in a corner inside a certain restaurant.

While waiting for the food they have ordered to arrive they continue their conversation about the latest rumors circulating within the Adventurers Outpost Town.

One of the suspicious individuals is a Guild's staff working at Adventurers' Guild.

While the other is an Adventurer with a deep hatred towards the Vise Guild Master.

Both of them are working together to bring vengeance to that immature old for the crime he has committed and have the fist of justice strike the Vise Guild Master's face.

"Enough with the joke, Ms. Vier!... Tell me how did you know about the Vise Guild Master Norm getting arrested due to embezzlement? Are you saying that there's a Guild's staff who's leaking information within the Guild?"

"Ugh!... No. I didn't hear it from a Guild's staff, Ms. Klea."

"Then how did you know?"

"Ummm... I have my ways... And it's a secret."

Jokes aside, it's not two suspicious individuals but Ms. Klea and I who are sitting at the corner table inside a restaurant waiting for the food we ordered to arrive.

I invited Ms. Klea today during her lunch break at a restaurant near the Adventurers' Guild. Of course, it's my treat.

After all, it's my way, or should I say our way, of saying thank you for her help to our group when we first arrived here at the Floating Island of Liber, along with her support in our preparation in the recent Adventurers' Academy Entrance Exam.

It's my day off today, so I figured it was the best time to treat Ms. Klea to a meal.

It's totally not because I have a hidden motive. I'm not looking for someone to tell me about what happened to that report that I anonymously sent to the Accounting department of the Adventurers' Guild about my conspiracy of the immature old man Vise Guild Master embezzling the budget for the entrance exam food.

Yep!... Definitely not!

"Ms. Vier... Are you perhaps the anonymous person who sent that embezzling report against the Vise Guild Master to the Accounting department of the Adventurers' Guild?"

"Ack!... Of course, not!... It's not like I have a deep hatred against that immature... I mean the Vise Guild Master because of that mouth-drying, jawbreaking, almost expired food given as provisions during the entrance exam... It's totally not me, Ms. Klea."

"Sigh!..."

Ms. Klea took a long sigh of disbelief after listening to everything that I said.

Then she looked at me with a sharp glare and asked the same question in a serious voice.

"It's you, isn't it, Ms. Vier?"

"Of course, not..."

...BAMM!...

"Don't lie!"

Ms. Klea smacked his right hand at the table, making a loud crashing sound as she demanded for me to tell the truth.

Not that I'm going to admit it though.

"It's really not me! Besides, why would you think that's it me in the first place?"

"Because aside from the fact that you know about the Vise Guild Master being arrested, which is supposed to be a secret within the Guild, that phrase, mouth-drying jawbreaking almost expired food, was also written in that anonymous report."

Ugh!... That totally slipped my mouth. I should have never said that.

"So are you going to admit now, Ms. Vier?"

"Nope!... It's really not me... Definitely not me... Ha,ha,ha..."

Even if you glare at me like that, Ms. Klea. I'm not going to admit that it was me.

All that you would get from me is my awkward fake smile and my sarcastic laugh.

"Sheesh... I guess it's fine if you don't want to admit it. It's not like you did a bad thing after all."

Yep!... That's right. I didn't do anything bad. The one at fault here is surely that immature old man Vise Guild Master.

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"So tell me. What happened to the Guild Master after being arrested?"

Back to my hidden motive, I continued questioning Ms. Klea after the food that we ordered arrived at our table.

"Sigh... Fine, I guess it's all right to tell you since you're the one who made that anonymous report."

Nope!... It's really not me... Definitely not me.

While we were eating our food, a burger steak for me, not the kid's meal version, of course, and a roast beef rice bowl for Ms. Klea, she continued telling about the events that happened after the Vise Guild Master's arrest.

According to Ms. Klea, after a certain amount of beating led by the Ice Queen of the Accounting department, the Vise Guild Master finally admitted the truth to his embezzlement.

"Vise Guild Master Norm didn't actually embezzle the budget for the entrance exam food. Instead, he allocated 75 percent of the entrance exam food budget towards the Insurance funds."

"Insurance funds?"

"Are you not familiar with the Insurance funds, Ms. Vier?"

"Mhm!..."

That's my first time hearing about that phrase so I'm quite curious and confused about what it means.

"The Insurance funds is a budget set aside to compensate the families of Guild's staff in case an unfortunate incident happened during a Guild's quest."

"Like a Guild's staff dying during a Guild's quest?"

"Well, that's the worst case but yes, something like that."

"So the Vise Guild Master didn't actually embezzle?"

"That's right... However, the Guild Master also admits that he is indeed planning to embezzle 75 percent of the entrance exam food budget if no one claims the Insurance funds after the entrance exam."

"See!... I knew it... That immature old man is really doing something bad behind the scenes!"

"So it's really you who sent that anonymous report!"

"Ugh!..."

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While we're eating our dessert, an ice cream for me and a weird ice-chilled mixed fruits dessert for Ms. Klea, she continues telling about the punishment that the Vise Guild Master received due to his attempt at embezzlement.

According to Ms. Klea, the Vise Guild Master is being forced to eat all the remaining mouth-drying, jawbreaking, almost expired food as his breakfast, lunch, and dinner while he's working at his office in the Adventurers' Guild.

"Isn't that quite a lenient punishment?... I mean the Vise Guild Master is planning an embezzlement."

"Well, the Vise Guild Master Norm is a good person so he's probably planning to use that money for the greater good..."

What the heck is the greater good?... A crime is a crime, no matter what kind of weapon you use to commit a crime.

"Huh?... What's with that irritated face of yours, Ms. Vier?"

Ms. Klea stopped eating her weird ice-chilled mixed fruits dessert upon noticing how irritated I was.

"I'm telling you, Ms. Vier. The Vise Guild Master Norm might be quite irritating most of the time, but he is a good person."

I guess Ms. Klea understands the reason for my irritation. However, even if she is the one who said it, I'm not going to believe that the Vise Guild Master is a good person.

"Besides, thanks to the Vise Guild Master allocating the 75 percent of entrance exam food budget to the Insurance funds, Mikael's family, who will receive it, will get more money... Ahh!..."

Ms. Klea immediately covered her mouth with her hands upon realizing what she just said. But she's already too late.

After all, I already understood what she meant.

"So something bad happens to Mr. Mikael after all... Tell me, Ms. Klea... Is it our fault?..."

"Wait, wait, wait... Please don't cry, Ms. Vier..."

"Sob...Sob...Sob... Is it because I tried to shoot his irritating face with my Double-Barrel_Shotgun?"

"What?... Wait!... It's not your fault at all... I can't explain it since it's confidential but it's not your group or your fault... So please don't cry, Ms. Vier."

"...Sob... Thanks, Ms. Klea."