Chp.29: The guildmaster and the head of the city guard

It took the group nearly an hour to collect everything the bandits had stolen. They had a very large booty, consisting mainly of food, coins, jewels, clothes and other precious objects. However there was no problem for the transport thanks to the dimensional bags: the dragons had brought with them all the bags they had left over and had put inside them only the strictly necessary (all their supplies had left them to their siblings), therefore they had plenty of room to spare. That loot obviously wasn't theirs: it would all be handed over to the adventurer guild, which would in turn hand it over to the relatives of the victims. As for animals like the cockatrice, they simply killed them; if anyone asked questions, they would say they hadn't found them.

That mission had been useful. While they hadn't found anything particularly valuable to keep for themselves, they had been able to test their avatars against human beings. Even though they'd used them against some animals before, facing a beast and facing a sentient being were two different things. That fight had exposed many flaws that they would think about fixing in the future.

Rhaegal remembered how Haku used every opportunity to experiment and gain more knowledge, so he had decided to imitate him, and so far it had paid off. He didn't have his brother's intuitive abilities or intelligence, but he was still a dragon and possessed an intelligence quotient higher than any other creature in the world, allowing him to locate, evaluate and calculate the information received in a very short time. He already had some ideas that could improve the next avatar; obviously he wasn't going to create a new one right away, as the one he currently had was more than enough to handle situations like that, but in the future he might need a more powerful avatar, and thanks to the experiences he had as an adventurer he could get many ideas on what add to the next one.

When they were done, the group returned to the city. As soon as they were there, Rhaegal immediately went to buy himself a new cloak, his previous one having been destroyed in the fire. Since he had so much money, he bought one that was protected by a fireproof spell. Rhaegal didn't care so much about his avatar's physical appearance (after all, clothing didn't make sense to dragons), but he felt more comfortable in it. To dragons, their tail was very important: not only it was fundamental for balance, but they often also used it as a display of beauty; but humans did not have tails, and indeed Rhaegal, Corgorin, and Serengal missed them. Although it wasn't the same thing so they had started wearing cloaks, so as to have the illusion of having an extension of the back and less missing the tail. It was a bit of a childish motivation, but after all they were currently no more than nine months old, so they could afford to be childish.

Having done this, they returned to the guild. It had emptied a bit since last time, since it was now late in the evening and therefore many adventurers had already made their way to the inns where they stayed, but they didn't care. What interested them immediately jumped to their eyes: the receptionist was in fact sitting at a table in the company of two individuals, and from the way they looked at them it was clear that they were waiting for them. "Excuse me, could you come here for a minute?" he called them.

"Of course" Rhaegal replied, and they all took their seats at the table. "I guess you want to tell us about our payment"

"That's right" the receptionist replied, then pointed to the man next to her. "This is Damian Eriktor, the guildmaster. I told him what happened today and he wanted to meet you"

Rhaegal looked the man. He was very short for a human; maybe he was a dwarf? With her avatar's limited sense of smell she couldn't tell if her smell was different from that of ordinary humans. He was rather stocky and had a very thick beard and hair, so that it reached halfway down his chest. "Nice to meet you. I'm Rhaegal Neytirison, and they're..."

"You don't need to introduce yourself, I already know your names. Elanya has told me a lot about you" the guildmaster replied.

'Oh, so the receptionist's name is Elanya? Well, who cares' Rhaegal thought.

Damian leaned slightly across the table. "Your sudden appearance has caused me quite a bit of trouble, Mr. Neytirison. You and your companions have brought an extraordinary number of bounties, and consequently as a guild we are forced to pay you, or our name would be tarnished. However, the money you are asking is too much. Not even if I emptied all my treasury could I pay you" he explained. "So here's my proposition. I've sent messengers to the guilds in nearby cities, informing them of the huge amount of loot you've brought. They will surely be willing to purchase a basilisk or even a great basilisk. I doubt any of them will pay for more than one, but since we will warn a lot of them, you will certainly be paid in less than a week"

Rhaegal fully understood the guildmaster's motives and thoughts. From what his 'cousin' had explained to him, the guild of adventurers kept its income stable by reselling the parts of killed animals to merchants (as well as making money on mercenaries and explorers). After all, every animal could be used: not only the meat, but also the fur, the bones and even the eyes; almost nothing was to be thrown away. However, there was a limit to how much merchants were willing to buy: if a single guild bought four basilisks and two great basilisks, it wouldn't be able to see them all again even within a year, and that would have resulted in a large loss. However, if other guilds bought those animals, the cost would be shared among everyone and no one would lose anything. "I'd say that's an acceptable plan" he replied after thinking about it. "But I have one condition"

Damian's expression hardened, but he didn't seem surprised. Evidently, he had figured he would have to negotiate. "I listen to you"

"My comrades and I will wait as long as necessary and make no protest. But that will only apply to the basilisks and the great basilisks" Rhaegal said. "As you well know, these two animals cost a total of 8,000 gold coins, and they are the ones that are most problematic for you. Therefore, for them, we will wait for you to contact the other guilds and convince them to buy them for us. as for the payment of the other animals and any other missions we carry out after that, they must take place immediately. Do you agree?"

Damian thought about it. Actually, those 8,000 gold coins were the biggest problem. It would have cost the guild a little to pay for all the other animals, but not that much, and they would have been easy to sell to merchants. If he remembered correctly, the total the guild owed those adventurers was 9,326 gold coins; eliminated those troublesome 8,000, only 1,326 remained, and since Elanya had already paid 500, the total she owed those adventurers was only 826 gold coins. It was an acceptable price. "No problem. I gladly accept" he said as his expression finally relaxed. "Elanya, go to the guild treasury and take their payment"

The receptionist nodded and stood up, walking to another room. Damian relaxed in his chair. "Forgive my bad manners, Mr. Neytirison, but I was afraid you would be more difficult to convince. Adventurers tend to be very... stubborn at times"

"Don't worry. I'm no economist, but I understand that such an amount is difficult to pay. And my sisters and I are the patient types" Rhaegal replied with a smile.

"You are really kind" The guildmaster looked quite at ease. "Can I ask you some questions?"

"Of course. Just ask"

"How did you manage to kill all those animals?"

"We didn't do it all at once actually. The ones I brought you are the result of years and years of training"

"Training? What kind of training?"

"Hunting. My sisters and I desired to achieve perfection as hunters, and so we decided to expose ourselves to dangerous training. We retired into nature and lived on what it provided. Over time we learned to knowing the weak points of each prey, and in the end it became easy for us to take down even a great basilisk. We took advantage of the recent crisis to kill a couple of them and four basilisks, obviously over the course of several months"

"If you had retreated away from civilization, how did you know about the crisis caused by the war?"

"We weren't completely isolated: my cousin Efren, whom you see here, knew where to find us. As soon as he knew about this opportunity he came to contact me, knowing that with my help it would be easy for him and his friends to earn a lot of money. So, after much thought about it, my sisters and I decided that the time for our training was over, and that we didn't mind becoming adventurers ourselves"

"I see. Where exactly are you from?"

"My sisters and I were born in Glaran, a village in the south of the kingdom. After growing up we spent some time wandering the country, then we retired to the Ramaron Wood, and there we began our training"

"What are your plans now?"

"Like I said, we don't mind being adventurers, so we might just follow in my cousin's footsteps and stay in the guild. However, we've only just begun this phase of our lives, so it's still too early to decide definitively if we like being adventurers"

Damian nodded. That story seemed very plausible to him. Many adventurers were eccentric people who created their own fighting styles in very unique ways, so it was not strange that some had retired into the woods to train. That would also explain why he hadn't come immediately to collect the bounties on his prey. While Rhaegal and his sisters looked strange, upon closer inspection they weren't all that unusual, at least not among adventurers.

Taking advantage of his silence, Rhaegal's gaze suddenly shifted to the man sitting next to the guildmaster. "Forgive me, but I can't help but wonder who you are. May I know your name?"

Unlike Damian, the man was quite tall and well-groomed. He had no beard, just a mustache as black as his hair. He wore civilian clothes, but it was clear that he was an extraordinary fighter as his posture and physique showed that he had undergone rigorous training. "Forgive me" he said in a deep voice. "It wasn't my intention to offend you, but given the situation I thought it best to let the guildmaster speak first. I am Garo Ormal, and I am the head of the Atharka city guard"

Rhaegal's eyes widened, as if surprised. "An army officer? Forgive me! I had no idea that..."

"You don't have to apologize. You just arrived in town, Mr. Neytirison, so you had no way of knowing me. It's my fault for not introducing myself" Garo assured him. "I came because the guildmaster had contacted me and told me about you"

Rhaegal nodded. "I understand. Are you two friends?"

"Not really, but we cooperate well with each other. Therefore, when I heard that some such incredible adventurers had appeared, I thought it was necessary to pay them a visit" Garo explained. "After all, I understand that you have accepted the mission to eliminate the Roschark gang. Know that I will be happy to have you by my side in battle. You may not know it yet, but we are assembling a group that..."

"Excuse me, but there won't be needed any battle" Rhaegal stopped him quickly. "Me and my party dealt with those bandits today"

Silence fell in the room. Both the guildmaster and the chief of the city guard said not a word for nearly half a minute. Then they both exclaimed: "What in the name of Heloisa are you saying!?"

"We have proof of that" Rhaegal said, and pulled Roschark's head from his dimensional pouch. "We also have the heads of all his bandits, as well as most of the things they stole"

Garo stared in shock at the severed head. That really was Roschark, there was no doubt about it! "How did you do it?" he asked suspiciously. From his point of view it was impossible to accomplish such a feat with only six people.

But Rhaegal smiled, as if he were talking about the simplest thing in the world. "People aren't very different from animals, Mr. Ormal. They have the same instincts and the same reactions. When put in a dangerous situation, they act the same way" he explained. "Imagine Roschark's gang as a pack. The weak point of a pack is that without directives from the pack leader the other members fall apart immediately. Therefore we devised a cunning trap: we couldn't defeat them by force, so we used intelligence. Roschark he had posted many sentinels around his lair, but we are very good at sneaking up, having spent years hiding to catch our prey.Once close enough, Efren, Carlos and Sarah, who you know are wizards, unleashed several explosions. This immediately sent the bandits into a panic, who were convinced they were under attack. If Roschark had been present, he would certainly have calmed down immediately... but my sisters and I had already gotten close enough to him and we cut off the heads of him and his second-in-commands before if they knew it. Without directives, the bandits panicked. At that point, we only had to free some of the animals they were holding captive to unleash total chaos. Taking advantage of this, we killed them one by one"

Damian and Garo listened to all the explanation with amazement. The man in front of them wasn't only an extraordinary adventurer, but also an incredible strategist! He and his companions had managed to accomplish a feat that the head of the city guard himself had considered impossible. They were truly extraordinary individuals!

Of course nothing of that story was true. Rhaegal had made this all up to hide the fact that he, Corgorin, and Serengal could reach the level adamantium immediately and when they wanted. He wasn't afraid of being found out: even if the guildmaster and the head of the city guard didn't believe him, they'd have nothing to prove he was lying. He had already exchanged his heart again for that of a normal level gold, and there were no witnesses of the battle.

Garo swallowed lightly. "You really are incredible people" he finally said. "Have you ever thought about joining the military? You are still young, so with the right training you could reach higher levels of strength. With your skills, it would not be difficult for you to climb the ranks and become an officer"

Rhaegal shook his head. "We've never really thought about it. But at the moment, we prefer to remain adventurers. Anyway, thank you for your advice, Mr. Ormal" he replied, then an evil smile was painted on his face. "Of course, since we've completed the mission, we expect to be paid. Normally I would ask the guildmaster, but since you are here and you placed that ad, I assume you can relieve him of his duty and pay yourself, right, Mr. Ormal?"

Garo realized that Rhaegal hadn't immediately revealed the success of their mission for a reason: he had wanted to make sure that Damian promised to pay all his future missions without making him wait. So that mission technically mattered as well. And since exterminate the Roschark's gang was worth 3,000 gold coins, there was no way the guild could pay right away. However, Garo would still pay the guild once the quest was completed, and the guildmaster would give the payment to the adventurers, so it really wouldn't have changed much. "Okay. Follow me, I'll take you to my house. I'll pay you personally"