Vol.4 Ch.70-Negotiations.

"This is a nice office, Mr. Chidell."

I did have to admire what Dominick has done with the space. This must have been some commanding officer's study at some point. Instead of the drab military ambiance, I imagined this room had once upon a time, it was surprisingly cozy.

Fine dark brown wooden shelves filled with guild ledgers lined the stone walls of the office. Warm fuzzy carpets made from some kind of monster fur covered the ugly stone floor. The best part of the room had to be that Dominick had ordered a large portion of the stone wall to be cut out, allowing a simple glass window to be inserted. If you peered out from the window, you could see down onto the busy street from the second floor of the office.

Dominick browsed the shelf and pulled out a stack of papers while walking over to his desk. Seated at the head of the room and in front of the window was a desk carved out of a chunk of some black stone. It had swirling designs and looked like a kind of black marble. This desk seemed to be designed for a statement rather than functionality. I guess even Dominick enjoys the finer things in life sometimes.

He took his seat in a tall leather back chair and nodded to himself as much as to me while double-checking his paperwork. Although Dominick was the manager of a major guild now, a guild entirely made up of people who were mostly trained monster killers or people hunters, the man himself didn't strike me as the adventurer type. And as far as I could tell, he wasn't even a mage.

"I've worked hard for all of this, so I'm happy that you like it," the man finally said.

"Confident, I see," Sylvia remarked.

"Yes, and I was always told not to be sorry for your success. None of this was given to me. I earned it all with my own hands. I'm the youngest guild manager in history now, as of last month. I have one of the highest quest success rates on the continent." Dominick waved his hand dismissively. "I doubt you are here to listen to me ramble about my accomplishments. Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Dominick slid me a stack of papers and motioned me to give them a read. I grabbed the first paper and at the top, it was dated, stamped, and signed by Ilme. It was a dungeon report. A report on the dungeon that I had nearly perished in.

I started with Ilme's and worked my way through all of them. It took me a few minutes, but part of me had to be sure. I had to be certain that there was no behind-the-scenes betrayal. But my worries were unfounded.

"All of their reports are accurate. I have nothing to dispute," I said.

"That's good to hear. And Ms. Sylvia? Anything you would like to add?" Dominick asked.

"None. I didn't read anything I wouldn't have written," she said, slapping the paper down onto the desk.

Dem, Ilme, Alce, Anna, and Silent had all written accurate reports. They wrote down the events as they truly happened, and they didn't shy away from talking about our supposed deaths. All of them seemed to have believed we perished from the Wyrm. Hell, most of them thought I had died instantly from its attack.

They also all believe the Wyrm to be the guardian of the dungeon. Which means there would be no way I could prove I cleared the dungeon without killing it. It seems turning in the Wyrm was a smart move… as long as we get something out of it.

"Good…good, then there are no issues there. However, I must address the topic… how are you two alive? I don't mean to doubt your survival. I'm sure it was nothing short of a nightmare experience."

"We cleared the dungeon," I stated simply.

"You cleared… the dungeon?" Dominick rubbed his ears and gave me a weird look. "Sorry, it seems I must be getting old. What did you say?"

"He said we cleared the dungeon," Sylvia shot back in annoyance.

I shoved my hand into my pocket, and a perfect pale yellow crystal appeared out of thin air. It was big enough that it flowed over my hand, but the crystal wasn't that heavy. Dominick's eyes looked as if they were about to fall out of his skull as I brought it out.

"That is! That is a dungeon core! One of the purest dungeon cores I've ever seen!" Dominick burst out from his seat and slowly crept his hand towards the crystal but I snatched it away.

"No touching," I said while wagging a finger.

"The guild must have that… No, they need that crystal. I'll purchase it from you! Name your price!" Dominick shouted.

I don't like that kind of rhetoric. But now I know the rough worth of this dungeon core.

"This isn't for sale. Never will it ever be, so don't ask again. And no, there is nothing you can offer me to change my mind. If anything, I hope that this crystal will stay a secret between us? I wouldn't want any of this information leaking out."

Dominick winced and slipped back into his chair. My tone was even, but I was definitely threatening the man.

He nervously adjusted his suit and cleared his voice from the excitement. "I assure you I take these matters seriously. I did not reach my current status by betraying my adventurers' trust. If it's not written on paper, then nothing shall leave this room. You have my word."

"Is your word really good enough? People would start a war over this, I imagine?" Sylvia huffed.

"You are mostly correct. But if you possess the strength to clear such a dungeon that means I stand little chance against you two. And the way you are talking makes me feel like you have something in mind, so may I ask what that is?"

Smart man. Guess I should stop trying to play this kind of game with him. Dominick is clearly far more skilled than Sylvia and me in this department.

"It seems you've seen right through me. I do indeed have another offer. You see, I have a good portion of the adult Wyrm's corpse that we killed. Including the head."

"How would you even…" I could see the gears maxing out in Dominick's head as he tried to piece together what I was saying.

"The how doesn't matter. Just know that I have it. I am willing to make a deal with you. I'll sell you half of the Wyrm for ranking the two of us up to Sapphire," I suggested.

"Sapphire?!" Dominick shouted.

His earlier business-like manner was melting away, and quickly at that. I guess Sylvia was right when she said Wyrms were big money. On the other hand, offering the corpse of a monster that was related to dragons was just too tantalizing of an offer, even for Dominick.

Dominick started shaking his head. "I can't do that. I don't have the authority to promote someone to Sapphire. It would require you to go to a capital city. And you said sell? That sounds like robbery…"

"Maybe, but I have the corpse. The guild normally has a monopoly on monster parts, but I could sell a Wyrm to anyone with the means to purchase it. Even Whieland might buy the corpse straight from me," I said with a slight shrug.

Dominick clicked his tongue in frustration. "You wouldn't."

"Do you take me for being a fool? I know how much this thing is worth," I lied.

I don't know how much this corpse is worth, just that it's a lot.

"I can't do Sapphire for either of you. Especially for Ms. Sylvia who isn't even an adventurer, it's just not possible. And doing this all on top of paying full price for the Wyrm isn't realistic in the slightest. Surely you understand, Mr. Winterheart?"

"Maybe…" I trailed off. "But is negotiating for guild rank ups a common occurrence? Seems sort of shady…"

Dominick closed his eyes and wracked his brain for a few seconds in silence until he opened them once more with a look of determination. "You are acting like this is a common occurrence… Fine, I am willing to make a deal. I can, at the most, rank you both up to Amethyst. And only if you accept a 60% cut on the total sale of the Wyrm."

"You just said I was robbing you? A 60% cut on the sale for only a promotion to Amethyst? You must think we are the stupidest Elves on the planet. I can not accept that," I snapped.

Dominick grunted and threw himself deeper into his leather chair. "Give me a second…"

Time dragged on for a while as Dominick stared at the wall in silence. Eventually, he came to a conclusion. "If your earlier thinly veiled threat of leaking information means anything, you are somewhat worried about this information becoming public. First, I can not, with my own power, make any of you Sapphire-ranked adventurers. If I were to promote the both of you to Ruby regardless of your undeniable skills, it would bring forth an unstoppable wave of problems. Even more so with Ms. Sylvia. It is unheard of for somebody to be ranked so high without the backing of a country or some kind of fame to their name. It will cause a commotion, to say the least. Not only that, the second I turned in the paperwork, all eyes would turn to the three of us. We would be interviewed… investigated… everything you can imagine and more. Do you see my problems?"

"Sucks to be you," Slyvia chuckled.

Dominick returned a self-defeated chuckle. "It appears so." He sat taller in his chair and nodded firmly. "But I am willing to compromise if you two are as well. I can promote you to Ruby, Mr. Winterheart, and Ms. Sylvia to Topaz. Putting her any higher would draw too much attention. At Topaz, I can negate most if not all of the prying eyes. Anything higher would just be a risk for all of us. And if 60% is too much… how does 50% sound?"

"Make it 45%, and we will consider it," Sylvia yawned.

"That is… acceptable, on one condition," Dominick said.

"That condition being?" I asked.

"A favor. I want a single favor from both of you. I have nothing in mind currently, and I'm not even sure I will be able to claim such an important favor in my lifetime. But I want one from both of you, and I shall accept the 45% price slash."

I looked over to Sylvia, and she merely shrugged at me, giving me full rein to decide. If I had to be honest, I think this is a pretty good deal. Missing out on 45% of the money from the sale sucks but jumping three whole adventure ranks for me is a big deal.

Ruby-ranked adventurers are considered to be far above the average adventurer, veterans who have survived the hellish world of being an adventurer. It would make skirting by most places a breeze.

Leaving Sylvia out of the rewards was unfortunate, but as long as one of us possessed the benefits, we should both be able to reap the profits. And Dominick was right. Drawing unwanted attention was not ideal for either of us.

Then again… turning in an adult Wyrm was probably going to draw a lot of attention anyways. Perhaps we should do it in a more private place if possible?

"I'll agree. However, I must tell you that if your favor is unacceptable, I hold the right to refuse it. If you ask us to join a war or commit a crime or anything along those lines, I will deny you and nullify your favor. Understood?" I said seriously.

"That is agreeable. I would never ask you to do those types of things anyway. So let me be sure of what we are agreeing on. Ms. Sylvia will join the guild at Topaz, and you will be ranked at Ruby. You are willing to accept a 45% cut of your sale to the guild for half of the Wyrm along with a personal favor from each of you. This is all, of course, if you actually have the corpse. I don't think you are one to lie, but I must say all of this just so we are clear."

"No problems. I'm surprised you didn't ask to see it in the first place," I said.

"Well, under normal circumstances, I would have, but after seeing that dungeon core… you having the corpse of the Wyrm that you supposedly almost killed you doesn't surprise me at all," Dominick chuckled.

Both of us nodded in agreement, and a wide relieved smile broke out on Dominick's face. The manager extended a hand for us to shake, and I let Sylvia go first, then I shook it next.

"The guild will be covering the butchering fees, right?" I said cheerfully.

Sweat beaded down Dominick's face as he tried to retract his hand from me but I just kept shaking it. I wasn't hurting him, just holding on to him… for a long time.

"Ah, yes… of course. Consider it a gift on my behalf for surviving such a difficult endeavor. Of course, I will be needing a report on that but we can handle that business at a later date. I'm glad the two of you made it out alive, Mr. Winterheart…" Dominick said nervously. "Ah, and Ms.Sylvia we can do orientation right—"

"I'm not sitting through a two-hour talk so you can dish out a bunch of rules for me that I don't care about. So forget it," Sylvia huffed while turning to leave the room.

"Certainly… I'll just have Mr. Winterheart teach you then…" Dominick said with a sigh.

"Thank you, Mr. Chidell. I also have one more thing I need to ask of you."

The man's nervousness turned into dread, but only for a second until I gave him a pat on the shoulder. "No need to worry. I just want to get an update on the mail I sent last year, that's all."

Relief washed over Dominick. "Yes, of course. I'll look up the status right away."

Sylvia and I were led to an outside area behind the guild. It was a large sandpit and there were some adventurers who were sparring with each other. It must have been a place for officers to train, considering how it was constructed. There was ample shade and resting areas, things that would never exist for the common soldier.

Snow had begun to fall, and it peppered the yellow sand, so I was surprised to see a good amount of people training. I guess adventurers never rest regardless of the seasons. Monsters come out in winter just like any other time of the year, and since people are less likely to be out and about, it lets monsters push closer to populated areas.

Dominick sent one of his subordinates to check on the status of my mail. It's been over a year since I sent my letter to my family and to the rangers back home, so there should be at least some news. While we waited for his runner, Dominick had the sandpit and the entire area around it locked down, sending all the adventurers inside and posting up guards and employees to stop people from getting a look.

Dominick began instructing us to bring the Wyrm here however, after a bit of coaxing, we managed to convince him that there was no need to wait and he should assemble his team immediately.

Dominick agreed, and once the lingering adventurers were cleared out, Sylvia promptly dropped the Wyrm corpse out into the sandpit. Dominick looked equal parts, surprised and annoyed. I believe he put a healthy amount of trust into the adventurers under him so he probably didn't think we were lying about having the Wyrm corpse.

But I don't believe he was expecting it to materialize out of thin air. This also confirmed that Sylvia had a spatial storage ring big enough to hold a dead Wyrm, part of one at least.

It's okay if her ring becomes knowledge. People are looking for a stolen ring on a Dark Elf boy. Not a High Elf girl.

The monster that had nearly taken my life now rested silently in the sand. Snow gently fell onto the white and gold speckled scales and Dominick merely watched in silence. Even though it wasn't even a quarter of the monster's true size, it was almost as tall as the building and took up the entire training ground.

This was the type of monster that, if it found its way into the city, the unimaginable amount of damage and loss of life it would inevitably cause would be enough to turn anyone's hair gray. Most cities might even fall just to this creature alone.

And yet it perished at the hands of a drugged-up Elven child tossing magic around and an ancient teenage vampire using even older magic. It's good that only the void exists after death because I'm sure that Wyrm would be rolling in its grave.

Soon enough, the area began buzzing with activity as more curious adventurers tried taking a peek past the guild employees standing guard. Surprised outbursts turned into mumbling, then into loud chattering. I swear I even heard somebody scream. The head of the Wyrm was out in the open and the corpse was fresh because of the spatial ring. If one was just to give it a passing glance, they might think it was still alive.

As long as they don't see us in this corner, all is well.

Although it took over an hour, making their way through the throngs of curious and blocked adventurers was the team assembled to butcher the Wyrm. The group consisted of burly men of all different kinds of races carrying everything from picks to actual spears. They quickly set to work but watching them was amusing, to say the least.

If I couldn't even so much as scratch this Wyrm with a cobalt sword I highly doubted that Beastmen was going to do much with an iron pickaxe. And to nobody's surprise, they were all struggling hilariously. From beside me, Sylvia was chuckling to herself as well.

Keeping the corpse as it would have been was useless. There is no way Sylvia and I could have done this alone. Having the Wyrm in pieces will make it easier when the time comes to… I don't know… make something?

Part of me wanted to help them, but the other part of me was enjoying this too much. And I knew for a fact that I couldn't butcher the Wyrm, so I figured I'd leave it to these "professionals." Dominick merely sighed to himself and allowed things to transpire. That was until a very different group of people showed up.

Five short statued and wide bodies Dwarves marched into the sandpit, eyes gleaming with excitement. One of the more eager Dwarves was salivating, and I can only hope it was because of the job he was about to embark on and not the dead corpse. Then again, those things might be the same thing in his mind.

Unlike the random ensemble of burly men, these Dwarves came prepared. Their tools were made of stronger stuff and nearly every single one of them was tipped with a pitch-black metal. Most of those tools must have Mythril tips which in theory should be able to butcher this dead monster. Combine that with the craftsmanship these Dwarves undoubtedly possessed, and I imagine it would take no time at all.

Before I could watch, a guild employee handed me an envelope, so I cracked it open and read the contents. It was a periodic log of my mail over the last year. Adventurers would bring these kinds of records from one guild to another to keep things updated.

Seems my mail has had some… difficulties. Three dead carriers, four lost in transit, and a whole host of problems. But that was to be expected. Mail moving across the continent was bound to be attacked by both man and monster alike.

Thankfully despite these setbacks, the most recent log showed that a courier had successfully delivered my message to the guild branch in Ostela two months ago. Which meant that there was a good chance my message was already crossing or had already crossed the ocean… the most dangerous and challenging part of the journey.

Regardless it would arrive eventually. I imagined in a few months' time somebody would finally get it. And then people would know that Kaladin Shadowheart was still alive. The people that mattered anyways…

Home has never seemed so close yet so far. But, it's only a matter of time. I was almost tempted to backtrack and just try to force my way through Sandervile and Ostela but… that would be a mistake.

I looked up from reading all the logs, and Sylvia had wandered off while the Dwarves were directing the group now. As a collective, they were making headway in the butchering process. It would still take them a few hours, but it's not like we could just leave the corpse unattended.

I didn't doubt Dominick's honor, but everyone else required a watchful eye. I was guaranteed that security would be tight and all the workers would be thoroughly checked after completing the job, but one can never be too safe. If I can get away with hiding stuff in a storage ring then I'm sure somebody else can as well.

The morning turned to noon, and the workers needed to take a break. After about three hours of labor, they had successfully butchered about 50% of the Wyrm… on one side. However, it was going to take another two or three hours since they had started from the wound end and not the head.

"Take a look at this," Sylvia said while floating a piece of paper in my face. "I also got all of our supplies bought. So we can pick them up before we leave along with my tag."

"They giving us a rush order?" I asked while taking the paper.

I could see Sylvia's eye smile behind her mask. "Mr. Chidell can be a kind man sometimes. Your Ruby status is already paying for itself," she said playfully.

I sighed at her mischievousness. "Don't torture the poor guy. He did help us."

"I know. I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done," she giggled.

I'm not certain about many things, but I know for a fact I should not be a barometer for people's morals.

I simply shrugged my shoulders and gave the paper a look. It was an Opal guild quest for… a guard at a farm? We were expected to be able to stay days at a time outside in the winter. Protect cattle and the farm. All food and board are included on top of pay. Have to spend the winter on site. And to top it all off, you have to pass an in-person interview.

"Sylvia, we barely meet these requirements. I can't even accept this quest at my rank anymore. It also calls for one adventurer, not two."

Not to mention we have to pass an interview. I sure as hell wouldn't hire two masked High Elves to live in the same house as me…

"Can't hurt to try, right? Mr. Chidell said it was fine for us to accept it. Apparently, the guy has turned down every adventurer that has gone out for the interview. The ranch is a few hours outside of town so we might as well give it a try since it's on the way."

"And how long do you think this is going to take, Mr. Chidell?" I asked as he approached.

"At this rate, they will be continuing past nightfall. Although I must admit, you will not make it to Mr. Pruit's ranch in time. "

"We won't be able to go shopping today either…" Sylvia griped.

"Seems there isn't much of a choice then."

I didn't want to spend any nights in this city if I could help it. But it seems time is working against us. So one night shouldn't hurt?

"Most of the inns in town will already be filled due to winter. However, I can give you one of our rooms here at the guild, free of charge of course," Dominick offered.

"Perks of being a Ruby adventurer already paying off again?" Sylvia teased.

"My lucky day…"

Dominick settled down on the bench next to me, mindlessly watching the butchering crew. I wonder…

"Why did you want to become a guild manager?" I asked.

Dominick gave me a side-eye with an eyebrow raised. Maybe he was trying to gauge some unknown meaning behind my words but I really didn't have one.

"When I was young, a Troll attacked my village. I'll never forget watching it turn my older brother into— actually I'll spare you the details. Just know it was a quick death. I didn't even get a chance to blink the image away it happened so quickly," he said solemnly. His voice was devoid of any emotion.

Dominick took a deep breath and his shoulders slumped but he didn't seem frustrated or anything, just cold. I was going to ask if he wanted to stop but he continued talking.

"At that moment, I was completely frozen with despair. I believed that my life was about to end and there was nothing I could do to change that fact. I had already accepted my fate. But then a group of adventurers showed up. A Dwarven man with a long gray beard jumped onto the back of the troll and shoved his ax into the monster's eye. My despair turned to admiration then overwhelming joy. I knew at that moment I wanted to do something similar for other people the same way that Dwarf did something for me. I believed I wanted to be an adventurer…"

"But?" Sylvia asked quietly.

"But I realized I didn't have what it took. I can barely enhance myself with mana for more than five minutes a day. I'm not gifted with swords or a bow. Physically speaking I'm below average. You might be thinking I just gave up but I really did try. I trained every day for four years but I couldn't even beat the retired soldier in my village."

"But you didn't give up, did you?" I said.

Dominick chuckled to himself. "No, I didn't. I figured if I couldn't help people with my body then I would help them in another way. Instead of training my body, I trained my mind. I spent another three years working and saving money so I could go away to school. I barely managed to save enough money to study for a single year at some small school in Ostella. But in that single year, I did everything possible, I read every book on finance and management. I took as many classes as my school would allow and absorbed every bit… of… uh, information…"

Dominick stopped talking and looked over at us in surprise. He cleared his throat and stood up a little straighter. "That probably wasn't what you wanted to hear, I apologize. Long story short I couldn't be an adventurer so I decided to help adventurers instead. Through those adventurers, I could help other people the same way that man did."

"That's really kind of you. Did you ever get to meet that Dwarf?" Sylvia asked with a surprising amount of warmth in her voice.

A glint of sadness passed through Dominick's dark brown eyes. "No, I never did. Once I joined the guild I ended up pulling his records up so I could find him. He died a year after he saved me. I stopped looking adventurers up after that."

"Oh… I'm sorry," Sylvia murmured awkwardly.

Never imagined that's how things went down. I sort of figured Dominick was an average kind of guy but it seems he is far more interesting than I had imagined.

I suppose you never truly understand someone unless you ask.