The Adventurer’s Guild Triumvirate — Fear for Luciel’s Future

All guilds operated twenty-four hours a day, all three hundred and sixty days of this world’s year. Merratoni’s Adventurer’s Guild was no exception. The staff worked in shifts (mornings, evenings, and nights). But there were some who didn’t.

“Make sure you do your laps in the morning.”

“Yes, Master Brod!”

Luciel, having finished his dinner, went downstairs to his room.

“Wanna have a drink?” Brod called to Gulgar behind the counter.

Guilds didn’t normally stock alcohol, but being the guildmaster had its perks. The bet he had won a year ago over whether Luciel would manage to stomach Substance X played a large part in that privilege, too.

“Why not?” the wolf-man said. “By the way, Brod, you’re lookin’ spry lately. Or am I imaginin’ things?”

“I’m shocked, myself. Training that guy’s got my Martial Arts up to level eight. Can ya believe it?”

“Wow, that is somethin’. Look at Mister Whirlwind, the guy who climbed to S-rank with swords and Instant Movement, learning Martial Arts.”

“Tell me about it,” Brod replied with a quiet chuckle.

The strongest adventurer at the guild was typically the guildmaster, and Brod, the very peak of human ability and one of the few to have achieved S-rank, certainly fulfilled that requirement. He had actually retired along with his party members, Gulgar and Galba, just before hitting SS-rank, with the specific goal of training a successor. And it just so happened that a certain young healer, who had left the mess moments before, was currently at the front of all three of their minds.

The staff liked to say that when Luciel had shown up, he’d brought smiles with him on account of how much more chipper Brod and Gulgar had supposedly become.

“So, what’s Luciel think about all this?”

“Still just trying not to die, he says. That’s all. But I’m willing to bet he’s so hyper-focused on training, he’s got no time to think much about anything else.”

Gulgar sighed as if he had expected nothing less. “The guy’s been chugging the X for a while now, but you have any idea what it even does?”

“Beats me. Those old documents said the Sage of Time made the stuff. Supposed to make you sturdier and make your stats easier to boost. Hell if I know if it actually does, though.”

“Sure would be awkward to tell him he can stop at this point.”

Neither of the old friends knew that Substance X had to be continually imbibed in order to be effective. Only Luciel knew the truth, and he paid for it with mockery. They called his tongue “defective,” but Brod and Gulgar had stopped caring about that long ago.

“See any fruits from his labor yet?”

Brod hummed in thought. “He’s leagues better than his first day, don’t get me wrong, but still only on the level of an E- or F-rank.”

“I can’t get over how he keeps drinkin’ that stuff, though. If only there wasn’t such a nasty after-smell. I never get enough of that horrible face he makes when I hand ’im some while he’s chattin’ with Monica and Nanaella.”

“Don’t be too much of an ass to him. He’s at a sensitive age. We don’t wanna have to deal with a rebellious phase.”

“It’d be easiest if he’d go out with one of ’em so he’d stick around.”

“Right, but we’re not exactly matchmakers here.”

Luciel’s privileges and rights were practically on lockdown. Although they sympathized with his adolescence, they knew he wanted to become stronger. Forcing Substance X on him was cruel, but it was for his own good.

Galba made his entrance. “Hey, Brod, Gulgar, done with work today?”

“Hey. Appreciate your help,” Brod said.

“Oh, no, being guildmaster’s a much tougher job.”

“How’s it goin’, bro?” the younger wolf-man greeted his brother. “Ale?”

“Please.”

“So?” Brod urged.

“Right. Negotiations ended well. His life won’t be in danger once he leaves,” Galba reported.

“And who was behind it?”

“Bottaculli, taking a hands-on approach for a change. Also, I was awfully shocked to find out the head slave tried to start a coup d’état.”

“Huh. Sounds like a tough time.”

“So, what’s the plan now?” Gulgar asked.

“I hear the Healer’s Guild’s director found himself quite a bit of pocket change,” Galba answered, “so I think it’s about time for a certain someone to go bankrupt.”

“Never thought I’d see the day the Recluse got serious,” Brod cackled.

Galba’s job didn’t end at butchery. He worked from the shadows, gathering intel and evidence. In other words, espionage. In the past, he had even conducted assassinations.

“Luciel’s hiding something,” Galba said, “but he’s living as best he can. He’s a weirdo who came all the way to the Adventurer’s Guild just because he ‘doesn’t want to die.’ I can’t leave a kid like that out to dry.”

“You make a good point.”

“How ready you think he’ll be once these six months’re up?” Gulgar asked.

“Well, he’s still only level one. Maybe I can get ’im good enough to be able to hold his own against an E-rank fighter, at most. C-rank if he fights dirty. But I’m just talkin’ near-future stuff. He’s got a lot of potential, that kid.”

“Maybe...” Galba said thoughtfully, “I’ll teach him some things if he’s still the same a few years down the road.”

“You’d kill the guy.”

“It’d be fine. I don’t take to swinging blades at children like you do. I work differently. And I feel like he’s the type to find himself in trouble a lot, whether he likes it or not.”

“Your predictions are never good, but I’ll be damned if they aren’t always right.”

Gulgar interjected with his own concerns. “When d’ya think he’ll find himself some romance?”

“Huh?” The cook’s brother looked puzzled. “I thought some of those reception girls were interested in him.”

“Only as a brother, I hear,” Brod snorted. “He’s tall and not bad looking, but they call him a masochist and a zombie all the time, so whaddya expect?”

“I think that’s his demon of an instructor’s fault. Not to mention a certain Bear Chef’s.”

“I’m doin’ the guy a favor, feedin’ him that stuff, so don’t go makin’ me out the same as that fighting freak.”

“The hell you call me?” Brod snarled, then thought for a moment. “I dunno what his type is, but I hope he’s at least someone’s.”

“Don’t worry,” Galba reassured them. “I heard he likes cute girls with pretty smiles.”

Gulgar hesitated. “That’s a little concerning...”

“Yeah...” the guildmaster agreed.

“We’ll be there for him if he ever needs a broken heart soothed.”

Gulgar and Brod sighed in unison.

The next day, they started treating Luciel just a little more kindly.