02 — Words That Kill

02 — Words That Kill

There was one man in Merratoni who no wise individual ever wanted to make an enemy of. He was not an unreasonable man, to be sure. Should your paths cross, your life would be spared in exchange for information. All who dwelled within the underbelly of society knew this rule. His name: the Recluse. Currently, he was in the business of information, but it wasn’t so long ago that he had dealt in lives rather than words. Once upon a time, he’d lurked in the shadows, watching, listening for the right moment to snuff out his enemies. Or so the rumors said. No proof of his bloody past remained.

By day, he was the monster butcher at the local Adventurer’s Guild, known by just about every beastperson there. His charming features and winning smile had won him the affection of women the world over and were some of his best assets in the gathering of intel.

Trouble eventually came in the form of a bloodied girl from the Healer’s Guild, carried on the back of a young man he’d become acquainted with. All signs pointed to it being the work of a healer with a grudge, so the Adventurer’s Guild took her in.

“Now, this sounds interesting. Could be worth looking into how the Healer’s Guild is connected to this.”

Galba made his way to the slums.

“I have a task for you,” he said to the ten or so beastfolk around him. “A staff member of the Healer’s Guild was attacked by a mercenary with a poisoned blade. I want you to spread rumors around town, and in exchange you’ll be healed at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“What if we capture him?”

“I’ll buy him off you for info. Also, keep in mind the healer involved in this is as bad as they come. Send anyone looking for help to the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Got it. We won’t disappoint you, Recluse.”

The speaker seemed to have somewhat a better grasp on the situation than the others, so he led the effort. However, Galba had pride in his own talents as a spy and was sure to be thorough.

“I want to hear everything you learn. Everything.”

“With haste and subtlety!” the group replied.

“I’m counting on you guys.”

The truth had begun to come to light.

Several days later, Merratoni’s Healer’s Guild was troubled by a lack of personnel, and rumors had begun to spread about the cause. Word on the street was that a certain top healer had plotted to take the life of one of the guild’s receptionists after the two had fallen out. The guild took measures to brush the matter under the rug, but word of mouth was a frightening thing, and nearly everyone in town had heard about it by the next morning.

More time passed, and the suspect was eventually captured, but no one could find any connection between him and the healer in question. The case came up empty, the guild was out a receptionist, and by refusing to acknowledge the controversy or confront the clinic that had caused it, they only fanned the flames more. The people quickly moved on to chattering about the guild’s priorities, or its lack thereof in regards to the lives of its staff, and soon no one felt safe working there. There seemed to be no end to their troubles in sight.

Kururu was beside herself with frustration. “Goddess, what am I even going to do? Monica was perfect! Who’s going to replace her?”

She was used to changes in staff, including losing valuable workers like Monica, but what was she to do on such short notice? As cushy and well-paid a job at the Healer’s Guild was, it wasn’t enough to convince people to apply for the opening, and in the meantime it was on the other receptionists to give up their free time to pick up the slack. The ladies begged their guildmaster to petition Headquarters for aid, but true to his conservative ideology, he refused to rock the boat further.

Forced to bear the brunt of it all, Kururu anguished over their new schedule. “There’s just no room for days off. We’re going to keep losing people at this rate.”

Visitors to the guild were rare. The only matters that typically needed tending to were registration, membership renewal, taxes, grimoire purchases, and dispatchment clearances. It was an easy job with few responsibilities, so it was little wonder Kururu and her fellow receptionists were mentally exhausted...out of sheer boredom. Without Monica, the others were subject to day after day of absolutely nothing, forced to sit through their shifts in spite of the lack of work.

In its early days, when it had been thriving, the guild had bustled with healers who needed to be sent all over the place, but as the scales of power tipped towards private clinics, the staff held less and less of a role until they’d been diminished to a fraction of their initial relevance.

“I’ll need to ask the girls for their input on the workplace. I wonder what work’s like at an Adventurer’s Guild. Must be great for meeting guys.”

Kururu’s grief was an unfortunate side effect of Galba’s plan. The wolf-man listened to her grumblings from the shadows.

“Didn’t know there were people who actually took their job seriously here. Shame it had to turn out this way, but I’ll go ahead and stop the rumor mill, for whatever good that’ll do. Now, I wonder what keeps their guildmaster up at night.”

With that thought, Galba’s deep dive into the identities of Merratoni’s top healer and his guildmaster accomplice began. Meanwhile, Kururu desperately clung to and trained the few employees she had left.