03 — A Man of Mystery

03 — A Man of Mystery

Back upstairs, I got down to work, setting up beds in everyone’s quarters. I got the feeling that after eating, no one would want to bother with additional work. The second floor rooms were just spacious enough to comfortably fit two beds each—plenty of room to suit their purpose.

Once I finished, and after being thanked by everyone, I went to the kitchen. There, I found Nalia and, for some reason, Pola. She hadn’t spoken up when I’d asked who could cook, so whatever she was there for, it couldn’t have been to help. I ignored her and started sanitizing the kitchen with magic a bit more thoroughly than during our first run-through. The magic cooking utensils were already set up and ready to use, just as I’d requested.

Now there was only one order of business left before getting started.

“Pola, what are you doing?”

She was wandering all over the place, touching the appliances, picking them up, looking them over, and it was starting to drive me a little nuts.

“I like magic things. I made a bunch at grandpa’s old forge.”

She was something of an artificer, huh?

“Really? But we can’t have you pacing around the kitchen while we work, so how about this?” I called up a huge pile of magic stones from my bag and purified them. “Go downstairs with Dhoran and you can have these if you promise to be responsible with them.”

Pola rapidly nodded several times, then scooped up the stones and dashed off.

I sighed. “Okay, Nalia, let’s get cracking. How much does Lionel usually eat?”

My friends back in Merratoni were slim, for the most part, but ate like horses, so I couldn’t rule out that possibility for Lionel.

Nalia put a finger to her chin, then after thinking for a while said, “No more than what one would consider normal, but more than average, I would say.”

That sounded like a job for curry. We’d picked up some cheap spices at the market, and there was no better way to judge someone’s appetite.

“All right, then, let’s go with curry and rice, some bread, and a warm salad on the side. We’ve got a lot of mouths to feed today. Could you wash the vegetables in Lil Shiny? After that, set Lil Choppy to peel mode, then once they’re all skinned, switch it to dice mode and chop them all up. Here, I’ll show you how they work.”

I gave her a rundown on operating the appliances. Lil Choppy was modeled after blenders from my past life and just as simple to use.

“Incredible. These will make our work much easier.”

“Especially with this many people. Oh, and take the skins from Choppy and give them to Sir Fertilizer over here. It composts scraps and peelings in a flash. Handy, right? It even turns off on its own.”

This sucker worked just like composters from Earth, aside from the fact that it was powered by magic stones. I couldn’t wait to use all that fertilizer for my own vegetables someday.

“What need do you have for compost?”

“It’s just a personal dream of mine to settle down on a farm. Maybe breathe some life into the soil.”

I actually had the money to make that dream a reality, but it was still a ways off. There were too many people I owed my life to and had to repay first.

Still smiling, I took out pots, vegetables, spices, and meat, and got to work. The magic stove gently brought a pot of purified water to boil, then I added the meat. Beast meat was particularly scummy when cooked in water, and all the blood would soak into the other ingredients if you weren’t careful. I, however, had a few tricks up my sleeve, courtesy of Gulgar and Grantz.

I removed the meat after letting it sit for about twenty minutes, then cut and stuffed it with various herbs. While the vegetables boiled, I mixed together the spices and, once I’d skimmed off the scum, added them along with the meat to the pot to simmer over low heat.

I repeated the process five times. Thanks to my magic bag, I wasn’t worried about making too much.

Eventually, all that was left to do was cook the rice and bread.

“Nalia, can you go upstairs and tell the Order the food’s just about ready?”

“Of course.”

Nalia and I, the two knights outside, Lionel, and the others would have our meals after the Order.

As expected, our efforts were a huge success. The criminals watched us enjoy our delicious food in silence, and once we’d all had our share, I stepped over to them.

“There’s plenty more; enough for all of you. My last order of the day is for you to eat well and to be ready to handle guard duty. Your shifts will run until morning. You’ll all have breakfast, then time for leisure, and then a full eight hours of sleep. You’re forbidden from leaving the guild premises for purposes other than your watch duty. You’re also forbidden from disposing of any reports or written information you may have that could defame the Healer’s Guild. Once everyone gets used to the job, I’ll start staggering shifts, which should help take the load off. If you can all promise to be loyal and follow instructions, I promise to always keep you well-fed and rested. Otherwise, you’ll be having a mug of this.”

I summoned a barrel of Substance X from my bag, and the slaves went white with fear. Weird. Gulgar was just fine with the stuff, so I was shocked to see these beastfolk have such a strong reaction to it.

I gave them permission to eat, and it was once again a success. Beastfolk didn’t seem fond of Substance X, but curry was evidently a winner. Still, even after well over a dozen plates plus second helpings, I’d still made too much, so I stashed the leftovers in my bag. It’d make for a good morning meal, for anyone who was into that sort of thing.

While I made preliminary preparations for breakfast, I told Nalia to let Lionel and Ketty know to stay on watch overnight, and that they had permission to cook anything if they got hungry. Afterwards, I met with the two myself before returning to my room.

“I’d like you both to take shifts keeping an eye on the new slaves. I’ll have my knights help out eventually, but they’ve had a long day today, so I want to give them some rest.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Lionel said. “We’re only slaves ourselves.”

“Uh-huh, leave it to us!”

“Thanks.”

They were bound to obey me just as the criminal slaves were, but I still wanted to build a genuine relationship with mutual trust between us.

I finally got back to my room and decided it was about time to report in. I pulled out my arclink crystal, closed my eyes, and focused my thoughts into it.

“This is Fluna,” the pope’s unmistakable voice echoed in my head. “I take it you’ve reached Yenice safely?”

I explained everything, from our arrival to the guild’s location in the slums to my decision to purchase slaves for safety purposes, and then our run-in with thugs. We discussed strategies to counter further opposition in the future and what direction to take the guild’s restructuring in. Our conversation ended with Her Holiness instructing me to contact her again the next day.

“It never rains but it pours.”

Maybe it had just been my imagination, but Her Holiness had seemed oddly excited during our call. And I’d nearly forgotten to write a letter to Galba and the rest. I wanted to fill them in on the situation and have Master look into who this Lionel guy was. And to tell Nanaella and Monica that I’d probably not have the time to go souvenir shopping for them.

After I finished my letters, I did my usual magic practice before exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks. It had been a long journey, an even longer day, and the sandman was calling.

I woke up the next morning with a big stretch and—boom! The entire guildhall suddenly quaked.

“Are we under attack?! An earthquake?!”

I leaped out of bed, transformed into full armor, and burst out of my room along with the others.

“Everyone get downstairs!” I shouted to them with a cast of Area Barrier.

“Yes, sir!”

“Healers, wait at reception! Knights, scout outside, find Lionel and the others, then get back and report ASAP! We’re hunkering down and preparing for battle!”

The Order swiftly jumped into action without a single yawn.

“Dhoran might already have an escape tunnel prepared,” I said to myself, then raced downstairs.

What awaited me left me speechless.

“Mornin’,” Dhoran casually greeted me. “The blast woke you up, eh?”

Nothing registered. My mind went blank as I gazed around the vast basement and slowly stepped farther inside. Gradually, the gears in my head started to turn again. There had only been three rooms here yesterday—I was certain of that. But after our shopping trip, the entire floor had expanded sixfold. And now, one short night later, there was a magic elevator in the center of the room, just like the one at Church Headquarters.

A set of stairs next to it led even farther down. From the looks of it, four new floors had been constructed, bringing the basement to a total of five stories deep.

“Am I still asleep?”

“Ya look awake to me, lad—er, sir. Right, I oughta report. I’ve expanded the basement to five floors.”

“What am I looking at?”

“Well, we were wantin’ somewhere to keep the horses safe, aye? Figure underground works well enough, so I dug down to raise the ceiling, and once there’s a proper stable outside, they can come down here for exercise instead o’ bein’ cooped up in a pen. And I heard Miss Nalia say you were interested in doin’ some gardenin’, so I added a few fields too.”

“What about the other floors?”

“So, the slaves’ quarters I moved down a floor. Third floor I turned into a forge for equipment maintenance ’n magic artificing. Fourth’s a training area for you and the knights, like Lionel wanted. The bottom’s where I put a few cells, in case we have more riff-raff to deal with.”

Unfortunately, he failed to mention the tiny detail of how in the world he had done all this in such a short time, so his explanation did little to address my confusion. Dwarves were in a league of their own. Honestly. It wouldn’t have shocked me to hear that a single one was more than enough to construct an entire citadel.

“Is this normal for dwarves?”

“Normal? Nah, I can think of only one other man who could manage a thing like this. And I couldn’t have done it myself without all those gems ya gave me, which I’m fresh out of, I might add,” he smiled, shifting a happily napping Pola on his back, whom I’d only just noticed.

The pieces started connecting in my head. The earthquake hadn’t been the precursor to an assault, thank the lord, but I remembered telling Dhoran to work slow and steady. Neither of those conditions had been met. I was beginning to think that Lionel wasn’t the only anomaly around here.

I took a few calming breaths. “So, what was that explosion?”

“Ah, Pola messed up a few calculations for the elevator and the damn thing slammed straight up into the ceiling. All’s well now, though, and she’s fast asleep.”

She what?!

Dhoran looked back at Pola and smiled. The perfect picture of a grandfather and his grandchild.

“She knows how to make magic elevators at her age?”

“She’s a prodigy, ain’t she? How many sixteen-year-old artificers do you know, eh? Never took much to a hammer, but she’s been tinkerin’ since she could walk. She can synthesize magic stones, I’ll have ya know!”

And there he went, doting on his granddaughter. Picture-perfect. When it came to his family, Dhoran was just another kindly old man. Still, Pola’s age always surprised me. She looked much younger.

“Are all dwarves masters at this sort of thing?”

“Can’t think of anyone else but one, like I said. One o’ my kin. Grand’s his name, and the bastard—er, fella’s my only match.”

“Kin? Are you brothers?”

“Fellow apprentices.”

“You’re talking about the master blacksmith, right? That Grand?”

Dhoran grinned from ear to ear. “So ya know ’im, eh?”

The dwarf wasn’t getting off the hook easily, but what sort of reprimand did this call for? A simple apology?

“Well, first of all, good work, but anything bigger than this will be difficult to take care of, so no more expanding, please.”

“I’m outta stones anyway. Lemme know what else needs doin’, and I’ll be tinkerin’ away.”

“Will do. Be sure to get some rest, though. You can’t have slept all that much last night if this is what you were doing the whole time.”

“That I will.”

“Okay, now that that’s out of the way... Dhoran, you’re incredible. You did all this in one day? How?”

Jord and the knights stomped down the stairs to report back, then stopped in their tracks upon seeing what the basement had become, just as I had. In contrast to my dumbfounded rambling, Jord regained his composure and took stock of the situation quickly. Still, I knew his heart had to be racing at the sight.

In high spirits, Dhoran agreed to give us all a tour of the renovations, which the Order seemed about ready to christen the guild’s “underground secret base.”

The tour began after Dhoran put Pola to bed in her room. Unfortunately, we had too many people for the elevator to handle, on account of the earlier incident making its safety questionable. And that was fine by me.

We walked straight down to the fifth floor.

“This is where troublemakers’ll go,” Dhoran explained. “Not that you gotta use it. Works just fine as a storeroom too.”

A storeroom with steel bars that I couldn’t get to budge an inch. Classy.

“Ten cells feels a bit much,” I said.

“I get the feelin’ you won’t be turnin’ all your problems into slaves if some big shot waltzes in.”

“Don’t jinx us.”

“Sorry.” He did have a point, though.

We went up to the fourth floor.

“This training ground was made exactly ta Lionel’s specifications. You won’t be puttin’ any dents in those walls no matter what ya throw at ’em. Pola’s proud of our work here.”

The space stretched about forty to fifty meters on each side, smaller than an Adventurer’s Guild but plenty big enough for sparring. Once more, Dhoran’s abilities blew me away. I’d wanted somewhere to keep the team sharp, but this went beyond my expectations. And even that excitement paled in comparison to my curiosity about who the heck Lionel was, because I was now convinced that he was as battle-crazed as my master. I felt an ominous chill run down my spine.

“I know I said I wanted him to help train us, but this is ridiculous,” I muttered, following Dhoran back out and up another flight of stairs.

“Now, fair warning,” the dwarf rasped quietly, “I didn’t get permission or nothin’, but...”

When we reached the third floor, I saw the reason for his hesitation. There were two full-blown workstations fit for professionals, one labeled “Dhoran’s Smithy,” the other “Pola’s Workshop.” More care had clearly been put into creating this floor than any of the others.

“Well, moving on,” I said.

“Hold on a second!”

“Why?”

“This floor’s the heart o’ the whole basement! You’ve gotta see it.”

“But breakfast...”

“I’m beggin’ ya!”

I sighed. “Fine.”

I had the feeling he just wanted to brag about his forges, but he dragged me along anyway. That said, I did see the merit of having this place. He explained that we could smelt old and unused gear for reuse and temper elemental equipment like my holy silver sword or our armor with magic stones. When I heard that, I forked over a hoard of purified gems for him to use, sending Dhoran dangerously over the moon. Still, I trusted him, for better or worse.

“Can Pola get a share for herself?” he begged me. “Please, craftin’s our life! We’ll make anything ya want us to!”

I couldn’t very well argue in the face of such passion, so I went ahead and left him with the last of my stones. I hadn’t planned on doing anything else with them anyway.

“Okay, but this is the last of them, and I want you to use them for the guild. Nothing else.”

“I’m more grateful than ya know, Luciel.”

At last, we were released from the prison on the third floor and went up to the second: the slaves’ quarters. The entire floor had air-conditioning, and we were quick to ask for it in our own rooms.

Eventually, we returned to the first floor where the horses would stay, and I offered a few ideas for improvements based on what Yanbath had told me about caring for them. Dhoran agreed to my suggestions with vigor, but I made sure to tell him he needed to get some sleep after breakfast.

“I hope he doesn’t think all Healer’s Guilds have bunkers beneath them,” I said to myself as I headed for the kitchen.

I was sitting in the guildmaster’s room after breakfast when Lionel (the only one among us who was completely unfazed by the subterranean debacle) came to ask about having Dhoran craft him some gear.

There was something more important on my mind, though.

“First, I’d like to know how you had the time to supervise the building of that training ground while you were supposed to be on watch.”

I was calm. Anger was too exhausting, and I predicted nothing good coming from raising my voice to someone who was clearly my senior. At worst, I could permanently damage our trust.

In times of frustration, the most efficient path was a calm discussion of what had gone wrong and how it could be resolved. Barring instances of me having to constantly repeat myself, that is. I could see myself getting angry if that were the case, but this was his first offense.

“I apologize for acting out of turn. When Dhoran came outside for fresh air, we spoke for a time, and I let my imagination get the better of me.” He lowered his head. His apology seemed sincere, if a little lip-servicey.

Still, I didn’t see any reason to beat a dead horse just to stroke my ego. I considered punishing him for a moment, but it would have been a bit harsh and unfair of me to single him out.

“Please be careful from now on. I know I’m young and may not be the most experienced, but I’ll always take your ideas into consideration if you bring them to me first. Is there anything to report from last night?”

“No disturbances. I sensed several presences, but no one engaged us, likely because of our numbers. I gather the criminal slaves have talent that we can make use of, and no one expressed discontent with your treatment of them. As it happens, their employer wasn’t the overgrown cat who calls himself Shahza, but rather the Doctor’s Guild.”

Oops, I’d completely forgotten to interrogate those guys. Not a smart move on my part.

“Thanks for looking into that. I totally forgot.” I regarded him for a time. “You know, I’ve been wondering, who exactly are you?”

Lionel deliberated briefly, then answered, “What I once was, the rank I carried in my homeland, is irrelevant. I am a man, and my sword is sworn to you.”

His eyes said he was speaking the truth, but his mouth stayed shut. I gave up for the moment.

“I won’t force you to open up, I guess. Anyway, back to that gear you wanted. I’d bring it up with Dhoran to figure out materials. Keep my master’s sword on you until that gets sorted out, since I’m still counting on you to watch over the felons, the guild, and me.”

He put his fist to his chest in a salute, then turned on his heel and left the room. Such a mysterious man.

I filled a piece of parchment with a list of things to consider and do:

Rebuild the guild

Maintain order

Establish triage protocols and clinics

Food

Doctor’s Guild

Investigate Shahza and Yenice council

“I can always ask the Adventurer’s Guild for help,” I murmured. “It’s easy enough to gain their trust, but I’d rather not make a fuss like always.”

Afterwards, I gathered the whole team, and we started putting together a signboard for the guild. The knights, however, insisted on their own vision, so we ended up making two. I didn’t care, personally, and quit halfway through to go make lunch.

Lionel and the others had awoken from their late sleep by the time I finished, and we ate together while talking over my aforementioned list. That afternoon, I left the slaves to Jord and got Lionel, Ketty, and Piaza together for a trip to the Adventurer’s Guild.

“We’re going to offer a demonstration,” I said. “The people in this city aren’t familiar with healing magic, so if we want them to come to the guild, we need to show them what it can do.”

“Smart plan!” Ketty exclaimed with a catlike flick of her ears.

“I think if we can distinguish ourselves from the Doctor’s Guild we’ll get along much better,” Piaza remarked.

Lionel maintained his stoic expression. “I’m here to serve. Nothing more.”

“First order of business is showing the people who healers are. Next, we look into the Doctor’s Guild. Then we’ll do some shopping on the way home. Everyone ready?”

There were nods all around and then we were off.

Once inside, I noticed that Yenice’s Adventurer’s Guild was different from Merratoni’s or the Holy City’s because most of its adventurers were non-human races. Other than that, the interior looked exactly the same.

“Everyone, follow me.”

I headed for reception, completely undaunted by the gazes on me with Lionel at my side. I was an adventurer too, after all...

Boy, that desk sure was far away.

“Hello,” I greeted the receptionist, holding out my guild cards. “I’m Luciel, S-rank healer in charge of the new Healer’s Guild. Could I please speak with the guildmaster?”

“Of course, Mister Luciel. I’ll see if he’s in.”

The cat-woman stood and bowed before leaving, without a single feline gesture. Was that whole gimmick just Ketty’s deal? It made me curious to know.

I turned to the cat-girl in question. “Hey, so why do you always act all...you know, like a cat?”

She gave a catlike smile. “’Cause I heard it’s cute!”

“Fair enough.” Guess that’s that.

I glanced around the guildhall, feeling numerous eyes focused on us. But that was all they were—stares—so I could only assume they knew better than to give our group trouble. I couldn’t spot a single human around, and the place felt sort of lifeless.

The receptionist soon returned. “The guildmaster will see you. This way, please.”

Well, that was easy. Almost too easy.

“So, he’s in his office?”

The woman leading us faltered. Apparently, he wasn’t. I was getting a little fed up with this city, to be honest.

“I sure hope he is.” I smiled. “It would be a real shame if something were to happen to your nice desk. Like, say, if it were to be covered in Substance X.”

The receptionist stopped at the stairs. “We are going to his office, but the one seeing you is the vice guildmaster, Mister Jeiyas.”

Oh yeah, Substance X was an effective interrogation tool. Especially against beastpeople.

“Where is the guildmaster? And why am I not meeting with him?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know.”

I looked at Lionel, who shook his head as well. She was probably telling the truth.

“All right. Don’t worry, I think your desk will be safe.”

Her shoulders visibly relaxed, and she started up the stairs again. After a knock and receiving permission to enter, she opened the door and we stepped into the office. Shahza and a male dragonewt, a race I hadn’t seen much of, were inside. Shahza took one look at Lionel and froze while the other man’s shock was in response to me, for some reason.

I offered a friendly smile. “Hello, gentlemen. I’m Luciel, adventurer and currently the one in charge of the local Healer’s Guild. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me, Guildmaster. Shahza, it’s good to see you.”

“I-I’m not the guildmaster,” the dragonewt sputtered, quickly standing from his chair and bowing. “My name is Jeiyas, acting vice guildmaster. It’s an honor to meet an S-rank healer of your caliber, sir.”

Shahza, shocked by his behavior, shot a sidelong glance his way.

“Where is the guildmaster now, Mister Jeiyas?”

“Doing battle in the recently reanimated labyrinth, I believe.”

Talk about free-spirited. Every guildmaster I’d known was a bit on the unhinged side, but no one outright ditched their guild.

“Is it really necessary for him to be there? I know guildmasters are strong, but still.”

“It is irregular, yes, but they need my brother or they’ll never be rid of that dungeon.”

So, the top dogs here were a pair of dragonewt siblings.

“I see. I wanted to give a bit of a demonstration on healing magic, but if the guildmaster isn’t here, we’ll have to postpone. That’s unfortunate.”

“A demonstration?” Jeiyas eyed me with curiosity while Shahza looked like he’d bitten his tongue or something. For a race of people who supposedly had no interest in or need for healers, the dragonewt was surprisingly open-minded.

“I think the people of Yenice know of healing magic, but not what it can actually do, so I wanted to educate them a little. Show them what healers are all about.”

“And what could our guild do to help?”

“Just gather anyone with injuries in the training ground downstairs. We’ll heal them all, free of charge. Oh, these are our normal prices, for your reference.” I handed him a copy of the healers’ guidelines. “As you know, we can’t cure diseases, but I want adventurers who put their lives on the line and rely on us to know the reasons we charge what we do. I want everyone to understand.”

Jeiyas listened as he stared intently at the rates listed on the document. I’d said what needed to be said, and pushing too hard would only make things worse, so I stayed quiet after that and gave him time to think.

Shahza shared in my silence, kept in check by Lionel’s glare. It seemed like the politician was trying to work out what Jeiyas was thinking.

“Can you perform this demonstration tomorrow? Same time?” the vice guildmaster finally asked.

“Of course. Thank you for giving us a chance. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can lower casualty rates.”

“May I ask something? Is this magic here for curing petrification and neurotoxins something everyone can do?”

“No, only a small handful of healers can do that. I’m the only one here who can at the moment, but I can vouch for the others. They’re hardworking, and I expect they’ll reach that level before long.”

I had Jord and the rest casting their own spells as much as possible, so they should have been making good progress with their leveling.

“Then we’ll see you again tomorrow. We’ll be waiting downstairs.”

“Thank you for your time.”

We exchanged a handshake. But Lionel stayed behind when we turned to leave.

“You should know, Councilman Shahza, that yesterday’s incident was orchestrated by the Doctor’s Guild,” he said.

We left before waiting for a reply. On our way to the market, I couldn’t stop thinking about Jeiyas and what had made him act so cordial with me.

＊

The second the office door closed, Shahza raised his voice to the vice guildmaster.

“This is not what we agreed to! What are you doing siding with that healer brat?!”

The tiger-man opened his mouth to shout further vulgarities but clamped it shut at Jeiyas’s fierce glower.

“You’re mistaken if you think that man is nothing more than a brat. You think we dragonewts would act in defiance of one chosen by the Eternal? In defiance of our gods?!” he roared.

Dragonewts were a devout people and honored the Eternal Dragons with even greater reverence than Crya the Divine. Their blood spoke to them, and they knew when one was chosen to bear their protection, regardless of race.

In Jeiyas’s case, Luciel was the fifth bearer he’d met, and the first non-dragonewt. His presence seemed ordained, like the dragons had offered them succor during their trying time of fighting the labyrinth.

Monsieur Luck was on the move again, unbeknownst to Luciel.

Shahza recoiled, cursing the Doctor’s Guild for acting so rashly. Incompetent idiots! If you want a job done right...

The frustration in his heart morphed and rotted into pure hatred.