Chapter 22: The raid [7]
The League of Adventurers Guild. An important place for those who called themselves adventurers. Here, they would register as an adventurer, take various requests, and receive payments after fulfilling them.
But, it was also a place where relations were built, and various businesses were dealt with.
In summary, this was the center of the world of adventurers.
And at present, adventurers were gathered in this place because of a summon from the Emperor.
"What are you doing here? You should have already left for Hurginia." The one who said these words was a silver-haired man wearing a suit of armor. His name was George.
"But, bro—Commander. Hurginia is a little country that is extremely far from here. I can't understand the reason for this mission." The one who replied was Garcia.
Looking at her, George felt only regrets. She didn't understand anything, he thought.
"The Red Lily doesn't need someone who doesn't listen to orders," George said, not mincing his words, his face devoid of emotions. "It brings me shame just because we are related by blood."
"…I just…" Garcia's whole body was shaking, she was on the verge of tears. She couldn't understand why her brother was treated like this. What else she needed to do to earn his approval?
"I am the one who asked her to come here." Someone interjected in the conversation, and the knights who were subjected to this tense atmosphere sighed in relief. "It's been a while since we saw each other so we had a lot to talk about. And I asked her to accompany me. Does that pose you a problem?"
Rezalea arrived at the scene with her brother Solomon, the Emperor. Seeing this the knights put their palms on their chests to show respect.
"Not in the slightest, your highness Rezalea. I apologize for my ignorance," George bowed his head and apologized to Rezalea, but he didn't say anything to Garcia.
Solomon looked at George. Somehow, he could understand him, so he didn't say anything. Well, at that point, nothing really mattered anymore. It was a shame that they were still on such bad terms at the very end, he thought
"Your Majesty, most of the registered adventurers answered your call. We can begin whenever you wish," a man stood in front of Solomon. His name was Zeppelin, the head administrator of the Guild. A tall brown-haired man who exhibited a certain level of dignity.
"Good work, Zeppelin," Solomon said, signaling his attendant to move his chair forward, to a spot where he could see the entirety of the adventurers that were gathered.
The building had multiple floors, but the first floor is still the widest, a place where statues of humanity's heroes were displayed. It was an open space that adventurers could use freely, in comparison to the other floors that were dedicated to only some adventurers.
The second floor could be accessed by white and orange adventurers, the rookies.
The third floor could be only accessed by red and maroon. The fourth floor was exclusively reserved for black-ranked adventurers.
This was because the type of requests as well as the rewards varied depending on the adventurer's rank. The treatment reserved for them was also different, based on the same ranking.
Solomon was on the second floor, but every floor had also an open space that permitted the visitors to see the entirety of the lower floors.
He knew that what he was about to say would certainly affect every human present in this city. The weight of his words was heavier than his guilt. As the Emperor, he felt utterly powerless.
As he was thinking about these things, he heard that there was some kind of commotion happening behind him.
"What is this ruckus? You are in the presence of his Majesty," George was the first one to react, walking towards the knights who were rushing to the elevator.
"There are unidentified individuals who are forcing their way here," one of the knights answered. "They are already inside the elevator."
"What?" George never expected that someone would be foolish enough to attack the Emperor inside the adventurer's guild.
The knights surrounded the elevator's door, and when it opened, all of them gasped.
"You are…" George scowled at the sight of Lucian, even more, when he saw the strange kid and the two women with him. Lucian didn't give off the impression of someone who had human relations the first time George saw him.
Moreover, he recognized Valentina, she was a black adventurer. George kept an eye on all of the high-ranked adventurers.
"Go back! This floor can be only accessed by his Majesty and his entourage," George warned, although he knew what Lucian was capable of. He wasn't the kind of person to contradict his principles even when the enemy was stronger than him.
"…" Lucian didn't say anything. He already knew about the guild's rules, but he didn't feel that such rules had anything with him.
As for Rita, she was extremely nervous and didn't know what to do.
Unlike her, Valentina was making weird poses with her fingers as usual, unconcerned by what was happening, "Choupyu~"
But the little dragon girl didn't appreciate George's tone of voice.
"Grrrrr!" She thought that George was a danger to her master, Lucian.
"What!?" George felt it, the true power of this little girl. Suddenly, the knights were under great pressure.
"Calm down," Lucian muttered. He already knew that this would happen, and of course, he also knew how to deal with it.
Lucian reached out his hand and the knights reacted, but nothing happened.
But after a few seconds…
"Ahh! What's going on? Eh?!" Rezalea came their way while floating in the air, and Garcia and the other knights tried to catch her.
"Your highness?!" George and the other knights turned their heads and saw Rezalea floating toward them.
However, the first person she noticed was Lucian. "Lucian?! Where were you?"
"Your highness, it's dangerous, please stay back!" George warned.
"It's fine, George," Rezalea said, landing on the ground. But then she looked questioningly at Rita, Valentina, and the little girl after she noticed them.
'He disappeared without any explanation, and now he came with two women and a kid', Rezalea thought.
She asked her brother to tell her more about his discussion with Lucian, but Solomon didn't tell her anything. They ended up arguing. And Lucian had also vanished without leaving a trace.
Why was she thinking about him in the first place, Rezalea thought. It was just that she was curious about what he said. Yes, that was the reason. Nothing more. It wasn't like she felt disappointed because he left without saying anything to her. Why would she? It wasn't like...
"Rezalea. Let's not waste time," Lucian said, walking boldly toward her.
"Eh!? W-what do you mean?" Rezalea was a little bit taken aback. Why did her heart skip a bit after hearing him say her name? Was Lucian always this tall?
"The speech must be done now," Lucian said, passing by Rezalea.
"O-okay," Rezalea mumbled. What was okay? She didn't know what had gotten to her. Lucian was the same as always, but she felt a bit disappointed.
"We can't let you—"
"Let him pass. My brother needs to talk with him," Rezalea said, regaining her composure. Although Solomon hadn't said anything, she knew that he was preoccupied with something that was related to what Lucian said.
George couldn't say anything back. This was the second time Rezalea had prohibited him from doing what he was supposed to do, and he had no choice but to comply. From an outsider's point of view, it was kind of ironic.
Then, Rezalea noticed that Rita who was walking behind Lucian looked at her. Rita appeared nervous, she must be a quite timid person, at least that was Rezalea's first impression. But just for a second, when their eyes meet, Rita's gaze sent shivers down her spine. What was that?'
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone