Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 164: A moment

Arwin was pretty sure that the chances of someone from the Adventurer’s Guild actually recognizing him were almost zero. He wasn’t anywhere near as unique looking as Lillia and had changed considerably since he’d lost his class.

It was still a risk. Almost zero chance was not the same as zero chance. Before Madiv had shown up, Arwin would have sworn there was no way either of them would have been recognized. That had already been proven wrong.

I can’t hide from them forever. There’s no way the Adventurer’s Guild is going to be expecting me to have survived that explosion, much less have come back in my old body and with an entirely new class.

It was clear that he wasn’t the only one that felt concerned. Everyone in the room other than Olive had faces creased with worry. None of them were fans of the Adventurer’s Guild, and any dealings with them had a fair amount of chance to go poorly.

“Is there something I should know?” Olive asked hesitantly. “I’m no supporter of the Adventurer’s Guild, but it seems like there’s more to it than that with you lot.”

“We don’t have good history with the guild,” Arwin said through a grimace. “Everyone here has had negative run-ins with them in one way or another. Some worse than others. We haven’t really been entirely open with our backgrounds, but the top of the Guild is not composed of good people.”

Olive snorted. “Yeah, I could have told you that myself. No organization is going to be in as much power as the Adventurer’s Guild and have saints at the top. But this reaction is telling me you dislike them more than just a bit. Are they actively searching for you?”

“No,” Arwin and Lillia said.

“Maybe,” Reya said.

“Probably,” Rodrick and Anna said.

Olive let out a snort. “Well, at least we’re diverse. I won’t press for your history as long as you share it before it becomes a problem. I don’t want to be caught unaware if it’s going to affect us in the future.”

“It probably will,” Arwin admitted. He hesitated for a moment, considering if now was the right time to come completely clean, but decided against it. Even though Olive was trustworthy, explaining everything was unlikely to go as smoothly as it had with Rodrick, Anna, or Reya. They’d all had their own issues that had superseded the revelation. “If you really want to know, let’s wait until after we get everything set up with the guild and buying the street and I’ll tell you then. It’ll take a little.”

“Now I’m really interested,” Olive said. “But I can wait. That works. Is this a problem that’s going to crop up when we’re trying to establish the guild?”

“It shouldn’t. I doubt they’ll recognize me,” Arwin said. He chewed his lower lip and let out a sigh. “But it’s possible. I think I should be fine if I show up with my armor on. It wouldn’t be that out of place. Lots of adventurers wear armor constantly.”

“You can. Lillia, Rodrick, and I are all out of luck in that regard,” Anna said. “I doubt anyone would recognize Rodrick or me here, but it just isn’t worth taking the chance.”

“I could go if I keep my hood up,” Reya volunteered.

“I can go as well.” Olive’s lips pressed thin and she let out a small huff through her nose. “But that might just make us look worse. Adventurers don’t look well on a swordswoman with one arm.”

“People can look however they want,” Arwin said through a snort. “I’ve seen you fight. It doesn’t matter how people look when you can do more damage than anyone at your tier has any right to.”

“Only if my targets stand still.”

“Fortunately for you, we’ve got someone here who’s really damn good at doing just that,” Arwin said. He sent a pointed look at Reya. “She’s just got to get a few more levels on her.”

“It won’t be long until my next one,” Reya said defensively. “I think I should be able to hit it in the dungeon.”

“Good. Then we’ve got something to look forward to,” Arwin said. “Once we establish the guild, I’ll get to work and move as fast as I can without sacrificing quality. We should be able to aim for the dungeon tomorrow morning if that sounds good to everyone.”

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The others all nodded. Reya headed upstairs to grab her cloak and returned with the hood pulled up to cover her face. Arwin summoned his armor and Olive fell in beside them as they headed out of the tavern and toward the center of Milten.

While the Adventurer’s Guild didn’t have a foothold in the city, there was no doubt in any of their minds that there was a representative somewhere. The guild had fingers everywhere, even if they were only a member in name.

Even if the Adventurer’s Guild wasn’t actually needed to fight monsters in the area, they also funded dozens of other programs throughout the Kingdom of Lian that made it functionally impossible to have an established town without them. That included the postal services, a multitude of smaller guilds focused on day-to-day operations, and a number of other applications that Arwin couldn’t recall.

The gist of the matter was that the Adventurer’s Guild would be somewhere. They just had to find where.

And, fortunately, that didn’t take long. After they reached the center of Milten and made their way over to the guild street that Jake’s building was on, it took them a grand total of ten minutes of walking and reading to spot the Guildhall they were looking for.

The Adventurer’s Guild branch here clearly hadn’t been seeing the best of times. Their name hung from a wooden sign on a matching building. Both were weathered from years under the sun and rain. Even though it was in disrepair, it was a decently sized building and Arwin could see a number of people moving within it through the windows.

It wasn’t exactly impressive, but it wasn’t pathetic.

“Doesn’t look like much,” Reya said.

“Lucky us,” Arwin muttered under his breath as he started down the short path leading up to the door. It creaked as he pulled it open to reveal a large room.

There were three rows of benches on each side of it. Two groups of adventurers had each claimed a half of the room for themselves, making it impossible to sit down without being beside one of them.

A third group of people had gathered around a small counter at the far side of the room. A young woman with ratty hair and crooked spectacles sat at the desk across from them, nodding as they spoke and jotting something down on a slip of paper.

You’ve got to be kidding me. If they’re busy enough to get close to filling, couldn’t they have invested in at least a few more chairs? I really don’t feel like sitting around and chatting with people.

Fortunately, Arwin didn’t have to stand around and complain internally for long. Before he’d even had a chance to consider if he’d prefer to stand or sit, the group that had been speaking with the woman filed out of the building.

The adventurers to their left stood and headed over to head in line, so Arwin and his team quickly made their way over to where the previous group had been sitting and took over the chairs in the front row.

Is one person enough to deal with this? It seems like a lot of work. I hope we don’t have to sit around for long.

There was nothing to do but sit back and wait. The last thing Arwin wanted to do was draw any extra attention to their group. If the only drawback they faced while setting their guild up was having to sit around and twiddle their thumbs for an hour, he’d count himself lucky.

But, as it turned out, it didn’t look like they were going to have wait long at all. The second group of adventurers that had gone up all broke away from the counter just a few minutes later and headed out of the building.

The people on the right of the room got up and crowded around the desk. Arwin yawned and glanced around the room. There really wasn’t much to look at. It was plain, devoid of so much as another door.

Muted conversation from outside caught Arwin’s attention. A new group of adventurers stepped through the entrance to the Adventurer’s Guild. They quickly made for the open seating on the opposite side of the room and sat down to wait. Arwin didn’t pay them much attention. If the people in front of them were as fast as the previous team, then they’d be finished in just a few more minutes.

I just want to get this over with so I can get out of here and go do something actually worth my time. Maybe I should have just had Olive and Reya do this. I’m not sure if the guild leader needs to be present when establishing a guild. But, if I’m honest, I kind of just want to be here. It’ s a bit surreal. Just a few minutes and—

Reya nudged Arwin in the side. He broke out of his thoughts, preparing to rise out of his chair, but the group ahead of them were still talking to the woman behind the desk. Arwin glanced over at Reya in confusion.

“What is it?”

“Don’t move,” Reya muttered in a low voice, pulling her hood a little lower on her face. “But I recognize some of the people in the group to our right.”

“Would I be being overly optimistic if I asked if you recognized them in a good way?” Arwin asked under his breath, not letting his eyes budge from the adventurers standing at the counter to avoid giving away who they were talking about.

“Yes,” Reya said. The adventurers at the desk started to back up and trickle toward the door. Arwin repressed a sigh of relief.

“Just move quickly to the desk and keep your back to them,” Arwin muttered, rising together with Reya and Olive. He didn’t even look in the other guild’s direction. With any luck, they’d get the message and —

Reya cursed under her breath. “One of them is coming. Don’t let him see me.”

“Hey there, friend,” a man said from beside Arwin. “Do you have a moment?”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

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