309 Everything Has A Price
Town of Everton, Azrael Kingdom…
"I'm sorry, but I can't recommend you to take the Trial of Leadership," the Guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild in the Town of Everton said. "Try the other towns. Perhaps one of the Guildmasters there can give you a recommendation letter."
"Sir, this is already the third town I've visited," Lux stated. "I still don't understand why you're not allowing me to get a recommendation letter. I can still understand being rejected once or twice, but thrice is a bit too much.
"The other Guildmasters also didn't tell me the reason why they don't want to write me recommendation letters. They only told me to go to other towns instead. Am I blacklisted or something? Can you please tell me the reason?"
Omer, the Guildmaster of the Everton Adventurer's Guild, sighed before making a gesture for Lux to sit.
"I also don't know the reason, but the higher ups have passed a decree that no Adventurer's Guild in the Kingdom of Azrael is to give a recommendation letter to someone named Lux Von Kaiser," Omer explained.
"Usually, this happens when the individual is a top criminal with a bounty on their heads. I already checked the information on your Guild Card, and although I don't know where this Leaf Village is, you have clearly met all the requirements to become a Gold-Ranked Adventurer. There are also no records about you being a criminal or anything, which baffles me. Kid, did you mess with a bigshot or something?"
Lux frowned. After almost a week of trying to get a recommendation letter, only now did he understand why not a single branch of the Adventurer's Guild agreed to give him a recommendation for the Trial of Leadership.
It seemed that someone from the higher echelons of the Adventurer Guilds in the Azrael Kingdom was getting in the way of his Guild Creation.
"Sir Omer, is it possible to know which Kingdoms and Empires I am currently blacklisted in?" Lux inquired.
Omer, who was carefully observing the Half-Elf in front of him, closed his eyes.
"Recently, there was an incident in a Neutral Area bordering the Skystead Alliance and the Xynnar War Pact. Because of that incident, the relationship between these two factions has become strained," Omer stated.
"In order to settle the disputes, certain individuals have been blacklisted from being able to accept Quests in the Adventurer Guilds of all the Kingdoms involved in the Incident. Now that I think about it, your name is at the top of that list. Unless the higher-ups clear your name from our blacklist, your rights as an Adventurer within all the Kingdoms and Empires that have signed the memorandum will be revoked."
The frown on Lux's face deepened after hearing Omer's explanation. If all the territories around him had his name blacklisted, didn't that mean that he was as good as f*cked?
'... Don't tell me Sir Rainer knew that my name had been blacklisted in the Adventurer's Guild in the various Kingdoms,' Lux thought as he remembered the sly fox who was also Nero's Master. 'This is bad. If this is true then doesn't that mean that I will have no choice but to join Nero's Guild?'
Lux's face darkened after learning about this revelation. He would rather get exiled than rub shoulders with the brown-haired boy who treated him like trash in the past.
"Is there really no other way?" Lux asked. "Maybe there is a loophole that I can use?"
Omer opened his eyes and stared at the Half-Elf for half a minute before laughing out loud.
"You sure have guts, boy," Omer said after he finished laughing. "You're right. There are ways to have your name erased from our blacklist."
"Really?!"
"Yes. Do you want to know how?"
Lux nodded. If there was really a way to gain the letters of recommendation to take the test then he would grab it no matter what it was.
"Since you want to know, I will tell you how." Omer smiled and raised his hand.
Lux watched closely as Omer opened his palm and slowly connected his thumb and index finger together, forming the money hand gesture.
"At the end of the day, anything has a price," Omer said. "The only question is, can you pay that price?"
"How much?" Lux inquired.
"Ten."
"Ten thousand gold coins?"
"Ten Million Gold Coins."
Lux gave Omer the "are you f*cking kidding me?" gaze making the Guildmaster smile.
"Take note, this amount is only enough to pay for your recommendation letter from this guild branch," Omer commented. "You will have to pay the same amount in the other branches, which means you need a total amount of thirty million gold coins."
Lux almost puked blood after hearing that outrageous amount. After winning the Lionheart Tournament, he was only awarded a million gold coins as his cash prize. It was nowhere near enough the ten million bribe that was needed for Omer to give him a recommendation letter.
After that, he would also have to procure an additional twenty million gold coins to bribe two more Guildmasters of the Adventurer's Guild for their recommendation letters.
"...Is there no other way?" Lux asked with a sigh. "This method is impossible for me."
Omer rubbed his chin. He found the Half-Elf quite interesting. Even though this kid was fighting an uphill battle, he was still looking for loopholes in order to reach his goal.
"A feat that will make all the branches of the Adventurers Guild recognize you," Omer answered after a minute. "One that will give us no choice but to acknowledge you as an Adventurer whose potential surpasses the norms. As long as you are able to do this, then all opposition blocking your way in creating your Guild will disappear."
Lux scratched his head. "A feat that will make all of you recognize me? What do I have to do? Slay an Elder Abyssal Creature?"
"Something like that."
"...You guys want me to die that badly?"
Elder Abyssal Monsters were all at the Dreadnaught-Rank. This was the next rank after the Argonaut Rank, and just hearing it made Lux feel his heart tremble. Even if he summoned Keoza to help him fight it, the chances of them winning were non-existent.
That was how powerful Dreadnaught Ranked Monsters were. They could only be challenged by a team of Rankers that specialized in hunting them.
After thanking Omer for telling him everything he knew, Lux left the Adventurer's Guild and went to a tavern in order to have lunch.
Just as he was about to place his order, a skinny young man entered the tavern carrying a boar on his shoulders. All of its limbs were tied up, making it unable to escape its captor.
Lux, who was seated in the far corner of the tavern, almost fell off his chair after seeing the two newcomers.
"Shop Owner, can you prepare a feast using this boar? The skinny young man asked. "I don't mind if it's roasted, or boiled. Just make sure to cook it well. I am originally a vegetarian, but just this once, I will partake in eating meat."
"Damn you, Little Swordy!" The Boar struggled to free itself from being bound. "How dare you ask someone to cook me?! Why are you so petty? It's just money, you know? We can make a comeback after I make a killing in the gambling den!"
"Petty?" Keane asked back. "You took our money while I was sleeping and went to gamble it all, and you dare say that you can make a comeback by gambling again? That's what all gamblers say!"
"Little Swordy, the ball really stopped on the number that I chose earlier," Cai explained. "I didn't know how it happened, but it suddenly moved to the next slot, a second before the wheel stopped turning. I'm sure that I have been cheated!"
"Fool! That's exactly why going to the gambling den is a stupid thing to do! All of them are there to take your money. You should have seen this coming!"
"Little Swordy, calm down and take deep breaths. We can talk this out like civil people. Um… Shop Owner, why are you pulling out that kitchen knife? Oi! Why are you coming closer?! Oi stop! Don't skin meeeeeeeeee!"
The boar's squeal made everyone in the tavern start laughing because it was quite funny to see it plead for its life.
Lux, on the other hand, rose from his seat and walked towards his acquaintances, who had somehow appeared in the town he was in, while he was thinking of ways to secure recommendation letters from the Guildmasters of the Azrael Kingdom.
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