2:43 p.m.
Adventurer's Guild, Luxen City.
Vivian stepped into the main lobby.
She was wearing her usual attire except for one difference -- instead of a Brown Cloak, she was wearing a White Cloak. As for her weapon, she had her sword on her left hip. Meanwhile, her poleaxe, she left it back at the shared free room of the Female Dormitory.
As usual, there weren't that many people in the main lobby during this time of the day. However, every single person heard what happened yesterday and was looking at her with a surprised expression.
Vivian paid the people gawking at her no attention as she headed over to the Quest Board.
Hopefully, the Bukaroo Quest is available…
If not…
Well…
I guess I could try other Quests…
When she finally reached the Quest Board and was about to search for the Bukaroo tails, someone approached her from behind.
"V-Vivian…" a familiar voice said.
Vivian's face twisted a bit and she suppressed the urge to click her tongue before forcefully morphing her face back to a poker expression and turning around.
It was Pana.
"What?"
Pana felt a pang in her chest. Although Vivian was wearing a poker expression, her eyes and voice were cold and distant. And when she saw the White Cloak draped over Vivian's body, the pang she felt earlier only grew.
She gave a slight bow.
"Forgive me for bothering you, Honored Priestess Vivian, but the Guildmaster wants to see you."
Vivian knitted her brows.
"Now?"
Pana nodded.
"Yes. He's currently waiting inside his office."
"Why?"
"You mean, why does he want to see you?"
"What do you think?"
"It's…" Pana bit her lower lip before continuing, "It's because of a Quest and the incident yesterday."
A Quest…?
Vivian recalled what she did to the Bukaroo Tails Quest yesterday. After she signed up for the Quest, she immediately headed to the Quest Rewards counter to submit the Bukaroo Tails.
Her lips slowly curled up into a smile.
So now they're going to harass me with other shit because of the incident with that old hag and her sons…?
***
Inside an office.
A burly man in his mid-50s with long brown hair and beard was sitting behind a desk. In front of him was a skinny brown-skinned man in his mid-30s sitting at one of the chairs in front of the desk.
There were two chairs in front of the desk.
"...businesses are doing good. It's not the same back when I was still active. But it's safer," the skinny man said.
"How many customers do you get with your teaching class?" the burly man asked.
"It depends. I get during Janus and Julus -- at least 10. But for the rest of the months, around 5."
"You don't have customers from the Nobility? I heard that many of them would even offer a contract with several special benefits for a man of your skills."
The skinny man nodded.
"I've had several offers from rich merchants and Nobles to hire me as one of their son's personal trainers. However, that's not my goal. My goal is to teach would-be Adventurers and Mercenaries how to survive out in the wilderness. Had you and your late brother not given me some advice back then, I wouldn't be here."
The burly man leaned back and a reminiscing smile appeared on his face.
"You always had a good head on your shoulders."
The skinny man let out an awkward smile.
"Thank you…"
"But also had a thing for women and gambling."
The skinny man chuckled.
"Well, about that… I believe I came a long way."
The burly man nodded.
"That's good."
The skinny man's face turned pale.
"Or else Maia would kill me before divorcing me…"
The burly man let out a hearty laugh.
"That child can be quite passionate sometimes."
The skinny man let out a sigh.
"Tell me about it."
"Ollie is already 3 or 4?"
"He turned 3 last month and Rosie will turn 2 next month."
"Time flies."
The skinny man nodded.
"It does."
Knock, knock.
There was a knock at the door and both men turned their attention to it.
Ka-cha!
The door opened and Pana and Vivian entered.
When the two men saw the color of Vivian's cloak, a surprised expression flashed on their faces for a moment.
Pana bowed.
"Guildmaster, the Copper I Rank Adventurer Honored Priestess Vivian is here to see you."
"Thank you, Pana. That will be all," the burly man said.
"Yes, Guildmaster," Pana said and bowed once again before leaving.
As the Guildmaster turned to Vivian, the skinny man got up from his seat and went to the side.
"Welcome, Priestess Vivian. Please take a seat."
Vivian raised an eyebrow.
"What's going on here? Why did you call me?"
Both men were taken aback.
"You're an Adventurer, correct? Don't forget, you're talking to the Guildmaster," the skinny man said.
Vivian slowly turned her head towards him.
"Who are you again?"
"Shay, stop it. This is only a simple meeting. You may leave us," the Guildmaster said.
Shay turned to him and gave a slight bow.
"My apologies," he said and then exited the room.
The Guildmaster got up from his seat.
"Let's start over again. I am Robert, the Guildmaster of the Luxen City Adventurer's Guild branch," he said and then gestured towards the two empty chairs in front of his desk. "Please have a seat. There's something I wish to discuss with you."
"Will this be a long discussion? I'm a member of the Temple of Priests and I have so many things to do. I don't have time to be summoned by anyone else unless it has something to do with demons, demon-worshippers, the Cult of Infinity and heretics."
Robert returned to his seat.
"It will be a short meeting."
Vivian studied him for a moment before finally deciding to take a seat. However, she chose the other chair that Shay didn't use because she didn't like the feeling of sitting on a chair that became warm due to someone else sitting on it.
"You don't mind me calling you Priestess Vivian, do you?" Robert asked.
Should I…?
I'm now a White Cloak…
But this is a Guildmaster…
"No."
"Please give me a moment."
Robert opened a drawer from his desk, grabbed a piece of paper and then read it for a moment. After reading the paper, he placed it down and returned his gaze to Vivian.
"The reason why I've called you here is because of two reasons.
"The first one, not long ago, there was a Special Silver Rank Quest issued about investigating the cause of the abnormally high count of dead monsters in the forest outside of Luxen City.
"A number of Silver Rank Adventurers who took this Special Quest did some investigation and they all reached the same conclusion. Do you know what was the conclusion they reached?"
Vivian's brows knitted together.
"I don't concern myself with the business of Silver Ranks because I'm Copper I Rank. So I have no idea."
"They all reached the same conclusion that the cause of the abnormally high count of dead monsters in the forest outside of the city was you."
Vivian raised an eyebrow.
"Me? Why? How?"
"Priestess, do you know overhunting is a crime?"
"Yes, I'm fully aware of that which is why I'm not stupid to do such a thing. Tell me who these Silver Rank Adventurers are that have accused me. I want to see what evidence they have to accuse me of such lies. Are they related to Mrs. Belfair and her sons? Are you related to them as well?"
Robert smiled.
"I can assure you that I have no familial bond to Mrs. Belfair and her sons. I can also assure you that I harbor no favoritism or bias towards anyone. Your people can even use [Halo] on me."
Vivian's eyes turned to slits.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Robert smiled.
"I'm simply reading the report and I'm even willing to go through [Halo] if needed."
Vivian became silent.
"Continuing on, some Adventurers have also filed a report on you for harassment and physical assault. And if you're wondering if it's the family members of Mrs. Belfair, it's not."
Vivian continued to be silent.
"Naturally, when the Adventurer's Guild received these reports, they immediately did their own investigations to confirm their validity without any bias or whatsoever. They didn't even consider the incident between you and Mrs. Belfair and her sons.
"And you know what happened as they were investigating? They found something very interesting that even got me intrigued.
"According to their reports, you were born and raised at Sierra Village and lived your whole life there as a civilian. It wasn't until 2 months ago that the village got attacked by monsters led by a Demon Necromancer. You were among the few survivors, but your husband, children, parents, siblings and other family members didn't survive.
"After that incident, you moved to Bridge Town, joined the Temple of Thieves, and registered as an Adventurer before coming here to Luxen City.
"And based on your Adventurer Records, you've completed 4 Quests and failed 3 Quests at Bridge Town and completed 10 Quests here at Luxen City."
Vivian's jaw dropped.