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Chapter 15.2: The Nature of Hardship
While Laurent was busy taking up his role as Guardians of the Magical Tree’s special consultant, a general investor meeting was taking place at Golden Hawk’s headquarters.
The city’s largest landowners, banks and particularly distinguished members of the guild were gathered there.
Those investors were the very force behind Golden Hawk’s transformation into the city’s top guild.
It was only because Golden Hawk had managed to enlist their capital that they were able to establish the strong organization they currently had; it was how they paid their guild members lucrative salaries and formed a monopoly of the alchemist guilds.
Yet while they were provided with piles of capital funds, it also meant that every month, representative guild members would need to make an appearance at the general meeting and provide a thorough overview of the guild’s performance.
Lucius opened the general meeting, and as usual, he explained the past month’s outcomes. But from the very outset of the meeting, the investors were pelting him with hard questions.
The investors’ primary point of concern was how Guardians of the Magical Tree had conquered a dungeon.
“What the hell is going on? You had a dungeon stolen from right under your nose!”
“This is an alarming failure.”
“You told us that Guardians of the Magical Tree was on its last legs—that they were virtually under Golden Hawk’s jurisdiction. Yet, you’re losing in a race against a guild under your jurisdiction! How does that make sense?”
“If they acquire a dungeon again next month, you’ll need to answer for it.”
“Please, don’t concern yourselves with this. I have already investigated the matter, and I have taken steps to squashing the problem,” Lucius said, plastering on a calm smile, even as he forced down his irritation. “Allow me to explain why we were unable to obtain that dungeon this month. It was a poorly made judgement call on the part of the unit leader, Marco. The boss was right in front of his eyes, yet he committed the error of choosing to retreat. This mistake was due to an appalling decision made by Marco. The guild has already dealt with it by demoting him, and a more qualified individual has been nominated to be the new unit leader.”
“Nominated? As in, you have yet to come to a decision?” One investor said, his brows furrowed.
“Our guild has an abundance of talent. All of you know this, of course,” Lucius said. To the bitter end, he would hold onto his composure.
“What about the heavy knight, Jill? Or Daevin, the alchemist? They’re said to be of an A -rank calibre, no? It’s about time that they are appointed as unit leaders, don’t you think?” Another investor said. Lucius’s eyebrow twitched.
It was a tic that appeared when he reached next-level irritation. “It’s still premature for them to become unit leaders. They’re still young. They’re in a time where they should still be focusing on their individual performances.”
“Premature is right. How much longer are those two going to be B -rank adventurers for?”
“What are their trainers doing?”
“Yes, they’ve been very disappointing,” Lucius said. “I’ll have the trainers be more harsh with them. Perhaps that will put a little spirit into them.”
“Well, the matter of the dungeon being taken is acceptable. But how do you explain that fair sponsored by Count Elson?”
Lucius’s eyebrow twitched again.
Of all topics, Count Elson was one that he did not want to touch with a ten-foot pole.
This time, it was not just the look in his eye that shifted. His cheeks pushed upwards unnaturally and his entire face spasmed.*
(T/N: This man is literally having a stroke. Also the literal translation is ‘his cheeks rolled up’, which… yeah idk what that means, aside from a possible Hannibal-esque horror scene.)
“Ah, yes. You did mention that you’re going to get Count Elson to invest as well, didn’t you? How is that coming?”
“If my memory serves, the plan was to use Count Elson’s funds to poach Guardians of the Magical Tree’s strongest adventurers so that we can force them out completely.”
“Apparently, another guild walked away with the fair’s grand prize.”
“The fair? This came up earlier, but what does it have to do with anything?”
“The silverworks fair that Count Elson sponsored. The guild that submitted the best silverwork would receive a public award, but the one that received that award and won Count Elson’s favour was a guild called Arsenal of the Spirits.”
“Arsenal of the Spirits? Never heard of them.”
“It’s not one of ours.”
“What, so some upstart guild from some shithole we don’t even know about got the award? I thought we had the city’s alchemist guilds under our control. Lucius! What the hell have you been doing? Huh?”
For a moment, Lucius looked down at his feet, dispirited.
He looked as though he was either crushed by the reprimand, or as though he was controlling his temper.
The investors watched his response carefully.
At last, Lucius raised his head.
Instead, he was completely composed, and he had mustered up his usual smile again.
“Please don’t concern yourselves. Arsenal of the Spirits is an ant of a guild, in the end. I’ve already taken measures, such as locking down the distribution lines of our ores, in addition to adding pressure on the guilds cooperating with us. Arsenal of the Spirits will run dry soon enough. Eventually, they’ll come begging to be taken under our protection.”
“Well, if you say so, then it’ll probably be fine. But understand this—if, in the next month, Guardians of the Magical Tree gets the jump on you again… we may have to reconsider your suitability for your position.”
“I fully acknowledge that.”
The investors did not look fully convinced, but they also didn’t have any more information to pursue, so they stewed in bitter silence.
Lucius straightened his shirt, relieved.
It got a little rough there, but somehow I got through it. My, my.
“No further questions? Then I declare this general meeting closed and—”
“Wait.” Among the investors, an anxious-looking man wearing glasses raised his hand. “According to this here, there was an Appraiser who was expelled.”
Lucius grew sombre.
He absolutely did not want to talk about that right now.
“The severance payment was handed out to him during his expulsion. Isn’t this pay a little bit much?” he said, pointing at the financial documents.
Realising this was not an objection about the expulsion itself, Lucius relaxed.
“Ah, that matter about the Appraiser’s expulsion, huh? He made a mistake too great to ignore. If we allowed him to remain employed with us, he would have dragged the entire guild’s morale down. I had no choice but to let him go.”
“That’s fine and all, but wouldn’t it have been better to just let the contract expire instead of making it a point to fire him? Surely, you could have found plenty of other uses for him—converted him to a tank or something and milked him for what he’s worth. Wasteful expenses like this chip away at an organisation’s foundations, you know…”
After that, he continued to preach endlessly to Lucius about how important it was to cut down expenses.
This is like counting from one to ten; don’t you know anything? His attitude screamed.
But for the moment, Lucius could only sit and listen to the endless stream of reprimands.
——
“Thank you for attending, gentlemen. We have prepared carriages for your return and gift bags for you.”
After the end of the meeting, Deanna showed the investors out to the door.
She saw them off with a hospitable smile.
The investors walked down the corridor and out the door with their puffed-out chests and the severe look in their eyes, as though to say to the world, ‘We are Very Important Investors’.
Lucius remained in the conference room alone.
With no one there to see him, he picked up the sword displayed on the shelf and proceeded to hack the investors’ vacated seats into bits and pieces.
“God—f*cking—d*mmit! Those fat pigs! I lose one f*cking dungeon and those pompous f*cks think they can question every single thing I say?!”
Lucius only sheathed the sword again when the chairs had all been completely cut up. He flung the sword at the shelves.
“Everywhere I go, it’s about Laurent! It’s his d*mn fault. He’s just one insignificant Appraiser and yet he has the audacity to f*ck with me?”
Lucius sent a carved up chair flying with a kick. But even with that, the anger roiling like worms in his belly did not settle.
“Just you wait, Laurent. I won’t let this humiliation lie.”
——
“Oh, Laurent-san, welcome.”
The receptionist at the Quest Reception Office, Claria, greeted Laurent with a smile.
For a time, she had been tiptoed around Laurent, but once she’d come to know his temperament (she was the one that Laurent had told, “You don’t need to lower yourself like that”*), she had let go of all her reservations. Now, she treated him like a much-valued client.
(T/N: see Chapter 9, but basically, same receptionist lady that’s been around since Chapter 1. I guess they only have one employee manning the front desks??)
“Hey, Claria-san.”
“Thank you for coming again. What can I do for you today?”
“Um, I kind of have a lot to tell you…”
“Of course. Please, there’s a small, private room this way.”
She stood and showed Laurent into the room.
Once they were safely ensconced, Laurent promptly dove into the important matters. “I need a quest for some adventurers.”
“For adventurers? Is it related to alchemical items?”
“No, that’s not it. I need quests that would be suitable for an archer, a support mage and a healer.”
“Eh? That means… are you working as an adventurer again?”
“Not so much an adventurer; just training adventurers,” Laurent said awkwardly. “Honestly, I kind of became a special consultant for Guardians of the Magical Tree.”
“Oh, my. Why, that’s wonderful; you’re moving up in the world! Congratulations.”
Laurent chuckled. “Thanks. Anyway, because of that, I was hoping you’d tell me if any good quests for an archer, support mage and healer turn up.” He passed her his contact information.
“Of course. You’ll be the first person to know.”
They wrapped up the conversation and Claria saw Laurent off at the door.
Alright, that’s the preparation for the quests sorted. Next, equipment. It’ll need to be specially made for them.
——
After Claria saw Laurent off, she noted down his request and placed it on the very top of her to-do list.
She sighed happily. Laurent-san’s really the sweetest. Now, what’s next? The new dungeons will be appearing soon, so I’ll need to make some preparations for Laurent-san. I was so rude to him before; I need to make it up to him.
Just as Claria was tidying up her documents, someone else came up to the reception.
“Welcome—ah!”
“Hello, Claria. You’re as pleasant as always, aren’t you?”
“D-Deanna-san.”
“It’s been a while.”
“U-Um, yes, it’s been a while. This is rare, isn’t it, that you would come all the way down to the Quest Reception Office,” Claria said, glancing at Deanna with a nervous chuckle. Cold sweat beaded on her skin.
Her nervousness was not unwarranted.
Despite Deanna’s smiling face, it was the kind of terrifying smile that made you want to fold your body into as small a target as possible.
“That was Laurent you were speaking with in the private room earlier, wasn’t it?”
“Eh? U-Uh, I mean, yes, I suppose so,” Claria said, laughing anxiously.
“That was very mean, Claria. You broke our promise and have been giving out quest commissions to Laurent. Is the Quest Reception Office saying that Laurent matters more to you than us?”
“N-No, of course not. That’s certainly not what we’re saying. You’re our valued customer, Deanna-san. There is nothing more important to the Quest Reception Office than our partnership with Golden Hawk,” Claria managed in faltering tones.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Deanna said, smiling sweetly.
Claria was terrified of that smile.
“So, you’ll tell me, won’t you? Exactly what Laurent wanted from the Quest Reception Office. What did he tell you in private? Don’t play coy, now.”
Claria whimpered.
She was bound by duty to protect the confidentiality of clients of the Quest Reception Office… but she didn’t exactly have another choice.
——
“Great, a ‘special consultant’. Tensions between Golden Hawk and Guardians of the Magical Tree are already strained, and now Lilianne’s decided to throw caution to the wind.” Deanna left the Quest Reception Office, irritated. “Whatever. At least I’ve figured out the first step to ruining Laurent.”
If the training project fails, Laurent’s relationship with Guardians of the Magical Tree will fissure. How convenient. It would be such a waste not to use this opportunity.
Deanna promptly went to tattle to Lucius, not sparing a moment.
Then, Lucius began putting together a unit to ruin Laurent’s training project.