“Is this the place?”

A blonde haired beauty jumped off her horse as she looked up at a certain building. If one were to look at the kind of company buildings on this street then you wouldn’t notice this building as anything special.

Perhaps it seemed so normal because there weren’t a lot of adventurers coming and going like any other guilds.

Having heard her question, another person replied:

“Yes, Lady Alice, I’m sure of it. We should go in and give our greetings.”

The one who spoke was Josephine who Alice ran into while on her way here. She was apparently looking to work for Nova’s party.

Alice’s party was exhausted from travelling for so long outside the empire so she came alone. It was partly due to her being so excited to see an old friend.

“Let’s go in.”

Alice and Josephine walked towards the building.

Someone suddenly came towards them. It was a boy who was carrying what seemed to be groceries.

He looked at them with a curious expression before asking, “Can I help you?”

“Are you part of Misteltein?” Alice asked since the boy seemed like he was about to climb the stairs.

“This is Nova’s companion, Lucri.” Josephine introduced the boy instead.

“This is the vice-leader!?”

“Yes, the one who used the 8th rank spells.” Josephine responded.

“I need to see Nova as soon as possible!” Alice grabbed the boy’s hand, which startled him.

“Eh? Why?”

“To thank him for saving the empire!”

“But it was a team effort, right? Um, anyway, who are you, miss?”

“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Alice and I am the leader of Dead End.” Alice said with a proud look on her face as she smiled broadly.

“Oh.” Lucri said with a bored expression.

“Oh. Oh!?!? That’s all!? I’m an SS-class adventurer! And all you say is “Oh”!?”

“S-Sorry—”

“Is sir Nova still here?” Josephine interrupted Alice and Lucri.

“No, he left already."

Alice looked at Lucri crestfallen. Her face was akin to that of shock.

“Where did he go!?” Alice grabbed Lucri and shook him repeatedly as she asked.

“I need to see him now! It’s of grave importance!” Alice’s shouting made a crowd gather.

Who was this beauty who was acting like some child in the streets?

“Ow, that hurts!”

“S-Sorry,” Alice let him go since he glared at her, “I just really want to thank him.” She emphasised “really”.

“Why is that so important…”

It was more like Alice was interested in this Nova fellow. Why was he able to rise in rank this fast? Why was he so strong that he was able to defeat a wild dragon, handle a group of demons on his own and even kill two S-class monsters?

The Guild and its sponsors were now in a buzz.

-This man deserves to become an S-rank!

-True, he contributed even more to the monster wave subjugation than our S-class adventurers ever did. I'm shocked how our so-called high class adventurers were the least active members of the joint subjugation.

-Our SS-class adventurers are the most useless of the batch! Important things to handle? Isn’t a monster wave more important than your fairy-tale relic hunting!?

Those were but some of the harsh things that were said when the nobles who supported the Guild had a meeting. The meeting began last night and concluded only before sunrise. Needless to say, the Guild was in chaos without Daraia to lead them.

Alice was obligated to be present since the Guild Master wasn’t there. There wasn’t a Vice Guild Master so a person with the highest adventurer rank had to take up the duty.

Cameria was also an SS-class but she wasn’t interested. This was why Alice chose to be there.

Though that only ignited the nobles’ anger and dissatisfaction.

None of them were looking at the high-class adventurers in a good light. While they were defending the wall, Nova and many others was out there clearing any monsters that were trying to roam around the city.

The formation that they came up with was that all their firepower had to be focused on a single area at once. The mages and other long range fighters played the biggest role in the subjugation but the warriors also killed any monsters that got too close to the wall. According to the nobles, mages were supposedly the only ones who should’ve remained on the wall, not the close combatants.

The warriors were supposed to only kill any monsters that were left over but they got so fed up with Nova that they decided to abandon their positions and attack the monsters on their own. Many of them lost their lives from being so reckless.

There were too many of them who disobeyed orders so Alice decided not to pursue the matter any further.

Alice didn’t just come here to look for Nova. She came here for a different reason as well. But that reason can only be addressed if said person was present.

“Can we go inside and talk?”

“Okay.”

◇◇◇

Lucri led them to the living room of the building. The building looked as average as it did from the outside. The walls were dirty and some windows were broken. There were roaches and bugs running around at every corner.

The only upsides about the place was how big it was and how close it was to the HQ. It was literally in the next street over.

“Sorry that I can’t brew some tea. We still have to drop by a market to buy appliances for the guildhouse. So how is everything going at the Guild?” Lucri asked when he sat down with them on the two sofas which was the only furniture besides those stools at the bar.

“Horrible. Our sponsors are angry about the outcome of the subjugation.” Alice said bitterly.

“Angry? But we won so why would they be so displeased?”

“No, they aren’t worried about the subjugation itself. The issue is with the adventurers.”

“….”

“You probably didn’t know since you were stationed at the top of the wall with the other mages. Most of the adventurers recklessly followed Nova’s lead with some of them getting slaughtered.”

“Why would they even follow him…”

“Pride, what else can it be? They can’t take it that he has all the spotlight. We lost most of our adventurers because of their stupid pride. Although they managed to help Nova take down an S-class monster, only a few managed to make it out alive. We lost a lot of adventurers because of this.”

“What will the Guild do about it?”

“For now we’re thinking of changing the rules a bit. I went over the rulebook and noticed how shackled we adventurers are to the Adventurer Code. Things like protecting the people during a monster attack is common sense. But rules like being threatened to lose your license if you abandon your position for whatever reason is just too much.”

“They are like slaves. This was why the subjugation went so poorly.” Josephine spoke after Alice, "This subjugation showed the executives that adventurers shouldn't be caged like animals. It's no wonder many veterans quit without even working for two decades in the field. That's why the rules need to change. If they aren't changed then adventuring will become obsolete, just like tomb raiding."

“We’ll wait for Daraia to come back before making a decision. Also, we’re thinking of choosing a new Vice Guild Master. I nominated myself for the role but I haven’t received that many votes in my favour.”

Lucri looked at Alice for a moment, “If miss Alice can create a better guild then I think it’s a good idea for you to become Vice Guild Master. But what about your companions?”

Executives of a guild who were once adventurers weren’t allowed to be in a party. This meant that Dead End would be disbanded.

“They agreed with me that it’s for the best.”

“That’s great!” Lucri clapped his hands, “Then there’s nothing stopping miss Alice, right? No one can oppose this since you’re an SS-class adventurer.”

“But the other issue is gaining support. We need the support of the people right now if we want to change the rules of the guild that has been the same ever since adventuring became a profession. Can I ask that Misteltein support me?”

Misteltein was now one of the most popular adventurer parties. A plethora of quests came rolling in from people all around the continent when they heard about Misteltein’s actions.

Not only did an A-class adventurer take down two S-rank monsters and kill many other monsters on his level, his companion who was known to only be able to use 1st rank magic could use 8th rank spells.

Every major guild wanted them now.

The Magic Guild’s leader even wanted to do negotiations with Alice and the guild sponsors to hand Lucri over to them. But that wasn’t an option right now since Misteltein was an independent guild. They were still affiliated with the Adventurer Guild but they had more leeway than regular parties.

“If Misteltein stands with me then I’m sure others will follow. What we need right now is for everyone to be united.”

“I’m not sure I can make a decision without Nova being present. Deciding something like this requires the leader, after all. We'll be exposing ourselves to criticism and many other problems by the minority who won't agree with your plans to change the rules. This can impact our guild. Especially because we're still small."

Alice sank back on the couch as she held back a sigh.

‘I can still become the Vice Guild Master but things will be more complicated if I don’t have their support. Word of mouth won’t work since everyone knows I’m not that close to either of the members of Misteltein….’

She had to give proof to the sponsors of who supported the decision to make her the Vice Guild Master. If Nova wasn’t here personally then that was impossible. Lucri alone wouldn’t be enough since everyone believed that Nova was the only one calling the shots.

“Sorry…” Lucri bowed his head.

“It’s fine. But can you give a message to him?”

“Yes, I can do that.” said Lucri.

“Tell him that I would like to invite your party to go dungeon raiding with me. It’s just an invitation so he can refuse if he wants to.” Alice stood up, “I should get going. I have new responsibilities to uphold now.”

If she became Vice Guild Master then she wouldn’t have as much freedom as she had as an SS-class adventurer. She would only be allowed to leave the guild if the Guild Master was present.

She will have to enjoy her freedom while she still can.

◇◇◇

Only Josephine and Elora were left now.

Elora was confused why Josephine came here out of the blue. It wasn’t like Elora called for her or anything.

The Guild was now at its busiest so all its workers had to be there.

Josephine moved her mouth, “I would like to join your guild as a receptionist.”

“Eh?”

“Here is my resume,” Josephine slid her resume over to Lucri.

“No, that’s not the problem here. I already know how competent you are. Why do you want to work for us?”

Josephine could choose to work for any guild due to her experience in both adventuring and being employed by the headquarters. Though she only had 5 years experience as a receptionist, she was praised as being better at the job than even her seniors who had many more years in that field.

“Is the ‘Why’ important? I would like to work here because I think this guild has potential.”

Potential?

Elora wondered where that potential will come from. The guild members weren’t the only people who mattered if you want to create an independent guild respected by all the other larger guilds.

They were only three adventurers whose party was only about a few months old. Elora wouldn’t have been surprised if other adventurer parties came to thrash the place while Nova was away.

Most guilds fail unless they had sponsors to keep them going. You can’t rely on monster hunting to fund a large organization, after all.

“Miss Josephine, are you in love with sir Nova?” Elora asked as she looked at Josephine’s face closely.

“…That is irrelevant to the current situation.” Though her face was stoic, there was a small blush on her cheeks.

“….I guess it is.” Elora laughed awkwardly.

‘But he’ll still be mine first even if you are in love with him.’

“I hope you understand that your starting salary won’t even be half your previous salary.”

“You’ll accept me?” Josephine seemed surprised, “Even though I didn’t set up a meeting…”

“It’s fine,” said Elora with a wry smile, “We were actually looking for a receptionist. Sir Nova suggested we bring you in the other day.”

“I-Is that so…? Ahem, I am glad we came to an understanding. Regarding my salary, I made preparations in advance to ensure I have enough money until the guildhouse become financially stable. So please don’t worry about that for now.”

‘That’s a relief. I was worried I might have to pay her with my own money.’

She was thinking of using that money to order a bunch of magic sheets from the Second Magic Tower. She realized after the subjugation that her worth as a mage was much more than using 1st rank spells despite being an A-class adventurer.

Once Galadriel gets back then the two of them need to go do some quests. Securing money was now their priority.

“Can we talk specifics of my job? I’m hired, aren’t I?”

“Oh, of course. We need to get that out of the way. But first, I’d like to mention that we recently had a third member join us.”

“Only a third member? I was expecting more to join after your excellent display of power in the subjugation.”

“Hahaha…”

Elora suddenly remembered what happened in front of the Guild the other day when Nova threatened to hurt people. She only heard about that afterwards.

The adventurers were probably hesitant and too scared of coming.

Josephine spoke with a wry smile, “I’ll handle interviewing potential party members. Please focus on your role as a vice leader, sir Lucri.”

“Interviewing potential party members is one of my responsibilities though…”

“Sir Lucri and sir Nova should focus on securing funding for our guild. We should also try and create alliances with other guilds. The Magic Guild would be our best option since they can supply us with magic sheets which you will need… given your special class…”

“Mm, I know.”

Elora’s worth was determined by the kind of magic sheet spells she can use. As it stands now she could use 8th rank spells without any difficulties whatsoever. This made her one of the most powerful magic users in the empire at the moment. Of course, with that much exposure came fame which she now had quite a lot of.

Elora could become a member of the Magic Guild whilst being an adventurer part of Misteltein. It was possible to be in two different guilds unlike being in two parties.

The system guilds used was called Dual Guild Membership. It was given to the individual who will be a member of two guilds. The HQ usually assigned this membership.

Being part of the Magic Guild while receiving supplies for quests was a good deal.

Still, Elora was worried that she won’t be able to be a member of two guilds at once.

‘But if it’s temporary then it doesn’t matter. I’ll do my best for Misteltein.’ Elora silently tightened her fists.

“Now then, shall we begin?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, right.” Elora stood up and held out a hand, “Welcome to Misteltein Guild. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

Josephine stood up as well and shook Elora’s hand.

“Likewise. I will do my very best for this guild.”