“Sir Wayland, I’m glad that you have returned safely.”

“Awooo!”

“Sir Agni as well, he has gotten so much bigger but if I may ask…”

“That’s true, luckily the tunnels are wide enough to even fit him through and if you want to ask about the adventurer party, there wasn’t much left from them. Luckily some of the adventurer cards survived enough to identify their group.”

“I see, will you bring up this issue with the guild?”

“Yes, I’ll be heading there now.”

Roland arrived at the entrance to the mining area with Agni trotting slowly behind him. Myrtle and her party looked somewhat astonished by the lack of damage to his armor. This group was probably a bit stronger than the lesser tier 3 platinum party he took out. They were aware that the party of five who had ventured into the dungeon beforehand. Their levels were similar and they would not come out unscathed from a proper engagement.

Even though their classes were of the lesser kind, a lot of things could affect a battle between the adventurers. One small slip-up and any one of them could have ended up dead. It was even more likely for something to go wrong when you were engaging others inside a dangerous dungeon like this one. One stray undead monster could cause a shift in the outcome rather quickly.

Some of them assumed that Roland had perhaps lured them into a trap that lowered his achievement slightly. Nevertheless, if he was able to destroy a party of five platinum adventurers his personal strength couldn’t be looked down upon. The party of five had to keep this in mind and watch to not go against the Valerian household. If they went out of line, this scary Head Knight could be their downfall.

“Ah, and that person must be…”

“Yes, it’s the Alchemist that employed those five, I’ll leave him in your care for now, send him back with the miners that are finished with their shift.”

“That’s not a proble…”

“Wait a minute, what do you mean when their shift is over? How long will that take?”

Before Myrtle could end her sentence the gnome jumped out from behind Roland. He didn’t look amused with the idea of staying in this mining shaft for longer than a few minutes.

“Well, Mr. Rastix, the escort party should arrive here in around two or three hours. Why don’t you use one of the tents to wait, we do have some rations there.”

“Three hours? Rations? Are you serious? Do you want to keep a Master Alchemist in a place like this? Do you want me to breathe in all of this dirt!?”

Rastix sneezed as some dust from the mining work tickled his nose. The place was covered in a lot of dirt but at least with the help of magic, no one was losing their hearing. Simple sound-dampening devices weren’t hard to come by and made this place rather quiet. It wasn’t such a bad situation considering that the alchemist was safe, yet time was money and at least to this gnome with an attitude problem it was not something he was willing to put himself through.

‘He sure got a lot louder after we left the harder levels…’

Roland was looking at the small shouting man getting mad. It wasn’t like he couldn’t act as an escort warrior but it would have been much faster to just leave the guy behind. There was only one reason he was still thinking about it and that was the offer he was given. The two had a lot of time to converse and the gnome used this time well.

‘There will be other Alchemists arriving in the city and I can use the resources of the Union but…’

There was a big difference between buying up alchemical concoctions and having them tailor-made. For instance, the Silvergrace suit that he was wearing could still be enhanced. A proper Master Alchemist should be able to remake it with better materials and even fit it to his physique.

Then there was also the insight into the manufacturing process of alloys. There were many ways of producing these, there were probably ways of making his suit lighter and allowing it to retain all of its functions. Having a Master Alchemist to bounce off ideas along with a Master Runesmith in the dwarven union, could enhance his craft by a tremendous amount.

There were some downsides of this partnership, one of the more obvious ones was this man’s attitude problem. He seemed cordial at first but after the danger had passed it was clear that he had a stick up his ass. Perhaps this personality trait was responsible for him getting tossed to the side by his peers. Was it wise to work with someone that was a ticking time bomb, what if the next thing that exploded was his magic shop?

‘Maybe I should have someone look into his background before I make a decision? It is possible that he was just targeted by a jealous competitor.’

Roland knew a thing or two about irritating people in the same line of work. He had almost been run out of the city by the jealous dwarven union that could still stick a dagger into his back if he didn’t take them seriously. With these variables in mind, he needed to decide as opening a multipurpose store with everything in it was one of his newest ideas.

Thanks to his more modern mind he knew that people were lazy and liked when everything was in one place. The day and age of malls and huge stores had arrived in the world he came from. If he managed to have magical potions along with magical weapons and armor in one place, then people would flock. Why would they spend half a day in the market if they could just pick up everything in one place instead?

‘Getting an Alchemist would just be a start, a good tailor, a cobbler and a leatherworker would be the next step. I’m kind of only covering the heavy armor and weapon side of adventurer gear but there is so much more ground to cover.’

Roland was somewhat limited in his craft that had to usually stick to metallic constructions. There was however a lot more that he could enchant besides metallic items. There were mana-resistant threads that could be made into mage robes and later enchanted with runes. It was the same with leather that came from monsters that had naturally resistant hides. It was also possible to integrate smaller metallic plates into lighter armor that could later be replaced quite easily.

‘Other alchemists will probably instantly join up with the union or create their own guild, the other gnomes don’t like to directly work with others. I might not even have a choice unless I make an inquiry with the Union directly …’

There was a lot of bureaucracy that went around in the background. He didn’t really know anyone within the Alchemist guild, the probability of them sending one of their masters over to his store was extremely low. Then there was the problem of tier 3 class holders having a big ego, this gnome wasn’t really that much different than the rest. Everyone at that stage in their life wanted to run their own operation. Rastix here on the other hand probably didn’t have many places to go.

‘If the guild he was kicked out actually comes to Albrook, then he might suffer the same fate as me when the Union arrived, he might not have any other choice… Maybe, I can get a good deal out of this.’

While he didn’t want to have a potentially dangerous element around his compound there were ways of minimizing damages. There were a lot of unused farmlands to the side of his home. If an Alchemist was to perform dangerous tests that caused explosions it would be best to give him a spot devoid of anything. In his head he already had a few ways of keeping him in check and with a binding contract, it wouldn’t even cost him that much.

“Wait, are you really going to leave me here?”

“I’m sorry but I’m kind of busy… Don’t worry we can catch up on our conversation later, just come visit me at my workshop, tomorrow or the day after.”

Roland had gone through this scenario in his head several times while walking here and decided to give it a shot. However, during a negotiation, it was better not to show all of his cards. If he gave Rastix the impression that he didn’t care about him that much, then the gnome would probably lower his initial deal. When backed into a corner, people were willing to sell themselves short. When he was at his lowest, delving into a den of thieves sounded reasonable enough.

“Don’t worry Mr. Rastix. You are in good hands, just take a moment to rest.”

“Sir Wayland is right, you don’t look too good, when was the last time you have slept?”

Rastix was not in possession of a battle class and he had just gone through a tier 3 dungeon. He was down here for several days already and used positions to keep his body going. Taking too many potions always brought some side effects and could even create a persistent debuff. His face was somewhat pale from lack of sleep which could be alleviated by a nap.

“The last time? Uh…”

Myrtle took it upon herself to act as a concerned mother. While she continued to speak, Roland continued to walk away. Before the gnome knew it he was already at the secret passage area.

“Hey… w-wait.”

“I’ll see you later Mr. Rastix, get some rest in the tent and come back with the miners.”

Before his new acquaintance could raise a protest he finished along with Agni behind the passageway. With now everyone gone he could give out a sigh and have some time to think about his next stop, the adventurer guild.

“I knew that this time would come, I guess it’s better to do this now than later.”

“Worf?”

Agni tilted his head to the side as Roland started looking at him. The ruby wolf needed an update inside the guild which meant that he would need to go through a checkup. Something like that would normally entail going through his own platinum rank test as using a tier 3 companion monster had to be reported if he was ever to bring him inside of the city. Luckily with his status, he could somewhat avoid that difficulty.

“It’ll probably be better if you just stay at the workshop for now, if everything goes as I think it will… Well, anyway let’s go, I’m getting hungry and I’m sure you are too.”

“Woof!”

After food was mentioned Agni started springing forward. While he could eat monsters, the undead skeletons and their bones weren’t tasty or nutritious. At least down here he could hunt some salamanders whose meat came pre-cooked. Soon both headed to the upper levels and used various shortcuts to cut their trip to only a few hours.

“Welcome back.”

“I’m home.”

To his surprise, Elodia was waiting with a warm meal and a smile. His fatigue seemed to instantly fade away but before he was able to grab some warm stew, he was hit by a ladle.

“You want to eat in that armor? And you smell like a graveyard, go take a bath first.”

“Ah… sorry.”

After getting pushed out of the kitchen he quickly cleaned himself up so that he could enjoy a warm meal. Jorg along with Marcie joined in as it was dinner time. The half-dwarven youth had arrived to help with Agni’s stable project. Even though Bernir wasn’t here the young man could start preparing the logs and planks needed for the construction. Even though he was a stonemason, polishing wood wasn’t a hard task.

Days like this made getting through hardships like the recent one in the dungeon worthwhile. To allow for them to continue there was a lot more work to be done. The sun was still up and he was not that tired, thus before the day ended he needed to get through one more hurdle.

‘I haven’t talked to that baldy in a while…’

“Is something bothering you?”

“No, I just need to go to the adventurer guild and report the incident with the platinum party.”

“Those people give the rest of the adventurers a bad name, I hope the guild master will start taking things more seriously from now on.”

Elodia frowned as she had previously worked at the guild. She knew how lax the guild master there was. There were also occasions where he bent the rules and went back on promises. One of the things that she didn’t forgive him yet, was how he annulled the contract when the Union interfered with it. While she understood the reasoning behind it, there were certain things that were more important than money.

“I hope too, well that bald bastard can’t ignore me anymore.”

“Just don’t call him that to his face or things might escalate…”

“I don’t think he would attack a knight working for the city lord… but if it’s that guy… then maybe.”

Roland started recalling a few instances where guild master Aurdhan had acted rudely in front of Arthur. At that time, the young lord had absolutely no power and was reminded of it. The man didn’t like to move without giving a reason or a deal to increase his profits. Why he was so dead set on making money was still unknown and Roland wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to get too involved.

People that craved status and power were the most dangerous to be around. Aurdhan was clearly one of them as he sunk his claws into a lot of money-making outlets in the city. The union that supplied the adventurers with weapons was just a part of it all. He obviously also had connections to the thieves guild which would need to be brought up.

“Ahh…”

“You’ve been sighting for a whole ten minutes now, maybe send one of your men there instead?”

“One of my men?”

“Aren’t you a Valerian Knight? Shouldn’t you have a squire?”

“A squire huh…”

Roland looked at Elodia with a blank look on his face as he realized that he perhaps considered taking in an assistant. Even Sir Gareth and Sir Morien had some people to take care of some busy work. Considering that he was on the surface an honorary noble with some land of his own, there wouldn’t be anything strange for him to have a few people hanging around his home.

“If not a squire, then why not use them instead?”

He was now getting ready to head into the city and was standing outside his home with Elodia. Just as he was about to go a small patrol of four soldiers was making their rounds here. With his current status, he could have some guards patrol even this more remote area. A plan to lay out a road was in the works, with the help of earth magic it wouldn’t even take that long.

“You make a good point but…”

“I know, you don’t trust them but isn’t there one person that is more trustworthy?”

“Is there someone like that?”

Who she had in mind went above his head as he wasn’t really focusing on such an issue. The Head Knight position was also just a cover-up that he hoped to abandon in a few years.

“There is one rowdy boy in particular, ever since he heard that you’ve become a head knight he has been asking about it.”

“Do you mean, Fin?”

Besides Marcie and Jorg there was also Fin. He was the only orphan with a battle class and was supposed to have become an adventurer. His level was quite low and it would take some time before he reached a high enough level to enter the dungeon. His warrior class and proper training could allow him to gain a squire class later. Roland had been brought up in a noble house with knightly traditions so he knew what he needed to unlock that option.

“Yeah, for some reason he was too shy to ask you about it, if you have some time, could you have a word with him?”

“Do you want him to become a knight or adventurer?”

“Neither if it was possible, both choices will put him in danger but perhaps the former is the lesser of two evils…”

Knights usually weren’t put in as much danger as an adventurer. They spent most of their time training their skills while under the employment of a noble. Their expenses were covered and they didn’t need to constantly delve into dangerous dungeons. Instead, they usually fought monsters above ground in larger groups which also lowered the chances of them being killed. The biggest downside was that they couldn’t really decide their own fate. While an adventurer could always run away when things got too hairy, a knight could not retreat unless their leader said so.

“I see, if he wants to join up with the new recruits then it might be better to start now than later…”

“Take care then and try not to get into a fight with the Guild master.”

“Why would I get into a fight? I’m just going there to clear up a few things…”

“Sure.”

Roland received a peck on the cheek from Elodia and finally headed toward the city. The platinum adventurers that attacked him belonged under the eye of the adventurer guild. The guild was responsible for them and as the Head Knight, he could not just let it slide…