Chapter 166: Chapter 166
After she led the adventurers to their quarters where they could rest, the armoured woman brought Eru to the old lady’s office right on the top floor of Sylphid Academy. “I’ve brought the adventurers in charge, old hag”, the armoured woman said while barging right into the old lady’s office. Eru furrowed his eyebrows, “Since when did I become the adventurers in charge?” he muttered softly. Unfortunately for Eru, though, the armoured woman had a keen hearing, and she could hear what Eru had muttered. “Eh, so you’re not in charge?” Eru shook his head, “Nope. The one that is technically in charge of this operation is the red-haired adventurers.”
After Eru had said that, a burst of soft laughter could be heard from within the old lady’s office. “Hahaha, jumping the gun as always, eh, Syndra?” the old woman quipped sarcastically. The armoured woman’s cheek turned red, “S-shut up, old hag”, the armoured woman replied bashfully, “I just thought that since he’s the one that brought the letter to me, so I just assume that he’s in charge.” The old lady nodded, “Well, your thoughts are not wrong, actually. I received a message earlier from the Adventurers Guild, explaining to me what might be going on in Sylphid City.”
The armoured woman’s eyes opened up wide in surprise, “The Adventurers Guild? Alexandro get in contact with you?” The old lady nodded, “Yes, he did. While you were fighting the horde of monstrous creatures, Alexandro contacted me through a magic crystal and pretty much told me everything that he knew and his plans” the old lady pointed her finger towards Eru, “And his plans, heavily included this kid.” Eru furrowed his eyebrows, “Me!?” The old lady nodded, “Yes, you. You are quite important in this plan, young man”, the old lady said.
The armoured woman sighed, “What do you mean?” she inquired. The old lady shook her head, “How about you guys came in first instead of standing right there by the entrance?” The armoured woman and Eru nodded as they followed the old lady inside of her office. “Come, sit”, the old lady said while she sat on her chair behind the desk. Eru looked around the old lady’s office, ‘Looks similar to Alexandro’s room but with more purple,’ he said to himself while rubbing his chin. Eru and the armoured woman pulled up the chairs and sat before the old lady.
The armoured woman leaned forward, “Now, will you tell me what Alexandro told you earlier? And what about this guy being the key to his plans?” The old lady’s lips curled up into a small smile, “Patience, patience, Syndra. First, I would like to formally thank you two for coming your way and saving us”, the old woman said. After that, the old lady squinted her eyes, and her expression turned serious, “Before I talk about Alexandro’s plan, how well did you two know about the conflict between the Adventurers Guild and the local government?” Eru shook his head, “I don’t know much about it.”
The armoured woman nodded, “Well, I know a little about it since I worked for the army.” The old lady leaned back on her chair, “Do tell what you know, Syndra, I’ll fill it up from there.” The armoured woman stroked her chin, “All I know is that Alexandro often butted heads with the generals and the officials. But, in the end, Alexandro always relented when he was pushed to the corner.” The old lady slightly smiled, “Did you not find it weird that your husband always backed off when he was pushed to the corner by the government?” The armoured woman nodded, “I did. I once asked him about it on the reason, and he lazily told me, ‘For you, my love, I would do anything in the world.'”
The old lady smirked, “What a loving husband you have there”, the old lady teased. The armoured woman blushed slightly, “Cut the teasing. What are you implying?” The old lady leaned forward, “The words that Alexandro used, is it the exact same words that you were saying earlier?” The armoured woman nodded, “Yes, it’s exactly that. Since I worked in the army, I thought that Alexandro backed off so that my career would not be hindered” the armoured woman paused. “I always feel bad about it, so I tried to rise through the ranks quickly so that he did not get pushed back because of me”, she said with a hint of sadness in her tone.
“Hmm”, the old lady crossed her arms, “Did you not find it strange that no matter what you did, raising your ranks to a commander, but Alexandro was still being pushed back by the government?” The armoured woman slightly tilted her head while rubbing her chin, “Now that I think about it, it was strange”, she pondered. The old lady sighed, “Alexandro told me not to say anything to you, but you, Syndra, needs to know of this before learning of his plans.” The armoured woman furrowed her eyebrows after hearing what the old lady had said, “Please, tell me”, she replied with eyes full of resolution.
The old lady heaved a sigh, “Actually, the reason why Alexandro always continuously backed off whenever he and the Adventurers Guild were driven into the corner is because of you”, she pointed at the armoured woman. The armoured woman frowned, “Because of me?” she gasped. “Yes”, the old lady nodded, “Actually, most of the higher-ups in the city knew about this but chose to stay silent. Either they were shut down by the government, or they were asked personally by Alexandro, or they felt like it was not their problem”, she explained. The armoured woman furrowed her eyebrows before her whole body shook visibly.
The armoured woman lowered her head, crossing her arms with her whole body trembling all over. The old lady let out an exasperated sigh, “Haaah, I knew it would turn out like this, but it can’t be helped. You need to know the harsh truth if you want to help us against the government, that is if you want to do it.” The armoured woman wiped the single tear that was about to drop from her eyes as she quickly composed herself, “I do. This time, I won’t let my husband do all the work behind the screen. I’m not some woman that needed to be protected”, she answered.
The old lady nodded, “Good”, then her eyes shifted to Eru, “How about you? Will you help us, Eru?” Eru shrugged his shoulders, “Like it or not, I’m in the same boat as you now.” The old lady smirked, “You know your role well”, she said while letting out a sly grin. Eru sighed; he shook his head, ‘I did not expect that the carefree-looking guild leader was a devoted husband. I guess you can’t really judge someone from their appearance, huh.’
Then, Eru suddenly heard a familiar sound resounding in his head. Eru slightly raised his head, looking at the ceiling; he sighed, ‘I’m going to get dragged into another situation, huh? This darn system and its quest,’ Eru thought before a notification panel appeared before his eyes.
*DING*
Quest Updated!
Congratulations on driving back the horde of mutants. Please continue to defend Syndra and Helga and save them from their grim fate.
Quest reward: 100 Fate Points
Quest Penalty: four weeks of paralyzes and the death of Syndra and Helga
*DING*
Eru scoffed silently, ‘What’s the point in having this system? Wasn’t the system’s job supposed to be a cheat for its user? It only brought more troubles to me than benefits,’ he sighed, ‘Well, it kind of my own fault as well for refusing on using the system functionality.’ The old lady watched Eru with curious eyes while he did what he did previously, “Is there something wrong, Eru?” she asked. “O-oh, it’s nothing”, Eru replied with an awkward smile. ‘Shit, that was embarrassing, he thought to himself.
“If nothing’s going on, then I shall proceed to tell you what Alexandro plans are”, the old lady leaned forward. Eru and the armoured woman’s expressions became serious as they perked up their ears to listen to the old lady’s words.
===
While the old lady was debriefing Eru and the armoured woman on Sylphid City’s Adventurers Guild’s plan, the guild master himself, Alexandro, sat in his office, holding a carbonated drink in his hand. Alexandro leaned on his chair as he sipped the carbonated drink slowly. With a single slurped, the carbonated drink in Alexandro’s hand was instantly finished by him. “Ah, now that’s the one”, Alexandro wiped the remaining liquid on his mouth. Just as Alexandro prepared to relax even more in his office, suddenly, the sound of someone running through the hallway could be heard from inside his office.
“Hah, hah, hah, hah”, a generic-looking adventurer rushed towards the guild master’s office before barging the office’s door. Alexandro quickly straightened himself when the generic-looking adventurer opened his office’s door. “What happened?” Alexandro furrowed his eyebrows when he saw a panting adventurer with a panic expression on his face. “Hah, hah, hah, bad news, guild master. May sent a distress signal earlier before a strange letter arrived at the receptionist’s desk”, The generic-looking adventurer explained before quickly placing a letter on Alexandro’s desk.
Alexandro picked up the letter and unwrapped it carefully.
“T-this is—”
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