Dave and others entered the guild, unlike Capital the palace was empty there were no adventurers in the Guild. When they entered, a bell attached to the door automatically rang informing whoever was inside about their arrival.
A person came out of the office, wearing a red & white uniform similar to what the staves of the Capital branch wear. It was a woman in her twenties, with blonde hair and light green eyes. She tied her hair beautifully and wore a welcoming smile on her face like a true professional.
" Welcome adventurers, are you guys looking for a quest!" The Woman spoke.
" No, actually we were to Escort, Mr. Jin on behalf of the Guild leader of your guild from the Capital," Conan answered and showed her a paper.
The smile on her face disappeared and she turned to look at Jin with a curious look. After She took a look at the quest documents, then signed them, and handed them back to Conan.
" Well, we will see you in the future, now," Conan said as he grabbed the paper. The Grey Wolf Party and Dave said their goodbyes to each other.
After They left it was just the Woman and Dave left in the guild hall. Dave wondered why wasn't anyone else there, the situation looked very awkward as the woman was very quiet. She studied Dave from head to toe, He could sense that she wasn't very welcoming.
" Hello, My name is Jin," Dave asked.
" Welcome, Sir, I have been waiting for you. My name is Iris, I am your assistant." She answered. " You must be tired because of your travel, you can head to the top floor, room number 3 is yours. Do you need any help with the luggage?"
Dave thought it would be better to talk after cleaning himself and settling down here, so he followed her instructions and carried his luggage to the top floor. She showed him the room prepared for her, the place was quite spacious.
After taking a bath and unpacking his stuff Jin finally came down wearing some decent clothes. He wore a leather black jacket over a white shirt, brown pants, and long boots. He had to discuss with the manager about his roles and responsibilities while working here.
When he descended the stairs he saw, Iris moping the floor herself and there was still no one else in the Guild apart from her.
' Why is she the one doing the cleaning?' He wondered as he scanned the place all over again. There were several places for people to have a seat and a reception in the hall, there was nothing else on this ground floor apart from some decorations. The first floor was dedicated to the offices and the second was living facilities for the staves.
" Make sure to not walk on the floor?" Iris spoke, Dave was not imagining it but this person sounded unhappy from the time she knew who Dave was. She had welcomed him with such a happy face but after knowing who Dave was she never had smiled at him even once.
" Where are the others?" Dave asked.
" There is no one else besides us two!" Iris answered. " I have been managing the guild by myself."
" What?" Dave asked after hearing this shocking information, " Why do you not hire the staff? Don't you have important things to do as a manager?"
" I am not the manager, You are the manager!" She spoke.
" ...What did you say?" Jin asked.
" I said you are the manager!"
" ...Who said that?" Jin asked.
" Oscar, he wrote a letter a few days ago, demoting me as an assistant and promoting you to the position of Guild Manager." She answered, Once again Jin was caught off guard by Oscar, that man was truly ridiculous.
"...Haaa! That bastard is gonna get punched once I see him." Jin gritted his teeth.
" Do you want something to eat?" She asked. " Give me some time, I was gonna make lunch soon."
" No, wait, there is no need to do that. Just tell me where the kitchen is. I will make something for you and me, I think you are already working hard." He said.
Without hesitation, Iris pointed in the direction where the kitchen was supposed to be. He entered the kitchen and saw a type of stove that he had never seen in his life. But thanks to [ Appraisal] he was able to find out how to use it. There were several ingredients in the kitchen, fortunately, the spices in this world are the same as back on earth.
It took time to gather everything and start cooking, he didn't know how but Iris was already done cleaning the guild hall. She walked into the kitchen with curiosity to see what Dave was making.
" You know how to cook?" She asked.
" What did you think when I said I will cook?" He asked a question in return.
" It's just that most men don't know how to cook or they think cooking is beneath them." She answered.
" Well, I had always liked the food I cook by myself. By the way, are you angry at me because of what Oscar did? If you want you can become the Manager." Dave brought up a serious conversation.
"...No thank you, while it's true that I worked hard to be the manager of the guild. I don't think I am qualified." She answered.
That was surprising if she didn't want to be the manager anymore then what kind of grudge she has to have a sour mood in front of him?
" Why do you think you are not qualified?" Dave asked.
" If I would have been qualified then the Guild wouldn't have been in such a condition." She answered, " We have wasted our budget on pleasing the government so that they let us continue, everyone left this branch except for me because they thought that this Guild will not last for long, so when they got a better offer from others they had no reason to stay..."
Dave listened to her, and for some reason, she continued to speak. Complaining about various things.
' She sure talks a lot.' Dave thought, however, he sympathized with her. Knowing how much of a slave driver Oscar was, he understood the pain of a fellow Victim.' I should probably do something about these issues, Starting tomorrow.'