"Here," when Damien arrived at the guild, Master Godric seemed to be waiting for him. He pushed a pouch which jingled and Damien looked down at the purple fabric tied with a golden string.
"What is it?" He asked Lord Godric.
Lord Godric placed the pipe between his teeth, before picking up a small wooden bowl which consisted of small chunks of salt.
That was what Damien thought it was but then Lord Godric poured a few chunks inside the smoke pipe and then lit it up with a small flame.
"The money for finishing the mission," Lord Godric leaned back and then from inside a wooden drawer, he took out a sheet of paper. He pushed it toward Damien who read the content of the mission along with the reward amount.
His eyes widened as he looked at the amount and exclaimed, "200,00 gold coins!?" his shriek attracted the attention of the entire guild but Damien did not care about them. If he was to get this much money then half of his problems might get solved.
"100,000 gold coins," corrected Master Godric. "I have let Samuel have half of it, even though he did not complete the mission, he did risk his life for it."
"I should have received nothing," another voice joined them and Damien turned to look at Samuel who was walking over to where he was standing.
With a heavy sigh, Samuel said, "I truly did not deserve this sum of money." he glanced at Damien before saying, "You should have taken it all."
"There is no need to cut yourself short, Samuel," Master Godric sighed as he let out a billow of smoke. "You were the only one who took the mission, the courage you showed is enough for you to take this reward. If not, who knows how long this mission would have taken?"
"After all, there are not many who have the courage to face such challenges."
There was a light titter and everyone including Damien turned to look at the short man sitting on the side. "Do you mean to say that many of us have the wits to safeguard our safety first?"
"You are warriors," said Master Godric with a growl. He pulled out his smoke pipe and hit the end of it on the surface of the table. With a glare, he said to Levi, "You are supposed to show unprecedented courage, I would expect my children to be the bravest among all. Not the slyest."
Levi shrugged and remarked, "I just made a remark. I mean only a buffoon would have charged ahead and taken a mission which was literally suicidal."
Samuel went very red as he shuffled on his feet uncomfortably, while Thalia glared at the man but did not say anything.
Damien, on the other hand, thought that the shortie was being way too rude. Though Samuel had taken a mission that was way out of his league, it didn't change the fact that he had fought that monster. He hadn't run away and faced that thing as bravely as he could have.
And for that that especially after he had nearly lost his life, he deserved some fucking respect.
"Hey, you," Damien called Levi who raised his head and looked at him in surprise.
"Are you talking to me?" The man asked with a raise of his brows.
"Yeah, I am talking to you," Damien replied as he took a step forward. He heard Xavier tell him that he shouldn't do it but Damien didn't listen to him. He had once been in the same position as Samuel and knew how the words of a few people could bring a serious blow to one's confidence.
"I don't know what your problem is, it could be Stuck up Midget syndrome for all I care but you need to be nicer to someone who nearly showed twice as much courage as you," Damien told Levi. "I mean if you cannot show the courage to face a challenge like him then you can at least show him some fucking respect!"
It was only when he finished talking did Damien realised that the entire guild had gone quiet. All of them were listening to what he was saying to Levi, at first he went slightly disconcerted but then shrugged and turned to look away from Levi.
He didn't believe that he had said anything wrong. And if anyone wanted to fit the shoe that he had had put on Levi's feet then they were more than welcome to do so.
"Don't go around talking about something that you have no idea about," snarled Levi as he slid from the stool, and with the bottle of liquor swinging on the side of his waist, he turned on his feet and walked away.
Damien watched him leave and then turned to look at the rest. "What was that about?" He asked Master Godric and Gina.
"It's nothing," Gina replied as she pushed a wooden flask filled with iced whisky towards Damien. "He is just not —over something he should have been ages ago. Anyway, don't take what he said to heart, Samuel, Damien. Levi doesn't mean no harm, he is just … trying to care about his guild members in his own way."
How he was taking care of his guild members by taking huge chunks of their confidence, Damien had no idea about. And before he could ask, there was a loud bang followed by —
"GET OUT OF HERE!"