Son of Marshall Clover, the previous Master of Risadel.
"Again with that intuition of hers... Heh." Gerald had one of those smiles again, the kind with the nostalgia and longing, as he looked out toward the window, where the Evil Lake lied ahead. "Marshall and the old crew would've hated her."
Layla giggled. "Hey now. Markus and Nikolas are both alive, thanks to her."
"Shit. The same could be said for almost half of the guild branch."
Strength Leveled Up!
[Status]
STR: 18 (+1)
CON: 13
DEX: 12
INT: 18
PER: 15
MAN: 7
LUK: ERROR
"I really don't want to die of overwork again."
Same table, same dark corner. Willow had wrapped herself in a cocoon of her own white cloak, fresh from the laundry, and was completely done with herself.
True to expectations, the workload had gotten worse after the Dragon Tale guild confirmed monster spawner activity along the important trade routes. Although many elimination quests had been canceled, the more urgent and messier ones still needed doing.
It was a given that some of her lowest physical stats would've increased; her recent abuse of [Reinforcement] was hell on her body, and she had performed enough complex spell calculations in enough stressful situations to warrant an extra point in intelligence.
But then her strength just had to catch up during a different quest.
How long before her [Featherlight] spell became obsolete and she could just slap an ogre's head off instead?
"You say that like you died in a past life."
Beside her was the drunken wolf girl herself. Not across. Beside.
Ever since their first quest together, the Merchant had stuck around in Risadel and had gotten awfully familiar with the White Mage. Willow thought she had always given the impression that she wanted to be left alone, and her guild mates usually preferred the company of their own party.
Not Magni. She just plopped right next to her and had never left her side, acting like they had been the chummiest of chums since day one.
Magni had skipped the cup and sipped straight from the bottle. All sober and casual-like, as if the Salamander Wine wasn't lighting up in her throat like a Christmas tree. The fumes alone made Willow's eyes sting.
"...Maybe I did," Willow muttered. "I'm surprised you haven't left town yet. Not scared of the monsters swarming the place?"
"And miss out on this great opportunity? Never! With the other merchants gone, that leaves me with almost no competition. I could sell the adventurers my driving services, then charge those suckers a premium, eheheh~!" Magni puffed her chest. "Praise me. I'm a genius!"
The fact that Magni said this while said "suckers" were in the guildhall in earshot was as shameless as it was amazing.
"I admire your...optimism, Magni," Willow droned. "Really."
"Cheer up! With all the quests you've been doing, Dragon Tale must be paying you plenty, right?"
"...How would you know that?"
"Easy!" Magni leaned in close and personal. Her wolf ears were pointed, and eyes were closed as she gave a whiff. "I can smell and hear the money on you. The minty scent they give off. The pleasant ring whenever they scrape together... To a merchant, they're the most beautiful sensations in the world."
"Okay...?"
"Oh, yeah." With how airy she said it, Magni seemed too mesmerized to notice she was getting a bit too close for comfort. "That's a looot of money..."
But it was the smile reeking of desperation and alcoholism that gave it away.
Something was up.
"...Magni, what's going on?"
"Huh? O-Oh!" Realizing what she was doing, Magni retreated back to her seat with twitchy ears and a blush on her cheeks. "W-Well, can't a girl sit and chat with a comrade in life and death? There hadn't been a worse adventure than that quest until I met you."
"That quest. So we're calling it that now."
"Yeah. That quest. And, well, there aren't many girls to sit with, as you can probably tell. Some guys are smelly, and some guys look at me funny. There's this guy named Frederick who I helped cart his party to the next town for a quest, and let me tell ya—"
"Magni. For real."
"A-Ah, well, I've got big dreams and an even bigger tummy to fill, so since we're best pals now, I hoped that maybe, just maybe, with all the goodness in your heart, in your infinite wisdom, in your bountiful bags of—"
"Magni."
Magni bit her lip. "Can I borrow 200 gald?"
"...Why?"
"Sven is a big bird, so feeding him racks up the bills. And then I crashed the front of my wagon into a tree while driving another party this morning. I can't drive for others until I get it repaired."
Did this girl just brag about her money-making scheme, only to admit that it crashed before it barely left the ground? And it took Willow a long moment to spot the irregularity. Because if Sven was in the front dragging the cart, then...
Her lips parted in disbelief. "How?"
"T-Things just happen, okay?! Look, I need the funds, and you're the only one I could ask. Please help a girl out!"
Well, she HAD just gotten a chunk of gald to spend. And it would be bad for everyone if one of the few merchant wagons in Risadel was no longer available.
...Like it or not, Magni just might be one of the most important actors in Risadel's survival right now.
Willow opened her mouth to respond, but then stopped. Her gaze locked onto a certain table nearer to the middle of the guildhall.
It was Nikolas. Markus was nowhere to be seen.
Willow had been keeping close tabs on the two. They tried some small talk with her on occasions, making it even easier to be privy to their activities. Apparently, even though it had only been a few days, Nikolas was ready to strike out on his own and make a name for himself without the Swordsman's hand-holding, which left Markus free to take up quests matching his level.
Willow remembered how the Swordsman showed off his shiny new sword one day, perfectly enchanted so it wouldn't break in the middle of intensive fights. Swallowed his pride and "called in a favor," he said. She already guessed that he was the very 'trustworthy person' Gerald was talking about, sent on that important escort mission.
Sounded like character development. So long as his 'story' stayed unfinished, she had faith Markus wouldn't get killed off anytime soon.
Nikolas was sitting with a group of four others. One of them, Willow recognized.
Claire Cyana, the Cleric. The only other member of the Support Corps in Risadel. Her pure white nun's habit covered up a lot, but she was still a sight for sore eyes in these troubling times. Dark hair poked through the habit, and her bangs hung over her gentle expression like a parted curtain. Anyone could tell by her slender hands that she was thin and frail, her chestnut eyes sunken from overwork. It was rare for Willow and Claire to be in the same room, with one on a quest while the other hung back in the guild to deal with patients.
She put up a strong front, but Willow could tell she was anxious, fiddling with that cross necklace of hers. She also noticed how the two men on her side of the table were sitting a bit too close for comfort.
Nikolas's side seemed just as uncomfortable, because right next time to him was an immense man in bulky armor grinding an axe on a whetstone who took up so much room that Nikolas was almost hanging off of his seat. Some patrons unfortunate enough to be within hearing distance of his axe-grinding were openly glaring but did little else.
They all seemed to be doing introductions.
Magni's ears pressed flat against her head. "Is... Is that a no?"
"That guy next to Nikolas..."
"Huh?" Magni looked. "Oh. Him. The silver-ranked Axe Warrior, Gaius. Guess he found himself a few fans, too. Just a fair warning: He was as much of a loudmouth as he is good at swinging that wicked axe of his. Very bossy, a huge strung-up jerk. Didn't appreciate small talk when I helped carry him to his quest location."
"Doesn't much of that also describe me?"
"What? Of course not! Why would you think that?"
"...Never mind."
The Axe Warrior said something, his voice so harsh and heavy it even pierced through the dull roar of the crowd. Nikolas looked down.
"Laying down the pecking order, that guy..." Magni's ears flickered as she sipped from her bottle, but not quite. "That's no way to talk to someone..."
...Should she interfere? Nikolas might work things out with that luck stat of his, but Claire was having it just as bad as Willow did. If the party did anything stupid and she got hurt...
Willow must've been staring too hard because Claire took notice. She seemed taken aback as they locked eyes. Eventually, the tired Cleric managed a smile small enough for her to notice...and shook her head.
Willow frowned.
Nikolas's group stood up. Since they were done with the introductions, they wasted no time going up to the reception desk to receive their approval. When a receptionist returned them a stamped missive, the Axe Warrior snatched it from the poor woman's hands without so much as a thank you.
They began marching out. Nikolas and Claire meekly followed.
And then it was like fate.
Another group had entered through the double doors. Two cloaked and hooded figures whose beautiful features peaked underneath, young women who seemed just out of place in a normal crowd.
At the doorway, the two groups stopped. Their eyes met, an infinitesimal coincidence, before sliding right off of each other. They simply stepped around and moved on with their business, as strangers normally would. To them, it was a moment of curiosity and nothing more.
But the dots connected in Willow's head.
"...Alright. Fine."
"Huh?"
"500 gald instead. I'll give it to you."
"R-Really? No kidding?"
"Yeah. But in exchange," she lowered her voice, keeping herself under the shadows so no one would listen in, "I need you to hear me out."
"Sure! Sure..." Magni hunched in, her face all serious and business-like, but there was no hiding that wagging tail of hers. "A lady of upstanding morality I may be, I can guarantee my flexibility. Arranging an accident on someone so mean to our buddy Nikolas would be a—"
"Shut up. Just listen."
Willow really hoped she wouldn't regret this.