“Hey Elodia, did something happen?
Armand asked while dropping onto a chair. The wood started squeaking due to the man’s increased weight but somehow survived his large frame.
It was already past sundown and most of the young kids were fast asleep. The few candles that were lighting up this place made it hard to see but this was all that they could afford for now.
“Yes, could you explain this…”
Elodia, who was a worker at the adventurer’s guild, placed down a piece of paper on the nearby table. It looked like one of the many forms that could be found at the adventurer’s guild. Armand looked at the piece of paper from the corner of his eye not really knowing what this was about.
“What is this?”
“Read it.”
Elodia waited while tapping her foot on the wooden floor. Armand raised a brow for a moment but finally leaned over to grab the piece of paper. He was nervous that they were having this talk as he thought that Lobelia had snitched on him.
After catching up to the half-elven girl he had managed to convince her to not tell anyone about what had happened that day. This required a little bribe but it would keep him from having to explain it to Elodia here.
He started going through this piece of paper and the more he read the more his forehead went up. This was a copy of the form that Roland had filled out. Elodia knew that this was against the guild rules but she would bend those slightly for one of her own.
“That bastard! Where is he, I’m going to...”
Armand ripped through the piece of paper in a fit of rage. On the form that Roland filled out was a detailed recount of what had happened that day. It listed the name of the party that attacked Bernir and the people involved. Roland had asked his assistant about it and filled everything in.
There was also a recount of Armand’s involvement. How he ignored Roland's advice and didn’t want to go to the guild to clear everything up. Roland had specifically written that he had asked Armand many times to stop fighting and go resolve it with the guild but was ignored instead.
He also mentioned that the whole fight endangered the citizens in the city and that Armand was not fit to work for the guild. There were also some demands in there, one was for Armand to be fired from the guild and put on probation.
A probation period could be put on a guild member for various reasons. It would cause them to not be able to use some of the facilities and also get less money for their work. This was mostly done to punish people that didn’t perform their missions on time or failed them multiple times in a row.
“Sit down!”
Elodia raised her voice at Armand that jumped up to his feet, the ruckus even brought the half-elven girl over that was already listening in from the other side. She was there when her big sister called Armand over and she was afraid that he was in for a scolding.
“Hey you two, why don’t we calm down. Armand if you raise your voice this much you’ll wake up the little ones you big doofus.”
Lobelia whispered after closing the door behind herself.
“Lobelia, you know something about this, explain yourself.”
Elodia knew that the young half-elf girl was hiding something from her as Armand and she was acting strange ever since a few days ago. Even now she was convinced that they were hiding some facts.
Finally, after some glares from their big sister Armand and Lobelia opened up. They recounted the story from their point of view. Armand wanted to paint himself as a noble warrior that just wanted to help some friends from the guild. Roland on the other hand was described as a mustache-twirling villain that just beat up everyone that looked at him.
“You are friends with that Devyn?”
Elodia recalled hearing that name. There were some previous complaints against that man and his party. They seemed to have been extorting tier 1 adventurers but whenever someone reported something they soon took that claim back. It was rumored that Devyn and his thugs were threatening them but without evidence or any witnesses, the guild couldn’t punish them.
“I told you not to associate with people like those! And what were you doing in that district to begin with?”
The angry woman glared at both Armand and Lobelia that felt attacked. She only used one of her tracking skills to search for her idiot party member. Now she was also being questioned about her wandering close to the red light district of the city.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, it's all that guy's fault!”
“The guild might not see it your way…”
Armand was quickly corrected.
“How would they? I’m sure the old man will see it my way.”
Elodia gave out a sigh after hearing Armand still not admitting that he was in the wrong in any shape or form. She thought back to a time long passed where she had to take care of this idiot brother of hers.
This was an orphanage that she helped set up in the city. The three of them also came from one of them, everyone decided to move here when the new dungeon became known. She was forced to transfer here by the guild and these two followed after. With time they bought out one of the larger houses to help the children with no parents.
“Stop calling the guild master like that. This time around he might not be able to help you… or could choose not to…”
“What do you mean?”
Armand asked while trying to talk quietly. Elodia gave out a sight while gathering the pieces of paper that were previously a copy of Roland’s form.
“It doesn’t matter, can’t you just go to this Wayland and apologize? He seemed like a reasonable person, he might take back his complaint.”
She knew that Armand was throwing his weight around lately, even more since he was close to the hundredth level. His pugilist class would be maxed out at l 50 and then he would be able to select a more prestigious one. The praises from stronger adventurers and the guild master only made him more arrogant. She knew that the guild leader might see this as a chance to take him down a peg.
“Me apologize? Never! I would never apologize to a coward like that.”
“Coward?”
Elodia asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, we could have resolved it like men but instead he went and done this!”
“Like men?”
She asked once more while progressively sounding colder. A vein on her forehead started to appear while she grasped a book from the side.
“With a one-on-one fight, of course!”
Armand struck a battle pose but soon was hit with a large book straight to the face.
“Didn’t you already lose a one-on-one fight to him before? What would have happened if Lobelia didn’t arrive on time?”
The glasses-wearing woman alluded to the second fight that Roland and Armand had. If the half-elf didn’t arrive it looked like Armand would have lost the fight as his skill was taking a toll on him.
“You even asked her for help, who is acting like a coward now?”
A barrage of books and pottery descended on Armand’s face as Elodia started shouting at Armand’s flawed logic. It was obvious that he had a thick head and unless someone beat him down hard enough he wouldn’t give an inch.
“Hey s-stop, the fight never finished so I never lost!”
Armand shielded himself with his large hands while slowly evacuating from this room. From his perspective, the fight never reached a conclusion. In his experience, there was always a chance for a reversal during combat. One lucky punch was all that he needed to win the fight. Even though his skill deflated him quite a bit he did have another trump card waiting. He was confident that if he timed it well he would be the one standing victorious.
“Stop being a child and go apologize!”
“Never!”
The conversation ended with Armand escaping through the door and quickly running out of the room. Some of the older kids were laughing at him, pointing fingers as the large man escaped outside.
“Get back here this instant!”
“Ahh… think we won’t see him back tonight, you know how stubborn he gets… Do you really think he might lose his position in the guild?”
While holding a wooden plate up that she wanted to toss at the escaping Armand, Elodia gave out another sigh.
“It’s a possibility, I don’t know if that person will let it end unless that idiot gets punished in some way. The guild master is also interested in him…”
Elodia was part of the guild and stayed informed. She knew of the person named Wayland the Runesmith. He was low key but ever since the advancement test he was getting inspected by the guild information section. There was even a file on him that was slowly being filled out due to the guild master's interest in him.
“But if he loses his position then we will also lose all of our good selling rates!”
Staff members of the guild always got a better deal while selling things like mana stones and monster parts. They also could buy things like health potions at a lower price while just having to do some side work.
Armand didn’t actually need to work that much, he was mostly used to perform tests on new tier 2 adventurers just like he did with Roland. Then sometimes he would be asked to perform certain quests by the guild that he couldn’t refuse. Those could range from fetch quests to escort missions to other cities.
People like him were given the position to act as a more trusted and elite force that the guild could use. They mostly went to work when a high-paying client showed up and the guild wanted to be sure that the request would go through. They didn’t want random adventurers making them look bad in front of influential people. Thus they would hire promising prospects to perform these tasks.
“I know… this month might be tight…”
Lobelia frowned at the prospect of losing Armand’s premium rates. She was part of his party so she would also be affected. Part of her income went to this place as well, they would be losing about 10% of their monthly wages if this happened. This apparently for the reason that their big brother wasn’t able to halt his violent ways.
“Where does this Wayland live? I’ll go and ask him to drop the complaint!”
“That wouldn’t be a good idea, just help me clean this place.”
There were scattered books and other items around this room after Elodia unleashed some pent-up rage on her younger brother. None of the people here were related by blood but everyone was treated as part of the family.
“But big sis… what if I can convince him otherwise. No man can resist my charms!”
The elven girl puffed out her chest as if trying to show off her assets. The big sister just glanced at this chest and gave it a pat.
“Maybe first try growing something here before you try charming anyone.”
Lobelia’s pose quickly changed as she slumped forward, her hands covering her chest which was on the smaller side.
“I… I’m still growing…”
“It might actually be better if we don’t convince that man to take back the complaint.”
Said Elodia while Lobelia looked confused.
“How would that be better, we will lose money!”
“That we will but maybe that idiot might learn something from this.”
Lobelia looked to her big sister and after thinking for a moment she nodded. Her older brother’s behavior had been deteriorating ever since the guild master became interested in him. She knew that he had gone through a rough childhood, most of his problems were always resolved thanks to his fists.
“He needs to understand that not all of his problems can be resolved with fists alone.”
Both of them nodded at each other and agreed not to go see Wayland. They hoped that this would teach Armand some humility but that was only if the guild favored Wayland’s claim. They were still part of his family though and didn't wish for any bad outcomes. Elodia wished that Armand would see the error of his ways but still didn't want him to get banned from the guild which was a possibility.
The two continued to clean and finally, the day of the hearing was upon them. Armand being his stubborn self never returned to the orphanage directly and talked through Lobelia while evading his older sister.
“Haven’t had one of these in a while and it’s against Armand and some tier 2 adventurers?”
An old man asked while looking over some papers. Roland would recognize this person as the man that helped him with Agni.
“Yes, Mr. Wilser.”
“And it’s that young man that is making the complaint?”
“Yes, Mr. Wayland.”
“Hm…”
The small gnome rubbed his chin while thinking back to the armored man that he taught some basics about monster taming.
“The hearing will be starting in ten minutes, Mr. Wayland is already here and waiting.”
Elodia was talking while looking into the distance. She could see Roland in his usual red armor but this time around his helmet was to the side. What she saw was quite the handsome young man with a strong jawline. He looked to be someone that wasn’t even in his twenties but she knew that looks could be deceiving and he could be much older.
“Well, at least he took off that silly helmet this time around.”
The gnome scoffed a bit while looking over the papers.
“Let us get this over with, there is much work to be done today.”
Elodia nodded while the old man walked away and into the room where the hearing would be taking place. Soon after Armand finally appeared at the scene along with the guild master.
Even though Armand was already a large man, the guild master dwarfed him by quite a bit. He was from a race that was considered small giants known for their physical strength and warrior classes.
“Our little Armand has gotten himself into trouble, isn’t that right Elodia?”
The guild master appeared with a big smile on his face. It was clear that he wasn’t taking this very seriously but Armand that was next to him wasn’t smiling.
“Who are you calling little? Why are we even here old man, you can just dismiss this.”
It seemed that her younger brother was still adamant in his beliefs. Luckily even though the guild master was finding this whole predicament hilarious he was still carrying out his duties.
“I don’t know? Should I?”
Elodia stood there while hugging some papers against her chest. She still could not come to terms with how Armand acted around the guild master. The large man had somehow grown to like this small brother of hers and even helped him train. Though it was always a one-sided beatdown where Armand ended up defeated.
“Yes you should or just let me fight him one on one!”
“Hoho, so you almost losing to him twice wasn’t enough?”
“I never lost to him!”
“That’s not what little Elodia here reported to me.”
The old man laughed while giving her a little wink. She didn’t react in any way, just continued to stare at the two idiots with scorn.
“That’s only because of that armor if he fought me fairly…”
“Fairly huh?”
The smile that the old large male had plastered all over his face finally faded. He turned to Armand that was trying to explain himself but before he could a large fist descended onto his head. He was quickly pressed to the ground due to the guild master’s hit, almost getting hit out cold.
“If you think that the armor is the only reason that you lost, then you still have a lot to learn, boy. Now stop whining like a wench and get in there.”
The guild master grabbed Armand by the neck and yanked him into the room where the hearing would be taking place.
“Elodia, tell them to get a move on, we don’t have all day.”
Soon she walked over to the side of the accusers and guided them inside this room. In it, besides the guild master and old gnome, there were two other guild members. The only side that was missing was the party of five thugs that attacked Bernir.
“Mr. Wayland and Mr. Bernir please take a seat, we will start the hearing soon.”
Elodia said while greeting Roland it was finally time to get this hearing started.
Thank you for reading!
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Here we see a case of how to cultivate an idiot, just take a not very intelligent creature for some reason (Armand), and provide him with some kind of advantage that can be more power or more social status or more wealth or resources and etc, and not guide or to correct the flaws that this individual makes when performing his job or task so that the future @ssh#le develops with a great twisted ego, believing that he is always right!
Armand is an idiot? Yes, he certainly is, but he could be less of an idiot if by chance a certain authority figure (Guild Master) corrected him when he beat up level 2 newbies just to feel and receive the fame of the strongest instead of simply testing with based on the correct level of danger found in the dungeon and guide the newbies based on this level, how pitiful for this unfortunate one who never had a chance to improve himself, poor Armand.
Thanks for the chapter!
i think it was his job to beat up lv2 newbies so they wouldn't get cocky and die, but that power went to his head
@sir-meepington I understand what you said, but for me there is a lot of difference between a fight and an unnecessary beating, if I'm not mistaken, one of the adventurers who were going to watch Roland's test fight said Armand had the habit of breaking one of the arms or legs of newbies, (this fact alone would be proof that Armand has passed any acceptable limit in my opinion) another detail that i remember if i'm not wrong again would be the attitude of the Guild Master.
The Guild Master even commented that this was "Armand's mistake for being too young ended up making exaggerations with his fights" being this the main reason for my disgust with this character.
Ah, court is so exciting! Let's hope it's not a kangaroo court.
Thanks for the chapter!
Probably not, if they just wanted to dismiss this they'd likely not have a hearing at all. After all that would just wase everyones time.
Let me guess while this happening those 5 criminal adventures are raiding his home base ?
They'd probably be dead since Roland's house seems to be rigged with traps
@aleisley it was mentioned most of his trap except for his personal workshops are disarmed due to new party addition. I guess the dog gonna be killed in addition to their new windmill destroyed ?
They are going to regret doing that. If they survive
Also why author I so interested in the guilds decision why you make me wait longer
lets send that fool to do some community service, with Roland (Weyland) as his supervisor.
if all goes well, maybe our rune smith can take in all the kids in the orphanage to start his company.
some day, in the future. Roland can run his rune business, ranging from knowledge service & item production along with the R&D that he so interested with.
Actually no is a more realistic setting world he would do that they be easy picking especially children need people to take care of them that's why they are called children simple assassination mission would end up killing them all the last company got raided and they had heavily guarded only reason they lived is the didnt expect or involve Roland with his smithing runic skill and failed you think a bunch of child and incompetent guards that fight monsters not other humanoids stand a chance?not only would he be telling everyone to capture him and him being a slave , making equipment for the rest of his life and not gets started not villains giving him special long lost runic for him to make thus giving him a chance to escape I would have him make bundle of same equipment a bit lower than his level to not have him leveling up and escaping among other things and so many things wrong with your logic
@Surfing_Cipher sorry for being quite vague. but I am sure that those kids won't be joining our Rune Smith that early in the story. They are too young, even if they join him later, they are still kids by his standards due to their infancy in the rune smithing career.
also, as stated earlier, Armand needs to prove his worth to Roland (Weyland) first before those orphans can be taken in. those children look him as their leader & role model. if the condition is not fulfilled, we can expect those little ones to wreck havoc in the workshop.
Don't think there is a need for assassins when that happens.
@travisswan86 competitions or when they arrive in the town
“But big sis… what if I can convince him otherwise. No man can resist my charms!”
The elven girl puffed out her chest as if trying to show off her assets. The big sister just glanced at this chest and gave it a pat.
“Maybe first try growing something here before you try charming anyone.”
Let me guess: Roland ends up hiring Lobelia, the half-elf girl to staff the blacksmith store he opens up in part of his house? With Armand getting punished and losing his special status with the guild (at least temporarily), it will be tough to make ends meet for Armand, Lobelia, Elodia and the orphans. Thus, Lobelia will be interested in the job.
I don't think author is much fans of tropes and also would Roland hire someone related to the guild ?? He already knows they are interested him and his class
@Surfing_Cipher
...would Roland hire someone related to the guild ??
I get what you're saying: Roland would not want to hire someone who is working directly for the guild. However, I think you are confusing Lobelia with Elodia.
It is Elodia who is the receptionist at the guild. Lobelia is the "flat chested" half-elf who calls Elodia "elder sister" in private. And Lobelia's only direct connect to the guild is the fact that she is registered as an adventurer, same as Roland.
The fact that Lobelia has personal connections to Elodia and Armand - and visa versa - is not publicly known (or, at least, not widely known). Certainly, Roland does not know this. If he did, then you know he would have insisted on having someone other than Elodia has his receptionist and he would have definitely objected to her connection to Armand in this hearing.
@Xpacetrue true but lobelia help Armand which significant for adventures and if elodia shows deep connection with Armand I think Roland is too paranoid and be able to put two and two together as always no every character author shows us related to Roland like the sunelf from the company the assassin wonder what happened to the bi polar girl and previous party he traveled with I personally like if hire someone else I think who is not an adventurer
I like when a story fleshes out the operations of places like the guild. This kinda stuff is actually interesting once in a while. Armand's way of handling this happens way too much in stories lol.
Okay, now break Armands arms and ego.
Then look at his sibling to assert dominance.
I can't imagine this ending well without a 3rd rematch between Armand and Roland. Nothing less will satisfy the absurdly bull-headed, stubborn Armand, so he would just keep causing trouble for Roland otherwise.
...
Thanks for the chappy