Maze The Endless Quest - 148 Changes

“Hello everyone, I’m Romeo Ballester. First of all. I want to thank Leliana Mihafrey for her years of service as the leader of the guild. She has done commendable work during all the time acting as chairperson. Even when facing an unimaginable situation, she not only rose to the occasion but even surpassed all of our expectations. It’s with a sad heart that I…”

As his speech kept going, Alex called Hera to join her, Helena, and the rest of the team. They were all sitting on the side, watching the announcement.

“Hey, sweetie. Did you miss much?” Helena asked.

“I got here around the time Leliana was stepping down.”

“Oh, so just the pre-show,” Cass joked.

“Yeah, I remember that she said she would step down after dealing with the Wendigos. Is that over?” Hera asked.

“Yeah, the predictions were that it would take around six months to deal with all the monsters from the room we know. Leliana managed to hunt them all down in less than half that time. I don’t know why she is stepping down,” Kenny said.

Some people were shushing the group, and they stopped talking. The image was still the same, with Romeo doing his speech. Leliana was also in the frame, while the new chairman kept singing praises for his predecessor. Some of his stories were moving, while others seemed more like those of a fan meeting his idol.

“… if that is not proof that even the strongest of us is powerless against the power of the Boba drink, I don’t know that is,” he laughed.

Having him in charge might be interesting, although Hera wasn’t sure what the chairman could do. Every time she saw Leliana, she had this imposing presence that seemed like a mountain that would never move. Romeo, on the other hand, seemed open and almost… jolly.

“When his beard turns white, the only thing missing will be the hat,” Hera’s loud though gained some laughs from the people around her.

“Now. As an organization, I understand that we have a long tradition, and I intend to uphold it with all my strength. At the same time, some of our rules must be revised and updated. Much like the laws from the middle ages were changed as society became more civilized. But now is not the moment for that. I understand that a great number of people won’t care too much about what I have to say and will just read the summarized version that the press will put out. And that is 100% fine by me. In all honesty, there were several of those announcements that I completely ignored the video and just read what I wanted. I just need to be careful not to skim email anymore. Last time I got the dates confused and almost missed the vote for this position,” Romeo laughed.

“Can we count on him to lead us?” Tisha asked.

“Who cares who the boss is? Nothing that the guild ever did actually affected us. In five years, the first thing that could affect me was the Wendigo that Hera fought,” Bolton snickered.

“Oh, right! You were the one. I knew I had seen you somewhere. How was the fight?” Martel asked Hera, only to be shushed by the people around them.

“We’ll talk later,” Hera replied quietly before focusing on the screen once more.

There was a small ceremony where Leliana passed the leadership to Romeo. She picked a banner with the guild’s symbol engraved in a flag and passed on to him as a gesture of transferring the position. Then he walked to the side and made an oath in front of a stained glass portrait of the three heroes. Placing the standard to the side, Romeo picked a pair of chairs and put them in the frame under the three heroes.

“Is it good here?” he asked someone off-camera, “two more steps? Ok, what about that one? Ok, hang on.”

“Mr. Ballester, we have people to do that,” a quiet voice came from behind the camera.

“Oh right, now I have people to do this kind of thing, right? Sorry, I’m not used to it. What’s done is done. Are we good?” Romeo looked around and sat on the right chair with a satisfied smile, “Very well. Now, if you rather wait for the overview, please don’t stick around and come back in like a couple of hours. I’m sure we will be done by then. For those who like watching the videos, we have today one of the best reporters from the guild and someone I’m a fan of. Miss Becca Swan,” he clapped and got up the chair to shake her hand while Becca walked into the frame. She wore a red and green outfit with golden details that made it impossible not to compare with the stained glass in the back.

“Mr. Ballester, thank you for inviting me. It’s not often that my scoops reach out to me,” she sat on the opposite chair. The scene felt far from a serious interview. It looked like more of a talk show than anything else.

They started talking about Romeo’s origins and how he climbed the ranks of the guild. Most people were uninterested in that, and the mood in the hall changed. A few even got up and left. Team H stayed around while Hera divided her attention between the talking about the wendigo fight and the interview.

“Let’s get into the main topic. What are your plans for the future of the guild?” Becca asked.

“Well, I have a few ideas, for starters. I’m reaching out to the new dawn group so we can upgrade our facilities throughout the MAZE. With the Wendigos appearing in all layers, we need some way to contact help at any point. The towers we use are good, but with a little investment, the New Daw can make them have a much larger coverage. I’ve been in talks with a few of scientists, and they showed me some fantastic things. One tower can cover over 300 kilometers, even in mana rich environments,” Romeo said.

“This is unusual. I’m sure you are aware that the New Dawn is not well seen by the majority of explorers. Why reach out for a partnership with them?” Becca had a serious expression. She seemed to be among the ones that had issues with the New Dawn.

“I understand your point. Many explorers feel that New Dawn has predatory tendencies. But let me ask you this. Have we ever given them a chance to be different?” Romeo stared at Becca for a few moments. Even the people in the great hall around Hera were silent.

“I’m not old enough to say,” Becca finally answered.

“Well, I am. And I’m sure many others can say that they remember when the New Dawn wasn’t a thing. Not like today, at least. Ever since day one, no one gave New Dawn a fair chance. We were all too set in our ways to allow for a new corporation to be a sponsor. People took jobs from them, got funded, and then sold the results to the highest bidder. New Dawn couldn’t do much since they were still a small fish in the middle of the ocean. We ended up abusing them, and well. That tiny baby company grew up to abuse others. I’m not saying to forgive and forget everything, just to give everyone a chance to make things right. Besides, they have some spectacular advances in electronics, farming, and magic engineering. I see an alliance as a major benefit.”

Becca replied with a cold smile, “Forgive me for saying this, Mr. Ballester, but it seems like you are giving some free advertisement for them. If I dig into your finances will I find any money trail connecting you and the New Dawn?”

“Yeah, there are a few. I had to make a few donations to get in touch with the scientists. Some galas and fundraisers, stuff like that. But I don’t make any money from them if that’s what you’re suggesting. I genuinely believe in their values,” Romeo replied without missing a beat.

“Where does that belief comes from? Or is it just from the goodness of your heart?” Becca pressed.

“Oh, not at all. I’m not that naive. I’ll try to keep it short. As a child, I lived in a small city in Spain. One day, a landslide destroyed most of the town and buried my family and me. We only had food and water for five days, and on the second day, I hear my father saying that if by the fourth day there was no sign of help, he would make the ultimate sacrifice so that my mother and I could have a better chance. The next day we were rescued by people from the New Dawn. They came to negotiate lands for a few farms, but when they saw what happened stopped to help. The New Dawn helped us rebuild the city and even paid more than they should for the lands they wanted. It wasn’t for the current produce they were making now. They needed the place to test sustainable practices, fertilizer, and mana based farming techniques. And I know what you are going to say, ‘they caused the landslide.’ No, they didn’t. There was an earthquake in the middle of a storm. As far as I’m aware, no one can make either of those things. Not on the scale that happened. The storm covered most of western Spain, and the earthquake was felt for almost 100 kilometers,” Romeo explained.

Becca nodded and changed her demeanor, “I see, and I understand your point of view. Still, it will take some time for others to see that,” she was already setting up an article about his finances on her mind. If Romeo Ballester would receive a single gold from the New Dawn because of this, Becca would find out.

“I’m fully aware of that. I don’t intend to push everything at once. We will do some testing and see if everyone is up for it. And, of course, the contract will be conditional. The New Dawn will have to respect our way of working. But that is something for the future. There are other changes that I intend to make sooner,” Romeo shifted on the chair, placing one leg on top of the other.

Becca smiled after Romeo’s pause, “You can’t say something like that and stop talking. What are the changes?”

“I intend to share the information we have about the MAZE and what happens inside to civilians. Basically, I’m lifting the ban on information sharing effectively immediately.”

People started talking around Hera.

“So we can start posting things from inside here?”

“What? Are you going to be an influencer now?”

“I got suspended for posting a picture I took inside here, and now they are letting it go? That’s bullshit!”

“Now I can show my niece the monsters we see here.”

“Great parenting, bro. You’ll give her nightmares for life.”

There was another wave of shushing as the interview was still going.

“That… is big. Although, as a journalist, I like the idea of sharing as much information as possible. What’s the reason for this?” Becca asked.

“We spend too much time and resources trying to hide what we do here, and for what? So people won’t get scared? All the governments of the world already see us as a potential threat, and keeping everything hidden will only increase the suspicion. If we share what we can, they will have less reason to suspect us. Besides, it will be nice to talk about other races outside without people staring at you like you are crazy. Also, the guild is fully aware that people still find ways of sharing information about the MAZE. Instead of working towards silencing them, is easier, and cheaper, to just destroy their demand.”

“You mentioned resources. Is the guild having financial troubles?” Becca asked.

“What? Oh no, not at all. I mean, I don’t think so. None of the preliminary reports I have access to say anything about it. If there are any issues, I’ll let you know in our next interview,” Romeo scratched his head while thinking, “When I say resources, I mean people. With the wendigos appearing in all layers, we need to have more eyes in the rooms. Most people that have those jobs are high level, and I rather have them in rooms than sitting behind desks. Of course, if they don’t want to we’ll find other places for them to work. That also ties in with my other immediate change.”

Romeo paused once more, enjoying the tension, “I’m removing the stat restriction for new recruits.”

As the words came out of his mouth, the great hall roared in questions.

“Wasn’t that supposed to be for protection?”

“What the hell? How can we work here if people start flooding in?”

Hera kept staring at the screen. Was that why Becca asked about the restriction?