Savior! Redemption in Another World! - Chapter 68

After following Arnold through the veritable maze of backstreets and alleyways, we arrived at a seemingly random building.

Unlike the illustrious and stand-out guild halls that we had been looking at, this plain stone building looks no different from the multiple other residential homes in this town.

“This is the place,” Arnold says, turning towards me and gesturing towards the building.

“Where exactly?” I ask, glancing between the seven identical buildings within or peripheral. Where did he take us? His friend’s house?

“Ah, right, got a little ahead of myself here. Just stay behind me and stay silent alright?” He said, his tone slowly becoming more serious.

I gave a simple nod and decided to follow behind him. Slowly yet confidently, he marched up to the door and knocked three times.

A clamoring could be heard behind the door, as a small eye window was slid open.

“Evening, I’m here to ask you about buying your home,” Arnold says calmly.

“Your price?” A gruff voice said behind the door.

“Negotiable, I’m back by the bank,” Arnold replied instantly, tapping his foot three times.

“Your backer?” The voice said, as more sound could be heard behind the door.

“One Man Army, as well as a new business associate,” Arnold said, slightly nodding his head back towards me.

“Come in, I’d rather discuss this in the comfort of my living room.” The gruff voice said, sliding the eye window closed as many locks were audibly undone.

The stone door creaked open slowly, as we were let inside what I can now tell is a very well disguised guildhall.

Inside the hidden hall was a collection of tables and chairs, hosting a variety of different people, all of which discuss various topics at various volumes.

“Well well well, look who decided to go official and get registered with the union!” A loud, yet warm voice called out as a mountain of a man approached us. Covered to head to toe in dark leather armor and battle scars, was something I was not expecting to see in this place.

Adorned on his pointed ears and neck was traditional Tiamat jewelry, and his skin was a deep blood red.

“Well met brother, I am Gust, chief of Taf,” I say, sticking out my left hand for a handshake and twisting my right into a fist, the traditional greeting for neutral clans.

“Well met brother, I am Boramir, remnant of Traun,” Boramir says, shaking my hand as a look of grief briefly flashes across his face.

To introduce yourself as a remnant is to introduce yourself as the last of your clan.

“I see you’ve brought me someone very interesting, it’s rare to find a fellow Tiamat out here, let alone a chieftain. What of Taf?” He says, glancing between Arnold and me.

“I’m searching for the remainder of my clan, less I’ve become a remnant. A group of adventurers brought upon a monster horde and strange magic, freezing my entire village. I’m journeying to find my children, who managed to awaken and leave before me.” I explain, finally feeling a burden off my chest. It’s nice to be able to speak freely to another Tiamat.

“Ah, then your friend has brought you to the right place. Since you’re a fellow Tiamat, as well as looking for family, Edge of Night will help you for one simple favor.” Boramir says with a warm smile. “Arnold, have you told our new friend here anything about what we do here?”

“Nope. He said he needed to find some people, so I brought em home. ” Arnold shrugged, gesturing for Boramir to continue.

“Take a seat friend, I’ll explain what exactly my guild here does, and what you can do for us. Whilst we’re searching for them, you’ll be completing a job for us. When you’re done, I guarantee we will be.” Boramir said, walking over to a table and pulling out a chair for Arnold and me.

Taking a seat, I have no questions nor need for explanations.

“Boramir, friend, I understand the standard practice, but there’s no need for lengthy explanations. If I can trust Arnold, I can trust you and your organization. The two people I’m looking for are my children, Surge and Antonio.” I say, cutting off Boramir before he’s able to continue. “Surge is a full-blooded Tiamat and Antonio is at least half-human. Antonio Icefield and Surge Thundercrash are their full names. I can give you any more information you need.”

///

“Understood, your job from us is simple. Within the guard’s tower within the city is a woman, a wind sprite who is particularly skilled at two very specific types of magic. Break her out, and take her on your journey. That woman has been caged for years and needs to find something.” Boramir said, giving me a basic description of who I’m meant to save, and where exactly the guard tower is.

“If the job is as simple as described, why has she been trapped for years, and why hasn’t anyone bothered to save her yet?” I asked, receiving a chuckle from both Arnold and Boramir.

“Brother, if you think rescuing someone right under the nose of the magically enhanced guards, who’s locked at the top of the most protected building in the city, all whilst escaping alive and unseen, is so easy, then feel free to try tonight,” Boramir said, another chuckle following.

“Then if the task is as impossible as you claim, why give it to me?” I ask, now more confused than ever.

“What’s the risk? If you succeed, Sylvia is free and all we have to do is house you until we find your children as payment. If you fail, you die and we’ve lost no guild personnel.” Boramir says, speaking completely honestly, which is refreshing, to say the least.

“The task is simple if I was allowed to be seen by the guards that is. I could simply break in and break out with Sylvia. I still don’t understand why that isn’t an option.” I ask, genuinely considering how many guards I could incapacitate in one night.

“The entire purpose of breaking her out is freedom, if you two are spotted by the guards and your mana signatures are recorded by scanners, you’ll forever be criminals, even if you were able to change your faces with transformation magic. Sylvia has the power to break herself out, yet the moment she unseals her mana she’ll be scanned and doomed to be a prisoner. Instead, you can break her out silently, and you’ll both be better off for it. We’re lucky the guard captain is a freak. Since her detainment is illegal, so is processing her as a criminal. Otherwise, you’d have to break her out from a real prison.” Boramir explains for at least the fifth time this conversation.

“Fine, I’ll do it silently. How long do I have?” I ask, starting to piece together a plan.

“As long as you need, we’ll let you know when we’ve found your children, if you succeed that is,” Boramir said, sticking out his right hand for a handshake.

“I swear it upon my name, find my children, and I’ll save your sprite,” I say, shaking his hand and standing up from the table.

We’ve been talking for a good hour or two, yet so much busywork makes me almost miss the swamps of work I had yet to catch up on in Taf.

Almost.

After stretching and standing up, I was free to explore the guildhall and talk to the receptionist if I needed a place to stay, for a price of course.

“Oh, and one more thing brother, as soon as you receive your official card, come back here and join our guild officially, that way we can pay you and you can take jobs on the books,” Boramir says, grabbing me by the shoulder with a warm smile.

“Of course, that’s what I planned on doing. But how exactly am I supposed to get back in? I haven’t exactly been told the passcode.” I say, returning a cheeky smile to Boradir.

“The passcode is simple. Ask to buy the house, at a negotiable price, backed by your adventurer’s name. Jerry the doorman checks your name to the registration, and your face to your name, and then the door opens. Simple is as simple does.” Boramir said, which for once I agree with him.

That is a remarkably simple way of vetting members. Also, based on the types of jobs I can see on the job posting board, as well as the conversations I heard on the way in, this guild doesn’t necessarily respect human laws.

I mean, I’ve just been given a job that directly flies in the face of the guards within the city, yet it sounds as if the guards here are a bit more than corrupt if they’ve elected to illegally imprison a woman who can’t fight back.

Either way, I’m glad I was able to find such powerful allies so quickly, even if it was mainly luck and even if they may not be the most trustworthy or legally abiding people. Not as if I’ve ever cared about human laws in the first place, but Antonio may see a problem with it.

Tomorrow night, I’ll set out to investigate this so-called guard tower.