It was closer.
Part of it was inside the city walls, it didn’t phase through it like a ghost, nor did it knock it down. It was almost like it had eroded the stone, turning it to ash as it moved in.
“I’m sure I need not explain to you why you have been summoned,” Guildmaster Vincent said in a concerningly casual tone as he gestured to the gargantuan monster.
“We will be setting up a rotation to constantly monitor the creature while sending out other teams to hunt down my former students and bring them to justice!” he punctuated his final word by tightening his fist and launching it into the air, “For the Glory of Regemendax!”
“For the Glory of Regemendax!” the guild replied in unison.
As each of the captains went up to receive their assignment, I wondered why he didn’t mention that one of his students was already found dead? I was sure to include it in my report to Krimsun. There was no way that news wouldn’t be immediately brought to his attention. Though, if there was any truth to what The Mountain, or rather, Frederick had told us… I regretted not taking his journal, but my mind wasn’t exactly in a place to think things through at that time.
“Where’s Reggie?” asked Katherine as she looked around, “Surely, he didn’t just ignore the alarm?”
“Maybe?” I closed my eyes and tried to make a mental image of the area. There were too many people for me to get as wide a view compared to the forest, but I was confident that Reggie wasn’t there.
I shook my head, “He isn’t nearby from what I can tell,”
While it wouldn’t be the first time Reggie broke guild rules to be somewhere he wasn’t supposed to; before it was to send money to his family, not to be lazy.
“I’m sure he has a reason,” I suggested.
Katherine made a stern face, “I hope so,”
It was easy to tell what she was thinking. It was a bad look to be missing when an alarm goes off after having met one of the most wanted men in the kingdom.
Krimsun approached with some papers in hand, “We have a shift tonight, I want you to find Reggie and let him know,”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.
“And Mak,”
“Yes?”
“Do not mention his absence to anyone,”
Katherine and I gave each other a concerned look before responding with a quick nod.
I hopped onto Katherine’s shoulder and began concentrating on my surroundings as she walked around the perimeter of the building. Eventually, I sense the familiar, nearly silent, footsteps of Reggie.
Right behind us.
“Hey, guys,”
“Gah!” Katherine yelled as she spun at him, stopping just short of decapitating him.
“Woah! Calm down,” he said, “I figured I’d show off a bit of my recent training, not so easy to hear coming, even for you Mak,”
“You even disguised your scent, but I did hear your steps just as you arrived,” I replied.
“Anyway,” Katherine said, lowering her blade, “I assume that means you were observing the assembly while hidden?”
“Exactly,”
“Just to show off?”
“Not quite…” he replied, “I’ll explain by the docks tonight,”
“You’ll have to put a pin in that,” she replied, “We have duty watching the ever-approaching pillar of doom,”
“Rats, er rather, drat…” he said, giving me an awkward look. “Well, we will have to work with that,”
“Let’s go meet back up with Krimsun for now,” Katherine said.
We found her waiting in the training room for us, “I’m assuming you had good reason to be out of sight earlier?” she asked.
“Sorry, captain, I was practicing my stealth magic, but I was present,” he replied.
“Were you now?”
“Yes, and I did find there to be something odd about the speech given by the Guildmaster,”
“Oh? Did something he said concern you?”
“It was more what he didn’t say,”
She gave him a grave look, but then spoke in her usual tone, “Come now, it would be hardly appropriate for him to bring up your heroics at the Abbey while we have such a pressing concern on our hands,”
Reggie looked as if he were about to object but then gave her an odd look.
I noticed it too.
She was looking Reggie in the eyes, but rather, the slightest bit above him.
“I do apologize for not congratulating you in person earlier,” the polite yet terrifying voice of Guildmaster Vincent sent my body into shock.
“How did I not sense him coming?” I thought to myself as I tried to control my breathing.
“The Archbishop spoke so very highly of you all,” he continued as he walked into the room, “And I must say, your reports describe things so much more modestly than he made things out to be.”210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6fkm04odV
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He placed a large hand on mine and Reggie’s shoulders, as he looked at both of us before setting his gaze on Katherine, “And I am truly sorry for the loss of your teammate,”
His hand was heavy and burning hot, like a bag of hot coals! At first, I suspected it was my mind playing tricks, but even Reggie looked as though he was in searing pain.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DDOh8LpSG
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“Losing a friend never gets easier, but such is the life we choose as adventurers. Your courage and perseverance through this time shall be an inspiration to others,”
“Thank you, Guildmaster,” Krimsun said with a bow, “I am quite proud of them myself,”
He let out a hearty chuckle, “As you should be,” he then lifted his hands from our shoulders. It was hard not to reel back as if we had been freed from being under a pile of burning rubble.
“Well, I must be off,” he said as he turned around, “Keep up the good work!”
It was as if a heavy fog exited the room with him as I could once again relax some of my muscles. Even Krimsun seemed to be the slightest bit relieved.
“Well then,” she said in her usual tone, “You heard him, back to training! We’ll keep going until an hour before our shift.”
Compared to spending more time near The Inferno, Krimsun’s training seemed like a treat…
For about five minutes.
But still, there were so many questions: why didn’t he mention his apprentice? Why was Krimsun nervous? Did she conceal information from him? Why would she do that? What was it that Reggie wanted to show us, but not Krimsun?
But most concerning of all was how this might relate back to the warning of Frederick Rundoon. The idea that the Guildmaster was involved in some sort of villainous conspiracy was a terrifying one, but it also appealed to my preconceptions of him. I wanted to believe he was a villain. Could my judgment be clouded by past trauma? The only person who seemed to cast any doubts on his character was a wanted criminal, one whose draconic accomplice killed several guild members by smashing through a wall.
To be honest, I had very little faith in my own intuition.
After we finished training, we had a quick meal and went to meet at the wall. As we walked, Katherine said quietly, “For a fire specialist, Guildmaster Vincent has a very cold malice about him,”
Reggie nodded, “There is definitely something suspicious going on here. It felt like he was melting my arm,”
“Same here,” I agreed, “But there are so many questions, and I’m not sure I want to know the answers,”
“Well,” Reggie began, “If there is something going on I’d rather know about it than not. And I think I may have a lead, but I’ll explain more when we meet up with Krimsun… Now that I’m sure I can trust her,”
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