Chapter 439: The Golden Adventurer

Lucan Auremont had never understood why wealthy people sometimes pretended they weren’t wealthy.

If a man owned a good horse, he should ride it.

If he could afford excellent wine, there was no reason to drink bad wine merely to appear humble.

And if his family tailor had spent three weeks producing a white coat embroidered with golden thread, leaving it inside a wardrobe would be an insult to craftsmanship.

That philosophy was why Lucan entered the Grand Guild Hall that morning wearing enough gold to make several Adventurers turn their heads.

His boots were polished, a sapphire clasp held his half-cape, and the sword at his waist possessed a golden guard that probably cost more than an ordinary laborer earned in years.

Lucan noticed the attention, smiled pleasantly at two women staring at him, and continued toward the mission boards as though being noticed was simply another pleasant part of his morning.

Mina found him there and immediately stopped. She slowly looked from his golden hair to the spotless white coat before lowering her eyes to his polished boots.

"You’re going outside the Capital dressed like that?" she asked, walking around him once as though inspecting something deeply confusing. "You know you’re hunting Ferocious Beasts, right? They have blood. There’s mud outside too. A lot of it."

Lucan glanced down at his coat before looking back at her with complete confidence. "Mina, do you really think I came here without considering something so obvious?"

He gestured toward the main entrance, where his carriage could be seen beyond the doors. "I brought another coat. Two, actually. There are also spare boots, a traveling cloak, food, water and two bottles of wine in the carriage."

Boren happened to approach with several mission reports just in time to hear him.

He stopped, stared at Lucan and asked, "Why do you need wine for a monster hunt?"

Lucan turned toward him with an expression suggesting the answer should have been obvious. "I don’t know how long the mission will take."

"That doesn’t answer my question," Boren replied.

"It answers everything." Lucan shrugged and said indifferently.

Mina burst out laughing, while Boren shook his head and handed Lucan the report he had come to deliver. "Normal Adventurers carry what they need themselves. They don’t bring a carriage containing half their bedroom."

Lucan accepted the report and smiled. "Then normal Adventurers should consider becoming richer."

Sage heard the last part while approaching from the administration building. "Is that your solution to everything?"

Lucan turned toward him and gave the question serious consideration. "Not everything, Guildmaster. But you’d be surprised how many problems stop being problems when you have enough gold."

Boren immediately raised one finger. "He’s been here for less than ten minutes and I’m already tired."

"You wound me, Boren," Lucan replied, placing a hand against his chest. "After all the mornings we’ve spent together."

Boren stared at him. "You bother me while I’m working."

"Exactly. Friendship."

Sage laughed and motioned for them to follow him upstairs. Breakfast was waiting, and he had several reports to review before the morning meeting.

Lucan came along without needing an invitation, while Mina followed because food was involved and Boren because he actually had business with Sage. By the time they reached the dining room, Lucan had somehow acquired a plate despite technically being a visitor.

Sage watched him settle comfortably into his chair and finally asked something that had been on his mind for several days. "Does House Auremont actually know how much time you spend here? You’re practically part of the furniture now."

Lucan cut into a piece of roasted meat and replied, "My mother knows. She thinks it’s hilarious. My brother pretends he doesn’t care, although he keeps asking me questions about the Mana Tower. Father sent people to investigate you."

Sage’s fork stopped halfway to his plate. "Your father did what?"

Lucan looked up and blinked. "Investigated you."

"I heard that part." Sage lowered his fork. "I’m asking why the head of one of the Great Noble Houses is investigating me."

Lucan swallowed before leaning back comfortably. "Because you’re strange."

Sage stared at him.

Lucan raised both hands when Sage’s expression remained unchanged. "That wasn’t an insult. Think about it from Father’s position. A man nobody in the Capital cared about suddenly purchases the Old Western Garrison for seventy-two million gold coins. Thirty days later, there’s an enormous complex standing there with a Mana Cultivation Tower nobody understands. Then thousands of armed Warriors begin entering the place every day and calling themselves something nobody had heard of a few months ago. Wouldn’t you investigate yourself?"

Boren stopped eating and slowly nodded. "When you put it like that, Sage does sound suspicious."

Sage turned toward him. "Whose side are you on?"

"My own," Boren answered immediately. "It’s the safest side."

Mina giggled into her cup while Lucan continued. "Father asked who you were, where you came from, what you built in Evergreen, how quickly the Guild expanded and whether you had powerful people hiding behind you.

He also wanted to know whether this Adventurer business was simply another mercenary company with a prettier building."

"And what did his people find?" Sage asked, genuinely curious now.

Lucan grinned. "Apparently, you’re either extremely ambitious or completely insane."

"Wonderful."

"I thought it was flattering."

Sage leaned back in his chair. "And your father? What does he think?"

Lucan’s playful expression faded slightly. "I don’t know yet. Father doesn’t tell me everything simply because I’m his son. But if he considered you an immediate threat, I wouldn’t be sitting here. I’d be back at the Auremont estate listening to a six-hour lecture about why noble sons shouldn’t wander into suspicious organizations."

Mina looked interested. "Six hours?"

Lucan nodded grimly. "The man is extraordinarily gifted at lectures. When I was sixteen, I took one of his horses without permission. He spoke for so long that I started wishing he’d just beat me."

Sage laughed. "What did you do with the horse?"