Chapter 440: Likable Dude

Lucan hesitated.

Boren immediately pointed at him. "That pause means something stupid happened."

"I was sixteen," Lucan protested.

"What happened to the horse?" Mina demanded.

Lucan sighed. "Technically, nothing happened to the horse. The carriage I raced against suffered considerably more."

Mina slapped both hands over her mouth while laughing, and even Sage had to look away for a moment.

Once the amusement settled, Sage asked, "So what exactly makes House Auremont one of the Great Noble Houses? I know the name, but that’s about it."Lucan looked genuinely offended. "You know almost nothing about my family?"

"I’ve been busy."

"That’s unacceptable."

Boren groaned. "Don’t encourage him."

Lucan ignored Boren and shifted his chair toward Sage. "Fine. I’ll educate you. House Auremont owns estates across several territories. Most people know our vineyards because Auremont wine is obviously superior to whatever unfortunate liquid other families put into bottles."

Boren immediately interrupted him. "Holtweiss Red is better."

Lucan stared at him in horror. "Take that back."

No."

"Boren, there are insults a friendship can survive."

"We aren’t friends."

Lucan pointed at him. "You’re making this worse."

Sage shook his head, laughing. "Continue before you challenge him to a duel over wine."

Lucan reluctantly returned his attention to Sage. He explained that the Auremonts also held vast farmland, interests in several mines, river vessels, warehouses and estates, but this time Sage interrupted before the explanation could become a lecture. "And you? Where do you fit into all of that?"

"Comfortably," Lucan answered withouthesitation.

Mina immediately laughed again.

Sage stared at him until Lucan finally sighed and gave a proper answer. "I’m not the heir. My eldest brother is. Poor bastard."

"Poor?" Sage asked. "He’s inheriting all of that."

"Exactly," Lucan replied. "He’s also inheriting every dispute, every estate problem, every marriage negotiation, every noble who wants something, every relative who thinks blood entitles them to money and every old man who wants to explain how Grandfather did things thirty years ago. I’ll take the money without the chair, thank you."

Boren looked thoughtful. "For once, you’ve said something sensible."

Lucan smiled brightly. "Brother Boren, I knew you’d eventually recognize my wisdom."

"Don’t call me that. Garen is already enough."

Mina nearly fell against the table laughing.

Sage waited until the noise settled before asking Lucan whether his father objected to him registering as an Adventurer.

Lucan shook his head. "Father asked me why I wanted to do it. I told him I wanted to be first."

Mina immediately straightened.

Lucan noticed and pointed at her. "Don’t."

Mina’s grin widened. "First in the Capital."

Lucan closed his eyes.

Sage knew exactly where this was going.

Mina leaned forward and continued, "Because Gregor is the actual first Adventurer."

Lucan opened his eyes and stared at her. "You wake up every morning thinking about ways to annoy me, don’t you?"

"No," Mina replied cheerfully, shaking her head. "Sometimes it just happens naturally."

Boren laughed into his cup.

Lucan looked toward Sage for help, but Sage was enjoying himself far too much. "She’s technically correct."

"Of course you’re taking her side," Lucan complained. "Nobody respects historical importance anymore. Being the first Adventurer in the Royal Capital is an achievement."

Mina nodded solemnly. "It is. You’re the first Capital Adventurer. Gregor is just the firstAdventurer everywhere."

Lucan slowly placed his fork down. "I need to meet this man."

"You’ll hate each other," Mina predicted.

"Why?"

"Because you like being first."

Lucan pointed toward himself. "I am first."

"In the Capital," Mina reminded him.

Lucan’s hand dropped.

Boren started laughing again.

Lucan ignored him and turned toward Sage with sudden seriousness. "What Rank is Gregor?"

Sage raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Curiosity." Lucan said with indifference but the look in his eyes sais otherwise.

Mina snorted.

Lucan sighed. "Fine. I want to know how far ahead he is."

That interested Sage. "Adventurer Rank isn’t something you catch up on just by throwing yourself at missions. Your record matters. Mission difficulty matters. Contribution matters. Reliability matters."

Lucan leaned forward. "Can donations count as contribution?"

Sage immediately understood what hewas asking. "No, you cannot buy Rank."

"I didn’t say buy."

"You were about to."

"I was exploring possibilities."

Boren pointed his fork at Lucan. "You were trying to buy Rank."

Lucan frowned at him. "Why are you even involved in this conversation?"

"Because watching a rich man discover something he can’t buy is entertaining."

Sage laughed before explaining that Lucan would have to earn advancement exactlylike everyone else. His House, money and existing Warrior strength couldn’t substitute for actual Guild accomplishments.

If he wanted higher Adventurer Rank, he needed missions appropriate to his capabilities and a consistent record.

Lucan became quiet.

Then his smile slowly returned.

Three days later, the mission clerks were beginning to regret that conversation.

Lucan completed a Ferocious Beast hunt outside the Capital, returned the same evening and asked for another mission. The following morning, he joined an escort traveling along the western road.

After returning, he spent a day inside the Mana Tower before accepting another monster-clearing mission near a farming settlement.

When he returned from that mission with mud covering his once-perfect white coat, Mina found him near the registration hall and laughed so hard that Lucan looked genuinely offended. She pointed at his ruined boots and asked how much they had cost.

Lucan glanced downward and reluctantly admitted, "More than the mission reward."

Mina’s laughter became worse.

Lucan sighed and removed one muddy glove. "The money isn’t the point."

Mina tilted her head. "Then what is?"

Lucan looked toward the mission boards, where dozens of new requests had been posted that morning.

His expression carried none of his usual joking arrogance when he answered her. "I can buy another coat. I can buy another sword. I can buy a hundred pairs of boots if I want them. But apparently your terrible Guildmaster refuses to let me buy Rank."

From behind them, Sage called out that Lucan should stop telling people that as though Sage were the unreasonable one.

Lucan turned toward him and spread his hands. "You rejected a perfectly respectable business proposal."

"It wasn’t a business proposal," Sage replied as he approached. "You asked whether donating enough gold could make you rank up."

"That sounds like business to me."

Boren, walking beside Sage, shook his head. "It sounds like bribery with expensive wording."

Lucan looked around at all three of them before sighing. "This Guild has become extremely hostile toward wealthy people."

Mina grinned at him. "Gregor probably never complained this much."

Lucan’s expression immediately hardened.

The next morning, he arrived before sunrise.

This time, he didn’t ask about the reward.

Lucan walked directly to the mission counter, rested both hands against it and asked the clerk for the hardest mission suitable for his current standing.

Somewhere in Evergreen, Gregor had absolutely no idea that he had acquired a rival.

Lucan intended to correct that eventually.