Chapter 147: At the Guild That Night

"We cannot deliberately betray one another." Flavius began, his voice solemn for the first time since they had arrived.

"We may share information." Haru continued.

"May, or must?" Flavius interrupted midway, the three of them glowing.

"It is not our duty." Haru clarified. "And besides, your first vow already guarantees that no matter what we do, we will never betray one another. So we will share information as the second vow. Optional, not mandatory."

"Flavius provides resources and connections." Genius said.

"Haru and Genius provide knowledge." Flavius completed.

"If one of the parties breaks a clause, the pact reacts." Haru finished.

They looked at one another.

"I should warn you." Flavius said. "These rings aren’t as powerful as the Valtherion ones. But they’re made of Tacty. They interact with the soul."

"Certain information may be protected by confidentiality." Flavius proposed.

"Rejected." Haru and Genius said together, without hesitation.

Flavius sighed.

"So you would tell me what your world is like?"

"Yes."

"Why not?"

"The pact shouldn’t force anyone to obey blindly." Genius concluded.

Judging by the reaction of the rings, there was clearly no room for any more vows.

The ethereal lines glowed, connecting with one another and forming a perfect triangle between the three of them.

"From now on, we’re a Squad!"

"But you’re not even a Gamer. You can’t belong to the Spawn Point."

"Fuck that." Flavius said. "We are the Spawn Point."

The three of them glowed.

A flash of light exploded through the room.

The contract was complete.

Everyone was blinded for a moment.

When their vision returned, runes had appeared on the rings:

"SPAWN POINT"

"Yay! I’m part of the Squad now too!" Flavius exclaimed, spinning the ring around his finger.

"Spawn Point! Let’s celebrate!"

"That name still kinda sucks." Haru muttered.

"I think it’s starting to sound good." Genius said. "The Spawn Points!"

"You know what? Let’s celebrate at the guild." Haru said, getting up. "I was already heading there anyway. I’m still a provisional member."

They stood and left, the three of them happy, their new rings faintly glowing in the light of late afternoon.

When they arrived, exactly as expected, the place was packed.

Adventurers drinking, ordinary mercenaries mixed among them, loud conversations competing with some singer’s music that nobody had asked for but everyone tolerated.

The moment Haru, Genius, and Flavius entered, they were recognized.

"HEY! Look who’s here!"

"The Resonance Trio!"

"The Sleeping Japanese guy, the nobleman with no nobility, and Inspector Flavius the Golden!"

Haru wasn’t entirely sure what he had done to deserve that kind of reception, but before he could process it, someone was already dragging him toward a table in the back.

The guild remained lively as another conversation unfolded on the other side of the room.

"Hmm." One of them muttered. "We got caught last time. Now we’ve got guilds packed everywhere, Captain."

In that world, having too many guilds was like having too many barbers: once a job that was supposed to be exclusive became common knowledge, trust was completely fucked.

"Shut up." The captain replied. "Just take a low-rank mission and extort whoever hired us."

"With the shortage of villages around here because of all these disappearances, getting work is a pain in the ass."

"Go grab the mission and let’s get the hell out of here before we start getting friendly with these people."

Well, the moment one adventurer recognizes another not as some random adventurer, but as a specific person, something naturally changes.

Everyone notices.

And drunk friendships aren’t easily forgotten, so everyone remembers you.

That was exactly what had happened to Haru only minutes earlier.

This team didn’t want to be noticed at all.

"So why the hell did we come in here!?" one of them whispered angrily.

"Shut up. Can’t we have a few drinks?"

One of them stood up to grab the mission.

On the way, he bumped into Haru, who was going to get another round of drinks for the Spawn Point table.

The glasses crashed onto the floor.

The sharp sound instantly made half the room turn toward them.

Flavius looked over.

Genius did too.

"Sorry." Haru said, genuinely apologetic as he picked up the broken pieces. He had been looking toward his table when he walked out to get the drinks.

"Hey, watch where you’re—"

The man stopped.

He stared at Haru.

Recognition slowly returned.

A memory from days ago reconstructed itself in his mind:

That young man.

The one who had beaten him and the others in a small village.

The adventurers who had tried to extort the villagers.

"Shit." He thought.

He backed away.

A guild assistant came over to clear the broken glass.

"You." The man said.

"Me."

"You."

"Me."

The man reached for the sheath of his weapon.

Haru noticed the movement.

Instinctively.

Trained.

As if his body had been prepared for exactly this situation years ago, even though he had never realized it.

He stared back more firmly.

The man immediately backed off and headed straight for the mission counter without looking behind him.

The memory fully surfaced.

It was them.

The opportunists from the first village Haru had set foot in after waking up in Aethelgard.

"The ones who learned too late..."

Haru wanted to do something.

The impulse to confront them.

To make sure they didn’t try anything.

But then he remembered something else.

The village mayor had given him a letter of recommendation.

The man was already at the counter, claiming a mission, directly in front of where Haru stood.

Haru remained there, fingers resting against his chin, completely ignoring him.

There were more important things to deal with now.

The man just wanted to leave, return to his table, and tell the others that Haru was here.

"The mayor said the letter works in any city." Haru remembered.

"It was a recommendation for entering Eldrath, and according to him, it also said I could take on high-level jobs."

He could hear the mayor’s voice clearly.

His memory remained intact despite everything that had happened since.

He reached into his pocket automatically, even though what he actually did was open his inventory and pull out what he needed.

The letter.

"If I’m right, this could get me high-rank missions here." Haru thought with a grin.

"Hehehe."

Genius stood up and went after Haru, who had completely forgotten to bring the drinks.

"Goddammit, Tokyo."

But Haru was already at the counter, handing the letter to the receptionist.

She read it.

The letter stated that Haru was an excellent candidate for Eldrath, qualified for dangerous missions, with a formal recommendation and a mayor’s seal at the bottom.

The receptionist only raised her eyes slightly when she read the word "Eldrath."

Her expression subtly said:

Seriously? This guy tried to get into Eldrath and, if he’s here, he probably failed.

But then she read the full name.

The mayor, when writing the letter, had added something Haru didn’t remember asking for.

As if he had already known that it would give the document considerably more weight:

"Haru Mizuki, official bodyguard of Isabela, of House Valtherion."

"Valtherion." The receptionist whispered.

Then, louder:

"Valtherion?"

She froze.

She remembered Haru from the first time he had come to register with the guild, days ago.

If she remembered correctly, he had been accompanied by a redhead.

"He was with her."

"He was with Isabela Valtherion."

"And I processed his registration without properly checking anything."

The moment Genius reached the counter, the receptionist had already run away.

"Huh? What did you say to her, Tokyo?"

Haru remained silent, simply watching her path, unable to understand why her reaction had been so extreme.

The receptionist ran all the way to the back of the hall.

She opened the guild master’s office without knocking.

"There is a Valtherion!"

"Sir..."

The man sitting behind the large desk raised his eyes.

"What is it?"

She held out the document.

"Read this."

He took the letter.

At first, he read it without much interest.

Then he stopped.

He went back a few lines.

Read them again.

The small man slowly rose from his chair.

He was short.

Short enough that the massive chair behind his desk seemed even larger by comparison.

He had a thick mustache, a slightly oversized nose, and a monocle attached over one eye.

A cane rested beside the desk.

At first glance, he looked less like the master of an adventurer’s guild and more like a loan shark about to collect an overdue debt.

But that smile...

That smile belonged to someone who knew exactly how much every word leaving his mouth was worth.

"Valtherion..."

He murmured.

He carefully folded the letter.

"Let’s go."

"Sir?"

"I want to see the boy."

The two of them left the office.

The sound of the cane striking the floor began to cross the hall.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The conversations disappeared one by one.

First one table.

Then another.

Until almost the entire hall had fallen silent.

The only thing remaining was Flavius’s elegant laughter.

"HOHOHOHO~~~"

He noticed the silence and stopped.

"...What?"

Nobody answered.

The receptionist discreetly pointed toward Haru.

"That’s him."

The guild master looked over.

Haru pointed at himself.

"Me?"

She nodded.

Haru then pointed toward Genius and Flavius.

"They’re with me."

Genius had no idea what to say.

Flavius immediately stood.

The guild master smiled.

"So, all three of you."

He tapped the tip of his cane against the floor.

"Come."

A little while later, the office door closed.

Click.

Silence.

Haru sat on one side.

Genius beside him.

Flavius on the other.

The receptionist remained standing against the wall.

The guild master sat behind his desk.

And Flavius...

Was drinking tea.

"So..."

The man took a sip.

Flavius took another.

Haru looked at the two of them.

"Are you guys seriously just going to sit here drinking tea?"

Flavius looked at him.

"It’s very good tea."

The guild master smiled.

"I agree."

Downstairs, nobody spoke.

The adventurers remained seated, some staring toward the office door.

One of them sharpened his blade.

Tlim.

Tlim.

Another checked the string on his bow.

Nobody seemed willing to ask anything.

Because there was one thing everyone in that guild knew.

Nobody was ever called into the guild master’s office.

Never.

And now there were three people inside.