Valkyrie's Shadow

Birthright: Act 4, Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Pluton Ainzach blew out a breath as he tried to relax and work out the tension he had locked within himself. It had been an intense three hours: the most pressed he had ever felt in his entire life. As a former Adventurer, he had had his fair share of close calls and had been in any number of deadly situations. As the Master of the Adventurer Guild, he had weathered many emergencies and dire crises…but he felt that all of that might have been more preferable to addressing a highly charged crowd of his own guild members.

The reception to the Sorcerer King’s proposal to have the Adventurer Guild become an organization that worked for the Sorcerous Kingdom was mixed, as he had expected. Ainzach himself thought it was an extraordinary opportunity – the New Adventurer Guild, he had called it – for it would very obviously be nothing like what had preceded it.

Instead of the dreary life that most of his members saw in times past – that of an endless grind of bounty hunting, long escorts and dangerous monster exterminations – they would become explorers, diplomats and proud representatives of the Sorcerous Kingdom both within its borders and beyond. Such a thing was a naïve child’s dream – a foolish notion that could only exist in the tales of Bards: composed to fill the mind with excitement and wonder over a fantastical possibility that could never be. No experienced and self-respecting Adventurer, and certainly not Ainzach himself, could have believed that such a life might truly exist.

Yet there he had stood, spinning the proposal of that fanciful life before the ranks of veteran Adventurers that he had known for years. He could recall each and every one of the faces looking up at him: many were plainly disbelieving and some of those members also looked like they were embarrassed from hearing their guildmaster even speak such childish words. Others were skeptical as he explained at length what was in store for the future. He had spent the days after returning from the Empire putting together the outline with assistance from Momon and feedback from trusted individuals who were already aware of what was coming, such as Theo Raksheer.

Despite committing himself fully to His Majesty’s vision, it was difficult to express it in words that could be accepted by others. Still, he believed that the hour-long outline that he had settled on would be sufficient to convince the assembled Adventurers as to the benefits of the new system. In addition to the shift to their roles as true Adventurers, they would receive the support of the Sorcerous Kingdom in various areas that were traditionally difficult for those in their profession. Access to crucial magical items once the realm’s industries had established themselves, rigorous training in all the aspects of their new careers, a generous stipend that would sustain them in times when there was no work to be done and even recovery and resurrection services for the fallen.

As exhaustive as this outline had seemed, questions still came for hours after. In the end, he wasn’t even sure how many of the Adventurers would remain to pursue this intrepid new path that had been set forth for the Guild. They left the building – which had become unbearably stuffy from the uncharacteristic number of people assembled – to deliberate amongst themselves in the cool night air of the plaza outside. Momon and Nabe followed after them, presumably to encourage a positive response. Theo had returned to the Magician Guild. All that remained was Ainzach and the two guild receptionists, Wina Harshia and Ishpen Ronble.

The sound of voices from below caused him to realize that perhaps someone else had remained. Unable to see past the staircase and request board blocking his line of sight to the front counter, he descended to the main floor and turned to walk past the reception area into the hallway which led to his office.

In addition to the two receptionists, there was a third woman in front of the counter wearing a forest green dress more suited to a client of the central district or the Merchant Guild rather than the rough setting of the Adventurer Guild. Now that his thoughts had settled somewhat, Ainzach remembered that it was her entrance that had caused him to cut off the beginning of his address to the gathered Adventurers.

It was not that she was especially beautiful – though recently, with Nabe and the Sorcerer King’s servants frequenting the city, it might have not exactly been a fair assessment – nor did she do anything to command his attention in any particular way. The reason why he had interrupted himself was that he recognized who she was, and that recognition brought to mind one of the first things Ainz Ooal Gown had said to him when he first broached the topic of the future of the Adventurer’s Guild.

This young noblewoman was one of the scions of House Zahradnik, whose territory lay right at the edge of the very location that the Sorcerer King had used to provoke Ainzach over his ignorance of lands right at the duchy’s doorstep. They also happened to be one of the reasons why the Adventurer Guild had little information on the region, as Frontier Nobles tended to defend the borders on their own. There had been no threats in recent history that warranted the assistance of the Adventurer Guild, so their members had no reason to go there. The idea that the Nobles who were bound to their lands probably knew more about these unknown areas than the supposedly unchained Adventurers seemed even more of a rub now that one of them was standing right in front of him.

After that fateful meeting with His Majesty, he had believed that the Sorcerer King had not yet put all his cards on the table and so it seemed that this noblewoman – with her uncannily-timed entrance – was another one of those cards. Considering the depth of His Majesty’s wisdom, knowledge, and foresight, there was absolutely no chance it was a simple coincidence. Not only had she been sent as a pointed reminder of the Sorcerer King’s insight on the matter, she had been delivered to the Guild as something that they would need for their future work.

While a well-educated noble could function as a diplomat or negotiator and would be versed in the laws and policies of the realm, they were – to be blunt – flimsy civilians that were unsuited for the harsh conditions Adventurers faced unless there were some special circumstances or martial traditions involved. Frontier Nobles were a vestige of such a martial tradition, where in times long past the majority of nobles were expected to be able to personally defend their then-wild territories in Re-Estize’s early days of expansion: directly commanding their forces and fighting alongside them.

Still, though…it was irregular in a different way. As far as Ainzach remembered from the previous winter, Lord Zahradnik had three children: two sons in addition to his youngest daughter. He had come to the guild to update his own paperwork and, while his sons seemed very much starry-eyed at the sight of the Adventurers around them, his daughter did not seem to share that interest. It made sense that he would not want to expose his eldest – the heir apparent to his title – to danger as an Adventurer, but why would he send his youngest daughter? As he seated himself in front of the desk in his office, he pondered what it meant.

Normally, noble daughters were used to create alliances and forge blood ties with other noble families. The daughter of a frontier lineage was a particularly attractive prospect to any aristocratic family that wanted to introduce a bloodline more suited for military matters. With the increasing lawlessness in various regions of the Kingdom, it would have been a clear path for Lord Zahradnik to forge a beneficial relationship with another noble house…at least before the annexation of E-Rantel.

The only other reasoning he could come up with was that her family had opted for a different strategy, which was to send their daughter to find a strong Adventurer to serve as a consort who would further strengthen their own pedigree. It seemed a sound, rational move: one that showed that House Zahradnik was in support of His Majesty’s efforts while forwarding their familial objectives as well. Considering how she was dressed more like a courtier than a warrior, it appeared that this case was likely.

She probably wouldn’t have any issues achieving that goal; a consort of that nature was not exactly a husband, after all. Gods forbid that she set her designs on Momon, though. He thought back on all the schemes that had been concocted to land the living legend; Momon’s ability to elude any and all attempts at doing so had become something of a legend itself – and if Nabe discerned the young noblewoman’s motives, she would probably attempt to fry her on the spot.

Well good luck with that, Miss Zahradnik. He thought.

The sound of the ongoing orientation continued to carry into the guildmaster’s office: it sounded like Ishpen was doing most of the talking, as usual.

The veteran receptionist was an exceptional employee, but she loved to assert her dominance over Adventurers by bludgeoning them into submission with her knowledge and expertise in Guild matters. If things seemed like they would get out of hand, Wina would intercede, but it probably wouldn’t come to that in this case. Ishpen would most likely not be able to mentally budge a member of what Ainzach knew to be an especially thick-skinned noble family. It was more likely that the receptionist might find something of a rival in the other woman – in all likelihood a one sided rivalry as members of House Zahradnik were also often infuriatingly aloof.

Well…perhaps. Considering what little he had observed of her demeanor, Ainzach thought she might actually take after her mother on that front instead. Both of her parents were still characteristically obstinate, however.

Relaxing into his chair, the guildmaster closed his eyes and idly stroked his moustache as the voices continued to drift over into his office. The receptionist would roll out an intimidating wall of an explanation about a particular detail of the Guild, then pause to wait for the reaction. Ainzach could pretty much imagine Ishpen’s expectant look as she waited for the overwhelmed and confused expression that would often paint the face of even experienced members when faced with her fiendish tendencies.

He could not detect any signs of being disturbed by the words in the noblewoman’s replies. Though, to be fair, Ishpen could not give the same rundown as she would have been able to just a month or two ago, as many of the regulations and expectations of the Guild were no longer applicable.

The orientation moved on to a rudimentary assessment that made sure an applicant made the bare minimum of physical or magical capability and the basic understanding to qualify for work as a Copper Plate. At least it was rudimentary, as adventuring was a profession where the risk was shouldered almost entirely on the Adventurers and the skill sets that they brought to the table.

While still being developed, the new assessments carried out in the future would need to ensure that every member fit the new requirements for what would officially be an expeditionary arm of the state. New standards for entry would need to be hammered out, and formal resources for development would also see growth in due time. The changes in how Adventurer teams would be structured was revolutionary, to say the least.

The sounds of activity and discussion from the reception area died down and, as Ainzach had expected, a Copper Plate was issued. This, too, was something that would eventually need to be addressed. Adventurer ranks were most often seen as a mark of martial prowess, achieved through feats of individual or group strength. Now that their fundamental purpose had changed, other skills not directly related to raw power – such as expertise in lore, diplomatic acumen and survival skills – would need to be factored in somehow. The members of the New Adventurer Guild stood a high chance of being the first representatives of the Sorcerous Kingdom that many outsiders would see from this point onwards, so Ainzach believed that the standards of this new exploratory vanguard should be set as high as possible in order to impress their quality upon all who encountered them.

He heard a polite farewell being made by the Zahradnik girl, followed by the sounds of her departure. Ainzach opened his eyes at the closing of the door, looking down on the piles of documents, reference materials and proposals scattered over his desk. A bright future lay before the Adventurers of the Sorcerous Kingdom: a future filled with purpose and honour; fortune and fame; a world which awaited them with all of its mysteries and wonders. The life of an Adventurer. He felt his eyes tearing up upon remembering how he had felt when he understood the full meaning of what the Sorcerer King’s proposal meant: it was as if he had come to return to them a birthright that had long been lost – buried beneath generations of ruthless and uncaring practicality.

The Master of the New Adventurer Guild leaned over his desk after wiping his eyes clear with his sleeve, picking up his pen to return to his work. Before that promised future could arrive, there was still much to be done.