Chapter 36: The Guild Master and the Older Brother

The moment the door to the Master’s office closed.

“Hoo…”

Freed from the position of Master, even if only for a moment, Wilhelm let out a heavy sigh.

With no one’s gaze to mind, his face, which had been maintaining a stern expression, crumbled and relaxed.

‘The world is testing my patience…’

In truth, Wilhelm’s expectations for Marcel had been far from small.

Just like the guild master of Hermes, Wilhelm had also hoped Marcel would participate in the High-Rank Gate subjugation squad.

But the result wasn’t good. He fell for a pointless provocation, lost a duel, and essentially left the guild.

‘Well, I’m sure he didn’t expect to lose either…’

He could understand it.

He could understand it, but… accepting it wasn’t easy.

He had invested a considerable amount in Marcel, even if it was for a short time.

So, to leave the possibility of return open, he ended it with expulsion instead of a complete severance.

Still, if there was a positive side, it was that Marcel’s attitude at the end wasn’t all that bad.

If Marcel had shown no intention of returning, he had planned to use the past favors as leverage to bring him back.

Thinking that way, he could set aside the matter of Marcel for now.

The problem was…

‘Deneb…’

It was his younger sister.

When they were young, the two were so close and devoted that they were never apart.

But then an anomaly occurred.

A Dungeon Break.

A Dungeon Break suddenly happened in a Gate that Royal Knights was handling, and Deneb was caught up in it.

Naturally, Wilhelm poured all of the guild’s power into saving his sister. But it wasn’t Wilhelm or Royal Knights who saved her.

Yoschuko Verdiol.

He recalled the name of the benefactor who had saved his younger sibling from the Dungeon Break in the past.

Though he called him a benefactor, he was also the reason his sibling had changed.

The Lucius family had been renowned for swordsmanship since ancient times.

After being saved by Verdiol during the Dungeon Break, Deneb became interested in magic and eventually declared she would walk the path of a mage.

Magic, from a prestigious swordsmanship family — it was heresy. Wilhelm, as her older brother, didn’t mind, but the stubborn adults vehemently opposed Deneb choosing the path of a mage.

However, Deneb didn’t give up. As a result, her standing within the family gradually weakened, leading to a situation that was practically the same as being disowned.

His younger sister was still a minor.

From the perspective of Wilhelm, her older brother, he couldn’t help but worry about her, still so young.

The reason he had her disguise herself as a man was also because he was worried something might happen when his eyes weren’t on her.

And now, he had driven her out of the guild with his own hands.

‘Why did I say something like that…’

—However, don’t expect any more support from the guild. You’re not thinking of becoming a mage when you can’t even do that much, are you?

Thinking back on it now, it was caused by pointless pride.

The thought that Verdiol had been taken from him by his sister made him lash out emotionally.

At this rate, what difference was there between himself and those stubborn adults of the family?

‘Hoo…’

Feeling conflicted, a heavy sigh escaped him involuntarily.

If only that bastard Yoschuko Verdiol hadn’t been there.

By now, his sister would have been a fine swordsman—

‘No, that’s not right…’

If that were the case, she would have been caught in the Dungeon Break and died before she could even say she wanted to walk the path of a mage.

It was a complicated feeling. Verdiol was both the direct cause of his sister’s change and her savior.

From Wilhelm’s position, he was the kind of person he wanted to hate but couldn’t.

Of course, the more he thought about it, the more he was the type to piss him off.

—Are you stupid? Why would I go under someone weaker than me?

The moment he recalled the words he’d heard when he suggested Verdiol join the guild, a hollow laugh escaped Wilhelm’s lips.

If the master of another of the Five Great Guilds, especially ‘Hermes,’ had heard that, it would have immediately led to a war between guilds.

‘Where are you and what are you doing.’

After that incident, Verdiol had vanished without a trace. No significant news had come in for a while now.

There were even rumors circulating that he was dead, but Wilhelm didn’t believe them.

He didn’t think that prideful bastard would choose to run away by committing suicide.

‘If Verdiol had joined Royal Knights.’

If he had accepted the guild invitation back then.

He would have definitely become a major asset.

And Deneb, too…

‘…It’s already in the past. No point clinging to regrets.’

Let’s just forget it all. Wilhelm leaned back in his chair, trying to erase the ghost-like thoughts of that mage from his mind.

As he wiped those away, another figure surfaced this time.

‘…’

Wilhelm shifted his gaze toward the screen.

Reflected on the monitor was a silver-haired girl, Yoschua Verdi. A D-Rank Hunter she’d had her eye on lately.

Since becoming a guild master, there was one thing Wilhelm regretted: meeting Verdiol too late.

He should have recruited him back when he hadn’t fully established himself yet. If he had, he might have been able to fix that damn personality of his.

By the time Wilhelm met Verdiol, it was already too late.

That bastard knew exactly how big his own egg was, and in the end, he rose to the ranks of the nation’s top Hunters.

He always stood ahead of even the Five Great Guilds, and when he closed an S-Rank Gate all by himself, people started calling him a legend.

He fell not long after, but if he’d been part of Wilhelm’s guild, that wouldn’t have happened.

That was why.

Because of that regretful experience back then, Wilhelm didn’t want to let Verdi slip away.

He’d never crossed paths with her, but just watching the footage gave him a feeling.

That girl would never stop here.

In the future, if she grew, she might even snatch a spot as an S-Rank Hunter. No, she definitely would.

Even if he’d stepped back from the front lines, Marcel had once been a top-tier A-Rank Hunter, and she’d beaten him. That was proof enough, wasn’t it?

So he wanted to recruit her by any means… but it was clear this wouldn’t be easy.

After all, Marcel, whom he’d sent to flaunt the guild’s prestige, had been taken down like that.

Still, if he succeeded in recruiting her, she would definitely be a huge asset to the guild.

And.

That girl was a mage.

Deneb’s confident declaration about that was surely not unrelated to Verdi’s influence.

So if recruiting Verdi succeeded, Deneb would naturally return to the guild as well.

Her skill was one thing, but a big part of Wilhelm’s interest in Verdi was Deneb.

‘I want to bring her in no matter what, but how the hell do I do it…’

Wilhelm’s dilemma seemed like it would never end.

* * *

The next day, in front of the Hunter Association office in the morning.

I’d come out early because I was excited, but someone had shown up at the meeting spot way before me.

It was Deneb. The moment she saw me, she ran over waving happily like a pet greeting its owner.

“Good morning!”

I silently waved back at Deneb as she rushed up to me, accepting her greeting.

And then.

“Good morning.”

I heard a voice I’d been waiting for and turned my head to see Marcel slowly approaching.

“Mr. Marcel, good morning!”

That Deneb kid, she really had a way with people.

Sometimes I even envied that. I don’t know how to make friends.

On the other hand, I can confidently say I’m good at making enemies.

But I’m holding back now. The Hunters I’ll be meeting from now on are High-Rank. I don’t want to leave a bad impression on people I’ll be dealing with for a long time, like I used to.

‘I didn’t think an opportunity would come this fast, though…’

When I became a Hunter again, I planned to Rank Advancement as quietly as possible, without drawing anyone’s attention, flowing like water.

But the opportunity came sooner than I thought. If I seize it, I’ll definitely draw attention from those around me. Just like yesterday at the office.

Still, I didn’t want to let it go. Getting a chance for a D-Rank Hunter to enter a High-Rank Gate isn’t just rare — it’s generally impossible.

What crazy High-Rank Hunter would take a Low-Rank Hunter into a High-Rank Gate? If something happened, what then?

—Murderer!

‘Ah, fuck. Come to think of it, I did take an unawakened person in before.’

And that unawakened person…

I’ll stop there.

Turns out there’s a bastard here worse than any crazy High-Rank Hunter. Good thing I only thought it. I won’t run my mouth carelessly again.

“Let’s go.”

I entered the office with the two of them.

Since we came out earlier than usual, the office was quieter than before.

Not that there weren’t any eyes on us, though.

Still, it was better than yesterday. Yesterday was rush hour, so there were too many people.

“You’re early?”

Irene at the reception desk waved with a cheerful face, so I answered with a slight bow of my head.

Irene is one of the few people in the office I can deal with comfortably.

She’s also an acquaintance of Mr. Luca, and more than anything, I was grateful she let the Mariano incident slide without making a fuss.

But Irene isn’t who I need to see today.

“This way.”

Marcel took the lead and walked. The place we arrived at was in front of a bulletin board.

[ Mercenary Recruitment Board ]

As the name suggests, it’s the board guilds use when they’re hiring mercenaries.

Though, no one was standing in front of it.

And that makes sense.

[ Requirement: B-Rank Hunter or higher ]

[ Requirement: High-Rank Hunter or higher ]

Because most of the jobs guilds post here are for High-Rank Gates.

Most Hunters who visit the Hunter Association office are Low-Rank Hunters who work solo, except when they come to settle accounts.

There are some postings looking for porters, but who’d volunteer to be a porter after becoming a Hunter?

“Whoa… the requirements are insane.”

Ah, there she was.

Deneb’s eyes sparkled as she scanned the board.

“Could you two check if there are any guilds besides Royal Knights and Hermes that are hiring mercenaries? For B-Rank Gates or higher.”

I said that to the two of them, then looked over the board myself.

There were plenty of recruitment notices, but it was almost like I was looking in the wrong place.

I did spot a few places that set the requirement at C-Rank Hunter.

But C-Rank Hunters are still at the top of the Low-Rank category.

They’re not few in number, but they’re not abundant either.

‘Something that fits the conditions…’

First, it’d be best if the guild recruiting is one of the Five Great Guilds.

Guilds I’ve never heard of have low reliability.

There’s a chance I won’t get paid properly. I know from experience — I did some mercenary work before.

They try to pay less than what they slyly advertise. Even the Five Great Guilds, the mega-guilds, do it, so what about the small and mid-sized ones? Tight-fisted bastards.

Among the Five Great Guilds, I need to avoid Royal Knights — where Deneb and Marcel were — and Hermes, which ended on bad terms with Marcel.

Next is the Gate rank. A-Rank or B-Rank doesn’t matter much, but since it’s my first try, I want to start with B-Rank.

Just as I was carefully checking each one.

“I found it!”

Deneb spoke up first, then brought me a flyer that had been pinned to the board.

“Crescent Guild, B-Rank Gate!”

“Good job.”

What a good kid. I almost patted her head.

Instead of patting her, I gave Deneb a small smile.

“Hehe, thank you.”

Alright, let’s take a look.