Chapter 218: Chapter 218

Lunch went by too quickly. The entirety of the Menagerie other than Rodrick, who was still out in town, ate together. Lillia’s cooking felt like it improved by leaps and bounds every single time she made something new.

Even though her food didn’t give him quite as much energy as eating a well-made bracelet did, when he ate multiple meals from her a day, the difference was more than made up. Her food also tasted a hell of a lot better than eating metal.

It was also good for breaking up the mild tension at the counter — or rather, the mild tensions. Madiv and Esmerelda sat across from each other, arguing between every bite of food like an old married couple.

Well, that or a pair of mortal enemies. I genuinely can’t tell which one it is as this point. I suppose it depends on if they end up killing each other or not.

Arwin would have considered intervening if Esmerelda wasn’t returning fire with equal intensity to Madiv. Given how lonely her shop had been, he was pretty sure she was getting a kick out of just having someone to talk to.

On the other side of the counter, Reya and Olive sat and finished their meals in silence. Reya definitely considered speaking at least a dozen times through the meal, only to second guess herself and give up before she could form a word. Olive seemed to be an identical boat.

It was almost painful to watch, and Arwin couldn’t do a thing about it.

There’s no way Lillia and I were this bad, is there? I really don’t want to believe I’m that dense.

Lunch managed to finish without anyone professing their love or killing each other, which was definitely a minor miracle.

Arwin dug through his pockets and pulled out the ring he’d taken from their last dungeon.

Flowing Water Ring: Average Quality

[Glittering Wave]: This item was made with the sea in mind and quenched within its waters. Activating this item will cause it to glint like the sun off water, potentially blinding anyone looking in its direction for a short period of time.

He’d still yet to wear or gift it to anyone. It had clearly been some sort of wedding band. It just didn’t feel right. He and the members of the Menagerie weren’t so desperate for power to need something — but he could still learn a lot from it.

“I’ll be doing that quite soon. I just need to get the housing for a creepy ass heart built first,” Arwin said, studying the ring for a second longer before tucking it into a pocket. He set a hand on the stack of plates again.

“Sounds good. I’ll let the others know where you and Lillia are,” Anna said. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” He lifted the plates and headed into the kitchen, eager to get started on his joint project with Lillia once again.

Tironal’s fingers drummed against his small chair’s armrest. He massaged his forehead with a hand as he stared out the window, his jaw clenched. Milten hadn’t meant to pose anywhere near this much of an annoyance.

Perhaps that was an unfair thought. If he was being honest with himself, Milten hadn’t been a problem at all. The Ardent guild had moved into the city effortlessly. They’d quickly established a new guildhall and had been steadily gaining influence over the town and the merchants within it. There was just a single roadblock.

It would have been simple enough to just ignore them if Ifrit had been a normal smith, but everything had gone wrong at every turn. His own men had been saved from a potential Dungeon Break, and even though the majority of the town had no clue of how close they had come to disaster, they did know that the Ardent Guild’s adventurers had been rescued.

His plot to buy the Menagerie’s land had failed, and not only had they managed to get established as a guild, but they’d been ranked. Even if it was only Rank 499, at the very bottom of the list, they’d done what he hadn’t been able to do in years of work.

Damn it all. Stopping a Dungeon Break when it’s that close to going off is definitely difficult, but couldn’t my men have done that without help? This is ruining how fast I can move, especially after that stunt Ifrit pulled.

The Menagerie are going to be a major thorn in my side if we can’t remove them sooner rather than later. They’ve already got too much Enjoy reading on NovelHub - your free online novel platform.

It wasn’t like he could just crush them, though. The Ardent Guild was a merchant guild, not an adventurer guild. If he went around killing people himself, the guild’s public image would plummet and merchants would stop working with them.

I wish my damned spymaster and his apprentice weren’t blasted fools. Charles used to be so competent. What happened to him? It feels like I’m flying blind — but it changes nothing. I need to find a way to deal with the Menagerie before they get too strong and fly my reach.

A shadow shifted in the corner of the dark room, just out of the reach of the light flowing in through the window. Tironal’s contemplations froze as he jerked his head to look in the direction of the movement.

He rose to his feet. “Who’s there?”

“Calm yourself, Tironal.” A voice curled from the shadows like wisps of smoke. “If we wanted you dead, then you never would have heard me coming.”

A man clad in sleek black armor stepped out of the darkness. His face was covered by a metal mask that rose up from the top of his chestpiece, leaving only his dull gray eyes visible above it, and even they were partially concealed beneath a thick mat of gray hair. A guild insignia of a thin silver line ran across his chest, right above his heart.

Tironal’s eyes locked onto the insignia on the man’s chest. He felt the blood rush out of his face.

He’s a member of the Setting Sun. What the fuck is someone like that doing in Milten?

The man lifted a hand to his masked face and Tironal’s mouth snapped shut.

“Hush now, Tironal,” the intruder breathed. “I am speaking. Don’t fret, dear merchant. We don’t have any issue with your plans to move into Milten, nor do we care about your little spat with the Dawnseekers.”

Tironal swallowed. He didn’t dare to so much as nod his understanding. There was no point calling for help or his guards. None of his warriors were anywhere near strong enough to kill the man before him, much less stop him from slitting Tironal’s throat in a split second.

“You may answer this question,” the gray-haired shadow said. “I had a… trainee of sorts in Milten. He has gone missing.”

“Nobody in my guild is anywhere near strong enough to kill one of your members,” Tironal said. “I swear to you that it wasn’t us.”

“I don’t care who it was. His death was unfortunate but ultimately irrelevant. If a baby bird falls from the nest and does not fly, then they were fated to meet their end on the ground. I simply wish to recover some of the investments I spent on my apprentice. They were not cheap. One item in particular could be problematic in the wrong hands. It magnifies the desires of whatever it has been connected to with a rather significant amount of magic.”

Tironal swallowed. He’d technically answered the other man’s first question, and he wasn’t sure if he dared to speak again without permission. Amusement crinkled the pale, visible skin of gray-haired man’s face.