Chapter 299: Chapter 299
Arwin didn’t let his features betray the information that Lillia had just passed onto him. He was surprised to hear that Phoenix Circle had sent two monsters to speak with them but considering the background of more than half the people in the Menagerie, he wasn’t particularly bothered by their identities.
Compared to a Demon Queen, a Hero, and two traitors to the Secret Eye, I don’t think being some random monster is really that big of a deal.
He sat in place, unmoving, as Lillia headed over to a nearby table to snag a chair for herself. She brought it back over and set it up beside Arwin before sitting down.
“Would you mind telling us a little about your Guild?” Rodrick asked, leaning forward with a slight glint in his eye that the darkness never could have hoped to conceal. “We’ve been very caught up in recent times. Lots of work, expansion, you know the deal.”
“Our guild?” Elias sounded surprised at the question for some reason. “Of course. We were ranked 380 before the previous Proving Grounds.”
“Before the previous competition?” Rodrick tilted his head to the side. “And what about now?”
Elias hesitated for a long second. Then his shoulders slumped. “500.”
Arwin almost choked on his own saliva.
Holy shit. They’re literally the lowest ranked guild. I suppose we don’t really have much room to complain considering the Menagerie is at 499, but still… what’s up with that, Selen? Why would you intentionally set us up with the worst ranked guild?
Elias nodded firmly. “Yes. I love my guild dearly for it. There’s been a lot spent to keep me here. I hope to be able to repay that debt one day in the future.”
Rodrick’s expression relaxed and a smile pulled across his lips. “Good on you, then. We can respect that a lot more than just greed. There are better ways to get money than something .”
“Agreed,” Arwin said. “You should have led with that. But from what you’ve said… neither of you are the Guild Leader of Phoenix Circle.”
“We are not,” Elias confirmed. His shoulders tensed, predicting Arwin’s next question before it could even leave his lips.
“Is there a reason that your leader isn’t here?”
“He’s… missing,” Elias said. “He has been for about a year. He can’t participate this year. I know that makes our squad a lot weaker, but we can push through if we just practice enough. I’ve heard stories about your equipment as well. With that—”
“Hold on,” Lillia said. “Missing? How so?”
Maeve elbowed Elias in the side. The bandaged man grimaced, then slumped.
“He went out to a dungeon and didn’t return — but his body wasn’t found! He can’t be dead. I refuse to believe he could have died so easily.”
“But he’s believed to be dead,” Rodrick finished.
“Yes. I don’t believe it for a second, but I can’t go looking for him. Not yet. As soon as we win the tournament, I’ll find him. He must have gotten trapped somewhere, or…” The bandaged man trailed off, then cleared his throat and shook his head. “Sorry. I’m going off topic. This is our guild’s problem, not yours. As I said, I promise it won’t affect our prowess. We’ll find a replacement for the duration of the tournament.”
“You’ll find a replacement?” Lillia asked. “I could be reading into your words too much, but don’t you already have one? Just use a different member from your guild.”
Elias flinched. Even though Arwin couldn’t see his features at all, the man was doing a remarkable impression of a child caught with their hand in a cookie jar after midnight. His shoulders slumped for what must have been the third time that night.
“There’s nobody else in our guild.”
“What?” Reya asked, blinking in surprise. “It’s just the two of you?”
“The three of us,” Elias corrected immediately. He caught himself and cleared his throat into a fist. “But… yes. It’s just me and Maeve. The two of us are very used to fighting together. We’re competent, I swear. We only performed so poorly during the last tournament because the two of us tried to fight on our own and we ran into the Starforge guild in the first round and couldn’t afford proper healing — but we almost won that fight! They ended up getting 2nd place in the whole tournament. We would have gotten much higher if that hadn’t happened.”
He thinks they would have performed well, even with just two people? The Secret Eye isn’t going to be bringing in pushovers. Every single guild there is going to be talented. So either Elias is bullshitting about how strong he and his sister are, or they’re actually quite talented. That will only come by seeing how they can fight, but the thing I’m really interested in is who they are as people… or monsters, I suppose.
Lillia had the same idea. She caught Arwin’s eye and gave him a slight nod. It seemed that it was time to start pulling down a few curtains.
“Let’s forget that for a moment,” Lillia said, leaning forward and bracing her arms against the table. “You came recommended by the Secret Eye. I’ll assume that you can hold your own in a fight. I want to know about you.”
“Me?” Elias asked, blinking. He pulled away from her, as if trying to slide out of his chair. “What about me? I’m a warrior. My name is Elias. I’m pretty fast. That’s pretty much it.”
Maeve elbowed him in the side. Elias coughed, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest, glaring at him.
“It doesn’t seem she agrees,” Lillia observed.
“My sister just enjoys prodding me,” Elias replied crossly. “I’m nothing special. Just—”
Maeve elbowed him again.
“Goddamn it,” Elias wheezed. “Okay. I’m pretty good at stabbing things. I don’t really like talking about my abilities. It’s embarrassing. I swear I can hold my own. If you need, I can spar against one of you—”
Another elbow drove into his side and Elias let out a sputter of pain.