Chapter 27

"Niia! Niia=Proud, are you in here!?"

As the adventurers roughly opened the Guild Master's office, Niia was sitting in a chair.

Niia responded with a calm demeanor.

"What is it, you guys are so noisy. I won't help with the adventurers' treatment. Besides, what's with that way of speaking—"

"Niia, we need you to leave this guild."

Ganash stepped forward with unsteady steps.

"What, Ganash? Do you think you can beat me by bringing a bunch of riffraff? And you're still drunk and wobbly?"

"We can win, with two of us."

Fiona, holding Nilvania, stood next to Ganash.

"…What, isn't that the little healer girl who was crying to me earlier? What are you doing with a useless staff like that?"

"Fiona, I need you to cast the support magic I asked for earlier."

"Y-Yes! Um, status recovery."

A soft light from the staff enveloped Ganash.

"Phew, I feel better. Thanks."

"N-Nilvania is angry… 'Don't use it for sobering up'…"

"Oh, it's '3 against 1.' Sorry, Niia."

Seeing Fiona use the artifact, Niia slammed her fist on the desk.

Blood from her fist soaked the documents.

"Wh-What nonsense! Impossible! I couldn't even handle it, and you're saying a mere—low-level mage girl can use an artifact!?"

"Fiona is better than you. Niia, you need to stop drinking and train seriously."

"――――――!!"

Clenching her fists, Niia glared at Ganash.

Ganash was genuinely amused.

"Niia, you should understand. The moment you attacked a sober me, you had no chance. You should have run when you realized I was your enemy. But if you were so focused on being angry here, that's a different story—just look at this room."

The office was in shambles.

Torn documents were scattered, and shelves were destroyed.

"This will be Fiona's room. Stop taking out your anger here."

"F-Foolish! How can a dirty little girl be better than me—"

*Ching*

The sound of a sword being sheathed echoed faintly in the room.

*Clash!*

In the next instant, the cord around Niia's neck, symbolizing her position as Guild Master, was cut and fell to the floor.

Ganash, now sober, had used his fastest sword technique.

The adventurers in the guild, and even Niia, couldn't react.

"Niia, you couldn't see it with your clouded eyes… I just cut off your head. The dead can't talk. If you still spout nonsense, I'll have to cut off your head for real."

"――Damn it!"

Niia tried to leave the room.

Ganash blocked her way.

"Whoa, careful. When you leave this guild, you need to 'settle things.' What will you do? The 'way Gilne did it' or the 'way Tim did it'… If you don't want to suffer, leave all the artifacts you have."

"……Damn it!"

Niia removed all the artifacts she was wearing and threw them on the desk.

"Damn it, why did the artifact go to you and not me…! This little girl…!"

"──What!?"

The moment Niia said that—

Ganash suddenly extended his hand in front of Fiona and clenched it as if crushing something.

Blood spurted from Ganash's clenched fist, splattering Fiona's face.

"Hey, Niia. If you really want your head cut off, just say so…"

Ganash was seething, veins bulging on his forehead.

Niia, staring at Ganash's blood-dripping fist, collapsed.

"Wh-What nonsense! Even without incantation, you crushed my wind magic with your bare hands!?"

"You're the fool. Fiona's face is more valuable than all the artifacts you just threw away. Unlike your dirty face! Take this!"

Ganash punched Niia.

The adventurers cheered.

Ganash, looking down at Niia with unfocused eyes, hit his clenched fist into his other palm.

"…I can't control myself unless I'm drunk. Niia, get out of here. If you stay, Fiona will see something worse. Your head will fall before that."

"Ah!"

Niia ran out of the room in fear.

Ganash sighed and held his head.

"…Fiona, I'm sorry. You, the overly kind one, didn't want to retaliate against Niia, did you?"

"N-No, Ganash-sama! After Tim and Gilne left, I locked myself in my room and cried, so I only heard the story. But I heard that Niia… did terrible things to Tim when he came back."

Fiona smiled at Ganash.

"So, I felt relieved. I get angry too sometimes."

"Really? If you had said something, I would have hit her a few more times. If you had expelled her from the guild, she would have died of anger."

Ganash laughed and picked up the Guild Master's cord.

"Let's tie it again… Here, Fiona."

Ganash placed the Guild Master's cord around Fiona's neck.

"R-Really, I'm the Guild Master…"

"Don't worry, with this Ganash-sama here."

"B-But… If the other executives come back and oppose it… I can enhance my abilities with Nilvania, but only you can do that here…"

"Yeah, they're still on a quest. I was supposed to go on a quest too, but I skipped it to drink…"

Ganash took out a quest acceptance form and a "green glowing mineral" from his pocket and placed them on the desk.

"I skipped the 'report.' I defeated an A-rank Adamanturtle and extracted the 'Heartstone.' I'm turning it in to the Guild Master now."

"…Huh?"

Fiona and the guild adventurers were in an uproar.

"If you can't even complete a simple quest like this, it seems the executives aren't much good."

"An Adamanturtle, the monster with the hardest shell… How did you do it in such a short time?"

"Simple, I rushed and cut it down."

Ganash answered the adventurer's question with a proud smile.

He then placed his hand on Fiona's shoulder, who was wearing the Guild Master's cord.

"So, Fiona. This guild is now yours. What will you do?"

"I… I will…! I will reform this guild! Our main focus will be 'rescue missions,' 'odd jobs,' and 'escort missions'—social contribution activities! The odd jobs will be handled on a 'shift system' by all members, and we won't hire new odd job handlers!"

"……"

Fiona's words left the guild members speechless.

Everything was changing too much.

Until now, they just hunted monsters, ate, drank, and left all the odd jobs to Tim.

That was all they needed.

"F-Fiona-sama, that's too much. We joined this guild because of our fighting skills."

"S-So true! Being an odd job handler—"

A few adventurers protested.

But Fiona stood firm.

"This is a decision. You need to realize how much you've been helped. If you don't like it, you can leave."

"Right, you should leave. Most of you—"

The swords at the waists of the protesting adventurers were sliced and fell to the floor.

"If you can't even react to such a slow cut, you'll just get killed by monsters again."

Ganash had already sheathed his sword.

The adventurers hadn't even seen his blade once.

"Everyone has their thoughts. Go back to your rooms and think about it. Reflect on how you became adventurers."

Fiona said this, then closed the office door, leaving Ganash inside.

As soon as the door closed, Fiona slumped against it, as if the tension had finally released.

"Fiona, you were great. You must have wanted to say that for a long time, right?"

"Ganash-sama, thank you for your help."

Ganash raised his thumb with a smile.

"I think it's a good idea. They're still kids. You'll have to teach them how to walk… Seriously, who let such people join?"

"Ganash-sama, my joining was decided by rock-paper-scissors with you…"

"…Well, training people is also the guild's role, right!"

Ganash scratched his head to cover up.

"This might make all the executives quit. They're apparently fighters, so they might go on a journey."

"I hope they don't meet Tim and the others on their journey and do something terrible to them…"

"Right. Also, the guild's activities will change completely. I think we should change the guild's name from 'Gilne' to something else."

"Y-Yes… We're changing from an 'adventurer guild' to a 'rescue center'…"

Ganash grinned.

"Then, how about 'Fiona Cynthia Rescue Center'?"

"Fiona Cynthia… Ah!"

Fiona blushed.

"Nothing, I just added the empire's name. 'Cynthia' is a common family name, so no one will know."

"Y-Yes! It's just the empire's name!"

Fiona nodded vigorously.

"So, what's your goal for this guild, Fiona?"

"…I want this guild to be recognized by the empire through social contributions and gain significant power as a guild."

"Will that help Tim, who's on a quest?"

"Yes. Actually, I once bravely went to Tim's room, and he told me a little. Tim has a much bigger enemy to face!"

"―What!?"

Ganash, excited, offered Fiona a chair in the office.

"Sit down and tell me about it in detail."

"Sorry, even Ganash-sama shouldn't hear Tim's personal matters—"

"No, not that. Everyone has secrets, so I won't pry."

Ganash took out a bottle of alcohol.

"So, did you at least hold his hand when you bravely went to Tim's room?"

"Ganash-sama…?"

Ignoring Fiona's puzzled look, Ganash spoke with the most serious expression of the day.

"Listen, Gilne is tough, but you've known Tim longer. Don't give up."

Fiona was confused as Ganash, now clearly trying to use her love life as an excuse to drink, took a sip.

"Fiona, I'm also interested in your story with this Tim. Tell me."

"Even Nilvania-sama!?"

Fiona had nowhere to run.

*Next, we'll return to Tim and the others' journey.*