Chapter 21: A Step Too Far

Not only did Chloe give me some of her limited edition Spicy Lime Crown Boar Jerky, she also paid for my clothes.

At first, I tried to protest, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer, so eventually I gave up. Even though she looks like she’s the same age as Samantha, Chloe is like a doting grandmother who enjoys spoiling her grandchildren rotten.

In the end, I paid for two pairs of shoelaces and a 60 meter rope with my own money.

Why the rope?

After talking to Samantha and testing out my skills, I started to wonder, does my skill really only work on shoelaces? Until now, I’ve only used it on shoelaces, but maybe it can be used on other things like rope.

It’s worth a shot. Even if it doesn’t work, I now have a quality climbing rope.

After paying for my clothes, Chloe heads off to work. Even though we don’t have class today, she’s on standby for emergencies.

Guild advisers work on a 48-24 system. The opposite of the system used by some fire departments in my previous life.

In this system, guild advisers work for 48 hours, followed by a 24 hour break. This doesn’t mean they have to be up for 48 hours straight, since they are allotted time for sleeping, but if a major incident happens while they are on duty, they are required to drop everything and attend to it.

Even though she took the time to go shopping with me, Chloe is still technically on duty, so after asking me to keep it a secret from Samantha, she returns to work.

My plan for the rest of the day is to experiment with my skill, so I head back to my room, sticking to the main corridors.

When I arrive at my room, a ghastly sight meets my eyes. In front of the open door to my room lie two battered and bloody beastfolk.

Yes, beastfolk do exist in this world, but they’re relatively rare and they prefer to keep to themselves, so even though I’m sixteen years old, this is the first time I’ve come across one.

In this world, the beastfolk are pretty much the same as humans. The difference is they have animal ears and tails, while humans don’t.

The beastfolk in front of my room don’t look so hot. One of the beastfolk has a deep gash that runs from his forehead to his jaw, and the other one is covered in bruises with blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth.

I turn on my heel and make a beeline for the lobby.

Why did I abandon them? Because there’s nothing else I could do.

In my previous life, I would whip out my smartphone and call 911. But, in this world smartphones don’t exist. As far as I know, the only way to send messages over long distances is to hire a courier.

I’m not a medic, I don’t have any medical knowledge. If I tried to help them, I might do more harm than good. It’s much better if I get an expert to help rather than risk hurting them more.

I burst into the lobby and race up to the reception desk. Several adventurers who are standing in line hurl abuse in my direction, but I ignore them and address the closest guild adviser.

“Chloe,” I say, trying to catch my breath. “Call Chloe.”

“Sir, please go to the back of the line and wait yo–”

“It’s an emergency.”

Instantly, the Guild Adviser’s entire demeanor changes.

“I understand,” she says, before disappearing through a door behind the counter.

A moment later, the guild adviser returns with Chloe in tow. When she sees me, Chloe vaults over the counter and lands lightly at my side.

“Lead the way,” she says, and the two of us race out of the lobby.

For the third time in less than 10 minutes, I retrace the route to my room.

When we arrive, the beastfolk are right where I left them, still and unmoving on the floor.

Chloe rushes to their side and immediately begins casting healing magic. A soft white light surrounds their bodies, and their injuries fade away.

The female beastfolk’s eyes flutter open. When she sees Chloe, she jumps to her feet, dragging the male beastfolk with her.

“Lady Chloe,” the female beastfolk says, propping up the other beastfolk with one hand while throwing herself into a low bow. “I’m sorry you had to see me in this pitiful state.

“Hey, pull yourself together,” she hisses, to the other beastfolk. “We are in the presence of Lady Chloe.”

The male beastfolk shoots to attention, snapping his right fist to his chest in a salute. “I’m sorry ma’am,” he shouts, “I don’t know what came over me.”

Chloe reaches up and pats both of them on the shoulder. “Finn, Fina, don’t worry about formalities. Let’s go somewhere private so you can tell me what happened.”

Taking Fina by the hand, Chloe leads the three of us down a series of side corridors. By the fourth turn I’m totally lost, but thankfully Chloe seems to know where she’s going.

Every few steps, the female beastfolk steals a curious glance in my direction until Chloe finally notices and introduces me.

“This is Sage,” Chloe says. “He’s the one who found the two of you.”

Upon hearing my name, the beastfolk’s eyes widen and she jerks to a stop.

“I’m very sorry,” she says, dropping to her knees and pressing her forehead to the floor. “I was too weak, I couldn’t stop them from ransacking your room.”

“Fina,” Chloe says, grabbing the beastfolk’s wrist and pulling her to her feet. “You can apologize as much as you want once we get somewhere more private.”

Stepping round a corner, the four of us find ourselves in the hallway leading to the Guild’s staff offices. Instead of stopping at her office, Chloe leads us to a door at the end of the hallway and barges inside.

Unlike Chloe’s office, which is relatively plain, the walls of this office are covered in ornate wood paneling, and all of the furniture is made out of mithril. In the middle of the room is a long coffee table flanked by a couch and chairs on opposite sides. Behind the table sits the broken remains of Chloe’s desk.

Sitting behind the wreckage, leaning back against the wall, is Samantha. She’s in the process of reading a novel titled, “Thrill of Violence,” which she hastily stuffs behind her back as we enter the room.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you to knock before entering someone’s room?” Samantha asks.

“I need your help,” Chloe says, taking a seat in the center of the couch.

“Go away,” Samantha says, “I’m busy.”

“This is an emergency.”

At Chloe’s words, Samantha’s expression hardens. One moment, she’s pouting like an angry teenager, the next she’s in full business mode.

“Explain the situation,” she says, vaulting over the broken desk and taking a seat across from Chloe.

Chloe motions to the beastfolk, and they take a seat on either side of her. Then at a nod from Chloe, Fina begins to speak.

“I’m sorry,” she says, throwing herself forward and slamming her forehead against the coffee table. “I couldn’t stop them.”

“Hold on,” Samantha says. “Start from the beginning.”

“Right,” Fina says, rubbing her forehead. “Earlier, several adventurers approached us and demanded that we let them into a specific room. When we refused, they beat us up and took the master key.”

“Which room were they trying to get into?” Samantha asks.

“Room 404.”

“Wait, isn’t that your room, Sage?”

I nod.

“Fina,” Chloe says, “What did their leader look like?”

“Um,” Fina says, “He had close cropped brown hair and was wearing a tunic and trousers.”

“Do you have any idea who it might have been?” Samantha asks, giving Chloe a questioning look.

“Yeah, remember the guy who always wears that awful cologne?” Chloe asks.

Samantha nods.

“My guess is that he’s behind this.”

Samantha walks to the door and sticks her head outside. “Natalie,” she says, “Please bring me Mathew’s file, along with all of the evidence that we’ve collected.”

“What did they want with Sage’s room?” Samantha asks, closing the door and returning to her seat.

That’s what I want to know. I glanced inside, before I went to find Chloe, but the lights were off, so I wasn’t able to see very much.

“Judging by their conversation,” Fina says, “they were planning on taking all the valuables and trashing everything else.”

“I see,” Samantha says, her face blank, “I’ll have someone go and assess the damage.”

There’s a knock on the door and Natalie enters carrying half a dozen boxes. The boxes are made out of some type of metal and each one is large enough for a small child to fit inside.

Setting the boxes on the floor, she takes a file from the top of the stack and hands it to Samantha. Samantha opens it up and places it in the center of the table, facing us.

“Was this the leader of the group that attacked you?” Samantha asks, pointing at a picture of Crew Cut.

Fina nods.

“Thank you,” Samantha says, reaching over and ruffling Fina’s hair, “You’ve been a great help.

“Natalie. Please gather all of the guild advisers who are currently on standby. We have some criminals to catch.”

Five guild advisers stand in Samantha’s office. Each of them is dressed in matching plate armor, with the Guild’s insignia on their left shoulder, and a sword strapped to their belt.

Samantha walks behind the broken remains of Chloe’s desk and pops open a hidden compartment in the wall. The interior of the compartment holds her personal set of plate armor, each piece polished to a brilliant shine.

Samantha pulls out a chain mail tunic, and drops it over her head, then she pulls out the chest plate and begins to strap it on.

With a little help from Natalie, Samantha finishes putting on all her armor in less than 10 minutes. Fina is fascinated by the process, leaning over Chloe’s shoulder to get a better look.

“Ready?” Samantha asks.

“Yes ma’am,” the advisers shout, snapping to attention.

Chloe stands up from the couch preparing to join them, but Samantha waves her back. “Look after Finn and Fina for me,” she says, “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

As soon as Samantha leaves, Chloe grabs the book Samantha left behind and starts reading. Every few pages she shakes her head and mutters, “I can’t believe Samantha reads this trash.”

While we wait, Fina explores Samantha’s office and Finn naps on the couch. I sit down in Samantha’s empty chair and practice tying knots.

Several hours later, the door to Samantha’s office bangs open and the Guild Advisers escort Crew Cut and his gang into the room.

When Crew Cut sees me, his face contorts in rage. “It’s your fault,” he shouts, struggling to free himself from the guild adviser who is restraining him. “I’ll kill you.”

At a nod from Samantha, the guild adviser forces Crew Cut to his knees. “Do you have anything to say for yourself before I turn you over to the Empire,” Samantha asks.

“No,” Crew Cut says. “I have nothing to say.”

“Great,” Samantha says, “then let’s get down to business. Using my authority as the Guild Master of the capital city’s branch of the Adventurer Guild, I hereby revoke your guild card.”

“Wait,” Crew Cut says. “You can’t kick me out.”

“Forced entry. Harassment. Assault. Extortion. Blackmail. Since you became an Adventurer, you’ve racked up enough offenses to get yourself kicked out several times over.

“Once they give us a date, I’ll see you in court. Until then, I don’t want to see your face anywhere near the Adventurer Guild.

“Take them to the teleport room.”

Once the prisoners are gone, Samantha lets out a long sigh. “Sorry it took so long,” she says, stripping off her armor and stowing it in the compartment behind her desk. “It took a while to find them.”

“I have a question,” I say.

“Sure,” Samantha says, “go ahead.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were the Guild Master?”

“Wait, I thought you knew.”

“No,” Chloe says, “during your introduction you got so caught up in talking about weapons that you forgot to mention it.”

“Oh, did I? No wait, you interrupted me before I could finish.”

“No, if you’d introduced yourself normally in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to interrupt you.”

“I’ll find a new room for Sage and recover his belongings,” Natalie says, interrupting their argument.”

“Thank you,” Samantha says, giving Natalie a smile. Then she turns back to Chloe, “Now, listen here…”