The morning of the fair was a perfect day for appreciating the arts.
Clouds hung in the sky, and sunlight spilled down.
The venue was the courtyard of Count Elson’s estate. Already there were countless silverworks arranged on tables, gleaming in the sunlight.
Count Elson had the foresight to hold the fair outdoors, where even commoners could admire the works on display.
As according to his plan, the commoners were excited by the exhibition, the likes of which they were not used to seeing.
However, it was a gloomy Count Elson who was surveying the grounds.
There are only the big guilds here.
Each guild had been given a table, and from end to end, he only saw guilds that surely everyone had seen or heard of once before.
In addition, next to each guild’s individual insignia, they had placed Golden Hawk’s crest.
This is not how I imagined the fair to be. Not this.
Count Elson had been looking forward to the products smaller guilds would produce, but now his head drooped in disappointment.
Lucius, on the other hand, mistook the source of Count Elson’s great disappointment to be the quality of the products.
After all, the only silverworks presented at the fair were B-rank products.
“Oi, couldn’t you have prepared anything better?” Lucius whispered irritably in Daevin’s ear. Daevin was the person-in-charge appointed by Golden Hawk.
“I cannot do much about it. The good alchemists were not allowed near the furnaces. And even if it is me, without an A-grade silver, there are limits to what I can make,” Daevin said, shrugging helplessly. He had participated on a whim, and did not have much of an interest in something as silly as this.
“Is this really the time to be saying that? This is Golden Hawk’s chance to promote ourselves to Count Elson. Surely, even you would be interested in gaining support from the nobility. Don’t you want a peerage from Count Elson?”
“In that case, that is all the more reason for you to supply me with A-grade silver. When are you going to remove these ridiculous restrictions?”
“When I find the traitor who supplied [Earth Stones] to Guardians of the Magical Tree. Because we’ve isolated the alchemists this month, their stash of [Earth Stones] should dry up next month.”
“Then I won’t be able to produce an A-grade silverwork until next month.”
“Tch,” Lucius clicked his tongue, glaring at Daevin.
As though to demonstrate just how supremely unconcerned he was, Daevin began to whistle.
Lucius grew even more irritated.
He hated dealing with Daevin.
He could not understand what this young, laid-back dwarf was thinking.
For a moment, Lucius surveyed the silverworks in the venue unhappily. Then he gathered his composure again.
Whatever. The only products on display are from our guilds. In the end, the winner will be one of ours, no matter what. If we are chosen time and time again, Count Elson will notice us one way or another. Which means that he’ll have no choice but to collaborate with us.
Lucius chuckled to himself.
The most eye-catching products on display in the venue all belonged to Golden Hawk’s guilds.
Because of that, Count Elson and Lucius both believed that all the participating guilds were affiliated with Golden Hawk, and their gazes were drawn away from the table in one deserted corner. It was a booth belonging to a small, inconspicuous guild.
They had already placed their submission on the booth’s table. It was covered by a cloth, obscuring the silverwork product and the guild’s name.
——
Laurent had brought along the members of Arsenal of the Spirits, and he was pacing up and down their designated area in Count Elson’s estate.
Count Elson had made special arrangements for the registrants of the fair.
The registrant and their associated guild were each provided with a transport coach, a break room and a storage space for their silverworks. There was a section in Count Elson’s mansion where they were allowed to explore freely.
As they walked down the corridor, lined with great pillars, each of his guild members reacted differently to the interior.
It was Charl’s first time in such a large building, and she took in everything with shining eyes. Arri was uneasy as she looked around, wondering if it was really alright for them to be receiving such a welcome.
Ranju remained calm and collected as he walked. Occasionally, he observed the furnishings and paintings on display with great interest.
“Laurent-san, what’s that building? What’s in there?” Charl asked excitedly.
She was pointing at a spire that rose into view on the opposite side of the courtyard.
“Ah, that’s the bell tower.”
“Bell tower? What’s a bell tower?”
“It’s a tower with a bell installed in it. You see the bell at the very top? If the bell rings, it resounds through the entire city. That way, everyone knows what time it is.”
“Whoa… That sounds cool. I wanna go there, let’s climb it, let’s climb the bell tower and look at the bell,” Charl said, hounding Laurent like a child as she clutched at his arm.
If there was something that was made with metal, she could not help but want to poke and study it.
“What am I going to do with you? The fair is about to start, though,” Laurent said.
“Laurent-san, I can manage the display booth. You can go on ahead with the other two and climb the bell tower,” Ranju said affably.
Though he had the look of someone who was quick to anger, he was actually quite a considerate person.
“Really? Well, then, that would be a big help.”
“H-Hang on; excuse me, Ranju-san,” Arri said, torn.
“It’s fine. We only need one person for the booth. Oh, but if you could get me something for lunch, that would be nice,” Ranju said, and with that, he left for the exhibition ground.
The remaining three made their way toward the bell tower.
They had not been walking down the corridor for long, however, before a voice called out to Laurent.
“Laurent-san!”
Laurent started at that voice.
It was a voice he knew well.
He turned reluctantly, and there that person was, exactly who he had thought it would be.
Jill.
“Urk… Jill, why are you here…?”
Looking at her, he felt all the trauma from his time at Golden Hawk return. He could not help but tremble.
“Thank goodness. I’ve been wanting to see you for so long, Laurent-san,” Jill said, yanking him into a hug.
“Eh?! Jill? Um.”
Jill was not wearing the heavy equipment she usually used for dungeon exploration, but light armor that was suited for dazzling festivities. But when she hugged him, the protruding lines of her armor drove into his ribs.
With how tightly she hugged him, it felt as though she had tackled him instead.
But the other thing that had perplexed him the most was the affection she was displaying towards him.
He had thought that she surely despised him, as well.
After Jill had risen to the spotlight, she began refusing Laurent’s instruction, and even when Laurent had tried to adjust her training schedule to accommodate her, she had cancelled on him.
And in the end, Laurent had received a notice that she was changing instructors.
She had been quite clear when she had said, “From now on, I will be working by Lucius-sama’s side. It would be preferable if you stopped reaching out to me.”
At least, according to Lucius’s secretary.
It was why Laurent found her current attitude so incomprehensible.
“I can’t believe I ran into you in a place like this. You idiot, didn’t you promise that you would put your all into helping me until I became an S-rank adventurer? Why did you leave the guild without saying anything to me?” Jill was so upset that she scarcely even noticed Laurent’s pain. She hugged Laurent to her armoured body, her steel gauntlets driving the air from him, as she pressed him to her breastplate.
“Wa—Jill—hurts—it hurts—gonna die—let me go…”
“Oh, I’m so sorry—I was, um, just so excited to meet you again, and I accidentally…” Jill released him, returning to her senses.
“Phew. Um, but besides that, why did you do that, Jill? I thought you were avoiding me…”
“Huh? What do you mean? I mean, it’s true that I’ve been really busy lately, but I wouldn’t say I’ve been avoiding you…” Jill stated blankly at Laurent.
Realisation dawned over Laurent. Was it… all part of Lucius’s schemes again?
“Anyway, there’s something more important to discuss, Laurent-san. Please, come back to Golden Hawk.”
“Eh?”
“Please. The only person who could bring me to my full potential is you. No, not just me—there are plenty of people who are waiting for your guidance. I’ll find a way to deal with any dissenters in the guild, so please come back,” Jill implored.
Arri and Charl paled.
Neither of them knew what they would do if Laurent went back to Golden Hawk.
“I’m sorry, Jill. I can’t return to Golden Hawk,” Laurent said firmly, even as his face darkened with bitterness.
“But… why—” Just as Jill spoke, she was cut off by a chilling voice that echoed throughout the hallway.
“Laurent-kun, I hope you aren’t trying to entice my guild member to your guild.”
“… Lucius.”
Looking over to where the voice had come from, Laurent saw Lucius walking over to them.
As always, he had Deanna with him.
Laurent turned, facing Lucius despite his own fear.
Jill tried to speak up in Laurent’s defence. “Guild Leader, it’s a misunderstanding. I called out to him, and he—”
“Jill-kun. Could you take your leave? I’d like to speak with him alone.”
“But, Guild Leader—” Jill began to say, but fell abruptly silent when Lucius had fixed her with a threatening look.
At the sight of his unusually fierce expression, Jill found that her words would not leave her throat.
After silencing Jill, Lucius turned toward Laurent once more. “I see you’re still in town. Are you that interested in causing trouble for the guild? Moreover, with the alchemist guild you’ve formed…” Lucius said as he drew closer.
Lucius had the advantage in height. Faced with his intimidating height, most people cowered.
Arrie and Charl, being smaller in size, shrank behind Laurent instinctively.
“I thought it was ridiculous, but are you possibly planning to participate in the fair?”
“That’s exactly what we plan on doing. We’ll enter and win. I came here just so that I could fight you—so that I could fight Golden Hawk,” Laurent said, his gaze unflinching.
“What? Do you even have any idea what you’re saying?”
“I heard something interesting at the Quest Reception office. That you had secretly directed them not to give me any adventuring work.”
Lucius remained silent.
“At the time, I was fed up with everything, and the only thing I could do was run. But it’s different now—now, I have companions and a home I need to protect. If you want to chase me out of town, I’ll fight back. It doesn’t matter how strong you and Golden Hawk are. We don’t have a single thing to be ashamed of. And you don’t have even a single reason to throw us out of town!”
“Do you even hear the senseless things you’re saying? I ‘manipulated’ the Quest Reception office? Please, enough with the victim complex, Laurent-kun. Why would I ever need to do anything like that to you?” Lucius scoffed. “More importantly, withdraw yourselves from the fair. This isn’t a place where people like you can just walk in. I’m saying this out of what little affection I have left for you. I don’t want you to embarrass yourselves. So, won’t you withdraw?”
“Denied. We have no reason to withdraw. From hereon, no matter what disgraceful sight I make, I’ll fight you to the very end—until I’ve crushed you and Golden Hawk!”
Lucius shrugged. “Hmph. Don’t say I didn’t try to tell you. You’ll regret not listening to me.”
He turned his back on Laurent and walked off.
Laurent did the same.
“Jill, let’s go. You heard him, didn’t you? He wants to ‘crush’ Golden Hawk. Which means that he’s our enemy.”
“It can’t be…” Jill stared at Laurent pleadingly, but he did not look back.
That day marked the day that Laurent and Lucius both splintered into different directions, and their goals would never overlap.
Cheers swelled up in the courtyard.
People from all over the city, and even those who had come from beyond the territory, mingled together, celebrating the momentous day.
The fair was beginning.
The morning of the fair was a perfect day for appreciating the arts.
Clouds hung in the sky, and sunlight spilled down.
The venue was the courtyard of Count Elson’s estate. Already there were countless silverworks arranged on tables, gleaming in the sunlight.
Count Elson had the foresight to hold the fair outdoors, where even commoners could admire the works on display.
As according to his plan, the commoners were excited by the exhibition, the likes of which they were not used to seeing.
However, it was a gloomy Count Elson who was surveying the grounds.
There are only the big guilds here.
Each guild had been given a table, and from end to end, he only saw guilds that surely everyone had seen or heard of once before.
In addition, next to each guild’s individual insignia, they had placed Golden Hawk’s crest.
This is not how I imagined the fair to be. Not this.
Count Elson had been looking forward to the products smaller guilds would produce, but now his head drooped in disappointment.
Lucius, on the other hand, mistook the source of Count Elson’s great disappointment to be the quality of the products.
After all, the only silverworks presented at the fair were B-rank products.
“Oi, couldn’t you have prepared anything better?” Lucius whispered irritably in Daevin’s ear. Daevin was the person-in-charge appointed by Golden Hawk.
“I cannot do much about it. The good alchemists were not allowed near the furnaces. And even if it is me, without an A-grade silver, there are limits to what I can make,” Daevin said, shrugging helplessly. He had participated on a whim, and did not have much of an interest in something as silly as this.
“Is this really the time to be saying that? This is Golden Hawk’s chance to promote ourselves to Count Elson. Surely, even you would be interested in gaining support from the nobility. Don’t you want a peerage from Count Elson?”
“In that case, that is all the more reason for you to supply me with A-grade silver. When are you going to remove these ridiculous restrictions?”
“When I find the traitor who supplied [Earth Stones] to Guardians of the Magical Tree. Because we’ve isolated the alchemists this month, their stash of [Earth Stones] should dry up next month.”
“Then I won’t be able to produce an A-grade silverwork until next month.”
“Tch,” Lucius clicked his tongue, glaring at Daevin.
As though to demonstrate just how supremely unconcerned he was, Daevin began to whistle.
Lucius grew even more irritated.
He hated dealing with Daevin.
He could not understand what this young, laid-back dwarf was thinking.
For a moment, Lucius surveyed the silverworks in the venue unhappily. Then he gathered his composure again.
Whatever. The only products on display are from our guilds. In the end, the winner will be one of ours, no matter what. If we are chosen time and time again, Count Elson will notice us one way or another. Which means that he’ll have no choice but to collaborate with us.
Lucius chuckled to himself.
The most eye-catching products on display in the venue all belonged to Golden Hawk’s guilds.
Because of that, Count Elson and Lucius both believed that all the participating guilds were affiliated with Golden Hawk, and their gazes were drawn away from the table in one deserted corner. It was a booth belonging to a small, inconspicuous guild.
They had already placed their submission on the booth’s table. It was covered by a cloth, obscuring the silverwork product and the guild’s name.
——
Laurent had brought along the members of Arsenal of the Spirits, and he was pacing up and down their designated area in Count Elson’s estate.
Count Elson had made special arrangements for the registrants of the fair.
The registrant and their associated guild were each provided with a transport coach, a break room and a storage space for their silverworks. There was a section in Count Elson’s mansion where they were allowed to explore freely.
As they walked down the corridor, lined with great pillars, each of his guild members reacted differently to the interior.
It was Charl’s first time in such a large building, and she took in everything with shining eyes. Arri was uneasy as she looked around, wondering if it was really alright for them to be receiving such a welcome.
Ranju remained calm and collected as he walked. Occasionally, he observed the furnishings and paintings on display with great interest.
“Laurent-san, what’s that building? What’s in there?” Charl asked excitedly.
She was pointing at a spire that rose into view on the opposite side of the courtyard.
“Ah, that’s the bell tower.”
“Bell tower? What’s a bell tower?”
“It’s a tower with a bell installed in it. You see the bell at the very top? If the bell rings, it resounds through the entire city. That way, everyone knows what time it is.”
“Whoa… That sounds cool. I wanna go there, let’s climb it, let’s climb the bell tower and look at the bell,” Charl said, hounding Laurent like a child as she clutched at his arm.
If there was something that was made with metal, she could not help but want to poke and study it.
“What am I going to do with you? The fair is about to start, though,” Laurent said.
“Laurent-san, I can manage the display booth. You can go on ahead with the other two and climb the bell tower,” Ranju said affably.
Though he had the look of someone who was quick to anger, he was actually quite a considerate person.
“Really? Well, then, that would be a big help.”
“H-Hang on; excuse me, Ranju-san,” Arri said, torn.
“It’s fine. We only need one person for the booth. Oh, but if you could get me something for lunch, that would be nice,” Ranju said, and with that, he left for the exhibition ground.
The remaining three made their way toward the bell tower.
They had not been walking down the corridor for long, however, before a voice called out to Laurent.
“Laurent-san!”
Laurent started at that voice.
It was a voice he knew well.
He turned reluctantly, and there that person was, exactly who he had thought it would be.
Jill.
“Urk… Jill, why are you here…?”
Looking at her, he felt all the trauma from his time at Golden Hawk return. He could not help but tremble.
“Thank goodness. I’ve been wanting to see you for so long, Laurent-san,” Jill said, yanking him into a hug.
“Eh?! Jill? Um.”
Jill was not wearing the heavy equipment she usually used for dungeon exploration, but light armor that was suited for dazzling festivities. But when she hugged him, the protruding lines of her armor drove into his ribs.
With how tightly she hugged him, it felt as though she had tackled him instead.
But the other thing that had perplexed him the most was the affection she was displaying towards him.
He had thought that she surely despised him, as well.
After Jill had risen to the spotlight, she began refusing Laurent’s instruction, and even when Laurent had tried to adjust her training schedule to accommodate her, she had cancelled on him.
And in the end, Laurent had received a notice that she was changing instructors.
She had been quite clear when she had said, “From now on, I will be working by Lucius-sama’s side. It would be preferable if you stopped reaching out to me.”
At least, according to Lucius’s secretary.
It was why Laurent found her current attitude so incomprehensible.
“I can’t believe I ran into you in a place like this. You idiot, didn’t you promise that you would put your all into helping me until I became an S-rank adventurer? Why did you leave the guild without saying anything to me?” Jill was so upset that she scarcely even noticed Laurent’s pain. She hugged Laurent to her armoured body, her steel gauntlets driving the air from him, as she pressed him to her breastplate.
“Wa—Jill—hurts—it hurts—gonna die—let me go…”
“Oh, I’m so sorry—I was, um, just so excited to meet you again, and I accidentally…” Jill released him, returning to her senses.
“Phew. Um, but besides that, why did you do that, Jill? I thought you were avoiding me…”
“Huh? What do you mean? I mean, it’s true that I’ve been really busy lately, but I wouldn’t say I’ve been avoiding you…” Jill stated blankly at Laurent.
Realisation dawned over Laurent. Was it… all part of Lucius’s schemes again?
“Anyway, there’s something more important to discuss, Laurent-san. Please, come back to Golden Hawk.”
“Eh?”
“Please. The only person who could bring me to my full potential is you. No, not just me—there are plenty of people who are waiting for your guidance. I’ll find a way to deal with any dissenters in the guild, so please come back,” Jill implored.
Arri and Charl paled.
Neither of them knew what they would do if Laurent went back to Golden Hawk.
“I’m sorry, Jill. I can’t return to Golden Hawk,” Laurent said firmly, even as his face darkened with bitterness.
“But… why—” Just as Jill spoke, she was cut off by a chilling voice that echoed throughout the hallway.
“Laurent-kun, I hope you aren’t trying to entice my guild member to your guild.”
“… Lucius.”
Looking over to where the voice had come from, Laurent saw Lucius walking over to them.
As always, he had Deanna with him.
Laurent turned, facing Lucius despite his own fear.
Jill tried to speak up in Laurent’s defence. “Guild Leader, it’s a misunderstanding. I called out to him, and he—”
“Jill-kun. Could you take your leave? I’d like to speak with him alone.”
“But, Guild Leader—” Jill began to say, but fell abruptly silent when Lucius had fixed her with a threatening look.
At the sight of his unusually fierce expression, Jill found that her words would not leave her throat.
After silencing Jill, Lucius turned toward Laurent once more. “I see you’re still in town. Are you that interested in causing trouble for the guild? Moreover, with the alchemist guild you’ve formed…” Lucius said as he drew closer.
Lucius had the advantage in height. Faced with his intimidating height, most people cowered.
Arrie and Charl, being smaller in size, shrank behind Laurent instinctively.
“I thought it was ridiculous, but are you possibly planning to participate in the fair?”
“That’s exactly what we plan on doing. We’ll enter and win. I came here just so that I could fight you—so that I could fight Golden Hawk,” Laurent said, his gaze unflinching.
“What? Do you even have any idea what you’re saying?”
“I heard something interesting at the Quest Reception office. That you had secretly directed them not to give me any adventuring work.”
Lucius remained silent.
“At the time, I was fed up with everything, and the only thing I could do was run. But it’s different now—now, I have companions and a home I need to protect. If you want to chase me out of town, I’ll fight back. It doesn’t matter how strong you and Golden Hawk are. We don’t have a single thing to be ashamed of. And you don’t have even a single reason to throw us out of town!”
“Do you even hear the senseless things you’re saying? I ‘manipulated’ the Quest Reception office? Please, enough with the victim complex, Laurent-kun. Why would I ever need to do anything like that to you?” Lucius scoffed. “More importantly, withdraw yourselves from the fair. This isn’t a place where people like you can just walk in. I’m saying this out of what little affection I have left for you. I don’t want you to embarrass yourselves. So, won’t you withdraw?”
“Denied. We have no reason to withdraw. From hereon, no matter what disgraceful sight I make, I’ll fight you to the very end—until I’ve crushed you and Golden Hawk!”
Lucius shrugged. “Hmph. Don’t say I didn’t try to tell you. You’ll regret not listening to me.”
He turned his back on Laurent and walked off.
Laurent did the same.
“Jill, let’s go. You heard him, didn’t you? He wants to ‘crush’ Golden Hawk. Which means that he’s our enemy.”
“It can’t be…” Jill stared at Laurent pleadingly, but he did not look back.
That day marked the day that Laurent and Lucius both splintered into different directions, and their goals would never overlap.
Cheers swelled up in the courtyard.
People from all over the city, and even those who had come from beyond the territory, mingled together, celebrating the momentous day.
The fair was beginning.
