Why did the Master of the Hertina Guild want to meet him?
Puzzled, Lloyd began reading the letter Verdinan had handed him.
The letter was short and concise.
It said that the Master had something to tell him and asked him to come to the guild at the appointed date and time.
“The date is tomorrow.”
“Yes, which is why I came to see you right away. Will you meet with the Guild Master?”
“They say they have something to tell me personally, so I should go. I have business at the guild anyway.”
“Then I will notify the guild in advance.”
After saying that, Verdinan returned, saying he still had much work left to do.
A few days later.
Planning to make the trip quietly, Lloyd left the castle alone at the time written in the letter.
Naturally, Martin and Vector insisted that they could not let him go alone and tried to follow, but even the two of them could not overcome Lloyd’s stubbornness.
That was how he arrived at the Hertina Guild.
As though they had known Lloyd was coming, a guild attendant was waiting for him.
“Welcome, Young Master Lloyd. The Master is waiting for you.”
The attendant spoke as though she wanted everyone to hear.
Just as she intended, those nearby could not hide their shock.
Was Young Master Lloyd not the illegitimate child of House Bled who was known to be incapable?
Why would the Master, who never met with clients personally no matter who they were, do such a thing……?
Gazes mixed with shock, curiosity, and envy poured toward Lloyd.
Lloyd frowned.
He had intended to meet only the Master and leave quietly.
‘Could the Master be deliberately making it known that we are meeting? What could the intention be……?’
No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand.
There was nothing for the Guild Master to gain by making it known that they were meeting.
While Lloyd considered the Guild Master’s intentions, he reached the top floor.
Unlike the lower floors, which were bustling with guests and guild members, it was quiet there.
“There is no one here.”
“This is where the Guild Master stays, so entry is normally strictly forbidden except in special cases.”
“I see.”
During that brief exchange, they arrived in front of a large room at the very end of the top floor.
“Master, I have brought Young Master Lloyd.”
Not long after the attendant knocked on the door, a lovely voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
When he entered, a beautiful woman greeted Lloyd. Her flowing long golden hair and slightly pointed ears, sharper than those of others, were particularly striking.
“It is nice to meet you. I am Iriana Dia, the Master of the Hertina Guild.”
“I am Lloyd von Bled. Still, I never imagined that the veiled Master of the Hertina Guild would be one of the Forest Folk.”
“More precisely, I am of mixed blood.”
The moment Lloyd sat in the chair across from Iriana, he immediately got to the point.
“More importantly, why did you ask to see me?”
“Hehe, you are more impatient than I expected.”
With a small laugh, Iriana dismissed the women attending to her from the room.
The moment the women, who appeared to be maids, left, Iriana’s gaze changed in an instant.
“You…… are not truly Young Master Lloyd, are you?”
“!!”
Lloyd had rarely been surprised until then, but he could not help being shocked by those words.
Still, he quickly composed his expression.
He did not know how Iriana had learned that fact, but she could only have suspicions and no clear evidence.
Lloyd decided to feign ignorance.
“I do not know what you mean. Do I look like someone else to you?”
“Yes, you look like a completely different person to me. For example, a man in his mid-twenties…….”
She answered with a serious expression, then suddenly stopped speaking. Lowering her head, her shoulders began to shake.
Was she feeling unwell?
Just as Lloyd was about to ask whether she was all right,
“Hahahaha!”
She suddenly burst into loud laughter!
She even shed tears as she laughed, as though something was that amusing.
At her playful attitude, as though she were teasing him, Lloyd’s gaze turned sharp.
“……What exactly did you summon me here to do?”
At his cold, frigid voice, Iriana stopped laughing, wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, and spoke.
“Hehe, even though your body has grown younger, Leader, you are still the same.”
Clearly audible Korean.
Lloyd’s eyes widened as he stared at Iriana.
Tears began to well up in Iriana’s eyes again as she smiled.
“Leader…… It has been a long time.”
“You…… Could you be Hye-mi?”
“Do you recognize me now?”
Her appearance had completely changed, but her manner of speaking and the habit of her eyes curving when she laughed were unmistakably those of Cha Hye-mi.
Lloyd relaxed and smiled.
“Why did you not tell me? If you had written it in Korean in the letter, I would have known right away.”
“Then it would not be any fun, would it? I wanted to see the Leader’s surprised face at least once.”
“……You are still quite the prankster. By the way, is it all right for people to know that we are meeting?”
Iriana smiled brightly and replied.
“I did it deliberately, so of course it is all right.”
Just as he had expected.
There was no way someone who had become the Master of an Information Guild could fail to keep her subordinates quiet.
“Why go that far on purpose?”
“To live comfortably in this world, you need a reputation. I also want the Leader’s reputation to grow.”
“Hmm.”
What she said was true.
The Karolos Empire was a meritocratic society where even nobles found it difficult to receive treatment befitting nobles if their reputations were low.
Still, Lloyd’s brow remained furrowed, as he was displeased with raising his reputation through the help of a comrade.
Seeing Lloyd like that, Iriana laughed as though she found it amusing.
“Leader, you have become much more expressive since coming to this world. You can even make your displeasure that obvious now.”
“Enough pointless talk…… More importantly, have you found the other comrades?”
As the Master of the most famous Information Guild in the Karolos Empire, she had to know something about the others.
As though she had anticipated Lloyd’s question, Iriana handed him something she had prepared in advance.
It was a luxurious envelope adorned with gold leaf.
After opening it and checking the contents, Lloyd looked puzzled.
“This is a party invitation?”
Lloyd could not understand.
What did a party have to do with his comrades?
As though she had read his mind, Iriana smiled and spoke.
“A week from now, there will be a coming-of-age party for Yuria, the young lady of House Seid.”
House Seid was one of the most prestigious magical houses in the Karolos Empire.
But why had he suddenly received an invitation to the coming-of-age party of the young lady of that house……?
“Then, could that young lady be?”
“Yes. Yuria von Seid, the youngest daughter of House Seid, is Yuna. And her older brother, Eden von Seid, is Yunho.”
Lloyd could not help tilting his head at her words.
“Why are Yuna and Yunho here……? Did they not leave before us?”
“Well, actually…….”
Just as Iriana was about to tell him the truth, a scene appeared in her mind.
A scene in which the building shook as though an earthquake had struck due to Lloyd’s rage, while people hurriedly evacuated.
Her ability, Precognition, had activated.
The scene that had just appeared in her mind was something that would happen about five minutes from now.
That alone would have been fine, but the problem was that many people would be injured as they all tried to rush out of the building at once.
‘I forgot for a moment because I was so happy to see him again after so long.’
That he was someone who did not consider the consequences whenever something involved his comrades.
Iriana suddenly recalled an incident from long ago.
It had not been long after Lloyd…… or rather, Hyeon-uk, had become the leader of the psychic ability users.
At the time, the Psychic Ability Research Institute provided almost no material support, such as potions or equipment.
Hyeon-uk repeatedly made requests, but the Institute naturally paid him no attention.
‘And then, the incident finally happened.’
Because of the lack of supplies, a comrade close to Hyeon-uk lost their life before anyone could even do anything.
If only there had been one more Healing Potion—no more and no less, just one—the comrade would not have died…….
To make matters worse, the Institute disposed of the dead comrade as though they were trash.
Once that fact became known, it was only natural for Hyeon-uk’s fury to erupt.
Hyeon-uk unleashed his abilities more powerfully than ever before.
Cracks formed in the building, which had been specially constructed to withstand psychic abilities, and all manner of machinery nearby was destroyed.
His psychic force was so powerful that, even after he lost consciousness because of the Control Device around his neck, it took a long time before his ability finally stopped.
Naturally, the damage caused by that was immense.
After that incident, the Institute began to accept Hyeon-uk’s requests whenever possible.
People had come to believe that there was no need to provoke Hyeon-uk for no reason.
‘Thanks to that, we were able to clear dungeons more easily and safely, but…….’
Then, Iriana was roused from her thoughts by Lloyd’s voice.
“So, why are Yuna and Yunho here?”
“Ah, apparently they were a step too late. Just as they were about to leave the dungeon, the dungeon vanished.”
“Is that so?”
Iriana gauged Lloyd’s reaction.
Fortunately, he seemed to believe her words.
‘I cannot help it. For now, I have no choice but to lie.’
In truth, Yunho had successfully escaped the dungeon safely with Yuna by using his Teleportation ability.
But what awaited the two of them were researchers from the Institute.
They had ordered the two to enter the dungeon again before operating a strange device.
‘Judging from the circumstances, it seems the Institute was involved in the dungeon’s disappearance…….’
She could not bring herself to tell Lloyd this fact directly.
She knew what would happen if she told him the truth.
‘I am sorry, Leader, but I will have to tell you this later.’
Since they would never be involved with the Institute again, it should be fine to tell him gradually.
Thinking that, Iriana quickly changed the subject.
“Ah, I found not only Yuna and Yunho, but Brother Jin-hyeong as well. He is currently serving as the vice-captain of a mercenary company.”
“Jin-hyeong?”
Lloyd looked surprised.
Jin-hyeong’s ability was Telepathy, which allowed him to read the minds of others.
Because of that, Jin-hyeong had found it extremely difficult to get along with other people.
Yet Jin-hyeong was active in a mercenary company.
“It is good news, but…… is he really all right?”
“I looked into it, and I do not think you need to worry.”
As she spoke, Iriana explained the mercenary company that Jin-hyeong belonged to.
“The company Brother Jin-hyeong belongs to is a small mercenary company called the Jerome Mercenary Company. Every person there is remarkably simple-hearted and kind.”
“That is a relief.”
It would have been better if he could see Jin-hyeong in person, but for now, it was enough to confirm that he was doing well among good people.
“Then only Nam-woo, Jeong-tae, and Seong-hui remain?”
“Yes. But why did you not bring Jinseok? He officially became the Leader’s knight not long ago, so I naturally thought he would come with you.”
“You even know that much…….”
It had not even been two full days since Lloyd and Vector had received their knighthoods, yet she already knew.
“As expected of the Hertina Guild. Then, do you happen to know a merchant named Merte?”
“I am not sure. It is the first time I have heard of him…… Why? What happened with this merchant Merte?”
At Iriana’s question, Lloyd began telling her what had happened to Vector.
How the merchant Merte had falsely lowballed the price of Magic Stones before selling Vector into slavery.
Lloyd spoke in a calm voice, but the deep furrow on his brow showed how displeased he was.
Iriana felt the same after hearing Lloyd’s story.
Her lovely brow steadily creased until she abruptly sprang to her feet.
“What kind of bastard is that!? I need to find him right now, tear off his limbs, kill him, and toss him to the beasts…….”
“Calm down.”
When she became angry, Iriana’s language turned crude. At Lloyd’s single word, she returned to her usual gentle self.
“Oh my, I got carried away without realizing it. In any case, I will investigate that Merte bastard.”
“All right. I leave it to you.”
The two people who valued their comrades most had met.
With this, the merchant Merte, who had deceived Vector, would certainly not escape unscathed.