The Runesmith

A gentle breeze flew past his hair while he glanced into the distance. The rumbling of the horses had already calmed down but the conversation he had with the inquisitor felt like a dream. How could such a person have appeared before him just like that and be involved with his father Wentworth Arden?

His father was a famous knight that had gained power almost exclusively through military conflicts. Even though his age was close to eighty he still looked like someone in his late forties. The increase in his levels allowed him to keep his body youthful and battle-ready.

The inquisitor seemed to know him well and looked to be about the same age. This was even harder to pinpoint as besides having a high level he was a Paladin that had contact with various divine artifacts and elixirs that could prolong one's life even more. In which conflict the two had met he had no idea but they had certainly worked together.

‘Did they take part in some skirmishes with other cults in the past?’

Roland tried to think back to some conflicts in the past that his father could have taken part in and where the church was involved in. Yet while he was contemplating this issue the people around him were getting rowdy.

“Did that Inquisitor wipe his mind with that interrogation skill?”

Orson asked while Darlak quickly replied while the two stared at Roland.

“Did he? Not like he talks a lot, to begin with, just give the lad some time.”

His stoic responses were already known to the adventurers but after seeing him surrounded by a shell of divine energy it wasn’t surprising. An inquisitor picked by the church had certain skills that could force people to talk. In their eyes, the inquisitor had interrogated Roland by the use of some mind-affecting skill that could have caused mental damage.

“Did his brain turn to mush? Can I get his magic items if he doesn't recover?”

Asked Senna which caused Roland to furrow his brows when looking at the halfling.

“You know that I can hear you, right?”

Senna just smiled while skipping away as if she was scared. Soon everyone looked toward their temporary leader. It was clear to him that they wanted an explanation but he surely would not disclose that the inquisitor knew his father or that he was a noble. It wouldn’t be hard to lie about the exchange as everyone had preconceived notions about the people from the golden order.

“I don’t know, he used some skill on me, and then everything went dark. The next thing that I remember is him walking away.”

“Damn bastards doing what they want.”

Grisalde’s loud voice was heard by everyone as she slammed her fist into the side of the wagon. The others could just nod at the explanation which made a lot of sense.

“Wayland looks fine though? Maybe the rumors about those skills being dangerous were false?”

Orson commented while looking between Roland and the mad Grisalde.

“At least they left without throwing us into the dungeon, I don’t know about you but I’m famished let us depart toward the city.”

Darlak said while looking toward Roland. It was as if he was waiting for a confirmation from the leader.

“Yes, we should go, those soldiers were probably sent here by the merchant.”

“I hope that bastard still intends to pay us!”

This time around Senna was the mad one, she along with Grisalde nodded at each other while agreeing. The two didn’t seem to like each other but when it came to money they were quick to see past their disagreement. The other participants from the caravan were all tired too without needing to tell them twice, they all soon departed towards the city of Reeka.

Thus they finally arrived at their final destination. This city was a massive hub of commerce through which many caravans like this one came through. They would stock up on all sorts of items and head out to the smaller towns to bring in vast amounts of profit.

A nearby port with access to fast ships added to the city's prosperity but this was not all. This area was purposely created in a place a dungeon had sprung up which hastened the progress and made a lot of money flow in for the city’s development. Even now as Roland and his companions were approaching the city gates they could see the results.

“So this is Reeka the city of merchants?”

“Did it have that name?”

Orson asked Senna that brought up the name.

“Yeah, that’s why don’t even think about heading out alone, you’ll probably get scammed by some whores like last time.”

“Hey, you said that you wouldn't bring it up again!”

“I’ll stop bringing it up when you stop acting like an idiot, why did I even decide to join you two simpletons. One is a drunkard and the other is a pervert…”

“A dwarf is not far away from his liquor.”

Darlak just laughed from the side while Senna was grumbling and didn’t seem to mind being called a drunkard.

“This place is run by the merchant guild, it's more similar to the thieves guild if you ask me. Those bastards will squeeze everything out of you if they can…Then there are the nobles…”

Roland was on the side listening to the banter between the two adventurers. It seemed that this was the first time they were here as well. Senna was clearly the information gathering type that knew a few things about the island they had arrived on.

This was nothing new to him as he had stayed on this side of the kingdom for a few years already. This city was a bit similar to Edelgard but instead of craftsmen, there were various other venues that brought in money and exotic wares.

“Halt! Let me see your papers.”

After arriving at the gate the soldiers asked them for their identification. Being the impromptu leader Roland had to deal with it. Thankfully the city had been alerted to the cult drama that had been happening and he only needed to show his adventurer card to explain himself.

With the help of smaller merchants that had also survived the journey, it didn’t seem that they would have trouble with going in. While conversing with the soldiers the large Valerian Noble crest on the entrance gate didn’t go unnoticed. This was a large city that brought in vast quantities of money, this money could be quickly spent in the auction houses that the noble family was known for.

“You seem to be speaking the truth, we will escort the carts to where they can be examined by the merchant in question, it would be best if you report to the adventurer’s guild and inform them.”

The guard said while letting them through, with this their journey was almost over but a few things needed to be ironed out.

“We need to make a report to the guild, they should help us clear things out with that merchant.”

Roland commented while checking if he did not leave anything behind. Besides the satchel filled with some money, magic crystals and his notes he still had his runic weapons. The staff he used was recovered but had been bent out of shape. His armor’s runes had degraded due to overloading them and using the mending skill but he would still be able to protect himself.

“They better, they should pay us double for what we went through.”

Grisalde said with a grimace on her face, even now the barbarian was unsure about being paid. Darlak that was walking behind her and chuckled.

“You’re a big dreamer my large friend!”

“Shut up dwarf.”

‘After a contract is signed there won’t be any increase in the wage even if the adventurer suffers greatly.’

Darlak was telling the truth, the only way of increasing the payout would be to make a custom contract. This document would require specific clauses to alter the amount of money the adventurers were getting. Contracts like that were not made for short expeditions like this, they were mostly in the favor of the person creating the job.

It was a harsh world where most people weren’t willing to help each other out. Even if the adventurer perished during the mission their money would not be added to the wages nor given to their family members. Only when adventurers started gaining fame and reached higher ranks could they hope for better deals.

This was also one of the reasons that Roland saw rising his adventurer rank as a longer-term benefit. With a higher rank, he could start choosing his jobs and enter places to level up faster. Only with a high rank could he continue to gain power in the dungeons and power was still something he needed.

While he had access to tier 3 monsters back in Albrook he needed to think about the future. At any point, his secret could be discovered or some phenomenon in the dungeon could close the fissure. If that happened he would not be able to gain easy experience from a safe distance anymore.

‘This place looks packed.’

“Are they getting rowdy in there?”

Orson commented from behind Roland who halted for a moment. For some reason, his old acquaintances and the two women that disliked each other were still sticking to him. This was already the end of the road, the mission was over. What remained was to go to the adventurer guild and present their adventurer cards along with the contracts.

“What dungeon grade does this city have, was it a C+?”

“Oh, so you don’t have straw for brains, after all, I’m surprised you remembered!”

Senna laughed at Orson who just rolled his eyes. Roland could not understand why the two men were fine with this loudmouth being around them but perhaps they had a long-lasting history that he was not aware of. It was not that rare for adventurer parties to form after they went through a life and death event, this was also how Orson and Dalrak began their friendship.

“We should go in before the other adventurers arrive, it might take a while until they get our issue resolved.”

Roland was the voice of reason as he took a step towards the large adventurer building. It was three times the size of the one back at Albrook and probably had ten times the number of adventurer’s inside. The dungeon might not have been that much higher rated than the one back at his home but the city was vastly better.

Adventurers were able to get all types of missions here. It was a trade hub that let them attempt the easier transport missions with caravans like the one he just finished. Then there was the dungeon that actually possessed a few tier 3 monsters at the end. Gold ranked adventurers could face off against the boss to gain some valuable experience and even platinum ones remained for the same reason.

The door swung open before he could step through it. Before him were a few armored men with rough-looking faces and even rougher-looking weapons. They did give him the stink eye but soon enough walked past him without starting a fight. This was quite the sight for sore eyes as the moment the door opened he could already smell the scent of sweaty adventurers.

It was a strange feeling, such a place filled with mostly uncivilized people would be seen as vulgar. Most nobles would scoff at the sigh of drunk unwashed adventurers laughing out loud while talking about fighting monsters. Roland on the other hand was different, to him the noisy adventurers were a better fit to keep him company.

They had a clear goal and their motives were easy to read. In contrast, nobles tended to always have some kind of hidden agenda that could come to the surface at a random point in time. It wasn't strange for them to hide behind words like honor and duty. Yet in actuality, they were performing tasks to rise up in the ranks not by their own strength but by realizing others in to do the dirty work.

Secret contracts between powerful families to bring down others were something any noble needed to account for. No one could be trusted and rarely could they be bought with things like money. On the other hand, the adventurers were simple creatures that had lesser aspirations and could be easily influenced by money.

“Those lines seem packed…”

“Yeah, think it will be better if we split up.”

Senna and Orson commented while everyone headed towards the guild receptionists. He did the same and after about twenty minutes he was just a step away from being done with this cursed mission. His life had been endangered far too many times and he still needed to pass his test.

“How can I help you?”

“I would like to complete a mission.”

“Of course, please give me your contract and your adventurer card, if you have lost your contract you will still be able to complete the mission if you have your contract identification number…”

The guild receptionist reminded him of his woman that was back home. She quickly listed down all of the possibilities as she clearly noticed that he was not from this city. Adventurers losing their contracts was not that rare but there were workarounds. Just like she had stated if he had the contract ID that corresponded to one that was here, there would be no problems. The transport mission’s destination was this city so the corresponding contract would be stored here.

“I have the contract and the ID but also, here…”

Roland’s contract was a little bit different this time around as this was his rank advancement test. Normally the person that the guild had sent on the journey with him would have taken care of everything but she turned out to be a secret agent from the church. Luckily he had received a sealed letter that was supposed to get him through this predicament.

“This is…”

The woman first looked at the contract and the adventurer card to confirm the validity of the person before her. Then she moved on to the strange letter that she wasn’t sure what to make off. It was a strange sight for Roland, he could see the woman’s eyes getting wider the moment she laid her eyes on the letter's seal that clearly belonged to the church.

‘I was lucky that Loreena’s golden order seal was left behind in one of the wagons.’

Loreena’s items that she had on her body were partially destroyed during the fight but luckily for him she had left her traveling bag in the wagon. In the bag, she had various utensils that she could use to prepare a proper letter. The receptionist here could clearly tell that the seal on this letter was from a high-ranking church member that was related to the inquisitors.

“Please wait a moment, I’ll be right back Sir!”

Just as he expected the woman here was not high enough on the guild’s food chain to open the letter. The only person that was allowed to fiddle with the seal would be the guild master or a high-ranking member of the church. Thus he just nodded and allowed the woman to quickly run into the back.

‘Hope the guy isn’t away…’

The guild master of an adventurer guild was mostly swamped with work. They were somewhat retired adventurers that at least reached the platinum rank. As one of the elite, they were sometimes tasked to keep order or join various events that even involved the nobles. If the guild master was out then he might have to spend some time here waiting.

….

“What is it?”

“Guild Master, an adventurer returned from a mission carrying a letter with a seal from the Golden Order.”

“Oh, they did? Did anyone else notice it?”

“No sir, I’ve brought it here first as you’ve instructed.”

“You did well, please wait outside.”

“Yes, sir.”

A dandy-looking man with reddish hair was leaning against a large chair. Before him was the letter that Roland had received from Loreena. Only when the guild worker left his office did he open up the letter. His eyes darted through the handwritten letter that was quickly burned to a crisp.

“... Interesting to catch that woman’s eye, this person named Wayland must be unusual…”

The man removed the monocle that he used to go through the letter and started rubbing his chin in contemplation. Soon he nodded to himself and quickly called the guild receptionist back into his office.

“Allow this person to pass the rank advancement, also bring me a copy of his adventure card and all of the information that our guild has on him. Do it discreetly, do you understand?”

“Yes sir!”

Soon the large office door closed behind the guild worker that sped down the stairs. It seemed that the person below was no normal adventurer. Who he was was unknown but it was clear that he could not be anyone normal.

“Interesting… It seems that we might be in for some turbulent times…”