The Kicked Out S-Rank Appraiser Creates The Strongest Guild

Chapter 79 Unhealed Wounds

Part of the mountain disturbed by the ‘Giant Fire Dragon Grand Fafnir’ encroached upon the outskirts of the town.

The boundary between the town and the dungeon shifted, expanding the monsters’ territory.

Holding her arm, which was secured with a splint, Karla watched the scene from her hospital room window.

(“The ‘Giant Fire Dragon Grand Fafnir’ is roaring. Did the ‘Guardians of the Magic Institute’ fail in their subjugation?”)

Karla struck the wall with her uninjured hand.

“Damn it!”

(“I couldn’t protect them again. I…”)

* * *

Barely managing to escape the pursuit of the ‘White Wolves,’ Sein headed straight for the ‘Dragon’s Ember’ upon reaching the town.

He stormed into the guild master’s office, throwing open the door.

“Are you there, guild master!”

“Well, well, Sein. What brings you here in such a state, looking so frantic?”

“What do you mean, ‘what brings me here!'”

Sein marched into the room and slammed his hand on the desk.

“The equipment that the thieves’ guild had. What is going on? It was as if they were prepared for us to use the ‘Fire Spears.’ How do you explain selling our clients’ information? Depending on your explanation, I won’t let you off easily!”

“Stop yelling right in my ear. It’s annoying,” Medes said, grimacing.

“Please explain from the beginning. What is this about the thieves’ guild?” Medes said calmly.

“The ‘White Wolves’ had shields made of ‘Silverstone’. That ruined our entire plan. Your ‘Fire Spears’ were utterly useless. How do you explain that?” Sein demanded.

“Did the ‘White Wolves’ have ‘Silverstone’ shields?” Medes asked his secretary.

“Yes. Our guild did receive an order from the ‘White Wolves’ for 20 ‘Silverstone’ shields recently. They were delivered a week ago,” the secretary confirmed.

“I see. So we did manufacture 20 ‘Silverstone’ shields for the ‘White Wolves’. And? What of it?” Medes said nonchalantly.

“What of it?!” Sein’s shoulders trembled with rage.

“We fought the ‘Giant Fire Dragon Grand Fafnir’ for this town! We fought desperately to save it! Yet we lost most of our rare metals, and we have injured members because of your treacherous backstabbing! Is this how your guild operates? Pretending to be allies only to betray us? You’re a despicable lot! Step outside, and I’ll see you hanged in the streets!” Sein shouted, pounding the desk.

Medes remained unfazed. “What exactly are you accusing us of? We fulfilled your requests for weapon maintenance and the production of the ‘Fire Spears’. If you have any complaints, provide solid evidence that we have committed any wrongdoing.”

“I’m not talking about that!” Sein started to retort, but another voice cut in.

“Enough of this nonsense,” Raoul, who had been standing by with his arms crossed, interjected.

“What did you say?” Sein turned to face Raoul.

“I said you’re spouting nonsense. So the ‘White Wolves’ had ‘Silverstone’ shields. What of it? What happened to the ‘Dragonhead Gauntlets’ I made? They should have been more than enough to handle the ‘White Wolves’,” Raoul said dismissively.

“That’s…” Sein hesitated.

“And you claim to have fought the ‘Giant Fire Dragon Grand Fafnir’? Yet you failed to defeat it, and now look at the state of the town. The dragon’s actions have caused a disaster,” Raoul continued.

“…” Sein fell silent.

“The town is in chaos because you provoked the dragon. And now you blame your failure on our weapons? Stop making excuses. You agreed to our deal with the ‘White Wolves’ from the start, so don’t bring it up now,” Raoul said sternly.

“But we never expected you to supply them with ‘Silverstone’ shields,” Sein argued.

“A real man doesn’t make excuses after the fact. The real issue is that you couldn’t make proper use of the ‘Dragonhead Gauntlets’,” Raoul retorted.

“Ugh…” Sein grunted in frustration.

“If you keep complaining, we’ll terminate our contract. You can find another alchemy guild for your weapon maintenance and production. Though I doubt you’ll find anyone else who can handle the ‘Dragonhead Gauntlets’ in this town,” Raoul said with finality.

“Sein, calm down,” Arl, who had followed Sein and finally caught up, said soothingly.

“It’s not wise to turn ‘Dragon’s Ember’ into an enemy now. Without their cooperation, we can’t properly maintain our weapons. Let’s back down for now. We can re-arm and reorganize our troops before challenging the dungeon again,” Arl urged.

“Grr…” Sein exhaled, trying to control his anger, then removed his ‘Dragonhead Gauntlets’ and tossed them to the floor.

“Maintain the ‘Dragonhead Gauntlets’ and our equipment! Within a week!” he commanded.

“You’re dreaming. I’ll get it done in three days,” Raoul retorted.

“You said it. Three days. If you’re even a second late, there’ll be consequences!” Sein barked before storming out of the guild master’s office and down the hallway.

“Wait, Sein! Hey, Sein… ah,” Arl called after him, but stopped as two figures approached from the other direction.

It was Jamil and Rodo from the ‘White Wolves’.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the captain of the ‘Guardians of the Magic Institute’,” Jamil sneered.

“What a coincidence. Who would’ve thought we’d be using the same alchemy guild,” Rodo added.

“You bastards,” Sein growled, grabbing Jamil by the collar.

“You’ve got some nerve showing your face in front of me. Huh?” he threatened.

“Hey, no fighting in the city. That’s the rule,” Jamil said calmly.

“Right. If you want to fight, do it in the dungeon,” Rodo added, brushing off Sein’s hand.

“We’re always ready for your challenge,” Jamil taunted.

“Well, if you ever manage to get back into the dungeon…” Rodo smirked.

“See ya. We’ve got a meeting with the guild master about the rare metals we acquired. You know, the ones we took from some foolish guild,” Jamil said, turning away.

“What did you say?” Sein snapped.

“Sein,” Arl tugged on his sleeve, trying to calm him down.

“Let’s go,” Jamil said as he and Rodo headed towards the guild master’s office, ignoring Sein and Arl.

Sein clenched his fists, watching them go. (Damn it, they think they’ve won? Just wait, this isn’t over.)

While the ‘Guardians of the Magic institute’ were retreating to the city, ‘Dawn’s Shield’ and ‘Pegasus Archers’ were also returning to the ‘Arsenal of the Spirits’.

“Welcome back, Hans,” Aina greeted.

“Hey, Aina,” Hans replied.

“How did it go? How’s the ‘Dragon Pierces the Sky Ryuu(Dragon Piercer)’?” she asked.

“It performed brilliantly. We managed to take down two ‘Fire Dragons’,” Hans reported.

“Two ‘Fire Dragons’? That’s incredible!” Aina exclaimed.

“Those are some big catches,” Rody added.

“We can’t thank you all enough,” Claire said gratefully.

“It’s been a while since we had such a haul. We should celebrate tonight,” Alice suggested.

“We, the ‘Pegasus Archers’, plan to continue working closely with the ‘Arsenal of the Spirits’. We’ll leave all the materials and rare metals we got from the ‘Fire Dragons’ with you. Please make sure the ‘Dragon Piercer’ is well-maintained for the next hunt,” Hans requested.

“Of course, we’ll make sure it’s in perfect condition,” Aina assured.

“By the way, where’s Laurent? I’d like to thank him too,” Hans inquired.

“Um, Laurent is… meeting with the ‘Dawn Shield’ in the dining hall,” Aina replied awkwardly.

“Really? With them…” Hans trailed off, understanding the situation.

The members of the ‘Dawn’s Shield’ looked quite somber, a stark contrast to Hans and his team.

They all looked visibly dejected, their faces gloomy.

Laurent had just finished listening to their story.

“I see. So, the great alliance fell apart so disastrously…” Laurent said.

“Yeah. We fought bravely until the end, but…” Leon began.

“This expedition brought in zero income. Jeff got injured too. We can’t keep doing this,” Leon added.

“Laurent, you were right. We shouldn’t have joined the great alliance. If only we had listened to you…” Leon said apologetically.

“What’s done is done. Let’s focus on what we can do from now on,” Laurent advised.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Leon agreed, but the expressions on Elio and the others remained dark.

(This is going to take some time for them to recover,) Laurent thought.

Aina, Rody, Hans, and the others observed from the shadows.

“They’re really taking it hard,” Hans noted.

“Yes, they are,” Aina agreed.

“Looks like a celebration is out of the question for now,” Hans concluded.

“Aw, no feast then,” Alice said, disappointed.

“We were lucky. If we had joined the great alliance, we might have ended up like that,” Claire remarked.

“Sometimes Hans makes the right call,” Alice added.

“Alice, that was unnecessary,” Hans responded.

“Their situation is serious. What about the ‘Guardians of the Magic Institute’?” Rody asked.

“What?” Hans responded.

“They made such a big deal about defeating the ‘Giant Fire Dragon, Grand Fafnir’. Most of the guilds that followed them ended up with zero income. Worse, they caused damage to the city. Now, the city is filled with resentment towards them,” Rody explained.

“Hmm,” Hans said, putting a finger to his lips in thought.

(This isn’t over yet. There’s going to be more trouble, isn’t there?) he pondered.