The Kicked Out S-Rank Appraiser Creates The Strongest Guild - Chapter 99

Chapter 99   Discovery

Rodo, unable to break the Arsenal of the Spirits Alliance, returned to the White Wolf hideout without any significant achievements.

Seeing Rodo and his group come back empty-handed, Jamil was furious.

“What is the meaning of this!? No results against the local weak adventurers? Rodo! What were you doing out there?”

“Well, how should I put it… They were a really tough opponent. They kept doing things that were precisely what we didn’t want them to do…”

“Huh?”

“Hey, Rodo,” Zain interjected with a bitter expression.

“Saying they’re tough and they keep doing things we hate… Aren’t those the kind of things people should be saying about us? And now we have to say that about the local adventurers? What’s going on here?”

“No, you don’t understand. It’s just… there was someone on the other side who could use Dragon Tone!”

“What? Dragon Tone?”

“Yeah, and they had blue armor. It was incredibly tough.”

“Blue armor. Now that you mention it, we encountered someone like that when we fought the Mages’ Guild. A fierce warrior in blue armor. I think his equipment had the emblem of a spirit holding a hammer engraved on it. That must have been the emblem of the Spirit Workshop…”

One of the underlings spoke up.

Zain looked at Jamil with a worried expression.

“Hey, Jamil, does this mean…”

“Shit.”

(Spirit Workshop. I thought it was just some nobodies causing trouble, but it looks like they’re the real deal.)

*

“Oh, you did it! That’s right, that’s how it’s done.”

In one of the rooms of the Dragon’s Ember Workshop, Gilbert praised the alchemist who was making a sword.

“Wow, amazing. It’s really done.”

The young junior staff member exclaimed in awe.

He was holding a B-class sword.

Up until now, he had only been able to make C-class equipment, never having succeeded in creating anything of B-class quality.

That was, until today, under Gilbert’s guidance.

“It’s all thanks to you, Gilbert. Thank you.”

“Oh, Cleo finally managed to make B-class equipment, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s all thanks to Gilbert’s teaching.”

“Heh, it’s really incredible, isn’t it? Gilbert is something else.”

“Yeah, ever since Gilbert came, our growth rate has been off the charts.”

“To think we used to be the underperforming department on the brink of being laid off.”

“Seriously, we’re so grateful to Gilbert.”

Everyone in the room looked at Gilbert with eyes full of respect.

Gilbert, for his part, seemed quite pleased.

“Listen up, guys, never give up on your dreams. If you give up, it’s over. People can grow. They can change! Don’t forget that.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Gilbert, could you take a look at the iron I refined?”

“Sure, let me see it.”

“Gilbert, I have some questions about skills.”

“Gilbert, I have a bit of a problem…”

“You guys love Gilbert too much, haha.”

Laughter erupted in the room.

“Hey, everyone, we have a problem!”

Suddenly, the door burst open, and one of the staff members rushed in.

“What’s the matter? Why are you in such a rush?”

“A group from the ‘Knights of Hail’ is coming to this island looking for ores.”

“The ‘Knights of Hail’!? You mean Gilbert’s guild?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Finally, Gilbert’s comrades are landing on this island.”

“Whoa, seriously?”

“The ship is supposed to arrive tomorrow.”

“……”

“Well, they’ve finally come.”

“Today will be the last day we can learn from Gilbert.”

“I knew this day would come, but it’s still a bit sad.”

“Idiot! You guys can’t rely on Gilbert forever. From now on, we need to support him.”

“Yeah, we can’t keep depending on Gilbert forever.”

“Alright. Let’s make the best equipment to show our gratitude to Gilbert!”

“Yeah!!!”

While the staff continued working in a lively atmosphere, Gilbert himself stood alone, staring off into the distance with a somber expression.

Soon after, the ‘Knights of Hail’ landed on the ‘Island of Fire Dragons.’

Following the tradition of guilds arriving from outside, they gave a speech in the square before heading to the ‘Dragon’s Ember.’

They were warmly welcomed by Medes.

“Welcome, ‘Knights of Hail.’ Our guild is honored to have you here.”

“Thank you for personally coming to greet us.”

The bearded warrior looked pleased.

“I am Sendrick, captain of the first unit of the ‘Knights of Hail.'”

“I am Medes.”

“Then, shall we proceed with our negotiations?”

Medes was elated that the long-awaited moment had finally arrived.

(At last, a valuable customer has arrived. Since I’ve already agreed on the terms with Gilbert, all that’s left is to deliver the equipment and the money will come rolling in.)

However, once the negotiations began, there were numerous misunderstandings. Particularly concerning the budget, there was a significant discrepancy in the amounts, leaving both parties puzzled.

“That can’t be right, Sendrick,” Medes said, laughing off the meager budget mentioned by Sendrick.

“The adventurer you sent, Gilbert, confirmed these items and this budget.”

“Gilbert? Hey, do you know anyone by that name?” Sendrick asked his lieutenant.

“No, I don’t. There’s no one by that name in our guild.”

Medes was perplexed.

(What is going on? Is there some kind of misunderstanding?)

The discussions continued to go nowhere. Finally, they decided to leave the equipment at the ‘Dragon’s Ember’ and the rough members of the ‘Knights of Hail’ headed to their lodging.

Medes decided to search for Gilbert, who was usually somewhere around the workshop.

“Hey, do you know where Gilbert is?” Medes asked one of the junior staff.

“No, I don’t.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t know either.”

Medes searched all over the workshop, but Gilbert was nowhere to be found.

(Well, it’s fine. I’ll talk to Gilbert tomorrow and everything will be sorted out.)

Medes decided to start manufacturing the items that matched both Gilbert’s and Sendrick’s orders.

(I need to have a meeting with the Quartet.)

However, even the meeting with the Quartet presented problems.

“What? We’re short on ‘Fire-repelling Ore’?”

Medes was furious.

“What are you lot doing?! You call yourselves an alchemy guild, and yet you don’t have any ore? This is unacceptable!”

“But truly, there is none to be found anywhere in the market,” Charles explained.

“We never expected the Crescent Knights to return so quickly…”

“Stop making excuses. If it’s not available, then go and procure it immediately! I don’t care if you get it from the local guild or those ‘White Wolf’ guys, just gather it quickly! Besides, you guys…”

(Here we go again.)

Raoul was already weary.

(He can get mad all he wants, but his lectures are way too long. We have to go out and procure the ore after this, so he needs to wrap it up quickly.)

As Medes continued his seemingly endless lecture, one of the clerks burst into the Quartet’s workshop.

“It’s urgent!”

“What is it? You’re being disruptive.”

“The alliance led by ‘The Arsenal of the Spirits’ has successfully obtained a large quantity of ‘Fire-repelling Ore’ and brought it back to town.”

“‘The Arsenal of the Spirits’?”

Medes was taken aback.

“The ‘Arsenal of the Spirits’? You mean that scammer’s group?”

The Quartet exchanged wary glances.

“A while ago, there was talk of an alchemy guild forming an alliance. Could it be that Laurent was behind it?”

“And they succeeded in coming back with the ore?”

“No way. That can’t be true. There must be some mistake…”

“It’s urgent!”

Another clerk rushed in, holding a bulletin from the quest office.

“Aina Burke from ‘The Arsenal of the Spirits’ has been certified as an A-Class Alchemist.”

“Aina?”

Lizetta reacted with surprise.

She recalled the female employee at the Spirits Workshop who had struggled to make even B-class equipment.

(She’s now an A-class alchemist?)

“And that’s not all. The island has its first-ever adventurer with a Double-A title. Monica Velmare, an adventurer belonging to the ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree.’ She’s equipped with gear made by ‘The Arsenal of the Spirits.'”

Medes looked as if he had been hit by a bolt from the blue.

He couldn’t fully grasp what was happening.

Raoul glared at Medes.

“Hey, Guild Master. What’s going on here?”

“Wasn’t that Laurent guy supposed to be a fraud?” Lizetta demanded.

“Uh, well, that is… you see…”

“Did you, by any chance, label him a scammer without properly investigating?”

“So, we not only missed out on a valuable customer but also made an enemy of a major guild?”

“Wait a minute. So, that Gilbert guy…?”

“Um, excuse me.”

Another staff member hesitantly entered the room.

“I’m sorry. The warehouse has been broken into, and… some equipment appears to have been stolen.”

“What? Who was in charge of the warehouse?”

“Recently, Gilbert had been handling part of the management. This morning, we gave Gilbert the warehouse key, but… we haven’t seen him since. Do you know where he might be?”

Everyone in the room turned their gaze toward Medes.

“So that halberd-wielding guy was a liar after all!”

Raoul pounded the table in anger.

“In the end, Laurent and ‘The Arsenal of the Spirits’ were genuine, and we got completely duped by that Gilbert guy.”

Lizetta sighed.

Only now did Medes finally realize the gravity of the situation and was left in shock.

(No way. That means… did Gilbert set me up?)

“But it’s strange. Why would Gilbert go to such lengths? What was he after…”

“It doesn’t matter!” Raoul shouted at the skeptical Charles, then turned back to Medes.

“Guild Master, how are you going to make up for this? If you’ve brought harm to the guild, even you won’t get off lightly. Depending on how things go, we have our own plans.”

“Why didn’t you investigate more thoroughly?” Lizetta demanded.

“That’s right. I told you, didn’t I? ‘Arsenal of the Spirits’ might have an A-class archer. We should investigate further.” Edgar seized the opportunity to shift blame and sided with Raoul.

Medes was at a loss for words, surrounded by Raoul, Lizetta, and Edgar.

“W-well, that is…”

Cold sweat ran down Medes’ forehead.

Medes had never been a particularly skilled alchemist. He had merely owned a large plot of land near the port, which had allowed him to attract business from outside adventurers. With that capital, he had poached talented alchemists one after another to grow the guild to its current size. Additionally, he had given the quartet a share of the guild’s stock to foster a sense of belonging.

If they all rebelled now, it would be disastrous.

He might even lose his position as Guild Master.

(What to do? What should I…)

As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, Charles stepped between the two sides with a surprisingly calm demeanor.

“Now, now, everyone. Let’s not get too worked up.”

“Charles?”

“The Guild Master is human too, right? Everyone makes mistakes. And it doesn’t matter if Laurent is legitimate or not.”

“What?”

“If they oppose us, there’s only one thing to do. We’ll unite the full force of ‘Dragon’s Ember’ and crush ‘Arsenal of the Spirits.’ Right?”

“…”

“Even if Laurent is an executive of a major guild, we’re ‘Dragon’s Ember,’ a world-renowned alchemy guild. So far, we’ve only dealt with them on the side while focusing on our main business. But from now on, we’ll go all out. If we all tackle this together, no S-rank appraiser or anyone else will stand a chance. This island doesn’t need two major alchemy guilds. We need to show them that. Surely, no one here is afraid of someone like Laurent, right?”

“Heh. Yeah, that’s right.”

Edgar said with a smug look.

“Let’s show Laurent what we’re made of and demonstrate the difference in skill between us and those outsiders.”

Edgar said, clenching his fist against his palm.

“Hmph.”

Raoul, though not entirely convinced, stopped glaring at Medes.

Medes, relieved to be out of the hot seat, sighed in relief.

“So, what do we do?”

Lizetta asked coolly.

“We need ‘Fire-reppelant Ore Firerest’ to fulfill the ‘Knights of  the Hail request. But now, Laurent has it all, right? And he just recently declared he wouldn’t trade with us anymore.”

“So, to solve the immediate problem, we have to bow our heads to Laurent and ask for the ‘Fire-repellant Ore Firerest,’ don’t we?”

Charles said, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

“That’s right.”

“And who is going to bow to Laurent?”

Lizetta asked, and once again, everyone looked at Medes.