With the sudden development, the next thing I did, right on the following morning, was pushing open the heavy oak doors of the Adventurer's Guild, entering it right at the moment the rising sun peeked above the horizon on the outside. It wasn't even ready to peek through the building's high windows, and the inside was relatively quiet, only a few groups lingering there, which would soon fade away and give way to the usual cacophony of the morning rush. While walking in, I gave a greeting nod to the clerks inside, putting up the newest bounties and missions on the massive notice board, taking down the oldest ones or those that were either completed or revoked.
Luckily, my frequent visits made it so that I could move through the hall with confidence and practice ease, without anyone really stopping me as I headed towards the receptionists' tables. My aim this time was simple and straightforward: I was here to visit the same man who first welcomed Lira and me into Velgrada. I could tell he liked us, and because I was helping out in the background almost daily, he had already tried to rope me into the guild. I mean, I was part of it, but he was suggesting I become someone who was more than an adventurer, but be part of the administration.
It was somewhat tempting, but it would tie me down more than I liked. That part wasn't good for my future plans. Plus, it suited me best if I was only 'part-time' and could leave whenever I decided I should. As for when they would close the door before me after realizing I wasn't about to join their number-counting team, working the endless stream of documents and bureaucracy, that was still only a guess. But I knew it would one day happen... but that is the future for me to worry about.
Getting up to the counters, I noticed Jorren sitting there, nursing a cup of coffee as he looked up from his Ledger when I approached, his ink-stained fingers pausing mid-sentence of something he was studying. It didn't take long to learn that he was once a silver-ranked adventurer, but after an injury, he had to retire, and for the past thirty years, he was the senior 'officer' in the Guild, running the front office. I also knew that most adventurers didn't think much about the people who were not out there, completing quests but putting them up... A big mistake. Jorren was a veteran of guild politics. And had been my actual first reliable contact in Velgrada, so I made sure that our relationship had settled into something resembling an actual friendship.
"Well, if it isn't our favorite jack-of-all-trades," Jorren said, wiping a smudge of ink from his cheek with the back of his hand. The quill he usually used to sign orders into effect was tucked behind his ear as he grinned at me in surprise. "You looking for work, or just here to look busy? Not that I judge either way. We do need the help. As usual..."
"Well," I shrugged as I leaned against the polished mahogany counter, the wood feeling cool beneath my palms. To not look hurried, I made a show of considering the question before answering with a long sigh, "Little of both, if I'm being honest. Running a bakery, as you know, is not easy."
"Aren't you doing well?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "The idea you implemented is actually genius. I heard others already copying it. You should have trademarked it or something."
"Can I do that?" I asked, actually shocked.
"Well..." Jorran pursed his lips, thinking a little, "No... You wouldn't have been able to. Not because of the laws but because the big players wouldn't let you. Sadly, you have no actual name for yourself yet. Not in this city..."
"Not anywhere else either!" I corrected him, making both of us chuckle. "I may do well, Jorran... but I have mouths to feed now. Even if they are cheap labor, they still take up money."
"True... True! So? What would it be?" He asked, slurping once on his coffee.
"Anything interesting that came across your desk today?"
"Boy, we are the Adventurers Guild!" Jorren snorted, gesturing to the towering stacks of paperwork surrounding him. "Take your pick! Sadly, most of those you wouldn't be able to take with your rank. Unless you consider Lord Evermoor's missing lapdog or another infestation of sewer rats 'interesting,' then no. Nothing for you, Auriel..." He lowered his voice conspiratorially, beckoning me to lean closer. There it was... if one thing, he loved gossiping, and I was the perfect partner who would listen without ever interrupting him. "Though between you and me, that Evermoor job pays suspiciously well for a missing pet. It is probably some noble's idea of a discreet assassination contract. Or a planted smear campaign."
"Nobles, am I right?" I chuckled, but my expression grew more serious as I also leaned in closer. "Actually, I was hoping you could help me with something more... specialized. I need to know more about a group operating in the city—the Crimson Ledger. Do we have any documents on them?"
"...?" The change in Jorren's expression was immediate. The clerk's shoulders tensed, and his fingers stilled on the ledger page, which he was fingering while we talked. Oh... that may not be... good. That was my first thought as I watched the man's eyes dart to the corners of the room, checking for listening ears before responding in a voice barely above a whisper. "Hells, Auriel. You don't ask for small favors, do you?" He asked while he rubbed his temples, leaving another smudge of ink on his dry skin. "Did they approach you? Want to buy you out? Tsk... bastards... Look, they're not exactly guild business, but they've got their fingers in half the pies in this city. Are you looking to get yourself killed? Just sell and move on!"
"Sell the thing I worked on?" I kept my tone light, but his gaze remained steady, easily playing into his guess. "First, I'm just trying to understand who's moving what in the city. Knowledge is protection, as they say."
"Not in this case!" Jorren exhaled sharply through his nose, then motioned me to follow him to the backrooms, where he poured me my own cup of coffee. When he spoke, his words were measured and quiet, always looking at the doors, watching the knobs, wanting to know if they were getting turned and someone would enter into an earshot of what he was saying. "The Ledger operates like the bullies of this city. They have their own merchant syndicate, made up of those businesses they forced into selling. On paper, they are independent, working on their own, but everyone knows they are their shell companies! Don't let the respectable front fool you. They control supply routes from here to the southern ports, set market prices through intimidation, and make problems disappear when it suits them." His fingers tapped a nervous rhythm on the edge of her half-empty cup while I kept calmly slurping my own drink. "Officially, they're just a coalition of successful merchants. Unofficially? They're running half of the economy of this city. Legal and illegal."
"And the city lord lets them do it?"
"Has to." Jorren said, smacking his lips, "The previous Lord let them grow unchecked, and by the time his successor wanted to make a move, they had grown big like a runaway infection."
"So... They are in a stalemate?"
"Yes. Sort of." He mused, thinking about it. "Look, as the Guild, we are independent. We operate outside of local politics, but yes. There is friction between the Ledger and the City Lord's forces. It has yet to reach a level to break into a war for the control of the city, but give it a decade, and they very well may be."
"I see..." I muttered as I absorbed this, filing each piece of information away in my mind. "You mentioned we are independent... But... Can that be actually done? What about their connections to the Guild? Do they hire adventurers? They must have."
Of course, they did. I found direct and indirect clues to that, which is why the name was familiar from the start, but asking about it was the safest route.
"Occasionally," Jorren nodded, lowering his voice further as a group of clerks passed nearby, walking past the room we were in. "Mostly for outside work, stuff that isn't in the city's jurisdiction. It usually is about guarding 'special' shipments, convincing reluctant merchants to see a reason to back off, that sort of thing." He explained, and yes, that made perfect sense. I was more interested in whether they had an influence on the leadership or not. "But they don't rely on us much inside the city. They prefer their own people, the ones who owe them everything. So, they are known to solicit adventurers and hire them privately. We can not really do anything about that. Except revoking the membership of those who fall way too deep into their honeytrap."
"I see..." I mumbled as my mind raced with possibilities. "Anyone in the guild ever crosses them? I mean, what if some say no to them or go against them?"
"Until you are not a gold-ranked one, I advise against that thought, kid." Jorren's expression darkened at once, probably thinking about what I was going to do. "A few live when they do. Sure, most either left the city or learned to keep their heads down as the Ledger can't reach too far outside of Velgrada." He glanced around again before continuing. "For example, so you get it... There was one silver-ranked guy, Alric, who was a decent swordsman. I liked him. He had a spine and actual morals, the sort you could rely on. He took a job protecting some spice merchant the Ledger wanted gone. The next thing you know, no one would hire him, not for guild work or even private contracts! Not for finding a lost shoe. Last I heard, he packed up and headed for another of the Free Cities. You see, they can do better than kill you. They can make you into nothing."
"Yeah... that sounds familiar..." I nodded thoughtfully, my fingers tracing the lip of my mug, raising to my lips once again.
"There is strength, and there is strength, Auriel." He said, looking into my eyes, "We are the Adventurers Guild. We could squash the Ledger, but nobody would be able to stop us. But for that to happen, they would have to harm the Guild's bottom line, which they won't. They are a local power; we are international. But..."
"But nobody cares if some poor shmuck gets fucked." I chuckled, nodding at him, "I understand what you mean. I am a nobody compared to someone shiny."
"We all are, kid..." He shrugged with a lopsided smile.
"I appreciate the information, Jorren. You've been a big help."
"Hey..." He grabbed my wrist with surprising strength. "Listen to me, boy. This isn't some back-alley rumor to chase for coin. The Ledger doesn't play according to guild rules or city laws. They make examples of people who poke their noses where they don't belong." His grip tightened as he continued. "You've got potential. Don't waste it on a fight you can't win. Sell. Don't be stubborn..."
"I will think about it." I smiled as I met Jorren's worried gaze, and I offered a slight, confident nod. "Don't worry. I hope that I am right that... I am not stupid."
"You aren't." He smiled, "You are just young and reckless. I know how it is..."
In the end, I stayed behind for a few hours more, helping him organize documents and looking up all the members of the Syndicate the Ledger was running. It wasn't hard to find them after knowing some of their names and personnel. It wasn't surprising that they offered four times the number of missions that the Ledger offered. Yeah, the big boy didn't hire adventurers. Directly. They did it through their shell companies, probably roping in potential targets to privatize. To recruit into their own private army.
Maybe I need someone who is in with them... Perhaps I need someone who is with the City Lord...