Lyra and Reina spent the rest of their day walking around Helos, eating plenty of meat skewers, enjoying some Barbecue ribs with sauce, and having grilled fish for snacks. They also went shopping, with Lyra buying a few knee-high leather boots she found pretty, while Reina got some fur clothes. After a very active day, they returned to Karnir's mansion, and had dinner with him, Kira, and the members of the Bright Sun party. Ray and Rowenna in particular got very angry and upset when they heard Reina retell what happened at the guild HQ.
Karnir was also upset, and said his benefactor who had gotten his precious daughter back to him safely would not be treated in such a way, and promised to send a complaint to the guild right away. Throughout, Lyra was smiling wistfully and was actually happy. To have people stand up for her like this, to be upset on her behalf, it made her extremely happy, and somewhat touched. Reina noticed Lyra's odd expression, and asked:
"Master! Please do not cry!" but Lyra just shook her head, and answered:
-"I am not sad, Reina. In fact, I am happy. Happy to be blessed to be surrounded by such good and kind people. Truly, thank you all." Lyra answered and dipped her head, feeling truly grateful. After dinner, she spent a bit of time with Kira and Mara, as the child had been very eager to show Lyra her room and all her toys. Funnily enough, Reina was the one who became totally engrossed in playing with Kira's stuffed plushies. One was in the shape of a dragon, after all, and so Reina and Kira momentarily forgot their rivalry and played together.
Reina was the black dragon, here to bring ruin and destruction, while Kira played the part of the princess warrior. In the end, Kira's doll won over Reina's plushie, and the kingdom was saved! Then it was bedtime for Kira, and Lyra helped put the child to bed, and even sang a lullaby she remembered from earth. An old swedish lullaby, which was frankly rather grim now that she properly reflected on it, as it was about warding off the wolves so they wouldn't eat the children. But it worked, and Kira fell asleep in no-time.
Afterwards, Lyra and Reina joined Karnir up in his office, and officially signed a contract and Lyra deposited the 1,500 red dragon scales and the claws and fangs inside a high-security warehouse, in return for a massive 2,500 gold coins payout, in cash. Naturally, that gold went back into her inventory, where it would be safe and sound. But not before Reina could accomplish her dreams of laying atop a big pile of golden coins, which she happily did, having the time of her life.
After all the excitement of the day, Reina and Lyra eventually went to bed, cuddling for a bit, before falling asleep. They awoke the next morning around 9, same as the morning before, and joined everyone downstairs for breakfast. They chatted for a bit, before the Bright Sun party eventually took their leave, taking the quest paper from Lyra, as they were going to go to the guild HQ to hand in the quest, as well as their official complaint.
Reina suggested playing a bit more with Kira, and Lyra agreed, so they spent another hour after breakfast up in Kira's room, playing with her and her dolls and plushies. They were interrupted by Karnir who came inside, gave his daughter a hug, and then told Reina and Lyra that there was a quest here to see them. In stepped another cat-woman, with light-brown hair and a very agile and fit build, with two one-handed swords strapped to her hips. The moment Kira saw her, she ran over to hug the woman tightly:
"AUNTIE!" Kira cried out with joy, as she was picked up by the woman.
"Why, if it isn't my little peanut!" the woman said, smiling as she hugged the child. She then looked at Lyra and Reina and dipped her head politely.
"A pleasure meeting you both, I am Kiana, the guild-master of the Guild Branch here in Helos, and also this child's aunt."
"The sister of my deceased wife." Karnir explained briefly.
Lyra and Reina both just nodded. So Karnir had strong ties with the Adventurer's Guild in this city, or so it would seem, as the Guild-Master herself was a relative. Kiana put down Kira and patted her head, before speaking to Lyra and Reina:
"I wanted to come and apologize in person. Could we have a word inside the office?" Kiana asked, shooting the disappointed Kira a tender look, as she said: "I'll play with you as soon as I am done, okay peanut?"
"OKAAAY~!" said Kira.
"Okay." said Lyra.
Moments later, they were in the office, the four of them. Reina and Lyra on one side of the desk, Karnir and Kiana on the other. It was Kiana who spoke first:
"To begin with, I am terribly sorry. The receptionist was in the wrong, and she will be fired. She won't find any more work, in any guild branch, I can promise you. In the end, it is my fault for being too lax on discipline, I hope you can forgive me..." she said, lowering her head in shame. Lyra regarded her for a moment, then looked at Karnir, then back at the woman.
-"You are fortunate I am business partners with your brother-in-law, and that I am quite fond of your niece. While Reina and I might be trying to earn the approval of one more guild-master to raise our ranks, you must understand that approval goes both ways. I am not all that concerned about my rank or standing in your guild. The only thing I really do find helpful is that it serves as a form of identification which makes traveling easier. So if the guild starts being bothersome... then I have no qualms about leaving it all together..." Lyra said, her tone polite yet neutral.
"No no! I understand... I assure you, the guild very much wants to retain you as one of ours, Lady Lyra!" Kiana said swiftly, before adding: "...I have already been briefed about your situation by the Guild Master from the Capital City in the Revean Empire. And frankly, the Cat-tribe needs your help. There are a number of issue we've just been unable to solve on our own, from the sudden appearance of an S-rank dungeon nearby, to monster-smuggling..."
-"I see. Well, will likely stick around for a while, depending on things." Lyra said in return, and Kiara looked hopeful.
"You won't regret giving us another chance. Come by in a few days, and we'll get you your new S-rank tags, alright?" Kiara said, and bashed a fist against her chest.
-"Will do." Lyra answered gently.
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Later that day, Remi entered the Guild-Master's office, looking nervous. She had always done her job well, never been called up for anything. She assumed this meeting was about the ban she had placed on those two C-ranks, but since this was her first offense, she should only get a harsh scolding if she had done something wrong. She stopped in front of Kiana's desk, and bowed her head deeply.
"You called for me, Guild Master?" she said, head still low.
"Yes I did, Remi. Effective immediately, you will no longer be working for the Guild. Please return your badge and uniform by the end of today." Kiana said, as she sat by the desk, one leg thrown over the other.
"WHAT!? What for! I haven't done anything to warrant that!" Remi said, loudly, for she could not believe what she was hearing.
"No? You just banned two adventurers from this entire guild branch, for causing a "Disturbance", did you not?" Kiana answered, calmly.
"Yeah, and I was right to do so! They made a scene in front of Arandir, our only S-rank! And they are just lowly C-ranks..." Remi responded quickly. Kiana just groaned in response, before answering:
"Those two "lowly C-ranks" are very important guests, nor were they the cause of the disturbance! I have spoken to witnesses, who say it was Arandir himself who made the disturbance, not them! And I just received a complaint from the Etherum Trading Company, you know the ones who requested the quest, and had to go over there and apologize in person!"
"This is totally unfair! I deserve maybe a warning, not this! What am I supposed to do if you just fire me!?" Remi shouted back.
"If firing you is going to appease the Etherum Merchant Company, it is a small price to pay. And frankly, I have been to lax with you, letting your obvious favoritism towards Arandir go on for too long." Kiana said, as she handed over the termination papers.
"You'll come to regret this..." Remi said as she snatched the papers from Kiana, glaring at her. "Oh and, you're a bitch!" she tossed over her shoulder as she walked out, and slammed the door shut. Once she got downstairs, she tore off her guild tag, her badge, and stormed out, not even saying goodbye to any of the other staff.
This was totally unfair! She hated these fucking merchants with all their money who thought they could just do whatever they wanted because they had so much money. What, she had offended those two who had been hired by the Etherum Merchant Company, so now they pressured the guild into firing her!? Well fuck the guild, and fuck the Etherum Company!
She angrily kicked a pebble down the road as she was fuming, to the point one could almost see steam blasting out of her ears. Wait a minute. If it was the Etherum Merchant Company, then it must have been that escort quest. And everyone knows the Etherum Company's biggest rivals are the Donbar Trading Company. Remi smirked to herself, rubbing her hands together. Indeed, the ones who had been trying to get rid of the Etherum company for years, and Remi had some prime information. She could kill two birds with one stone, and make some good money with the information she had. So, she steered her heels in the direction of the Donbar Trading Company, smirking viciously.
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Two hours later, there was a knock on president Donbar's office door, and his secretary looked inside. Well, one of his secretaries. The other two were busy kneeling down under the table, giving him a foot massage.
"Sir, there is a woman here to see you." the third secretary said.
"What does she want? Can't you see I am busy?... is she pretty though?" Donbar asked back. He was fat, extremely so, and hairy enough people often mistook him for bear-kin rather than cat-kin.
"She is passable, sir, but she claims to be an ex-employee of the guild. Says she has information about who foiled your plans, regarding Karnir's daughter... she is willing to make a deal in exchange for the information." the secretary responded.
"Oh... very interesting. Please.. do send her in." the large man said, smiling from ear to ear. He had been having a very bad time lately, all his attempts at killing that brat having failed. Now finally, there was some good news...