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Chapter 440 - Leaving again
🕑 Added 2022-04-25 13:00:09 +0000 UTCHelena was worried. She had never talked to Hera about doing something of her own, and she hardly could call the explorer her assistant right now. It's been months since the last task she gave her, and it wasn't like Helena was paying Hera a salary or something like that. This favor she was about to ask felt like something big, and she could only hope that Hera would accept it.
"OK, this is freaking me out. You've been just staring at the table for the past 10 minutes. What's going on?" Hera asked.
"Ah, well. I wanted to ask you a favor. It's ... A bit far away, and it's a bit complicated. I could ask people to do it, but I kind of wanna be there and make sure that everything is set up the way it needs to be," Helena kept scraping her nail polish from her fingers in a nervous tick.
"That doesn't seem like something that big. What do you need? You can just ask me. I'll probably say yes," Hera tried to comfort her friend.
Helena let out a long sigh, "OK, so you know my old lab?"
"The one in the Charring Wastes?"
"Yeah. Apparently, someone in the guild went there to check some stuff, and they saw a bunch of the equipment that I had there. Now other people showed up who were interested in buying the equipment, and that's a whole thing. I told them that I was not going to sell, but they wanna buy anyway, and since I'm not using it, the guild is struggling to stop them. So, they asked if they could send it here so people would stop complaining, but I kinda don't want random people to go through my stuff. There are still some things there that I might need, and the equipment is very delicate, so I need to go back there and set everything up before asking people to move things here. Not to mention that I will have to ask Rutigan about making some changes in the house or letting me build a place for everything," Helena sputtered without looking Hera in the eye.
"So, all of this was because you wanted me to help you move?" Hera smiled.
"I guess you could sum up with that, yeah. But the thing is, it's going to take like four-five days just to get there. Then there is another. I don't know, maybe a week or two to pack everything up, see if everything is OK, and see what I actually can sell and what I can't. Not to mention, I wanted to ask your help when I asked Rutigan for permission to make a laboratory here or something," Helena kept staring at her fingers.
"That doesn't seem bad. Why are you being so weird about it? I mean, we're friends, aren't we? Even if asking for help to move is one of those things that almost no one wants to do. You need help. I'm in," Hera nodded.
"Really?" Helena looked up towards Hera, "I... Thank you, sweetie. I didn't expect that response."
"What did you expect?"
"Well, despite everything, I never asked you to do something that will make you go out of your way. Not something big, at least. Like, I'm not gonna feel bad about asking you to buy some groceries or something, but asking you to spend a few weeks away from whatever you're doing… Let's just say it's not the best feeling in the world."
Hera rolled her eyes, "Lena, come on. We are friends, and you know that I'm not doing anything specific. I did what I wanted to do, and I got what I was looking for. Now I just… I don't know. I'm gonna hang out, travel a bit, look for weird places. Honestly, after breaking up with Silah, I don't wanna be here. I know my dad is really happy that we live in the same city, but I think it's time for me to spend less time at home again. At least for a while. And you asking me is nothing major. You really don't have to worry. I'm glad to help, and I'm sure everyone would be willing to do so. Well, maybe not Bonnie because of her mom."
"Oh no. I can't impose on everyone like that," Helena shook her head.
"Yeah, because everyone is going to be just fine if we go on a trip, just the two of us," Hera rolled her eyes, "Even if we end up going just us, we need to invite everybody. Why are you being so weird about this?"
Helena sighed, "Probably because of the first group that I traveled with. We couldn't do anything that the entire group didn't accept, and if there was somewhere I wanted to go, I had to basically pay them for the time they 'wasted' because of me. Not that I was the only one paying, everyone had to do the same if they wanted to do something different."
"Oh, that seemed like it sucked. How long did you travel with them for?"
"About a year, a year and a half. I was young and naive, and I thought people should stay together with the same party they had when they left training. I didn't say anything to you guys because you all seem to be doing well, but generally, I would advise against staying in the same group as your training buddies. Not that it can't work. The problem is just that everybody is new and inexperienced. I think there are more benefits for you to hang out with people who've been living this life for a while. Not that you guys need to do that now. You have been through more than most explorers. I mean, I never got stuck somewhere with an unknown civilization, for instance. Besides you have me to show you the ropes and you couldn't ask for a better mentor," Helena gave Hera a smug look.
Hera chuckled, "And you walked in here all coy. I'm glad you are back to normal."
"Me too. I really hate that. Anyway, we can talk with everyone during dinner," Helena smiled.
Someone else knocked on the door of the dining room.
"Come in," Hera said.
"Hey. Have you guys seen this?" Bonnie walked inside, holding her tablet up.
"What?" Helena asked.
"This," the researcher passed the tablet to the mage, showing an announcement on the guild's website.
It was a lengthy article talking about the change in leadership of the guild. Romeo was no longer going to be the chairman. Instead, the person in charge now would be a fighter called Roland the Sentinel. The article went on to talk about Roland's achievements, which included how he defended a city from a rampage on his own. Countless battles and fights against monsters or people who tried to use their power to harass or control people. He also participated in wars that happened 40 years ago and received the Medal of Heroism, the highest honor given by the guild. She found that passage a bit weird. As far as she knew, the guild never participated in any sort of war. The whole point of the organization was to be something neutral that would only care about the well-being of the people. Then again, she already knew that the guild was more interested in profits than anything else. At least, that wasn't the only thing that Roland had accomplished. He also spent a long time as the only combatant in a city that was constantly attacked by monsters. For three months, he was the only one who could fight the creatures that came from the sea. Then when backup arrived, he continued fighting and training the city's people so that they could fend for themselves. At the same time, he continuously participated in the defense of the town. He spent almost five years in the city, and that's when he earned the title of Sentinel. Before becoming the chairman, he was the chief of the guild's special forces. The people who made sure that everyone who was a part of the guild was following the laws and, if needed, the ones who would hunt a criminal down.
The article went on to say that this change happened because of the terrorist attack in Union City and that Roland's expertise would be key to protect the people inside the maze. At the end of the article, there was another passage talking about how the New Dawn was paying for most of the damages that happened in Union City and that they were providing equipment for a new special task force dedicated to locating the terrorist group that was threatening the people of the MAZE. In the last line of the article, there was a mention that Romeo had been injured during the attack and had stepped back from his duties to focus on recovering and to make sure that the guild was in the hands of someone who would protect the people.
Hera felt that this article was a bit dismissive of what happened to Romeo. Then again, it was an actual announcement, not just a news report. Maybe that's why they didn't mention Romeo that much, and it just spoke about the changes. Hera pulled down to see the comments and saw that they were disabled. That was never a good sign.
"You called us for this. Just to let us know, or do you have something to say about this?" Helena turned to Bonnie.
"You're kidding, right? Don't you realize who that is?" Bonnie glanced at both of them.
"Not really. I never paid too much attention to high-level explorers. I'm more interested in where they are than what they do," Hera replied.
"Same, the not paying attention part," Helena nodded.
"This Roland guy. After the attack in Union City, some people started protesting, and there was a group of humans saying that we should cut ties with the other races since they were the ones responsible. Some reporters went to ask him what he was going to do about it, and you know what he said?" Bonnie gasped.
"I don't," Hera shook her head. Bonnie glanced at Helena, who did the same thing.
"He said that he wasn't going to do anything. He sided with the protesters! If you leave him in charge, he's gonna start sounding the war horns and make us all fight against dwarfs, the elves, and everybody!" Bonnie tossed her hands up in the air in exasperation.
Hera and Helena glanced at each other, but the mage was the one who spoke up. While Hera looked up said interview on her tablet, "Are you sure about that? Did he really say that he agreed with the protest?"
"Of course! And now the guild is putting him in charge? A crazy war freak who only wants to fight against everyone. How can they be so corrupt?" Bonnie kept going, and her statements became more and more unhinged. At some point, she even compared the new chairman with Xu Jiayi, the ancient necromancer emperor.
It took Hera a couple of minutes, but she eventually found the interviewing question. Roland's answer was that the protesters had permits for the protest, and they weren't breaking any laws. He didn't make his position about what they were protesting known and simply said that while the protest was peaceful, he wouldn't do anything about it. Hera showed that to both Helena and Bonnie before speaking.
"I mean, I don't agree with that. To me, this is a kind of hate speech that shouldn't be allowed, but you know how people are and how they're gonna complain, bitch, and moan about everything. So he just did the most politically neutral thing that he could, and was made sure that the law was being followed. I really don't think he's everything you're making him out to be."
Helena nodded, "I have to agree with her. I don't see him as being war-hungry. He just seems to be trying to follow the law. I mean, that can be a problem in itself. If he's like those super law-abiding citizens that don't accept a single thing out of place, but I don't think this is going to have such an extreme result as you are thinking."
"But… but!" Bonnie looked at both of them, frustrated that they couldn't see the same danger that she was seeing.
"Look, it's just too soon to tell. When Romeo first started his job, I thought he was gonna be kind of meh. Then he ended up doing a lot of good things. Let's not judge him before he actually starts doing his job. And for what it's worth, his 'police force' always had some good results, and I don't remember the last time there were any big scandals surrounding them. I mean, there are a few complaints about how they sometimes have a bit too much power or people who were harassed because they were mistaken as a criminal, but nothing serious like the cops back on Earth," Helena explained.
Bonnie scoffed, "Fine, but I'm going to keep my eye out for him," she slumped in one of the chairs, "What were you guys talking about? Am I interrupting something?"
"Well…" Hera looked back at Helena.
"We are talking about going to my old lab. I might need some help moving things from there," Helena said.
"Oh? Really? When are we leaving?" Bonnie asked.
Hera chuckled with her response and looked back to Helena, "See? You don't even need to ask."
