Lys pushed open the guild door and stepped inside. The change hit him immediately. The place was packed. Not the usual handful of villagers standing around the old quest board, but real activity.
New desks lined the walls, fresh wood still smelling sharp. Women in neat uniforms processed papers at the counters while some other people in capital-style coats moved between them with purpose. The air carried the scent of fresh ink, cut timber, and polished leather. It felt like a completely different guild than just a single day ago.
He spotted Pell at one of the new desks near the back. The man's posture was straighter than usual, shoulders squared like he was trying to match the energy around him.
Lys threaded his way through the crowd. Pell looked up, and his face brightened into a genuine smile.
"Lys! Good to see you on your feet already." Pell leaned back in his chair and saw the surprised look on Lys's face. "Crazy, right? Miss Vessa mentioned capital staff and a new guild master were coming, but I also didn't think it would look like this overnight. More people came than we thought."
Lys glanced around again. "Yeah, she told me too. I just didn't expect everything to change this fast."
Pell shrugged. "That's how the capital people roll. They show up, and the whole place gets turned around upside down."
He jerked his thumb toward the back hallway. "Miss Vessa's waiting for you in her office. She said to send you straight in when you got here."
Lys nodded and looked toward the room Pell was pointing to. "Any idea what she wants?"
"No clue," Pell said with another shrug. "But she looked like it was important. Go on."
Lys thanked him and headed toward the back. The hallway felt narrower now with extra shelves and storage boxes lining the walls. He knocked once on Vessa's door before pushing it open.
The office looked different, too. Cleaner. Sharper.
New animal-skin document rolls were stacked neatly on shelves, and the desk had been rearranged, too. Vessa stood near it, holding a paper in one hand, clearly waiting.
Another woman sat casually on top of the desk, legs crossed. She was carving something into a small block of wood with raw, focused magic, unlike anything Lys had ever seen, faint blue lines of power flowing from her fingertips into the blade. She didn't look up at first.
She had a strong presence. Not bulky or muscular, but the kind that filled a room without trying, with a slender build, a clean, beautiful face with no scars, and an easy charisma that made it hard to look away.
Vessa started speaking as soon as Lys entered. "Lys, you came. I thought you'd be…"
The woman on the desk finally looked up. Her face lit up the moment she saw him.
"So you're the reason Lord Valtor pushed so hard for a guild branch in this little village!" She hopped off the desk in one smooth motion. "You're the one who told him about the dungeon, right?"
Before Lys could answer, she crossed the room fast and pulled him into a full, enthusiastic hug. Her arms wrapped tight around him, pressing her body against his chest.
Pain flared sharply through his still-healing ribs, which should have been healed already, according to his words to Elara. Lys winced, breath catching in his throat.
"Rhuvia," Vessa said quickly, crossing the room in three steps. "Let him go. He's injured."
Rhuvia released him but kept both hands on his shoulders, beaming up at him. She was a little shorter than him, eyes bright with energy. "Well done! Finding that dungeon location for us. Don't worry, your big sisters will handle everything from here…. hah ha ha!"
Lys stood there stiffly, trying to breathe through the pain in his ribs.
Vessa stepped between them, gently pushing Rhuvia back. "Didn't I tell you to read all the dungeon reports first? If you had, you'd know Lys didn't find any dungeon. We both had gone inside the forest and found traces of something. Traces. When I sent those reports back to the main guild house, they realized it was a dungeon after connecting everything. Lys had nothing to do with Lord Valtor's decision. He didn't even know what a dungeon trace looked like back then. Nobody knew there was one here until the guild was already being built."
Rhuvia listened without looking bothered at all. She just waved a hand casually. "Details, details."
Lys stood between the two women, face completely blank. Dungeon traces? Lord Valtor? He had no idea what they were talking about, and it showed clearly on his face.
Vessa noticed immediately. She took his arm in a firm grip. "Come on. Let's talk outside."
She steered him out of the office, through the back of the guild hall, and into the rear yard. The moment the door closed behind them, the noise of the busy guild faded. Fresh air and a quiet training area replaced the chaos.
Vessa let go of his arm and turned to face him, sighing. "Sorry about that. Rhuvia can be… a lot."
Lys rubbed his aching ribs gently. "Who is she exactly? Is she…?"
Vessa gave a small, tired smile. "Yeah, she's the new guild master. And apparently very excited to meet you."
(VOLUME 2 ENDS HERE)
Author note: Tomorrow, there won't be any chapter release.