Walking back into the Guild was really no different than any other time, although seeing all of the people milling about, drinking and eating, and armed to the damn teeth with swords, hammers, axes and the like was a novel experience. Heavily armored and lightly armored people were in abundance, as well as those wielding staves and wands, wearing colorful robes, and even a few people with those big pointy mages hats. I had noticed some of this before, but there were a lot more people here this time around, and the mood was more uplifted than previously.
"Place is lively." I said, as I walked forward, with Sheila close behind me.
"Yeah. It feel different, and there's a lot more people here than usual." She said, glancing between full table to full table.
As we walked inside, many people in the Guild looked our way, and when many of the people's gazes met my form, their eyes stayed glued to me. Many of them started whispering amongst themselves, many fingers pointed my way, and I even got nods of respect from many of the men, and some sultry glances from the women.
"I raise a toast to you, Vanquisher of Evil!" A man suddenly yelled, and as I turned towards the sound of the voice, I saw not just the owner of said voice raising his mug, but almost all of the men and women in the building were currently doing just that as well.
"YOU AVENGED MY FRIEND'S SISTER!" A women yelled with emotion in her voice.
"YOU PUT DELVIN IN HIS PLACE!" A man cheered.
"LET ME BUY YOU A DRINK!" Another man yelled.
All I could do was awkwardly raise my hand in acknowledgement as I tried to smile. This was expected, but I didn't really take praise all that well, unless it was from someone I cared about, of course. I politely refused the drink, but said that I may take him up on that offer as well. I also got a lot of offers for "a good time" from the women present, but I turned them away as well. That wasn't my style. I wanted a true connection with the women I was with, and not just some superficial fling that ultimately means nothing except for a moment of pleasure. I also realized I used the term "women" plural, and I just chuckled to myself.
"How did my life get this way?" I thought to myself with amusement, not that I was complaining in the slightest.
"Hey! Eli!" I heard a familiar voice shout at me, and when I turned towards the voice, I grinned as I saw Terrorth waving at me from a table near the front desks. Marina was sitting next to him, looking a hell of a lot more relaxed than I was used to, and sitting with them was a red faced Kelsa.
"Is he actually doing it?" I thought as I walked towards them, bemused, before I spoke out loud, "Fancy meeting you here."
Terroth chuckled as he kept grinning at me, and I found that he seemed a lot more relaxed and open than normal as well.
"Just hanging out with the ladies here." He said, hesturing towards the girls. Marina nodded at me, while Kelsa's eyes grew big as I approached.
"I'm sure you are, Terry. Going for more than one?" Sheila joked, and actually made all 3 of them blush.
"That's none of your business!" Marina said defensively, and Sheila just laughed good-naturedly.
"I'll take that as a yes." She said, making Marina choke on her own saliva.
"I told you not to call me that..." Terroth said, completely avoiding the question entirely.
"Go easy on them, Sheila." I said, giving her a pointed look, and she actually looked at me with a pout, before she just sighed.
"Fine..." She muttered, and I just chuckled.
"I-it's nice to see you again... Mr. Crosse." Kelsa said nervously, "Everyone is talking about what you did... and most everyone thinks you did the right thing."
Terroth laughed.
"I think his welcome from the other Adventurer's made that pretty clear. No one will miss that asshole, and the world is a better place with him gone." Terroth said, and I nodded at him with a smile.
"True that." I said, and he just raised his mug to me before taking a huge drink.
"I was told to expect you, Mr. Crosse." Kelsa said, her tone becoming more professional, "Guild Master Phillander is expecting you."
I nodded at her, and then turned to Sheila.
"Thank you for coming with me, but do you mind waiting here? I'm sure he'll want it to be just me." I said, and Sheila nodded as I pulled out a chair next to Terroth, and sat her plump ass down.
I thought about it for a second, before sending my will into the storage ring I had looted from Delvin. When I say I was fucking flabbergasted, that might be an understatement. When I focused on specifically currency, I found that there was an astronomic fuckton of bronze, silver, gold, and even a couple hundred platnium coins, and while I didn't know the economy of this world all too well, I assumed I was pretty fucking rich. I really had to look through this thing later when I had more free time. I just wanted to use that fuckers money rather than the money I got from Clarissa, and I ended up finding that I probably didn't need to ever use her money. I'll probably just end up giving it back to her.
I pulled out roughly 10 gold coins, and set them on the table. Everyone's eyes opened wide as I did so with casual ease.
"Buy whatever you want." I said, and turned to Kelsa, who was also staring at the gold with her large brown eyes.
"This is... a lot!" Terroth exclaimed as he picked up a piece and looked at it, probably confirming that it was real.
"Courtesy of Delvin. The only good thing he's ever done besides dying." I said, before I turned to Kelsa, "Lead the way, Kelsa."
She blinked several times, did this an adorable little squeak, and then nodded gestured for me follow her to the back.
"Y-yes. Right this way, Mr. Crosse." She said, and I snorted under my breath.
"Eli is fine, Kelsa. Or Elias, if you aren't comfortable with that. None of this sir crap, please." I said, and she stumbled a bit before nodding quickly.
"Yes, sir... I mean, Elias sir... I mean..." She said, before she just whimpered softly before just turning around and gesturing gor me to follow again. I could only laugh.
"See you all in a bit." I said, and followed Kelsa.
As I was walking, I heard Marina whisper.
"I like her... she's cute. And I think she's interested." She said, with Terroth grunting in acknowledgement.
"Oooooh, do tell." Sheila said, and I heard Marina growl under her breath, and I stopped eavesdropping as I followed Kelsa through the big double doors behind the desks. The unexpected keeps happening, but good for him. Terroth is a good dude, and they are both pretty ladies. I'm sure they'll be good for him.
As I followed Kelsa into the back, we took a sharp right immediately, and walked only a few feet before she was leading me up a set of stairs. Once we reached the top, there were only a few ways to go, but we straight ahead, walking down a narrow hallway with a few doors on either side of us. There was a larger more ornamental door at the end of this hallway, with a big sign on the door that read, "Guild Master."
"Huh, I wonder who's in there." I said, and Kelsa looked back at me like she was actually concerned.
"Can you not see that far? Are your eyes okay, Elias?" She asked me, and I burst out laughing, making her only look more confused.
"It's nothing, Kelsa. I was joking." I said, laughing the words.
Her confusion turned to embarrassment instantly, and her face turned a brilliant shade of red, only increasing my amusement. She turned back around, the tips of her ears also red as she just kept leading me on towards the end of the hall. We reached the door in short order, and she gingerly raised her daintly hand to the door, and knocked three times.
"Yes?" A male voice said from the other side, and just from his tone, he sounded a bit younger than I expected. I guess I'll see.
"It's Kelsa, sir. Elias Crosse is here to see you." She said, and there was actually a few seconds of silence on the other end before he answered.
"R-right. Please, enter." The voice said, and Kelsa looked at the door strangely, before she shrugged, turned the knob, and pushed open the door.
"Right this way, Elias." She said in a professional tone, her earlier embarrassment completely schooled.
"Thank you." I said, walking forward and through the door. It was time for me to become a real fucking Adventurer.