Chapter Twenty-Five: The Watcher's Lens
Some offers are blessings wrapped in bombs.
The heavy wooden doors of the Whispering Seagulls Guild Hall groaned open—a long, complaining wail that made the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. A beam of late morning light sliced into the room, thick with floating dust motes, turning the air into gold and shadow.
It carved through the usual scent of old wood, stale coffee, and the faint metallic tang of ambient magic.
My stomach did that familiar, traitorous flip.
Was it Torente again? Back to slime his way into another intimidation attempt?
But no.
Framed in that golden shaft of light stood the woman from my shop—the one I'd mentally nicknamed Sheer Scrutiny. Not out of endearment. The way she had examined my merchandise wasn't curiosity—it was cold documentation. Scientific. Dissecting.
She wore the same emerald-green coat, silver thread catching the light like serpent scales. Around her neck, a small obsidian disc gleamed—a dark, silent eye.
"Excuse me," she said. Her voice cut through the murmuring hall like sharpened obsidian. "I was told Lakanbini Sumilang could be found here. I hurried over."
Her gaze didn't just scan the room—it absorbed it. She saw Tina (ears twitching), Alimpatak (stoic as usual, but blinking too fast), Marikit (mid-curious gasp), Susan (poised, queenlike), and me (currently questioning my life decisions).
"That would be me," Susan said, stepping forward. Calm. Regal. Dangerous.
"And you are?"
The woman gave a small, clockwork-precise bow. "Perla Corales," she said. "I am a messenger from the Maniniyut Adventurers Guild."
Silence.
Real, vacuum-sealed silence.
Then—
Tak let out a whistle sharp enough to slice tension like ham. "Pepito," he whispered, "That's the Maniniyut Guild. Biggest one in the kingdom. They say they don't just record history—they see it happen. Like… reading tomorrow's newspaper. Today."
Susan's eyebrow rose. Tactical curiosity.
"I am Susan Sumilang, Lakan of Sarimanook. What brings the Maniniyut Guild to our humble shore?"
Perla opened a scroll sealed with red wax and an all-seeing eye. "We wish to establish a branch of the Maniniyut Guild here. In Sarimanook."
More silence.
Then—
"WHAT?!"
A multi-pitch, multi-genre chorus exploded across the room like a kaboom of disbelief.
Perla just smiled. Calm. Like someone who knew the next three turns of a chess game already.
"Yes," she said. "We wish to establish a branch here."
Tina looked like she'd been hit by a freight train of existential dread and capitalism. Her ears twitched like broken antennae.
"You want to set up here?" Susan echoed, suspicious diplomacy lacing every syllable.
Perla nodded. "Normally, I'd submit paperwork. But I heard Dehin's Goli were sniffing around. So I came first."
Tina, whose 'mild concern' had escalated into 'pre-thunderclap panic,' stepped forward.
"You can't!" she cried. "Susan—as your friend—"
(Oh, we're at the friendship tier now? That's new.)
Perla tilted her head, mildly curious. "Are you an employee of the local guild?"
Tina squared up. "Acting Guild Master of the Whispering Seagulls Guild!"
Perla's smile cracked—barely. "Good. Saves me time."
"…The hell does that mean?" Tina muttered.
"It means," Perla said, "we'd like the Whispering Seagulls Guild to become a subsidiary of the Maniniyut Guild."
Silence. Again.
Tina's ears flinched. "You mean… we'd be under you?"
"Correct. You keep your name. We provide resources, branding, networks... and higher salaries."
Tina blinked. "Higher…?"
"Multiplied. By at least five."
And just like that—Tina broke.
With a scream of sheer rapture, she flung herself to the floor, forehead to stone, arms outstretched like a prophet before a divine buffet.
"I ACCEPT! THE TWIN MOON GUILD IS NOW A PROUD, LOYAL, AND EXTREMELY WELL-COMPENSATED BRANCH OF THE MANINIYUT GUILD! I PLEDGE MY LOYALTY! MY SWORD! MY LUNCH BREAKS! MY SOUL! JUST GIVE US THE GINTO!"
Even Perla blinked. Slowly.
"…Thank you for your enthusiastic response," she said, clearing her throat. "However—I've yet to formally discuss this with Mayor Sumilang—"
Susan sighed.
Tina, still groveling, gripped her ankles like a woman possessed by the spirit of every underpaid worker in history. "Please, Susan! Think of the upgrades! Think of the snacks!"
Susan didn't reply—not yet. But I saw the gears turning behind her eyes.
Torente had left a crater in this town. Sarimanook needed allies. If this guild was legit, it could be our ticket out of obscurity—and back into the light.
And something in my gut—familiar and undeniable—told me:
Everything was about to change. Again. And wildly.
Author's Note:
I loved writing this chapter. Perla Corales is one of those characters who walks into a room and makes the walls lean in to listen. She's cold steel in silk—and she just dropped a dragon-sized bomb in our sleepy little town.
Tina's reaction? Classic her. Drama queen, heart of gold, and now—maybe—a corporate sellout with better benefits.
The plot is thickening faster than instant champorado, and I can't wait to show you what's next.
— Rhox
Mini Glossary:
Lakanbini / Lakan – Filipino honorifics for nobility, roughly "princess" and "lord"
Ginto – Gold, used here as the main currency
Maniniyut Guild – An elite adventurer guild known for power, reach, and spooky clairvoyance
Dehin's Goli – A rival, likely predatory adventuring guild
Subsidiary Guild – A smaller guild absorbed into the operations of a larger one
Acting Guild Master – Temporary leader of a local adventurers' guild
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Sarimanook Saga – Where every choice echoes, and every echo reshapes the world.