TBAGM Vol. 2 Chapter 5 Part 4

While Twinwing Smiths was holding its meeting, something similar was happening at Elna’s guild, Twinwing Alchemists.

“I-I’m back. I’m sorry I was the only one out having fun.”

“It’s fine, Lili. Lord Lloyd said it. So it had meaning.”

“Yes! I feel like my ideas have started branching out!”

Under Lloyd’s instructions, Lili had gone to a magitool exhibition.

She herself didn’t realize it, but Lili had talent for development. Lloyd had seen through that, and he’d sent her to the exhibition to broaden her creative imagination.

.

[Name] Lili

[Skills] Development Revolution (no change)

[Attribute] Development E→D

.

Since she hadn’t actually developed anything yet, her 【Development Revolution】 skill hadn’t grown. Still, her Development attribute value had risen, so she should be able to design magitools up through D class.

Right then, with perfect timing, Til, who’d finished today’s quota, walked over.

“Elna. Today’s quota is done. Was it really okay?”

“Okay?”

“Using silver freely. Silver is expensive. I can’t believe you let me use it.”

“It’s fine. Til has talent with silver. Lord Lloyd said so.”

For the past several days, Til had done nothing but handle silver, touch it, and change its shape, constantly keeping her hands on it.

Her magitool-crafting ability value was at D class, which was more than sufficient compared to the other newcomers. That was why they’d prioritized improving her 【Silver Specialization】 skill.

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[Name] Til

[Skills] Silver Specialization D→C

[Attribute] No change

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“I can understand silver like it’s in the palm of my hand. Just like Lord Lloyd saw.”

With 【Silver Specialization】 raised to C class, Til could tell the condition of silver just by touching it.

She still didn’t have a deeper grasp of shaping and formation, but when it came to knowledge of silver itself, she was likely among the top in this country.

Next, a somewhat desperate male voice echoed out.

“Lady Elnaaa! Can I rest already!?”

“No. Renz lost to me.”

“Ugh. But isn’t this too brutal!?”

On his first day joining the guild, Renz had challenged Elna to a potion showdown.

He’d been crushed so completely there wasn’t even a fight to speak of, and now he obeyed every order Elna gave.

“I’ll put Renz in charge of the potion division. Then, forty in thirty minutes.”

“Huuuh!? Normally it’s twenty in twelve hours, you know!?”

“You’ve got your famous Blessing of the Elves. You’re not frustrated losing to a Dark Elf?”

“Gah! P-Please don’t do that anymore… I already learned the hard way that race has nothing to do with it.”

Renz spoke with tears in his eyes.

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[Name] Renz

[Skills] Blessing of the Elves (no change)

[Attribute] Potion Crafting D→C Endurance D→C

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His hands had calluses and torn skin, so rough they didn’t look like an elf’s hands at all.

They had become a craftsman’s hands. An ordinary elf would have cried uncle right away.

Even so, Renz kept training. Orders from Elna or not, he really was a member of Twinwing Alchemists.

“Just kidding. Anyway, the Guild Showdown starts soon. Finish meeting fast.”

Now that Lili had returned from the exhibition, all the guild members were present.

“Alright. Meeting starts.”

With that, Elna sat down in her chair.

““““……….””””

No one could react to her words.

Because everyone could only see Elna’s face.

“Heh-heh-heh. Rena, explain future plan.”

“Got it. But first, we need to swap Elna’s seat.”

Elna had sat in an adult chair, so it was a little too low for her height.

From the side, it looked like her face was resting on top of the table.

“Elna. I brought a child’s chair.”

Rena, who’d been standing beside her, brought over a tall-legged child’s chair from the back of the room.

But Elna rejected the suggestion with a sulky expression.

“Hmph. That chair doesn’t suit me.”

For a ten-year-old girl, a guild was close to a school. Everyone’s words and actions affected her growth.

In this case, it was probably Nick. Seventeen-year-old Nick had never drunk alcohol before, but he’d recently had his first drinks with Lloyd and the others.

After that, he’d started acting oddly “grown-up.” Elna had likely tried imitating that, or something along those lines.

“What even influenced you… If you don’t sit in that chair, you can’t go watch the Guild Showdown.”

“Huh!? Then I’ll sit!”

Elna immediately accepted Rena’s gentle threat.

The members let out wry smiles at the parent-and-child-like exchange.

After Rena plucked her out of the chair she’d been in, Elna was settled onto the child’s chair with a neat little plop.

Once Rena confirmed everything was ready to begin, she opened her mouth.

“Our goal is to become the number one alchemy guild in this country.”

Rena read off the documents like a flawless secretary.

“However, at our current stage, it’s impossible. We lack personnel, and we lack experience.”

“So that means we should start with Partnership Contracts?”

“Yes, Til. Normally, that would be the move. But for the time being, we intend to sign a Partnership Contract only with Veiled Moonrise.”

“““……Huh?”””

The members stared wide-eyed at the completely unexpected answer.

When running a guild, Partnership Contracts were essential.

In fact, the number of Partnership Contracts could even determine the size of a guild’s headquarters.

The country’s top alchemy guild, Great Tree Workshop, had over a hundred. If you wanted to claim number one domestically, that was the kind of count you were expected to have.

“I-If we don’t sign Partnership Contracts, won’t it be difficult for this guild to survive?”

Lili, who understood those circumstances, asked Rena timidly.

Til and Renz nodded along in agreement.

But Rena answered with a fearless, confident smile.

“Before that, we’re going to go pick up a fight someone tried to sell us. Right, Guildmaster?”

“Yeah. I’ll do my best.”

“Who’s the one who picked a fight with Lady Elna? I’ll help too!”

Seeing Elna more fired up than usual, Renz showed enthusiasm as well.

However, it looked like he’d be retracting those words very soon.

“Elven Chieftain Fleece.”

Rena didn’t even pause for dramatic effect, but the instant she said it, the three of them screamed.

“““E-Eeeeeeeh!?”””

The elven chieftain possessed top-class ability in alchemy.

Because she wasn’t in the Fereia Kingdom but instead deep in the frontier elves’ forest, her true skill wasn’t widely known, and the title of “strongest alchemist” belonged to another woman.

But she was the leader of elves who excelled in alchemy. That alone all but proved her strength.

As the only elf among them, Renz voiced his warning on behalf of the group.

“Fighting Lady Fleece is reckless, even for Lady Elna!”

“I know. Not possible for me now. But racial prejudice, I’ll remove it.”

Elna understood it herself: though she now held the position of guildmaster, she was relying on mana control alone. Her actual technique was nowhere near the level of those called advanced alchemists.

Still, if she wanted to reach the place Lloyd desired, she couldn’t move forward without stripping away racial prejudice. And she believed that role belonged to her.

It was an enormous, crushing goal for a ten-year-old girl. Even so, Elna didn’t think it was impossible.

“We can do it if we work together. I want everyone to help.”

Around her now were companions Lloyd had gathered.

That meant even a dream like this could be made real.

“I-I’ll support Elna with everything I’ve got.”

“Me too. I’ll work hard so I can be useful to Elna as soon as possible.”

“I’ll lend my strength as well. If we leave someone who thinks like me alone, Lady Elna might end up beating the entire elf race to a pulp.”

Even as an elf himself, Renz responded to Elna’s wish with a wry smile.

The five of them raised their fists high, eyes shining with a shared goal.

And so Twinwing Alchemists began training with a single target: defeating the elven chieftain, Fleece.

The day that racial prejudice would be wiped away was not far off.

†

At the same moment Greenpeak was about to begin the Guild Showdown, over at Incarnation of the Sun—

“Kyros~ the Guild Showdown’s about to start~”

“Yeah. Well, the outcome’s obvious.”

“Totally. A mage and a gladiator don’t even make for a fight.”

In the guildmaster’s room, Kyros and Sothia were talking as they always did. Beside Sothia, Il was gnawing on a toy and playing.

This time’s Guild Showdown was one that everyone believed Azure Sea Whitecaps would win. Even if Greenpeak was an allied guild of Veiled Moonrise, the one that had made a roaring debut in the last showdown.

“By the way, I’ve been wondering for a while… is that girl Kyros’s daughter?”

Sothia asked while pointing at a painting on Kyros’s desk.

The painting depicted a younger Kyros alongside a beautiful young girl.

“This painting? No. She was my sister.”

“Your sister!? That’s the first I’m hearing of you having a sister!”

Before joining this guild, Sothia had researched Kyros thoroughly.

Yet she had never once come across any information saying Kyros had a sister. It was only natural she was shocked.

Born in the slums. His right arm had become disabled in an accident eight years ago. Then, three years after that accident, he had founded a guild with Lloyd. That was about all the information she had managed to dig up.

“She was a stepsister—much younger than me. She’s not in this world anymore.”

“O-Oh… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine. I’m the one who left the painting out.”

Kyros lowered his gaze and put the painting away in his desk drawer.

Sensing the air of “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Sothia switched topics.

“So when are you doing the rite of Saintess Summoning?”

The rite of Saintess Summoning was, as the name implied, a ritual to summon a saintess from another world.

It was classified information that only the guildmaster could know—one of this world’s critical secrets.

Naturally, leaking it was the kind of offense that would get you beheaded on the spot.

“It should be a week from now. Do we really need a healer that urgently?”

“Yeah. The First Unit’s clearing the Forest Dungeon, but we don’t have a healer with real skill, you know~ If we had one, we wouldn’t even lose to Fairy Garden.”

The rite of Saintess Summoning worked like a mechanism that reincarnated someone who had died in another world.

Because it required a massive quantity of magic stones and mages, it was rare enough that once every fifty years was considered plenty.

“I see. Then no matter what, we have to make the saintess join this guild.”

A summoned saintess was granted freedom. If she said she wanted to live freely outside, that wish would be respected.

But a saintess fresh from summoning had no knowledge. If they made her understand just how much money and power they held, Kyros believed she would choose safety and inevitably affiliate with Incarnation of the Sun.

“How are things going in the Volcano Dungeon?”

“That side’s going smoothly too, apparently~ Linne told me they’re on the 23rd floor right now.”

“At this pace, it looks like we can fully clear both within a month. It’s truly thanks to your policies, Sothia.”

“No, no~ it’s only possible because of you, Kyros! Without you, this guild wouldn’t even exist!”

Satisfied with Sothia’s report, Kyros let a pleased grin spread across his face.

Clearing two dungeons was a tremendous feat—something worthy of calling themselves the strongest guild.

“By the way, how’s the Third Unit doing? It’s full of washouts and people stuck in slumps, so I’m not expecting much… but they went into the dungeon yesterday, didn’t they?”

At present, under Sothia’s instruction, the Third Unit was working on the Desert Dungeon.

That said, the First Unit handled the Forest Dungeon, the Second Unit handled the Volcano Dungeon, and the Third Unit had simply been assigned the leftover dungeon. It wasn’t as if Kyros had been putting serious weight behind it, and he hadn’t cared much about the Third Unit’s results.

“Just so you know… we made it to the 18th floor of the Desert Dungeon! We even beat the Sandstorm Spirit Dragon, Alena Dragool!”

“W-What!? Is that true!?”

The outcome was beyond what he’d imagined, and Kyros couldn’t hide his shock.

Because he hadn’t expected anything, the impact hit even harder.

And claiming they had slain the Sandstorm Spirit Dragon, Alena Dragool wasn’t just an achievement—it was on another level entirely.

“Yep! Because I’m the one personally training them!”

Sothia puffed out her chest and lifted the corners of her mouth smugly.

“I get that, but you were doing some bizarre training at first, weren’t you? Of course I’d worry.”

“It wasn’t bizarre training~! I was thinking it through properly~!”

At first, even Kyros had felt uneasy about Sothia’s harsh, spartan style of instruction.

But it seemed that concern had been unnecessary.

Finding her prideful attitude endearing, Kyros spoke with a smile.

“Heh-heh. As expected of our Advisor.”

“…!”

Those words—just those few words—were the happiest thing Sothia could hear, the words that rang deepest in her heart.

Everything was for the sake of taking Lloyd away from the world. To steal everything from Lloyd, and make herself the center of Lloyd’s world.

In that moment, she had taken from Lloyd the position of “Advisor of Incarnation of the Sun.” She had stolen a piece of the man she admired and yearned for.

Nothing could have made her happier.

“…Ehehe, leave it to me and relax! The Third Unit will absolutely fully clear the Desert Dungeon!”

This was only the prologue to the story Sothia was spinning.

(TBAGM Vol. 2 END)

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