The Corrupt Guildmaster, Provoking a Villain
Emidia, Fiel, and I arrived in the city of Delta and visited the manor of the Guild Administrator, Baron Raltos Stad.
Raltos Stad. His name appeared in the original story as well.
In volume 3 of the original, Aron and the others, upon visiting Delta, confronted Raltos here. Strictly speaking, they faced “a certain woman” hired by Raltos. Even in the original, Raltos was only mentioned as a villain repeatedly committing misdeeds. However, the main plot shifted away from him to another kidnapping case, and Raltos himself was never judged.
Even within the story, Aron and the others discussed it after the incident—how Raltos had been pulling strings behind the kidnapping case, and how during the period between Aron’s expulsion and his duel with Bash, he had been recruiting the original Zilkein and laundering funds using guild money.
But beyond that, he was never spoken of further in the main story. I remember well how that hazy, unpleasant aftertaste lingered when reading the story.
If he was involved with the original Zilkein, then he’s someone I want to crush now, while I can. That’s why I went along with the provocative actions of his messenger.
We were shown into the reception room. After waiting a short while with Fiel standing behind Emidia and me as guard, a large, burly middle-aged man—Raltos—appeared.
“Well now, to think the Guildmaster of Lumienage would go out of his way to come greet me. How commendable.”
Emidia’s eyebrow twitched.
“It’s the Luminage Guild. Please don’t get it wrong.”
“My apologies. After all, this is a country bumpkin’s town. One tends to forget such names.”
An obvious provocation… just the villainous tone you’d expect from the Raltos in the original. From that face, he seems to know exactly why we’re here.
I looked toward the back of the room. A door was slightly ajar. When I directed my gaze, it quietly closed.
… So she’s here after all. “She,” who appeared in the original. Just as I suspected, she’s already contracted with Raltos.
Pretending not to have noticed the door, I turned my eyes back to him.
“I have something to ask of the Administrator today.”
“Hm. Speak, Zilkein-dono.”
I looked toward Emidia. She placed the account ledger she’d brought on the table and thrust it at him. Raltos looked at it as though he didn’t understand. I chose to be blunt.
“Since last week, the payment amounts on quests allocated to our guild have decreased. Significantly. I’d like you, the Administrator who assigns these quests, to explain this phenomenon.”
“If you’re saying that you refused the offer made by the messenger I sent the other day, and this is retaliation… then I must question your qualifications as Administrator, mustn’t I?”
Emidia pressed further. But Raltos simply sipped his tea as if none of this concerned him.
“The contractual details with clients are confidential. And this ‘offer from a messenger’? I know nothing about it. Perhaps dealing with those greedy adventurers has given you delusions?”
Emidia slammed the table and stood. Her face was filled with even more anger than when dealing with the messenger earlier.
“Then how are we supposed to accept this situation!?”
“The times are hard. Perhaps the clients’ purses are feeling light.”
Raltos’s smile did not break. His eyes ran over Emidia’s body in a lewd manner, making his expression even more repugnant. Emidia paled and dropped back into her seat. Under the table, she grabbed my sleeve. Her hand was lightly trembling—anger, or humiliation… either way, exactly the reaction Raltos wanted.
Using his gaze to silence a woman, huh. He’s used to this. Is this guy a mafia boss or something?
“You’re free to suspect wrongdoing. But if you don’t know the original contract amounts, you can’t prove anything. Give it up.”
So he’ll go that far, huh. I need a little more information. Let’s dangle the surface-level rules and push him. I want to see his reaction.
“What if I file suit under guild law?”
“Go ahead. But your chances of winning are less than one in ten thousand. If you lose, you’ll lose everything.”
Raltos growled low. He shouldn’t be connected to the local lord who serves as judge, yet he’s this confident… something is going on.
I thought it over. In the original, Raltos was behind the kidnapping case. Aron and the others rescued the kidnapped woman. Then, immediately after, they fought “her,” who later became their rival, and the story shifted toward the fanatics who later picked her up.
The kidnapping was only the trigger. It didn’t have deep meaning in the original.
“What are you thinking about, Zilkein-dono? Perhaps you don’t wish to return to your guild?”
The guards behind him placed their hands on their swords. In response, Fiel did the same. Tension crackled through the room.
So that line was retaliation for what I did to the messenger earlier. He denies knowing it, yet does something so crude.
(Zilkein-sama…)
(Don’t worry, Emidia. If they were serious, they would’ve already harmed us.)
I whispered to reassure Emidia, who had anxiously leaned toward me.
… Emidia?
Right. Emidia.
When I altered Aron’s expulsion, I thought Emidia was only a side character with little connection to the original… but in reality, she had been deeply involved in the parts of Zilkein’s past the original never depicted. She was the only one who believed in the money-obsessed Zilkein.
Even if something wasn’t deeply written in the original, there is always causality in anything that appears—even faintly. So the kidnapping case schemed by Raltos also has meaning. A major meaning for him.
I thought further. Raltos’s confidence… “she,” whom he has already contracted… the original kidnapping case…
……
I see. So that’s it. I understand now, Raltos. The reason for your confidence. Interesting. So you’ve been forcing your will through violence.
“Hmph, if you’re scared, you shouldn’t have come here to negotiate.”
Raltos rose to his feet. I needed one last confirmation to see if my guess was correct. Time to shake him a little.
I spoke aloud one of “her” settings from the original. Loud enough for her—beyond that door—to hear. I need her to take an interest in me. That will make her easier to “save.”
“An assassin organization: Owl’s Talons.”
Raltos froze. His eyes shifted into those of a hunter spotting prey. I ignored him and continued.
“A runaway from them. A female assassin known as the ‘Black Lightning.’ Ever heard of her?”
“… No.”
As if you don’t. You hired her in the original.
“I heard rumors. Apparently she’s hiding in this city. You seem to have earned quite a few grudges. You should be careful.”
“Hmph, if such a person existed, I would have eliminated her already.”
Saying that, Raltos shot a quick glance toward the door. A subconscious gesture. That confirmed my theory.
In my mind, the unresolved mysteries of the original began to connect. The original never explained why Raltos staged a kidnapping. But the truth is this:
Once he acquired the elite assassin, the “Black Lightning,” he used violence to control Delta from the shadows. Then, to expand further, he tried to seize leverage over the lord by orchestrating the kidnapping.
In this world, verdicts are entirely decided by the lord’s judgment. If you have his “weakness,” you gain leverage. That is why Raltos acted so boldly toward me.
It wasn’t a matter of extorting money—it was a display of power. If anyone rebelled, he would crush them just like he tried to crush us. Struggling guilds would inevitably come negotiate. Then he would show the difference in power and make them submit.
Solving things through violence even though he’s not an adventurer… works out well for me.
“Emidia, Fiel. We’re leaving for today.”
“But Zilkein-sama!?”
“You’re just going to walk away!?”
“It’s fine. We’ll be seeing him soon enough anyway. At the lord’s mansion.”
“Oh? Looks like our country-bumpkin Guildmaster is wishing for ruin.”
“What a pitiful man.”
“He doesn’t know how terrifying Raltos-sama is.”
When Raltos spoke, the surrounding soldiers laughed at me mockingly.
Raltos. You’re full of confidence… but I’ve already figured out everything you’re doing. Tonight, you’ll be panicking.
Your subordinate, the “Black Lightning,” will be mine.
I gave him a mocking smile. His smirk vanished quickly, and he stared at me as if trying to gauge me.
“Hey, escort our guests out.”
Raltos instructed the soldiers. We were essentially forced out of the room.
……
After leaving Raltos’s estate, we headed to the inn.
We rented two rooms. I called Emidia and Fiel to my room. Once the three of us were together, Fiel began.
“Zilkein-dono. You provoked the Administrator that much—do you actually have a plan?”
He looked worried. I checked the vicinity—no one nearby. Time to talk.
I sat on the bed.
“From here on, we’re moving to crush him. Emidia, once you’ve prepared, go to the lord. Fiel, you’re coming with me. We’re going to help someone.”
“Help someone, Zilkein-dono?”
I explained to them—without revealing it was from the original—the crimes Raltos was committing.
“Raltos is holding the lord’s daughter captive.”
“What!? So that’s why he was so calm!?”
“W-why would he do such a thing…!? Zilkein-dono, can you really read people’s hearts…!?”
Emidia and Fiel reacted dramatically. Their voices too loud…
“I overheard some rumors. And I confirmed them during our talk.”
“To protect me and even gather such information… Zilkein-sama, you’re amazing…!”
“Zilkein-dono must have been a top-tier adventurer in his heyday…!!”
Emidia clasped her hands before her chest and cried for some reason, while Fiel nodded to himself, having reached his own conclusion. Denying it felt tiresome. I let it be.
“So you and Fiel-san will rescue the girl? What should I do?”
“Just what I told him—begin the legal procedures.”
“Procedures… but the evidence…”
To reassure her, I smiled. I’ve already seen the ending in my mind. Now I just need to execute it.
“He’s going to dig his own grave. We’ll make sure Raltos can’t run, then file suit.”
Normally—in the story—you’d reveal the villain’s abilities to the reader, develop conflict over several encounters, and advance the plot.
But too bad for you, Raltos… I’m impatient. With my knowledge of the original, I’ll finish this quickly.
You’ll be my clown.
◇◇◇
~Guild Administrator, Raltos Stad~
After confirming they had left, I called out.
“Lizette.”
“… What?”
From behind the door emerged a quiet red-haired girl in her late teens. Lizette—the assassin I hired. She had escaped from the assassin organization “Owl’s Talons,” and I picked her up about half a month ago.
She was filthy at first, but I immediately sensed she wasn’t ordinary. And I was right. She turned out to be the famous assassin known as the “Black Lightning.” With her in my hands, I made my move to further expand my influence.
My goal: to seize the weakness of that accursed lord, Count Sarandia.
He dotes on his daughter, who just turned fifteen. Kidnap her, and the lord—the last obstacle—falls under my control.
The daughter Yuri’s guard had been an A-rank adventurer swordsman. Someone my subordinates could never defeat… but after acquiring Lizette, that obstacle disappeared.
… Though it was surprising Lizette didn’t kill that guard.
It was at night. The guard never saw Lizette’s face. Leaving him alive allowed a warning to be sent to the lord, so I overlooked that.
Still, the more I think, the stranger it is that Zilkein knows about Lizette. So I decided to be cautious.
“That man who came earlier… he’ll go search for the girl you kidnapped. If he does anything suspicious, kill him.”
“……”
“Your answer? Who do you think is giving you food, clothes, shelter, and money?”
“I don’t… want to do this anymore…”
Lizette muttered sulkily. To remind her of her place, I grabbed her hair.
“Kh…!?”
She let out a small cry. I noticed her fists clenching.
“You dare defy your master? Without my backing, you’d have no place in this city.”
“……”
“Remember well. After you fled Owl’s Talons, were you ever accepted by the villages or towns you tried to stay in? People of the underworld have no place in the light. For you to survive, you have no choice but to remain under my protection.”
Tears welled in Lizette’s eyes as she trembled. “A place to belong.” When I used that as a weapon, she always obeyed.
A mere girl. She cannot defy me. She has no idea how to live in the normal world.
She can be controlled through “loneliness.” The fear that she has nowhere else to go.
“Say it again. Know your place.”
“… I underst… and, Raltos-sama…”
Defiant eyes, yet filled with resignation. Wonderful. No matter how skilled she is, she can’t defeat authority. As long as she wishes to live, she must obey.
An orphan whose village was destroyed by bandits, never knowing familial love. Picked up by Owl’s Talons and trained in assassination. Pitiful girl. She fled the organization seeking a normal life… but that dream was too grand for someone so stained.
I never let a useful tool escape. You’ll never be free of me.
“Now go. Follow them. Watch them.”
Once released, Lizette left the room without a word.
“Good. That will do.”
I sipped my now-cold tea. Zilkein’s guild had grown rapidly, which surprised me, but he’ll disappear soon enough. I’ll pin an appropriate crime on him, confiscate the guild assets, and be celebrated as the hero who exposed corruption.
“I suppose I shouldn’t have said ‘kill Zilkein’…”
… Well, no matter. I have influence with the higher-ups as well. “Zilkein, exposed for corruption, resisted, so the Guild Administrator’s private soldiers subdued him.” That will be the story.
What do you think about this chapter?
