The Slandered Squad
"Guildmaster Rukta, I don't understand those last two remarks!" Guligus forced himself to stay calm. He had weathered plenty of storms in his career. He couldn't let himself go down in its final years.
Of course, those "storms" were only storms as far as Guligus was concerned. How fierce they had really been was anyone's guess.
Guildmaster Rukta said nothing. He simply watched the old man, waiting to hear how he would defend himself.
"Ahem. May I say a few words, Guildmaster Rukta?" Guligus gave a courtly bow and even tipped a hat that wasn't there. His movements were, admittedly, elegant.
"Dean, see that? This old man may be no good, but he has excellent manners. Learn from him instead of skulking around all day." Kana watched Guligus's bow with approval.
Dean rolled his eyes. Learn etiquette? No way. Absolutely not. Even if he had nothing better to do, he wouldn't study something so tedious and uncomfortable.
Still, he had to admit the gesture was elegant. So elegant, in fact, that he couldn't find a single fault with it.
"I'll learn when I get the chance. If I get the chance," Dean replied casually. He had no intention of doing so. There would be no chance, and if one came along, he would make sure to miss it.
Kana nodded, satisfied. Then her squad would be both powerful and elegant, and she, its leader, would look magnificent. Just thinking about it gave her a sense of accomplishment.
"First, Guildmaster, you yourself said Kana's Squad completed the task admirably. And I agree that killing a few Goblins would be no trouble for them," Guligus said at an unhurried pace.
"But that is only an assumption." Guligus abruptly changed tack, speaking as though he had become Kana's Squad's enemy.
"I said assuming. What if Kana's Squad never found the Goblins? What if they found them but didn't kill them, and merely drove them a little farther away? I suppose that would barely count as driving them off." With those words, Guligus had painted Kana's Squad as a detestable band of cowards who shirked their work.
"Exactly, exactly! If they only chased the Goblins away, those creatures will most likely come right back to my fields." The fat merchant joined in, attacking Kana's Squad.
With Guligus, the hall supervisor, backing him, the fat merchant seized the opportunity without hesitation. So what if the Guildmaster was helping Kana's Squad? Their lack of proof was his strongest weapon. Not even the Guildmaster could twist the facts.
So the fat merchant declared without a shred of restraint, "This is fraud! You took money I worked hard to earn, failed to drive off the Goblins, and walked away with the little money I had!"
The fat merchant looked utterly grief-stricken. Anyone who didn't know what was going on would have thought at first glance that he was the victim of a gang of bullies.
Kana stared wide-eyed. She had never imagined someone could be like this. Was it worth smearing her squad so viciously over a few Silver Coins? Though a few Silver Coins were still a considerable sum.
"Not one Silver Coin—no, not one Copper Coin! I won't pay a single Copper Coin in reward to you greedy parasites. Never!" It was a stirring speech, delivered with righteous conviction. The four members of Kana's Squad almost felt guilty themselves.
"What... what nonsense are you spouting? Keep it up and I'll tear that filthy mouth of yours into eight pieces!" Kana couldn't take it anymore. Between the old man and the fat merchant playing off each other, they were making her squad sound like the worst villains alive.
"Now, young lady, don't get so worked up. Violence won't solve anything. Besides, I haven't finished my assumptions. Please show me a little respect, even if it's only for appearances. I won't mind." Guligus spoke with a straight face, looking for all the world like a decent man.
Kana's instincts told her she couldn't let the old man continue, but she had no way to refute him right now.
"Let him talk. Whatever he says about us, however he slanders us, it won't matter. The facts will speak for themselves." Dean stopped Kana before she erupted. At this rate, she might well draw her bow and put an arrow in both the old man and the fat merchant.
"Let's make one final assumption. Suppose Kana's Squad never drove off the Goblins at all. Suppose they left town, wandered around for a while, then came back and reported that the Goblins were gone. What then?" Guligus said with a smile, completely disregarding Kana's Squad's level-five honor rating.
"Guligus, watch what you say. How can you make such a blatant accusation?" Rukta was furious. He knew Guligus's true colors, but he hadn't realized the man could be this reckless.
"Don't get upset. I only offered a possibility. A possibility, not necessarily the truth. But it could have happened, couldn't it? I'm not wrong, am I?" Guligus asked everyone working in the Guild hall. One by one, they kept their heads down, looking as though they were hard at work.
But Kana's was the only squad in the Guild hall. All the other adventurers had gone off in pursuit of their dreams—and Silver Coins. What work was there to do? The staff simply didn't know whether they should answer Guligus, so they stayed silent.
Guligus had expected that, however, and didn't blame them.
"Now, back to our original point. Kana's Squad brought back no proof at all. They were facing only a few Goblins, yet they couldn't produce a single piece of evidence. That's hard to explain." Guligus gave an easy shrug and looked at Rukta as though he hadn't a care in the world.
"Doesn't that tell us enough?" Guligus drew a breath. "I have serious doubts about Kana's Squad's credibility. Is there a problem with lowering their rating and making them start over, my dear Guildmaster?"
Guligus was an old hand. If Rukta hadn't possessed information that guaranteed his victory, he might not have known how to respond. As it was, Rukta remained calm, giving nothing away.
That left Guligus uncertain. Had he made his case so well that Rukta couldn't answer and was only pretending to be calm? That had to be it. Guligus's confidence returned.
End of chapter.