Kapitel 203: Request

After the excitement of what happened with the fat man and his body guard, Alex was now seated in one of the private rooms of the guild while the Furhen branch head Ilwa himself say across from him. On Alex's side was Hajime and all the girls, while on Ilwa's side was his secretary Datt. After introductions and answering some questions regarding how Catherine was, Ilwa moved onto what he really wanted to discuss.

"While I want to talk about that job I mentioned, I think we should discuss what actually transpired downstairs." Alex shrugged, and said,

"From what I saw a pig wanted to get his hands on some girls that were out of his league, and passed out from high blood pressure maybe? While all I did was flick a guy that meant to kill me, that's not a problem is it?" Ilwa grimaced at Alex's words, as that was exactly what he himself saw when he appeared.

"While that is true, it's also true you threatened to wipe out a Baron if they retaliated, even as a bluff that's pushing it." Alex smirked and said,

"That wasn't a bluff, but I wouldn't worry about them doing anything, and if they're stupid enough to try something then they won't be a problem much longer. I displayed the strength to completely overpower a black rank adventurer with a simple flick of my finger, and casually made a direct threat to the Baron himself, and all of this started because his son wanted to steal someone else's women like they were property, if they have any intelligence whatsoever then they won't retaliate." As much as he wanted to disagree with Alex's words, Ilwa couldn't find any reason to. Alex's strength itself was an effective deterrent, and Ilwa took one look at each of those with him before determining that they all weren't simple either, otherwise Alex wouldn't have dragged them with him to their private meeting. That was before taking his background into consideration, as whoever was possibly backing Alex was a complete unknown. However this didn't deter Ilwa from wanting to associate with Alex, in the contrary this meant Alex could be the very person he needed at the moment, and his mysteries only made Ilwa even more interested in forming connections with him.

"Well leaving the Baron and his son aside then, shall we discuss that job I mentioned?" Alex's attention sharpened and he nodded at Ilwa's words, prompting him to continue.

"The job is fairly simple looking at it briefly, I want you to find and confirm the well being of an individual by the name of Will Kudeta, an adventurer and the son of a friend of mine who's also a count." Alex nodded again and feigned ignorance,

"So what's the not so simple part?" Ilwa sighed and explained,

"The job they went on was an investigation of strange monster activity in the Northern Mountain Ranges. The only reason Will was allowed to go was because he had several veteran adventurers with him, but we lost contact with them several days ago. Admittedly I was be one who recommended the job to Will, which is why I intend to use any means to ensure his safety." Alex then said,

"So what would be the reward if we find Will? Just to warn you I don't lack wealth so money isn't very appealing for a job like this." Ilwa hesitated then said,

"Depending on how you do I can up your adventurer ranks and add my support behind you, as long as it's not for criminal actions." Alex had to fight from smiling, as this was the reason he bothered stopping in Furhen to begin with. Even with all his exploits in Brooke his rank was still at the lowest blue rank because it would be complicated to explain how he was taking requests higher than he should have, though Alex didn't place much emphasis on ranks to begin with. Having a higher rank would be somewhat beneficial though since it would make some people hesitate when dealing with him. He then said questioningly,

"And what is your support worth? I don't want to agree to something and find out later it was worthless." Ilwa grimaced while Datt glared at Alex for questioning his offer, before explaining,

"With my backing you would experience a lot less trouble from other guild branches and I can help protect you from other parties." Alex smirked and asked,

"What about the church?" Both Ilwa and Datt paled at Alex's question as he continued,

"I have no intentions of cooperating with such a group and that means it'll only be a matter of time before they mark me, if they haven't already. Before I agree to your terms I need to know how far you determination will go." Ilwa thought for several moments before saying,

"As I already said I can't support any crimes, but if you end up marked by the church then I'll still be your ally." This was saying a lot about Ilwa's determination to ally with Alex, as the church was undoubtedly the biggest organization in the human kingdom, so much so that even Kings had to bow to their will. Alex smiled at how Ilwa was willing to side with them, even if he already knew he would. They then discussed a few more details, before Ilwa left with Datt to write a letter for accommodations in the town closest to the mountain range. Once the door closed Kuroka turned towards Alex and asked,

"Why'd you accept his request~Nyan? And the rewards don't seem to be worth it, I mean that guy doesn't actually have a lot of power to begin with, does he?" Alex shook his head at her question, and asked,

"First tell me this, why did the original liberators fail?" As they had heard about it from both both Oscar and Miledy by now everyone knew of the details surrounding the liberators failure, but they didn't know what answer Alex was looking for. He then explained,

"They failed because Ehito turned the very people they wanted to liberate against them. We will eventually get marked by the church, and if we want to keep moving then we'll need people on our side before that happens. Ilwa is the first step towards that, even if there's seemingly no big benefits with it. Speaking of which I have a job for you and Grayfia." Both Kuroka and Grayfia became attentive at Alex's words, as they wondered what he was going to task them with.

"While we're working this job, I want the two of you to stay and investigate the criminal organizations here in Furhen." Everyone was silent at hearing Alex's task, until Grayfia hesitantly asked,

"Just investigate and not eliminate?" Alex nodded and said,

"Just like I said well most likely be marked by the church soon, we'll also start standing out more. I want to try and create a good image for us when that happens for the same purpose. That's why before we leave Furhen for good, we'll eliminate the crime rings that exist here in the city. Before that however I want you two to investigate them so that we make sure we don't miss any of the bosses during our purge, so take the time while we're doing the other job for this." Both Grayfia and Kuroka sighed when they heard Alex's words, and looked at each other with a bit of hostility, but mostly resignation.

"Alright master, we'll do as you ordered. But please tell me we don't actually have to stay here while doing so." Alex laughed slightly at Grayfia's words, and said,

"Not if you don't want to, you can return to Asora at night or when you need to. Just make sure the job gets done before we return, it shouldn't take more than a few days." Both women nodded at his words, a bit more eager for their task as they wouldn't have to actually stay in Furhen that whole time.

Soon after he gave Kuroka and Grayfia their job, Ilwa and Datt returned to pass the original requests information and letter to Alex, then the group bid their farewells before heading to the city exits. As they left Ilwa sighed as he sat down heavily, while Datt asked,

"Is this really ok?" Ilwa laughed a bit bitterly, and said,

"I need to rely on them for Will's life. Besides its always good to make friends with people like them."

"But they even said they would be opposing the church."

"Indeed, but think about it, think about how large the church is and all their power. There was no hesitation when he mentioned possibly being their enemy, nor was there resignation of one determined to die. If I read that young man right, he sees something like the church as equals, or even beneath him. He even casually talked about wiping out a family of nobles, as if it was merely a hindrance. They are people that would do something big, even my teacher had the same feeling otherwise she wouldn't have written that letter. I would prefer to be allies with such a person than against them." After hearing his boss's words Datt couldn't help using a cloth to wipe his brow that had dampened with cold sweat.

***

Alex and his group were now gathered a few miles outside the city walls where things were a bit more private, while Grayfia and Kuroka were seeing them all off before sneaking back into the city. Since they were in a hurry Alex had Hajime take out one of the artifacts he crafted while in Orcus, the magic powered motorcycle. As he looked at the machine that Hajime was going to use, an idea kept into Alex's mind and he smiled wickedly. He then walked up to Hajime and said,

"Hey Hajime, the girls had their own race the other day, how about we have ours?" Hajime had barely looked over when the red sports car given to him by Azazel magically appeared.