Chapter 180 - Secrets

While Lucien and his girls were having their peculiar battle preparation, Olivia and Scarlett"s groups entered the city.

Scarlett"s group went to the north entrance of the city, it used to be her people"s territory. They were previously known as The Red Lady Party, now they are part of the United Mercenaries group, led by Black Hand.

As Olivia entered through the west gate, she quickly arrived at the main courtyard of Portgreen City, very close to the Guild main buildings.

She couldn"t help remembering the day when they took Ca.s.sidy"s crown. As before, the city now looked desolate. There are very few people in the courtyard that used to be very lively all the time.

There were also adventurers making rounds and sending any civilians out on the streets back to their homes until the conflict with the mercenaries is over.

Olivia and her group did not hide or act stealthily, as this could make them look suspicious. The adventurers were clearly very happy when they saw the Guild Master returning safely after being missing for many days.

She wore one of her cla.s.sic masks while Astrid was easily recognized as Ravenous, and Ghilanna introduced as a Glens relative.

So the group just went to the Guild without any problems. The adventurers suggested that she go directly to see Ivan, who was very worried about her, of course.

Entering the Guild"s main building, Olivia"s group had another surprise to see the place more crowded than ever. Of course, the Guild was designed to accommodate thousands of adventurers, but they were always traveling or in other parts of the city.

But with the recent conflict between them and the mercenaries becoming an open war, all adventurers were being called upon to meet in the Guild to fight under Ivan"s leaders.h.i.+p against the mercenaries.

There were currently fifteen thousand adventurers at the Guild main buildings. Ivan ordered the adventurers to use the buildings around the Guild land to also be used for accommodating adventurers that couldn"t find s.p.a.ce in the main buildings.

In total, there were approximately thirty thousand adventurers, around twenty thousand B-rank, five hundred A-rank, some S-rank, and the rest are below B-rank. With the help of the crystals that Ivan brought, he increased the original amount of A-rank from the two hundred to five hundred and allowed some of them to finally become S-rank

The other fifteen thousand who were not currently in the main buildings of the Guild were still out of town, completing missions or exploring the world while others were around the city following Ivan"s orders and fighting mercenary groups.

Olivia created quite a big commotion when she entered the Guild"s main building. All the adventurers were very happy to see that she returned safely.

The grand main hall, designed to be occupied by a maximum of two thousand people at the same time, was almost full. There were all kinds of adventurer groups at every table, talking mostly about the open war against the Mercenaries.

"Olivia!"

"The Guild Master, Olivia!!"

"She is alive!!"

"Our leader came back!!!"

"Guild Master, where have you been?!"

"Now, the d.a.m.n mercenaries don"t stand a chance."

"Somebody tell Ivan that Guild Master Olvia is back."

The adventurers obviously wanted to talk to Olivia and find out what happened to her, while others started toasting on her behalf.

She acted as usual, very impartially but politely, and went straight to the main counter, where the attendants could give her all the information she needed.

While Astrid and Ghilanna stayed next to Olivia, they also attracted a lot of attention.

"Look, it"s Ravenous."

"She has always been a friend of the Guild Master."

"She looks more beautiful than before!!"

"Come on, man, she is still a men breaker, you shouldn"t have any wrong ideas."

Many of the adventurers were not present in the city when Lucien was there. Still, some remembered what happened.

"Wait, weren"t there rumors that she left town with that new guy?"

"The guy who was pursued by the Black Hand group?"

"Well, even if he made a mess in the city, shouldn"t he be our ally for fighting the mercenaries?"

"Yes, he is an adventurer like us, but Olivia wanted to chase him for facing the mercenaries."

"I bet Ivan would like him…"

The conversation about Astrid made people remember why Olivia left town, and everyone started making a.s.sumptions about the mysterious new adventurer who created so many problems two months ago.

Meanwhile, others were also talking about Ghilanna.

"Who is the elf with them?"

"I think I"ve seen her before, but I just don"t remember where."

"She looks a lot like Glen."

"It"s true... They didn"t find his body in the forest."

"So, is he alive?"

While the adventurers made a.s.sumptions about Olivia"s return, she arrived at the counter.

All the attendants wanted to greet Olivia, but they keep calm because they knew she likes things to be kept in order.

The attendant in front of Oliva was the cat-girl who registered Lucien as a Guild member the first time he was there.

"Guild Master, I"m so glad you"re safe. Despite you being gone for so long, no adventurer has given up looking for you. Because we never found your body..."

The cat-girl attendant was very happy that Oliva returned, but then she remembered that many adventurers died brutally in the battle in the forest.

Olivia regretted that battle every day. Unlike Scarlett, who had no emotional attachment to the mercenaries under her command, Olivia was very fond of the adventurers.

She didn"t blame Lucien since the battle was between her and Scarlett. But she knew that the death of many people could have been avoided if she was Lucien"s ally since the beginning.

Well, now was not the time for her to regret deaths that have already happened, but it"s time to try avoiding further deaths.

Olivia smiled at the cat-girl. "Hi, Madelyn. What happened was a tragedy... I was lucky to survive."

The cat-girl, Madelyn, as well as all the other adventurers, were very curious to know what happened to Olivia and her group in the forest, but they didn"t have the right to question the Guild Master, especially shortly after she returned.

Madelyn smiled. "I"m really happy that you came back, Guild Master, especially now that we-"

The cat-girl seemed to want to say something, but she suddenly stopped when she realized that everyone in the great hall was looking at them.

"How can I help you, Guild Master?" Then she spoke in her usual tone.

Olivia knows all the main employees of the Guild well and knows that Madelyn is a good girl. Olivia understood that she wants to say something, but there, in front of everyone, it is not a good place for them to talk.

"I heard that Ivan has also returned. I would like to talk to him. Can you guide me to where he is?" Olivia just wanted to ask where Ivan is, but now she could take the opportunity to find out what Madelyn doesn"t want to say in front of the others.

Madelyn is relieved that Olivia seems to understand that she has something important to say, and she quickly replied. "Yes, of course, Guild Master. Follow me, please."

n.o.body thought it was strange for Madelyn to take Olivia to see Ivan, after all, they are both Guild Masters and they have been apart for a long time.

Olivia, Astrid, and Ghilanna followed Madelyn up the stairs to the second floor, then they pa.s.sed by the main corridor. There were many adventurers all over the Guild, so Madelyn proceeded normally towards Ivan"s office.

But then Madelyn led them towards other stairs, which they went down and headed to another Guild building.

This other building is used as the main restaurant for the adventurers, but Madelyn did not go to Its main hall, but to the kitchen.

Olivia started to think that she could be wasting time following Madelyn, but her intuition said that she should listen to what the cat-girl attendant has to say because she was making so much mystery, and this should be something important.

As the group was approaching the kitchen"s door, Madelyn looked both ways and saw that there is no one looking at them, then she gazed at Astrid and Ghilanna next to Olivia.

Olivia quickly understood and nodded to Madelyn. "They are completely reliable."

Madelyn nodded, and then she quickly opened the door and pulled Olivia by the hand into the kitchen. Astrid and Ghilanna were surprised but promptly followed them.

*Thud*

As soon as they entered the kitchen, Madely closed the door making a thud sound. There were many women in the kitchen preparing snacks and meals.

Everyone looked at them and smiled after seeing Olivia while greeting her at the same time. "Guild Master!"

Madelyn called one of the cooks and started asking her some questions. "Is everything alright? How many are in the hideout?"

The cook quickly responded without acting as if the situation was strange. "Yes, everything is fine. Approximately fifteen hundred are down there right now."

Madelyn nodded. "Good. The others should be back soon, we should not be wandering around. Well, now that the Guild Master is back, we have a better chance of stopping this madness. I"ll take her down there, let me know if anything happens."

Olivia couldn"t help but get more and more confused. She didn"t understand why Madelyn was talking about people down there, after all, the Guild"s buildings only have two floors, and they were already on the ground floor.

After Madelyn finished speaking, all of the cooks welcomed Olivia back and then continued to prepare food. The cooks acted like this strange situation is normal.

Madelyn waved at Olivia and her group. "Come on, over here."

Then she headed for the kitchen pantry. Olivia and the others followed, finding everything increasingly mysterious.

The pantry they entered is not very large, and after everyone entered, Madelyn closed the door.

"I bet you don"t know about this place, Guild Master." Madelyn smiled and started touching parts of the pantry wall.

"Hmm..." Olivia looked closely at where Madelyn was touching on the wall and the order of her movements.

Every spot on the wall Madelyn touched began to glow with a brown light. Soon she formed the shape of a door with brown points with the letter "L" in the middle of the door shape.

When Madelyn finished all the spots of what is clearly a magical enchantment, the points shone brighter, forming the complete shape of a door. The "L" in the middle shone brighter than the other parts.

*Tremble*

The wall shook, and the part of the wall s.h.i.+ning opened like a door. Olivia knew that this type of enchantment is quite common for hiding pa.s.sages and secret chambers.

"This way." Madelyn wasted no time and went through the door, where a stairway leading to the bas.e.m.e.nt was visible.

Olivia found something like a secret chamber in her Guild without her knowing about it very interesting. She looked at Astrid and Ghilanna.

The elf was finding the situation funny. "What are we waiting for?"

Astrid shook her head. "Well, now we have to go to the end of this."

"Mm." Olivia nodded, and they went through the door, which closed on its own.

On the stairs, there were torches lighting the way, so the group started going down.

It took them a minute to reach the secret chamber, making it clear that the place was well built, not too close to the ground floor.

They arrived in a room that isn"t very large and there are two female guards, and Madelyn talking to them.

The guards, who were adventures, respectfully greeted Olivia. "Guild Master."

Then Madelyn opened the door. "Over here."

The girls followed Madelyn through the door and were really impressed to arrive at a great hall, so big that it resembled the hall in the Guild"s main building.

The place is full of people, probably more than a thousand. It is well lit and with many tables, very similar to the main hall of the Guild.

The girls started looking around, and Ghilanna noticed something much more impressive than the giant underground chamber. "Holy s.h.i.+t!"

Olivia turned and saw Ghilanna, looking at a huge drawing of Lucien on the wall, made with spots of brown light like the "L" on the pantry wall"s door.

"Of course..." She shook her head as she understood part of the situation.

Astrid turned to see what surprised Ghilanna so much, and she couldn"t help but exclaim. "Hubby?!"

Astrid"s surprised voice was heard by many people in the great underground hall.

Then they heard an incredible echo as more than five hundred women exclaimed together. "HUBBY?!?!?!?!?!"

##################

If you want to support me and read advanced chapters, visit my pa treon: pa treon.com/lamenthief

You can also donate to my kofi: ko-fi.com/lamenthief

Any donation helps me a lot and allows me to continue writing.