Chapter 181 - The L
The first time Lucien was in the Guild, he caught everyone"s attention for many different reasons.
He had fought mercenaries to save two novice adventurers, has a rare white tigress as a companion, beat Ravenous, and is simply the most handsome man any girl has ever seen.
If all that was not enough, he still fled the city chased by a large group of mercenaries, with a mage who used the biggest earthquake spell in Portgreen"s history. Also to finish, rumors arose that he had stolen Black Hand"s love.
These are the kinds of things that create legends. Madelyn, one of the people who had the most contact with Lucien in that short time within the Guild, being the a.s.sistant who made his registration as an adventurer, was fascinated by Lucien.
She didn"t think twice about creating a fan club for Lucien, believing that he would soon return to the Guild and would be grateful to her for bringing his fans together. After all, famous people should love to have more fame.
The so-called "L Fan Club" grew faster than any other. Not only did all the girls who saw Lucien, find him incredible and wanted to talk about him, but all the girls who didn"t know him wanted to know about his story.
Since Madelyn is part of the Guild administration, she had no problem being able to use one of the buildings in the Guild"s territory for the L fan club.
More and more girls started to join the club. They grow from ten to 50, 50 to 100, and so on until five hundred people. Not only women, but there were also men among Lucien"s crazy fans.
Becoming such a huge fan club, it couldn"t help but draw everyone"s attention, including Olivia, who at that time was very angry with Lucien.
Olivia wanted to rule the city in order, so she clearly didn"t like it when he created so much chaos. She wasn"t sure either, but the fact that she saw him running away while carrying the mysterious earth mage made her believe they were together.
The last thing Olivia wanted was a bunch of girls praising Lucien like he was a hero, so she told Madelyn to close the L fan club.
The club wasn"t just a bunch of girls who got together to talk about Lucien. Finding several things in common and enjoying having their own s.p.a.ce within the Guild, the girls did not want to close their beloved L fan club.
But because they couldn"t go against the Guild Master"s orders, the girls started looking for ways to keep the L fan club hidden.
Among the members of the club were all kinds of different people, including people who knew ancient secret pa.s.sages beneath the Guild ground floor and earth wizards that could make these pa.s.sages a great underground s.p.a.ce.
And so L became the first secret club of the Guild, hidden even from the Guild Master. The club did not start to lose members but continued to grow in the shadows.
When the group had reached seven hundred members, Olivia and her A-rank group disappeared into the forest, creating chaos in the city.
Black Hand"s rise to power, leading the mercenaries while the adventurers had no leader, was a dark time for the Guild.
At that time, the adventurers had to support each other more than ever, and the secret L club grew even more. Madelyn and Lucien"s other crazy fans were nice and kind girls. Their group, despite remaining in the shadows of the underground Guild, was friendly and open to new members.
When Ivan returned to the city, the L club already had a thousand people. Everyone thought that they were going to have peaceful times again, and everything would be fine, but it didn"t end up like that.
Ivan has always been a straightforward man, rude, and many would say brutal. But he always had his good half, Olivia. The Guild has always remained strong because there were two Guild Masters. One as Its strength and the other the brain.
Not only did they not have Olivia now, but Ivan seemed more brutal than ever. He began to slaughter the mercenaries, who could not fight against his extremely strong group and hid in the northern part of the city.
After the hard times with Black Hand in control, most adventurers hated mercenaries and agreed with Ivan that they should be subjugated by force and not diplomacy.
We are talking about approximately 30,000 people, a large and strong part of the city"s 200,000 total population. Although Ivan didn"t want to kill them all, he would continue ma.s.sacring the mercenaries until they completely surrendered to his sole leaders.h.i.+p.
Of course, not all adventurers agreed with Ivan, just like not all mercenaries agreed with Black Hand"s actions.
But with the majority at his side and with a power never seen since the Sage King"s time, Ivan couldn"t be stopped.
And what about the adventurers who did not want to partic.i.p.ate in the war against the mercenaries? Well, they were under great pressure from the other adventurers and had to leave the city or see the contemptuous looks from their companions who claimed that they were friends of the d.a.m.ned mercenaries.
Most adventurers who did not want a war against the people of their own city also did not want to leave the Guild, and their home. Although Ivan did not compel anyone to follow his orders, he did not support them either, making it clear that he did not agree with their actions.
These peaceful adventurers did not know what to do, thinking that they would have no choice other than fighting the mercenaries or leaving the Guild and home. But then some girls came to them, saying there was a secret club that didn"t support Ivan but wanted to stay away from the b.l.o.o.d.y conflict.
Madelyn and her group of Lucien"s crazy fans started taking everyone who didn"t want to follow Ivan into the underground chambers that were being expanded and improved since they had to hide in the shadows.
Their group now exceeds two thousand adventurers in favor of peace. Madelyn continued to act normal in the Guild as if they agreed with Ivan. But in the shadows, she was leading the first protest against the Guild leaders.h.i.+p.
The secret L club has become something much bigger than a bunch of girls talking about their charming prince, or favorite rogue hero. But at the end of the day, Lucien"s face was on the main wall in all his glory, the door has an "L" from his name.
Everyone knew that Madelyn led the group, but she was not the one who brought them together. She was the first to raise her hand, the first in the group, but the real reason, what brought them together under the same cause... That was Lucien.
His crazy fans told stories of how, differently from Ivan with his brutal ma.s.sacre, and attacking Black Hand where it hurt most, in his heart, stealing his love.
Stories of how he beat the brutal Ravenous, how he saved Marie and Anne and fled the city leaving Black Hand and the Guild Master with poker faces.
Although he is not a saint, Lucien was the reason why those adventurers now have a safe place to stay. Not just a group, but a big family, that was the "L."
While this was not about Lucien, it was only possible because of him, and everyone would always remember their favorite rogue hero, wherever he is, causing chaos in his adventures around the world.
Well, so L would like to think, but we all know that fantasy can be quite a different from reality, and now that same Lucien, a b.l.o.o.d.y devil, was hand-picking which sheep he would slaughter, very close to them.
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When Madelyn heard that Olivia had returned, she was very happy. If there was anyone who could end Ivan"s madness, it is her, the real Guild Master.
Still, Madelyn understands that Ivan and his group of comrades were stronger and more brutal than ever. She feared that Olivia could not have the same influence as before and enter that chaos unprepared.
So the cute cat-girl attendant took Olivia to the secret L club. Even though she knew there could be consequences, she believed that Olivia would be wise to understand the situation and help them.
But who would have thought that Ravenous, the men breaker, would attack the most sensitive spot of those girls in her first few minutes inside their sacred sanctuary?
What is taboo? Something that shouldn"t be done? Something that shouldn"t be mentioned?
Who is Lucien? The man in the picture on the wall? The one who gave birth to their group, or rather, their family?
How dare Ravenous call him hubby?
Of course, they all dreamed of calling him husband, but he was the kind of Legendary deity to these people.
No one would boldly claim him as a hubby in front of their friends…
But there was Ravenous doing just that.
That could be seen as a beginner"s mistake, someone who didn"t understand the whole story of the L.
But there was a big problem. Something that not everyone saw but everyone certainly knew and now remembered: One of the last people to be seen with Lucien was Ravenous…
And worse. There were rumors that she had fled the city with Lucien.
Concern. That was the feeling that hit many of those girls from the L when they heard her confused voice calling their hero hubby.
Terror was their feeling when they realized it was Ravenous. If the man breaker somehow managed to make their beloved Lucien her husband, it would certainly be a nightmare for all of them.
While everyone in the great underground hall looked at Astrid, with expressions of hatred and confusion, Madelyn was so furious that her feline claws extended from her fingers as she prepared to pounce on Ravenous and tear her beautiful face to pieces.
The hall that a few seconds ago was very noisy with hundreds of people talking was now dead silent.
Astrid didn"t know about the beginning of the L as well as Olivia, but she understood that she made a mistake.
She looked at Olivia, expecting some advice, and saw Olivia shaking her head with a concerned expression.
Ghilanna started to be afraid of the furious expressions of the women gazing at Astrid.
Madelyn closed her hands in fists, trying to contain her claws while asking Astrid, clearly in a frustrated tone. "What do you mean by hubby?"
Astrid didn"t know what to do. Part of her wanted to laugh, but she knew that the situation was not so simple. She kept looking at Olivia while making not really subtle signs with her eyebrows.
Olivia put her hand on Madelyn"s shoulder. "She mistook the person in the drawing for her late husband."
"UHH?!" Astrid couldn"t help but laugh at Olivia"s terrible response.
"What the?!?!" Many girls exclaimed out together, not believing what Olivia said.
Madelyn looked confusedly at Olivia. "Guild Master... No one can mistake him. How could she mistake the most handsome man of all? Also, she had a sparring session with him, and many say that they fled the city together."
Olivia realized how horrible her response was, but what could she say? How could he explain that she, Ravenous, Ghilanna, and many other women were wives of the man that all these women saw as a legendary hero?
"Ah, yes, they had a sparring session, but Ravenous didn"t follow him because she wanted to. She was following my orders, but they split up shortly after leaving the Guild. You shouldn"t believe rumors without proof." Olivia tried her best to sound honest.
Astrid realized that Madelyn didn"t seem to be suspicious of Olivia and tried to complete the horrible lie that might work.
"Exactly, I followed him under Guild Master"s orders. Also, he looked a lot like my late husband, and as it is very dark here, I mistook them again…"
The furious women continued slowly walking towards Astrid with their expressions angrier and angrier.
Madelyn"s hands were already bleeding because she couldn"t contain her claws. "Ravenous!!! Did you do something to him because he looks like your late husband?"
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