Chapter 444: No Exceptions

Lucan Auremont discovered Leon Drakar’s Bronze Adventurer badge before breakfast, and his reaction was exactly as dignified as everyone should have expected.

He had entered the Grand Mission Hall carrying the proof of completion for an escort mission when he spotted Leon standing near Garran Holt’s counter. Lucan slowed, looked at the small bronze plate hanging beside the Grandmaster’s belt, and stopped completely.

"Forgive me, Captain Drakar," Lucan said as laughter escaped him. "I was prepared for many things this morning, but seeing one of the Capital’s famous Grandmasters wearing the same Bronze badge as a man who registered yesterday wasn’t among them."

Leon glanced at the badge and then back at Lucan. "You seem unusually entertained by a piece of metal."

"I am," Lucan admitted, approaching the counter with a grin.

He placed his completed mission documents beside Garran before examining Leon again. "Six-Star Grandmaster Knight. Captain of Ardent Sun. Probably terrifying enough that half the Warriors in this hall would suddenly remember urgent appointments if you challenged them. Bronze Adventurer."

Leon waited.

Garran’s shoulders began shaking.

Lucan cleared his throat and adjusted the front of his white coat. "My current Rank isn’t relevant to what makes your situation amusing."

Leon looked toward the bronze badge hanging from Lucan’s own belt. "You’re Bronze too."

Lucan immediately raised one finger. "Yes, but I’ve been Bronze longer."

"That sounds worse."

Garran finally laughed.

"Did Lucan laugh at your badge?" Mina asked Leon, her eyes brightening.

Leon nodded toward Lucan. "For longer than necessary."

Mina turned toward Lucan and shook her head with exaggerated disappointment. "You shouldn’t laugh at him. You’re both Bronze."

Lucan looked betrayed. "Why is everyone determined to remove all joy from my morning?"

"What happened?"

"Nothing serious," Garran assured him, still smiling. "Lucan discovered Captain Drakar’s Adventurer Rank."

Lucan gestured toward Leon’s badge. "Tell me that isn’t at least slightly funny, Guildmaster. Yesterday this man could walk into practically any Knight gathering in the Capital and receive a place of honor. Today he comes here and you hang Bronze from his waist."

Sage folded his arms. "And yesterday you were the son of a Great Noble House. I still gave you Bronze."

Lucan’s expression became thoughtful. "When you put it that way, I dislike this rule again."

Leon gave a short laugh. "You tried to buy your Rank, didn’t you?"

Lucan slowly turned toward Mina. "You told him?"

Mina shook her head rapidly, delighted by the accusation. "I didn’t! He guessed."

"You actually tried?"

"I asked whether financial contributions could count toward advancement," Lucan corrected, placing considerable emphasis on his wording. "That is not the same as trying to buy Rank."

Boren snorted. "It was exactly the same thing with better manners."

Lucan pointed at him. "You weren’t invited into this conversation."

Boren hugged the reports against his stomach. "That has never stopped me before."

Leon studied Lucan for another moment, then glanced at the completed mission papers on Garran’s counter. "How many missions have you completed?"

Lucan’s irritation vanished almost immediately. "Enough."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "That’s not a number."

Lucan smiled. "Then perhaps you should complete some yourself and find out."

Leon turned toward Garran. "What missions are available today?"

Lucan’s smile disappeared. "Wait. You’re choosing one now?"

Leon gave him an innocent look that didn’t suit him. "You just recommended that I complete some."

"I didn’t mean immediately."

"Then you should choose your words more carefully."

Lucan moved beside Leon as Garran produced several suitable requests, and what began as casual curiosity quickly became an argument over which missions were actually worth taking.

Garran placed three notices before them and explained that one involved escorting an herbal merchant through a dangerous stretch of road, another concerned a Magic Beast repeatedly attacking woodcutters, while the third requested assistance investigating missing travelers near an abandoned quarry. Leon immediately reached for the quarry mission, but Lucan placed his hand on the parchment first.

Leon looked at his hand. "Move."

Lucan smiled pleasantly. "I was reading it."

"You were looking at the reward."

"I can do two things at once."

Garran pulled the notice away before either man could claim it and reminded them that missions weren’t prizes to be snatched from counters. He would review suitability and decide whether additional Adventurers were required.

Lucan complained that this removed the excitement, while Leon told Garran to ignore him and explain what was known about the missing travelers.

Mina watched them for a while before delivering the sentence Sage knew she had been waiting to use. "You know Gregor is still ahead of both of you."

Lucan’s head rose immediately. "Why did Gregor enter this conversation?"

Leon looked toward Mina with interest. "The first Adventurer?"

Mina nodded enthusiastically. "The first one in the whole world. He started before either of you, and he’s completed lots of missions in Evergreen."

Lucan sighed and told Leon, "She does this constantly. You could be discussing breakfast and she’d somehow tell you Gregor ate first."

Mina frowned at the accusation. "I don’t do it constantly."

"You mentioned him yesterday."

"That was important."

"You mentioned him the day before that too."

"That was also important."

Leon looked between them, visibly entertained. "How far ahead is he?"

Lucan pointed at him. "Don’t encourage her."

Mina ignored Lucan and told Leon that Gregor had been completing Guild missions since the earliest days in Greyvale.

He had fought monsters, explored dangerous places and built his record while the Capital still had no idea what an Adventurer was. Leon listened seriously, which only irritated Lucan further.

"So he has a substantial lead," Leon said.

Mina nodded. "A very big one."

Lucan crossed his arms. "He also had an unfair head start."

Sage finally stepped into the conversation. "There is no race."

Lucan smiled. "Of course there isn’t, Guildmaster."

Leon nodded with suspicious seriousness. "We’re simply completing missions."

Mina added, "Very quickly."

Boren looked at Sage. "They’re racing."

"I can see that," Sage muttered.

Garran approved Leon for the abandoned quarry investigation and handed Lucan a separate request involving a dangerous beast near a lumber settlement. Lucan read his mission, glanced at Leon’s, and asked Garran which one the Guild considered more difficult. Garran refused to entertain the question and told both men that completing missions safely mattered more than comparing parchment.

Leon folded his notice and slipped it inside his coat. "Good luck, Auremont."

Lucan smiled back. "Try not to embarrass that Bronze badge, Captain."

Leon touched the badge once. "I’ll worry about mine. You should worry about escaping Bronze before I do."

Lucan’s smile froze.

Mina made an excited noise.

Sage closed his eyes.

Several Ardent Sun Knights suddenly became much more interested in their own records. A group of independent Warriors began comparing completed missions, and two Adventurers who had spent the morning arguing over an easy assignment abandoned it after deciding they wanted something more respectable.

Sage watched the effect from the upper level with Boren beside him. "This could become annoying," Boren observed.

"It could," Sage agreed.

Below them, Leon was preparing to leave while two Ardent Sun Knights questioned Garran about available missions for themselves. Across the hall, Lucan was speaking with the Adventurers accompanying him to the lumber settlement, his usual expensive coat replaced by practical traveling clothes for once.

Boren noticed Sage’s expression. "You’re thinking about encouraging this."

Sage shook his head. "Not directly. The moment the Guild starts manufacturing rivalries, people will chase Rank instead of doing their jobs properly. That’s how Adventurers get killed."

"But?"

Sage looked over the increasingly energetic hall. "But if respected Warriors compete naturally, others pay attention. Leon accepts Bronze without demanding privilege. Lucan can’t use his family name to skip ahead. Gregor’s record matters because he earned it. Every time those three compare themselves, they reinforce what Adventurer Rank means better than another page of rules ever could."

Boren considered that and smiled. "So you’re going to pretend you disapprove."

"I do disapprove."

Boren’s smile widened. "Of course."

Sage gave him a look before returning his attention downstairs.

At the entrance, Leon and Lucan crossed paths one last time before departing in different directions.

Lucan wished the Grandmaster good luck with enough politeness to make the words suspicious, while Leon calmly told him he hoped the beast near the lumber settlement wasn’t too difficult for a Bronze Adventurer.

Lucan stopped walking, stared after him and then demanded that Garran confirm whether changing missions was still possible.

Garran shouted back that it wasn’t.

Mina’s laughter followed Lucan through the doors.

Sage had seen enough Warriors to know that neither man would admit how seriously he had begun taking the contest.

The Guild had created Adventurer Ranks to record accomplishment, reliability and contribution. Sage had expected Warriors to pursue those Ranks for better missions, greater privileges and recognition.

He hadn’t considered pride.

Watching two powerful men hurry off to prove themselves, Sage suspected pride might work just as well.