Chapter 57: The Queen of the Guild
The silence was absolute.
The elderly guild administrator stood in the center of the hall, calmly holding his cane.
All the adventurers had stopped fighting.
No one breathed too loudly.
No one wanted to be the first to move.
Kael watched the scene.
"...How effective."
The receptionist nodded as she continued organizing documents.
"It always works."
The old man smiled kindly.
"Good.
Now that everyone is calm...
Who wants to start cleaning?"
No one answered.
Until...
From the back of the hall...
A banana peel came flying.
It spun slowly through the air.
The entire guild followed its trajectory.
Kael did too.
"..."
"No..."
The peel landed exactly on the administrator’s head.
Plop.
Silence.
More silence.
A lot more silence.
The old man remained motionless for five long seconds.
Then he slowly raised his hand.
Took the peel.
Looked at it.
Smiled.
A dangerously kind smile.
"I see..."
He tucked the peel inside his robe.
Then...
He slammed his cane against the ground.
THUD!
"Round two!"
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The entire guild exploded.
"IT’S HIS FAULT!!"
"GET HIM!!"
"IT WAS NEVER ME!!"
"HE LIED!!"
"GIVE ME BACK MY CHAIR!!"
"THAT WAS MY BEER!!"
The administrator was the first to charge.
With agility completely absurd for someone his age.
His cane struck an adventurer’s head.
Bonk.
The man ended up embedded inside a table.
Another tried to escape.
The old man simply grabbed him by the ear.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
"I’m sorry!!"
"Too late."
Bonk.
Kael took a step back.
"..."
"He’s scary."
The receptionist kept writing.
"Very."
Meanwhile...
The red-haired man and Eiden had already clashed again.
"Stop smiling!!"
"Why?"
"Because it drives me crazy!!"
"That sounds like a personal problem."
BOOM!!
The red-haired man threw a punch.
Eiden disappeared.
Reappeared behind him.
"Too slow."
"SHUT UP!!"
Another adventurer appeared out of nowhere.
"I want to fight too!!"
"No one invited you!!"
"Now I’m in!!"
Five more tables disappeared.
A mage launched a fireball.
An archer responded by shooting a spoon at him.
No one asked why he had a spoon.
Sir Dogerino watched everything with absolute fascination.
His tail moved like a fan.
"Woof!"
He seemed convinced this was the kingdom’s national sport.
The Fat King, on the other hand...
Remained fast asleep.
A chair flew past.
He dodged it without waking up.
Another table fell nearby.
He didn’t even open an eye.
Kael sighed.
"So jealous..."
The chaos continued for almost a minute.
Until...
The guild’s huge door opened again.
BANG.
The entire hall fell silent.
Not by order.
Not out of fear of the administrator.
But because everyone immediately recognized the person who had just walked in.
A young woman with long blue hair stood at the entrance.
Her academy uniform was impeccable.
Her expression was completely calm.
In one hand, she held a gigantic aquatic creature almost two meters long.
It looked like a fish with enormous curved fangs and dark blue scales.
Its body emitted a faint icy glow.
The creature remained completely still.
As if accepting its fate with resignation.
Kael blinked.
"..."
"Is that a fish?"
The receptionist immediately answered.
"A Glacial Tide-Eater.
Superior Epic-Rarity Beast.
They say it can swallow a magical crocodile in a single bite."
Kael looked again at the enormous fish.
Then at Seraphina.
"..."
"Of course.
Of course she carries one around like a grocery bag."
But the one who reacted worst...
Was the Little Fat King.
He opened both eyes wide.
Looked at the giant fish.
Then at Seraphina.
And finally back at the fish.
For the first time in a very long while...
He slowly stepped back on Kael’s head.
"...Meow?"
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"You...
Are you afraid of the fish? Or is it Seraphina?"
The cat immediately looked away.
As if he had never heard such an accusation.
Seraphina began to walk.
Each step made the silence even heavier.
She reached where Eiden and the red-haired man were.
They were still grabbing each other’s clothes.
In less than half a second...
Both completely changed their expressions.
Eiden put his arm around the red-haired man’s shoulders.
"Brother!"
The red-haired man immediately responded.
"My friend.
Great to see you.
It’s been a while since we trained together."
"Exactly."
Both smiled with absolutely fake naturalness.
Seraphina watched them for a few seconds.
Then she spoke with complete calm.
"It’s good to see you two getting along so well."
They both nodded so fast it looked like a reflex.
"Yes."
"Very much."
Seraphine looked around at the destroyed guild.
Broken tables.
Shattered chairs.
Adventurers hiding weapons behind their backs.
Then she smiled again.
"Then you won’t have any problem cleaning everything together."
Silence.
Eiden swallowed.
"..."
"Of course."
The red-haired man immediately nodded.
"Absolutely."
Behind them...
The entire guild began picking up the debris with superhuman speed.
No one protested.
No one argued.
The receptionist smiled, amused.
She looked at Kael.
"You’re very lucky."
Kael was still watching the Fat King, who was now pretending to sleep while avoiding looking at the giant fish.
"Huh?"
"Being the fiancé of Miss Seraphina.
She’s the most outstanding student in all the magical academies of the kingdom.
Even many veterans of this guild are afraid of her."
Kael let out a sigh.
"...
Yes.
That sounds very Seraphina."
Exactly two seconds passed.
Kael blinked.
Then blinked again.
Finally, he slowly turned to the receptionist.
"...
Wait a minute.
Who told you I’m her fiancé?"
The receptionist opened her mouth to answer.
But someone spoke first.
"Kael."
Seraphina’s voice.
She was already in front of them.
She smiled slightly.
An almost imperceptible smile.
But completely genuine.
"Good morning."
Then she looked up at the Little Fat King.
"Good morning."
The cat responded with a very low meow.
Without taking his eyes off the enormous fish.
"...Meow."
Sir Dogerino gave an elegant bow.
"Woof!"
Seraphina tilted her head slightly.
"Good morning to you too."
The receptionist took the opportunity.
"It was her."
Kael turned.
"What?"
"Miss Seraphina.
Every time someone tried to court her at the guild..."
She looked at Seraphina with an amused smile.
"She would simply reply that she already had a fiancé.
And that his name was Kael."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The entire guild stopped cleaning.
Eiden slowly turned his head.
The red-haired man did exactly the same.
The mages.
The archers.
The barbarians.
Everyone.
All eyes began to focus on Kael.
One murmured.
"Is that him...?"
Another’s eyes went wide.
"The fiancé of Seraphina?"
"That guy!?"
"No wonder she greeted him!"
"I thought she never smiled!"
Eiden pointed at Kael.
"YOU!?"
The red-haired man watched him in complete silence.
Then nodded slowly.
As if suddenly many things were starting to make sense.
Kael stood motionless.
He looked at Seraphina.
She simply looked back at him with complete naturalness.
As if nothing strange were happening.
As if announcing a non-existent engagement to half the kingdom were the most logical decision in the world.
Kael let his shoulders drop.
Let out a long sigh.
And massaged the bridge of his nose.
"...
Someday...
We really need to talk about that."
She tilted her head slightly.
"About the wedding?"
Kael closed his eyes.
Sighed again.
Much more deeply.
"...
Exactly why."
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