Chapter 388: Guilt

Caelista continued before he could respond.

"I’ve noticed the way you look at this arm whenever the mission comes up. Gregor does it too sometimes, although he’s gotten better at pretending he doesn’t. If you’re giving me this position because you feel guilty that I lost an arm while completing a Guild mission, then don’t. I can live with losing an arm. What I don’t want is to spend the next several years wondering whether every person under me thinks I received my position because the Guildmaster felt sorry for me."

Gregor lowered his gaze for a moment.

Sage remained quiet long enough to consider his answer carefully before leaning forward and resting his forearms on the table. "I’d be lying if I said guilt had nothing to do with me thinking about you again. You were injured while carrying out a mission under the Adventurer Guild’s banner, and yes, I still think about that. But feeling responsible for what happened and deciding you’re qualified for this position are two completely different things. If pity were enough to make someone Vice Regional Guildmaster, we’d have hundreds of people sitting in this room."

Caelista watched him without speaking, so Sage continued. "You’ve spent more time around Guild operations since your injury because you haven’t been running from mission to mission anymore.

You’ve seen how adventurers behave when they’re angry about rewards, how receptionists handle disputes, how missions are processed and how people react when rules inconvenience them. More importantly, you understand adventurers because you are one.

A Regional Guild cannot be managed entirely by administrators who have never stepped inside a dungeon, and it cannot be managed entirely by warriors who think every disagreement should be settled with a weapon. I need people capable of understanding both sides. You don’t have all the administrative experience yet, but that’s something you can learn."

Lyana nodded from across the table. "And you wouldn’t be learning alone. The regional administrative structure already exists. I can handle the administrative transition with both of you, Boren already oversees much of the practical adventurer side, and every branch has its own staff. The Regional Guildmaster isn’t supposed to personally approve every meal purchased by every branch. Your job would be making sure the people responsible for those things are actually doing their jobs."

Boren swallowed the food he had been chewingand added, "Exactly. And if either of you gets confused, just find Lyana. That’s what I do."

Lyana slowly turned toward him. "That explains far too much."

Mina covered her mouth while giggling, and Boren frowned as though he had somehow been betrayed by his own excellent advice.

Gregor had remained mostly silent throughout the discussion, but his eyes moved between Leona, Caelista, Brutus and Caelis with an expression that slowly became amused.

He remembered bringing them into the Adventurer Guild when none of them had known what this strange new organization would eventually become.

His original agreement with Sage had been simple enough: he will bring people to join, and in exchange he would receive access to exclusive missions.

At the time, it had seemed like a good opportunity for an adventuring party.

Somehow that decision had grown far beyond anything he could have imagined.

"This is getting ridiculous when I think about it," he finally said, drawing everyone’s attention. "I brought the four of you here because Sage promised me better missions. That was it. Brutus and Caelis followed me into the Vault and came back owning pieces of the Guild. Caelista lost an arm fighting that damned lion, Leona stayed behind to take care of her, and now those two are being asked to run Evergreen. If someone had told me this would happen when i first walked through the Guild’s doors, I would’ve thought they were drunk."

Brutus laughed. "You probably would’ve asked whether the pay was good."

"I definitely would’ve asked whether the missions were good."

Caelis leaned back in his chair with a smile. "And we still haven’t established whether appointing Leona above us is a good idea. She’s going to become unbearable."

Leona turned toward him. "Become?"

That earned another round of laughter, and Caelis immediately conceded the point with both hands raised.

Once the room settled again, Sage explained how he intended the arrangement to work. Leona would serve as Regional Guildmasterwhile Caelista would function as her second rather than merely carrying a ceremonial title.

Neither woman would be expected to understand every part of the organization immediately.

Lyana would guide them through administration and reporting, Boren would continue handling adventurer operations, experienced Branch Guildmasters would maintain their own territories, while Valeria and Vanthrice would remain among the people the regional leadership could rely upon whenever serious combat or security problems arose.

Sage himself would still receive information through the Guild Interface after leaving for the Capital, but he had no intention of undermining the new leadership by interfering with every minor decision from afar.

If Evergreen was ever going to function as a true Regional Headquarters, it needed to learn how to stand without him constantly holding its hand.

Caelista listened until Sage finished before asking the question that mattered most to her. "And if I can’t do it?"

"Then you’ll tell me you can’t do it," Sage answered without hesitation. "This isn’t a reward I’m forcing onto you. It’s a job, and a difficult one. You can refuse it. So can Leona. I’m asking because I believe both of you can grow into these positions, not because I’ve already decided you’re forbidden from saying no."

That answer seemed to remove something from Caelista’s shoulders. She leaned back and looked toward Leona, who was still staring at the documents Sage had placed near the center of the table.

The two women exchanged a long look. No words passed between them, but everyone who knew them could tell an entire conversation was taking place anyway.

Finally, Leona looked back at Sage. "You’re serious?"

Sage reached forward, separated the two prepared appointment documents from the pile and pushed them across the table until one stopped before Leona and the other before Caelista.

"Completely."