Chapter 12 | Dungeon Advisor (1)

Dungeon Advisor (1)

As I finished my dungeon dive with Ardee we finally got out of the dungeon. Splitting ways I bid her farewell and headed to the guild desk to exchange my magic stones.

Once again, I was met with Rehmer who helped me through the entire process, but before I was about to leave, Rehmer grabbed my shoulder.

''Wait, can I talk to you in private,'' Rehmer asked with a slightly conflicted expression.

Thinking it over for a minute, I realized I had nothing else to do today and decided to except, nodded my head in agreement.

...

Finding myself in a small conference room on a high-quality sofa, the once sturdy guild reception desk separating me from Rehmer was now just a wooden coffee table.

Sitting down I examined Rehmer's uncharacteristically uneasy expression, he didn't exactly look nervous, instead, he had a conflicted expression.

''I want to ask a favor'' Rehmer bowed his head to show his sincerity.

Waiting for him to continue, I decided to hear him out before giving him an answer.

Taking my silence as an acknowledgment, Rehmer began to explain.

''As a guild employee we work with and advise new adventurers, but more often than not, the adventurer we advise at some point ends up ignoring some piece of our advice and ends up dead, for this reason, I make a point to form a barrier between me an adventurer. However, the death of an adventurer is never easy to hear for an advisor and can be quite damaging to an advisor's mind, in fact just this year...''

Noticing, Rehmer start to go off on a tangent, I cut him off.

''And what does that have to do with me?''

Nodding his head, Rehmer got straight to the point.

''I want you to take on a dungeon advisor.''

Raising a brow, I urged Rehmer to explain further.

''One of the guild advisors working under me is struggling to even function after the repeated deaths of her assigned adventurers.''

''Isn't that what you want for her... to 'build a barrier between her and adventurers'?'' I asked.

''yes, but... not like this... I was where she was at one point, I know how difficult it is and how much suffering is involved. Especially the suffering you cause to yourself out of guilt and regret...''

Rehmer fell silent as he clenched his hands, reminiscing about the past. I stayed silent and didn't disturb him, allowing him to get it out of his system.

''Haah... I'm sorry, I just don't want her to blame herself so much and fall into that despair.''

Rehmer bowed his head low and spoke in full sincerity.

Feeling slightly awkward at his desperate pleas, I decided to get to the point.

''Why me?'' I stared into his eyes waiting for his answer, but what I got was outside of my expectations.

''Because... you'll live,'' Rehmer admitted seemingly assured of himself.

But I found myself confused at his certainty.

''I'll... live?''

''Yes, logically you're the best option. To begin with, you specialize as a blacksmith rather than an adventurer, so you won't risk your life as easily. Moreover, you're the protegee of an executive of the Hephaestus Familia; not only is an experienced level 4 adventurer, but even the god of the Hephaestus Familia herself is watching over you.''

Rehmer went into detail and I couldn't find any fault in his reasoning.

Thinking it over I weighed my gains and losses, an annoyed expression formed on my face as I realized my own cynical actions after Rehmer had basically begged for my help.

''Haa... what happens if I get an advisor?'' I sighed.

Rehmer became a little relieved and began explaining, ''Well first you can ask your advisor questions and get help for most of the upper to middle floors, also if you want information about something your advisor has access to the guild's archives and can usually answer your queries... However, they take 5% of the valis from exchanging items or magic stones... But in exchange, an Advisor can give you recommendations and tips from armour to necessities when preparing for a dungeon dive''

Going off to explain, Rehmer went into detail about all the pros and cons involved with having a dungeon advisor. His professionalism seemed to seep though, as he also addressed and highlighted all the cons of having a guild advisor, at the very least, he was being completely transparent with me.

''....Not only that but, if you are an adventurer below level 3, your advisor has the power to temporarily freeze your guild membership and set limits to your dungeon diving, if they see fit. Of course, this can be overruled if you have permission from the god or an executive of your Familia, but it's a rule in place to mitigate dungeon-related deaths.'' Rehmer finished.

Contemplating what to do, I fell into silence as I mulled it over, Rehmer too silently waited for my response.

''Haa... Well, it may be helpful to have some advice.'' I scratched the back of my head.

''Thank you so much!'' Rehmer bowed sincerely, feeling uncomfortable I waved him off.

''Don't bow, this is just the best option for me,'' I barked with an annoyed tone.

''Yes, I understand,'' Rehmer replied but the grateful smile on his face didn't seem to be going anywhere.

Annoyed, I changed the subject, ''So what's this advisor's name?''

''Her name is Rose Fannet, she's been a part of the guild for a few years now, and not too long ago was promoted to a guild receptionist and advisor. She's still young even for a guild receptionist, it's just that she was... unlucky with her first few adventurers.'' Rehmer explained.

''Unluckey?'' I echoed.

''Well... it's not something I should talk about...''

Not wanting to stick my nose into someone else's business, I nodded. If he didn't want to talk about it, it wasn't my place to ask questions.

Walking out of the conference room, I headed off to meet my new dungeon advisor.