"Hahaha! Drink up, my boy!" Randolph laughed as he refilled Lux's cup with mead. "You really took your time to visit us. I really thought you forgot your Master."
"How could I possibly forget you, Master?" Lux replied. "There were just many things happening at the same time, and I didn't have the opportunity to visit everyone here in Leaf Village. How are you? And what have you been doing as of late?"
Randolph drank from his own mug and let out a loud burp before answering Lux's question.
"As you can see, I'm doing fine." Randolph smiled. "The kids these days are so motivated to become adventurers that they kept on visiting my shop to have their weapons repaired. Um, by the way, where is Little Eiko? Is she hiding somewhere?"
The smile on Lux's face disappeared, making Randolph, who was in a good mood earlier, feel as if he had stepped on a landmine.
"Eiko died protecting her Mama from someone who wanted to possess her," Lux replied. "But don't worry. She will be revived soon. Actually, I think she will revive in a few days."
Lux took out the Blue Egg from the special storage ring that Iris had given to him to store Monster eggs.
Randolph patted his chest as he looked at the Blue Egg in front of him. Everyone in the Village, especially the young Dwarves, idolized Eiko because she had accompanied Lux on his adventures.
This was the same reason why almost all of the Dwarves, including the Solaians who had arrived in Leaf Village, chose to have a Slime as their first Beast Companion after hearing the story about the Leaf Village's Hero and Guardian.
"Oh dear, can you tell us what happened?" Grandma Annie frowned. She was quite fond of Eiko, and hearing about the little slime's death made her heart ache.
Laura and Livia, who also had slimes of their own, wanted to know what happened. In fact, the two Slimes that belonged to the two girls had already climbed up on Lux's body and were currently looking at the monster egg in his hands with great curiosity.
Both of them could feel that the monster inside the egg had this kind of royal presence, so the two Slimes acted like paying their respect to their Princess, who was still not born.
Lux nodded and told everyone the story of what happened while he was away from Leaf Village. After finishing his tale, a collective sigh reverberated inside the room as everyone gazed at the egg in Lux's hands.
"Eiko is a good child," Grandma Annie said softly. "Even though she's still young, she did her best to protect her Mama, which is very noble of her."
Laura and Livia nodded as they hugged their own Slimes. Both girls felt sad about what happened to Lux. The two girls knew how fragile Slimes could be, so they never allowed their contracted monsters to fight monsters stronger than them.
"Yes, she is." Lux smiled. "But I'll make sure that she gets stronger this time around, and that no one will be able to bully her that easily again."
Randolph chuckled and jokingly told Lux that he would create an armor specially designed for Eiko, which made both of them laugh.
Lux had never heard of a slime wearing armor before, so he didn't know if his Master was joking or not.
A while later, Cedwyn told Lux that he would personally handle the building of the house meant for Heidi and her mother, Lilia. Although they were Humans, he was sure that the Dwarves in the Village would get along well with their two new residents because he trusted that Lux wouldn't bring anyone with a bad character to Leaf Village.
"Sir Cedwyn, about the Recommendation Letters for making a Guild…" Lux broached the real topic of why he returned to Leaf Village. He explained to Cedwyn and the other Elders about his difficulty.
"Guild Creation? Is that all?" Cedwyn laughed. "Don't worry, just head straight to the Stronghold of Norria and register there. Do you need a Guild Token? I think I still have a silver token somewhere in this house."
"Um, what about the Recommendation Letters from the Guildmasters of the Adventurer's Guild?" Lux asked. "After that, I still need to take the Trial of Leadership…"
"Recommendation Letters? You don't need them," Cedwyn replied and brushed off Lux's worries about collecting Recommendation Letters. "As for the Trial of Leadership, you don't need to do that either. Just go to the Stronghold of Norria and find Sir Thoram.
"As the Commander of the Riders of Norria, he can vouch that you don't need to undertake the Trial of Leadership. That is only a test to see if the person applying to create a Guild has the capabilities to lead it. You, my boy, are more than capable of doing that."
Lux blinked as he processed everything that Cedwyn had told him.
"You mean, I don't have to go through all that to create a Guild?" Lux asked just to be sure.
"Nope," Cedwyn answered. "Ah. But there is one thing you should do. In order to create a Guild, you must have at least Twenty Members. You are supposed to be given twenty Member Tokens after you successfully clear your Trial of Leadership.
"You will then give those Member Tokens to the people who have agreed to join your guild. Once all of them receive the token, they will automatically be registered as your Guild Member candidates, allowing you to use a Guild Token to create your own Guild."
Cedwyn then rummaged through his storage ring and took out twenty Red Tokens, which were similar to Casino Chips.
"Back then, I wished to establish a guild of my own, but a lot of things happened…" Cedwyn explained before glancing at Grandma Annie and Randolph, who pretended to not hear Cedwyn's words and continued to drink the mugs of mead in their hands.
Seeing that the two intended to ignore him until the end, Cedwyn sighed as he handed the Member Tokens to the Half-Elf.
"Lux, inherit our dreams and wishes," Cedwyn said. "Create a guild, and make sure that it will become the best guild in the world. I will not settle for anything less, do you understand?"
"Thank you, Village Head," Lux replied as he gratefully accepted the member tokens.
"So do you have any guild members in mind?" Randolph asked. "You said that you only have a few days before the duration of your quest ends. If you don't hurry, you will not be able to reach the necessary quota."
Lux smiled as he handed one of the Member Tokens to his Master, Randolph.
"Master, please become my guild member," Lux said with a smile. "We will need your expertise as a Blacksmith."
"Excuse me?" Randolph tilted his head in confusion. "You want me to become your Guild Member?"
"Yes."
"Are you serious?"
Lux nodded. "Dead serious."
"Well… I guess you only want to reach the quota as soon as possible." Randolph shrugged as he accepted the Red Token that was handed to him by his Disciple. "Sure, I'll help you out. It's not like I'm doing this because I want to become part of your Guild, okay? Don't get the wrong idea."
Lux chuckled because he knew what Randolph was thinking. He was sure that his Master thought that he would leave as soon as the Guild was created, but Lux didn't want to let his Master go.
After all, expert Blacksmiths who were able to craft Mythical Armors weren't cabbages that could be plucked from just about anywhere. He would love to have Randolph in his Guild, so that the Dwarf could help him create some weapons and armor sets that would benefit his Guild Members.
"Grandma Annie, please join my guild as well," Lux said as he offered a Red Token to the old lady who would always be on the front lines whenever Leaf Village was under attack by Monster Outbreaks.
"I'm too old for this, Lux," Grandma Annie replied. "I will just hold you back."
"Nonsense." Lux shook his head. "Grandma Annie is an alchemist. Having someone like you around to create pills and medicines for the Guild will greatly boost its strength."
"Fine." Grandma Annie smiled as she accepted the Red Token. "I can't believe that at my age, I will be joining a Guild. I'll just babysit the young ones for you, okay? I won't go charging off to the battlefield for your sake."
"That's fine. I don't want Grandma Annie to get hurt either."
"Mmm. At least you know that my old bones can't take a beating."
Laura and Livia glanced at each other before raising their hands together.
"We want to join too!" Laura shouted.
"Me too!" Livia seconded.
"Um… this." Lux scratched his head. "I don't think your Brother will agree if I let both of you join the Guild."
"It's fine!" Laura stated. "Big Brother said that there will come a time when the Village Hero will need our help. We will join the Guild to help you."
"Yes!" Livia nodded. "You are Big Brother's benefactor, so you are also our benefactor. Please, let us repay you for helping our Big Brother, and bringing us to this wonderful Village."
Lux was still on the fence about allowing the two little Dwarves to join his Guild. He didn't know if Sid would agree to this because the Dhampir was overprotective of his little sisters and didn't want them to come to any harm.
The door of the house opened and Sid entered as he said, "Please let them join your Guild, Master. This is my wish as well."
Laura and Livia cheered in happiness when they saw their brother, then they ran toward him to give their Big Brother a hug.
The doting brother hugged his sisters back before patting their heads. Just as Sid was about to ask if they had been good girls while he was away, a shadow fell upon his body.
"So you're making a Guild? This sounds interesting."
From behind the Dhampir, someone whom Lux hadn't seen for a while had appeared.
It was none other than the Draconic Kobold, Cadmus, who was the Half-Elf's enemy when he had just started his journey in the world of Elysium.
"Hahaha! Drink up, my boy!" Randolph laughed as he refilled Lux's cup with mead. "You really took your time to visit us. I really thought you forgot your Master."
"How could I possibly forget you, Master?" Lux replied. "There were just many things happening at the same time, and I didn't have the opportunity to visit everyone here in Leaf Village. How are you? And what have you been doing as of late?"
Randolph drank from his own mug and let out a loud burp before answering Lux's question.
"As you can see, I'm doing fine." Randolph smiled. "The kids these days are so motivated to become adventurers that they kept on visiting my shop to have their weapons repaired. Um, by the way, where is Little Eiko? Is she hiding somewhere?"
The smile on Lux's face disappeared, making Randolph, who was in a good mood earlier, feel as if he had stepped on a landmine.
"Eiko died protecting her Mama from someone who wanted to possess her," Lux replied. "But don't worry. She will be revived soon. Actually, I think she will revive in a few days."
Lux took out the Blue Egg from the special storage ring that Iris had given to him to store Monster eggs.
Randolph patted his chest as he looked at the Blue Egg in front of him. Everyone in the Village, especially the young Dwarves, idolized Eiko because she had accompanied Lux on his adventures.
This was the same reason why almost all of the Dwarves, including the Solaians who had arrived in Leaf Village, chose to have a Slime as their first Beast Companion after hearing the story about the Leaf Village's Hero and Guardian.
"Oh dear, can you tell us what happened?" Grandma Annie frowned. She was quite fond of Eiko, and hearing about the little slime's death made her heart ache.
Laura and Livia, who also had slimes of their own, wanted to know what happened. In fact, the two Slimes that belonged to the two girls had already climbed up on Lux's body and were currently looking at the monster egg in his hands with great curiosity.
Both of them could feel that the monster inside the egg had this kind of royal presence, so the two Slimes acted like paying their respect to their Princess, who was still not born.
Lux nodded and told everyone the story of what happened while he was away from Leaf Village. After finishing his tale, a collective sigh reverberated inside the room as everyone gazed at the egg in Lux's hands.
"Eiko is a good child," Grandma Annie said softly. "Even though she's still young, she did her best to protect her Mama, which is very noble of her."
Laura and Livia nodded as they hugged their own Slimes. Both girls felt sad about what happened to Lux. The two girls knew how fragile Slimes could be, so they never allowed their contracted monsters to fight monsters stronger than them.
"Yes, she is." Lux smiled. "But I'll make sure that she gets stronger this time around, and that no one will be able to bully her that easily again."
Randolph chuckled and jokingly told Lux that he would create an armor specially designed for Eiko, which made both of them laugh.
Lux had never heard of a slime wearing armor before, so he didn't know if his Master was joking or not.
A while later, Cedwyn told Lux that he would personally handle the building of the house meant for Heidi and her mother, Lilia. Although they were Humans, he was sure that the Dwarves in the Village would get along well with their two new residents because he trusted that Lux wouldn't bring anyone with a bad character to Leaf Village.
"Sir Cedwyn, about the Recommendation Letters for making a Guild…" Lux broached the real topic of why he returned to Leaf Village. He explained to Cedwyn and the other Elders about his difficulty.
"Guild Creation? Is that all?" Cedwyn laughed. "Don't worry, just head straight to the Stronghold of Norria and register there. Do you need a Guild Token? I think I still have a silver token somewhere in this house."
"Um, what about the Recommendation Letters from the Guildmasters of the Adventurer's Guild?" Lux asked. "After that, I still need to take the Trial of Leadership…"
"Recommendation Letters? You don't need them," Cedwyn replied and brushed off Lux's worries about collecting Recommendation Letters. "As for the Trial of Leadership, you don't need to do that either. Just go to the Stronghold of Norria and find Sir Thoram.
"As the Commander of the Riders of Norria, he can vouch that you don't need to undertake the Trial of Leadership. That is only a test to see if the person applying to create a Guild has the capabilities to lead it. You, my boy, are more than capable of doing that."
Lux blinked as he processed everything that Cedwyn had told him.
"You mean, I don't have to go through all that to create a Guild?" Lux asked just to be sure.
"Nope," Cedwyn answered. "Ah. But there is one thing you should do. In order to create a Guild, you must have at least Twenty Members. You are supposed to be given twenty Member Tokens after you successfully clear your Trial of Leadership.
"You will then give those Member Tokens to the people who have agreed to join your guild. Once all of them receive the token, they will automatically be registered as your Guild Member candidates, allowing you to use a Guild Token to create your own Guild."
Cedwyn then rummaged through his storage ring and took out twenty Red Tokens, which were similar to Casino Chips.
"Back then, I wished to establish a guild of my own, but a lot of things happened…" Cedwyn explained before glancing at Grandma Annie and Randolph, who pretended to not hear Cedwyn's words and continued to drink the mugs of mead in their hands.
Seeing that the two intended to ignore him until the end, Cedwyn sighed as he handed the Member Tokens to the Half-Elf.
"Lux, inherit our dreams and wishes," Cedwyn said. "Create a guild, and make sure that it will become the best guild in the world. I will not settle for anything less, do you understand?"
"Thank you, Village Head," Lux replied as he gratefully accepted the member tokens.
"So do you have any guild members in mind?" Randolph asked. "You said that you only have a few days before the duration of your quest ends. If you don't hurry, you will not be able to reach the necessary quota."
Lux smiled as he handed one of the Member Tokens to his Master, Randolph.
"Master, please become my guild member," Lux said with a smile. "We will need your expertise as a Blacksmith."
"Excuse me?" Randolph tilted his head in confusion. "You want me to become your Guild Member?"
"Yes."
"Are you serious?"
Lux nodded. "Dead serious."
"Well… I guess you only want to reach the quota as soon as possible." Randolph shrugged as he accepted the Red Token that was handed to him by his Disciple. "Sure, I'll help you out. It's not like I'm doing this because I want to become part of your Guild, okay? Don't get the wrong idea."
Lux chuckled because he knew what Randolph was thinking. He was sure that his Master thought that he would leave as soon as the Guild was created, but Lux didn't want to let his Master go.
After all, expert Blacksmiths who were able to craft Mythical Armors weren't cabbages that could be plucked from just about anywhere. He would love to have Randolph in his Guild, so that the Dwarf could help him create some weapons and armor sets that would benefit his Guild Members.
"Grandma Annie, please join my guild as well," Lux said as he offered a Red Token to the old lady who would always be on the front lines whenever Leaf Village was under attack by Monster Outbreaks.
"I'm too old for this, Lux," Grandma Annie replied. "I will just hold you back."
"Nonsense." Lux shook his head. "Grandma Annie is an alchemist. Having someone like you around to create pills and medicines for the Guild will greatly boost its strength."
"Fine." Grandma Annie smiled as she accepted the Red Token. "I can't believe that at my age, I will be joining a Guild. I'll just babysit the young ones for you, okay? I won't go charging off to the battlefield for your sake."
"That's fine. I don't want Grandma Annie to get hurt either."
"Mmm. At least you know that my old bones can't take a beating."
Laura and Livia glanced at each other before raising their hands together.
"We want to join too!" Laura shouted.
"Me too!" Livia seconded.
"Um… this." Lux scratched his head. "I don't think your Brother will agree if I let both of you join the Guild."
"It's fine!" Laura stated. "Big Brother said that there will come a time when the Village Hero will need our help. We will join the Guild to help you."
"Yes!" Livia nodded. "You are Big Brother's benefactor, so you are also our benefactor. Please, let us repay you for helping our Big Brother, and bringing us to this wonderful Village."
Lux was still on the fence about allowing the two little Dwarves to join his Guild. He didn't know if Sid would agree to this because the Dhampir was overprotective of his little sisters and didn't want them to come to any harm.
The door of the house opened and Sid entered as he said, "Please let them join your Guild, Master. This is my wish as well."
Laura and Livia cheered in happiness when they saw their brother, then they ran toward him to give their Big Brother a hug.
The doting brother hugged his sisters back before patting their heads. Just as Sid was about to ask if they had been good girls while he was away, a shadow fell upon his body.
"So you're making a Guild? This sounds interesting."
From behind the Dhampir, someone whom Lux hadn't seen for a while had appeared.
It was none other than the Draconic Kobold, Cadmus, who was the Half-Elf's enemy when he had just started his journey in the world of Elysium.
