After that incident with the totally unsurprised ambush, I decided to give the Adventurer’s guild a visit next. Of all the time since I took over, I’ve only given it quick visits just to assure things were running smoothly besides the time I used my adventurer disguise to make a few extra coins. This would be the first time I gave the place a proper look over as the ruler in charge.

  I was curious how my takeover over this town would affect the guild. When I was in disguise, I noticed there was a reduction on quests available, particularly the hunting quests. I was worried how that would affect the adventurers here, which might explain a little about the hostility earlier.

  But with all the changes I had to watch over, I only managed to get time to visit here now. Oh well, better late than never. As I walked into the building with my group of monster minions, I noticed the air around me fall silent with everyone staring at me. After the last few visits, I grew a bit used to it.

  “O-oh lord Vladimir, glad to see you here.” The receptionist greeted me as we walked towards the desk.

  Unlike in my Dimir disguise I had no need to grab a chair for myself. A goblin and kobold minion grabbed one for me, as I casually jumped on it to face the receptionist. After the last few visits, the receptionist was quick to compose herself and give out her professional smile while addressing me.

  “Is there something you need lord Vladimir?” She asked up front.

  “I do actually, is your guild master here today? I’d like to discuss some important matters with him.”

  “He is certainly here sir; I’ll inform him you’re here wait one moment.” She answered, lightly bowing.

  It didn’t take too long for the receptionist to go to the other room before returning as she gestured me upstairs.

  Once me and my minions came up, I instructed them to wait outside the door and inform me if anything urgent happens. I confirmed that they understood and for extra measures, had V focused on their [Map] ability for any hostiles before I entered the guild master’s room.

  As I walked in, I was greeted by a tough looking middle-aged man. With tanned skin and strong muscles, the only indication I could tell of his age was the bits of wrinkles on his face and gray lines on his hair. He had his arms crossed sitting at his desk, tellingly there didn’t seem to be any fear coming out of him as far as I can tell.

  “I see the lord of this town has finally decided to meet up with me, take a seat and explain what you need from me.” He said semi sarcastically, mixed with seriousness.

  I took the empty seat in front of him and mimicked his mannerism, crossing my own arms as well as staring back at him.

  “I came here because I realized I never properly checked on how the guild has been handling the new transition. Since this town is mine now, I’ll need it to be able to function properly and I know that they have relied on your guild for many requests before Guild master-”

  “Otis, and I appreciate your generous interest in us lord Vladimir. But I’m sure you’re quite busy so let me get straight to the point.”

  Otis then lays his arms at his desk while clasping his hands together as he gives off a serious expression on his face.

  “In truth, things have been a bit difficult for us. Many of the adventurers here have lost their motivation to do any of the quests or have decided to look for work in another town. It seems they find our new residents uncomfortable to work with and they usually stay clear of them. Not only that but it seems they hunt many of the beasts that the adventurers do take the quests to hunt for. I’ve been getting several complaints about the situation.”

  He then gave a sigh of exhaustion as he continued, his gaze never leaving my sight.

  “On top of that; it seemed our highest ranked Adventurer, Damian, has been rather …. distracted. He seemed rather focused on you and weirdly enough our newest adventurer, I believe his name was Dimir. It has left his work performance to slack, making many adventurers question in our ability to properly assess the capabilities of their ranks. So now that you heard all this, exactly what do you wish to do lord Vladimir?”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  As he finished his explanation, his glare started to feel more intense as my old kobold instincts started to kick in after a long time, screaming at me to run NOW! Unfortunately, even if I wanted to, I found my own body incapable of moving. Wait…. Am I actually feeling nervous right now, like really nervous? I don’t think my instincts have ever kicked in this hard since my fight with Mordred, the heck is up with this human?!!

  Before I could continue my thoughts, I suddenly was brought back into the present by the sound of his hands slamming in his desk. My body instantly shook, and I could see I needed to answer right now!!

  “Y-yes I see, I’ll make sure to discuss this with Damian and have him refocus on his duties as an adventurer!”

  I thought that would be enough, but his glare told me otherwise, so I continued “A-as well I’ll be sure to discuss with the non-human minions of mine about their hunting activities.”

  With that last statement, it seemed the Guild master Otis finally relaxed his arms as I breathed a sigh of relief as the tension eases. “A-anyway I’m glad to get a proper assessment here and I’ll make sure to get to work in improving it here.”

  I quickly got up from the chair and was practically speeding out of the room, before I froze as he spoke again.

  “Lord Vladimir…. Thank you for taking the time to see me. For the Adventurer’s Guild’s honor of freedom, we officials have a rule of not involving ourselves directly with the upper management of kingdoms and towns directly, though we don’t stop the adventurers themselves from getting involved. Which is why most locations don’t even bat an eye to us, so having you take notice is…. relieving.”

  I was taken a bit back, but after finally managing to take control over my emotions I cracked a smile “Of course, if I am to take over this world it’s important then I’ll need to keep what is mine functioning. ~”

  I suddenly felt a similar dread from earlier wash over me as I lost the smile on my face. Then it disappeared with the sound of laughter from Otis as he repeatedly slammed his hand on his desk.

  “You sure have a big goal there, well if you succeed then I guess the Adventurer’s Guild would have no choice but to join in as well. Good luck!!” He proudly stated, the sound of laughter still echoing from his voice.

  By the tone of his voice, I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. Either way I needed to get out of the room now! I quickly closed the door and was greeted by V and the others.

  “Mr. Vlad! Mr. Vlad! How did it go? ~” V gave me the same comfortable smile as they came towards me. There didn’t seem to be any sense of worry coming from them, so I had to assume that their [Map] ability didn’t detect any hostility from that man. So, what the fuck was all that earlier about then?!

  “…uhh sir, is everything alright??” One of the goblins asked, concerned as I noticed I was breathing heavily. It seems I haven’t completely recovered from my anxiety.

  I took a deep breath as I calmed myself, “I’m fine, I’m done business here so we can go. Just need to find Damian and discuss a few matters.”

  They all nodded, and we left the building. I’ll need to take note to be more prepared next time I’m dealing with that Guild Master. When we went to pick up Damian, I explained the situation to him, and I swear I thought I saw his body shiver for a second there. Guess I’m not the only one who has dealt with the Guild Master like that before. While he didn’t say a word, he hastily nodded his head when I explained what Otis wanted him to do. No sooner had I finished explaining did he quickly left in the direction of the Adventurer’s Guild.

  Now that just left the matter to discuss with my monster minions, unlike with Damian it took a bit more time to convince them to be more mindful on how they act around the humans as well as to limit their hunts outside, mainly the orcs. Surprisingly my fellow kobolds and goblins were quick to understand unlike my orcs.

  “But there’s so much different beast to hunt out here boss.” One orc complained.

  “Yeah, and why should we be mindful about the humans? We’re stronger than them after all.” The other orc whined while pouting.

  With a tap of my foot, I begin to cause the ground below their feet to move. Feeling this, the orcs kept quiet, probably remembering their ‘punishment’ last time. Once they were silent, I explained.

  “As you remember, this town now belongs to me. And I much prefer to keep what’s mine in top working condition. And I doubt you’d want to disappoint me on that part, right?” I asked them, slipping int my expectations of their answer.

  “N-no boss we understand!!” They nervously agreed, understanding my intent.

  I smiled, pleased by their response as I continued “That said, you won’t need to completely give up on hunting. Just leave the weaker ones for the adventurers and focus on the beasts in the cave, they’d rather avoid there anyway and if you want even stronger prey you can work with Damian and Mordred on that font. As for the rest of the residents…”

  I then pointed my clawed finger at them as to further address the matter, “I know you’ve been giving them unnecessary death glares! You don’t need to talk to them if you don’t want but at least put in the effort of a simple wave hi and to not glare at them! I know you can do it; you seem to get along with the human soldiers on the outside border just fine.”

  They nodded in understanding, and I relaxed. Hopefully this should help improve their situation. Deciding that I did enough for the day I retired in my home building, V happily followed behind. I’m sure I’ll be hearing Mordred and Damian not long after, that is if Damian isn’t too busy from his sudden motivation to do quests.

  There’s still a lot more work to do before my town thrives, for that matter I’ll still need to deal with that pathetic kingdom soon, it’s just a matter of time.