The Achievement Junkie 146 Regional Advisor Wain

Eventually, the group came to an abrupt halt outside of the association building. Everyone hopped off their horses as one man in front knocked on the door.

Not giving the association time to greet their guests, a couple of men stepped out of the carriage. One, in particular, marched to the door and pounded it hard, shaking the hinges harshly. 

"What do you want?!" A voice yelled as the front door swung open. That's when Zariff realized why someone had bothered disturbing their night and interrupted his time with the wife. "Everyone, hurry in. You can park the carriage in the back."

"It's about time," complained the man who nearly destroyed the door with his harsh knocks.

"Regional Advisor Wain, there's no need to be mad. I'm sorry for the delay, but we were told you would arrive tomorrow," explained Zariff. "Also, I didn't know that you were coming. I thought only Branch Chief Liam was coming."

"I decided last minute to come and see everything for myself. Considering it may involve the syndicate, I had it my job to investigate," replied Advisor Wain. "Now, where's the young man you said discovered it all? I'd like to get to know him."

"Umm, can that wait till tomorrow, Advisor Wain?" Zariff noticed the advisor's strange look so he continued, "That kid, Jack, is currently upstairs, but he's unavailable at the moment."

"And why's that? He must be doing something pretty important if he can't meet with Advisor Wain," stated Branch Chief Liam, who closed the front door behind him.

"It's a long story, mind if I explain over a drink and some good food?" asked Zariff, leading them to the bar. "Marisha! Advisor Wain and Chief Liam just arrived and they're starving!"

Like lightning, a silhouette in a cozy robe appeared from down the hall. "Advisor, chief, it's good to see you. I'll whip up something special for you."

"Good, now get to explaining." With a nod to Marisha, Advisor Wain sat down beside Zariff and gave Zariff his full attention.

Once Chief Liam did the same, Zariff stated, "You already know the attack we had anticipated came earlier than expected, but we managed to succeed thanks to the hidden expert in Reinolt. Though we won the battle with little casualties, one of the few people we lost was that kid's girlfriend. She saved him but died doing so."

"But wasn't that over a week ago?" interjected Advisor Wain. "If he's too much of a baby to get over it after a week, then--"

"Let me finish, advisor, please," Zariff also cut-off Advisor Wain, making the advisor realize it was more complicated than he had assumed. "It was a heavy blow for the kid, but he came up with a plan. He and Rydel left for the Zuran Empire to bring back something that could save her and bring her back to life!"

"Zuran Empire! Bring her back to life!" Advisor Wain was caught up on what Zariff had just said. "You mean to tell me that they entered the Zuran Empire, found a priceless treasure, and made it back here before we arrived?"

"Yes, that's exactly what they did. But they did travel by roc, otherwise, it never would've worked," explained Zariff.

"Traveled by roc…" Advisor Wain started to chuckle in excitement. He leaned in close to Zariff and asked, "So, what happened, what did they find?"

"They traveled to Ponlinne and managed to enter the Pon Family Catacombs. Only those under lv. 30 were allowed at the time, so Jack entered alone, but he still got what he wanted. Not only that, in order to keep others from knowing what he found inside, Jack kidnapped four noble family heirs and forced their bodyguards to wait by the entrance."

Panting wildly, Advisor Wain's eyes were sparkling. He had heard that the hero accepted into the association was rather special and was known for creating miracles. What he didn't expect was that not only were all the rumors correct, apparently, they were underexaggerated!

By then, food and drink had already been placed in front of them by Marisha. She was quiet, though, so she didn't disturb her husband's story.

"Tell me more!" yelled the advisor as he grabbed the wine bottle and directly started drinking from it.

"The kid had already stolen Ponlinne the Great's staff and used it to find Ponlinne's hidden tomb within the catacomb. There, the kid found what he was looking for, a life spring," explained Zariff. "He took the life spring gem and everything else inside the tomb. Then, after everyone exited and Jack made friends with the noble family heirs, Jack escaped with the Pon Family head's daughter. She's here and has joined the association in order to escape her betrothal."

"Astounding!" Advisor Wain pounded his now empty mug on the counter, shaking the bar. "What else was in the tomb? There must be some amazing treasures!"

"I have no clue."

"What?! What do you mean?" asked Chief Liam.

Shrugging, Zariff continued, "Exactly that, I have no clue. After everything they did, Jack failed to arrive in time to save her. He had seven days to get her that life spring gem, but thanks to the sky navy's interference they arrived late at night on the eighth day."

Chief Liam and Advisor Wain kept silent as they pondered Zariff's story. Such an amazing youth would become the star of the association someday. But, at the moment, they could also understand why the kid would take her death heavily on his conscience; even more so now that he had done so much to only come up short in the end.

"So, please, can it wait till tomorrow, Advisor Wain?" asked Zariff, hoping that the stern and cold advisor would soften up a little.

"I guess it can wait." Normally the advisor wouldn't bother waiting, even if it involved the death of someone close. However, Advisor Wain understood that Jack could become a future face of the association and it would be best to be on good terms with him. Sure, Jack was young now, but for a lv. 20 do all that alone was amazing! And how could he forget that Jack was also a summoned hero with a Hell-flame Fox beast companion?

"Thank you, Advisor. Here's to the association!" Zariff lifted his mug high, initiating a toast.

"To the association!"

They cheered and drank while they chatted and feasted. Not wanting to miss too much sleep, they kept their little meeting short and hit the hay.

In the morning, everyone was startled to find the regional advisor inside the branch. The order said that only Branch Chief Liam and a group of men would arrive. For someone like Regional Advisor Wain to arrive unannounced was a big deal! While Zariff and Chief Liam were lv. 35 and lv. 39, Advisor Wain was lv. 47; the difference was huge!

"So, Zariff, where's that boy now?" asked Advisor Wain as they enjoyed a breakfast at the bar.

"He should still be--"

Just then, slow footsteps came down the stairs. It was too early for a lot of people to work up there, so everyone only thought of one person when they heard those footsteps.

"Jack!" Maura stood up and hurried to greet him. "Are you okay? You must be hungry, come with me."

Not saying anything, Jack let her drag him to the bar. His eyes were lifeless like before and he didn't appear to be tired. If Maura had only just met Jack, she would have thought he was perfectly fine. But she had met Jack and she could tell that he was colder to the people around him than he had been before.

"Here, let me grab you a plate." Rushing to the kitchen, Maura didn't bother waiting for a reply.

Jack blinked. He sighed and stretched his arms and back. Looking around the room, Jack noticed a few unfamiliar faces, two of which were seated beside Zariff.

"Chief, who are they?"

Zariff was startled for a moment. He didn't expect Jack to call him by his title. It was different and Zariff didn't like it, it felt like Jack was more distant.

Advisor Wain saw Zariff's hesitation so he introduced himself. "I'm Regional Advisor Wain and this is Branch Chief Liam, the West Polt Branch Chief. You're Jack, right?"

A simple nod answered his question, so Wain continued, "If you want, you can just call me Wain. It's informal, but I don't mind since it's you. I look forward to showing you around the Polt Federation."

Since all that was left of the syndicate incident was investigating any leads or further connections with Reinolt, Chief Liam and Advisor Wain would become their escorts to the Polt Federation.

"When do we leave, Wain?" There was a slight smile on Jack's face but everyone could tell it was only out of courtesy.

"The investigation shouldn't take too long, so probably tomorrow or the day after," answered Advisor Wain. He wasn't concerned with Jack's coldness. He cared most about results, and Jack had already proven that his results were excellent!

Chapter end