102 Chapter 102 - Even if Things Change, They Stay the Same (1/2)

When Gren got to the gate of the guild, he realized that he couldn't get in the normal way.The key was always kept in his pocket dimension and there were still five or so hours left to go before he could use it again.”I forgot my key to get in.As you can see, I wasn't exactly ready to leave this morning.”Thankfully, there was dirt in the alley so he could still get in without worrying about the sharp spikes on the wall that he installed.”We need to go over.”

Len and their mother weren't so prepared for Gren to pick them up and use his magic to bring them to the other side.It was probably a bit startling to suddenly be lifted into the air by a pillar of dirt but Gren didn't really think about how they felt.Gren entered through the side door with the mother and child behind him; the two of them a bit confused over what just happened.Nothing seemed out of place but nobody was in the kitchen and it was too quiet.Checking upstairs, both Jessica and Estella were missing and the only sign of life was Purrnina sleeping on his bed.

Gren was starting to think that something was wrong.Both Estella and Jessica being missing from the upstairs?Estella would sometimes go downstairs with the kids but it was unusual for Jessica to be away from her desk.”Come downstairs with me for a bit.”Gren grabbed both of their arms and started walking towards the stairs leading down to the underground.

”Is everything okay?You seem a bit worried right now.”Len's mother was starting to get worried as well.Gren was a pillar of support for her right now and she didn't want to see it crumble.

”Two of my wives are usually upstairs.I didn't see them up there.”Gren was hoping that they were just downstairs and that everything was okay.”Things were a bit weird this morning and it's hard to explain what happened.If they're not down here and nobody knows where they are then something might be seriously wrong.”It was possible that the Adiers already got to his family.

Len's mother wanted to ask more questions but didn't want to be rude to Gren.The stairs went deeper down than she expected and she didn't know how many wives Gren had; he only mentioned the one before but now there were two plus the hint towards an untold number more.There was no telling what kind of place this was but she had never seen such a large staircase outside of the castle in the center of the city.He was a weird person but she didn't think that he'd harm her so she continued to follow behind him.

Gren could hear the sound of people talking as he reached the bottom of the stairs.Judging by the number of different voices, it seemed that they were holding a meeting.It had been a long time since the last guild meeting so Gren wondered what it was about.

It should have been obvious what the meeting was about but, after hearing Jasmine's words, it would probably be awkward to just walk right in.”It's no coincidence that Gren disappeared after those soldiers appeared.Why is it that none of you want to do anything?We should march up to that castle and demand him back.”It was nice that his dragon wife wanted to help him but it was too late since he was already free.

”If you end up making an enemy out of the Duke then you'll bring us all down.Your actions affect all of us in the guild, even if we're not doing requests.”Gren recognized the voice of the woman that was speaking.It was that fox girl that was currently working as a salesperson in the guild's shop; her attitude towards Gren was always rude or dismissive which was annoying but not really harmful so he usually just kept away from her.It made sense for her to not want to help since she seemingly disliked him.

Listening in felt wrong but a part of him wanted to find out what they would say behind his back.”Inari is right.There is too much at stake for us to risk for just one person.Especially when we don't even know whether or not they actually took him.”It was Judy's job to look out for the inactive guild members so it would be weird if she was for Jasmine's idea.

It turned out that even Jessica was against the plan.”We've been sitting here for half an hour, arguing.I understand that you want to help him, Jasmine, but the Duke is too powerful for us to turn into an enemy and it's too late at night to do anything.If he's not back in the morning then we'll put out a request and contact everybody we know to help figure out what happened to him.”Gren didn't know what to feel about Jessica's words.On one hand, she was making the right choice as the guild master.On the other hand, she basically said that she'd abandon her husband to avoid making an enemy out of the Duke.

Considering Gren's current feelings on the Duke's family, Gren was torn on what to do next.Would he need to separate himself from the guild in order to protect them?Gren quickly realized that wouldn't work.If they couldn't get him then they'd go after his family and use them to lure him out.Gren really didn't want to give so many people guns but it was starting to look like there was no alternative.

Automatic rifles in the hands of amateurs that knew nothing about guns wasn't a good idea but it's not like those were the only ones available.A more complicated way of firing the gun would be necessary to prevent accidents and theft.Gren's idea was to start them off with bolt action rifles and expose them to firearms slowly.Training all of the guild members at once would be chaotic so he needed to hand pick the best members for the job.

It was good that most of the guild members were present.”Am I missing out on anything interesting?”Gren decided to act like he didn't hear them talking.”It's rare to see the guild gathered like this these days.”Jasmine's wings started to flutter when he spoke up; Gren thought that it was kinda cute to watch.

”Gren!”Jasmine quickly rushed straight towards Gren, requiring her to climb up a pillar to reach him.Gren was prepared for the bear... er... dragon hug but she stopped just short of him so he had his arms awkwardly stretched out.”Ugh!What's that smell?”

Did he really smell that bad?”My sweat, maybe?I'm not sure.”Gren couldn't think of anything else that he smelled like.

”You smell like a wet rat.Did you go into the sewers or something?”Gren couldn't smell that on himself but he was planning on washing himself either way so it didn't change anything.”Eh?Who are they?”

Gren looked at where Jasmine was facing and introduced his new acquaintances.”This is Len and... I just realized that I never got your name.”This seemed to happen a lot with Gren.In the acting world, you were either a big star that needed no introduction or some unknown face that introduced yourself to everybody so that you could gain some recognition so Gren wasn't used to asking for names.Gren was an oddball--an aberrant--and didn't network that often when he was an extra so he wasn't used to introducing himself either but he had been trying to work on that.

”Eleanor.I'm Len's mother.”Gren wondered if Len's name being part of Eleanor's name was intentional or not.”Gren saved us and brought us here to stay until it's safe to go back home.”