The Leader Descends to the Guild - Part 2

A trembling boy, scared out of his wits, in front of what seemed to be another tied to the back of a strange white tiger in the middle of a swamp on a full moon night. That’s the scenario I find myself in now.

I knew how absurd my situation was, but I also understood the real danger I was in.

“600 rem, it’s a good price for my rescue, don’t you think?”

The guy tied to the tiger’s back spoke. His voice was arrogant, and his figure pitiful. The two didn’t seem to match given the circumstances.

“...” I swallowed before responding. “H-how do you expect me to help you?” I stammered.

“He won’t attack unless you move abruptly.”

That seemed right.

After lying on the ground for a few seconds, I realized that the white tiger was just following me with its gaze.

“Apparently, they told him to immobilize anyone who moves, so you’ll be fine if you stay still.”

“O-order?”

I asked, confused. Is this some kind of joke? It’s impossible for an animal to follow such an exact command.

“Ugh! Those idiots from the Mist are so annoying! Tying me to one of their tigers just because I’m the leader of a pathetic guild. Although we’re supposed to work together with all the guilds, they behave like total idiots just because they’re among the best... It really bothers me!”

W-what the heck is he talking about?

“For now, come closer little by little and untie me. He won’t attack if you do it slowly... maybe.”

That “maybe” doesn’t reassure me!

I was trembling, not because of the weird conversation earlier, but because of the enormous animal still standing on its front paws, watching me like I was a piece of roasted meat. Something must have gone wrong with me at that moment; I can’t think of any other reason why I agreed to what he said. Was it fear? Credulity? Maybe I just lost my mind.

I held my breath—no particular reason, it wasn’t like I was going to swim Olympic-style or anything—it was instinctual, just like walking slowly. There I was, moving as slowly as possible, inch by inch, my breath quickening, my heart pounding.

“Good, good, keep going, almost there!”

The guy tied up started annoying me with his cheers.

I moved from a few meters away to being just centimeters from the animal. The tiger still kept its gaze fixed on me, its white eyes radiating fury, and anxiety was consuming me. As I advanced, the tiger lowered its chin closer to the ground.

I swallowed again and looked at the tied-up guy, slowly extending my hand toward the animal’s back. Sweat started dripping from my forehead, a drop made it into my eye, but I couldn’t afford to lose control over something like that. My trembling arm was just inches from the tied-up guy. I paused for a moment. The tiger kept staring at me from below but didn’t do anything else. I continued, bringing my other arm closer to untangle the knot. This time, I moved faster, still trembling, my heart racing a hundred beats per second.

Once my hands reached the knot, the struggle of my fingers began. I untangled one, pulled on the other, untied another, and pulled again. It seemed impossible to untangle this mess, so I had to repeat the action several times.

It took me about five minutes to untie it, and then the guy fell like a dead weight off the back of the strange white tiger. What kind of absurd knot was that?! After that, the white tiger yawned and walked away, disappearing from our view—guess it got bored of the pathetic struggle between the rope and me.

“Thanks! You saved me!” he said as he stood up and dusted off his clothes.

Taking a closer look at him, the guy had messy dark hair, an untidy beard, and a sad excuse for a mustache. He wore what could only be described as a cosplay outfit—those geeky costumes used by fans of video games, anime, or manga. He had a red bandana tied around his forehead that didn’t match the old chest armor he was wearing, along with some worn-out metal knee guards over dark pants. As a belt, he had some kind of fanny pack that wasn’t worth describing, and to top it off, he adorned this sad figure with an extravagant red loom, fashioned like a cape.

Ridiculous, I thought, experiencing embarrassment for the first time. Someone his age shouldn’t be dressed like that. If you want to wear that, go to a comic or anime convention; don’t wear it in public. I simply couldn’t look him in the eye.

After finishing brushing himself off, the guy shook my hand, gripping it tightly and shaking it up and down.

“I’m Darkwind, man, you really saved me, thanks.”

Darkwind? Wait... Darkwind? Is that his name? No way, this can’t be real. Ugh, this is the first time I feel second-hand embarrassment.

“As I promised, I’ll pay you 600 rem. What guild are you from? Should I give the payment to your leader?”

“Wait, wait! Rem? And what is this about a guild? You mentioned something earlier, and Darkwind? Don’t use such an embarrassing name! It’s a name for a video game character! And what is this place? How did I get here?”

The guy I had just saved seemed disoriented.

“I see… You just woke up, huh? That explains your outfit.”

He said the last part almost whispering.

“What’s your name, kid?” No, wait, never mind, that doesn’t matter right now.

The guy in armor was talking to himself, clearly not interested in hearing my name or even acknowledging me.

“Alright!” The guy jumped as if he had a great idea. “Don’t worry, I know a place where they’ll tell you everything.”

Why don’t you tell me yourself? That’s the least you could do after I saved you.

I thought, agitated, as the cosplay guy pulled three sheets of paper from his fanny pack. They looked a bit old and worn. He also pulled what seemed to be an ink pen, turned away from me, sat on the ground, used a flat rock as a table, and began writing on the three papers.

After a few minutes and ignoring my multiple questions, Dark… the guy with cosplay delusions stood up from the ground.

“Here.”

He turned completely and stretched out his arm with two folded sheets of paper in his hand.

“The one with the purple seal is for you to give to whoever receives you at the guild. The red one is for you, but read it after you hand over the first one. I trust you won’t break your promise, kid.”

I haven’t promised you anything yet.

The instructions were simple, but I didn’t understand what he was trying to get at.

He stretched his other hand with the third paper.

“Here’s a map of how to get to my guild. Don’t worry, everyone there’s a good guy. They’ll take care of you.”

“Take care of me? I just want someone to tell me what’s going on.”

“If you follow the path, you’ll reach the city after walking a few minutes. Then, you can follow the map. Also, here are 600 coins, as promised for my rescue. Each coin is a Rem.”

He said it all with a smile on his face and a somewhat mischievous tone of voice.

“Wait! You want me to accept this without any explanation! At least tell me what’s going on! How did I get here?”

“As I said, they’ll tell you everything there. Just follow the instructions, and you’ll get there in less than an hour. This is where we part ways.”

The guy started walking in the opposite direction of the path he had indicated. He ignored everything I said and only stopped to say one thing.

“Kid, just promise me this: don’t tell anyone your name. Keep it a secret.”

He said that line trying to look cool, then after a few minutes and walking a fair distance, the cosplay guy disappeared from my view.

“AAAGGKKK! What’s wrong with that guy?”

All of this is stupid—suddenly appearing here, the swamp, the white tigers, the guy calling himself Dark… that crazy cosplay guy! What the heck is going on here?

Gradually, I began to calm down. After thinking it through, I came to the conclusion that I had no choice but to follow what the cosplay guy said. If I want information, my only option is to walk to the guild he mentioned. If it’s like he said, it’ll take at least an hour to get there. I’m really starting to hate my luck.