Chapter 19

The two of them headed back to the guild. Upon entering, for the first time since they visited this building, they saw someone else in there with Ellie. Ellie herself was lying on the desk, her eyes closed, while the figure was sitting in front of her. They didn’t see a chair there before, so maybe this figure had been waiting for a while, hence why they got a chair.

The figure wore a dark brown cloak, a wineglass in his hands. The liquid in it was clear, certainly not wine. John didn’t feel all too comfortable all of a sudden. The figure pulled back his hood, revealing their combed yellow hair. Their bright silver eyes shifted toward them.

“Oh, welcome back,” they said. “It's been a while.”

John looked through his memory. He felt he had seen this person before, but he couldn't remember their name.

“... Who are you again?”

“Can’t believe you’ve forgotten about me!” the man said, slight pain in his words. He held his chest, acting as if his words had dealt a severe blow.

“... You know him?” Leyla asked.

John nodded. He pondered for a moment.

“Ah, it’s Jakob I think-”

“Isak! It’s Isak!”

Isak took a deep breath, calming himself down.

“So loud…” Ellie lifted her head, glaring at the three. For a split second, John seriously thought she was dead, and he had walked into a conspiracy of some sort.

“Can’t believe you can sleep on the job,” Isak said.

Ellie continued staring at him before saying, “Why are you here?”

“Am I not supposed to?”

“Boss specifically said not to let you in.”

As everyone could see, Isak was already in. Ellie didn’t seem keen on driving him out, however.

“Aren’t you supposed to… I don’t know, force him out?” Leyla asked.

“Not my problem.” Ellie returned his head to the table. She closed her eyes, but then shot upward.

“Ah, right, I just remembered. I did ask you to come here… What did I call you for again?”

“As if we know!” Leyla shouted, pretty annoyed at this pointless exchange.

Still, John wasn’t sure how he would feel with Isak being there. Something about him felt… off. He wasn’t some random dude that they could just ignore. He felt important, somehow, and he wasn’t there because of some coincidence.

“... Why are you here?” he tried asking, despite already knowing the answer.

“I’m a treasure hunter as well, see?” Isak showed them his guild card. Isak did ask him to go to a treasure hunters’ guild if he was interested.

“You still have that?” Ellie asked.

“Why would I throw it away?”

“Because, you know, you’re no longer a member of the guild?”

Isak didn’t strike him as someone who would leave an organization. He understood that he knew little to nothing about the man, and that made it even more uncomfortable for John.

Just… who is this?

Could it really be just a coincidence?

“Ah, right.” Ellie clapped her hands. “Since you’re here, how about you help with the dungeon?”

“Oh? Is it fine?”

“It’s your conflict with the boss. Keep me out of it. I just want the bonus.”

Leyla then explained the current state of progress, while also complaining about how Menela distracted the two from the task. She hadn’t told Ellie about the details of their job in the academy, and they decided to keep Ellie away from the details. They didn’t want their quest for this chair to be any more difficult.

“I see… I don’t mind,” Isak said.

“Don’t you have other things to do?” John asked. While he would appreciate an extra set of helping hands, especially considering their own weaknesses, he couldn’t deny the feeling he had. He couldn’t reject him, either. He didn’t have a good reason to.

“Not at the moment. I finished what I came here for. I do have some more things to prepare, so let’s meet here again tomorrow morning.”

“Alright, we’ll get to our own preparations, then,” Leyla said.

It was too late for them to head through the dungeons, and they needed a lot of preparation if they wanted to spend a long time down there.

Isak left the guild. John turned to Ellie, still curious about him.

“Why was he kicked out?”

“Don’t know. It’s between him and my boss. My boss just warned me not to accept him, but he’s not here right now.”

John crossed Ellie from anyone he would hire in the future. He couldn't see himself working with her.

“Let’s get going,” Leyla said, and they headed toward the door. Just before they left, John turned around.

“Can we borrow the room for another night?”

Ellie heaved a deep sigh. “Fine, whatever. I lock up at ten, so either get back before that, or use the rear door.”

John was surprised to know that they were locked inside the night before. They did sleep straight through the night, so they didn’t have any reason to leave.

“... The rear door?” John hadn’t heard about this rear door, however. And, in typical Ellie fashion, she yawned and returned to the table, limiting their only option to returning before ten.