Runesmith: Chapter 446 – Friends In High Places. (Patreon)

All seemed well as Roland spotted his sister nestled in a corner with her friends, indulging in some overpriced delicacies. Ernas on the other hand was a level above, sitting in something that resembled a private booth. It was hard to see from Roland’s current vintage point, but the man indulged in some fun with unknown women. Presumably, it was to fill the void left by Ulfine’s departure. While relief washed over him seeing everyone safe and sound, Roland couldn't shake the feeling that the ordeal was far from over.

‘Are they the Baskerville knights, or an entirely different faction?’

One individual within the group caught Roland's attention, their level was notably higher than his own. While he was not a tier 4 class holder, he surpassed the trio he had faced earlier. To make things worse, he was not alone. There were multiple other tier 3 class holders of lesser levels, which together would pose a threat even to someone like him. His armor had been damaged and restored which lessened its quality already, if another fight broke out, he wasn’t sure of the outcome.

‘I should probably relax, even if they are bought out by the Baskervilles, they will probably not attack a Professor from the Institute.’

With this thought in mind, Roland took a moment to compose himself before approaching not his sister’s table, but the one where Ernas was. While the man would probably not help him, he had an item that could allow him to get out of this predicament without a fight breaking out. His current goal was to quickly return to the institute as staying in this city for another week was not the best idea.

After making his way up the stairs, he was hit in the nose by a sweet scent. It permeated the upper area of this restaurant and laughter echoed through it. The moment he arrived here, he knew that this place was nothing a child should be in. That Ernas decided to come here with his students was questionable, to say the least. There were even red curtains dividing the booths up here, with alluring noises coming from many.

‘I shouldn’t be surprised, they let me go into a dungeon when I was just ten…’

As Roland approached Ernas's booth, he noticed the man engrossed in conversation with the women accompanying him. They were laughing and chatting, seemingly oblivious to the world around them. Roland hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. He wasn't particularly fond of Ernas, but he needed his help. After clearing his throat, Roland spoke up, trying to catch Ernas's attention amidst the loud chatter.

“Professor Ernas, may I have a word with you?”

Ernas turned towards Roland, a look of mild surprise but also annoyance crossed his features. He was together with two human women, both quite charming but more than likely, escorts.

“Ah, Assistant Professor… What brings you here? Have you already resolved that anomaly? If so, would you mind taking the students back to the Inn? It’s probably already too late to continue the advancement classes for today.”
The ladies laughed as Ernas continued to smile at them and rest his hands on their hips. It was clear that this person didn’t want to continue his conversation with Roland, instead opting to continue his day of entertainment. Which would probably turn into a nightly encounter if he was left to his own devices.

He was wearing his helmet so his expression of disdain was hidden. Ernas’ dismissive attitude was quite maddening and he wished to do nothing less than to smack that grin off his face. However, he knew he had to maintain his composure as his next plan wouldn’t truly work without this man’s help.

“I’m afraid there’s been a somewhat unfortunate incident within the dungeon, Professor.”

“An unfortunate incident? Can’t you take care of it yourself?”

“That will be hard, we will need to cancel the advancement classes and we need to contact the Institute immediately.”

“You want us to do what? Preposterous!”

The response was what he expected, Roland was just a new assistant professor with no real power. This man also belonged to Delauder’s department which he had a feud with. Roland took a deep breath, trying to maintain his patience despite Ernas's dismissive attitude

“Professor Ernas, I understand your reluctance, but the situation in the dungeon is more serious than I initially thought. There's a possibility of danger not only to our students but also to the city itself. We need to act quickly and inform the Institute about what transpired…”

Ernas scoffed, waving his hand dismissively as if brushing off Roland's concerns like pesky flies.

“Nonsense! You're overreacting, Assistant Professor. What do you exactly want me to do? Call the Headmistress? First off…”

Before Ernas could berate him and prod for information concerning this incident, Roland interjected.

“Yes, that exactly, let us inform the Headmistress, she probably already knows what has happened!”

“She knows? What happened, exactly?”

The moment the Headmistress was mentioned, Ernas started to straighten up.

“That doesn’t matter, you need to contact the Institute and for that, we need the transmission tool that you have.”

This was the crux of the problem. Ernas owned a special communication device that could even contact the Headmistress's office directly. It was given to the leader of this academic expedition. If something out of the ordinary happened, he was given the right to call up forces from the Institute that could aid them if something bad happened. Usually, it was used to contact someone in a higher position to ask for instructions whenever something unique transpired.

In this case, Roland wanted to contact the Headmistress who would be able to order them to return. During the incident with the Spiritualist, he didn’t have an opportunity to talk things through and it didn’t seem that she had reached out to Ernas. The man would probably contact someone else like Delauder or the Vice-Headmaster, who could turn down his plea to postpone things here.

“Hey, what do you think you are doing?”

“Hm? Was that downstairs?”

Before this conversation could be concluded, the people from outside the restaurant finally decided to show themselves. A commotion broke out a level below, one of the other faculty members was shouting at someone. Roland could see that the dots that had been standing outside, had moved inside, at least the tier 3 class holders. The rest encircled the whole establishment as if they were trying to apprehend a criminal.

As Roland peered down from the upper level of the restaurant, he could not see any familiar faces. These men were not part of the Baskerville knights, nor did they seem as part of any particular force, they were clearly adventurers. Their strongest member was a large man with unkempt hair and a bushy beard. It wasn’t hard to identify who he was as he wore the symbol of the adventurers guild on his clothes.

‘That’s probably the Guild Master of this city, he seems to be around the same level as Aurdhan…’

There was a reason why they were here and it was him. He could only assume that either one of the knights that escaped ratted him out or that they were on the Castellane payroll.
However, Roland couldn't afford the risk of falling into the hands of these individuals. The consequences of capture were too unpredictable as he couldn't predict what they might do to him and his sister in his absence.

“Professor Ernas, we need that…”

“It can wait, what is all of this shouting, someone give me an explanation.”

Before he could wrestle that device out of Ernas, the man charged out of his booth. It was clear that he had identified the voice of the person and he was part of his department. Roland could only give out a sigh and walk after him hoping that this whole thing wouldn’t escalate any further.

As Roland followed Ernas downstairs, he found chaos unfolding. The faculty member who had been shouting was now in a heated argument with the adventurers who had entered the restaurant. The Guild Master stood at the forefront, his imposing presence commanding attention.

“What's going on here?”

The man who seemed to be the adventurer guild master moved forward. Around him were other armed men who were probably all Platinum Adventurers. They had their hands near their weaponry and were quite ready to attack. Roland hoped that this wouldn’t escalate into anything as there were many underaged students around them. With powerful magic involved, it was very dangerous for the children that were low leveled.

“We received reports of a disturbance in the dungeon nearby. Witnesses claim to have seen a mage emerging from the dungeon.”

It was clear that they were here for Roland and all of them were gazing in his direction. Ernas followed their gaze and instantly identified their target which was Roland. However, to his surprise, the words that left his mouth were not what he expected.

“A disturbance? Surely there must be some mistake. My students and I were merely enjoying a meal. I assure you, no one from the Institute has been involved in any such incident, and even if they were, what of it?”

The Guild Master narrowed his eyes, clearly unsatisfied by the answer he had received. Roland expected Ernas to rat him out instantly but it seemed that this man was similar to nobles. Even if they had issues with each other, they would band against common threats. In this case, it was mages from a prestigious school going against adventurers who were nothing more than ruffians in their eyes.

“I don't buy it, ‘Professor’ “

Replied the adventurer leader in a mocking tone.

“We have credible witnesses who saw him leaving the dungeon. Some people have gone missing, we just want to… ask him some questions, don’t make this more difficult than it has to be.”

Ernas was not pleased and quickly retorted while trying to keep an authoritative air around him. Roland wasn’t sure why he was so adamant about this but at least he wasn’t budging.

“Who do you think that you are to be ordering me around, Adventurer?”

As the standoff escalated, Roland realized that it was perhaps better to diffuse this situation before it spiraled out of control. These men were in a sense doing their job and were probably being backed by some nobles. Each side felt that their side had more power and without the leaders of each side intervening directly, no one would probably budge.

The people that were stuck in here were starting to panic. Whenever tier 3 class holders and above argued, they would increase the pressure, similar to Roland’s suppression skill. All the exits were being blocked as well, so fleeing was not an option either. To resolve this situation, some more drastic measures needed to be taken.

“Hey, what are you?”

“Just let me use this…”

This city’s guild master had an oversized sword instead of an axe and he quickly went for it. Roland decided to do something more drastic and activated the communication bracelet that Ernas was wearing. It was attuned to the man’s mana pattern but getting through enchantments was something that he had already specialized in.

“Let go of my hand, what are you doing?”

“Just stay still for a moment so we can resolve this…huh?”

While Roland intended to go through the magical locks and activate the device, it sprung to life on its own accord. It produced a cone of light that shot up and within it, a figure started to appear. This magical artifact worked similarly to Roland’s holographic devices and could also produce the image of the person on the other side.

“Assistant Professor Wayland and… Profesor Ernas…”

“H-headmistress… I didn’t want to… this hoodlum forced me to…”

The artifact was meant for emergencies and a person holding it would be punished if they used it without a proper reason. It was for this reason that Ernas was panicking as it was given to him for safekeeping. The magical image of the Headmistress appeared before them, her expression stern but focused not on the man who was panicking but Roland instead.

“Assistant Professor Wayland, I forgot to ask you about a few things but first let us resolve this issue.”

Roland planned to either contact the Headmistress or someone high-ranking enough to have the issue with Ernas resolved. He did not expect the Institute leader to activate it from her end, it was as if she knew the exact right moment to intervene.

“Of course, Headmistress…”

She talked while the adventures surrounded her holograph-like image. At first, it seemed that they would charge forward but once they saw the person that they were talking to, they were forced to stop. Xandar’s Institute of Wizardry was located quite close to this dungeon city and the visage of their leader was quite known. Yavenna Arvandus or the Lady of Thorns that many called her, was someone that people feared within the whole Kingdom.

“These gentlemen must be…”

She turned towards the adventurers who seemed like they were ready for some action. Luckily, their leader had some sense and quickly raised his hand to stop them.

“They are adventurers from the guild and are investigating the recent dungeon irregularity.”

Replied Roland while Ernas seemed surprised that his lesser co-worker was managing to speak to the Headmistress in such a relaxed tone.

“Mhm, bring me over to them.”

“...”

Roland along with Yavenna paused for a moment before Ernas realized that this was the cue for him to start moving. The bracelet was still stuck to his arm and the technology wasn’t too perfect. There was a need to bring it closer for her to hear the replies of the adventurers.

“Ah, of course, Headmistress!”

Ernas finally complied, albeit reluctantly, and moved closer to the group of adventurers.

“Young man, you seem to be in charge.”

“Young man? I mean, yes?”

Replied the Guild Master in a confused fashion as he looked like a man in his early sixties. However, he was talking with someone who was an elf who could very well be many times their senior.

“There seems to have been an issue inside your dungeon that concerns one of the members from my institute. Worry not, I will personally question the person involved in this matter and inform you of our findings. In the meantime, I ask for your cooperation and patience.”

The Guild Master exchanged a glance with his companions and was clearly not happy about the statement. Roland wasn’t sure if his plan was the right one but it seemed that the Headmistress was on his side. He expected the proud mages to wish to resolve matters in their own way and behind closed doors. While he would be questioned letter, it was better if it happened at the Institute than here.

“Wait, you can’t expect us to just be fine with this?”

“I can’t? Do I have to remind you of your position, Guild Master?”

The Guild Master was not pleased by how this situation was turning out but the Headmistress didn’t seem too concerned and instantly shot him down before turning back to the two professors.

“Professor Ernas, Assistant Professor Wayland. Return to the institute, the advancement classes will be continued inside our training grounds and when you return… Assistant Professor Wayland, report to my office, immediately. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Headmistress.”

Roland replied, his voice firm and respectful. Ernas, who had been visibly flustered by the sudden appearance of his boss, was quick to follow up.

“Yes, Headmistress, right away.”

With that, the holographic image of the Headmistress dissipated, leaving Roland, Ernas, and the group of adventurers standing in the tense atmosphere of the restaurant. The Guild Master grumbled something under his breath, clearly unhappy with the turn of events. However, he knew better than to challenge the authority of the Headmistress of Xandar’s Institute of Wizardry. He could only glare at Roland who just stood there and recorded the man’s mana pattern for further use.

“Let’s go…”

Eventually, the adventurers exited the restaurant and the tension started to dissipate. The students began whispering and some of the patrons that had been stuck here started to quickly leave. Roland’s eyes remained on his mini-map as he wasn’t sure if these people would just give up like this.

“Wayland!”

“Hm?”

However, his thoughts were interrupted by Ernas who for an obvious reason, was sweating quite profusely.

“What are you waiting for? We need to get back to the Institute!”

The man wasn’t even interested in hearing about what happened to Professor Ulfine. Instead, he urged everyone in the restaurant to gather up and the other faculty members to count the students before departing. It seemed that he was unwilling to make the Headmistress wait for even a millisecond.

‘Things worked themselves out but… I still need to report to the Headmistress.”

His sister was safe and they were going to return to the Institute soon. With Yavenna Arvandus’ name protecting them, there wouldn’t be many who dared to stop them. Yet, it was he who was tasked with making the report, not Ernas. It was evident that her assistance wouldn't come without a price tag attached and it was something that he needed to prepare for.