Unsurprisingly, Vivi found Rafael at the headquarters of the Adventurer's Guild. If not for the fact that the demon clearly thrived under hectic conditions, she'd have felt guilty for how the man never had a moment to rest.
Yet here I go, intruding on his schedule anyway.
Though it wasn't like she'd come with a frivolous pursuit. Logically speaking, there weren't many events more important on a global scale than the development of Vanguard.
Seeing how she wasn't facing an ongoing emergency, she didn't blink into his office unannounced like she had with Zael and Sarielle. She informed his assistant and sat down to wait. The mundane experience was maybe even good for her. She didn't want to get used to people waiting on her hand and foot, treating her like the most important person in the world.
…even if she might be, by certain definitions.
As always, she tried not to think too hard about that.
Rafael strode out less than a quarter of an hour later—or maybe longer, since she'd pulled out her notebook and gotten lost in developing theories. Idle time didn't bother her much, not when she had a pressing need to mine deeper into the secrets of voidglass, and enjoyed the process regardless. In fact, she might have preferred a longer delay.
"Lady Nysari?" Rafael prompted. "How may I help you?"
Vivi rose and followed the man into his office, where he had proper privacy wards installed—hence his use of her fake name. Upon closing the door, she announced without preamble, "I brought Eshara back."
She would never stop being impressed by how nearly nothing she said could faze the man. He didn't pause for even a quarter of a second. "Sooner than expected," he remarked. "That's good news. I apologize for being occupied. I'm nearly finished tying up loose ends with the Guild—I'll be solely Vanguard's within the week."
Vivi couldn't imagine what kind of managerial work went into abruptly abdicating one of the most important—and influential—administrative roles in the Kingdom, but she assumed that Rafael was already being more expeditious about that task than any person could reasonably expect.
"Take your time. And let me know if you need anything."
"I shouldn't." Rafael's expression turned wry. "I'll admit that the primary reason I've lingered is for Allegra's sake. I believe she'll have matters in hand, but she'll be fighting an uphill battle."
"If she needs my help, then she has it, too."
"A public statement to that effect could alleviate certain issues of hers," he said, sounding amused. "But the Sorceress's reputation is a hammer the size of the Royal Palace. A useful tool when appropriate, but not one I would wield unless certain of its necessity." He shrugged. "I merely gripe about work frustrations, pay no mind. To Vanguard?" He held out a hand.
Pressing her fingers against his, she [Blinked] them back to their guildhall.
"I'm serious, though," she told him when they arrived. "Ask if you need help." He did so much for her that she almost wished he had a favor she could repay him with. Even if all of that work was technically his job.
"I will," he replied idly. "Is there anything pressing I should know about with whatever happened down south?"
Vivi took a moment to reply. "Eshara… has had a rough day. But things worked out in the end."
"Ah." Keen as he was, he picked up on what she meant. A contemplative expression crossed the man's face. "I'll keep that in mind for how I address certain topics."
In brief terms, she caught him up as they walked to the forge. There honestly wasn't much to say, not so far as the Steward needed to know that very moment. Vivi had found Eshara; she had dealt with the Flesh-Weaver's work; and Eshara intended to rejoin.
Rafael focused on something in the quick report that Vivi hadn't expected. "Given what you've told me, I believe certain escalation protocols weren't properly followed." Displeasure dripped from his tone. "I'll be requesting further information from the responsible Guild branches." He paused, then grimaced. "Or rather, I'll be forwarding those concerns to Allegra. The operation of the Adventurer's Guild is no longer my concern." He took a breath and released it. A career of a hundred years was probably difficult to let go of, even for a man like Rafael, and even if he hadn't intended to take on that responsibility to begin with.
Further discussions were cut off by their arrival at the entryway to the forge. Only Mae and Eshara were inside; Vivi wasn't sure where the others had gone, since they hadn't been in the common room either.
Eshara had presumably heard Vivi coming—Titled did have fearsome senses—since she and Mae had already turned to face them by the time they arrived. The elvish knight squeezed Mae's shoulder in a goodbye gesture before walking up.
She stopped short of the demon. "Rafael."
"Eshara."
"I understand we have certain matters to discuss."
"That would be correct."
The two held each other's gaze, then nodded—not tersely, but without much congeniality, something Vivi picked up on not just because they hadn't so much as given each other a proper greeting. Vivi looked between them, only not blinking in confusion because of her new outward passivity.
Not… the biggest fans of each other, I take it?
She did remember Rafael taking on a sarcastic tone when describing the 'Roving Justicar' during that initial briefing from a while back. Something about how 'unyielding' Eshara was, and how unthinkable it would be for her to decline rejoining Vanguard.
Vivi didn't detect animosity between them—certainly not—but the two apparently weren't friends. Allies, perhaps even close ones, but not more than that. She wondered whether something had prompted the lack of kinship, or if it had come about through a simple mismatch of personalities.
"To my office?" Rafael suggested.
"Please." Eshara gestured for him to lead.
A minute later, the three of them had taken their seats in the small room.
"I'm glad to see you looking well, Eshara."
"And I you."
"How much has Vivisari caught you up on current events?"
"Only the broadest strokes. I was occupied with other issues." Her lips tightened at the memory. It had only been a handful of hours since she'd been standing above Corvan with her hammer raised, after all.
If Rafael noticed—and he had to have—he made no outward indication. "We should begin there, then. Current events. You need context."
"Before that, there was one question I put off until a more appropriate time." She turned to face Vivi. "Lady Vivisari. Where have you been this past century?"
Ah, yes. That question. She'd received it from most of her old acquaintances, and it was the one matter that she had come closest to lying about, though she tried to avoid doing so explicitly.
"It's complicated," Vivi said. "The short of it is that I wasn't in this world."
She went through that explanation that she'd given a few times now, to those who'd known her in her past life—if her situation could really be called a past life. Though Vivi was unwilling to expand on the topic, Eshara relaxed anyway.
Vivi could guess why. The woman clearly held nothing higher than duty and justice, and even if the Seven Cataclysms were dead, a number of disasters had ravaged the mortal lands in their wake, many thousands of innocents dying in the process. Unlike Malach and some others, Eshara wouldn't have condoned Vivi's retirement, if that was indeed what the Sorceress had disappeared for.
So hearing that Vivi had been out of reach and unable to return—though Vivi didn't fully elaborate and avoided using those exact terms—was enough of an answer to set the woman at ease.
"I see. In any case, I'm glad you're back, Guildmaster." A frown tugged on Eshara's lips, and she faced Rafael. "Now, please. Catch me up."
Rafael launched into his own report, covering Vivi's return, the first Quest, the void invasion, measures being taken to mitigate that disaster, and finally the second Quest. He prompted Vivi for clarifications and her own opinions where necessary, and Eshara digested the news with only a few reactions of overt surprise—meaning with unexpected stoicism, given the world-shaking nature of many of his announcements.
"Which brings us to two matters in conclusion: the first of which, your recruitment. I believe it goes without saying that you intend to join as Miraelle did, as both adventurer and craftsman."
"I do." Eshara's brows pulled together. "Though my missions can last months, and take me to faraway places. Acting as Vanguard's blacksmith may be difficult."
"Teleportation does simplify logistical issues," Rafael said, "and mortified as we may be to use the prime magical power in the world as a ferry, there is much to gain by making use of such strategies."
"I don't mind taking people to where they need to be," Vivi said, amused. She was pretty sure she remembered Archmage Aeris expressing similar embarrassment when she'd bounced him between Meridian and Prismarche. "Especially when it's for the Guild's benefit. You're hardly asking for your own sake."
"I can work in between missions," Eshara said, still sounding apologetic, even guilty, despite Vivi's reassurance. "But Vanguard will undoubtedly need a more consistent blacksmith heading the forge."
Vivi didn't mind how Eshara wouldn't be available at the drop of a hat. It would have surprised her if the woman had been willing to abandon her team—Vivi doubted the knight was any less attached to it than Petra to her restaurant.
In fact, Vivi wanted Eshara out there, seeking threats across the world. Witnessing the disaster at Crestwood had reminded Vivi of her limitations. So long as she was aware of and present for an issue, very little could stop her from solving the situation.
But 'aware of' and 'present for' were massive limitations. She couldn't clone herself and post copies at every city. Catastrophes like the one at Crestwood happened perhaps not all the time, but they weren't unheard of either. If Eshara hadn't sniffed the situation out, then the whole town would've been mutated into horrible monsters before an appropriate response was mustered.
So yes, she found great relief in how Eshara's team would continue seeking threats that Vivi and the Kingdoms weren't aware of. That was her ultimate goal with Vanguard, after all: to use her power, wealth, and influence to aid the world in a way her immense personal strength couldn't. That mindset applied to general recruitment too, hence her accepting well-meaning if weaker teams like William's. It hardly mattered to terrorized townsfolk if their slaughter came about from a gold-rank monster or a nascent Cataclysm. Dead was dead. The world needed more defenders, and Vivi wanted to supply and support them.
"We do intend to expand regardless," Rafael told Eshara. "We'll be recruiting additional craftsmen of every kind, not only blacksmiths. Your input in selecting proper candidates would naturally be invaluable to that end."
"I've met and worked with a number of craftsmen I hold in high regard, over the years," Eshara said, seeming contemplative. "So yes. I'll have recommendations."
"Excellent. We can discuss them at a later time." He turned to Vivi. "The second crucial matter is the finalization of the Quest." He touched his fingertips together and gave her a significant look. "Lady Vivisari, of course, has final judgment on the issue, but has been willing to hear the advice of her subordinates before."
Even Vivi could pick up the implication. "It's time to make our decisions, I know. With Eshara filling the requirement of Titled, there's only four slots remaining—three crafters, one adventurer."
Eshara seemed amused. "You had less difficulty finding a Titled, an orichalcum, and a mithril than you did a bronze rank."
Vivi saw the irony in that too.
"In a certain sense, it's only to be expected," Rafael observed. "Those prone to distinguishing themselves aren't likely to dawdle in the lowest adventuring rank. A gem is difficult to find buried in the ground, but easy in a bank vault. Rank intrinsically sifts out the sediment."
Huh. Vivi could see the logic, framed like that. Nevertheless, it remained a problem.
"Do you have any recommendations?" she asked Eshara.
The elf crossed her arms and contemplated. "No," she answered at last. "In fact, it's as Rafael said. It's not that I've never met a bronze rank that I would be proud to call a guildmate, but of those I've seen stand out, none are bronze any longer. Or they'll have given up their careers and settled down." She frowned, and Vivi could interpret why. There was another, third option for why they'd be unavailable. They had died trying to climb the ranks. The fate of many, perhaps even most, career adventurers.
"I see," Vivi said. Eshara had been her last hope for not plucking a random bronze rank off the streets. Functionally speaking, it wasn't like the difference between that and, for example, Mark, was that large. She just wished she had a personal reason to recruit each of the core Quest members. An emotional impulse, not grounded in logic, she knew. And something she might have to give up on.
"Perhaps," Rafael began slowly, "I have a lead for you, Lady Vivisari." He leaned back in his seat and seemed torn, which wasn't an expression she saw often on the man. "I didn't bring it up until now to avoid stepping on toes."
That was an interesting opener. "What do you mean?"
Rafael seemed to debate for a moment, and she wondered if it was an act. The man really wasn't the sort to harbor indecision. "You don't wish for our initial recruits to be completely unrelated," he eventually said. "But we need one soon, to advance the Quest. Perhaps you should ask your manservant about the White Glove you met on the Convoy."
She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but not that. "Winston? The White Glove?" How did it relate to a potential bronze ranker? The woman herself had been orichalcum.
"Ask your butler," Rafael said, raising his hands in surrender. "He likely won't be pleased with me for involving you in that matter to begin with. Not my business, so to speak."
'That matter'? Now Vivi was even more curious. "I'll do so," she replied slowly. She wouldn't press if Rafael had asked her not to. "I've been meaning to have an official sit-down with him anyway, to meet his family. If I don't carve out time for it, it'll never happen." She kept getting interrupted by disasters. "I'll do it tomorrow. The topic is… nothing too sensitive?"
"Not as such. You two may just disagree on certain topics."
Vivi's eyebrows almost rose. She didn't know Winston that well, but she doubted there was much they would vehemently disagree about.
"In any case, the bronze ranker is only one of four empty positions," Rafael said. "The crafters. Enchanter, woodworker, leatherworker." He pulled out a drawer of his desk, grabbed a folder, and placed it down. "Here are my frontrunners, as you requested. If possible, let us finalize and send out offers before the evening closes."