The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 9 - Chapter 437.7

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The Guild Master and the Traitor, Part 2

GUILD MASTER ULIGA’S PERSPECTIVE

 “AN OLD FRIEND?” Garitt gasped.

I nodded. The man Piarre was restraining was unmistakably my old friend, Tig. We used to be each other’s training buddies, and we hunted monsters together. Our personalities clashed at times, but I never would have pegged him for a traitor.

“It’s a misunderstanding. I came here because I was worried about you.”

“Please, you’re embarrassing yourself. If you were worried, why would you hide?” Garitt asked.

Tig glared back at him. When did this guy turn traitor? Scratch that, it doesn’t matter… Knowing that wouldn’t mean anything.

“Tig, I’m sorry it had to be this way.”

Tig glared back at me. His eyes assaulted me with a sorrowful look, but I had my role as the guild master to uphold. I took a shallow breath in and out to reset my emotions. I probably wouldn’t be able to get Gupinus or Salify to talk, so it would be a better strategy to coax the truth out of Tig. He had a short temper—if I exploited that, he would blurt out everything I needed to know.

“Wow, so you’re a traitor… Now I get it. Our seniors figured you might turn on us. That’s why you were the last in our cohort to be promoted to elite adventurer. I heard some people opposed your promotion to the very end.”

“Shut up! What the hell do they know?!”

“Oh, and ex-guild master Chemanta had his concerns about you as well.”

“Shut up! Ha ha! For your information, Chemanta is on our side! Sorry to break your heart. So, how does it feel, having people you trusted betray you?”

It feels like hell, but now I have proof that Chemanta betrayed us. I trusted my newly returned memories, but a part of me didn’t want to believe them. I won’t falter anymore, though. All I need now is where Chemanta is… Does he know?

“I already knew Chemanta was a traitor, and I don’t think anything of it. He’s my enemy.”

“What?”

“I’m telling you, I knew.”

“That’s a lie. When he left Hataka, he said you were still in the dark so I could use you however I wanted. Hah! Posture all you want—it’ll do you no good.”

So Chemanta’s no longer in Hataka. But wow, is it just me, or is this guy more of a blabbermouth than I thought? I’m not even turning the screws on him. Does that mean he’s bluffing? I narrowed my eyes and looked critically at Tig. He doesn’t look like he’s bluffing, but maybe he needs a little shaking up.

“Damn, you’re a blabbermouth. That must be why nobody thinks highly of you. Poor guy.”

“Wha…?!” Tig’s face twitched with anger and he lashed out. Piarre quickly pinned him down, but he got kicked off.

“Gah—what the…?!”

Tig smirked wickedly the moment Piarre’s hands left him, but Garitt promptly restrained him again. My suspicions were clearly correct—Garitt was hiding something, and so were the other members of Zephyr.

“Damn it!”

“Feeling frustrated? Well, the restrained look suits you.”

“Hah! Don’t get cocky, pal. You’re too late—there’s nothing you can do to stop us. One word from Arpy, and all the adventurers and watchmen of this village will go on a rampage. I don’t know how you got them sane again, but you’re too late! Ha ha ha ha!”

Arpy… He’s a merchant here. I seem to remember he has stores in other towns and villages, too. Okay…so it was him.

“Thanks for the info, buddy. I’m surprised you blurted out the name of your VIP so easily.”

I remembered how his loose tongue used to ruin our own operations.

“Urk… Don’t be so smug about it. If Arpy doesn’t hear from me, he’ll make all the watchmen and adventurers go on the rampage. You fine with that? Your villagers will suffer. Ha ha ha ha!” Tig’s creepy laugh echoed down the hall.

“Our watchmen can take down however many adventurers are still on your side.”

“Are you stupid? Didn’t you hear me? All the watchmen are under my command, too! Make nice with me while you can and I’ll offer ya a little olive branch, as they say. You’re lucky I’m such a nice guy.”

You know, Tig always did want to stand above other people. He acted really bitter when I was promoted to guild master, too, but his loose tongue and arrogant ego stopped him from even being on the list of candidates for the position. I’d warned him time and time again about it, but I guess he never learned.

“Tig, don’t you think it’s just a little strange that I got my sanity back?”

“You were the first person we cast the spell on. I assume that’s why.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Anyway, let me go! I mean it: If you treat me like this, your villagers will die. Unless you think you have some clever way out of this? Hah hah hah!”

His menacing laughter made me feel sick. That thing they say about getting mellow with age is a lie. He’s worse now than he ever was.

“True, there would be a lot of casualties if the watchmen and adventurers went on the rampage.”

But the moment I said this, Piarre gave me a single nod and then disappeared. I assumed he was off to report to Appas, to get orders from the man with full authority over the village watch.

“Then order this guy to take his grubby hands off me!”

“Why would I order him to let you go? You’re a criminal.”

“Huh?” Tig looked at me in bewilderment. What an utter bonehead.

“I’ll answer your last question. I believe it was ‘Do you think you have some clever way out of this?’ Well, I do.”

Granted, if the adventurers still under enemy control really did go on the rampage, there would be some casualties before the village watch could respond. But I still wouldn’t listen to Tig’s demands. That was a hard rule.

“But that’s impossible.”

“Now what about my question: Don’t you think it’s odd that I was able to regain my sanity? You blamed the magic, but that wasn’t it. I broke the spell by other means, and we’ve used that same method to free all the village watchmen from it. That’s why your plan will never succeed.”

We technically used a different method to free the watchman, but it was best to tell him it was the same. There would definitely be an investigation after all of this was over, and they’d certainly question this guy, too. His loose tongue was going to work to my advantage. I was sure he’d tell them what I told him here as a bargaining chip.

“No…our plan would never fail. Wait… Was it a summoning circle? Were you guys using a summoning circle, too?” Tig panicked. I smiled innocently back at him, and Garitt scowled at my grin in disgust. Did my smile really look that hideous? Well, maybe it did…

Shocked by what I’d said, Tig muttered something under his breath. 

“Garitt, I’m sorry to ask, but…”

“What is it?”

I sighed grumpily. “Show me his back and abs, please.”

“What?!”

Hey, don’t look at me like I’m a pervert!

“I’m not like that, I assure you! I just want to make sure he doesn’t have summoning circles carved on him like Salify. There’ll be hell to pay if he does.”

“Ohh, right.” Garitt held Tig back and lifted his shirt—he really did have skilled hands. But Tig had no summoning circles on his stomach or back. That was a relief.

“Hold that pose for a bit.”

I ran back to the dungeon and grabbed a slave band. There were people with summoning circles carved into their skin in the dungeons at both the watch station and the adventurer guild. We didn’t know how they were activated, but I knew Tig would try to do something. Putting him under my control was the only way I could stop him. Agggh… I’ll get an earful for this later, won’t I? I could use the excuse that Salify and Gupinus had summoning circles on them, but Tig didn’t have one. Oh well, I’ve got no other choice.

“Sorry I took so long.” While Garitt restrained Tig, I snapped a slave band onto his arm.

“Not on his neck?”

“He hasn’t been properly sentenced yet. These aren’t allowed under normal circumstances.”

Garitt looked satisfied by my explanation. I peered into his eyes, realizing that he didn’t seem to question the idea of using slave bands on a man. Come on…most people would think twice about it, wouldn’t they?

“Well, we’ve got a wealth of experience under our belts. We know it’s within the realm of possibility.” Garitt smiled, noticing my scrutinizing stare. A “wealth of experience,” eh…?

“Do you and your boys work under the table?”

 I heard about some adventurers who solved problems that couldn’t see the light of day. Eche was one such adventurer.

“Well… I guess that’s also within the realm of possibility.”

I knew it. He’s not a normal adventurer. But…what did he mean by “that’s also within the realm of possibility”?