Sarah's Story Chapter 034 - In Trouble

While Sarah had been focused on training, Helen had also been searching for James in her own way.

It only took her the first week to become established at their inn and get their household finances budgeted. Once she had more free time, she made friends with everyone between their inn and the Adventurers’ Guild, to hear if anything happened to Sarah while walking to and from.

She didn’t expect it to happen in the first week, however!

Miriam, bless her heart, had come to let her know almost before the situation had been resolved, which then clarified Helen’s next goal: the City Guard.

More specifically, their wives.

Day by day Helen expanded her web of influence and [Gossip]. Among the wives of the City Guard; among the Merchants and their wives; among the staff and leadership of the various Guilds…

Eventually, among the lower nobility.

In the depths of Winter, Helen was invited to a social function as the guest of the Deputy Guildmaster of the Tailors’ Guild. She had smoothed out some shipment issues with the merchants who traded in cloth, and had been enjoying the food when, of all things, an assassin showed up, aiming to knock off the hostess, Baroness Mathilda, who was herself trying to make connections with the capital city’s middle class during Winter socializing season.

It was more of an accident, really. Helen’s Brawler instincts took over and the second the waiter had drawn his stiletto, she had thrown him to the ground and pinned him.

It was a good thing three more assassins had revealed themselves, or it would have been quite the faux-pas.

In the end, Baron Francis and Baroness Mathilda had been incredibly grateful, and took Helen on as a part time maid-slash-bodyguard.

Which then gave Helen access to the juicy [Gossip] of the nobility, too. For half a year, from winter solstice to summer solstice, she networked, searched, and collected as much information as she could.

But there was no sign of James, nor of any organized kidnapping rings.

Oh, there was plenty of organized crime. The usual: smuggling of contraband, smuggling for tax evasion, fraud schemes, and so on. Several attempts to form a Thieves’ Guild were quashed immediately; nobody wanted Thieves and other such miscreant classes getting a chance to level very highly. But kidnapping and slavery were almost unheard of.

Nobody wanted an Avenger coming after them, after all.

In just eight months, Helen had wormed her way into a position of influence with almost the entirety of the capital’s commoner class, and most of the lower nobility.

At the very least, she had accumulated quite a lot of money, not just direct pay from her maid and bodyguard work, but also commissions for helping arrange large business transactions and for making introductions between nobles and merchants and expert craftsmen.

Helen found herself sitting at a table in her inn’s dining hall one afternoon, resisting the urge to bite her thumbnail, trying to think what else she could do at this point.

She had almost no way to get involved with the Churches and Temples. They were like worlds unto themselves, living among the people, but separate. She had of course gone to request help from them in looking for James, but other than confirming he was still alive, they were no help.

That left the upper nobility, which posed its own problems. The upper nobility had entire families dedicated to serving them, and they simply didn’t hire commoners, period. Nor was Helen allowed to serve at, let alone participate in, the socialization parties and meetings between her lower nobility friends and patrons and the upper nobility. It was only by second, third, and fourth-hand gossip that Helen ascertained that, no, it was unlikely any of the upper nobility in the Kingdom of Asufal had a secret Smith-Enchanter providing them with crafting services.

Helen sighed.

She missed Stephen.

Sure, she could vent to Nadine, who was making herself useful investigating the less morally upright parts of society, but she needed Stephen. Her husband had a way of putting her mind at ease that nobody could match.

Such was how Sarah found her mother lost in thought upon returning home to their inn.

Over dinner, Helen broke the news that she would be returning home in about a month, once her social calendar cleared. Sarah also shared the news that she was probably going to be selected to work with an A Rank party when they got to the capital.

Helen was so proud of her daughter.

There wasn’t a harder-working girl in the entire world, she was sure of it.

Two and a half years of unclassed training in Brawling, without a single complaint.

Eight months of unclassed training in Scouting, and nearly stealthy enough to slip under her own passive awareness even without a Class or Skills. And now being short-listed to work with an A Rank party.

She made sure to shower Sarah with compliments and praise that night, even as she guided her through the usual Brawler strength, flexibility, and balance training. She cherished every moment, certain that her daughter would be just fine in the city when she left to return home.

Sarah was shocked, to put it lightly, when the next day she arrived at the Adventurers’ Guildhall and was called into a private room for a disciplinary hearing.

Beth, Mr. Tenns, Clark – the Guild Treasurer’s assistant – and even the Deputy Guildmaster Viscount Gilbert’s personal secretary, Johnathan, were seated behind a large desk and looking down at Sarah.

Beth opened the meeting, acting as the secretary and taking notes. “This is the disciplinary hearing for Brawler Sarah. E Rank, with ratings for general combat at Rank C and interpersonal combat at Rank B. She has been a member for of the Guild for eight months in generally good standing.”

Mr. Tenns gazed at Sarah sternly, but not coldly, as Beth read from a sheet of paper in front of her on the desk. The other men, Clark and Johnathan, were following along on their own sheets of paper. Sarah looked down at her own sheet of paper, identical to theirs.

Infraction: Excessive Debt to the Guild.

Put simply: her tab had gone unpaid too long.

Total debt: fifty-one silver, three copper.

There was still no word on any Bounty Hunters being available for training, so that only included the fifteen silver for the deposit. There would be another ten silver due when one did become available and training was scheduled, which, at this rate, would go right on top of her already large tab.

Her tab with the bar? Non-existent.

For the most part, Sarah just sat quietly while Beth and Mr. Tenns discussed the situation with Clark and Johnathan.

“So Brawler Sarah has managed to accrue a debt to the Guild to this extent, but owes nothing to the bar?” Clark asked.

Beth nodded. “That’s correct.”

Clark glanced at Sarah for a moment before his eyes flickered back to Beth, around a very uncomfortable-looking Mr. Tenns.

“Does Brawler Sarah not patronize the bar regularly?”

“She does, but it’s a matter of… policy. Barmaster Jacob has a strict policy concerning tab management.”

“And are you saying the Guild does not also have a strict policy concerning indebtedness?” Johnathan asked.