Dual Realm Exchange System

By the time Damian returned to Rosewood, the Adventurer’s Guild had already stopped treating his report like an ordinary Copper quest.

Less than an hour later, he found himself seated inside one of the Guild’s largest briefing rooms alongside people he had only ever seen receiving respectful greetings downstairs.

Every Silver-ranked Adventurer team currently inside Rosewood had been summoned, and even several Gold Adventurers were present as well.

Roland occupied the head of the long table, his massive lionman frame making the reinforced chair beneath him look strangely undersized.

Selene sat nearby with her violet hair falling over one shoulder, while Agnes had abandoned her reception counter long enough to bring several Guild records upstairs.

The Four Valkyries of Grayfen were together on the right side.

Eunice sat calmly with her hands folded, Paulina had her arms crossed, Julia was watching everyone with her usual sharp expression, and Janet looked extraordinarily excited to be included in an important emergency meeting despite contributing absolutely nothing to its administration.

Even Ophelia had somehow been dragged away from the Magic Shop and now leaned against a wall with her half-lidded eyes threatening to close at any moment.

Marcus, Owen, Lena and Clara sat closer to Damian, and they looked distinctly less comfortable surrounded by Rosewood’s veteran Adventurers.

Roland eventually stood, and the room quieted immediately.

"Earlier today, five Copper Adventurers entered southern Moonveil Forest while investigating three overlapping requests involving increased Dark Goblin activity, missing hunters and a missing Guild reconnaissance team," Roland began in a deep voice.

He gave the report plainly.

Thirteen Dark Goblins had ambushed the party almost immediately after entry.

The group had killed twelve and captured the surviving archer.

Through magical interrogation performed by Damian, they had learned that Blackroot Den contained more than eighty active warriors, that three members of the missing reconnaissance squad remained alive, and that the Dark Goblins were operating under the influence of a hostile Satyr called Ravelhorn the Reveler.

Roland also explained the old Fey crossing.

Then came Damian’s encounter with Moonfang and the revelation that Alfaro the White had supposedly been magically controlled.

The temperature of the room seemed to drop several degrees.

Most veteran Adventurers did not visibly panic.

They did, however, stop looking relaxed.

A CR 8 Elite Fey appearing inside Moonveil was already serious, but one coordinating Goblins, manipulating beasts and apparently attempting to reactivate an ancient Fey crossing was something else entirely.

Naturally, somebody just had to object.

"This is, quite frankly, ridiculous!"

The speaker lounged near the far end of the table.

Damian had noticed him earlier.

He was a lean man perhaps in his early thirties, dressed in dark grey leather with two daggers positioned beneath his coat. A thin scar crossed one cheek, while his narrow eyes possessed the permanently amused expression of someone who enjoyed knowing unpleasant things about other people.

Silas Vane, Silver Adventurer, and a Level 8 Rogue.

He was the leader of a mercenary-leaning party called the Ash Jackals.

Damian had already heard two nearby Adventurers quietly complain about the man before the meeting began.

Apparently Silas accepted almost any legal contract as long as the Guild had stamped it, including debt collection, intimidation and escort work for clients other Adventurers preferred not to associate with.

Roland looked toward him. "Which portion do you dispute?"

"Most of it, really. We have thirteen dead Goblins, yes. Guild verification confirms that much. Everything beyond that depends upon testimony." Silas replied lazily.

Marcus immediately bristled. "We were there!"

"And you’re a bunch of Copper Adventurers who walked into a CR 6-equivalent ambush within minutes of entering Moonveil Forest." Silas countered without raising his voice.

"Forgive me if I don’t treat your tactical assessment like scripture." He added sneeringly.

Marcus opened his mouth, but nothing useful came out as the youth was not very eloquent.

Silas continued. "The supposedly cooperative witness was killed before anyone except Baines understood what it said. Then Baines performed a spell none of you could independently understand and translated the corpse’s answers himself."

Lena’s expression tightened. "We heard it speak and answer him!"

"Right, in Goblintongue, which none of you speak." Silas reported while picking his nose.

That shut her down as well.

Silas leaned forward. "Then, on the return journey, wolves conveniently informed this same man that a famous Dire Wolf had been mind-controlled by the very same mysterious Fey behind everything else."

A few Adventurers exchanged looks, feeling that this unlikable bastard’s points were irritatingly reasonable.

Even Damian had to admit that, from an outsider’s perspective, the report sounded remarkably dependent upon Damian personally interpreting several things no one else could verify.

Silas spread his hands. "So our evidence for an eighty-warrior Dark Goblin clan, surviving captives, a CR 8 Satyr, an ancient Fey crossing and a magically enslaved Dire Wolf ultimately comes down to one newly registered Copper Adventurer saying, ’Trust me bro.’"

"That’s not what happened!" Clara protested.

"Then tell me what the Goblin said." Silas demanded with a blunt look.

Clara’s lips pressed together, because she couldn’t.

Silas smiled faintly, about to continue when Damian finally spoke.

"Are you finished?" He asked coldly.

The Rogue turned toward him. "For now."

"Good." Damian acknowledged with a nod.

The young man then leaned back comfortably. "In response to your rebuttals, you’ve essentially mixed several legitimate uncertainties with a stupid conclusion."

Several people coughed at that, unable to hold back smiles, whereas Silas’s smile faded slightly.

Damian continued before he could interrupt.

"The Guild does not need to blindly believe every word I reported. The entire point of a report is to provide actionable information that can be verified."

He raised one finger.

"The Goblin gave us the location of three surviving reconnaissance members beneath the old hollow hill."

A second finger went up.

"It gave us the eastern creek-bed route into Blackroot Den, warning traps on the western and southern approaches and the location of prisoners."

A third finger went up.

"It identified two assassins assigned to guard them."

And then, the fourth finger rose.

"It named Ravelhorn, described his abilities and connected him to the unusual Dark Goblin organization."

Damian glanced around the room.

"If I wanted to fabricate a heroic story, why would I fill it with specific information that can prove me a liar tomorrow?"

The murmuring stopped as people nodded in agreement.

Silas’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

Damian smiled. "Actually, let’s assume I’m lying. Guild teams investigate the eastern creek bed and find nothing. They inspect the Goblin activity and discover no unusual concentration. They investigate Alfaro and discover he isn’t controlled. Congratulations. I’ve destroyed my reputation within days of registering for absolutely no benefit."

Even more people nodded in agreement.

Damian continued. "Now let’s assume I’m telling the truth. You ignore the report, leave the reconnaissance survivors imprisoned, allow eighty-plus organized Dark Goblins to expand uncontested and give a hostile CR 8 Fey more time to complete whatever he’s doing."

Damian tilted his head. "Which mistake sounds more costly?"

Silence answered him.

Janet’s grin became enormous, feeling that she had raised this boy well!

Paulina’s tail was already wagging, having long been uncomfortable with how Damian was being doubted, as she viewed him as a good friend.

Silas’s expression though, hardened considerably, realizing the lad was hard to deal with.

So he changed targets.

"Quite the speech for somebody who arrived in Valoria less than a week ago." he pointed out loudly.

Damian’s smile vanished.

Sigh, there it was.

Silas looked around the room rather than directly at him.

"Perhaps I’m overly cautious. Yet nobody here actually knows Damian Baines. He’s an Otherworlder with no history, no family, no reputation and no past we can investigate."

The Rogue tapped one finger against the table.

"He registered as Level 1 just a day or two ago."

Another tap.

"And now, someway, somehow, he’s already Level 6!"

That produced considerably more attention as Damian had not advertised the speed of his advancement.

Silas noticed the reaction.

"So perhaps the better question isn’t whether he’s lying about Goblins. Perhaps the question is what exactly this young man is, and why everyone is so eager to trust him."

That argument landed harder.

Damian could feel it.

There was no such thing as open hostility, as none were foolish enough after reaching this level.

Rather, there was a thread of uncertainty, because people naturally feared unexplained growth.

It was just like how on Earth, if someone went MIA for a few years to work on themselves and suddenly came back as a millionaire, people would suspect he did crime, rather than anything respectable.

In the end, Damian did not blame them, but they were on drugs if they thought he would spill the beans.

However, a calm female voice came from the right.

"We trust him."

Eunice stood, the Holy Light priestess looking toward Roland rather than Silas.

"Paulina, Julia, Janet and I found Damian unconscious in Moonveil Forest. We brought him to Rosewood ourselves. I personally treated his injuries, and we were present for his registration as an Otherworlder."

Paulina rose next, her eyes defiant. "He could have attacked us, robbed us or acted suspiciously many times since then. He hasn’t."

Julia sighed. "That is an extremely low standard, Paulina."

"It is still true!" Paulina retorted angrily, making Julia flinch slightly.

Janet bounced upright. "I also certify that Damian is annoying, greedy, secretive about how he levels and cruelly refuses to explain interesting things when I ask, but probably not an evil Fey conspirator!"

Damian stared at her. "That may be the worst endorsement I’ve ever received."

"You’re welcome!" Janet grinned and gave a thumbs up.

A few people laughed, and the atmosphere loosened significantly.

Then Agnes adjusted her glasses.

"I processed Damian’s registration and first quest personally. He has followed Guild procedure, returned evidence properly and caused considerably fewer problems than many Adventurers in this room."

Several people immediately avoided looking at her.

Ophelia raised one hand lazily from the wall.

"His Otherworlder status is genuine. His Mage Class is genuine. His progression is unusual, but unusual is not the same thing as fraudulent."

Silas frowned.

Four well-known Silver Adventurers, Rosewood’s senior receptionist, and a Guild-affiliated Mage researcher.

Those reputations mattered more than Damian’s own.

For some reason, that hit Damian harder than he expected.

They did not know everything about him.

They certainly didn’t know about Shengyuan.

Yet when someone questioned whether he deserved basic trust, people he had known for only days had stood up anyway.

Damian quietly smiled.

Silas noticed and muttered, "Convenient. Hide behind enough women and eventually people stop asking questions."

The table went silent.

Damian’s eyebrows rose.

Paulina’s ears stood upright.

Roland finally slapped one enormous hand against the table. "That is enough!"

The Guildmaster’s voice erased the humor instantly. "I also have my doubts."

Damian looked toward him, and Roland met his gaze directly.

"I like the lad personally, and I make no secret of that. But personal affection does not replace professional verification."

Damian nodded, feeling that this was entirely reasonable.

Roland looked across the assembled Adventurers.

"We will therefore treat Damian’s report as credible intelligence requiring immediate confirmation."

Silas frowned. "That makes no sense. You just admitted—"

"It makes perfect sense!" Roland’s golden eyes became stern.

"If Damian is wrong, we waste manpower and time investigating Moonveil Forest. If his report proves deliberately false, we know exactly who to hold accountable."

The room became still.

"But if Damian is right and we dismiss him?"

Roland’s claws lightly touched the tabletop.

"Then people die."

Nothing else needed explaining.

Risk management was rarely about choosing the option with zero cost, but was about choosing which failure you could survive.

Silas leaned back with a sour expression.

Damian glanced toward him. "You seem remarkably unhappy that we’re going to investigate Goblins threatening Rosewood."

Silas’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Damian continued thoughtfully. "Actually, now that I think about it, you’ve spent this entire meeting trying to stop armed Adventurers from interfering with them."

A few heads slowly turned, and Silas froze where he sat. "Don’t be absurd!"

"Hmmm..." Damian rubbed his chin.

"Could it be... that you are their human contact?" Damian suggested with narrowed eyes.

Someone physically shifted their chair away from Silas, then another person did the same.

Silas’s face reddened. "You little bastard!"

He surged to his feet and stepped toward Damian.

Unfortunately, something much taller stepped between them.

Paulina.

The grey-eared beastwoman stood almost chest-to-chest with Silas, her wolf tail raised while one hand was raised to claw the fellow’s face off.

Silas stopped in place immediately with flickering eyes.

A Rogue picking a direct fight with a prepared Fighter was generally considered a creative method of suicide.

Paulina smiled. "Problem?"

Silas stared at her, then at Damian.

"...No."

"Good, now go and sit down like a good boy." Paulina commanded while pointing behind Silas.

He retreated with murder in his eyes.

Damian smiled pleasantly.

Sometimes diplomacy really was beautiful.

......

Roland finalized the response soon afterward.

Beginning tomorrow morning, Rosewood Town would launch a coordinated Moonveil Forest operation.

Silver Rank and higher parties would divide across the southern forest, confirm Goblin concentrations, destroy hostile forward camps, investigate Blackroot approaches and determine the status of the missing Guild members.

Experienced Copper teams would support safer outer routes.

Information would flow through Guild Cards so no party operated blind.

Damian would not return with Marcus’s group.

"You’re Level 6 now, whether you have the experience or not. You’ll accompany the Valkyries. Another Mage will reinforce Marcus and his friends." Roland told him.

Damian had no objection to that.

After the meeting ended, he approached the four women.

"Thanks for that guys."

Eunice smiled. "You didn’t need us to defend your argument."

Damian shook his head. "Maybe not, but stepping forward to defend my character is different."

Julia folded her arms. "We only stated what we knew."

Paulina nodded vigorously. "You have not done anything dishonorable yet."

"Yet?" Damian asked with a raised eyebrow.

Janet immediately appeared in front of Damian. "More importantly, how did you reach Level 6?!"

Damian grinned. "No."

Janet froze. "I haven’t even asked properly!"

"I know."

"Damian!"

"No."

"Just give me a hint!"

"Absolutely not."

At this point, withholding the answer had stopped being about secrecy.

It was simply funny.

Janet’s freckled cheeks puffed with outrage.

Then her eyes drifted across the room, noting that Ophelia stood nearby.

The halfling’s expression immediately changed into a sinister one, and Damian naturally saw it happen.

"Damian~" Janet called sweetly.

"No."

"I haven’t asked anything yet!"

"Your face asked."

Janet ignored him and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Well, since you’re such an amazing Journeyman Mage now, perhaps you could help Sister Ophelia with something important? It’s apparently something only a talented Otherworlder Mage like you can assist with."

Damian looked toward Ophelia.

Janet sneakily winked at her, causing Ophelia’s sleepy eyes to sharpen for approximately half a second.

Then, the researcher nodded calmly.

"Yes, it would be for something extremely important."

Damian hesitated.

Ophelia had personally helped outfit him when he arrived.

His original equipment had turned out to be worth more than thirty Gold, and despite her extremely questionable enthusiasm for research, she had ultimately treated him well.

"If it’s something I can actually help with... sure."

Janet turned away immediately, her smile becoming demonic whereas Ophelia’s pursed lips became almost imperceptibly wider.

Damian noticed neither.

He simply followed the green-haired Mage toward the rear corridor, mentally congratulating himself for repaying a favor.

Poor fool.

He had survived thirteen Dark Goblins earlier that day.

Now he was voluntarily entering the lion’s den.

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