Rough Draft - RotGM 1.2 (Patreon)

At the same time that Sam was entering the city of Dewhurst for the first time, the guild master was beginning his morning routine. The first thing, just like it was every other morning, was to wake up with a super naturally bad hangover and linger in pain for several hours until enough strength Came to him that he could hobble out of wherever he passed out last and stumble his way to the kitchen. Today, he was lucky enough to have woken up in his own bed. A rare treat, but it came with the downside of having to go down the stairs in such a state. he did so after reaching for his important glasses and slapping on a pair of boxers that hadn’t been washed in quite some time.

Breakfast was whatever he could scrounge up but it wasn’t Too much of a pain in the ass for him to prepare. He started off with his favorite dish, Hangover medication. His mood was worse than usual, so beyond that he couldn’t be bothered with much else. He ate a croissant, a few bites from an apple, and some dried meat before realizing he didn’t have much of an appetite for anything. Same as every other day.

He exited the kitchen with a somewhat clear head, the fact he regretted immensely when he saw the ruins of his home. He looked out onto the empty entrance hall, remembering the times that he ran up and down their lengths as a child, talking to this adventurer and that about their journeys and their latest treasures. Everyone always had such a story to tell him, and he loved listen.

It had been so long since he had anyone to listen to. Nowadays, the only friends he had were the rats in his walls and the spiders on his ceiling.

Strictly out of habit, the guild master made his way to his office and sat down at a desk which he should’ve gotten rid of a long time ago but just couldn’t justify doing so. He crossed the distance and pulled out his black leather chair, sitting down amid the darkness.

On his desk were a number of books opened haphazardly. Some of them in poor condition from many years of usage, others untouched at all. It was normal for one of his occupation to have such a desk, bought no other guild master in the entire realm would dare deface their workstation with the unspeakable filth he laid atop it.

The books on his desk had nothing to do with monsters, adventurers, or financing. They were but a small sample of his wide array of collected erotica. This guild master was a man with many, many faults, One of which being his excessive libido that back in his prime refused to go down no matter how much he read.

Like he did every other day, he capped off his morning routine by grabbing one of the books in one hand and his half erect dick in the other. He read and envisioned the fantasies in his mind, flipping page and stroking simultaneously, only for the same result as it had been for the last couple of years now. Nothing.

It wasn’t even that he was too old to get it up anymore. He was only 26, an unthinkable age To suffer from such a critical condition. It was merely that no matter what he tried what he thought of or what he did, he could find no excitement in life. Not in his old favorites that he stroked off to 1000 times in his youth, and not in newer tales of depravity Hot off the presses.

Today, lack of stimulation affected him on a personal level. A momentary sprout of rage erupted after he’d been at it for half an hour. It was all so pointless. Meaningless. He took the book he was reading and threw it hard against the wall. He wasn’t an excessively strong man, but the book was heavy and thick with lewd stories. It cracked the wooden walls of his office and made him curse.

As he sat there near naked at his desk, The guild master couldn’t help but contemplate his lot in life. In a few more months, his last remaining gold would run out. Over the course of the last couple years, He had sold everything that could be sold whether it was adventuring gear kept in his storage which no one had ever claimed Or his own grandfathers remaining possessions. There were a few options left. His vast collection of erotica didn’t have much resale value, and the expensive Selection of exotic alcohol his grandfather left him wasn’t on the table.

The guild master gritted his teeth. He was filled with an unbecoming anger which hurt him to consider. There was a brief moment where he wondered what it would be like if he could have just one more chance at this, but knowing him and who he was, he knew that he would somehow fuck that up too.

‘You? A Guild master? Don’t make me laugh. You’re not cut out for this.’ He heard the whispers of the past and grew annoyed of the memories.

“Fuck you, old man.” The guild master muttered to the ghost.

He sat there in silence before remembering what day it was. There was a chance A new erotic book he’d ordered would be arriving today in his mail, and although he wasn’t particularly horny he liked the idea of getting off Enough to forcibly drag himself out of the building and open up his mailbox.

Inside was the usual gamut of standardized quests the association of adventurers Sent him to put up on his quest board, but no books at all. That’s not to say there wasn’t a surprise. He found a missing persons poster for non-other than the crown princess of Karnalle herself, Samantha Lundreame.

He stared at the illustration for several moments, his eyes flashing behind the dark tint of his glasses. There was something about her that called out to him. The guild master believed it had something to do with those remarkable tits, but I could’ve just as easily been the girls beautiful face or her long flowing hair brushed to certain perfection. Although the art was likely an exaggeration, the girl on the poster appealed to him more than any book had in recent memory.

He took his bounty and returned to his office with a mission in mind. His right hand went back to work, his imagination running wild about this runaway teen, who just disappear just shortly before her coming-of-age ceremony. He thought of how fun it would be to ruin a princess- just like he ruined this town.

These inappropriate fantasies seemed to take him further than lewd books could, as the more he stared at the drawing of Princess Samantha, the further it fueled his lust. If he was feeling generous, he might even admit that it made him feel young again. It still wasn't enough to get him where he needed to go, though. After another twenty minutes of mindless pumping, he gave up and slumped his head against the desk.

He had no money. No future. His only pleasure made him feel worse.

The Guild Master stewed in his own hatred and downed a nearby bottle of cheap wine in only a few gulps. Anything to numb the hatred he had for the world around him, the world that beat him down every time he attempted to move forward. What was the point of it all?

His thoughts threatened to take a darker direction, but suddenly he heard a young girl's voice call out, "Hello? Anybody home?" from the entrance hall.

The Guild Master froze, unsure of what to do. He hadn't had any visitors in some time, aside from a drinking buddy he entertained every now and then. He took stock of the situation. He was near naked. Drunk. Angry and embittered. There was no way he could entertain any guests as he was, even if he wanted to, which he didn't.

Like most of his problems, he made the decision to ignore it in the hopes that it would solve itself. It hadn't worked until now so there was no way of knowing why he believed the tactic might start paying dividends now of all times, but his hopes were dashed when the voice once again shouted, ""Hey, seriously! Is this place open for business, or what?"

Idiot girl. Of course this place isn't open for business. He groaned to himself and stood up from his desk, the wooden floor creaking beneath him. He stumbled towards the door that exited behind the reception desk and cracked the door just enough to lob the wine bottle in his hand blindly at the intruder. Maybe it would hit her, maybe not. Wasn't his problem, so long as it sent a message.

"Fuck!" The intruder shouted, although it didn't sound like the bottle hit her. Oh well.

"Get the fuck out," the Guild Master said. "Shouldn't you lot know by now that the Guild is closed? Here's a suggestion, try solving your own fucking problems."

He meant these words as a warning, but they didn't have the effect he intended. Rather than scaring her off, the girl took on a holier than thou tone of voice as she sassed back at him, "Excuse me? Who do you think you're talking to in such a tone? Do you even know who I am?!"

What a moron. Was she blind? The door was obviously closed and even if it wasn't, why would he know who some random uppity bitch who stepped into his home happen to be? She wasn't getting the message, so maybe if he left his office and made his position clearer this unwanted guest would would hightail it out of here once she saw him.

"No, and I must've missed the point where I should give one iota of a shit," he said, stepping out of his office and taking a view of the girl.

His first reaction was one of total confusion. Was this some sort of sick joke orchestrated by the Goddess Below? As she stared at his disheveled self, he looked into the picture of the missing princess he still clutched in his hand, and then back at his guest.

Sure, her tits were smaller, her hair was different and this girl was missing the scar on the bridge of her nose, but his eyes were different than everyone else's. They never lied to him. The girl clad in red and gold bikini armor and little else was all but certainly the Crown Princess.

Although there was no reward listed on the wanted poster, he could only dream of how his money problems would be over if he could somehow turn this girl in to the right person. Before he started to fantasize about what he could do with all that gold, she spoke up again, surprisingly undeterred despite his questionable state of attire and demeanor.

"Are you in charge here?" She asked, loosening the grip on her sword and taking a wary step forward.

He thought what his best option was here, and settled on less confrontational so long as he could help it. "Once upon a time, yes."

"How long will it take to get things up and running around here?" She asked and looked around the place, her fierce, determined emerald eyes looking as if she owned it. "I'm here to become an adventurer, and I'm not taking no for an answer."

"No." He said, scratching his ass.

Again, she sounded off with that tone of hers. "Didn't you hear me? I said I'm not taking no for an answer!"

"I heard you. Doesn't mean shit to me, though."

Sam's eyebrow twitched as she walked up to the reception desk and glared straight at him. "What's your name, asshole?"

"None of your concern," he sighed and crumpled up the piece of paper before she might get the chance to see it. "I'm a nobody, my name isn't worth sharing."

There was a quiet period while she sized him up with her eyes. "You're drunk," she accused.

"I could be drunker, but I could also be considerably less so," he admitted.

"Go and get yourself sobered up, then. We have stuff to talk about."

The Guild Master smiled, amused. He'd dealt with plenty of the noblility in his time running the Guild, at least back when he still tried. They were all the same. Rude. Entitled. Full of themselves. Her Highness over here was no different, and he was past the point in his life where he bothered to hide his disdain of the upper crust.

"No, we really don't." He stifled a laugh, only to have his amusement cut short when Sam slammed her fist down on the reception desk as a warning. She created a huge crack and threatened to split the entire thing in half next time around.

If he still wanted to turn her in for gold, those dreams went straight out the window when he saw how much power the girl was packing in those fists of hers. Wheels started to turn, and in his drunkeness he remembered the stories of the power that members of the Royal Family were born with. If the girl had half a mind to, she could cave in his skull just as easily as the front desk.

“Give me a moment, and I will be right with you.” He nodded noncommittally.

The strange girl watched as he lifted the bar and exited from behind the desk, making his way to the stairs. If she had any thoughts as to his appearance and his state of dress, she kept them guarded behind that fierce expression of hers.

The guild master wasn’t intimidated, he only wished to avoid unnecessary conflict and to continue with his depressing day. If that required him to get dressed and sober enough to convince this royal brat that she was better off headed to another town and another guild, then so be it.

He entered his bedroom and went into the bathroom, turning on an ArcTech Faucet to run hot water for him to wash his scraggly face. He couldn’t look at himself, not without his sunglasses on, but he could feel how shitty he looked. It’d been so long since he last shaved, if you could only guess as to how dark the bags under his eyes must be right about now.

He kept a small bottle of pills that helped sober one up in an emergency by his bedside table, so he downed one of those and hated the mental clarity it gave him. He found that the hatred didn’t extend to the girl as much as it had, though. There wasn’t a reason to be so rude with her, and throwing a bottle was a bit much. He sighed, pulling A relatively clean pair of clothes from off of his floor. He wore a fancy dress shirt, black slacks, and a blue vest with gold trim. He would’ve looked nice if he cared enough to tuck his shirt in and put some effort into his appearance, but effort was in short supply here.

A few minutes later and he was on his way back down the stairs, and Sam turned to look at him as the guild master descended. For just the briefest of moments she almost felt a commanding presence coming off of him, as if he were the reigning Lord of this palace of pity, but it was gone as he approached her.

“Sorry. You didn’t catch me at the best of times. As you surmised, I am the guild master here. Let’s make this short and you tell me what I can do for you, and then I’ll tell you why I can’t do it.”

Sam looked at him and tried to hold back the enmity she felt. What a sad sack defeatist. There was nothing she hated more than people who acted as if the world was their enemy. This melodramatic asshole seemed to fit the bill, but that was fine. She could use the situation to her benefit.

“I want with any other adventurer wants. I want a place to stay that will feed me as I take on quests and get paid.” She said.

“The dorms are out of commission. I don’t have enough gold to live off of, let alone to pay an adventurer that wants me to actually feed them. There are other guilds that can see to your needs. Mine isn’t one of them.”

Irritation made itself known on the girls face. “Great, are you gonna tell me to head to Perlshaw, too?”

“Perlshaw,” he said the name like it hurt him to do so. “Or anywhere else but here. The choice is yours.”

Sam tensed up and clenched her fists, giving momentary concern that she was about to act up yet again. Thankfully, the only way she expressed her frustration was through her words.

“I don’t want to work anywhere else. Especially not Perlshaw!”

He looked at her with his faintly blowing eyes, studying her. The guild master was an expert at reading people. Once upon a time it helped him in his line of work. Now, these skills had little purpose.

He correctly deduced that she was avoiding Perlshaw on account of it being so close to the Royal Capitol next province over. Via downriver boat, the trip there from Imperalis would only take a few days. If she wanted to disappear, this would certainly be the time to do it.

Even so, he asked, “I fail to see why you’re so dead set on this guild in particular. Enlighten me?”

“I heard that Dewhurst used to be the best adventuring town in the entire realm. I deserve the best of the best, so here I am.” Sam told him, looking around the place.

The guild master couldn’t hold back a laugh. “The best of the best, huh? Well you’ve clearly come to the right place.”

Sam bit her lower lip in embarrassment.

“Once upon a time, your words would’ve rung true. A lot of things have changed since then. The guild has changed, and the town as well. It’s been so long that I can hardly remember…” he lied.

“What do you mean you hardly remember? Weren’t you in charge back then?”

“No. My grandfather was.”

Sam squinted at him and raised an eyebrow. “No shit? I thought you were a lot older, then.”

“I’ll have you know that I am only 26.” He said, trying to hide his agitation.

“Dude, no fucking way. All that booze must’ve really fucked you up, huh?” Sam laughed, easing some of the tension.

The guild master blinked as he looked at Sam. What exactly were those etiquette tutors doing when they taught this princess? The way she talked almost made her sound like a Dewhurst native.

Still, the man had his pride and he couldn’t just let an insult like that slide. “I’d look better if I gave enough of a shit to do so,” he grumbled. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to be real with you for a moment. Let me ask what it would take to get you to leave here and leave me to my business?”

Sam frowned. This guy seemed even worse off than she thought. She tried to unsubtly check him out, but he caught the attempt even though he made nothing of it. The main Takeaway was that Sam felt grossed out when she looked at this guild master. It wasn’t that he was slovenly, or even unattractive, she thought that there might be some good looks Beneath the layers of shit, but what really got to her was the fact that this man had completely clocked out of life.

It was like he was incapable of caring about anything, and in her heart of hearts that bothered Sam to see. She was quiet as she weighed her options. It didn’t look like she would get what she wanted here, but on the other hand, if she could get this man to at least put in a portion of effort into running this business again it would be the perfect place for her to lay low and hide. her idea was a longshot, but she felt optimistic regarding her options.

“If you let me stay here, then I’ll let you keep most of the money I make from adventuring. You need gold, right? Come on. You help me out and I’ll help you out. Maybe then you could afford to get some help around this place.”

The guild master hadn’t expected this left turn in negotiations. It caught him so offguard that it made him chuckle at the thought. “Are you really that desperate?”

“If anyone here knows a thing about desperation, it’s you,” Sam Argued back. “So I don’t know, buddy. You tell me.”

His eyelid twitched and he crossed his arms. It hurt to be called out like that, even more so since it was true. Like he already said, his gold would only last him so much longer.

“You’re a fool if you think the income of a single adventurer would be able to lift me out of the hole I dug for myself.”

“Everyone’s gotta start somewhere.”

“I already had my start, long time ago. Didn’t go so well.”

“So? Start again.” She said like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Again, the guild master was at a loss for what to do. It was within the realm of reason that he could Clean up a room for the girl and if she did start bringing in a modicum of gold feeding her wouldn’t be too much of a hassle. The question was whether or not he could bring himself to go through all this hassle just to fail in the long run once again.

“Give me a moment and I’ll think things through,” he said, disappearing into his office before she could say anything back.

The guild master put his hands behind his back and began to pace back-and-forth deep in thought. This was all so annoying. The idea of putting an effort was mentally draining, but at the same time he thought about the girl. Not about how attractive she was, although there was that, too. But her raw strength. That titanic sort on her back was almost calling out to him, signaling all the power that this girl must have had. No doubt she could start bringing in a steady income, and from there, who knows?

This could be that one last shot he was thinking about. At least before he said fuck it and got drunk again.

His thoughts turned to his grandfather and the way he looked down at him toward the end. He could never live it down. The guild master remembered his words once again, which ended up being the catalyst which pushed his mind to make its decision.

Sparing the minimum amount of effort wouldn’t be too hard, he thought. Seeing what happens with Sam for the time being could Lead to him getting things stable around here once more. The guild master wasn’t kidding himself. He didn’t think anything to turn things around completely, but at the same time… He hadn’t really let go of his dream. No one ever really does.

He reentered the entrance hall and with hesitation he looked straight into Sam’s eyes and cleared his throat. “I reserve the right to throw you out At my indiscretion, but after careful thought, I have decided I will allow you to take temporary residence here. As promised, you will give me the majority of your earnings so that I can hopefully get this place into a better state.”

“Shit, for real?” Sam asked, dropping her serious persona and adopting a much more casual, relaxed one. “I totally didn’t think you were actually gonna go for it! What changed?”

“Perhaps I don’t know quite as much about desperation as you thought I did. More likely, I just want the gold that strength of yours will bring me.”

Sam laughed even as he tried to put distance between them. “Works for me, Boss. Damn! Now I’m really excited! Sure this place is a total shit hole, but I’ll take what I can get. I can’t wait to get started!”

The guild master looked at her and the blatant enthusiasm on her face. Was this really so exciting to her? He’d been rude to her since she first walked in the door and now she was practically celebrating about being given the permission to move in with him. Perhaps it has been too long since he’d been excited about anything. It just looked weird to him. Weird, and a little uncomfortable on account of how close it was to making him crack a smile. His cynicism won out in the end and he didn’t smile, but maybe someday.

“I hate to suddenly ruin the mood, but I need to see your adventurer’s license before I can give my absolute blessing to this arrangement. Would you mind?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure.” Sam nodded and reached her gloved hand beneath her metal breast plate, causing him to look with great attention. She blushed and narrowed her eyes as she looked off to the side. “Don’t be weird about it, tons of girls do this!“ She said as she held out a small rectangular card for his inspection.

She had no Idea as to the depths of his perversion, but he was more than capable of suppressing his interests. He wasn’t an absolute cretin, he only looked like one. He did not in fact start sniffing or licking the license once it was handed off and instead looked closely at it with his discerning gaze.

“Sam, huh?” He asked as he looked back at the girl who clearly needed a lesson about disappearing. First of all, don’t use a shortened form of your real name as your alias.

“Yup, that’s me…” she laughed awkwardly.

“I can’t help but notice that you don’t have last name, or a birth place for that matter. How strange. Didn’t the guild master who certify you inquire as to your personal history?”

“No, he did… It’s just that… Well, Gold answers a lot of questions that your mouth doesn’t want to, you know?” She laughed, and much to his surprise, so did he.

“I suppose so,” the Guild master acknowledged, Considering he too had been bought off. He gave a quick glance to the rest of the license, finding that her class was registered as a Fighter. Not too surprising, since it was a classification for anyone who could wield a weapon yet didn’t have some strict specialization. It was a starter class, and most adventurers would develop from there.

The only thing that concerns him was that she was bronze ranked and thus had no actual experience on the job. “You haven’t gone on any official quest yet, have you?” The guild master asked as he handed Sam back her license for her to stuff back in her breast plate.

“Nope, not yet. I’m really excited too, though! Thank you could set me up for something today?” She put her hand on the front desk and smiled, revealing that she had rather sharp looking canines. “I just made it into town and after sitting on a wagon for days on end, my ass is sore and I want to go do some good old fashion fighting to make up for it!”

He was a little surprised to hear that. “Are you really that raring to go? Such a trip surely must’ve been exhausting. I’m not going to kick you out if you don’t start this exact second, you know.”

Sam laughed and shook her head. “No, I’m sure. This is just how I am! I gotta get out there and do shit or else I’ll go insane. Where’s your quest board, Boss?”

He looked over on the right side of the room before remembering he’d Long since stopped displaying the prices of monsters that the association kept sending him, and needless to say he hadn’t registered any local quests in the time being, either.

“A moment,” The guild master said as he abandon Sam long enough to go and retrieve the posters from his mailbox that he saw earlier that morning. He rifle through them for something a bronze ranked adventurer could take care of before coming across the most standard and typical quest available. It was perfect.

He handed Sam the flyer, showing that the guild would pay her for every slime she killed on the plains of Arrark. “Slimes, huh?“ She smiled at the idea. “I saw a bunch of them on the wagon this morning. Shouldn’t be too hard I think!”

“I would certainly hope not, otherwise your career is going to be very short-lived, Sam.” He joked. “It’s for the best that you go and start right about now anyway, I suppose. I’ve got two go and actually clean up a room for you.”

“Yeah? Well, you go have fun with that and I’m gonna go kick some ass. Sound good?”

“As long as you bring back their cores, then by all means.”

“Cores?” Sam blinked then took another look at the quest description. “Oh, shit. You’re right! Proof of kill, huh?”

“You weren’t expecting to get paid simply on the honor system, were you? Get going already, or you’ll waste away the entire afternoon.”

“Alright, I got the picture. I’ll be on my way then.” Sam turned away and started to head out the door, only to look back over her shoulder again and give the guild master a thumbs up and a smile. “Wish me luck!“

And with that, the hurricane of a girl was gone just as easily as she came. After the door shut behind her, he almost started to believe she wasn’t actually real and that this was some sort of delusional waking dream that his pitiable mind came up with. There was no denying the evidence, though. He wasn’t strong enough to leave that big of a mark on his reception desk.

The man cradled his brow and let out a sigh. Now that he had time to think about what he had agreed to, he found himself exasperated and wondered about what this meant for his future. For now, though that’s only meant one thing. He had cleaning to do.