The office remained silent.
Everyone watched Samuel.
The older administrator sat motionless in his chair.
For several long moments, nobody interrupted his thoughts.
Samuel wasn't stupid.
That was precisely why he hated this situation.
Every path in front of him was dangerous.
Reginald was falling.
The only question was how hard.
And whether Samuel would be dragged down with him.
Finally, he let out a long breath.
"If I do this…"
His eyes moved toward Franklin.
"…then I want something clarified first."
Franklin nodded.
"Go ahead."
Samuel's expression hardened slightly.
"What happens after?"
Nobody spoke.
Samuel continued.
"Let's say I tell Reginald."
"Let's say he rushes into Lowbrook."
"Let's say everything unfolds exactly as you expect."
His eyes narrowed.
"What happens to me afterward?"
Franklin didn't need long to answer.
"If everything goes the way I expect, you won't be executed."
Samuel immediately looked relieved.
"However," Franklin continued, "I highly doubt you'll keep your current position."
Samuel grimaced.
That was exactly what he had expected.
"The Baron isn't an idiot."
"He'll know that someone around Reginald failed."
"He'll want people punished."
"Just not equally."
The guild leader folded his arms.
"Reginald will take the majority of the blame."
"You'll simply be moved somewhere less important."
Samuel slowly nodded.
A lower position.
Less influence.
Less prestige.
But alive.
Compared to the alternatives, it wasn't a terrible outcome.
Franklin continued.
"When that happens, tell the truth."
Samuel frowned.
"The truth?"
"Most of it."
Franklin's expression remained calm.
"Tell him Reginald ignored orders."
"Tell him Reginald maintained contact with Stoneclaw."
"Tell him Reginald made decisions without proper oversight."
"All of those things are true."
Samuel immediately understood what Franklin wasn't saying.
"And the rest?"
"The rest isn't relevant."
The office became quiet.
Samuel stared at Franklin for several moments.
Then he slowly nodded.
It was a realistic plan.
More importantly—
It was believable.
The Baron would likely believe it too.
Franklin leaned back slightly.
"And when you're eventually moved into some administrative position within the city…"
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"I pay well for useful information."
Samuel let out a tired laugh.
"So that's your real goal."
"One of them."
For the first time since entering the office, Samuel felt some of the tension leave his body.
The future still looked dangerous.
But at least he could finally see one.
After a long silence, he stood up.
"Alright."
His eyes moved across the room.
"I'll do it."
Franklin nodded.
"Good."
Osric remained silent.
Garrick smirked.
William looked relieved.
Even Dustin seemed to relax slightly.
Samuel however wasn't celebrating.
Because now came the difficult part.
Actually finding and convincing Reginald in time before the Stoneclaw mess came to an end.
"Do you know where he currently is?" Asked Osric.
"Yes. He spends most of his time at a specific pub when he comes into the city."
"Good. Then you should leave alone with haste. People need to see you leave of your own free will." Franklin said.
Samuel hesitated.
"Hurry. Even with so many gangsters fighting it out, it won't last forever." Garrick added.
Samuel nodded and left the office in quick strides.
When he walked through the guild hall towards the entrance, he only received a couple of glances. Most people were too preoccupied with their own stuff.
As he exited the building, he noticed that the sun was already setting.
The cold also hit him abruptly.
"Huu."
'Sorry Reginald, but I have to put myself first.' He thought to himself as he made his way through the snowy streets.
—
Back inside the office of Franklin.
"You think he'll do everything correctly?" Garrick asked Franklin.
"Yes. I know men like him well. They always put themselves first."
"And we didn't give him other alternatives." Osric added.
William and Dustin breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was stressful. Are you sure about making him your informant though?" William asked Franklin.
"If he makes himself useful, yes."
"You probably already have other informants anyway." Osric said.
Franklin smirked faintly but didn't respond.
"Um, what should we do now?" Dustin finally asked.
"Nothing. We leave that Klinger guy in our cell to use as a witness of the assassination attempt on our guild members. Other than that we wait to see everything unfold until tomorrow." Franklin answered.
"Oh okay."
"You may all leave now and rest. If anything more happens, I will take care of it." Franklin said.
"Got it."
"Alright."
Everyone turned to leave except Osric.
"By the way, where's Jayson? Shouldn't he have been around and training with you?" He asked Franklin.
"Oh right. He completed his first mission earlier today. It was an E-Rank small Giant Rat nest mission. He did well, so I gave him the rest of the day off."
"I see. That's good to hear. Alright see you soon."
"Yes. Goodbye."
When they entered the guildhall again, Osric asked the others to sit down together.
"So Garrick, you didn't go into detail about how you ended up dragging Dustin here along with you instead of training like I told you."
"Haha. It's quite the coincidence, but I saw him training by himself and saw some potential in him. How about recruiting him along with that archer guy who was with William?"
Both Osric and William were surprised to see that. They only met Dustin once but he didn't seem impressive.
"Interesting. I'll have to think about after seeing him in action myself. We should put recruitment matters to the side anyway. Let's wait until tomorrow to see what happens with what we talked about before. After that we'll probably continue with our different routines for another few days before starting official party activities."
Dustin felt awkward.
"Fine. But are you just going to keep reading books?"
"Yeah. I'm still not fully recovered from my underground fight with Piers."
"Now that I think about it. Why haven't you said anything about those injuries you have everywhere. Go to an infirmary right now to get treated and we'll talk tomorrow about what you should focus on next." Osric told Garrick.
Garrick looked at his injuries and the pain kicked in again. "Ugh, shit. I totally forgot about that."
He stood up. "See ya tomorrow!"
And left the guild with a limp.
Dustin also left immediately after and William stayed a short while to talk more in detail about everything that happened these last two days since their last official party meeting.
Osric told him to keep doing what he has with Richard. He was more convinced than ever that they needed Richard in their party.
—
Currently inside a lively pub, in a secret room—
Samuel just arrived to meet with Reginald and Max. Both of them were already drunk.
'Shit. This is annoying. I hope my news sobbers them up.' He thought as he stared at them having the time of their lives with many young women sitting next to them in their booth.
"Young master. I bring urgent news."