Construction Mage - Chapter 70: Noble Sights

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Luckily for Clay, the line at the administration wasn’t particularly long early in the morning. The merchants and travelers who frequented the place the most were still busy with their morning preparations and had yet to arrive. He soon got his turn with a clerk who wore the same bored expression as every other bureaucrat. However, that changed the moment Clay mentioned Varek Talon, the noble heir to Ravenhold.

The poor man scrambled into the back and brought back a much older gentleman wearing a monocle on his right eye.

“I am Bastiel, the steward in charge today,” the silver fox greeted. “Lord Varek has confirmed your claims from your previous visit. We have the guild certificate ready right here.”

He extended a thick piece of parchment to Clay. It was decorated with fancy seals, scribblings, and a lacquer seal that made it look like a college diploma. As Clay took hold of it, he quickly frowned when he found that the steward had maintained a strong grip on it, unwilling to let go.

It couldn’t have been this smooth, I guess. What does he want? A bribe? 

Not wanting to seem desperate, Clay waited for the man to say something as he maintained a tight grip on the certificate. It was thankfully made of thick parchment, or it otherwise would’ve been torn apart already by the two stubborn men.

“Mr. Stratton, would you mind humoring me?” the steward finally said.

“Hm? How can I help you, Steward Bastiel?”

“Just the curiosity of an old man who was wondering if you were from a noble house. Not many commoners have last names around these parts, so I couldn’t get it out of my mind.”

“I see. Well, sorry to disappoint, but I am not a noble. It’s just a custom from the place I’m from to take last names. Not sure of the reason behind it, but I think we can attribute it to a weird custom of some remote village. Nothing worth mentioning, really.”

Hearing his reply, the steward, for some reason, grimaced for a split second before leaning in to continue in a hushed voice.

“In that case, allow me to warn you. Your existence as a commoner mage has become well known among certain cliques of the nobility. Since you do not have anything to refute those claims, it is best to practice caution.”

“What? What do you mean by that? I’m still a low-level beginner. Why would anyone care about me?”

Bastiel let out a practiced smile before placing a hand on Clay’s shoulder.

“Congratulations, young man. It is an accomplishment to found a guild. I hope everything goes well. If you have any questions, you can always come to us—or in your case, you may be able to just talk to Thalia.”

For a second, Clay was stunned at how quickly the man flipped over to full business mode, but upon hearing him out until the end, it was apparent the man was telling him to speak with Thalia instead.

“Thank you. I’ll try my best,” Clay said with his facade donned.

With the strange handover of the certificate over, his next destination was clear—Thalia and Garrick’s house. 

While strolling across the markets of the second ring and into the third ring, he couldn’t help but keep an eye over his shoulder. If the steward was right and the nobles were keeping an eye on him, he couldn’t afford any missteps.

I am already busy with the guild building and challenging the dungeon to reach the second layer, where I can freely obtain lumber resources, and I get this bullshit dropped onto me? Why couldn’t that old guy just tell me exactly what was going on?

With new worries, each step weighed heavily on Clay, making the usual walk back to the third ring exhausting.

As he arrived at his destination, he glanced up to check the position of the sun and shook his head.

Garrick should have left by now. Hopefully, Thalia is still here.

Knocking on the door, he was relieved to hear movement inside. He took a step back as the door swung open.

“Clay?” the familiar green-haired woman asked, half in confusion. “What are you doing here so early? I thought you would only just be rousing at this time.”

“Thalia, I just came back from the administration building to receive my guild certificate. Look,” he said as he held up the parchment with both arms.

“Good for you. I’m sure you’ll do a fine job. Is that all? Came over so early in the morning just to brag?”

“What? No, I came here because…”

It didn’t take long for Clay to retell the story. The more he spoke, the more concerned Thalia looked.

“Clay, it is never a good idea to have nobility set their sights on you. That goes double since you have to choose a mage class. The nobility, who claim to keep the magic classes to their own caste, wouldn’t be too happy about your existence. I’m sorry to say, you may have inadvertently been pulled into the political quagmire of nobles due to your high-profile actions with the prince.

“I’ll reach out to my contacts to confirm, but the situation shouldn’t be too different from what I said. You should weigh your options carefully right now.”

“I don’t really get it. The nobles don’t like commoners becoming Delvers, so they will be targeting me instead of those who wrote the policy to allow anyone who can pay inside the dungeon?”

“Yes, nobles like to make examples out of whatever they can get their hands on. They shouldn’t be able to do anything too drastic in the city. The more concerning issue will be the various businesses.”

“Businesses? It has to do with them, how exactly?”

“Once news spreads—and trust me, it will and quickly as well—most of them will avoid trouble and no longer entangle with you. You’ll be a pariah in the community. Not exactly what you’d want when trying to build up a guild.”

Letting out a groan, Clay shook his head. “What can I do about this, then?”

“Nothing for now. You can only endure and hope that people on the opposing faction manage to keep them in check long enough that they lose interest.”

***

Clay sighed for the umpteenth time this morning before he even made it into the dungeon. He had a brooding look as he paced back and forth in front of the dungeon enclosure.

I had just been making so much progress recently, making deals with various craftsmen’s stores. I can’t believe the once so nice storekeeper changed so drastically.

Just a few moments prior, Clay went to speak with one of the employees of a store who had agreed to work with his guild idea. Thalia had been right. News spread quickly, and their attitude did a one-eighty. All the work he put into building relationships went down the drain in one morning. He could tell it wasn’t mean-spirited, but businesses had to look out for their own survival. As a result, there was no way he could blame them.

This must be that Varek guy messing with me for pressuring him with the prince to give me the guild certificate. I guess I can count that as mild in terms of the type of harassment a powerful noble can employ. Still, not doing anything would only encourage him to continue, while doing something would likely give them an opportunity to put me in a jail cell.

When you can’t fight back or ignore it, the only option left is running.

Letting out a sigh, Clay flinched back the moment he made eye contact with Malik.

“How long have you been here?” he asked.

“Um, just a moment ago, sir. Is something the matter?”

“Hmm, yes and no. It seems it may be beneficial for us to speed up our progress at clearing the first layer. Can you prepare for an extended stay in the dungeon ‌today? It’s best we stay until sunset.”

“I brought everything, sir! I’m glad to see that you finally decided to delve for the entire day like the other Delvers!” Malik cheerfully replied.

The morning had been draining enough for Clay. He didn’t have enough left in him to explain the situation he somehow found himself in. For as long as the nobles had their sights on him, it would be safer for him to spend more time in the dungeon, so they couldn’t come up with any little tricks to harass him. Out of sight, out of mind—or so he hoped. It was what he had to pay for being so high profile recently. 

The inside of a dungeon was a domain no one had control over. It was the perfect place to wait for things to die down.

“In that case, let’s go. We’ll be staying in the dungeon all day from now on until things out here quiet down.”

Hearing the last part of Clay’s words, Malik glanced around curiously, weighing whether what he heard was normal to the enclosure or actually louder than usual. Clay simply pushed him along toward the altar.

It sucked that the shovelhead and hammerhead for his staff hadn’t been completed yet. The conditions weren’t ideal, but this would be the perfect time to test out his newly upgraded ability and perhaps even level up some of the other skills. 

The benefit of the skill upgrade was addictive. It was too good to forgo. Clay couldn’t wait to see what options awaited him for Earth Blast and Spell Manipulation. That was why he didn’t mind missing the weapon attachments for now. The Ironspine staff by itself was more than enough to whack a few kobolds around if needed.

The moment the two were transported into the dungeon, Clay summoned his elemental and hefted his staff up, and was ready to cast.

I guess I’ll make the best of the situation and grind out some skills.

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