The Achievement Junkie

Argyle looked at the confused Jack and laughed, "So you're not from the Leisure Guild after all; that's what I thought."

"You know Tralon? Tralon Dyrshire?"

Jack's question caught Argyle off guard. He assumed that Jack's momentary confusion was from a slip of character, not that Jack struggled to believe that Tralon and Argyle were friends.

"Sure do, but it has been a long time since I've seen him," replied Argyle. "How's he doing nowadays?"

"I'm not sure…" His words trailed off as Jack started to get lost in his thoughts.

Wondering what to believe and what no to believe, Argyle studied Jack. "Jack, are you really from the Leisure Guild? You should tell me now before I contact Tralon personally."

"You can contact him?!"

The question didn't confuse Argyle, it was Jack's expression. It wasn't a face of regret or anger, Jack's was a face filled with joy and longing. Now he really was baffled by Jack's antics and his ruse.

"Yes, I can contact him via our guild contact crystal, it is high-tier after all."

"Can you give me a moment to think? It's hard to think how I can best explain this," asked Jack, further surprising Argyle.

"Sure…" he agreed and stopped eating as he waited for an explanation.

Eliza was even more lost. She knew that her father would test Jack and that he had some connections with the Leisure Guild, but she had no clue what to think of either Jack or her father at the moment.

Taking a minute to calm down and gather himself, Jack finally spoke. "I'm not currently part of the Leisure Guild, not at the moment at least."

"Not at the moment? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's very hard to explain, but I do know Tralon personally. If you want to test that, then I'm more than willing to. It's been too long since I've spoken to him…"

While Jack trailed off like a war hero talking about his glory days, Argyle was trying to make sense of the situation.

"If you're not part of the Leisure Guild, then what good is there in contacting Tralon? What's stopping me from just taking everything you have right now and kicking you out of my home?"

Coming back to himself, Jack shook his head and laughed at the unexpected development. This was going to be trickier than he expected.

"Can you cast silence, please?" Jack asked Eliza, not Argyle, which surprised him.

If Jack asked Eliza to cast silence and not him, that meant Jack was able to see through his level and class. Jack was getting more mysterious by the second.

She looked at her father first but quickly cast silence after getting his permission.

"Alright, now spill it. Who are you really and why aren't you afraid of what I might do to you?"

"A lv. 71 is going to act personally against a lv. 22 adventurer?" Jack joked with Argyle, confirming Argyle's thoughts. "Can you please promise to keep everything I'm about to say between us? None of this can leave the room."

"Fine." Argyle nodded, intrigued by how confident Jack was despite being in such a particular situation.

"First off, Jack is my real name and I'm with the Adventurers Association."

"Seriously?" asked Argyle. "Weren't you in a bidding war with them just an hour ago?"

"Yeah, but they didn't know that was me. I'm the recently summoned hero that joined the association and faced off with the Chaos Syndicate. Does that ring any bells?"

Argyle's eyes went wide as he realized that Jack's confidence had something to back it up. "But if they don't know that you were the one bidding and winning all those items, that means they don't know how wealthy you really are, right? So if we just take your things, then what could they do?"

"It's not that simple either," Jack kept laughing, destroying Argyle's seriousness. "I recently raided the hidden tomb of Ponlinne the Great in the Zuran Empire. There, I found too many treasures to count, including Ponlinne's lv. 85 staff. The association doesn't know about most of the treasure, but I've already promised them that staff. Also, if you take everything, I can inform the association of all the treasures you take. Then maybe it wouldn't end as well as you would've hoped."

With squinted eyes, Argyle stared harshly at Jack. He was at an impasse. He couldn't take anything valuable or the association would learn about it. But he also gained some leverage on Jack since he knew that Jack had kept secrets from the association. The most confusing thing was how Jack knew Tralon, even by his last name.

"So… how should you and I handle this situation then. I know some secrets about you and you can keep me from taking things. Now what?"

"You should let me go and we can be friends, how about that?"

Argyle chuckled and said nothing. He took a moment to think before he asked, "And how is Tralon tied in all this? You said you know him but that's impossible. How did you even learn about a minor guild on the other side of the world?"

Scratching his head, Jack answered, "That's even more complicated… Can you give me another minute to think?"

"I… fine." He didn't like not having answers, so Argyle put his impatience aside and let Jack have time to explain.

All the while, Eliza was staring at Jack. She thought he was handsome and the fact that he talked down her father was a huge turn on for her. Were there any other young men could argue with a lv. 71 expert and not flinch?

Considering everything, Jack sighed, "Can Eliza please leave the room?"

"Hey, I want to--"

"You heard the man, Eliza. Just wait outside or in your room. I'll call you back in soon," stated Argyle, nodding to his daughter.

"Father!"

"Please," begged Argyle.

"Hmph!" Mad at both Jack and her father, Eliza pouted as she left the silenced room.

"There, now speak! I don't like waiting for too long," shouted Argyle.

"Calm down, I'll tell you everything. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING," stated Jack. "Know that I'm about to put even more of my life in your hands, so please be merciful with me."

"Good!"

"You already know that summoned heroes are summoned from different points in time, right? Well, I'm a special case. I'm not like other heroes because I didn't arrive here with my old level or skills. If I had, I'd be the one scaring you half to death."

Thinking about Jack's words, Argyle wasn't sure if he should believe him.

"You asked how I know Tralon, so let me tell you. I was the hero who he had a pact with during Ancient Kartonia," explained Jack. "I didn't know that he was still alive and I have no clue why, but I can promise you that I am who I say I am."

"You're…"

More a moment, Argyle entertained Jack's words as true. If Jack was really the man he said he was, wouldn't that mean…

"Yes, I am," answered Jack. "Now, let me tell you something. At the moment I'm not a member of the Leisure Guild, but I was one of its founders in the past and I will head again in the future. I don't plan to stay with the association forever. My treasures will all go to rebuilding the Leisure Guild."

"Now I have a question. If Tralon is still around, how on earth is the Leisure Guild only a minor guild?"

Argyle stroked his hairless chin, deep in thought. This was way more than he was expecting to hear. "Tralon… a long time ago he was cursed and he started to lose all his EXP bit by bit."

"Skaryn's Vengeance…"

Since Jack could easily name the curse, Argyle started to believe him. "Yeah, that's the one. The last time I saw him was years ago and Tralon was at lv. 66. With his decline, the Leisure Guild went from being a global superpower to a dwindling guild in a broken country. Are you really--"

"Yes, I'm really him, but no one can know. Also, are you from Trodar?"

"I'm not, but my wife was. She was from a fallen noble family. During the war, her family was chased out of the country. Luckily for her, she was already with me at the time, but her family didn't make it," Argyle explained with sunken eyes. "She's no longer with us either, sadly…"

"Sorry for bringing back sad memories."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you've got too many of those to count," joked Argyle. A long-time had passed since his wife died, so he was used to it.

"Do you understand why I ask for us to part of friends?" Jack asked Argyle. At the same time, a pure white blade appeared in Jack's hands.

"This?"

"This is too prove that we're friends," stated Jack as he passed Argyle the perfectly white sword.

"I can't accept something so valuable, not as a gift," Argyle said that, but he immediately stored the sword. He glanced at the locked door and looked back at Jack. "I'll give you the most precious thing I own, my daughter."