Chapter 28: The Guild Master’s Intervention

“Clang! Clang!”

A flash of silver, and Lucia was already shielding Lovelenica. The dagger, hurled at Lovelenica’s back, was deftly parried by Lucia’s sword, sending it spinning to embed itself in the floorboards before Scar-face.

“Another sneak attack? It seems your actions have just confirmed everything they said earlier.”

Based on the testimonies of others and the current situation, it was indeed Scar-face who had instigated the trouble. He had first verbally insulted Lovelenica, then assaulted the Front desk lady, prompting Lovelenica to intervene and rescue her.

While Lovelenica’s immediate action of shattering his wrist might have seemed excessive, upon hearing the Front desk lady’s description of Scar-face’s insults toward Lovelenica, Lucia could understand such a fierce response.

Had Lucia herself heard Scar-face’s vile insults, akin to slandering her reputation with baseless rumors, she too would have been compelled to strike him.

What Lucia couldn’t quite grasp, however, was why Lovelenica hadn’t answered her questions, instead silently aiming her gun at Lucia. ‘Was she too frightened? Or was my tone too harsh, scaring Lovelenica?’

Regardless, she would apologize to Lovelenica about that later. For now, it was time to deal with these scoundrels.

Lucia’s face was grim as she advanced steadily towards Scar-face, her two gunblades scraping together, the friction of their blades piercing the eardrums of everyone present.

“W-what are you trying to do?! Even if you’re from the Church, you can’t just kill me in the Royal City!”

Scar-face, seeing Lucia’s dark expression and the constantly grinding gunblades in her hands, broke out in a cold sweat. He slumped to the floor, scrambling backward, his entire face twitching with terror.

From the speed and precision with which Lucia had parried his thrown dagger, it was clear her strength far surpassed his own. He was merely a First-Tier Demon Hunter, while his opponent was likely Second-Tier, perhaps even Third-Tier. Not only was there a significant power gap, but he was also now missing a hand. How could he possibly be Lucia’s match?

“Indeed. But maiming you and throwing you into a dungeon is perfectly permissible.”

“What’s happening here?”

At that moment, a languid female voice drifted from the staircase behind the front desk. Following the voice down from the second floor was a woman of beautifully proportioned and graceful figure, clad in a flowing azure gown.

Her name was Daisy Cameron. Before the establishment of the Demon Hunter Guild, she had been a solitary freelance Demon Hunter. She didn’t adhere to any specific cultivation system, relying solely on her own abilities and experience, having slain numerous phantasmal races. Her strength was rumored to be Seventh-Tier.

Decades ago, Daisy was recruited by the kingdom’s government to establish the Demon Hunter Guild, eventually becoming its Guild Master.

Observing the bloodstains and chaos in the hall, Daisy appeared utterly bewildered. A Front desk lady leaned in close to Daisy’s ear, softly relaying the entire situation.

“I see. Someone’s causing trouble here again.”

Daisy’s voice remained languid. The Demon Hunter Guild was not old, still in its nascent stages, making its management incredibly challenging. Most Demon Hunters were fringe elements of society who operated in gray areas, so disturbances like this were not uncommon. Daisy had long grown accustomed to them.

However, these conflicts typically arose when Demon Hunters disliked one another. It was quite rare for someone to attempt to harm a Front desk lady.

“Lady Daisy! It was that brat who… Ah—!!!”

Scar-face tried to slander Lovelenica’s name, but before he could finish, he was utterly flattened, the sole of a black high heel pressing firmly into his chest.

“Trying to lay hands on my people, is there anything more to say?”

“Thump—”

Before Scar-face could even attempt to argue further, Daisy stomped down again. The heavy, forceful impact caused the very floorboards to visibly dent. Scar-face grunted in pain, his eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness.

‘Whoa… what a terrifying woman. So Daisy was here all along?’ Lovelenica couldn’t help but gulp, witnessing Daisy stomp Scar-face unconscious without a word.

Daisy had appeared in the original novel, though much later, in the mid-story arc. While her publicly known identity was that of a Seventh-Tier Demon Hunter, in reality, she hadn’t solely hunted phantasmal races before becoming the Guild Master. She targeted both phantasmal races and humans. Some former high-ranking officials of the Arcadia Kingdom had also been killed by Daisy. For unknown reasons, the Arcadia Kingdom later sought to recruit Daisy, and she actually accepted—this was the true reason Daisy could lead the Demon Hunter Guild.

Therefore, Daisy was inherently a person of few words but formidable action. Stomping Scar-face unconscious was already a lenient outcome. Were it not for the constraints of her position, Scar-face would undoubtedly be dead by now.

“Sister, would you mind handing this fellow over to me?”

Daisy turned to Lucia, offering a faint smile.

“This fellow dared to lay hands on my people, which is quite uncommon. How about I handle him?”

“O-of course, Lady Daisy…”

Lucia, intimidated by Daisy’s aura and aware of her public identity and tier, naturally agreed to hand Scar-face over.

“Thank you, Sister.”

After a casual thank you to Lucia, Daisy immediately ordered others to take Scar-face and his accomplices to the Demon Hunter Guild’s dungeon.

“Guards! Take them all to the basement!”

Several Front desk ladies emerged, securely binding the hands of Scar-face’s accomplices. Two of them then dragged Scar-face away, while the others led his cohorts into the dungeon.

With Daisy present, Scar-face’s accomplices dared not resist. Even when faced with the seemingly powerless Front desk ladies, they could only submit.

After completing these tasks, some returned to the front desk to continue their work, while others began cleaning the bloodstains from the hall.

“What are you looking at?! Get back to your own business!”

Daisy roared at the other Demon Hunters, who immediately averted their gazes. Daisy then looked towards Lovelenica.

“Little sister, I hear you want to become a Demon Hunter, is that right?”

“Huh? I…”

Lovelenica’s composure crumbled at Daisy’s question. She had told Lucia yesterday that she was a Demon Hunter, but she hadn’t even registered yet! Wouldn’t Lucia catch her red-handed?

And why was Lucia even at the Demon Hunter Guild? In the early parts of the original novel, she had definitely never visited such a place.

Lovelenica glanced furtively out of the corner of her eye at Lucia, feeling uneasy.