Azmar hadn't changed much in the time I had been gone. To be safe, I kept a hood over my head as a lame attempt to disguise myself. Though, with Mezu sitting on my shoulders gripping my hair through my hood, I don't know if people could recognize me in the first place.

Luckily Alcoroth wasn't visible; a floating elf-like being would certainly grab more attention than Mezu.

"So, why are we not heading to the tower?"

"I just want to see the state of my old guild first."

I didn't like to think about what had happened. But I was pretty sure that Chase and Valera at least had a chance to still be alive.

"I don't think I need to remind you that you're not allowed to share the details of your quest or Mezu with just anyone."

"I know I know, but I don't know anything about the towers or what the guilds are doing there. If you say they've stopped climbing for no clear reason, then they must be stopping people from getting past them. I don't really want to go in without any understanding at all."

"To think a lazy bastard like you would think things through like this."

"No need to insult me twice in one sentence."

While I had gotten used to him as we traveled, I still wasn't that big of a fan of Alcoroth. The training was hell and his attitude was on a whole other level, but in the end, it's not like I had that big of a choice but to deal with him.

I sighed and shifted my shoulders as Mezu fidgeted.

It wasn't long until we arrived at what used to be my guild's building. Everything about it looked the same except for the sign. It no longer only read “Wandering Pegasus,” but in smaller writing in the bottom corner of the sign was “seventh wing,” which wasn't good. Affiliate guilds of Winged Mercy were all numbered wings from 1 to 12. The larger the number the newer they were. It was odd though seeing it blatantly written out. Usually, the larger guilds didn't openly advertise the guilds that they were controlling.

I didn't linger on the sign and continued down the road, walking past a couple of buildings before stepping off the road into an alleyway.

"Wasn't that your guild hall? I thought you said you wanted to go."

"It's not exactly the same as I remember, so we'll just be going through the backdoor."

I repositioned Mezu so he was hanging on my back. During training, I had gotten quite used to him sitting like that, and it made my movement slightly less restricted.

I went further into the alley until I reached a large wooden crate. I moved it out of the way and pulled open the sewage bars it was covering.  I climbed down the ladder into the sewers and backtracked until we were underneath my old guild.

If you weren't one of the founding members, you didn't know about it, but from the guild leader's office, there was an escape route. The exit was into the sewers and without knowing that it was there you couldn't even start to look for a way to open it from the outside. I took off the necklace I wore around my neck and slid my hand against the wall until I found the small hole. It looked like all the other imperfections there, and I wasn't too sure I had picked the right one. I honestly had only done this a couple of times and I wasn't alone on those occasions.

I put the charm into the hole, felt a little click, and then the door opened quietly. I slipped inside and closed the door with the lever to my left.

"Well, that's handy."

I laughed and started to walk up the stairs in the dark. I kept my bearings by keeping a hand on the wall to my left.

"The person who built this building in the first place was apparently a famous aristocrat. He didn't want to be seen entering the front door, so he made this back door. I found it with a former guild member when we first joined."

Alcoroth was glowing slightly so it wasn't terribly dark, but I slowed as we reached the top of the stairs and heard two voices speaking, only one of which I recognized as Chase's.

"Thank you for the report, Alecia."

"Of course, Guild Master"

The footsteps receded and the door opened and closed. I waited a moment in case there was someone else in the room though. When I was about to open the door, Mezu pulled on my hood stopping me.

"You could have just allowed her to come back another time." Chase said.

His voice was muffled but I could hear it quite well since the guild master's chair would be right in front of the hidden door. Still, what the hell happened for Chase to end up as the guild master?

"If it was anyone else visiting, would you have told her to come back later?"

This was a woman's voice, but I didn't recognize it at all.

"The more interruptions the longer this whole thing takes and neither of us wants to be here."

"Don't be so harsh, I enjoy our conversations."

There was a pause and then a harsh laugh from the woman.

"Fine, I'll get to the point. Your branch has made it past the probationary period and you will now only have to see a representative or me every three months."

There was even more silence, I could only imagine the look of utter uninterest that could be showing on Chase's face right now.

"You should look more excited. I thought you'd be happy to see less of me."

"I am merely showing respect for the official meeting. I will be sure to celebrate with my staff at a later time."

"And here I never thought you'd make it to the end. I was sure you'd get frustrated, and we'd have to replace you like we did your predecessor. Well no matter, make sure your bi-weekly reports are sent over on time. Just because your probation is over doesn't mean you can slack off."

More footsteps receded and the door closed firmly. Mezu's hand let go of my hood but I still waited a bit till I thought she was completely gone.