Chapter52

"Understood," he said, giving her a small nod. "I'll settle it within the week. Thanks for not making this worse than it already was."
She didn't respond to the thanks, just gave him a short look that said she wasn't doing it for him, then turned toward the counter without another word.
He took that as his cue to leave before anyone else decided to start asking questions, reaching back and grabbing Juna by the hand before she could even react, then started walking toward the exit while the crowd was still watching.
Juna stumbled a step behind him, caught off guard by how suddenly he moved, but she didn't pull away. Her fingers stayed wrapped around his as he pushed through the guild doors and out into the noisy street.
He let out a slow breath once they were far enough from the entrance and finally loosened his grip on her hand, though she didn't let go right away.
'Phew,' he thought, glancing back at the guild building one last time, 'thankfully that went smoothly and fifty silver should be doable in a week.'
Back inside the hall, Yenna stood near the counter with her eyes still fixed on the door, her mind replaying the moment she told him to let go and the ring of light that had appeared around his wrist before fading.
It had been brief, barely a second, but she was certain she had seen it, a golden ring orbiting his wrist where a Shard should have been.
'No, that can't be right,' she thought, frowning a little while the background noise of the guild returned to normal around her. 'Shards are the only manifestation of power. Everyone knows that. So then what was that?'
She turned away from the door and started walking toward the request board, letting the thought sit without pushing it, because whatever it was, she would figure it out eventually.
'It seems someone interesting has appeared in the capital.'