Chapter51

"That piece of trash over there," he said, nodding toward the man still on the floor, "was harassing my friend, acting like she is just a play thing he can buy whenever he feels like it. So I got a little physical with him and told him to apologize, and that's when you walked in."
Her eyes shifted to the cracked pillar behind them, then back to the man on the floor, who was still rubbing his throat and glaring at nothing.
"I see," she said, her tone not changing at all. "There are always trash like that, acting out of line and forgetting where they are. I have dealt with worse in this hall."
'Oh, so she gets it,' he thought, feeling some of the tension in his shoulders loosen.
"But," she continued, and that single word made him brace, "you damaged guild property in the process." She gestured toward the pillar with a small tilt of her head, the crack running deep enough that chunks of stone had fallen to the floor around it. "How are you going to compensate for that?"
'Right, the pillar,' he thought, looking at the damage he had completely forgotten about in the middle of everything else. 'Of course that comes with a price tag.'
He didn't hesitate.
"I'll pay for the damages," he said, meeting her eyes without flinching. "And I apologize if I caused too much of a scene."
The answer seemed to catch her off guard, because her expression shifted just slightly, like she had expected him to argue or make excuses.
"You will pay?" she asked, looking at him in suspicion, "really?"
"Yeah," he said, "I threw him into it. That's on me."
She studied him for another second, then let out a slow breath through her nose.
"Repair costs for structural damage run at fifty silver," she said, rubbing her forehead. "As an apology for what happened today, we will give you a week to settle your payment."
'A week is more than enough,' he thought, nodding once. 'I just need to get an adventurer card, take a few quests and that should cover it.'