Legend's Echo Chapter 04

“You incompetent fool!”

Robin did her best to ignore the loudmouthed buffoon currently yelling at her in favor of putting some poor kid’s eye back where it belonged, but it was a near thing. Ser Bran, as it turned out, was exceptionally pissed with her for staying behind and risking her life to save the healing station when it clearly wasn’t necessary.

Worse, her apprentice Donovan was currently nodding along with every word he uttered as if it were delivered from on high. It was a pain in the ass, especially with how she was expected to continue working since none of the other healers could keep going without passing the fuck out.

Hell, the Bronze rankers had passed back out the moment they realized they were safe.

As much as she wanted to go off on the pair for the public dressing down, she’d known better than to give them a reason to make things worse. Hence working on making sure everyone that still breathed would continue to do so and still have a career ahead of them once everything was wrapped up.

The bad news hadn’t stopped with the sudden ass chewing. Oh no, it continued with her fucking staff having been stepped on by one of the bastard wyvern as they fought. The dogwood wasn’t even delicate, yet it still broke all the same. The Foci still functioned, but the lack of a well worked medium made it far less efficient. She was managing, but it was just another glob of shit on top of what was proving to be one of the worst days of her career.

Content that the eye was as healed as she could get it with her reduced capabilities, Robin patted the kid on the shoulder and began to rinse her hands of bits of blood and flesh. Donavan was now prattling on and on about a healer’s duty, the very words she had taught him five years ago when she first took him on.

She really didn’t want to deal with him at the moment, especially when that wooden stick up his ass was starting to show again. For as much as he liked to bend certain rules when he was involved, he sure as hell liked to enforce them for others.

Which was a problem she really didn’t want to deal with any longer than she had to. Now that she was done with the more pressing cases, that meant it was time to turn the tables on the blowhard.

“Are you done?”

Or not, it seemed. Turning to face the newcomer, Robin couldn’t help the smile she felt pulling at her lips at the sight of The Legend himself. He had stopped just a few steps away, and despite only being slightly taller than Donovan, he seemed to loom over him with the weight of his presence. It wasn’t like Donovan was all that tall, which made the impression all the more impressive for it.

“Ser Legend,” the pansy-ass that led them, snapped off. “We weren’t expecting you for this disciplinary action.”

Robin held her tongue on that one, because of course the adventurers guild would try to discipline her for saving lives. Yes, she broke protocol, but there were reasons that would make sense if she were allowed to explain them, but nobody was interested in listening.

At least not when it was coming from a woman’s mouth.

“Please, do explain,” The Legend said, and Robin might have been imagining it, but that almost sounded sardonic.

“Healers have a duty as you well know,” Donovan said, then pointed a finger right in Robin’s face. Was it bad that she was tempted to take a page from the murder chickens and bite it off? “This healer abandoned her duty to fight.”

“She did, and the other healers still live for it, your useless ass included,” The Legend said then turned to face Robin. “Explain to them why you stood firm.”

She swallowed, the pressure rather suddenly on her. “Had I fled, those beasts would have overwhelmed those remaining far sooner and pursued, and three wyvern against any number of healers, even ones who can handle a spear, would have been a slaughter.”

“Exactly,” The Legend said. “Ser Bran. What is to be the fallout from her decision?”

“Demotion, potentially back to Silver rank,” Ser Bran said.

Oh how she wanted to kick him in the dick for that one.

Worse, Robin didn’t miss how Donovan perked up at that. Given he was a recent Gold promotion that made too much sense why he was pushing for this. Rankings were rather cut throat like that and Robin was all too aware of some of the more underhanded things done to preserve one’s place or worse, elevate it.

This was rather tame by comparison.

It still stung to see such politics from her apprentice. Hell, the young man was already poised to overtake her within the year just on sheer virtue of the fact he had a dick and knew how to jerk off the higher ups with his words. They loved that shit and Robin had no patience for it.

The Legend stood silent for a moment, as if in contemplation as he stared directly at the necklace she wore that showed everyone where she stood with the guild. Was he about to suggest something even harsher? Well, if the fucker thought that she could be busted back down to Bronze of all things, they all had another thing coming. Robin could always retire off of her savings, which was more than most realized since she was storing it away outside of Guild control.

“You are currently Gold, first rank, Healer division,” The Legend said after a moment and already Robin was reaching for her rather impressive repertoire of insults. She glared back at him in defiance, wondering whether dullard or imbecile would work better for the opening salvo. Best to save the worst of the curses for later in the tirade in her experience. Then The Legend nodded as he came to a decision. “A promotion to Platinum is in order.”

Robin blinked, her planned speech dying on her lips as she took that statement in. Did he just suggest she should be promoted instead? It went against everything healers stood for, but she’d done what she could to save lives knowing she would probably lose face for it. Sometimes doing the right thing involved telling those who thought they knew better to shove a cactus up their dickholes.

“What?” Donovan said, his voice almost breathless in his confusion.

Best to be very careful to not appear smug in the face of his rather delightful moment of utter dumbfoundedness over his expectations being broken much like the Dragon just over the ridge. Robin had gotten a look at it during her last breather, and holy hell was it a sight to behold. The Guild crafters were going to be all over it for the raw materials, though Robin had her doubts that anyone from the expedition would see a spec of it save for maybe The Legend.

Not that he needed any of it.

The Legend was unflappable and his voice carried authority. “Robin has shown more promise and ambition than anyone here, willingly throwing herself in harm’s way to save others. That is the mark of a true hero, and has earned my respect.”

And there was the fluttering in her stomach and lurching of her heart once again. Damn that man and his casual ability to play with her emotions. Bran and Donovan entered a hushed conversation with the hero, which she didn’t attempt to listen in on. If the Legend was set on their opinion, the words of lesser men wouldn’t impact her standing in his eyes.

“That isn’t your decision to make,” Donovan said, but Robin could tell he was reaching.

Yes, he was technically right about that, but at the same time, who was going to speak against The Legend? Hell, the man had just slain a dragon by knocking out of the sky in melee combat and walked off the experience. Only an idiot would try and tell him he was wrong to his face.

“We shall see,” The Legend said.

He didn’t depart with those words and instead stood firm, waiting for the others to leave instead. Robin wanted to laugh at how casual he was being with their dismissal and how clear it was that he didn’t value what they said, but she was also the one in the hot seat. No matter what the outcome, something about her life would change. If The Legend had his way, then she would finally be able to say she did the impossible and claim Platinum Rank. On the other hand, if Donovan got his way…

Well, she wouldn’t say no to a quiet life on a farm back at her home village, but she still had a few more years left in her as an adventurer, no matter what anyone said. The pair tried to stick around, but The Legend’s sheer presence was enough to stifle them into walking away after mere moments.

Which prompted one of the attending soldiers to finally approach with several skewers of meat which were thankfully still steaming.

“As requested,” the man said with a smirk.

Robin bit into it and was pleasantly surprised by how tender the wyvern meat was. Even better, someone had added pepper sauce to them as they roasted, giving the meat a delightful kick. Donovan lingered just out of earshot, watching her as she ate. Robin flipped him off and finally, he departed.

“Their behavior is troublesome,” The Legend said once they were alone. Though she could feel his eyes on her as she devoured the wyvern that attempted to eat her. Poetry at its finest. “If more had your spirit, the world would be better for it.”

Not quite sure how she should take that, Robin shrugged. “I saw people in need and saw that our protocol was failing everyone, so I stepped in.”

“I know. I was watching,” he said.

Robin hummed, then the words fully registered and she spun back to face the armored man. “You were what!?”

“I was prepared to step in the moment someone was in true danger,” The Legend said, holding up a gauntlet to forestall the epic level ass reaming she wanted to deliver to the bastard that hadn’t helped when he could. “Which I did. Everyone that was still alive when I arrived is still alive now.”

“That’s no excuse!”

“Isn’t it?” he asked. “I saw a healer stand tall in the face of death, something I have not seen in some time. That alone warranted taking a moment to see if you were worthy of my attention.”

“And was I?” Robin sneered as she shoved a finger into his breastplate. “People nearly died, you asshole! What could have been worth all of their pain and suffering?”

The Legend loomed large despite her attempts to convey how pissed off she was at the moment. Something told her she came across more as a growling puppy than an angry wolf. Not that The Legend would be intimidated by something as mundane as a wolf. If anything, she felt as though a wolf was smiling down at her with sharpened fangs ready to tear into a new meal.

“That answer is simple,” The Legend said, his tone both amused and damning at the same time. “You see, I believe that I have found myself an Echo, if you would be interested.”

Robin stared up at the blank mask of The Legend’s helm in dawning horror at what he had just said. Echoes were rare among adventurers, more akin to a Knight’s Squire, but with a full apprenticeship behind it. It wasn’t just a statement, it was a commitment that was being made. A promise. Everything that declaration entailed resonated within Robin’s thoughts and crystallized into a single word that she felt summed up everything pertinent about the offer.

“Fuck.”