THE MOMENT
"...anyway...," Tessa came to the end of her explanation. She invited her friend, Monday, for a chat over lunch and Monday caught on that it was a business discussion early in the tale. They sat outside picnicking in the courtyard of the Mage's guild. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the rubble was no longer smoldering. "...the friction within the order wasn't a surprise; I just didn't expect anything to happen the same day I joined, you know? The biggest problem is the fact that I joined yesterday; the same day," she shrugged. She didn't have to explain it more in-depth than that. Monday was a good merchant and a smart girl, on top of being a trustworthy friend. And, like Tessa, she was quick to act on opportunities as they presented themselves.
"The good news is, my contract is still valid. The guild is still a guild as long as they have one member. So, at least the repairs are taken care of," Monday gestured at the rubble. "I'll have it rebuilt in the next couple of days no problem. The rest is trickier.., but I know an Enchanter that can help."
"An Enchanter? They can do that??" It was the first time Tessa had considered that possibility.
"It's not common knowledge..," Monday nodded. "Even among Enchanters only the highest ranking ones know it's possible and only a handful of them can pull it off, as long as there's no one to challenge it. But, Starla owes me a favor," she added. "If you're not in a hurry, at least. She works for Chroma Corp., so a lot of her time is focused on the wedding right now."
"Oh yeah, no. That's great!" Tessa smiled. "Just knowing it'll be taken care of helps, I can be patient."
"Since when?" Monday giggled.
"Since always! Opportunity is one thing; but, if it's in the bag I'm in no hurry," Tessa defended herself with a smile. "Speaking of the wedding though, I heard about the magical girl match that day. Any chance you'll still make it?" she asked.
"Oh definitely," Monday nodded. "The match is planned as the entertainment for the reception; Chroma was adamant that Ruin and Minerva be allowed to get married first. So, we'll be there and Io's team will be there too..," she said.
"Do you know anything about them?" Tessa asked. Monday nodded.
"Buddy and Ozone exchanged information, it's some team of Marines turned Magical Girls," she shrugged.
"Oh wait, you told me Buddy was the coach for your team but I didn't know about Ozone coaching the other team," she smirked. "At least now I know it won't be completely one-sided."
"Not completely," Monday giggled.
"Well, this was fun; but, I think we got your issues sorted, right?" Monday asked as she stood from the grass. "I've got a couple of appointments I want to knock out before practice later. Anything else you can think of right now?"
"No, becoming guildmaster was my biggest problem. I wasn't even worried about the repairs; but, I'm glad that's taken care of too."
"I mean... you did know before this, right? You can't inherit a guild the first 90 days after you join."
"I knoooooww," Tessa whined at the idea that she didn't know that basic knowledge. "But, c'mon. A fight broke out while I was there finishing my application. I kind of didn't have a choice," she shrugged with a sly smile. "And now I know an Enchanter can forge the guild license in my name; how big of a favor does she owe you? Any chance of getting her help on a more regular basis?"
"Ehh, not sure about that," Monday shook her head. "I don't think she'd go for it, considering the whole 'no one to challenge it' stipulation. This turned into a big fight, so it's easy to explain away; but, what are the chances of that happening again?"
"Yeah, okay. Helping me with this one is huge though; next time I'll just wait until the grace period ends."
"If you had that kind of patience you wouldn't need a forged certificate," Monday chuckled as she opened a portal to leave.
"What was I supposed to do? The entirety of the guild flagged for PvP right in front of me and started fighting. I wasn't going to get a better chance to kill them all at once. "
