Chapter Text
Merren sat at her desk, in a moment of brief reprieve from the storm of problems surrounding her. However, a familiar knock cut into that moment, just as she was about to bite into a sandwich.
Merren let out a short sigh, dropping the sandwich back to the plate, “Come in.”
The currently suspended Lord Administrator opened the door and stepped hesitantly into the room holding a file.
“Good afternoon, Merren.”
“What bullshit are you bringing me now?”
“Believe me I wish this wasn’t an issue, but managing the guild’s finances means occasionally conducting audits, and I discovered a few concerning things regarding some of our clubs at the Academy-” He paused before hastily tacking on, “Nothing shatterer related, but it does raise some concerns about certain guild members’ scruples.”
Merren let out another sigh before gesturing to the seat across from her desk, “Go on.”
“This matter regards some of our bard’s clubs in particular. I noticed that 28 of our 46 clubs had more funding over the past few years than I would expect, and upon doing some digging, I found that the reason for this was due to a single donor. The donations were from different companies, but the money trail led back to one person, the Barron Crestbrezze.”
Merren looked up in surprise, “Huh, but why would he... ooh. Alistair was kicked out of all 46 clubs, right?”
“Yes, he was.”
“So, you think Alistair’s dad spent a fuckton of money in hopes of damaging his son's ego enough that he'd come home.”
“Yes, and unfortunately for the Barron, his son has enough confidence that he was completely unfazed.”
Merren snorted, “Okay, shitty parenting aside, this means we have an unknown number of people in the hero’s guild who are willing to accept bribes.”
“Yes, I talked with Caseera, and I believe we’ve located the middleman.” He opened the file he was carrying and handed a page to Merren.
“A man by the name of Preston Changeo. His father was a wizard who actually had a fairly successful career with the guild, but Mr. Changeo flunked out of the Academy after 14 months. However, he has maintained a close relationship with many of the Bards’ clubs since his departure. After leaving, he became a commentator for various sports in RontMar. He does mouse boxing, wrestling, and apparently goat-pig racing.
Merren looked up from the document. “What the fuck is goat-pig racing?”
“Apparently, it’s a race where the contestants are goats riding pigs, but that’s not pertinent to his role in bribing academy students.”
“Right, so we don’t know who knew about the bribes within the clubs, and we don’t know if Alistair got himself kicked out of the other ones or if someone in the other clubs took the money directly.”
“Yes and...” Vessler paused.
Merren looked up in annoyance. “What?”
“Well, it’s just that while I have a plan of action, I am currently suspended, and this stretches the limits as to what could be considered 'handling the finances'.”
Merren paused for a few moments. “Yes, well, I’m saying this counts as financial work if anybody asks.”
“In that case, my plan is to arrange a meeting with him and to hopefully get a list of all the people who accepted the bribes, and providing he cooperates, I say we use him as an informant going forward rather than pursuing legal consequences. I don’t think following up with the Baron is worth the headache it will bring, so I say we ignore him. As for the academy students who accepted the bribes, if they are no longer a part of the academy or guild, we put a mark in their record in case they try to come back, and if any of them are active guild members, I say we handle it on a case-by-case basis after I have a list. Any objections?”
Merren pinched the bridge of her nose. “No, that’s fine. Let me know how it goes and get somebody to be your bodyguard… just in case.”
“Will do,” and with that, Lord Vessler departed, leaving Merren to finally eat her sandwich.