Chapter 316

  When Daughters Surprise You, Only to Then Disappoint You

  “Gah, can’t you cause Chaos during regular guild office hours?” Mallory pleaded, her eyes bleary due to lack of sleep. I wanted to comment that she clearly needed to take better care of herself, but then decided that since I was the current cause of her fugue state, that I would be best to avoid that train of thought.

  Instead, I began replying to her question in a way that would show she likely needed to sleep.

  “I don’t think that’s how chaos works? That or, if it was chaos that was conducted during regular office hours, then it implies that the level of mayhem expected would be astronomical by comparison.” I offer helpfully, again only wanting to show Mallory that her faculties are being pushed to their limits and she is clearly suffering for this lack of available resources. A sign that shows that she likely needs to allocate her resources and time better.

  Groan.

  “You two, you couldn’t stop this?” Mallory is now apparently done talking to me and apparently conversing with said resources that let this happen. At least, that is the gist I am getting from this conversation.

  “Stop her, we were literally in the middle of trying to spin the idea of helping Cass get her Daily Quest complete this time would require a lot of guild resources, considering the one-day trial period noted,” Gwen began.

  Hearing her speak, my heart began to feel lighter. This was my daughter, and here she was, trying to convince her significant other to allocate resources to helping me.

  “I see that, I see that she somehow also forced the system to impose a strict failure clause seventeen seconds after the quest was initially posted to indicate this one-time trial challenge.” Mallory spoke, stressing the fact that my quest had been changed to a limited run with the potential for more, if I succeed.

  “Yes, well. Regardless of why it is now a one-time offer, I still suggest at least a 10% increase in personnel willing to help out and accomplish these goals.” Gwen indicated.

  “To be clear, you are referring to the one-time daily, and not the month-long goal that finally awoke me from my slumber?” Mallory interjected.

  Hearing that, Gwen paused and then turned to face me. “Sorry, I was apparently unaware of this month-long goal as well.”

  “Here,” Mallory replied groggily and then apparently shared details of my quest to Gwen like it was no real secret.

  First, I didn’t know that such a thing was even possible. But now that I did, I wondered what other quests could be shared in such a way. Also, how often were my quests shared between these two? Apparently, this was not the first time, as Gwen just glanced at the quest information that was apparently only visible to her and nodded.

  “Yes, I suggest we provide a gradual increase in guild resources to complete this quest as well, as it seems to have the ability to apply special Titles to both the Guild and the College, both of which could prove to be invaluable going forward.” Hearing her talk, I could almost hear that glasses wearing professional that took the corporate world by storm not what, thirty? Maybe forty years ago?

  Seeing her in her true glory makes me proud. Especially seeing that she still has that no-nonsense approach to business as she always did. Seeing her now in her element of analytics, it is clear why Mallory stood no chance against her, my daughter is just too good.

  “Okay, dedicate resources to helping out with that,” Mallory responds which Gwen just nods and makes a note. Then Mallory turns her attention towards me, “I’m going to need you to prioritize the monthly quest, as it will have the most benefit to the guild.”

  Hearing that, I could almost feel the ability for completing the daily quest today flying away as quickly as it came. It was sad, but I could almost understand.

  “Actually, if I might have a moment of your time,” Gwen began, still in her corporate storm persona. It was hard to tell when and where exactly she would pick up this persona, but when she did, she stuck to it, like a professional actress.

  From the gesture, it looked like Gwen wanted to take Mallory to the side to discuss, but Mallory still being tired just shook her head.

  “No, just say it here,” Mallory concluded, not wanting to talk about whatever Gwen still had in mind separately from Penelope and me.

  Gwen looked like she wanted to protest but then seemed to realize that Mallory likely wanted to conclude this impromptu meeting early, so she could go back to sleep. No doubt hoping that I would stop waking her up with chimes of my receiving quest notifications.

  “Now I know I’m not the only one who gets quest notification at odd times,” I begin drawing everyone’s attention towards me.

  Mallory just looks at me with a slight look of exhaustion but then seems to nod in agreement.

  “Yes, but you are the only one who I have set the alarm function to go off, forcing me to swipe out of the alarm each time it goes off. Even in sleep,” Mallory responds.

  Hearing her explanation, I nod, “sounds like a nice feature.”

  “It does help us plan our resources better,” Mallory responded, the turned back to face Gwen.

  Gwen, realizing that it was her time to shine reached up to her forehead and seemed to adjust nonexistent glasses on her face. A facet of her personality that seemed to carry over even here. Again, this was just more proof that this was a role she was playing and not her true self.

  Prepared to see my baby in action, I took a step back and wanted to see what she would do or say next.

  “If I might impose some of your time, I suggest pumping the allotted free resources to helping Cass finish her Daily Quest with all due expediency.” Gwen responded.

  Needless to say, I was not disappointed by her suggestion. In fact, I couldn’t help but feel excited by her push to help me get this quest completed.

  Sigh.

  “Can you articulate why this daily that doesn’t affect the guild at all, should be prioritized with guild resources?” Mallory asked.

  And like that, I realized I, like most times, was apparently going to be left to my own devices and the help of my friends to complete this daily.

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  Hearing it from Mallory’s perspective, I could understand. This was a pure and rational business decision, one that would force valuable resources away from the completion of many tasks. Regardless of this being a one-off event.

  “First point, this first three, along with tasks six and seven directly impact the guild and guild performances. Also of note, completing task five will open space in the storage depot and help with guards watching valuable resources. Plus, five also feeds directly into that Guild Incentives program we planned on implementing,” Gwen as regal as ever spoke.

  Hearing her speak on my behalf was like hearing a famous trial lawyer go to bat for you, even offering to go to prison to serve time with you, while they worked on your case. This right here, this was pride. Though I was a bit curious about what they meant by the Guild Incentives program, it sounded vaguely familiar, but then again everything seems vaguely familiar at this point.

  As Gwen spoke on my behalf, I had to bring up the quest tasks that she spoke about and was somewhat surprised that the ones she mentioned were in fact related to helping the Guild either directly, or indirectly as was noted by task five?

  “That of course is just the initial Guild Resource expenditure argument,” Gwen continued, apparently not done with her argument on my behalf.

  “Oh?” Mallory and I exclaimed at nearly the same time.

  I’m judging based on my oh, that the reason for Mallory’s oh was that she too was already sold on the rationale for providing guild resources for this quest completion. A process that I might want to look into, in the future, especially for trying to complete larger tasks that might require more effort than I can accomplish on my own.

  This is a good process, and one that I’m thankful for finally knowing. I’m going to suggest that they offer this type of information in some type of new recruit orientation briefing, but then I’d have to sit through a meeting. Then thinking about sitting through an orientation meeting, I realize that such an event would likely be constituted as torture for everyone involved.

  Having the ability to avoid having to sit through hours or even days of meetings to gain thirty seconds of, oh that was interesting to know afterwards, never suited me in real life, and was likely why I stayed with my job until retirement.

  I am envisioning myself having to sit through someone extol the virtues of the standard Guild Ranking system to me, and the long-term leveling benefits, when Gwen continues speaking. Pulling me back from what could have been a terrible waste of hours of my future.

  “Yes, as you are no doubt aware, this just scratches the surface of how truly valuable this questline can be to us as a guild, and to future resource management allocation requests in the future,” Gwen pontificated.

  “Explain?” Mallory started, once again, using the first word she spoke when she arrived, though this time it was clearly being asked as the amazingly smart Mallory could not keep up with my brilliant daughter.

  To be fair though, I had no clue where my Gwenny was going with this either, but I knew it had to be someplace great, I could feel it.

  “You are looking at this as a one-time payout, requiring a lot of guild resources for what could conceivably be little in the terms of matching compensation, without allotting the tasks offered to Cass to be worth the initial investiture. I’m going to recommend we go with an easy approach, and try to offer the most resources as possible to complete this task as quickly as possible.” Gwen began, and paused for only a moment letting her initial build up sink in.

  Mallory just took a long moment to blink, before taking a deep breath and staring at Gwen. There were no words said, but Mallory’s facial expression spoke volumes to the importance of making a valid and convincing point here possible.

  “By completing this quest we will have the proverbial bell collar on Cass, an item that we have been discussing, and trying to make into reality, but have been unable to,” Gwen stated, and even gestured towards Penelope.

  Penelope for her part just looked sheepish at this, “there were problems with the enchantment, we weren’t able to create one that would jingle every time she Teleported, also we were fairly certain that any magic based vibrations would be noticed by the subject immediately. Also, this wouldn’t warn us when she left, only when she arrived, which we all agreed was the exact opposite of what we needed.”

  “I know, we all agreed that it would not be worth putting actual bells into her future uniforms.” Mallory agreed dismissively, waving her hand to cut off the sheepish looking Penelope.

  “Wait?” I began, as I realized they were talking about giving me soul bound items that would apparently jingle when I made an entry or exit?

  Gwen, apparently expecting my disruption, continued her initial train of thought, like a sprinter who had a full bladder for the last half mile and finally saw the finish line in sight.

  “My point is, that with this we will have a daily itinerary of Dr. Spiritlight’s intended goals for the day, how far along she was towards completing each goal, Most importantly the daily quest will tell you, and therefore the rest of us, when we should have people go and distract her, before she finds ways to distract herself, after completing her goals for the day.”

  I hold up my finger to argue, but, I can’t quite refute the argument.

  On the one hand, it is a nearly perfect argument, and gives me everything I want. I mean, to argue against her argument would effectively be arguing against getting guild assistance for completing what could very likely be a very important quest.

  “Good points,” Mallory states and then offers a bright smile towards Gwen.

  Seeing the smile directed towards her, Gwen looks momentarily proud. She straightens up her posture and returning her own crisp smile, before letting her persona take over and presenting the sharp shrewd businesswoman.

  Mallory seeing that Gwen is once again in character then turns from her to Penelope, where she asks, “what are your opinions on this?”

  Penelope pauses for a moment, but then seems to debate with herself for only a moment, before speaking her mind.

  “I mean, it is a full time job, but knowing what to expect would help us all. It would help the handlers make sure the resources she needs were provided, and where she might be at any given time. It would also probably help her settle down and get more acclimated to being back,” Penelope added. While she was not as compelling as Gwen, her testament did show the need for the assistance.

  I’m assuming the idea would be that, if we went down this daily quest completion list, then when I made my next quest, it would then be shared to Gwen and the other handlers?

  “It would also help when you take over a shift, and the person before you conveniently either forgot, or didn’t have time to properly back brief you on the current tasks being completed,” Penelope added snarkily, I’m guessing this jab was directed at someone that was not here.

  “Yeah, especially when they end up tracking and following one of the Simulacrums for an entire shift, and it is the oncoming shift’s job to track down where the real Cass is,” Gwen added apparently also speaking of the wayward handler.

  Hearing them, I’m reminded of a few times when Jhonny was just watching RuneUlacrum from within the Kujo Caverns. At that, I could only smile, knowing that was a pretty good week, and I still take immense joy in tricking him for so long.

  Then, just as I was beginning to smile at the noted incident, Mallory turns to face me.

  “And to make sure we are all in agreement here, what are your thoughts on this?”

  Exhale.

  I felt warmth from this question. Don’t get me wrong, I always feel appreciated, but there are times, moments like these, when I feel even more accepted than usual. Seeing that Mallory wanted my input on this, it really helped let me know that I was in the right place. That’s why I decided to answer truthfully.

  “Well, I would appreciate the assistance, particularly with new student selections. That said, I don’t think it is the be all and end all of quests. I definitely don’t want to put any extra burdens on you, or extra stress with having to track me down, and see where I am with my own personal goals for each day,” I answer honestly.

  Apparently, there was something terrifying in my words, at least that is the look of shock that Mallory was now expressing.

  “Holly goodness, I literally almost ruined this for everyone, didn’t I?” Mallory asked, mostly to herself but then she spun about slowly and made eye contact with Penelope and Gwen both.

  Penelope looked confused, about as confused as I felt currently.

  Gwen on the other hand, she just nodded with an exactly dummy look on her face that spoke more eloquently than her words as my trial lawyer ever could.

  “Wow, I am way too tired,” Mallory began and clutched at her chest, then she felt how her hair was matted and half pressed from her odd habit of apparently sleeping on her left side. She got distracted with her hair for a moment, but then shook her head and stared at Gwen. “Thank you for talking me out of what would have been one of the worst mistakes of my life.”

  Gwen just nodded, letting her confident smile take over, as she now basked in the praise she deserved.

  “Wait, so you’ll grant the resources?” Penelope asked, trying to make sure she was tracking.

  “Yes, 100% guild resource allocation, this quest is to take top priority over all others for today. I don’t care about exemptions,” Mallory explained, making sure both Gwen and Penelope nodded before turning to me.

  “Great find on that daily quest, and it is the only quest you can work on for the time being.” Mallory stated in a commanding voice.

  Click.

  “Wait, you can lock in quests like that?” I ask, wondering where such a Guild Master task came from.

  “Yes, while you were gone it was one of the upgrades I was talked into purchasing, now if you will excuse me,” Mallory noted as she turned to leave.

  “Wait, but it says that I have to complete it before I can complete others, but this one is timed, meaning if I don’t complete it today, then I won’t be able to complete another quest?” I protest.

  Hearing that, Mallory stops and offers a coy smile before responding, “well then, I suggest you do everything in your power to complete this quest as quickly as possible.”

  I was about to protest further, but Mallory then continued.

  “Relax, you will have one hundred percent guild resources and personnel assigned to assist you in this task, what’s the worst that could happen?”

  And like that, I felt thig golden and dark bands of karma wrap out from Mallory and bind me in place.

  Suddenly, I felt a lot less assured about how today was going to go.