My Ex-Girlfriend is the Strongest Guild Master and I'm the Weakest! Chapter 50: Three Way Secret (Part 2)

As soon as Alan and Alia walked into the Town Hall and were greeted by a male NPC employee, they both grimaced.

"Welco, Adventurers. How can I help you?" the smiling NPC with wolf ears asked, making a slight bow.

Alan and Alia responded with narrowed eyes instead of words, maintaining a prolonged silence until Ashley intervened.

"Excuse , we are here to get a Guild's License."

"Did I hear that right?!" a woman exclaid from a couch at the far end of the room. She paused the enormous video screen showing the idol Miss Cosmica and dashed over to grab Ashley's hand. "I can't rember the last ti we registered a Guild! I'm Clara Domínguez, Unus' Mayor, at your service! Fabio, I'll take care of this."

Her NPC nodded and walked away, with Alia and Alan's gaze following him.

"Is it , or did looking at that guy hurt my eyes?" Alia whispered to Alan.

"It's not your imagination. He looks exactly like—"

"What is it?" Clara interrupted them in a jovial tone. "Could it be that you also enjoy looking at my servant?" she asked, puffing up her chest. "It took a lot of ti, but I customized him to be perfect! Isn't he gorgeous?"

"Did you just say 'customized'?" Alan asked, raising his hand as if he were in a classroom.

"You heard right!" Clara bead, putting both hands on her hips. "I'm not afraid to admit that I'm literally copying the likeness of a very famous guilder." She giggled. "I just hope he never finds out! I'd definitely die of embarrassnt!"

"This famous guilder... He can't be the one I'm thinking of..." Alan whispered to Alia.

"Just as she said..." She sighed. "He's quite famous, and there are all kinds of creeps in this world, so..."

Both tried their best not to pay more attention than necessary to the black-haired NPC who had started to prepare coffee, leaving them with Clara Domínguez, the grinning young woman of brown skin, with pink hair in a bob cut. Her formal office outfit hugged a curvy body and a generous bosom, just like Alia's, making Alan wonder if the majority of the Novus female population had undergone so 'Avatar customization' too.

Yep... This is the woman depicted in a monunt downtown. A very humble mayor, huh?

"As I was saying..." Ashley spoke up. "Could you please give us a Guild Licence, Mayor Domínguez?"

"Oh, right! Sure! But what's the hurry? If you're coming this late to the party, you surely aren't in a rush. Co, join . I have snacks here and we can watch the latest Miss Cosmica stream."

"Do you have her premium access?" Alia asked excitedly, looking at the Video Screen.

Clara adjusted her glasses, smirking. "Oho! So am I perceiving positive Cosmic vibes around ?" She suddenly reached out her hand. "Watch out, it's a black hole!"

Alia did the sa. "Oh, no! The worst kind of danger!"

"No, no! Will we have to cross it?"

"Oh, yes! If you take my hand!" They both sang along and giggled.

"Is this a requirent to get the License?" Ashley asked, still standing in her place. "Because I'll have to learn the song first."

"Ah, sorry, I forgot all about it! Fabio, do the paperwork, will ya? And you, my new cosmic friend, what's your na?"

"Alia Laflam. Nice place by the way."

"Thank you. I've remodeled it like a hundred tis already. I've never seen you around. Are you guys new in town?"

While both girls chatted, Alan helped fill out the digital forms, feeling uncomfortable having the black-haired NPC nearby. He resembles that bastard so much it's unnerving...

"There," Alan said aloud. "We're officially The Phantom Seekers now."

"Hey, that's a cool guild na!" Clara said from her couch.

Alia smiled proudly by her side. "Thanks. I'm the one that ca up with it."

"Did you? Aweso! Back then, when The Novus recently started, I used to co up with a bunch of nas for those poor souls without imagination. I easily nad at least ten guilds, and like twenty special moves. Maybe you know The Storm Crusaders? That's my sister's guild."

"Never heard of them, sorry."

"It's okay, it's a pretty small guild, and they're now called Crusaders United, anyway. What a terrible na! And the disrespect! It took ti to co up with that na, Sis! How could you change it without asking ?!"

"So a Guild Master and a mayor. Ambition and leadership run through the family!" Alia smiled, clapping. "How did you get this job, by the way?"

"I just took it," Clara said straightforwardly while reaching for a bowl of popcorn.

"W-What do you an?"

"It's a funny story!" Clara replied while munching. "There was this NPC that used to run the Townhall, and she'd just stand here all day like an idiot. So I thought: 'Hey, I could do a better job than her!' Then I challenged her to a duel and the rest is history... munch... And then, I got bored with her, and sold her away—"

"You 'sold' an NPC?!" Alan cried, dashing to her couch.

"Y-yeah, that's what I said... Popcorn?"

"Why do you talk about them as if they were things?"

"Because they are? Well, no, they're more like walking dolls. Mine never says no to ." She elbowed Alia. "If you know what I an..."

"Let's go, Alia!" Alan suddenly yelled, stomping all the way to the exit.

"O-Okay! See you later, Clara," Alia said in a tiny voice, grabbing Ashley by the hand on her way out, as an oblivious Clara happily waved goodbye to the group.

"Co and visit anyti you want! Geez! What is wrong with that level five?" Clara said to herself while stuffing her mouth with popcorn. "Wait a minute... Level five?"

Outside the Town Hall, Alia called Alan's na several tis without getting a response. She caught up to him and pulled his arm, earning a glare. "What's going on with you?" she asked.

"Are you telling there was nothing wrong with her attitude?!" Alan exclaid, pointing at the building.

"NPCs are traded all the ti, Alan. What do you expect? They're just programd to do as they're told."

"And the worst part! I know where the real Mayor ended up working," he said loudly, ignoring her previous comnt. "She's a waitress now, in the Dragon's Belly! Can you believe it?"

"Listen," Alia said softly, grabbing his cheeks. "That NPC did his job just fine. We got the Guild License, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"The Novus doesn't care who the mayor of this town is. As long as an NPC works in that building, the System provides them with the necessary skills to do the job. They're interchangeable, Alan. They're just code compared to us."

"Could you say that to any of the Sli-folk you t yesterday?"

Alia's mouth dropped as she let him go. "I-I don't think it's the sa situation..."

"Yeah, right," he gruffly intoned, looking away.

Alia pursed her lips, making her best guess of why he was so upset. She then briefly glanced at Ashley's neutral expression. "Oh, I get it now."

A mont later, Alan got a notification.

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Alia Laflam has sent you 20,000 gold.

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"What's this?" he asked while Alia grabbed Ashley by her arm.

"That junk you call a sword? Go and buy sothing better while I take Ashley to go shopping. Let's et at dinner ti, okay? I'll send you our location later. And don't spend that gold on sothing stupid, you hear ?! You'll have to pay back all the gold I've spent on you eventually."

As the two girls disappeared from sight, Alan's mind focused on one thing. He clenched his fists and headed directly to the Dragon's Belly, ignoring all the curious gazes focused on the displayed level above his head.