New World Alliance and the Villain in Glasses

A message from an old friend - someone named Bear - who seems to have been put in charge of Grandeur for the time being, while its original leader is out. He used to be a part of the Debauchery Tea Party himself, and was quite the strong player at that. Though notably, Shiroe may remember that Balmung avoided him like the /plague/. And not for a lack of friendliness.

An invitation to meet in a backroom of the Hunters Guilds. Once there, he's met with two more faces. Subaru, the leader of Moon Tree, and William Massachusetts, the leader of Silver Sword; a guild that used to have a quiet rivalry with the Debauchery Tea Party for its clear rate. They were, after all, one of /the/ prime raiding guilds.

William seems to be relaxed, and looks up at Shiroe. He doesn't express welcome so easily as Subaru though, who quickly gets up and bows to greet Shiroe. Bear on the other hand, he pushes his chair back, wanders over, and tries to pull Shiroe into this big boisterous bear-hug. "Haha! There he is!"

    It was a surprise to receive a message from Bear. It had been some time since the two last spoke, and when the Apocalypse heard he had never been able to reach him. Though after hearing through the grapevine that he had essentially found himself in a position of leadership in Grandeur that he was probably just overwhelmed with the work. It was reasonable enough, though given Balmung's own personal feelings on Bear, he had never pushed too hard to reach out on his own though he had always been curious how the former DTP member had been.

    So when he realizes it's some sort of invitation there's a bit of reluctance that comes to the forefront of his mind of what could possibly be the reason behind it...It's only for Bear's sake that the bespectacled Pooka makes his appearence at the Hunter's Guild. Upon entering through he can already spot the group in question. "Mmm...I thought so." It doesn't take long for him to recognize the people he's there with, the first of course being William of Silver Sword, and Subaru of Moon Tree.

     He finds himself taking in a deep breath as he starts walking towards the back of the room to where they sit, though before he even makes it to sitting down Subaru's already standing up to welcome him with such a courteous bow. While Shiroe would more than happily oblige to return the favor, he's caught in Bear's mighty bear hug! He feels like a ragdoll for a moment as he's squeezed so snugly by his former comrade, that he almost feels like he's about to lose the air from his lungs. His glasses start to loosen as his head shirks down a bit from the surprise attack. "Ah- Yeah...It's good to see you're alright Bear. Now let me go before you hug me all the way to the cathedral..." He jokingly teases those last words out before he loses enough oxygen to form the words.

Bear continues to show bemusement through laughter as he squeezes Shiroe, luckily failing to crack any ribs on that lithe figure of Shiroe's, and sets the tall one back down onto the floor. Another few heavy pats to the shoulder are followed by a hand to his back. "Come! Sit! I'd offer food and drink... but you know how things are in that department already." Bear offers, and makes his way to his personal seat on the round table.

William gives Bear a bit of a look, before shaking his head; "I hope you'll excuse his entheusiasm. He's been talking our ears off about you for a while now." He explains to Shiroe. Something that Subaru agrees with, nodding her head.

"Hello mister Shiroe." She remarks. Giving him time to settle in. They know very well that Shiroe is intelligent enough to pick up roughly what this is about, but they're doing the typical polite thing of letting /him/ be the one to ask what this is all about.

    As he's finally let down, the Villain in Glasses starts to adjust his glasses again, only to have them quickly knocked again as Bear starts to path his back so firmly. The poor, lithe Enchanter finds himself practically buffeted to his seat rather than walking to it as he once again fixes them once again as he takes his seat. His attention turning back to William and Subaru once again as they bring up how Bear's been talking him up. "Mmm...Don't remind me. I've been dying for some curry. As for the enthusiasm it's fine, it's been so long I may not be as showy but I feel the same way. Though I imagine I could say the same about him. If anything I'm sure at least you already have an opinion of how much of what he's saying is actually true though." He of course knew enough about Will from the two groups being 'competitors' back in the day, so he imagined Will had his own personal thoughts on him as well.

    As he finally settles in there's silence. His eyes past those glasses finds himself looking at each one individually. No one dares start the dialogue, having him be the one to raise the question...He finds himself pushing up his glasses, the sheen beginning to hide his eyes behind them.

    "So...Should I make the assumption that if the leaders of Grandeur, Moon Tree, and Silver sword are here, this has something to do with your new group I've been hearing about?" It's blunt and to the point, but Bear should know that when it came to Shiroe, he did like to get to know what people wanted and simply go from there.

"Here, catch." When Shiroe is sat down, and done talking about curry, William throws the young man an apple. Raw ingredients. The only thing promising to be clean. "At least there's some things in this world that taste right." He glances to Bear, who leans heavily onto the table.

"Grandeur's crafters have been trying to powerlevel and research into what is making crafting feel 'wrong' and fail all of the time." Bear explains, "All of our guilds are pretty busy already."

Subaru nods her head. "Yes. We're the heads of the New World Alliance, I suppose." She rubs at the back of her head, clearly not having expected that kind of responsibility so quickly. "Don't worry, I know you don't like guilds." She then adds to that, motioning to Shiroe.

"What they're trying to say, is that right now, the New World Alliance is trying to find its place. And we are focused on what is going on internally, that we have trouble seeing outside of that. And then we keep hearing about you, showing up where all the big things are happening." William interjects, trying to halt the stumbling of the other two.

"We need some help, and we were hoping you might aid us in keeping an eye out on things out in the world. Not just with the Adventurers... but the Landers too. It's becoming quite apparent to us that they're not what they used to be anymore. From my understanding, you've met Gilgamesh." William leans back. "What did you think?"

    Shiroe catches the apple, taking a moment to look over the raw ingredient before taking a quick bite. The sweet taste definitely makes enough of an impression that it shows on the villain's face. A nod goes to Will's way as he makes mention of that one rather saving grace of information. Though what garners more of his attention is when Bear brings up the ordeal of the crafters, "I'd imagine so. To get thrown into such a wild situation the only thing I imagine people can do at the moment is trial and error, and continue sharing results. Though, I here that's starting to get a bit more difficult with a few of the other guilds as well..." He finds himself responding to the brief synopsis of their current crafting dilemma, but he can't imagine that was why he was called here.

    When Subaru comes around to scratching her head he can't help but smirk, her thoughts shown well enough on her face. Though before he can remark on it, his own expression starts to go a bit more...stoic as she brings up the mention of his apparent dislike. "It's not that I dislike guilds entirely...Hopefully, I haven't given off the impression that I dislike any of your guilds either, it's just...I dislike what can become of them." He doesn't elaborate on the thought though as Will gets to the meat of the conversation. Which makes things a bit clearer for him as well.

    "Mmm, so you just want an extra set of eyes and ears keeping track of things going on outside the sphere of Adventurers?" So far it had simply sounded like they had just wanted him to join their network of informants which in and of itself didn't seem like a bad idea. "If that's all I don't think it'd be an issue. As for Gilgamesh..." He has to stop and take a moment to think back. The uncomfortable headache coming to the forefront of his memories again. "Just going from first impressions alone I believe he could be a great ally to the Adventurers. Not only does he have a strong social standing with the Landers, but his knowledge of the world as well as the Tower could prove advantageous to all Adventurers in the long run. At the same time though..." He starts to lean his elbows on the table, his chin resting upon his hands as his face gets more stern, "I think that it's important that we start treating the Landers as more than just NPCs who'll comply with our requests when we make them. King Gilgamesh is a prime example. He wasn't just openly giving away his knowledge, he wanted compensation. Gifts. Trade. If we don't start taking the necessary steps to start recognizing this and continue a beneficial relationship with them, it's very possible that potential allies like King Gilgamesh might very well become our enemies..."

At Shiroe's comment on what can become of them, Subaru's expression turns into a grimace for a moment. The youth wouldn't know it, but Subaru knows /exactly/ what he means. She once ran one of the biggest guilds on Fragment, only to have the entire guild turn extremely sour. To the point that she disbanded it. Yet, all he gets is that expression. That little nod and that look in her eyes that speaks more than words possibly could.

The group continues to listen to Shiroe, not interupting. There's the occassional nod from them though. It seems he's had the very same impression they have. "Right. And I think that right now, the other Alliances are largely just seeing them as tools to get out, or get their way." Subaru remarks.

Bear then jumps in, "Shiroe, we've got some options for you we'd like you to consider." He notes, tapping the table. "One comes from a selfish notion I have, and you're of course welcome to turn it down. But Grandeur needs someone with long term vision." He explains. "If anything, at least someone who can give me pointers. I was there to help them figure out security of his holdings and all." He explains.

William motions his hand, trying to stop Bear. "We don't /need/ you to be in a guild leader position. But we would love to know we can count on you. And in turn, you'll of course have our full support. As you no doubt have come to realize, a situation like this requires resources and manpower. And I personally think you are best off acting on your own with that kind of backing, doing your own thing."

Subaru remains quiet. It doesn't seem they are of one mind on how they want Shiroe's aid, but they all seem to be looking out for him. Bear looking to give him the might of a merchant guild behind him, where-as William believes he is best off as a free agent and advisor.

    Shiroe may not know of Subaru's past, but something just seems to resonate with the guild leader as she starts to resonate. He wasn't really expecting much people to know what he was trying to say but just something in her demeanor, the way her face seemed to scowl at the motion. It's one of those expressions that gave one's thoughts to the surface of their face. He doesn't say anything back but the somber look on his face at least gives the notion that he appears to have a good regard of respect for her at the moment.

    As he finishes and the rest start giving their remarks does he find him giving them the same courteousy of acknowledging their remarks with the occasional nod, and the eye contact of someone fully engaged in the dialogues occurring. With all three seeming to interject one on another he takes as much time as he can to chew over each and every statement all give him. As they finally say their pieces Shiroe stays silence once again. Pushing up his glasses he once again addresses the three,

    "Bear...I don't think the idea of working together with you would be bad, but I imagine having someone, even someone you claim as a former teammate, would end up rocking the boat if you put me in a leading position at Grandeur. Your people trust you, and if you throw someone into the mix like that I imagine there'd be those who wouldn't be too eager to the idea. As for Will's suggestion, I'm not against it either. Having the leeway provided to research things at my own leisure definitely sounds advantageous. Though...Sadly I think if I'm in simply an advisor role that'd be problematic as well. On an internal level, there could be strife at times that I'm nudging the ideas of the leaders and in a way could unintentionally undermine you all in that manner. In truth, I don't see a way around that no matter how I'd end up joining. Though I do have one suggestion of my own, but before that..."

    He stops for a moment as he turns to Subaru again, his glasses are pushed up. "Miss Subaru, I'd like to ask your opinion on this whole arrangement as well. I can tell you definitely have opinions on Adventurer's relations with the People of the Land, so surely you must have an opinion of having someone like myself joining into this alliance and how allowing me to do so might affect your dynamic with the rest of your guild?"

    It was true that Shiroe was definitely a capable player, and that on the current world stage he seemed to have been present. Though that didn't exactly make him likeable. If anything his working with Misa's group in the Tower expedition could have made him appear like he had ties with SEA. To just have him simply join in such a lead position out of the blue probably would have had some certain degree of backlash, wouldn't it?

Subaru looks up as Shiroe speaks her name and calls her out specifically - wanting her thoughts. "Honestly... it's hard to say. Right now, the dynamic is constantly changing. There's no real lines in the sand right now. But I know how this kind of thing goes. The longer we wait, the stronger the bonds form, and the greater the niches are that form. Those lines will be drawn. This is... the ground floor." She remarks, motioning her hand a bit.

"I think you're right. There is going to be some trouble. But that's why I suggested we don't wait with reaching out to you." She explains to Shiroe, showing her rather mature side. "Every action taken has its costs. All we can do is minimize it."

William and Bear both nod. Bear cues in; "I didn't found Grandeur - and you do have a reputation. Our people probably would prefer someone who comes up with plans rather than going by ear." He explains to Shiroe, noting his insight into the matter.

"How about changing the dynamic of the title. Rather than Advisor... hmm..." It seems he has to think about that for a moment, touching his hand to his chin and dipping it down, his Pooka brow furrowing as he considers this.

    "Indeed..." It's the first thing he finds himself remarking on as Subaru makes note of the still rather fresh dynamics. "...When niches are created they become rather hard to delineate from. Even now all three of your guilds have clawed out your own niches within your alliance. Silver Sword's seemed to have taken a combative role and become the active voice for your raiding members interest, Grandeur has become the alliance's Merchant focused organization that seems to act as their voice. Moon Tree meanwhile has become a unique voice for those wanting to interact with the Landers, and even possibly become a voice through which Landers might even be able to voice their concerns to Adventurers at some day. But with niches there are those that end up falling through the cracks..."

    Shiroe pushes up his glasses for a moment as he speaks his idea,

    "Like I said before, no method we would come up with having me join as an advisor would likely satisfy the other guilds in the alliance. It's one thing to say that someone should join cause their tactically savvy, but then anyone from any guild can say they're competent enough for such a task but still properly represent their guild's interest. So if that's the case, we should avoid using that sort of justification as to why I should join. Rather, if I end up joining it should be because I'm bringing a different perspective or representation to the alliance."

     He leans back into his seat a bit, "Truth be told...I've know for a while now that I should start taking a more active role, but I kept finding myself making excuses like I didn't like these kind of dynamics. But in this type of situation that can't keep going on. So with that said... I'll be planning to make my own guild and formally request to join the New World Alliance. While it'd be a small guild at this time, I believe that it would end up becoming a niche of it's own. Representing Adventurers that are part of smaller guilds that work in collaboration with the New World alliance, as well as Adventurers that aren't formally part of any guilds but still provide support to it."

    That would be his compromise. Rather than step on the feet of the other guilds by claiming he's just 'an advisor', or use his tactical prowess as his selling point for why he should be in a leadership position he'd go another route. He'd sell himself as someone acting as a representative for the interests of the minority of the NWA. That way, even if he was joining a leadership position with such a small group it'd make sense since the people he'd be representating would be those who slipped through the cracks of the other niches within the guild.

The three look among the three of them, then look back to Shiroe at his offer. Then they all nod at the same time. "That seems to be the better plan." There's this little smirk on Subaru's face. Almost like she'd expected it to go this route, but she was letting Bear and William give their direction on things and let Shiroe play against them.

"It seems we have a plan then." Subaru remarks, while Bear leans back and lets out this long sigh, which just gets him a little 'told you so' smirk from William. The three definitely have their own niches, much as Shiroe had detected as well.

"Though it may be hard. The ones who slip through the cracks... what will be the bonds that bind them together?" Subaru asks Shiroe, leaning forward a little. "Everyone thinks themselves the underdog."

    He can't help but smile a bit as things end up starting to come to a close. It was supposedly a brief conversation, but the contents of such a conversation could have probably exhausted anyone enough to make them feel like they had been stuck in a meeting for hours. "Ah, looks like it. Though it seems like I've been the one that ended up becoming a bit more selfish in the end." It was true, at the end of the day he basically decided that rather than joining in any of the formal three divisions, or just act as an outside advisor to the guild, he wanted to join the guild as a complete equal..."I'm sure there's still going to be plenty of people who whine about this decision, but I think this way will rock the boat the least in the long run as far as things go."

     He takes another bite of the apple as he listens to Subaru's follow-up question, only to take his time to chew over the response. "Even I don't have an answer for that, though if I had to think about it... When the Debauchery Tea Party was still around, it was just a mix of pick-up players with no guild to speak of. There were plenty of players that you never would have imagined playing together, yet somehow they did. I can't imagine what sort of bonds will bind them, but if I know anything I think that it'd be possible at the very least."

Subaru nods her head, "It's something you may have to think about for a while, before forming your guild." She offers. "While there is no doubt that such bonds can form..." That sentence is left to fade. As if telling Shiroe: 'you know what happens if the bonds are not strong enough'.

The young lady then taps something on her console. And William and Bear follow though. Before Shiroe knows it, there is an invitation to join the Alliance as a standalone member. "It's up to you if you wish to accept."

    Subaru's words are left to simmer. This time it's Shiroe who's left with an exression that shows that he's well aware of what she means. Though eventually he finds himself smiling ever so briefly. His finger raises towards the console as he speaks those last few words, "Mmm, I'm sure something like that won't be so simple. But I think at the very least it's something that can become ...Special. And...Should there come a time when I need some advice on how to better myself as a guild leader, I can rely on those of you here with a bit more experience."

    As he says those last few words there's a bit of a teasing tone to it, but nothing malicious. Just more of what one would expect of an ally. In a way it could be said this was his way of saying that just as they would be relying on him to a certain degree from now on, he too on occasion might ask the same. So without any other words said Shiroe places his finger to the console and with it, accepts the invitation into the New World Alliance.