Chapter 1: A Guild like Family(1)

Isaac Silvert wasn’t trash from the very beginning.

At least, Zeke wanted to believe that.

Otherwise, there was no way he would have taken care of us, orphans, in this place called Gideon, where everything could be solved with gold.

Even though it wasn’t an easy choice to raise orphans without expecting anything in return, he had certainly done so.

If Isaac hadn’t helped back then, the siblings would have likely died.

For that, Zeke was grateful.

That’s why he stayed until the end, even when others left.

Because he thought that was the way to repay the kindness.

“You’re being exiled.”

He never imagined that this would be how he was repaid.

<Welcome to the Guild of Exiles!> Excerpt(reference) from Prologue.

According to the original description, Isaac was a fairly decent guild master in the early days of the guild’s founding.

Though he had a slightly stingy side, it wasn’t enough to make people dislike him.

In fact, even the staff would tease Isaac about that from time to time, which showed how easygoing things were.

However, as the guild began to grow in earnest, Isaac gradually revealed his true colors.

Most of those who opposed him were exiled from the guild, and even if they weren’t formally exiled, he harassed them through his lackeys until they eventually left of their own accord.

The protagonist, Zeke, described Isaac’s behavior like this: Was this Isaac’s true nature, or had he become corrupted by power?

Yet, if there was one small hope, it was this:

“At least in the beginning, he was an ideal guild master.”

Isaac, in the early days, constantly spoke of family.

But, as the protagonist recalled, while he said that a lot, he rarely treated the guild members like family.

The only advantage Isaac had now was that Zeke had possessed him in those early days of the guild’s creation.

Even if it was just talk for now, everyone still believed in Isaac.

In other words, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the future of the guild depended on Isaac’s actions as its master from now on.

And in such a critical situation, Isaac was lost in thought.

“I need to decide on my concept first.”

That’s right.

At such an important moment, Isaac wasn’t focusing on preparing for the future or training but was instead thinking about his concept.

But for Isaac, this was a crucial issue.

He had already set his values.

The original Isaac always talked about family, so it would be best to truly take care of the guild members like family.

The problem was Isaac’s weapon.

Weapons were just as important as values.

Depending on the weapon, a character’s image could change drastically.

After much deliberation, Isaac made his decision.

‘He began to long for the art of Iaijutsu!’

The idea of a talentless swordsman, through sheer effort, reaching the ultimate skill with a single stroke—that’s romantic, isn’t it?

How could any man resist such a notion?

Absolutely impossible to resist!!

However, there was a more pressing issue.

That issue was the fact that Isaac had to report to work as the master of the Iron Shield Guild.

But the problem was that Isaac knew nothing about being a guild master.

Sure, he had worked at a company and handled various tasks, but there was no guarantee that those experiences would be applicable in this fantasy world.

Yet Isaac didn’t seem too concerned about it.

‘It’ll work out somehow.’

After all, what’s the point of worrying about something on your own?

It’s far better to face things confidently.

That way, people won’t suspect anything.

At least, that was his thought.

Luckily, Isaac was an avid reader of this novel.

Naturally, he had all kinds of merchandise, and he had already thoroughly studied the official map and other materials published by the author.

Sure enough, as he followed his memories, the Iron Shield Guild appeared before him.

However, perhaps because it was still in its early days, it didn’t display the grandeur seen in the illustrations.

‘In the illustrations, it looked more like a fortress.’

For now, it was just an old, shabby two-story building.

But Isaac didn’t care.

From here on out, he planned to build the guild in his own way.

“The master has arrived.”

“You’re finally here.”

To mask his nerves, Isaac confidently opened the door and stepped inside.

The people who had been chatting in the lobby noticed him and each made a comment.

There were only five of them, though.

“Is everyone here?”

“You can see for yourself.”

“You made such a fuss about today being important, warning us not to be late, yet here you are, showing up late yourself?”

Unlike the middle-aged man who spoke casually, the short-haired blonde woman pointedly criticized him, picking at every little detail.

Both were people Isaac remembered—specifically from the illustrations.

‘The early members of the Iron Shield. I never thought I’d see them in person.’

These were the five heroes who had established the Iron Shield Guild alongside Isaac.

Although they had all retired as heroes by the time of the original story, each one of them was still a formidable individual.

Isaac’s success was often attributed to his luck in befriending these powerful people.

However, in the end, all of them were expelled from the guild by Isaac.

Some were even driven to suicide after being relentlessly tormented by Isaac following their exile.

There’s no need to explain just how despicable and petty the original Isaac was.

“Important matter, huh? Are you talking about the quest?”

“That’s right! The goblin subjugation in Veltas Village!”

“The master personally stressed how urgent it was.”

As if she couldn’t help herself, the blonde woman’s words were backed up by the middle-aged man.

Isaac nodded.

The goblin subjugation in Veltas Village—there’s no way he could forget about that.

‘Veltas is the protagonist Zeke’s hometown. It was destroyed by a goblin attack, but Zeke miraculously survived.’

That’s right.

Veltas is Zeke’s hometown, and the story begins with Isaac saving Zeke and his sister from the goblin attack.

If it hadn’t been for Isaac, Zeke would have died.

“How’s the preparation going?”

“It’s all done. We just need to depart now.”

“It was a problem that the lazy master was late.”

“I apologize for that. I’m sorry again.”

“What, what? Don’t suddenly apologize so seriously.”

Sofia, the blonde woman, showed a look of discomfort and turned her head. Usually, the master would have skillfully avoided the issue, but strangely, today he was very serious. What’s going on? Did something happen?

“If the preparations are complete, there’s no reason to dawdle. Let’s depart immediately.”

“Didn’t you say departure was in two days?”

“That’s right, you were supposed to meet someone, weren’t you?”

“Are there any issues with everyone’s schedule?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then let’s depart immediately.”

Ironically, at this time, Isaac was making connections with higher guilds. As a result, the departure was delayed by two days, and thus, Veltas Village was attacked by goblins.

Of course, it cannot be blamed on Isaac. After all, it was the goblins who were at fault. However, if they could have rescued the people by hurrying, there would have been no reason to delay, right?

Isaac asked the guild members for their understanding, and fortunately, no one objected. Instead, there were only those insisting they should leave quickly. Isaac nodded.

“Alright, let’s go as soon as possible.”

“Now you’re making some sense.”

“I underestimated the importance of time. I apologize.”

“No need to apologize…”

Hans, the middle-aged man with a massive build, gave a sheepish smile. Hans had a past where goblins ravaged his hometown, so he insisted on hurrying.

In the original story, Isaac dismissed that opinion. He made various excuses, but ultimately it was due to connections with higher guilds. But now things were different. Connections? That wasn’t necessary.

‘Once you become the strongest, you don’t need connections.’

Isaac had already decided on his concept in his mind. One of them was to become the strongest in Gideon. Isn’t it a romantic notion for any man to dream of being the strongest at least once?

But before that, creating a family-like guild was the top priority. Although the original story also mentioned a family-like guild, it was actually far from being family-like.

Instead, it was more like a private army made to Isaac’s tastes. So if anyone fell out of favor with Isaac, they were expelled from the guild.

And among them was the protagonist.

‘Of course, I have no intention of doing that.’

Naturally, the protagonist is the protagonist. Knowing that he would gather exiles and become the strongest guild in Gideon, Isaac had no intention of discarding such a talented individual.

Instead, he planned to save all the talented individuals who were tragically sacrificed in the original story and have them join this guild. That was Isaac’s ultimate goal: to create the strongest guild.

And he had no intention of giving up the position of the strongest.