Leo's frown deepened. "No way," he replied. "First of all, you have no way of finding the bandit leader unless he seeks you out. Secondly, I refuse to do this for free. Our guild can't live on charity, as much as I want to help these-"

Ricard's hand came up in front of Leo, causing him to pause in his tirade. With a small sigh, he bowed his head to Saya. "What my friend is trying to say, miss, is that our guild needs money to function. If we did this kind of stuff for free, our guild would collapse. Especially when faced against these larger, more prestigious guilds that do things for extravagant payments." He paused a moment, glancing at Leo before regarding Saya again, his look softer than it had been when he flirted with her more openly. His over the top antics had been shelved for this purpose. He couldn't have their guild defamed for this incident and he didn't want Leo to start a fight with the girl who more than likely had the most experience with the bandits and this village. "The villagers only stooped low enough to request our help a week ago. They were overcharged by other guilds in the area and didn't even request our help until they were out of options. Leo and I were returning from a mission two days later and accepted the job immediately. They are offering a very small sum, considering the number of bandits we're up against. Our intention was to take half of the bandits' earnings for ourselves and give the rest of the village to make up for the payments. We have no intention of overcharging the village for our services. However, we simply cannot do this for free if we hope to continue to thrive as a guild."

Leo looked over Ricard, a mixture of confusion and surprise in his eyes. However, the heat died down within them as he turned away, crossing his arms and not adding to the explanation. He was getting too frustrated. Ricard was in the better position to negotiate here.