Vol. 7 Ch. 21

“It’s a secret.”

“Aw, but why?” Phize asked her.

“Reasons.”

Sip.

“You really love that coffee, don’t you?”

“Of course, I’ve never tasted anything quite like it.”

“Ah, just how many minutes went by?”

“I’m not sure, I don’t think we took too long though.”

“Wanna go exploring more?”

“Hm. It’s a bit early but let’s go back. I kinda wanna explore the rest of this city with my party members.”

“That’s odd, I thought you didn’t like either of them?” he asked.

“That was before, yet, not too long ago, I felt like this party could actually be fixed so that it can feel like… an actual party. In order to do that, I want to put my trust in them, so that they put their trust in me.”

“I don’t mind, since I refrain from chatting with them. Let’s go.”

They got up from their seats. Hazel sipped the final contents of her beverage and threw it into the trash bin nearby. She followed him.

…

..

.

They went to the Adventurers’ Guild. The interior of the place looked much more welcoming than that of the village, it was well-lit from the hanging lamps up on the ceiling, and there were metallic stools in front of the receptionists and also in front of the plastic tables, stationed everywhere. Some of the people went upstairs and others chatted on the tables, and on one of those tables, lay Trif, who waited for something to happen.

Both of them went to him and sat beside him.

Phize greeted him, “Yo.”

As usual, he did not even look him in the eyes.

“Where’s Lili?” she asked him.

“She hasn’t come back yet,” he replied.

“Okay, who will fetch her? I also think it’s time to settle on a quest. Trif, can you do it this time?”

He irritatingly peered at her, “HUH? WHY ME?”

Phize told him, “Oh come on, we can’t be the ones to always do the things.”

“Tch.”

He rose from the stool and went to the door. He opened it, went outside to go, and searched for her.

“Those pricks.”

He groaned, “Where’s that cat?”

He searched around and went inside a few places.

He called, “LILI!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“Seriously, where did she wander off to?” he pondered.

He saw a book store and from the glass door, he saw Lili silently reading a book.

“So that’s where she was?” he thought.

“LIL-”

He paused and then stared at her. She was turning the pages of the book alone, it somehow resonated with him.

“She seems… lonely.”

He entered the library.

There were countless other people in the library reading their own books, and there she was, perfectly blending in with the crowd.

He went to her and sat beside her.

“Hey, catgirl, it’s time to leave. Leave your book, we’ll start with our-”

He examined what she was reading.

“Just what are you reading?” he curiously asked.

“Shh, I’m trying to find something out.”

He read a short excerpt from the page she was on.

Within his mind, he relayed the words, “The Demon Lords are one of the most powerful beings to exist in this universe, encompassing mastery over many types of magic and…”

“Why are you researching about Demon Lords?” he queried.

“I don’t know, the subject just feels very interesting to me and it’s one of the reasons I suggested this place.”

“Well you can tell us all about it later.”

He forcefully grabbed her hand.

He continued, “We have to pick our next quest.”

He pulled her along.

“WOAH! I’M NOT DONE READING!” she shouted as she antagonized him.

Their quarrel disrupted the quiet environment the book store was in. The bookseller was enraged and told them, “SHHHH! No shouting in this establishment.”

Both of them left the book store.

…

..

.

Phize and Hazel were at the Request Board.

Trif and Lili entered the guild.

He let go of her hand and he sat on the table he sat on before.

“Lili, where were you?” Phize asked.

“I was just researching some stuff, nothing else.”

“Alright, me and Hazel were discussing what quest to choose and we think this might be the best one.”

He specified one of the papers on the Request Board.

“It’s Rank C.”

“It’s just enough for our rank,” Lili commented.

Hazel explained, “According to here, there have been monster sightings, such as Piphus Orgala, a large boar-like creature, and they have been infesting the outskirts. We would like to request any adventurer who is willing to take the challenge to take on 30 of them.”

“We’re finally fighting monsters,” she replied.

“Took a while before we got to that point,” Phize commented.

“What’s the prize?” she asked her.

“Hmm, let me see… it says it’s willing to pay 6000 Fers.”

“That’s just about right,” she answered.

“Let’s do it,” Trif told them out of the blue.

“Let’s do this!” Phize said enlivened.

Trif stood from his stool.

Phize took the request paper and placed it in front of one of the receptionists.

The receptionist asked, “Ah, a Rank C quest? Names?”

“Phize Gratham Drestil, Lili Aundrabeau, Trif Guise, and Hazel Paufia.”

The receptionist took out many pieces of paper from below his station.

“Please wait as the verification process is a lengthy process and might take a while.”

He scrolled through the pages and after turning 10 pages he finally found their names.

“Ah yes, one of the special sets of students from the Adventure Semester? Since your rank matches the quest, I hereby approve of this expedition.”

The receptionist stamped on the quest paper with red ink and Phize took it with him.

“Thank you.” he thanked him.

Phize faced his group.

“It’s ready, onwards!”

Trif went to the door.

“Let’s go, brats.”

They followed after him.

They walked through the streets.

“Sure is crowded, isn’t it?” Phize stated.

Trif replied, “What did you expect from the capital of the country? This is probably a meet-up of many organizations, good and bad. This place is so vast, I think there are more than 2 exit points here.”

He saw the northwest gate.

He continued, “Let’s exit that way.”

They passed through countless people and buildings. They went through the large gates and exited the city.

“This is too close to the city, so monsters are probably killed within this vicinity. I assume the monsters to be much farther out.”

END OF EPISODE 69