Chapter 53: Chapter 53
“Thank you for your application. Please wait for a moment as I prepared an identification badge for you”, the receptionist said. “Okay”, Eru replied before walking away from the receptionist table. Eru observed his surrounding, looking for a place to sit. “Nope, the place’s already full”, he mumbled. Eru walked to the nearest wall before leaning into it. He observed his potential opponent from there. “What do you think, Buddy? Anybody we should be wary of?” Eru touched his sword. The black sword vibrates, “No one to be worried about? Is that so?” Eru smiled, “I’ll trust you.”
The person standing beside Eru turned his head at the latter. “Who are you talking to?” he asked. “Uh, no one….” Eru said with coy. “Oh, okay”, the person walked away, looking at Eru weirdly. Eru’s face twitched, “You see that guy? He looked at me funny because I’m talking to you, Buddy.” The black sword buzzed; it suddenly felt wronged by its owner. “Chill, man. I’m not blaming you, okay, Buddy?” Eru caressed Buddy on its hilt, calming it down.
Eru waited for a hot minute, then he heard his name was called by the male receptionist earlier. “Here you go”, the receptionist handed Eru a round badge with two swords crossing each for their logo. “Thank you”, Eru said. “The competition will start tomorrow at 9 AM. Please arrived five minutes before, thank you”, the receptionist informed. Eru nodded, “Will do. Thanks, my guy”, he said before leaving the place.
Eru walked back to the Adventurer’s Guild with the badge in his hand. He opened the door, not finding miss Amelia, the ginger-haired lady from before. Instead, Eru found a different person standing behind the guild’s receptionist table. “Already registered, little brother?” yes, that’s right, Andre, the meddling middle-aged man, was standing behind the receptionist table, replacing Amelia. “Why are you there?” Eru raised his eyebrow. “We’re short-handed, you know. Only me, Amelia and one other guy worked here”, Andre complained.
“Only three? What happens to other adventurers?” Eru asked. Andre helplessly chuckled, “There’s only us three here. Didn’t I mention that adventurers are rare these days?” Eru looked baffled, “Really? How come?” Andre leaned forward, his hands touching the table, “Don’t you know? Everything pays well these days. Besides, how many people would risk such a dangerous job instead of doing what you like to do, and it pays more? Even the army guarantee more safety than the adventurers”, Andre sighed.
“But I saw many people wanting to become one at Borea City, though?” Eru asked. Andre shook his head, “That’s just because of Yuya. He’s sort of an idol figure there”, Andre said with a hint of envy in his voice. He continued, “There’s also a matter of security. The guards in most big cities were trained directly by the kingdom’s army drill sergeant. So, not much could happen with those guys around. Now, our jobs mostly consist of either finding a person, a missing item or even a cat”, Andre lamented.
Eru stared at the complaining middle-aged man in front of him in disbelief, “So the adventurers aren’t as glorious as they used to be?” Andre weakly nodded, “Basically”, he sighed. “So we’re useless?” Eru said lifelessly. Andre slammed the table, “No! Of course not! One day, one day, our glory will be restored. One day, our name will resound through the country once more!” he said passionately. Eru gave the middle-aged man disdainful looks before the latter lightly coughed, “On a more serious note, there are a few things that the government cannot handle, and that’s where we come in.”
Eru continues to give the middle-aged man eyes before sighing in exasperation, “Fine, fine, I’ll believe you” Eru gave up, holding both his hands up. “I’m going to leave now. Be safe, mister” Eru turned his body, wanting to leave the place. “Sure, good luck with the competition”, Andree waves his hand. But as soon as he was about to leave, the entrance door was slammed open. A ginger-haired woman looked haggard, panting as she struggles to catches her breath.
“What’s wrong, Amelia?” Andre casually asked. “B-bad new guild master”, Amelia said while still panting, albeit not as heavily as before. “What’s wrong?” Andre eyebrows raised. “It’s Monty. He’s been captured!” Amelia said with a heavy expression. “What!” Andre shot up from his seat, “Who? Who captured him?” Andre asked with a sombre expression. “I don’t know. When I came to, he was already gone”, Amelia said, sweat dripped from her forehead.
“Calm down, Amelia”, Andre picked up a nearby chair before putting it down near the ginger-haired lady. “Sit here. Try to calm down while I get you something to drink. Then tell me everything from the beginning”, Andre said, trying to calm down the ginger-haired receptionist. While everything was going on, Eru just stood dumbfounded on the side. “What do you think, Buddy? Shall we leave?” Eru whispered. The black sword silently vibrated, seemingly agreeing with its owner proposal.
Eru slowly walked himself out of the door when a massive hand stopped him by the shoulder, “Where are you going?” Eru turned his head, finding a middle-aged man staring at him with glaring eyes. “N-nowhere”, Eru stutteringly said. “Good!” Andre nodded, handing a glass of water at Eru’s hand, “Now be a nice guy and gave this to the lady over there.” Eru weakly nodded, “Sure.”
Eru walked near the ginger-haired lady, extending his hand that held a glass of water to her. “Thank you” Amelia received a glass of water from Eru with a warm smile. Eru smiled back, “Your welcome”, he said while glancing at the middle-aged man. Andre gave a thumbs up, “Eru, please sit down”, the middle-aged man said. Feeling he can’t escape, Eru reluctantly sat into a chair that Andre prepared for him. Andre leaned on the wall beside him, “So, can you tell me the full story now?” seeing Amelia has somewhat calmed down, Andre asked her gently.
“It first begins when….”
===
“Come on, Monty, we got to finished up here”, Amelia said while loading a magic truck with some crates. “Chill out, will ya? Don’t you know that these crates are freaking heavy?” a young man with blond eyes and green eyes complained, putting the crates on the magic truck gently. Amelia’s lips curled up, “What do you mean heavy? Do you mean this?” she picked up a crate with just her left hand, sneering at Monty.
The young man clicked his tongue, “Show off”, he gently picked up another crate before stacking it up on another crate on the magic truck. Amelia chuckled when a rugged middle-aged man approached them. “Thank you always for the help”, the middle-aged man said. “No problem, Mr Ken”, Monty said with a smile. “Like Monty said. This sort of job is no problem for us”, Amelia said while picking up another create with one hand.
“Tch, you’re just happy to be able to show off”, Monty sulked. “Hahaha, you guys were always so lively”, Mr Ken laughed heartily, “Once you’re done, you can meet me inside of my office. I’m thirsty.” Amelia and Monty nodded simultaneously.
After finishing loading the crates, the duo knocked on Mr Ken’s office door, “Hello, Mr Ken? We’re finished loading the crates”, said Amelia. They waited for a while, but Mr Ken made no reply. Amelia and Monty looked at each other confused, “Maybe you try Monty”, Amelia said. “Sure”, Monty knocked on the door, “Mr Ken, hello? We’ve finished loading the crates.” Monty tried a few times; alas, there was still no reply from Mr Ken.
Amelia and Monty looked at each other before nodding in understanding. Amelia put on her gauntlet while Monty readied up his daggers. “Ready?” Monty softly asked. “Yup”, Amelia nodded, “GO!” she barked. Monty kicked the door open before Amelia entered Mr Ken’s office. Inside the office, Amelia found that the room was trashed. Papers were everywhere while a few chairs and tables were smashed. Monty scanned the room using his expertise, combing every nook and cranny of Mr Ken’s office, “Room clear”, he said.
Amelia relaxed, “What do you think happened here?” she touched Mr Ken’s smashed chair. “A kidnapping, more likely”, Monty stated, “I saw signs of people entering the room from the windows over there”, he said. “They’re good”, the ginger-haired lady hissed, “Being able to avoid our senses when we’re right near Mr Ken’s office.” The blond young man nodded, “Yeah. And a mage might be involved as well”, he speculated. “How so?” Amelia asked; she walked near the window, looking outside for clues.
“You said it yourself. The culprits managed to avoid our senses completely without alerting us. There’s only a few that can avoid our perceptions completely. Either it’s a 3rd Grade Aura Master or a mage, and I can’t see why a 3rd Grade Aura Master wanted to do a job like this”, Monty explained while examining the place. “I see”, Amelia nodded. Suddenly, both she and Monty felt someone was approaching them, “Get ready!” Amelia shouted before getting into a fighting stance.
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