As I hesitantly entered the building, I immediately felt pressure in the air as the crowds of adventurers do their own thing, a completely different feeling from the atmosphere outside of the guild. I also felt that some of them are looking at me with their sharp and judgemental gazes.

   … This is the Adventurer’s Guild..? what a crowded place… filled with plenty of scary people… compared to them, I… look so weak… I could even feel a couple of the people staring at me like I am nothing… come on… don’t be scared…

   I anxiously look around the place, trying to find the reception.

   Usually, there’s a reception desk in a place like this… where is it… oh, there it is.

   I nervously walked towards the reception desk with fewer people lining up than the other desks.

BAM

   I got into a collision and I fell and got knock backed to the floor.

“Ouch!” I yelped in surprise.

   What..? what was-

   I see 3 burly men who look like in their thirties, standing in front of me with a smirk on their faces, 2 of them wore a lightweight iron armor while the other one wore leather armor. One of the men that wore the lightweight armor walked closer to me with a malicious look on his face.

“Hey, brat! This is no place to play around!” He yelled at me with intimidation.

   Wh… what..? are they an adventurer in this guild..? they look so scary…

   I shiver in fear and unable to move or get up from the floor.

“HAHAHA! Look at how scared he is!” The man in front of me said with a burst of laughter.

   I could feel the cold gaze of the people around me.

“Watch out, Delmar! Kid’s probably pissed his pants!” The man with the leather armor behind Delmar said with a sinister and a satisfied smile on his face.

   No… I…

   Why...

 

   Somebody… help…

“Hey, brat! How long are you going to sit on the floor? Hahaha!”

   I’ve done nothing wrong…

   As seconds went by, my shivers gradually went frantic and my breath got ragged.

   I heard whispers of surrounding crowds.

*Whisper* *Whisper*

“Don’t get involved… those guys are…”

   Why are you people looking at me… judging me… stop it… stop looking at me like that… somebody… help me…

   I shut my eyes, trying to ignore the sounds in my head as I reflexively put both of my hands on my head, protecting myself, but it kept repeating and rings inside my head.

   Help…

 Mika... help me...

   … who…

   Mi…ka..?

   I slowly opened my eyes and I saw Isabella in front of me, facing the 3 men with her cold and unforgiving gaze.

“W- Why are you defending him?!” Delmar asked with a terrified look on his face.

“Y- Yeah! What is he to you?!” Asked the other men wearing the lightweight iron armor with a frightened look on his face.

“…” Isabella silently glared at them with her cold eyes and the air becomes heavy from her aura.

“Urk… Delmar! Gus! W- we should leave right now…” Said the man with the leather armor in terror.

“R- Right! Watch yourself, brat! We are not done with you…”

   The 3 adventurers quickly walked out of the Guild in a hurry.

   After a few moments, she turns to me.

   Mika..?

   She reached her hand to me.

“Are you alright… Dian..?” Isabella said with a concerned look on her face.

   Bella…

“Bella…”

“…”

   I took her hand and she helped me get up from the floor, my body is still slightly trembling.

*Whisper**Whisper*

   Faint whispers were heard from the gathering crowd.

“Isabella..? why would a rank --- adventurer like her…”

“Impossible…”

   The adventurer’s faces are filled with a shocked face and in disbelief.

“Bella... I…”

“…” Bella slowly looked around.

Bella then glared at the surrounding crowd of adventurers and struck them with terror with her cold stare, their faces turn blue and scared. The surrounding crowd then scattered and does their activities, afraid of even batting an eye over to us.

   Those memories… those cursed memories… why did they resurface..? I thought I’ve already buried them, locked them deep inside where I wouldn’t get reminded of those… awful memories…

“Dian…” Bella said with a face full of worries.

   I did it again… making people worry about me… the thing that I do so well. I don’t want people to worry about me… I don’t want people to feel concerned over me… even for a little… besides… they’ll probably be happier if I don’t exist…

“I’m fine… don’t worry about me, Bella.” I said with a fake smile on my face.

“… are you sure..?” Bella said worryingly.

“Yes… so, don’t you worry about me, okay?” I said, still putting up my fake smile and happy expression.

   I’ve done this countless of times that my acting is pretty good when it comes to happiness… putting this fake front… I… just don’t want to make people worried…

“Umm…” Bella mumbled while she still looks at me with full of worry.

“B- By the way! What are you doing here, Bella..? didn’t you have something to do..?

“I… it was a misunderstanding from the report… after that, I looked for you…” Bella said with a faint blush.

“You looked for me..? what for..?”

   Bella paused for a second and put up a small pout.

“… you asked for my guide…” Bella said with a faint blush and pout on her face.

   Guide..? oh… I didn't get the chance to cancel my request earlier… so she still thinks that she needs to guide me…

“Oh… I’m sorry… it seems like I forgot, haha…”

“Hmph…” Bella grunts with a pout on her face.

   Well… at least she’s not worried about me anymore…

“But first… I want to make an ID… mine fell when I was in my travel…”

“Really..? then, I’ll wait over there…” Bella said as she points to a bench.

“Got it…”

   Why would Bella want to help me..? is her schedule not that packed? It’s just wild that a girl as sweet and nice as her would want to assist a person like me… she’s an adventurer, right? Aren’t I in the way of her job..? aren't I only a hindrance..? ... Now is not the time to be thinking… I have to be quick to not waste Bella’s time.

   I carefully look around me to seek an empty receptionist desk, I continued looking and finally found one. As I approach the receptionist, she quickly smiled and put a friendly expression on her face.

“Greetings! Welcome to Lissen’s Adventurer’s Guild! What can I do for you?” The receptionist said with a delightful yet cheerful expression.

“I… want to make an ID… I lost it in my travels…”

“Oh no. That’s too bad, but worry not! We can make a new one for you!” The receptionist said cheerfully.

“Really..?”

“Yes! You only need to pay 2 Silver coins!”

   2 silver coins..? that is pretty expensive… is that the standard price just for an ID..?

   I reached to my pouch, then I took out 2 silver coins.

“Here,” I said as I handed over the 2 silver coins.

“Thank you for your payment! Please, fill this paper with your data.” The receptionist said as she hands me a paper.

   What?! Just a name and class??? Uhh… ok..? I don’t have a class according to my [Info] window, so… I’ll just write it as is.

   I handed over the paperback to the receptionist.  

   I didn’t know creating an ID is this easy…

“No Class?! Is it even possible..?” The receptionist said, startled as she looked puzzlingly at the filled paper.

“Is… there something wrong..?”

“Ah, No! It’s nothing! Nothing you should worry about!” The receptionist said with a fluster and a smile on her face.

   She was surprised by my Class… am I supposed to have a class..?

“The next step is this.” The receptionist said as she handed me a sharp pin needle.

“Uhh… what’s this for..?”

“You need a drop of your blood onto this paper.” The receptionist said with a smile.

   A drop of blood..? is this really necessary??? But I… no, stop it, Dian. You have to do this.

   I quickly prickled my finger with the pin needle and the blood drips onto the paper.

“Okay! Please wait for a moment, I shall make your adventurer ID…” The receptionist said as she held her hand out towards the paper.

   The receptionist shuts both of her eyes as she reaches to the paper that I filled, concentrating for a few seconds.

“『Convert』”

   The paper that I filled turned into a card.

   Whoa…

“The making of your new ID is finished! You may take the card now.” The receptionist said with a smile on her face as she handed me the card.

“Thank you…”

   I quickly take a look at my ID card, feeling it. The paper that I just filled just turned into an actual card, both in appearance and the overall feeling of the material.

   The paper did turn into a card…

“Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions!” The receptionist said kindly.

   F rank… I wonder if it’s the same as the ones in the games that I played… just to be sure…

“I want to know more about ranks…”

“Ah, the rank system? I’ll explain it.”

“In the Adventurer’s Guild, there is a system named rank system. This ‘rank’ shows your strength and contribution as the letters rise from the alphabet. First of all, you start from F rank, then you’ll get promoted if you complete a certain number of quests, there are 8 ranks in total, starting from F, E, D, C, B, A, and the highest rank, S. there are currently 24 S ranks all across Gaia. If you want to quickly rose your rank, my advice would be that you take a quest 1 rank above your current one!”

   Interesting… I originally planned to pass through towns with an ID… but, now that I’ve heard about this information in detail… aren’t A-S ranks pretty popular, then..? maybe I can rise my rank and get noticed around town… and Mika will probably hear of my name and know where to find me… I don’t know how long the process is, but if I work hard enough I could probably reach rank A sooner or later…

"And of course, you can take a quest by yourself or applying yourself to a party! I'd say the more the merrier, but remember, you should also share the rewards with your fellow party members."

   Party system too, huh? So it is familiar to the one I know, but knowing my situation... I'd like to do quests alone if I can...

“Do you have any more questions?” The receptionist said with a smile.

“Ah… for now that is plenty of information, thank you very much,” I said as I bowed my head to the receptionist.

“You’re welcome!” The receptionist said with a cheerful look on her face.

   I put my card inside of my pants pocket and then I walk to Bella.

“Oh! One more thing!” The receptionist said in a hurry.

“Y- yes?!”

“If you want to start, you can take a quest on that board and then bring it to us. Remember, take on a quest that is within your capabilities!”

“G- Got it! Thank you!”

   The receptionist waved goodbye at me with a kind smile on her face before I continue to be on my way to Bella.

   I hope I didn’t make Bella wait for too long…

   I saw Bella sitting on a bench by her lonesome, staring out of the window, looking rather graceful yet cold at the same time. Her long and thick eyelashes glisten along with her turquoise-colored eyes as she stares out the window, bathed by the warm and relaxing sunlight, making her long, silver-colored hair shines spectacularly.

   I then walked closer to Bella.

“Umm… Bella..?”                     

   Bella took a while to notice me calling out to her, she then snaps out of her daydream.

“Oh, Dian… is it done..?” Bella asked curiously.

“Yes… it just got made…”

“Umm… sorry… I was spacing out…” Bella said with a sorry expression on her face.

“I- It’s fine! I’m sorry too… for making you wait so long…”

   We both went silent as the atmosphere between us turns awkward as we stare at each other.

“…” Bella averts her gaze and tucked her head, looking at the floor with a pretty red face,

“B- By the way! Umm… shall we depart..?”

“…” Bella nods silently with her red face.

   We both went on our way outside of the Guild in silence, both of us are not saying anything and are embarrassed to look at each other in the eye.