I head to my ever vacant room 21 using the key. There really wasn't much to do or think over anything as soon as I lie, facing the bed, plus, the day was pretty tiring as well. Bella has taken me to various interesting places in this peaceful town. I'd still call it a guide, but I don't think it is the same with aunt Loris and her sister.

   I took off my sword, backpack, and cape and quickly turn in for the night.

 

 

…

 

 

“Hahahaha…”

   It's you again, huh...

   I opened my eyes and I’m back in the same dark room, filled with emptiness and my body still bound in chains.

“A rather pleasant day, wasn’t it?”

   I quickly look over to the sound of the voice and there It is, still covered in a thick and damp dark purple-like mist.

   You… what do you want now..?

“HAHAHAHA! Nay needeth to be wary, I just wanteth to giveth thou a message.”

   A message?! I don’t want to hear any message from you! TELL ME WHERE MIKA IS, NOW!

   I tried my best to move my body to try and grab It, but it proves useless. I’m completely chained in place and every time I try to defy the suppression of the chains, it hardens and moving, even budging a little is close to impossible.

“Dian, Dian, Dian… how cantankerous… just liketh thoust father …”

   Father..? I don't have a father... what are you-

“LISTEN! Thy joy yond thou art experiencing, shalt not lasteth forever!” 

   Not last- WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!

“Hehehe… until our next meeting, Dian…”

   W- WAIT!

 

 

…

 

 

Chirp! Chirp~

   I woke up and find myself looking at my room's ceiling as I felt my whole body covered in a huge amount of sweat, just like before. The dream lasts even shorter than my previous encounter with It like it's just a 2-minute encounter. The message It said to me continues to linger in my head.

   The joy that I'm having is gonna come to an end, It said... It even said something about my father..? but... I don't have a father, right..? how did It...

   As I ponder in my thoughts regarding the dream I had, I noticed that the room is actually well lighted from the sunny sunlight peering from the closed wooden window, giving me a feeling that it is probably afternoon.

   Oh no! my breakfast and bath!

   I got up from the bed and quickly opened my door. There are still my breakfast and a bucket of water on the floor in front of my room's door. There is still faint steam coming from the bucket of water, still warm. I then took both my breakfast and my bucket into my room, putting my breakfast on the table and the bucket of water beside the table.

  Well... at least the water is still warm... can't say the same for the breakfast though... hmm..? what's this?

   I noticed a note under the plate of mashed potatoes before I start eating my breakfast.

   A paper..?

 

 

   Wha… what kind of message is this..?

   Seems like Bella went to the Adventurer’s Guild… she probably has matters to attend to… which is not surprising… Bella looks like a pretty strong adventurer. Oh yeah… I don’t know what her rank is… I forgot to ask her yesterday. Oh well, breakfast comes first!

   I took a spoon and started to eat my breakfast.

   Mmm! The bread is not hard, not soggy, the berries also taste very sweet! The mashed potatoes are seasoned perfectly, and mushy, giving an impression of softness every time I chew it.

DING

“PFF-!”

[Absorb] – Activated

   [Absorb] activated?! What the hell?! I almost spat out the mashed potatoes! … wait… what?

   I got a skill??? I was pretty sure I didn’t try to activate my [Absorb], but why did I get this skill..?

   Out of curiosity, I tapped the question mark beside the skill.

   Weird… how come I suddenly get a skill from these mashed potatoes, but when I ate a similar dish that Clara cooked I didn’t get any skill from it..? and this skill… [Plant Eater], am I really able to eat plants? Like wild plants? I wonder if I get this skill because I ate a lot of vegetables in this world..?

   Not thinking any further, I finished the rest of my breakfast.

   Haa… even if I didn’t eat rice, these mashed potatoes make for a pretty nice alternative. Okay, now, only bathing is left.

 

 

…

 

 

   After a few minutes, I finished bathing and wore all of my clothes and my gears back.

   Sword, backpack, coins, and last but not least, my adventurer’s card... okay, everything checks out. I hope I’ll be able to do a quest from the Guild without a problem…

   I carried the wooden tray and bucket and head towards the door, opening the lock and then put these two things on the wood floor outside of my room.

   All done… now, I can go to the Guild and find a quest.

   I went downstairs and the mess hall is also quite empty this time of day, I can only see the maids cleaning the floor and tables of the Inn. The moment I step on the first floor, I was greeted by aunt Loris's cheerful smile.

“Aah! Dian, you’ve finally woke up!” aunt Loris said, greeting me excitedly.

“Y- yeah, I’m sorry, aunt Loris for the disturbance…” I said as I handed my room key to aunt Loris.

“Hahaha, it’s fine, don’t worry about it! So, where are you planning to go today, Dian?”

“I uhh… was about to go to the Adventurer’s Guild…”

   Aunt Loris started to smile.

“Hoo~? Already chasing after her, huh? she is quite a beauty after all, Hehehe…”

“N- No! I want to find a quest, that’s all!”

   I really should be careful with my wording when I talk to aunt Loris…

“I… don’t have a lot of money… so, I’m thinking that I’ll find a quest from the Guild to make some…”

“…” aunt Loris paused for a moment, looking at me sympathetically.

“Poor you… is there anything that I can do to help?” aunt Loris asked, offering her support.

“Ah! You don’t have to, aunty! Really! This kind of thing isn’t that hard, hahaha.” I said with a smile and laughter.

   Truly… she already did so much for me… she is so nice to me, and Bella is treated like… her daughter. If I think about it, aunt Loris has already worked so hard servicing the guests every day, I don’t want to further auntie’s work… I don’t deserve her kindness in the first place…

“Is that so… okay then, be safe out there, Dian!” aunt Loris said, back to her usual cheerfulness.

“Yes, aunty, I’ll excuse myself.”

   Thank goodness she believed my words earlier…

   I started to walk out of the Inn.

“Dian.” Aunt Loris called.

“W- what is it, aunt Loris?” I asked as I turned my head behind me.

“… If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask me…” aunt Loris said with a faint smile and a sad expression on her face.

“… yes… aunty…”

   Looks like… she saw through my lies…

   I continued to head outside of the Inn.

   I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry, aunt Loris… but I don’t want to burden you any more than I already did…

   I then started to walk to the Adventurer’s Guild.

 

 

…

 

 

   It's honestly refreshing each time I walk around this town. The sunlight warmly basked me and the wind is very cool, the people that I’ve come across this road is so full of energy and seeking activities even though it’s in the morn-

   My thought was snapped as I see a crowd gathering at the Adventurer’s Guild.

   Hmm..? what’s happening? Why is there a crowd gathering in the guild?

   I walked closer and I saw a town guard in front of the bulletin board inside the Guild, the center of attention of the crowd, holding a paper with writings that I can’t seem to see from afar. Out of curiosities, I went inside the Guild and joined the crowd, then started to concentrate on my hearing.

“So! Judging by the dangerous qualities this monster has, the Mayor of Neuxo in the country of Ralaph has executed an ‘Emergency Raid Quest’ for every town surrounding Neuxo! The prizes vary depending on your contribution to exterminating the said creature! Adventurers with ranks B and above must partake in this Emergency Quest!”

   An emergency quest? And this quest is about killing a creature?

   I then heard whispers from the crowds.

“So, do you want to join?” Asked an adventurer to an adventurer beside them.

“You kiddin’ me? I’m still a C-rank! the creature that the guard described also sounds scary…”

“How curious… a creature like that, appearing in Ralaph..?” Asked another adventurer to an adventurer beside her.

“Yeah, last time I went to Ralaph, there was no such creature… how terrifying...”

   Ralaph… that is a country in this world, right? A country beside Kardia if I remember correctly…

   I further look towards the guard, and I saw Bella, wearing her usual attire, standing behind and the left side of the guard that is holding a paper.

   Bella..? turns out she is still in the guild… is she going to join the Raid?

BAM!

“!!!”

   A sound of the door opened in a rash manner was heard, I and everyone in the guild were startled and quickly looked towards the guild door.

“Did somebody say… extermination… and prize..?” Asked a guy that seems like the culprit of the door smashing.

   The guy looks like he is in a drunken state, he wears an eyepatch covering his left eye. A nasty slash wound from his forehead, crossing his left eye to the bottom of his chin. The dark lighting inside of the guild glints his sharp, orange-colored, right eye, filled with a sense of interest towards the guard. His long, Brunette, and wild hair are tied to the back into a ponytail. He’s wearing a somewhat worn out, dirty, tainted, and white shirt with a rough-looking fuzzed bear fur coat on top of it. He’s pretty swole. When he rolled up his sleeves, slash wounds and claw marks that were covering his whole body could be seen with the naked eyes.

   Is he… an adventurer..?

“J- Jakan?! Where have you been?! How dare you return after all this time!” Shouted the guard with an annoyed look on his face.

   Jakan..?

“Yea, yea, yea, nag, nag, nag! You’re so noisy… hey, tell me,*hic* is there really an extermination quest..?” Jakan asked as he walks toward the guard while stumbling all over the place.

   Sounds of whispers were head among the crowds.

“Jakan is back..? didn’t he disappeared from Lissen like, 2 months ago?” Asked an adventurer to his friend.

“Yeah… that S-ranked bastard…”

“Mmm… I can’t stand him… why does he have to come back here again..?” whispered a female adventurer is a disgust.

   There’s a lot of adventurers that are talking so many bad things about him… but from what I heard, he’s an S-rank, right..? the strongest rank according to the system? why is this person hated so much by the adventurers?

“Not only that you shamelessly came back, but you’re also hammered as well?!” Shouted the guard as he gets angrier and angrier.

“Pfft! *hic* such is the ever-busy duty of the famous Monster Hunter, hehe… I was really having a tussle in Kremore… tough monsters lemme tell ya' *hic*.” Jakan said as he puts his arm around the guard.

“Grrr… whatever… because this is a really important Raid Quest, You. Have. To. Join. Too…” The guard said as he’s trying so hard to hold back his anger.

“That’s the spirit! *hic* so, where do I sign..?” Jakan asked with a drunken smile on his face.

“Drunkard… okay! Anyone that wishes to join the monster extermination come to me and write your data on this paper! And don’t forget, anyone that partakes in this quest has to gather on the front of the town’s gate, tomorrow morning!” Said the guard, then he deals with the adventurers that want/has to partake.

   A lot of adventurers in the crowd dispersed, some of them continuing their usual day and some of them gathers on the guard, signing their data.

   There’s not many gathering to partake on the Raid Quest… is the monster that frightening..? I see a few adventurers signing their data… but it looks like they’re pretty strong-

   I noticed that Bella noticed me and looked at me, she then walked slowly towards me as she waves her hands to me.

   I waved back at her shyly.

“H- Hey, Bella!” I said nervously.

“Hi… Dian…” Bella said with a faint blush on her face.

   Damn it, I started to remember yesterday’s event. I… cried for a pretty long time beside her… now I feel embarrassed…

“S- So, you uhh… join the Raid Quest, Bella..?

“Yes… it’s a must for me…” Bella said with a faint, sad expression on her face.

   A must..? is Bella above B-rank?

“Oh yeah… I haven’t asked your rank, Bella…”

   Bella pulls out her adventurer card from her pockets. The card she took put says that she is an A-ranked adventurer with gold as the base color of the adventurer's card, making it shines when it reflects the light from the sun. Her class specifies that she is a 'Magic Swordsman'.

“I’m… an A-rank…”

“PFFFT-“

   A-rank?! I- I didn’t realize she’s so high up! T- The difference is 6 tiers above me… I initially thought she was at least C-rank, but an A-rank?! And I’ve been disrespectful to her…

“I- I didn’t know you’re an A-rank, Bella…”

“Y… yes… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before…”

“D- Don’t worry about that! I was just a little surprised, that’s all!” I said as I put a nervous smile on my face.

“…”

“S- So… how long will the trip last?”

“I was told that… it’ll take around 2 weeks to reach Neuxo… using a carriage…”

“…”

  That means… I won’t be able to see Bella for 2 weeks..? i- it’s not about that, but I feel like… things will be lonely without her…

“Is that so… then, you should make preparation starting now, Bella!” I said with a smile on my face.

   There’s nothing that I can do except cheering for her… right..?

“Yes… what about you, Dian?” Bella asked a little bit worryingly.

“I’ll take a couple of quests, don’t worry about me.”

“… okay… good luck with yours, Dian.”

“Yes, you too, Bella…”

   Bella then heads towards the guild exit door. But, before she heads out, she waved at me, I then waved back at her.

   Now… back to the mission at hand, let’s see the quests- oh?

   When I look back at the quest board, I don’t see that Jakan person.

   Did he head out as well..? I didn’t notice… I was so absorbed by our conversation that I feel completely oblivious of my surroundings… the people that signed for the Raid Quest also disappeared… oh well, at least the quest board is not that full of people gathering in front…

   I look around the quest board.

   Whoa… there are so many quests to choose from… I also noticed that the quests vary from F-rank to B-rank. ‘Hunt wild wolves’, ‘Skin some ball rabbits’, ‘Gather slime’s liquid and put in in a bottle’..? there are so many Monster related quests… but, is there any quest that matches my rank..?

I then see a quest on the bottom right corner of the quest board that piqued my interest.

   Green herbs… and this quest looks like it’ll be a perfect one for a newbie like me, I also will get paid a lot if I gather heaps of-

“Heheheh! This kid has the balls to return here, it seems.” Said a familiar voice behind me.

“!!!”

   This voice…

   I quickly turned around and I saw those three men that disturbed me that day.

“Oh, look! His girlfriend is not with him, haha!”

   I started to tremble and feel scared.

   W- what should I do..? I… no, Dian, you promised that you’ll change this weak attitude of yours… you promised.

“Wh… what do you want..?” I asked, holding my ground, still feeling a bit scared.

“Pfft, what do we want? We want wimps like you to leave this place.” Delmar said as he intimidates me.

“I…”

   What should I do here..? I'm cornered-

“Hey, you three! Stop that immediately!”

   Wh- who?

   I then look over the direction of the voice and I saw a blonde, short-haired guy, wearing a full, dark green, light-armored set and have a long, pointy spear on his back, looking rather angry at the three men.

“Ugh, Liam… what is it now?” Said one of the men, looking rather annoyed.

   The blonde guy then walked closer.

“Why are you three bothering this new adventurer, huh?” He said with a peeved look on his face.

“Come on, we were just having fun,” Braum said with a disappointed look on his face.

“Begone! Or do I have to call the guards over here?”

“Ugh… okay, do what you want, Liam…” Said one of the men with a scared expression on his face.

   The three of them hurryingly head outside of the guild.

“Hey, you’re a new adventurer, right? Nice to meet you, my name is Liam, a C-rank adventurer!” He said eagerly as he reached for a handshake.

“Y- yeah… my name is Dian, F-rank…” I said as I shook hands with Liam.

“Dian, huh? Sorry about those three guys, they always harass new adventurers…” Liam said with an apologetic look on his face.

“D- don’t be… I’m sorry too for the inconvenience, thank you so much for your intervention…”

   This person will probably be in trouble with those three guys… and it’s all my fault… for not standing up for myself…

“There, there, no need for the formalities, dude! Those three guys don’t stand a chance against me, even if they ambush me!” Liam said with a cheerful and vibrant attitude.

“Y- yeah… once again, thank you.”

   He doesn’t seem like a bad person… he looks pretty strong, too… but why do I feel like something is wrong here...

“So, anyway, what quest did you take?” Liam asked curiously.

“This quest, gathering green herbs.”

“Aah, that’s not a bad one for a newbie… oh, I’ve got an idea! Do you want to team up with me?”

   Team up?! Why would a C-rank team up with me..?

“S- sure… but why..?”

“The thing is, I’m in a middle of a monster extermination quest, I have to kill a couple of Great Wolves, and unfortunately, the green herbs you’re seeking is in the Great Wolf’s territory, so, I thought that you pick up the herbs for your quest and I’ll back you up if there are any monsters that attack us, how about it?

   Great Wolves..? he’s got a point… I don’t know where the green herb’s location is at all, so having Liam for my guide will surely be useful… not to mention the thing that Garren said, that the Demon Lord has resurrected.

“Okay then. Good idea, I agree.”

“Hehehe! Oh yeah, don’t forget to verify your quest over to the Guild’s reception, it won’t be valid if you don’t undergo the verifying process.”

“Really..? thanks for the info.”

“I’ll wait outside, go ahead and verify yours, man!” Liam said eagerly as he head outside of the guild.

   What an eager person…

   I took the herb gathering quest, then proceed to the reception. There are only about 1 or 2 people lining up the reception desks, but I saw an empty one where I remember it is the line that I made my ID card in. As I get into the empty line of the receptionist's desk, I noticed that someone different is on duty, not yesterday's receptionist who made my ID card.

   That one looks like it’s empty, and… the receptionist has a pair of rabbit ears..?

“Excuse me, I’d like to take this quest…” I said as I hand the quest to the rabbit-eared receptionist.

“Oh! You’re an adventurer called Dian, right?” said the receptionist excitedly.

“Y- yes..?” I said, feeling a little nervous as she stares at me intently.

   How did she know my name..? I’ve only seen her now…

“Hehe! No need to be nervous with me… my name is Kira!” She said with a wide smile and a friendly look on her face.

“Uhm… nice to meet you..?”

“Do you know~? It’s been quite a while since a cute, young guy like you joined this adventurer’s guild~?” Kira said with a ravishing look on her face, staring at me longly as if she is staring at her prey as she licks her lips.

“Uhm…”

   What should I even…

“Just kidding! Here, let me verify your quest!” Kira said as she turns back to her cheerful attitude.

“!!!”

   Why do I feel like the male adventurers are looking at me with bloodlust..?

“Okay!  The quest has been verified, hurray!” Kira said happily as she handed me the now verified quest.

“O- ok… thank you very much…”

“I wish you good luck!”

   I then immediately turn around and walked toward the guild exit.

“Dian~,” Said a voice behind me in a teasing tone.

   Oh no…

   I slowly looked behind me and I saw Kira, blowing me a kiss, then she waved her hand at me with a happy expression on her face.

“!!!”

   I jolt, feeling very embarrassed as my face turns red. I quickly ran towards the exit as the sharp stares of the male adventurers gets stronger and stronger. I exited the guild and I saw Liam, looking at me with a funny expression on his face, trying real hard to contain his laughter.

“Pfft- hahaha! Looks like you’ve started a war.” Liam said with a burst of satisfied laughter.

“W-  War?! What do you mean??”

“The one that blew you a kiss, that’s Kira, the most popular receptionist among the guys, and you just got wooed by her.”

“What?!”

   Me?! Got wooed?! by the most popular receptionist?!

“Yup, and you just made the guys jealous by doing that, to be honest, I’m pretty jealous, too!”

   I looked back at the guild and I still see some of the male adventurers sharply glaring at me and I felt their killing intent from a distance.

“Better run, man! Before they run after you!” Liam said as he started running.

“G- Good idea!” I said as I started to ran and chase after Liam.