It was evening, and the sun was already starting to set by the time Heinesia and I left the apartment.

As I look around me, most of the roadside stalls and shops were already closed. Of course, not many would be daring enough to open their business right after the night of the attacks. With the news of the monster outbreak spreading within the city, this emptiness in the streets was to be expected. 

Even then, this was the first time I’ve seen Halvan this quiet. The night life that I was used to had disappeared overnight, leaving an eerie, undisturbed silence around us. 

It gave me nothing but a feeling of unease. 

Heinesia too, didn’t seem to be too interested in striking up a conversation as we walked. For the entire journey where neither of us shared a word, the soft echo of our footsteps became the only sound as we passed through this ghost district. 

Fortunately, we didn’t have to endure it for too long as it was a short walk to the guild. Heinesia and I arrived at the foot of the building rather quickly.

The double-leaf doors opens as Heinesia pushes it strongly with both hands,

“Come in quickly.” Heinesia pulls my hand with a smile on her face.

But as soon as we entered, I felt a strange tension in the atmosphere. Inside the guild, it looked like there were more people than usual. Around the tables nearby, adventurers of various builds were looking at me with threatening eyes. 

I recognized some of them as the more die-hard fans of Heinesia, which explains their silent aggression towards me. I let go of Heinesia’s hand hastily and glanced at my surroundings again, yet only to find that their animosity had not subsided in the least. 

One of them who was looking at me hatefully, was a bald man with a bandana wrapped around his forehead. He had a muscular body and a two-handed sword behind his back. When he suddenly stabbed a knife onto the table, my body flinched greatly. I heard snickers around me, as if they were enjoying my reaction.

…What’s going on? I was perplexed. 

The atmosphere feels strange. The newbie-bullying had never been this transparent before. These guys wouldn’t appear this hostile whenever Heinesia was right in front of them either.

Did the monster invasion of city get into everyone’s head? Were they just tense over Halvan’s current predicament. I could only make second guesses in my head, unsure of why Heinesia wasn’t saying anything about them this time.

“What’s wrong White-sama? Why did you stop?”

“Eh…? Uhm… I’m just… worried about them.”

Them? My feeling of unease only grew as Heinesia turns to smile at me meaningfully for some reason.

“Ah, those guys… well don’t beat yourself up over it. You’re fine up until now, right? Those guys won’t do anything improper, well, that is if White-sama doesn’t do anything against the law that would give them a reason to do so.”

I understood that, but…

“Besides, the guild doesn’t allow actual physical confrontation between adventurers since it is a breach of the law. If they attempted to do anything to White-sama, I’ll be the first one to stop them.”

“...You’ll… stop them?”

“That’s right. I’m your caretaker after all. So don’t worry about it too much, I’ll be by your side.” 

“...I’m sorry to trouble you, Heinesia… Also, ...thank you.”

Heinesia giggles lightly, “It’s part of the job. Let’s go up then?” I nodded, and followed behind Heinesia. Ignoring the eyes that remained on me as I passed the tables of adventurers, the two of us proceeded to the second floor without any problems. 

When we reached the end of the stairs, I saw that the second floor lights were on. Unlike the business in Halvan, the guild counters were still open. Heinesia tells me that we should be meeting with the guild master for the information, so we walked a familiar route into the building where we entered a lift at the end of the walkway.

As we ascended to the third floor in the lift, Heinesia suddenly speaks again, 

“About those guys. I know you’re still worried about them.”

“...”

“But you must know, while I’ve seen White-sama work diligently over the month, I’m sure they must have seen it too, and… I’m not supposed to say this as one of the staff members in the guild but, the truth is that this is a loophole in the system that the veteran adventurers are exploiting.”

...Loophole?

“You see… some of them don’t take too kindly to newbies who overstep their boundaries. The real reason why you’ve not been getting proper work, is because all of the good quests have been taken away by these people.”

Newbie crushers. Well, I had a feeling, but to think that it turned out to be the truth…

“...Why are you only telling me this now?”

“I’m sorry, White-sama.” Heinesia looks down sadly,  “I-I was forced to...”

“...Eh?” I thought I just heard an unbelievable thing. But before I had the chance to ask further, the lift doors opened.

“...Let’s continue this at a later date.”

“...But…”

“The monster. It’s more important than me now, is it?”

“...” I clenched my fists, and nodded firmly.

“But, promise me, Heinesia-san. That you’ll tell me when all of this is over.”

“...I promise. When all of this is over.”

We followed a straight path which led to the most imposing door on this floor. On it were cool engravings of swords, wands and weapons used by all five classes. 

 

Knock, knock. A brief moment later, a burly voice resounds from behind the door.

“Come in.”

 

“Excuse us,” Heinesia replies as she enters with her head lowered, I followed with a similar posture and entered the office. It wasn’t as big as I’d thought, but it was definitely extravagant as if I’ve stepped into some corner of a palace. There was a Great Dane lying near the fireplace at the side which raised its head when we entered, but it immediately lost its interest when its master simply mentioned the word “guests”.

The owner of that large guard dog was the bearded man who seemed to be in his late 50s sitting in his chair before the only long table in the office. With sharp, narrow eyes beneath the lens of his spectacles, the guild leader seems to be more of the intellectual type. While the man looks imposing enough to act the part of a guild leader, he didn’t quite match the appearance I had of him in my mind before.

“Good evening, guild leader.” Heinesia greets the man, and I hurriedly bowed as well.

“...Mm.” The man presses a finger against his spectacles, and nods self-importantly. “Take a seat.”

“Thank you.” Heinesia and I sat down on chairs before him, and waited for him to continue. The guild leader looks at me with a glint in his eyes, 

“And... this is the rumored White-kun.”

“Eh? Guild master, y-you know my name?"

He crosses his legs and leans back against his chair. 

“Hmm? You act like you don't know of your popularity around these parts...” The man glances at Heinesia briefly, and turns to me again.

“Well no matter,” He chuckles.

“You will find out in due time.”

...In due time?

“Let me introduce myself, my name is Lekhard Ainsfelt. I am the acting leader of the Adventurer Guild in Halvan, and I oversee all of the matters involving adventurers in this city. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Towards such an important figure, I stood up and shook Lekhard’s hand stiffly, “P-Pleased to meet your acquaintance… my name is...”

“Yes, I’m quite aware. Spare me the second time,"

"R-Right...!"

The man smiles at me with squinted eyes, and turns to Heinesia again,

“Still this is quite the combination of people, is it not? Staff member, Marlet-san.”

Heinesia strangely remains silent beside me. Are the two on bad terms with each other?

"If we're finally done with the pleasantries, please tell me the purpose of this visit.” Lekhard asked as he spins a pen around his fingers.

"I do hope you have a good reason for coming in at such a critical period of public unrest." He added with a sharp look in his eyes.

Heinesia appears visibly startled momentarily, she lowers her head and replies:

“Precisely so, we have come at this timing, Guild master." 

"Hoh?"

"Ainsfelt-san, we’re here to impart an important piece of information on the monsters.”

The pen came to a stop in between his fingers.

“...Information on the monsters you say? If you’re here for another update on the casualties—”

“—No. White-sama here has identified the appearance of a new monster during the attacks. At present, it is highly possible that the monster is still hiding in the city and—”

—“A new monster?” Lekhard cut off Heinesia’s words with a disinterested look, and resumes spinning the pen as he looks out the window.

“The difficulty rating?”

With a frustrated look on her face, Heinesia continues persistently, “A-rank, sir. It is a Level 50 Boss monster,”

The pen falls back onto the table.

“Hooh.” Lekhard’s eyes lit up. He turns to me with a serious expression with his fingers laced together.

“...A boss monster you say, is this true White-kun?” 

Why was he asking me instead of Heinesia-san?!

Stuck in a weird position in this conversation, I nodded nervously. Lekhard then looks into my eyes as if to discern if I’m telling the truth.

The tension brought me to swallow a mouthful of saliva. In a way, facing the guild master of Halvan was like facing a wild beast. Had it not been for my elevated status from having my Class Selection completed, I would surely have succumbed to this pressure in the air already.

The way he was trying to pry out information from my body language...

Without a doubt, this was some sort of 'test'. 

Nothing happens however, and a moment later, the guild master relaxes back on his chair and smiles at me.

"Looks like you're telling the truth. Sorry for testing you like this White-kun. I'm a very cautious person you see."

"D-Don't sweat it... h-hahaha..." I let out a sigh in return, having experienced quite a bout of consternation for seemingly nothing.

Was he a lie detector or something?! I couldn't resist the rebuttal in my mind.

At least I could tell he had the best interests for the guild in mind. If I were put in Lekhard's position, I wouldn't easily believe someone without credentials either. It was to be expected, his title as the guild master of Halvan isn't for show.

There were probably some kind of system put in place to appraise the credibility of information given by adventurers. Even if that adventurer had been recommended by a guild staff member. I wonder, is this the reason why Heinesia didn't like the guild master.

 

“I see then, a Boss monster huh. ...Looks like there will be a change in our plans now, won’t it?” 

Heinesia smiles triumphantly beside me for some reason, but Lekhard ignores her. Procuring a metal box with a dungeon core embedded in the center from a drawer, Lekhard places the item on the table between us. It looks like some sort of voice recorder.

“This is…” 

“It’s a circuit device that will record your voice. It’s just for documenting our conversation, don’t mind it.” Lekhard chuckles lightly.

“Right…”

“Well then, I’m all ears.” He gestures for me to continue. Lekhard's eyes turn serious, as if he had turned into a whole different person.

“Tell me in detail, about this monster you’ve seen.”