The student hub acts as a sort of resting zone for the academy students. It is where most people spend their time if they’re resting or not participating in any sort of extra curriculum. It was also a place where tasks or missions could be picked up by the students. As such, the hub was detached from the main building and had a building of its own, including many facilities that benefit students.

Fayn opened the doors, entering the building as he could see the multiple floors which were useful to many, most notably the fooderies, library, and student store. The large room was cleaned to the point that he swore he could see the floorboards shining.

He was met with eyes of scorn or fear as he walked toward the mission board, but thankfully, there weren’t that many people since the talk with the principal took more time than expected. It was currently midday and most had left to visit their hometowns or have moved out of the dorms due to graduating. 

‘Come to think of it, why is he already here if he starts the academy next year?’ Fayn wondered about the idiot but decided to throw that thought in the deepest black holes in his mind since it wasn’t useful information worth remembering.

Staring at the mission board, one could notice there weren’t that many missions left. These missions were also known as free quests since they weren’t mandatory. They were usually on a first-come-first-serve basis and provided a decent amount of cash without high risk since the academy filters missions that the students definitely wouldn’t be able to do.

The missions also differed in ranks based on the difficulty of the missions and served as the recommended rank for students to be able to pick up the quest-- the required rank being at least a rank lower.

‘There doesn’t seem to be any subjugation missions here,’ Fayn clicked his tongue in mild annoyance. ‘Should’ve known. Basic training it is, then.’

Just as he was about to leave, he could hear some sort of commotion.

》》《《

“Why can’t I take this mission?”

The brunette, Colette, asked the receptionist with a panicked expression. Her short bed hair seemed to match her current state of mind.

“Sorry, Colette. You know the rules,” the receptionist said.

“Pleeeeeease~ Can’t you do something about that, Sona?” Colette begged, somehow forming crocodile tears in her amber eyes. It was the legendary puppy-dog eyes. They say that none could resist the temptations.

“No.” It was not very effective.

The receptionist now known as Sona held steadfast in her decision. Sona sighed as she put a hand to her lustrous black hair, clearly familiar with the girl’s antics.

“This is a B-rank subjugation mission,” Sona began slapping Colette’s head with the mission, “Since you’re only C-rank, you need another person of at least C-rank to go with you!” 

“Ngyaaaaaah!” Undecipherable sounds came from Colette as she held her head.

As for other people in the hub, they were surprised by the scream until they realized that the source of the noise was Colette again then went back to their own business.

“Why’d I have to oversleep…” Colette was on the verge of crouching in defeat and giving up, that was until her unexpected savior came.

“It’s fine if I go along, then right?” 

A cold voice called out from behind Colette. It was Fayn. Colette was in joy, he was a saving grace like a light in the dark.

“Alright!” Colette cheered as she turned to her hero, “Party member get!”

“Oh. jeez. Fine,” Sona finally had no choice but to relent and process the quest, albeit uncertain seeing as Colette’s savior was the most infamous student at the academy, “Your student cards, please.”

The two retrieved their cards from their rings and handed them over.

Sona couldn’t help but sigh as she processed the cards as she thought about Fayn.

The rumors about him weren’t anything good but she never put too much stock into them and preferred to see the truth rather than believe in rumors. Sona had seen varieties of people since she began working as a receptionist after graduation. The result was that he was really hard to read as he doesn’t express his emotions nor talk much… so pretty much nothing at all. If anything, it felt like she was dealing with an adult rather than a teenager the few times they talked with each other.

Sona then thought about Colette.

Colette was… unique to say the least. Her head was a flower field, a trait of an airhead for sure, and she didn’t even hesitate to take Fayn along as a party member. There were so many ways to describe Colette, but if she had to definitely pick one, it would be that she was a good friend.

“The mission has been processed,” Sona said, returning the cards to their owners and the mission info over, “Please take care.”

“Oh wow, you’re B-rank!” Colette said when she saw Fayn’s rank on his card as they headed to the exit of the hub together, “Why didn’t you just take the quest alone?”

“...” Fayn stayed silent. In truth, Fayn wanted to just take the mission alone but there was a silent rule about not taking someone else’s job. He was scolded once and he definitely did not want to sit down for another hour listening to the sermon about guild etiquette.

‘An hour that could’ve been spent training…’

“Eheh… Not much of a talker are you,” The brunette said awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head, “Then how should we split the rewards?”

She had finally asked the million gold question. Considering that it was a subjugation quest, its pay was higher than an average free quest. 

Fayn took a look at the mission.

The targets were a pack of gray wolves that roamed the forests outside the academy, and by extension, the city walls. The reward was 10 silver coins, which was about 10,000G (gold).

“I don’t really need the money,” Fayn replied.

“Really? Really really?”

Colette's eyes widened with hope, to which Fayn just nodded. A smile soon found its way onto her face again as she thought in her mind that Fayn was Mr. Nice Guy, which gave him chills somehow.

“Ah!” Colette just realized something important and fake-coughed into her hand which grabbed his attention, “I’m Colette Ferry, nice to meet you!”

“...Fayn Nova,” Fayn said averting his eyes from the bright light that was right next to him. It would seem like he would be doomed to meet troublesome people all his life.

takeruu

Yep, more characters, along with some more in the future. God, name creation is hard. Maybe Idle Days isn't the best title for a chapter early in the story. But I can't be bothered thinking or changing it so... heh.

So now we have a ditzy student and an alumni receptionist. Fayn's personality is a mess? Why yes. Yes it is.

Thanks for reading, as always!