Maybe it was due to having been in this line of work for a long time and having seen many oddballs, but Briana was the first to break the silence.

"A-Alright. Since the testing stone might have been too old and have a defect, Nadina will currently be put on hold. Everyone, go and pick up your cards at the front desk from my co-worker. Nadina, you stay back with me."

'Testing stone defect?! Testing stones are made out of the highest quality ore with the purest magical elements embedded inside, so it can last for a good 100 000 years at the very least! As if we'll believe your excuse!' everyone cried in their hearts. But ultimately, this was the adventurer's guild and none of them have any rights in here, so they just had to restrain their curiosity and dejectedly walk out the door.

After everyone was gone, Briana's attitude made a 180 turn and she pounced onto Nadina like a long lost puppy would do so to its owner.

"WOOOAAAHHHH  NADDY! YOU GREW SO STRONG! THAT'S MA GIRL! Anyways, what's with that makeup? It looks so gross! Did you come up with one of your weird ideas again and drag our little Lyra into it? Hey hey, you didn't tell Nicolas who you were, did you? Mwahaha, you can't hide anything from this big sister!"

"..." Briana, I think you should quit being a receptionist and become a mind reader instead.

"Nadina??"

"Briana.. I think I'm really done for this time.."

"Ohya? Whaddya mean done for?"

I proceeded to tell her about me "Villainess Plan" and by the time I finished, Briana was already rolling on the floor laughing like a maniac high on drugs.

"Bwahahaha! As expected of Naddy, only you could come up with something as bizarre as that! So, whatcha gonna do after this?"

"Uhhhh.."

"Let me guess, you want me to deal with this, right?"

"Can you?" I asked while trying to make myself look as pitiful as possible.

"Fufufu, this kind of little matter, this big sis wouldn't be a receptionist if I couldn't!"

"Waaaahhh!Briana-nee, you're the best!"

"Hoho? Looks like you two are having fun?" A mature voice came from behind us.

"Evan-san!" I exclaimed before I could even turn around.

Even though I call Lexis an old man, he doesn't look that old. I mean, he's mentally 55 years old already, but due to his high level, his outer appearance is that of a 25 year old man. So is Evan.

Lexis and Darius are father and son, so they both have teal colored hair and light blue eyes. Actually, your eyes are supposed to reflect the element you hold, but for dual, triple, quadruple, and so on elements, you can manipulate your eye color to match one of your elements. In my case, water and ice are both blue, but of different shades, so I chose ice, which is light blue, to make myself look more domineering.

Darius didn't inherit his father's triple elements, but he has the Ice element, like me, so he's a Magic Swordsman. Magic Swordsmen are those who're proficient in both magic and swordsmanship. They're the core of every country in Sairale and they're treated like national treasures, only deployed when under an attack from an extremely powerful enemy.

Now, you may think it's really easy for any random mage out there with strong elements to go and become a Magic Swordsman. Hell naw! 99.999999999999....% of the magicians in this world were born to be so weak that they couldn't even truss up a chicken.

And before you say anything else, no, practicing does absolutely NOTHING. Genius magicians have wasted their whole lives trying to train their body to become stronger, but other than those who were born with innate strength, everyone else failed.

Of course, I belong to neither of these categories, but instead to one called "abnormal people who just want to live a peaceful life, but never can".

After Briana, Evan, and I caught up with each other, we headed out of the testing room and got ready to present the excuse Briana and Evan racked their brains for.

"Ahem, everyone?"

"Oh! It's Miss Receptionist and... sister in.. law.." said Liam, while looking very disappointed when he got to the latter part of the sentence. Is it just me or was there some fear mixed in with that disappointment?

"This is the guild master, Evan, and I have called him to examine everything. After a short period of time, he has identified the error."

"Woaahh! It's a Magic Swordsmen! On top of that, he's Evan, the Invisible Viper!" cried out Reito with shining eyes, like he just spotted his idol.

"M-Mr. Evan, we're very honored to have your distinguished self to come and solve this insignificant problem for us". Although Liam was a little more restrained than Reito, he also looked as if he could barely restrain his excitement.

Off to the side, Lyra and Nicolas just rolled their eyes as if they saw this scene a million times already. I mean, back in those days, our trio would often chance upon another country bumpkin stuttering like this in front of Evan.

Evan gained his reputation as the Invisible Viper from winning countless battles against the demons back then. Evan is also a triple element Magic Swordsman who wields the earth, wind, and poison elements. Using his wind magic as a propeller, he disappears from one target to another like an invisible ghost who's image only flickers for a second before delivering the killing blow. His knife is embedded with his poison magic, so he just needs to slash the enemy a little to kill them. Evan is very good with poison, and is among one of the top 5 deadliest poison masters of this world, even though he has to focus on both swordsmanship and magic at the same time because he's a Magic Swordsman.

"Alright, you vigorous young lads should calm down. Back to the topic we were discussing, the reason that our testing stone collapsed on Nadina's turn is because she must've been carrying some type of rare gemstone on her as well, right?" He said as he looked towards me.

I played along and nodded while reaching into my pocket and revealing my pink purse, which had a big red beryl ingrained into the center. 

"As you can see, Nadina's purse contains a red beryl stone on the surface, and that is one of the rarest gems in Sairale. Not only that, but hers is also of a very high quality as there are almost no impurities in it!

Now, for the reason all of this is related to the earlier incident. That is naturally because Nadina's red beryl is many times rarer and more powerful than the ore used to make the testing stone, therefore it had a certain suppression effect on it, which caused it to collapse. Another minor reason would be that this stone is already getting old, and that caused it to be even more fragile."

"As expected of the Invisible Viper! He could even come up with such a magnificent explanation!", Reito said while applauding.

Liam nodded, indicating that he fully agreed on his statement. After that speech, everyone (except of Nadina, of course) looked at Evan in reverence, as their respect for him continued to grow.

"Anyways, you guys probably came to the guild to take on a quest, right? I won't hold you back anymore, so while we prepare Nadina's identity plate, you lads can go and choose one from the board over there", Evan said while pointing at the large board surrounded by a mini crowd.

"Thank you, we shall go over to select a mission and not bother you for any longer", Nicolas said

When we arrived in from of the bulletin board, the first thing I saw were many strange requests like having someone babysit a dog, go get some constipation pills for an old lady, ect.

"Nadina, whatcha lookin' at? That's the E and F class sections, we're going for a B grade mission, so you gotta look towards that section!", Lyra whispered

"R-right! I was just thinking that the quests are getting more and more.. bizarre these days..", I whispered back

"I know right?! They were still fairly normal back then. Now it's as if the world has gone nuts!"

"You two, stop dilly-dallying! We found a pretty good quest, so come over and check it out!", yelled Liam

"Yeeessss!", Lyra said as we both went over to see what kind of quest they chose

Hmm? Apparently, the Quest is about subjugating a high-tier middle class demon?

Here is what I saw on the sheet of paper:

Go into the Forest of Nightmares to subjugate a high-tier middle class demon. It is a lava type demon and extremely dangerous. There are countless of commotions in the area these days, an abundance of people and spirit beasts are constantly getting killed every day, and it will continue for as long as they step into the forest. Merchants who frequently take that route cannot do so anymore because of the threat.

Aaaannnd, yeah! Oh right, allow me to explain what a high-tier middle class demon is:

Demons are separated into 4 classes: low, middle, high and supreme class. Beyond all the classes, there's the demon king, but we don't have to worry about that for now because there's only one demon king in every generation. Each class is separated into the low, normal and high tiers. The tiers should be self explainable, therefore a high-tier middle class demon is someone who's in the stronger population of the middle class demons.

However, do NOT underestimate them just because they're weaker than the high and supreme classes. Just from fighting a low-tier high class demon one-on-one, a newbie A class adventurer is able to lose his life instantly. And that's only the weakest of the high class demons, so one can imagine how powerful the strongest of the middle class demons are.

"Alright, why not? It looks fun!", Lyra said in a sing-song tone of voice after she read the paper.

"It doesn't look boring, so I'm in", said Myers

"For someone as great as I, how would a disgusting little pest be able to overcome me?", I declared in my usual bratty and narcissistic voice

"I-I'll provide as much support as I can.. ?", whispered Melodie, while shaking like a newborn fawn

"Don't worry sweetie, I'll protect you, so there's nothing to be afraid of. As long as the girls are coming, I'll go too~", flirted Nicolas

"Do I have a choice?", grumbled Reito while rolling his eyes, "I'll do my best"

"Everyone is so enthusiastic, of course I'll come along as well!", smiled Ace.

"Well then, let's go and register!", replied Liam.

When the group got to the front desk, Liam handed the quest sheet over to Briana. When any other receptionist would have jumped in surprise from the fact that a few kids were taking on a B class quest, Briana's mentality had been tampered with by the numerous shocks she received from Nadina back in the days, so her expressions were totally natural.

"Okay, you're registered in our system, so you can now take on the quest. Remember to be careful and if you're unable to handle the demon, run back as fast as you can. Good luck to all of you.", said Briana with a serious face.

Everyone understood how difficult the quest was going to be, and about the fact that they're going to be putting their lives on the line just to complete it, so no one missed out on a single word she said. After all, every piece of advice can amount to an extra lifesaver.

"Thank you Miss Briana. Alright everyone, let's proceed towards the Forest of Nightmares! Remember, if anyone encounters any problems, run.", said Liam.

"Yes!", replied everyone.

Ohoho~ Liam is already starting to act like a leader, eh? I mean, in the original game, as much as he revered his brother, Ace, he was also very competitive since he was outdone by Ace in every aspect. You can imagine how things only got worse with the appearance of the heroine.

Everyone got inside a carriage and informed the driver to head towards the Forest of Nightmares. He looked terrified at first, and only when I stepped up and asserted my overbearing image while stuffing a bag of gold coins in his hands, did he comply. (Author: What asserting your overbearing image..? You just bribed him...)

"S-say.. Will this place be scary? I mean, it's a demon! And not just any demon.. it's the strongest of the middle class demons! Wahhh, scary!", cried Melodie who looked so pale that it seems like she'd faint any second.

"Geez, it's just a demon! What are you being such a scaredy-cat for? What are you, a baby?", I yelled irritatedly.

'She's right! I came to the academy to become stronger so I can support my family and create a better life for those whom I care for! If I'm unable to face a mere demon, then what is the point of all my dreams and ambitions? I can't be such a wimp, only knowing to hide behind others anymore!', thought Melodie. With that, she actually calmed down quite a bit, and her reverence towards Nadina increased by leaps and bounds. It's practically reached the point where if Nadina told her to charge into the demon headquarters on her own because it's beneficial to her, she would.

Of course, like everyone else, Melodie was really scared of Nadina back then due to her "notorious bully" title. However as time passed, from the moment they met in that really weird way until now, Melodie realized that Nadina didn't really do anything to hurt her, and constantly helped her improve her mentality every time she acted so weak. Nadina even gave her pointers back then during the training session with Darius!

If Nadina could hear her inner dialogue, she would cry bitter tears of sadness while sobbing, "Dude... all of that was the product of my efforts to make you even weaker, and possibly even make you go into a cycle of self-doubt, not the other way around! Also, what pointers? All I did was yell at you because your performance was too crappy... I mean, I'll admit I was yelling about your flaws, but that's supposed to make you depressed because of how weak you are due to your numerous faults... not make you excited at the fact that I was able to aid you in identifying all your problems..! Why is it that when the original host said all this, everything went fine, but when it came to me... everything took a 180 degrees twist?!"

Unknowingly, Nadina gained herself a loyal follower who's also a bit of a masochist.

"Nadina, how could you say that? It's only natural that Melodie is scared of demons, not everyone is like you, so cold-hearted!", yelled Myers.

Nadina flinched at those words, but quickly shook it off as she just sneered at Myers.

- - - - - - - - - -

"You heartless trash, why aren't you as good as others? You can't even get a 100 in the final exams, is this how you repay us for raising someone like you?!"

"Nadina, you're so cold-hearted! It's like you don't feel anything! You probably never even cared about us anyways! We're not friends anymore, monster!"

"Heartless freak"

"Demoness"

"Inhuman"

"Cruel"

- - - - - - - - - -

"Myers, stop that! What Nadina said was right, and I'm in the wrong! I'll only drag everyone down with my state of mind!", cried Melodie, however as much as she tried to help, it only made her look more pitiful. 

Numerous gazes laced with killing intent were directed towards Nadina, and even Ace sent a disappointed look in her direction. However, the culprit of all this just sat there with a nonchalant look on her face. 

If looks could kill, Nadina would have already died hundreds of times over.

Of course Nadina wasn't all alone in this, Lyra had her hands clenched under her sleeves and she was bleeding from the pressure being applied, but it was still barely enough to help her restrain from punching the heck out of those against her best friend. 

'At least Nicolas and Liam are neutral in this. After all, Nick tends to stay out of affairs that have nothing to do with himself, and Liam... he's sleeping. If Nick knew that Nadina was actually Dina-chan, I wonder if he'd directly murder those big fat bullies?', thought Lyra, as she gradually calmed down when she thought of how Nicolas would beat the heck out of them after Nadina's identity was revealed.

On the other hand, Spade bit his lips so hard that they were bleeding. He sent a venomous glare towards where Nadina was seated, but all the intent behind it was actually directed at the other three.

If not for his exceptional self control, Spade would have already pounced on Ace, Myers, and Reito without any mercy.

"You don't have to defend her, if she ever does anything bad to you, we're always here to help.", said Reito gently as he redirected his gaze towards Melodie.

But all he got was a hard push as Melodie glared at him, then rushed to Nadina and plopped down next to her.

"All she said was the truth! I came on this trip with you guys to toughen and train myself, not remain a wimp for the rest of my life! If I were to be afraid of mere demons, why would I ask to tag along in the first place? I would have just held you all back and become useless baggage. On the other hand, Nadina was helping me to become less nervous by waking me up to face reality. The only ones who were of no help here are you three!", criticized Melodie. Then... she pouted while hugging Nadina, and fell asleep leaving everyone else baffled.

...

'Da fuq? Nonono, wait what the actual... How did you even reach that bizarre conclusion? Who are you? What happened to that white lotus heroine from before? And why're you hugging me? We're enemies, E N E M I E S! Get it? Why are you acting like I'm your greatest benefactor? Ahh nevermind.. I'll just focus on trying to get Ace to dissolve our engagement... The world has already gone bonkers anyways...', cried Nadina silently.

"This is as far as I can take you kids. The entrance to the Forest of Nightmares!", came a loud shout from the front as everyone regained focus on their main mission.