Today was the day of the big meeting. Tryx packed up all necessary EDC he needed to attend such big event – G18, combat knife, IFAK, flashlight, a notebook, a tactical pen and a fanny pack to store his monies.

Knowing that briefing will be attended mercenaries of all ages both veteran and newbies alike, he can’t let his guard down even if he’s in the safest town. And Seele was proves that as mercenaries, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill even in the guild hall. Her punch was so deadly that it nearly killed him. Not that he wanted to mess with Seele ever again.

Speaking of Seele, it just made him frowned ever than before. He just couldn’t handle Seele behavior at all.

2 days ago, he didn’t expect to meet Seele again even after what she said to him. With that kind of attitude and cool one-liners, Tryx would expect to meet her donning under her mysterious robe walking down the road accompanied with menacing special effects and imperial march playing all around her. But instead, they met again the later night in a way both of them didn’t expect it. What’s even surprising, they’re staying in the same inn and they happened to be sitting right next to each other! He just couldn’t believe it himself and even Seele thought of the same. Tryx couldn’t help but feel that this universe is using the good old cliche anime trope on him.

After knowing that Tryx was her neighbor, she demanded to change the room.  However, the hotel management said that there are no vacancies despite her request. The entire situation spiraled into a commotion causing some tenants to file some complaints. In the end, she ended up confining herself in the room without taking a bath. The girl refuses to speak to him at all. Once again, he was treated like a trash. But at the very least one of his initial thought was correct – she never took bath.

And yesterday, when he tried to talk to her she told him to fuck off. After several attempts to talk to her, Tryx decided to leave her alone. In the end, she confined herself in the room for the rest of the day. He just hoped that Seele would come with him since today is the briefing and they got some papers to deal with too.

Leaving his room, he made his way towards Seele’s doorstep. He stood there in anxiousness. Knowing her edgy behavior, he can only assumed that she refuse to go with him.

Putting aside his thoughts, he lifted his hand as he prepares to knock the door. Tryx was anxious and worried that the girl might get aggressive which makes him hesitate whether he should be doing it. Even so, he doesn’t wanted to be question or bombarded with several questions from the mercenary guild.

He felt a little awkward, pressure staring to build up in his head and his breathing starting to get heavy.

“Uuh... Erm... Seele, its me...” Tryx muttered in very low voice trying to rehearse his line. “You ready? I uh... I hope we could... go together... No...” Tryx shook his head thinking the best line. “No... Yes, I was thinking if I...”

“What the hell are you doing in front of my room?”

The voice spooked him nearly making him drawing his hand gun at the same time. He turned around and Seele was  there, standing with a look of disgust on her face.

“Jesus Christ, stop scaring me like that!” Tryx scolded as he holstered his gun.

“Wha? Seriously, you let your guard down for a second and you’re blaming me?” Seele rebuked.

Tryx scanned the young woman’s feature, there was a toothbrush in her mouth with a towel  around her neck and not to mention, her hair was still wet dripping with water. He could only assumed that she got out of bath.

“Huh, so you decided to take a bath...” Tryx snorted. “Good for you.”

“Excuse me?” Seele asked annoyingly. She could sense that he was about to spout stupid things.

“Nothing, I didn’t expect you to take a bath.” Tryx smiled coyly.

“What do you mean, newbie?”

“I was under impression that for someone like you, the great Crimson Demon doesn’t take a bath. Bet your room smells like a rotting bodies in there. ” The moment he said that, Seele drew out a dagger out from her back readying to stab him. “Woah, woah woah! Chill out!” Tryx yelled back in fear instead of drawing his handgun. He took a few steps back, distancing himself from the girl. “It was a joke! A joke! OK?!”

Seele’s face was twisted, she didn’t even show a single sign of restraint at all.

“YOU JERK!” She growled, “You got some guts to mock me, newbie!”

“I wasn’t mocking! I swear!”

“LIES! You soul was waiting for this moment, aren’t you?! I’ll have you know that I bathe every single day, three times a day!”

Tryx was stuttered, “But you didn’t even left your room yesterday!”

“I did, you idiot!” Seele growled again, energy surging out from every part of her limbs.

“And you didn’t even told me at all!”

“Why should I?!”

“Because you’re my partner!”

“Temporary partner!” Seele corrected.

“At the very least, have some common courtesy to talk to me, damn it!”

Seele clicked her tongue, “You know what? Fuck off.” The girl quickly shoved him aside as she enters her room. Before she slams the door shut, Tryx called her out.

“Wait!”

“What?!” Seele growled as she gaze coldly onto him.

“I was wondering... if you wanna go together to that meet up?” Tryx asked. He knew it was the most approrpriate moment for him to ask such question.

Seele glared at him, not saying a single word for the first few seconds. After a long silence, she answered and Tryx bet that she would refuse it.

“Yes, I am.” Seele replied monotonously.

Tryx blinked his eyes in surprised, “What? Are you-“

SLAM!

Seele shuts the door before he could finished his line.

“Okay, that was rude.” Tryx muttered. If only that girl could at least be reasonable at best.

Tryx waited outside the hallway while waiting for her to put up her clothes. He bet that she wears the same dress, again. Tryx couldn’t help but wanted to tease her for having a terrible taste in fashion but then again, what does he get about fashion? Then again, Tryx wondered what would she looked like if Seele groomed herself. She would’ve looked gorgeous if she put an effort into it.

As he pondered, the door unlocked. Tryx checked his watch, it took 7 minutes for her to finish. Not bad for an edgelord. But that doesn’t stop him from teasing the girl. Now was the right moment to tease her, if she doesn’t punch him that is.

“Heh, took you… Long enough…” Tryx was stuttered. Right before him was Seele in a different attire.

Seele had an all different wardrobe on her altogether. Unlike her usual attire, she wears the same dark red hoodie with the exception of the extra long cape covering her body. Instead, it only covered up to her shoulders. She had a black blouse and paired it with a black skirt with red frills. Other than that, she had her usual long leather gloves, leather belt with pouches and her usual longsword was strapped by her side. She wears her usual tall leather boots with a pair of black thigh high socks which seemed to be tied to a garter belt. Overall, Seele looked like a different person in the new outfit. Tryx hated to admit but he was definitely wrong about her not having a single taste in fashion. Though, the only thing that remained unchanged was her face – she still had that negative and drug junkie look on her.

Seele noticed that the man was awestruck and remained silent. “What?”

Tryx shook his head, “Nothing, you look… Different.”

“Well, you’re not the only one who can be stylish.” Despite having a emotionless look on her face, Tryx bet that she was actually proud of her new look. Even her tone sounds different as well.

But then again...

“Only if you groomed your face.” Seele stomped his feet, “OWW! What the?!”

“How I looked like is none of your concern. Come on, newbie. We’re gonna be late.” Seele dons her hoodie as she walks towards the stairs.

Tryx shrugged, “Whatever you say.” And followed the young girl’s suit. As the two were stepping down the stairs, Tryx decided to asked the most relevant question that he had been meaning to ask earlier. “Hey, Seele…”

“What is it, newbie?”

“Why did you suddenly accept my proposal?” He asked. “I mean, you didn’t like the type to follow someone’s suggestion, so why…”

“Because I have to.” She replied.

“What?”

Seele sighed deeply. She was never the type to explain a lot but since this concerns her promotion, she ought to explain to her fellow partner.

“I accidentally bumped with Raymond yesterday.”

“Huh, so you DID leave your room.”

“Then, what do you expect me to do in that room the whole day?”

Tryx came up with another idea to tease her again, “Gee, I don’t know… Make some sacrifices or eat some cockroaches, I guess?” Seele prepares to draw her sword as a response. “Sorry, my bad. Continue.”

“Raymond wanted us to be together when we head towards briefing. Don’t get it wrong, newbie. I’m not doing this because I cared about you. The guild can no longer tolerate my mistakes and I can’t afford to disobey them either. The guys at the top management was expecting me to come alone without you in tow and I’m gonna make sure that those guys are wrong about me.”

“Wow, sounds like you have issues with them.” Tryx said.

“Not the first time either.”

As they reached the ground floor, something struck at the back of Tryx’s head.

“Oh, by the way… Do you know where this briefing was supposed to be held? They didn’t told me at all.”

“Just follow me.”

“Whatever you say, senpai.”

The two stepped out of the premise. This ought to be another long day for both of them.

It didn’t take that long for them to reach the destination. Apparently, the briefing will be held at one of the 18^th Corps’ depot nearby the town’s defensive wall. As the number of those who joined the subjugation forces was immense around 1000 people. Not only the mercenaries are gathered in this area but also the members of the adventurer’s guild as well. Some even came from other region and across the borders just to fight these orcs to claim the rewards.

Looking around the compound, Tryx deduced that there isn’t a lot of space left in the depot. There was barely any place to sit but at least they can stand around. That is if their legs can hold up though out the briefing. If only some of the spaces are not occupied by some entitled bastards. Comparing it to the conventions aka ‘Sardine can Simulator’ that he experienced in his previous life, this is on a different scale. Most of the spaces were taken up by groups of tens, if not, hundreds from their own groups. Some kept themselves to their flocks under the banner they brought along. Makes it easier for them to spot if any of their members were lost in the middle of this fray.

It seems that the military needed extra strength to counter the Orcs’ invasion forces. Everyone knows knows how the orcs fight and how strong they are, thus having an extra hand from the strongest men and women from both guild to help would boost the town’s defense.

Since the center of the square is full and occupied, Tryx and Seele settled down at the nearby wall since the area was covered by shadow and it was much cooler than staying in the middle of hot sun.

“Damn, look at the number of these people. Is it always like this?” Tryx whistled looking at the crowds making loud cheers. It reminds him of the conventions and arena he used to attend.

“All the time.” She replied briefly. “Even if its just a small quest.”

“Care to elaborate?”

 “The rewards are quite hefty for everyone. You perform well, get noticed, you’ll get promoted. Some only do it for the money.” Seele replied monotonously as she leaned on the wall. “After all, you’ve seen how they fight, right?”

Memories flashes before his eyes, the moment he had to run away from the scene to avoid being captured and killed by the entire battalion of orcs. Good things he drives off instead of continuing the fight against the orc.

“Yup and I’m here ready to whoop their asses for humiliating me the last time!”

“Only if you’re not stupid enough to fight them head on again.” Seele mocked.

“Hey, at the very least I have some plans before I attack.”

The two remained silent for a few moments after the little trash talk. Tryx asked another question.

“Say, I never get to ask you this…” He paused, clearing his throat as he worries that this question might be sensitive to her. “But uh…” He stuttered and pull every last bit of his strength to ask the question. “… How old are you? I mean… You looked really young… For a dru… I mean! A girl who had a terrible sense of grooming.” He nearly said drug junkie.

“Why do you care?” She asked monotonously.

“Well, we’re gonna partners soon enough…”

“Temporary partners.” She corrected.

“I get it. We’ll roll it your way. We’re temporary partners but that doesn’t mean you should be grumpy all the time!”

“Oh, so you want me to smile like an idiot? Is that it?”

“No. All I’m saying is let’s try to be more friendly towards each other. You know, how about a little bit orientation!”

“Oh geez, not this shit again.”

“I mean we never get to know each other during our first joint quest. Now that we’re gonna be partners…”

“Temporary.” Seele cuts in.

“Temporary partners, don’t you think we should get to know each other a little more?”

“No.” Seele replied since she doesn’t want talk about herself at all. Especially her past.

Tryx grimaced and lift up both of hands in the air signaling his defeat, “OK, you said it. But you gotta at least tell me your age. Like me, I’m twenty-two years old.”

“Huh, I didn’t know you swing that way.” Seele spat out.

Tryx blinked his eyes, “What do you mean?” he can sense that Seele got the wrong idea about it.

“So, you’re into young girls… Is that it? You disgust me, newbie.” Seele looked onto Tryx with a hint of hatred and disgust mixed in.

“What the fuck, I don’t swing that way!” Tryx retorted knowing what she meant, “All I asked was your age!”

“Because you want to pop my cherries and gave birth to your kid? I see what you’re doing here, pal…”

Tryx couldn’t believed that this young girl came to that conclusion. He asked for her age and somehow, she misunderstood  giving her the impression that Tryx might be into underage girls. He couldn’t helped but thinking how bullshit this conversation have turned into. And he needed to clear the misunderstanding.

“Listen! I asked your age because you looked WAAAAYYY to young to be veteran mercenary!” Tryx said in a serious tone. “That’s why I want to at-the-very-least need to know your age! Really, just how long have been into this field anyway?”

Seele opened her mouth readying to answer but once again, she agitated. Her once glowing eyes are now dimmed and looked away. Tryx saw a glimpse of sadness in her eyes but he could only speculate it. She looked away from the gamer and set her eyes on the sandy grounds below her. She had told herself again and again that she would talk about herself to anyone but to think her temporary partner to be this stubborn, it annoys her. Then again, its been a while since someone talked to her. Not ever since she talked to her last party members…

“Five years.” Seele said briefly.

“What?” Tryx didn’t get her drift.

“Five years. I’ve been a mercenary for five years. That’s all you need to know.” Seele didn’t utter any more words.

Tryx didn’t get his expected answer but at least he knows that Seele had been doing this for 5 years. But from the way she spoke along with her expression, he knew Seele was not wiling to talk about it. The atmosphere felt gloomy after she answered that question and he felt a little bit guilty about it. Tryx thought that he might need to ligtened up the mood at the expense of his limbs. He knows what needs to be done.

“Five years, huh? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re actually an old woman disguising as a kid!” Tryx said jokingly.

And as expected, she responded. Seele gave a sidekick to Tryx’s abdomen causing him to flinch and squeal in pain from the blow.

“Owww…” Tryx knew it was coming but it was necessary. “That hurts…” He rubs on the painful part of his abdomen.

“Serves you right! Don’t you realize that you shouldn’t ask a lady about their age?!” Seele barked as her gloomy mood changes to her usual hot blooded self.

Tryx simply laughed, “So, you do admit that you’re actually an old woman!”

Seele grits her teeth, he went too far with the jokes. “That’s it! I’m gonna castrate you. Starting with your balls!”

“PLEASE NO!”

As Seele was about to assault him, a laughter could be heard approaching them.

“HAHAHAHA!” The two turned towards the source where three figures are approaching them. “Looks like you’re having fun here, Seele.”

Seeing the person, Seele’s face just got even cringier than before. She didn’t expect to bump with another trouble maker in this cesspool of ignorant fools.

“Urgghhh, another problem comes…” Seele groaned as she rubs her temple. The trouble maker turns out to be one of her aquaintance.

“Says the girl who got herself in trouble few days ago, Seele.” It was none other than S-rank mercenary, Sheera Hun.

“Didn’t expect you to join this battle too…” Seele replied.

“Well, heard that the orcs are coming this way. Don’t wanna miss my chance to test my strength!” She declared as the woman shows her biceps wrapped underneath the expensive red blouse.

Despite her stature was similar to that of a regular woman, Seele never doubts her strength as this woman have seen far more worse battles that anyone could ever imagine.

As the woman was having her moments, her eyes then concentrated towards the man standing next to Seele. Sheera’s eyes widened, glittering in happiness and what’s more, she had a lustful grin on her face. Seele knew what was about to come.

“Hey, you didn’t told me he was a looker!” Sheera approaches the gamer.

Tryx felt awkward, he glanced at Seele wondering what this all is about. “Uh, thanks? I guess?” Sheera began circles around him scanning every bits of body, from top to toe. She was like a leopard eyeing on her prey. Tryx feels a little distress from her actions. “Uh, Is there something wrong?”

“Oh, don’t mind me…” Sheera stopped before him. “Hey boy, how about you ditch this girl and join my group instead?”

Tryx was taken aback, the first line he said was “What?”

Seeing that the man is getting distress from Shera’s sudden action, Seele decided to stepped in between the woman and the gamer to take control of the situation.

“That’s enough. You’re not taking him.”

“Aww, I’m just joking!” Sheera replied giddily. “Didn’t know you had some interest on this boy! Maybe you’ve seen him naked?”

Anger vein popped out of Seele’s cheek, she had enough of this teasing. “FUCK YOU.” The Crimson Demon scorned in which Sheera simply laugh showing that she enjoyed the moments.

“Uh… Seele, what’s going on? Who are these people?” Tryx asked. He was dumbfounded with the situation. Seeing how the two interacted, he assumed that Seele and the woman would be acquainted at some point.

“Newbie, meet Sheera Hun, S-rank mercenary and the leader of the all-female mercenary group – ‘Malevolent’. She’s an acquaintance of mine.” Seele explained.

“S-rank?!” Tryx quickly gestured for a hand shake. “Nice to meet you, ma’am!”

Sheera gladly takes his hand, “The pleasure is mine.” She then grips his hand hardly and kneaded checking every single bones and muscles in his hand. “Oh wow, you have a muscular hand.”

“Thanks… I guess?”

“Say, mind telling me your name, newbie?” Sheera implored, her tone is getting sexier every second. Like a cat purring.

“Tryx.”

Sheera was quite unimpressed, “Tryx? Is that it?”

Tryx shrugged, “That’s just it!”

“Huh, quite a weird name.” Sheera commented. Soon, two new voices followed the suit.

“Really weird!”

“Totally weird!”

Two girls popped from Sheera’s side and cornered Tryx upfront. Unlike Sheera, the two girls looked slightly younger which he believes quite closer to Seele’s age. One thing he noticed about these girls is that they looked like some anime character based on their attires. The first girl had a black hair tied into a side tail and she wore a combination of steel armor and leather jacket underneath. The second girl had a long dark green hair and she wore a black robe robe with a dress underneath.

 The two looked up onto him full of interest with in their eyes.

“He has a weird clothing too!” the girl with black hair commented staring at his modern looking clothing.

“And he doesn’t even wear a single armor at all!” the second girl chimed circling around Tryx to find any bits of armor around him.

Seele who was standing at the side only sighed and rubbed her temple as another scene unfolds. Sheera on the other hand simply giggled enjoying the view as she sees it.

“This jacket looks comfy, me likey!” The first girl inspects his hoodie. She began touching his arms and his torso, “Oooo! This is soft and your body is so hard!”

The green haired girl inspects his pants and shoes, “This pants is hard yet so soft and the shoes, they don’t look like leather at all! Hey, mister your leg is really big!” The girl exclaimed as she presses the gamer’s leg.

“Ay yo, stop touching me!” Tryx demanded scooting away from the two and hides behind Seele using his soon-to-be partner as a shield. “Seele, do something about them!”

Seele rolled her eyes onto Sheera, “Hey, make your goons stop doing weird things onto him, he’s scared shitless right now.”

“What! We’re no goons!” The first girl stomped her feet.

“Yeah, we’re her trusted aides!” the second girl followed the same suit.

“The best!”

“The cutest!”

“Now, now you two!” Sheera wrapped her arms around their shoulders, “They’re going to be our ally in the upcoming battle! So be nice to each other, M’kay?”

“If you say so…”

“I will follow whatever you say!”

The two girls finally calmed down and dropped their guard. They no longer bear any annoying intention as far as Seele can tell. Thinking about Sheera, something just came across her mind.

“Say Sheera, why are you even here? Aren’t you supposed to be with the rest of your group members?”

Sheera’s face soured, “Ugh, taking them along into this whole square is gonna cause some ruckus. I don’t want that to happen, so I settled that by bringing these two!” She hugged the two closer, showing what she was referring to. “And also, I’m here to meet you two as well.”

Tryx and Seele became interested.

“For what?” Tryx asked.

Sheera smirked and said “Guild master sent me to bring both of you to him.”

steryx

Sorry for the late update! I got burnout and have trouble writing the chapter. I also have the driving school test which of course I passed. Had to write something else to cool myself down. Again, sorry for the low quality chapter. I'll try and finish the next chapter next week.