Heavenly Zenith 25 First Quests 2

The receptionist, a half-elf girl, blinked and raised an eyebrow slightly, "Excuse me, sir, you sound like you've been here before, but I don't recognize someone so small and powerful..."

"Ah, that's right, you probably weren't here for their bar fight, right? It stopped pretty quickly thanks to me." Seran calmly smiled, continuing to use his mysteriousness as his amus.e.m.e.nt.

She shook her head, "No, I was off duty that day. You say you stopped it?"

"A pair of daggers works wonders when held to someone's neck."

An adventurer who was listening in, as most were, suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, you're that kid from back then! The super-genius!"

Seran giggled, "Someone remembers me, I see. Anyway, I apologize for not removing my hood, but it'd cause a ma.s.sive ruckus and I'd rather not cause that. Is Guildmaster June in? I'd like to speak with her."

The receptionist, who was less wary after someone recognized the grey figure, still cautiously answered, "She is, but I can't just let anyone meet her without confirming their ident.i.ty. Can I see your guild card?" After Seran once again produced his card, he proved it to be his by dripping blood onto it. The blood was absorbed, which could only be possible with the original owner's blood. She continued to inspect it before, as the guardsman had, honing in on the name and looking up in surprise.

Before she could subconsciously shout, Seran cut in, "Ah, don't shout. Isn't it part of the rules not to announce details that adventurers don't want to personally speak about?"

Blus.h.i.+ng a little at having such a person catch her nearly slipping on the job, the receptionist handed his card back, "I'll go tell the guildmaster of your request quickly." She nearly dashed out of the room, her ears redder than her neck.

At this point, Seran waved his hand and dispelled his time-slowing spell on the two adventurers, who looked around rapidly upon discovering the figure not being in front of them. They didn't even notice the way that the other patrons were looking at them, a mix of pity and schadenfreude, as they looked for Seran, who they found already standing at the desk. The bald man leaned against the receptionist desk beside him, "Oi, did you ignore me?" It was as if he didn't notice what had happened; what a fool.

The adventurer who had recognized Seran earlier sighed, "You two better knock that off. If this kid wants to kill you, not even Guildmaster June could stop him. He nearly killed both of you last time you met, are you planning to forego his mercy?"

The other fool, with close-cropped hair and a crooked nose, snapped, "This brat, nearly kill us? Bulls.h.i.+t. I've never even met him before." He was about to continue when he felt cold metal against his neck, as did his partner.

Seran said with a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt, "Oh? Then you've never met these two daggers before either, right?"

The two fools look at the daggers that were held against the other's neck and spotted the highly chipped edges as striking. The bald man's mouth opened slightly, "Y-you're that kid from last time?"

"Funny how a death threat reminds people of important details. You two still haven't learned. I wonder if Guildmaster June would revoke your adventurer statuses permanently... It might make sure you really learn for once."

"True, I've been considering it for a while." These words were spoken by June, who had just come out from the guild offices. "According to the guild code, which applies to all adventurers, you cannot bar entry to the guild unless the person is a criminal. What you are doing is exactly that, attempting to bar entry."

Seran was quiet, but the two men both turned pale as they stammered, attempting to explain what was going on. Seeing that June did not respond, he put the two daggers away and calmly said, "I'm fine with dropping this here. I just want you two to remember the most important thing any adventurer, or even the strongest man in the world, should know: never underestimate anyone. no matter how they look. Even the world's best adventurer would die if he underestimated even one enemy. Remember that clearly, and at least pay attention to the guild rules."

June shrugged, "If you want to drop it, that's okay with me." She stared at the two adventurers, "You'd best thank him, and remember his words. The ancient master of all magic, the [Grand Sage] Merlin warned many of the same thing, including his closest friend, the first man to unite all of the Ancient Land, [King] Arthur Pendragon. In the end, how did he die? Because he showed mercy to the young [Druid] Mordred, who later stabbed him in the back, killing him. If even the world's greatest king could die because he underestimated the heart of the person called Mordred, then wouldn't it make sense for everyone to learn from his fatal mistake?"

Seran walked his way around the receptionist desk, "Alright, I think you've rebuked them enough for them to remember it this time... hopefully."

"I hope so, too. Anyway, please, come with me." June guided Seran into the back area, making sure to ask, "My hunch tells me that you're here to change jobs..."

Seran grinned, "Partly. That's not the most important one, though. If you want to do the job change before we talk about the important reason, I'm okay with that."

She thought for a minute before going to the job change room, "I feel like I'll need to be sitting down for that part, so go right ahead and change jobs first. Do you remember the way to my office?"

"Yes, I do. I can meet you in your office once I'm done."

"Alright. I'll be getting the paperwork to update your guild card and files, so take your time."

Seran thanked June as she left, then headed in. Seeing the orb that he'd once used before, he sighed in reminiscence like an old man before touching it again. "This is going to be more ridiculous than last time... Let's see how many jobs I get this time!"