"Who's that kid?" A blonde boy in decent armour asks the staff in front of him.
"Huh? Who knows?" The staff member lousily replies.
"Who are you?" I barely managed to mumble these words while struggling in her ungodly tight grip.
Myleane brings me dangerously close to her face, enough that I could feel her breath. "I ask you one more time, the sword. Where did you get that?"
I summoned my circle behind my palm hidden by others, just as I was about blast her away, a familiar person punched Myleane so hard that she went flying straight into restaurant above.
"Cough! Cough! Didn't expect you here, Mr. Red."
The cake maker glanced at me with neutral eyes, big dark circles below them. Still in his apron and cream scented pants. Before Mr. Red could even speak, a glass plate came flying, It hit his head. The man didn't even flinch and kept looking at me.
"You old fart! Why are you sticking your neck into this? Go and make your ugly cakes!" Myleane's each word roared in the office, her hair had soup and noodles stuck in them.
Mr. Red calmly stood in front of me, to protect me.
"Very well. Let's have it your way!" The red beast leaped at Mr. Red like an animal.
Mr. Red also changed his stance and punched her. When both of their fists collided, the impact sent ripples in the ground, the tiles cracked and nearby windows shattered.
Myleane gracefully jumped back and smiled heinously. "Heh, I guess all that cake dough made your fist soft."
Mr. Red's arm twitched as blood dripped from his broken knuckles but his eyes did not flutter.
Myleane crouched to strike once more but she was interrupted. "Hey! No fighting inside the office!" "Fight outside!" The guards finally stepped up and held Myleane.
"Don't touch me."
Even though the guard was visibly scared to touch her, he had to because of protocol. "M-Mam, I need you to follow me."
"What? If you are taking me to listen another rant from father, take him too." She points at Mr. Red.
"You know the rules, the first one to hit is not always guilty."
Myleane glares at the guard and scares him away. "Fine! And you! I am not done yet! Just step outside! I dare you!"
Mr. Red did not react to the red beast's warning, instead he turned back only to swear. "Where the fuck is that brat?"
I finally reached Stella's stall which was empty as most of the people ran back to watch the red beast. I spot Stella dozing off on the chair behind the counter. "Psst! Psst! Stella."
"Huh? Stella Brimmer on duty sir! No, I was not sleeping! I was mentally training in my dreams." My voice startled her so much that she began babbling random stuff.
"Hey, it's me."
This time she actually opened her eyes and looked at the other side. "Altaris! Where were you? Do you have any idea about how worried I was?"
"Worried? For me?"
"Yes. Few people had come to me inquire about you." I scratch my head as I try to guess who could possibly be interested in me.
'Did Tarma do something? It couldn't be Silverblades, right? Tusks? Fuck.'
"Stop staring and answer me!" Stella voice snaps me out.
"W-What?"
"Where were you?"
"I… family business." That's the only excuse I could provide at the moment.
"Family business? You are not runway of a wealthy noble, are you?" She asks with me a smile.
"Last time I checked, I was broke. Enough with that, assign me a job. Any job."
Stella places a large file in front of me. "Sure, but what's the hurry?"
With each passing second, I become more paranoid. People are actually returning which could mean that the fight is over. 'I just need to disappear for now.'
"Speaking about jobs. Someone you already know has specifically asked you for a job."
"For me? Is it from a noble?"
Stella changes her gaze and looks up. "Haha. Not exactly."
A large shadow appears over my head. "I asked for you, Altaris."
I turn back and look up. "I already offered my help once but you rejected."
Mr. Red looks down at me with the same apathetic eyes. "That was a grave mistake. I accept that much. But now, I need your help."
I stare into Mr. Red's eyes for few seconds. "I take double the price."
"Done." Mr. Red agrees so fast that it made me regret for not asking more.
"Then, should I write the job contract?" Stella claps her hands and picks up pen and paper. Mr. Red steps forward to fill the contract as the actual sponsor of the job.
Meanwhile, I step back and look around, my eyes are ignoring the useless attention to spot a certain crimson haired woman. Fortunately, she was nowhere to be seen.
"Altaris, which floor you are planning to go?" Stella asks me.
I try to recall the time I was Melsier and Helen because that was the deepest I ever dived and from what can I recall the mana quality was about right, maybe bit deeper. "Uh. Around 5th floor."
Stella slams her hand on the wooden table. "No way, I am letting you dive that deep. You are just a child- I mean a white ribboned explorer."
I click my tongue in annoyance. "What are you? My mother?"
Stella snaps. "Altaris!"
Suddenly Mr. Red slams his hand on the table and catches the pen mid air to sign on the paper. "No need to worry. I am diving with him."
"Why?" I ask in annoyance, thinking he is doubting my strength. But Stella screams so loudly that every began looking in our direction. "What??? The goliath is diving!!! My god!"
I gesture Stella to keep it quiet.
"How are you so calm? It's the goliath! The most successful explorer in the Cross Swords guild! And number 13 in the history ever."
I look up at Mr. Red to confirm but he was blankly staring in one direction.
"Omg! I need to record this moment." "I-I need to report it to guildmaster!" "Is this a dream?" Every guild member in the office was losing their heads over this matter and the adventurers were as clueless as they could get. "Goliath?" "Who is that?" "Is he someone special?"
Stella rapidly fills the contract and slams it on the desk. "Sir! Please place your ribbon on this paper."
Mr. Red reaches to his back and takes off his pendant. The pendant has a photo of Marie, Mr. Red and Madison. Madison is held by Marie in the picture which appears almost a decade old. But it is not the picture that brought everyone's attention, it was the thread which held the pendant together. It was an wore-out ribbon to be exact, a black coloured ribbon.
'Isn't that the highest rank an explorer can achieve?' I remember Stella explaining that to me.
Mr. Red detaches the pendant and offers the ribbon to Stella. She takes the ribbon with much caution, her hand placement is like she is holding a worldly treasure. The ribbon is gracefully spread across the table, it looked so small in Mr. Red's hands. Stella begins writing some incantations.
"You are an explorer?"
I was caught off guard by Mr. Red's sudden question. "Yes, I started last week."
The old man grunts and returns to his staring competition.
The ribbon glows for a second as Stella recites last lines. "The contract is complete. The job has been published by Lambert Red asking Altaris to accompany him to 5th floor to salvage an ore."
Mr. Red nods expressing his agreement.
"We don't need to specify which ore?" I ask him.
Stella coughs once before continuing her job as guild receptionist. "Not really. Guild doesn't really have any obligation of learning crucial details in disclosed jobs. The guild only acts as an mediator which provides the publisher and explorer a safe space to initiate talking. The rest can be done by outside forces. Payment via guild is encouraged and considered more secure but people often take various payments other than coins, those cannot be done in guild itself. At such occurrence, please contact your publisher to submit letter of mutual agreement which will be considered as payment complete."
"That doesn't matter, we are doing business in coins only." I state my demand upfront.
Mr. Red calmly accept my demand with a nod.
"O-Okay, there is still one problem. Due to great disparity in two individuals, the party cannot be formed."
For the first time, Mr. Red's face changes in irritation.
"Then what are we supposed to do?" I ask in calm tone.
Yet Stella knew that we both were not happy about this fact, she starts to sweat a bit while thinking for an answer. "Actually, you can do one thing. Find 2 more people with same disparity and include them in your party."
"You are blatantly telling us to add more members in our party." Mr. Red's hoarse voice was not pleasant to hear, it only added more to his already scary personality.
Stella squeaked in fear and hid her face behind a file. "Y-Yes. The guild actively discourages solo diving and niche parties. The more people the higher chances of survival."
'What a shit logic.' I swear in my mind but agree Stella's statement on the outside, partly because I don't want to attract any more trouble and the ore isn't worth this much trouble. There are other means to obtain it and Mr. Red appears more exploitable now that I see how much desperate he is.
"Okay, two more members it is." I say in a loud voice to make sure others heard it.
"Yes, I hope you find your members soon and I will be keeping this contract with me. Please find me after gathering your members."
I show a thumbs up to Stella.
"Also Altaris, please take your reward for the subjugation of a juvenile rock cobra." She slides 3 silver coins towards me.
I shove them in the coin pouch and turn around to leave. Mr. Red quietly follows me. We ignore the loud chatter and obvious stares on the way out.
Once we step outside of the guild office and make our way through the underground pathway which was full of people, Mr. Red decides to speak. "Where are we going to find two members?"
"Hmm? I don't know."
As soon as we step outside in the forest, a blade comes flying at my face. I tilt my neck to dodge. "You bastards are finally out! Now quietly give me that blade!" Myleane points at Melsier's blade on my back.
I smirk while looking at Mr. Red. "A little practice session before real dive?"
He cracks his knuckles and smiles widely. "Fine by me. Fine."