The guild hall was its usual chaos—brawny adventurers clanking mugs together, rookies huddling nervously over their first requests, and the board at the far wall nearly covered in parchment.
Izaru pushed open the doors with Liora trailing behind, her eyes flicking about the room like a predator sizing up prey. He walked with that same lazy confidence, gauntlets on, as if nothing in the world could weigh him down.(To be honest, that's kind of true.)
Lily, of course, noticed immediately. She was at the counter, arms crossed, expression locked somewhere between annoyance and exhaustion.
"Oh, look who decided to show up," she said dryly. "The man who thinks trouble is a profession."
Izaru leaned an elbow on the counter, giving her that practiced half-smile. "Now, now, don't be like that. I came here for official business."
Her eyebrow twitched. "If 'official business' means begging me to clean up your mess, you can forget it."
Liora poked her head out from behind him and smirked. "He's already mad at me. Don't add fuel to the fire."
"Quiet, you," Izaru muttered, nudging her back. Then, louder, to Lily: "I need a quest. Not just any quest. A good one. Something high-ranking."
The guild hall went silent for a second. A few adventurers glanced over, snickering. One even muttered, "High rank? That guy's insane."
Lily sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Do you think I want to hand you anything above D-rank after the last one where you started a thumb collection?"
"That wasn't it. You wanted proof so I brought it."
"You were supposed to bring back one and you brought ten."
"So? It was efficient."
Liora let out a laugh so sharp it turned heads. "Oh, I like this one. He gets yelled at almost as much as I do."
Lily shot her a glare, then turned back to Izaru. "Listen. Even if I wanted to, high-ranking quests are for vetted parties, not—" she gestured at him and Liora like they were stray cats dragging in mud—"whatever this is."
Izaru straightened, his smile fading into something harder. "I need it, Lily. Not for the gold. Not for fame. Just… because I want to prove it. That's all."
The firmness in his voice made the counter feel suddenly smaller, the noise in the guild dimming around them. Lily hesitated. She'd seen that look before—determination, reckless or not, wasn't something you could just swat away.
Liora leaned casually on the counter beside him, fangs peeking as she grinned. "C'mon. Let him. Worst case, he dies, and then he's not your problem anymore."
"That's not helping," Izaru muttered.
"It's honesty."
Lily rubbed her temples, clearly battling between her professional duty and the fact that Izaru had this way of digging under her skin until she caved. Finally, with a frustrated sigh, she slid open a drawer and pulled out a parchment with a red seal.
"Fine. One quest. High rank. But don't make me regret this, Izaru."
Izaru took the paper, his smile returning in full force. "Wouldn't dream of it."
As he turned away, Liora snatched the parchment from his hand, reading aloud. "Subjugation of a wyvern nest? Oh, this'll be fun."
Lily's voice cut after them, sharp as a whip. "If you come back in pieces, don't expect me to stitch you up."
Izaru just waved lazily over his shoulder. "Noted. Then stick me back together with a glue."
Still, when he glanced back for half a second, he caught it—the tiniest flicker of worry in Lily's eyes.
And that was enough.