"How may I help you, sir?" Mary asked the ragged clothed man in front of him. Similarly to Lily, he was also trying to cover himself, although his attire wasn't nearly as good as Lily's, and she could see the silver tinges shining under his hood. His ruffled, lank hair reached just under his chin, providing an additional obstacle for his left eye.
Speaking of eyes, Mary was stunned when he noticed those shining silvery irises. They had a tint of light blue hue over them.
"That door behind you." The man said in his silvery voice as he pointed his wrapped right hand towards the back door. "I would like to know what's there."
Following the line of his pointed finger, Mary looked at the door where Lily and Sir Michael just left. "That? That is the service door to the office area of the guild. Are you looking for an employee? If so, can you tell me his or her name?"
Pulling his arm back, he looked at the receptionist, with uncertainty in his eyes. Although he stuttered a bit, his creamy, silvery voice made Mary not notice it.
"N-no. I was just curious. *Ahem*" he coughed, to change the subject " I would like you to check up my name and see if I have any active quests listed under it, that would be doable in this area."
Mary gave the man a surprised look.
"Oh? Did you just arrive? May I ask your name, sir?"
"Drake Aquila" the man answered.
Although that was not his real name, this was the name he registered as an adventurer in the capital and has been using every time he sneaked out from the palace. To him, this fake felt more real, than his actual birth name that only reminded him of the sorrow and anguish of all those years.
"Thank you, since you are not from here, please wait there for a moment, while I go and check the details. I won't take too long, but please, sit down while waiting." Mary answered as she pointed to the couches and chairs on the side.
Then, with a slight professional bow, she turned around and quickly left through the back door. Meanwhile, Drake watched intently as she opened the door and left through a long hallway. His left hand resting on the wrapped-up hilt of his sword, he muttered to himself.
"Yes, I'm sure that another artifact wielder is through there. Question is, how could I get there, without raising suspicion or breaking any laws…" As the door closed, he silently walked to a nearby couch and plopped down with a tired sigh. There was no point in keeping up his vigil, as the person he was looking for was no longer in the hall.
Several minutes passed before the back door finally opened and Mary returned. Promptly standing up, Drake walked to the desk.
Smiling, Mary spoke with a very respectful tone.
"Sir Drake, I f-" she started, but was interrupted by Drake's silvery voice.
"Just Drake, please don't use Sir, or Lord or anything of that matter."
"S-sorry." she meekly answered, then after taking a short pause and a long and deep breath, she continued with her previous respectful tone. "So, Drake, we got your profile, and I have to say we were surprised. 3-star adventurers are already few and far between, but you being one rank higher…" she looked at him with admiration, as she continued.
"You are the only 4-star adventurer in Higrove currently, and while we do have a few 4-star requests they are aimed for larger parties instead of solo adventurers. You also have no open requests under your name, so I would suggest you take a look at our board over there and try to find something to your liking."
Looking over to the request board, she pointed towards the last column on the right as she spoke.
"The last section is the one where we list the hardest group requests our guild occasionally receives. Please take a look at them, but feel free to pick anything from the other sections as well. I hope you find something to your liking."
"Thank you" he was looking at the woman with a questioning look, as she never told him her name. Reeling the mistake, Mary turned beet red and embarrassedly answered.
"M-mary."
"Thank you, Mary. I will go and take a look now."
Walking to the Quest board, he took one last glance at the back door, and with a last smile to Mary who turned beet red once again when she noticed his gaze, he looked at the posted requests.
"These would all take more than a day. All of these are requests that would need me to dive deep into the nearby forest… I need something faster, something that would allow me access to the back door. Hmm…" he muttered to himself as he looked through all the columns.
He noticed a special request that was more of a notice then a proper request, he picked it up.
"Marketplace Vigilante? What the hell? Nobody would be this stupid to actually fall for this trap…" he smiled as he read the note and put it back to its place and continued looking for something suitable.
Eventually, he picked up a hunting request to kill a tribe of skinks, small primitive humanoid lizard creatures living under the city in the sewage system. It was a messy quest, but it allowed him to map out the underground areas of the city, while also checking for alternative access routes to the back area of the guild. Not to mention, he could check for alternative access and exit routes for the Pit, the Gladiator Arena where his sister would have a match tomorrow night.
This was a 3-star difficulty group quest which was understandable, considering that a skink would be able to match the strength of an average 2-star adventurer, but they always fought in a large group and relied on their numbers and other, dirty tricks to get the upper hand. Because of that, even a 3-star adventurer would have a hard time dealing with all of their dirty tricks, and not fail.
Seeing the request Drake has placed in front of her, Mary looked at him with a conflicted expression.
"Are you sure you want to do this request alone? This is marked as a 3-star group quest, because of the type of enemies you will be facing. They are nasty and extremely agile creatures, so make sure you know the risks you are taking."
"Don't you worry, they won't be a problem. However, I do have a question if you don't mind." Drake asked and continued without waiting for a response. "I'm not familiar with this city, so I have to ask… How and where can I gain access to the underground sewage system?"
"Ah, let me show you on the map…" she picked up a large rolled-up sheet of paper and unfolded it on the desk. It was a detailed map of the city. She pointed at the various entrances that Drake could use in every district. The closest one actually just before the marketplace, in an alleyway.
Memorizing the area, he smiled at Mary as he straightened his back.
"Thank you for the help Mary, I will get going then. See you in a bit!"
With that he turned around and left the building. Mary silently watched his receding back with a thoughtful look on her face.
'Just who is this man? His face is so familiar, but I just can't place it…' she mumbled.
---
Granny was sitting alone in front of the fireplace and was sipping on a cup of fresh warm tea as she gazed at the dancing flames. She was lost in her own thoughts, somewhere faraway many-many years ago.
'I really hope that you are her son Aiden… That would mean, she is still alive somewhere, and I still have a chance…'
Her thoughts were interrupted as suddenly the front door opened up, and a bloodied Number 3 walked clothes torn and dirty while holding a large wool bag.
She silently walked to the dining table and placed the bag on it, then she plopped down on her usual chair in front of the fireplace and picked up the cup that Granny had already prepared for her.
"I guess gathering all the ingredients was slightly challenging, even for you." Granny broke the silence with a slight smirk on her face.
Then, as Number 3 looked at her, and took off her cracked mask and placed it on the table. Taking a sip from the tea, she finally sighed, and then while she gazed at the fire she talked with a tired voice.
"Yes. I got everything. I even had to ask the Grandmaster for a favor. It wasn't easy, but we are ready to start and bring Aiden back."
Granny smiled at Number 3 then gave a slight chuckle.
"Sure, but before that, go and clean up."
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