"On yer own."
The room erupted.
"On his own?!"
"He won't survive."
"How's he supposed to pull that off?"
"If I were him, I'd reject that deal."
"Ya brats sure are talkative today," the man said, exhaling smoke.
The chatter died instantly.
"With all due respect," Kinuko stepped forward.
"Didn't you say these Draken killed eight S-ranks... and countless others?"
"More than I could count, yeah," the man replied.
"Then why send him on a mission like that-alone?" Kinuko asked, irritation clear in her voice.
"Yes," Akeno added. "What if he dies?"
"Then that'd be too bad, wouldn't it?" the man said flatly.
"I feel like there's more to this 'deal' of yours," Boros said, cutting through the tension.
"Shiro, you're not actually thinking of accepting this, right?" Kinuko asked.
Boros glanced at her-then back at the man, waiting.
'You're gonna get yourself killed... not that I'd mind,' Rudeus thought, standing beside him.
"Before I continue-put these on," the man said, tossing two long leather coats to Boros and Rudeus.
"Wouldn't want ya kids catchin' a cold."
He took another drag.
"Now, lad... yer probably wonderin' what ya stand to gain from this deal."
A faint smirk.
"Though I reckon you've already got an idea."
"Yeah," Boros replied.
"If ya take this mission-and complete it successfully..."
A pause.
"I'll grant ya the highest rank in this Guild."
Silence fell.
"And in case ya don't know what that means..."
His eyes locked onto Boros.
"You'll become the Guildmaster."
The entire room fell silent. Everyone wanted to object. But there was one unspoken rule-
Never interrupt him when he was making a deal.
"My, my... what a deal," Adam chuckled.
The reward for completing such an impossible mission was tempting. But Boros wasn't a fool.
If the reward was this high... then the consequence for failure would be even worse.
"And if I fail?" Boros asked.
"Ooh, nothin' much. Just-"
A pause.
"You'll retire. Never register, never become an adventurer under any guild again for the rest of yer life."
Gasps rippled through the room.
Boros clenched his fists.
"...Of course it is," he muttered.
"Shiro, you absolutely can't accept this," Kinuko whispered urgently. "Remember why we wanted to become adventurers in the first place. If you lose that, achieving our goal becomes harder."
Boros said nothing. He just stared at the man.
Then-
"What are the details of the mission?"
"Shiro!" Akeno snapped, grabbing his arm.
"Yer acceptin'? Beautiful," the man said with a grin.
"Like ya already know, there are two Draken. Yer job is simple-kill 'em. Make sure they don't harm another civilian or adventurer."
He took a slow drag.
"And those dead adventurers I mentioned? You'll retrieve as many of their IDs as ya can. We return 'em to their guilds... give 'em a proper buryin'."
"Kill the Draken... retrieve the IDs," Boros repeated.
"Yes," the man replied, smiling.
"But one last thing..."
He exhaled smoke.
"They were last spotted in the Northern Cardinal."
A pause.
"And you've got ten days."
"My, my... it just keeps getting worse," Adam chuckled.
"Shiro... the North is off-limits," Kinuko said, worry creeping into her voice.
"And like he said they were 'last spotted' which means they might no longer be there."
"Yeah. And even if they are in the Northern Cardinal you don't know exactly where they are, so it's going to be impossible to find them." Akeno added.
"And we haven't even talked about the time he gave you. Ten days??! That's too short for this mission." Kinuko said, her voice laced with worry.
"Yeah. There's no need for you to accept this," Akeno added again.
Once again, Boros ignored them.
"Ten days?" he asked.
The man nodded.
Boros cracked his neck. Then took off the coat.
Murmurs broke out again.
"Wait... he's actually going?"
"No way..."
"It's not too late to back out..."
Ignoring them all, Boros turned-grinning.
"Hold my coat, Kinuko."
BOOM!!
He shot through the ceiling. Gone.
"He's... gone," Akeno said, staring up at the hole in the ceiling.
"Could've just used the damn door," the man muttered, eyes still fixed above as he exhaled smoke.
Kinuko stepped forward.
"Who are you... sir?"
"Me?" he replied, taking another drag. "No one important."
Adam grinned.
"He is Gideon Griffin. Guildmaster of the White Tigers Guild."
"See?" Griffin said.
"No one important."
"T-The Guildmaster...?" Kinuko stammered, her mouth slightly open.
"Alright, you damn brats-back to work!" Griffin barked.
"Yes, sir!"
The room snapped back to life.
Then his gaze shifted to Akeno and Kinuko.
"You two," he said, turning away.
"Come with me."
.....
After a short walk-and a few directions from locals in Calonia-Boros finally crossed the border.
He tugged at the oversized sleeve of a sweatshirt he'd grabbed from a shop, then pulled a folded map from his pocket.
"Tch... I've never been good with navigation," he muttered, staring down at it.
A pause.
"But I accepted the damn mission... so I'll make it work."
His eyes scanned the markings.
"From what they said, the fastest route to the western border is through a kingdom called Luminaria..."
He folded the map and shoved it into his back pocket.
"...All I'm hearing is run until I see a big-ass castle."
And just like that-
He took off.
He tore through forests, weaving between trees, vaulting over roots and rocks without slowing.
He even cut straight through towns.
Day turned to night. Night turned back to day. And still-he didn't stop. After two days of relentless running-
He finally came to a halt.
Standing before him were towering walls that stretched endlessly in both directions.
"This has to be the place..." Boros muttered.
He pulled out the map again, glancing between it and the massive structure.
"...Yeah. Luminaria."
His eyes traced the walls.
"Well... I've got nothing to do with these people."
He folded the map again.
"So I'll just go around."
And so he ran. Along the perimeter. The walls stretched farther than expected-farther than they had any right to.
Minutes passed. Then more. Still no end.
"...This place is huge," he muttered under his breath.
Finally-
The walls stopped.
And the world opened up before him.
The ocean.
Endless blue stretched to the horizon, waves crashing gently against the shore.
Boros stepped forward, stopping just at the edge as water washed over his feet.
"So this is the western border..."
His gaze lingered on the vast sea.
Then his expression tightened.
"...Now how the hell am I supposed to cross this?"
Last time, with Akeno and Kinuko, it had taken days just to find a ship.
Days he didn't have. With only ten days for the mission...
That wasn't an option.
Boros stood there in silence, the waves rolling in and out around his feet.
Thinking. Calculating. Then-
It clicked.
A grin spread across his face.
"...Right."
He stepped forward, one foot still planted on the shore.
Then slowly bent down, placing his hand against the surface of the water.
"Ice Age."