The moment the cloaked man's hand rested on the hilt of his weapon, the atmosphere inside the Adventurer Guild changed completely.
The loud conversations and laughter from earlier were gone. Now the room was silent.
Every adventurer in the hall had noticed.
Chairs scraped against the wooden floor as several people stood up slowly, ready to intervene if things turned ugly.
Bren, who had been sitting with the other hunters, rose from his chair with a frown.
"Hey," he called out.
"This is a guild hall, not a battlefield."
The cloaked man glanced toward him briefly but didn't remove his hand from the weapon.
"We have no intention of causing unnecessary trouble," he said calmly.
"Then take your hand off that blade," Bren replied.
For a moment, it looked like the stranger might ignore the warning. Then the woman beside him sighed and lightly pushed his arm down.
"Relax," she said.
"We're not here to start a fight."
The man slowly stepped back, though his sharp gray eyes remained fixed on Alex.
"Not yet, at least."
Alex felt his Combat Instinct skill flare again.
Danger.
Still controlled—but very real.
Kael leaned slightly closer to Alex and spoke quietly.
"Don't provoke them."
"Wasn't planning to," Alex murmured.
The woman folded her arms and looked around the guild hall.
"Well," she said lightly, "we seem to have gathered quite an audience."
She wasn't wrong. Nearly everyone in the building was watching now. The receptionist had even stopped writing in the guild ledger.
Bren walked closer, positioning himself between the strangers and the rest of the guild members.
"You said you wanted to ask questions," Bren said.
"Ask them without threatening my adventurers."
The cloaked man tilted his head slightly.
"Your adventurers?"
Bren crossed his arms.
"Anyone working quests through this guild is under my protection while they're here."
The woman raised an eyebrow.
"How noble."
Bren didn't respond to the sarcasm. The man studied Bren for a moment before finally removing his hand from his weapon.
"Very well," he said.
His attention returned to Alex.
"We are simply investigating something unusual."
Alex kept his expression neutral.
"You've said that already."
"Yes," the man replied calmly.
"But we haven't explained why."
The woman stepped forward slightly.
"Over the past few weeks," she said, "our organization has detected… disturbances."
Alex felt the system flicker again at the word disturbances.
"They're small," she continued.
"Hard to trace."
"But they appear whenever someone grows stronger far faster than normal."
Her sharp green eyes locked onto Alex.
"And recently… one of those disturbances appeared here."
The system interface flashed again.
Warning
External Detection Attempt Detected
Source: Unknown
Countermeasures Active
Alex forced himself not to react. Kael spoke instead.
"Plenty of adventurers grow quickly when they start."
The man shook his head.
"Not like this."
He pointed toward Alex.
"Three days ago, this man was a nobody."
Several adventurers murmured quietly.
"That's true…"
"I saw him register at the guild…"
The man continued.
"In that time, he has killed a Shadow Wolf Alpha, a Goblin Brute, and an Ogre."
His voice remained calm.
"But such growth usually leaves traces."
Alex frowned slightly.
"Traces?"
The woman smiled faintly.
"Energy signatures."
She tapped the metal emblem still resting on the counter.
"Our organization specializes in detecting them."
Alex felt his pulse quicken. If they could detect the system… That would be very bad.
Bren stepped forward again.
"Alright," he said firmly.
"You've asked your questions."
"Now leave."
The woman sighed again.
"You're not making this easy."
"No one asked you to come here," Bren replied.
The cloaked man stared at Alex for a few seconds longer. Then he slowly picked up the metal emblem from the counter.
"We will leave," he said.
"For now."
The woman gave Alex one last curious look.
"But our investigation isn't finished."
She pulled her hood back over her head.
"Not even close."
The two strangers turned and began walking toward the guild doors. As they reached the exit, the man stopped briefly. Without turning around, he spoke one final sentence.
"Be careful, Alex."
His voice was quiet but clear.
"Some powers were buried for a reason."
Then the doors closed behind them. The guild hall slowly filled with noise again as everyone began talking at once. Alex exhaled slowly.
"That… could have gone worse."
Kael nodded.
"Yes."
But his expression remained serious.
"Much worse."
Because if those strangers returned… They wouldn't just come with questions.