And so the two of them walked on, laughing and teasing each other, passing through the leaf-strewn tree-lined path before strolling along the bustling Adventurers Street. Before long, they arrived at their destination.
The Guild. Guild Headquarters.
Leon and Kureha stepped into the noisy business hall side by side and were instantly swallowed by the roar of the crowd.
"No matter how many times I come here, it's always this packed."
The two stood against the wall, watching the endless stream of people coming and going.
The vast majority passing through the hall were adventurers, though you'd occasionally spot a god wandering around, a merchant posting a commission, or a uniformed Guild employee hurrying past.
"Is it crowded at the counters?"
Kureha looked at the sea of heads before her and frowned. She clearly wasn't a fan of this kind of noise.
"Let me check..."
Leon craned his neck slightly, his height giving him a clear view across the entire hall.
"Oh... the line's pretty long. We'll have to wait a bit. Can't help it, this is peak hours for business. But we're not wasting time. Let's go sort through the commissions over there first, then we can just bring the forms straight to the counter."
"Mm."
...
At the front desk.
Rose Fannett let out a small breath after finishing up a transaction and picked up her teacup to wet her dry throat.
Just then, she caught a glimpse of a figure in the corner. Leon was huddled together with a beautiful silver-haired woman, heads bowed over a parchment commission form.
"Hmph. That scumbag."
A cold smirk crossed her lips, and her grip on the teacup tightened sharply.
A faint crack spiderwebbed across its surface, courtesy of a werewolf's natural strength.
The young new hire beside her saw this and nearly choked.
"R-Rose? Are you okay?"
The werewolf set the cup down gently, her expression betraying nothing as she withdrew her gaze.
"It's nothing. Just a little tired."
The newbie glanced at the nearly shattered teacup, the corner of her mouth twitching, and nodded along stiffly with a forced smile.
"Y-yeah, there are definitely more adventurers than usual today..."
"If you're tired, why don't you... take a little break? I can handle things here?"
Rose didn't argue. She slid her chair back, stood, and headed for the back.
"It's all yours, newbie."
"Yes ma'am!"
Watching Rose's figure disappear into the back office, the new hire wiped cold sweat from her forehead and muttered under her breath.
"Is Rose really just a regular Guild employee? What's with that insane grip strength?"
"Was she... an adventurer before?"
Just then, the section supervisor happened to swing by on her rounds. Spotting the newbie spacing out, she immediately shot her a glare.
"Hey, newbie! Quit daydreaming and get back to work! Look how far the line goes!"
"Huh? Yes ma'am!"
The sharp click of heels rang out against the marble floor.
Rose made her way through the corridor at an unhurried pace, re-entered the hall, and headed straight for a certain "scumbag."
Along the way, the sheer pressure radiating off her made every passerby go wide-eyed and scramble to clear a path, terrified of accidentally pissing off the infamous wolf lady of the adventurer world.
"Whoa... look, the boss lady's heading straight for that guy."
"You guys don't know? I heard through the grapevine that Rose got burned by some player a while back. A few days ago, the two of them actually had it out right here in the hall!"
"What? Rose got dumped by some asshole?"
"Doesn't that mean..."
"No way! Sure, the boss lady's got a temper, but her looks and figure are top-shelf. Lucky bastard..."
"You? Think your scrawny ass could handle a powerhouse like Rose?"
"Heh..."
"The hell are you laughing at?!"
"Come on then, whip it out and let's compare. With that little toothpick of yours, you've got the nerve to strut around? Trash!"
"Oh, screw you!"
These adventurers had somehow derailed the conversation straight into a debate about manly pride.
The guy who'd been called a toothpick went absolutely red in the face.
No way he was letting that slide. He threw the first punch without a word.
"..."
Behind the counters, the staff exchanged bewildered glances.
How did things go sideways this fast?
...
Meanwhile...
Rose completely ignored the gaggle of rubberneckers in the distance. Stone-faced and never breaking stride, her eyes stayed locked on the man chatting quietly with the silver-haired woman.
Leon, for his part, was completely oblivious. He was focused on sorting through the mountain of commission forms with Kureha, seriously discussing which jobs best suited their party, utterly unaware of the danger closing in.
"Well, well. If it isn't Mr. Leon himself."
"What brings you here?"
"It really has been... a long time."
A voice dripping with passive-aggressive sweetness drifted up from behind him, slightly husky. Leon raised an eyebrow instinctively.
With the hall this noisy, he assumed it was just some acquaintance saying hello. He turned around with a casual smile and an easy tone.
"Haha, well, we're heading into the Dungeon, figured we'd swing by and see if there are any good commissions. Might as well, right? Kill two birds with one stone, and we'd even pocket some extra..."
"R-R-R-Rose?!"
Halfway through his sentence, he finally registered who was standing less than half a meter away. Arms crossed, red hair severe, eyes cold, staring daggers right through him. Whatever he'd been about to say, he swallowed it.
"I-it really has been a while, huh... ahaha!"
Kureha noticed his bizarre reaction and looked up. Her elegant eyebrows rose slightly.
A friend of Leon's? Why does the atmosphere between them feel so... loaded?
She narrowed her eyes and studied the other woman carefully.
Just as Kureha was sizing Rose up, Rose gave her a friendly nod, then immediately locked her gaze back onto Leon.
She wasn't the least bit surprised to see yet another unfamiliar silver-haired woman at his side.
First Jeanne, then Rose Marbleheart, then she'd heard from coworkers that he'd picked up two gorgeous young elf girls from god knows where...
Now there was a silver-haired human woman too. Nothing to be shocked about at this point.
She'd known Leon for a long time. They'd even been... closely involved. She knew exactly what kind of person he was.
Though... she'd been hearing recently that he'd actually settled down a bit?
Recalling certain rumors she'd picked up from acquaintances in the Demeter Familia, she cracked open her narrow eyes and took a fresh look at this "jerk" she hadn't seen in a while.
"You're looking through commissions?"
Feeling the weight of all the gawking eyes around him, Leon nodded.
"Yeah, there's just too many. Can't find the right ones. Wanna give me a hand?"
"Give you a hand?"
Rose let out a laugh of sheer disbelief. The audacity of this guy.
But thinking of everything between them, all those things too tangled to put into words, she settled for shooting him one withering glare before turning on her heel. Her heels clicked sharply against the floor as she headed toward the reception area.
"Keep up."
Catching that faint crack in her icy armor, Leon broke into a grin and shot Kureha a quick look. The two of them followed after her.
...
"Alright. Talk. What kind of commissions are you looking for?"
"Gathering? Subjugation? Investigation? Or named requests?"
In the reception area, Rose crossed her legs elegantly. Her tailored cropped trousers and open-sided heels gave her a sharp, commanding silhouette. Arms folded across her chest, the posture incidentally accentuating her generous curves, though her tone was strictly professional.
Leon sat across from her, ramrod straight, his gaze politely fixed somewhere around her eyes.
"Ideally something low-effort. Like... tasks we can knock out while clearing monsters anyway. If it requires specific monsters or Dungeon materials that need dedicated farming, pass. You know my luck's always been garbage. Even if I took a commission for rare minerals or herbs, odds are I'd never run into them."
Rose listened, then gave a thoughtful nod.
"Wait here."
She stood and headed back toward the office, clearly going to pull suitable commissions for him.
Out in the hall, the crowd that had been hoping for drama watched the tense standoff fizzle into a mundane business exchange. Disappointment was palpable.
One particularly bored god who'd come over specifically for the spectacle shook his head with a theatrical sigh.
"Kids these days, I swear. No sense of entertainment. Such good gossip material, gone just like that... oh well."
As the onlookers drifted away, Leon quietly exhaled in relief.
The last thing he wanted was to cause a scene. If he ended up "famous" in Orario in some unexpected way, that'd be a real problem.
Especially those chaos-loving gods. They were the ones to watch out for.
Just as these thoughts flickered through his mind, cementing his resolve to keep his distance from the more unhinged deities, Rose came back carrying a thick stack of parchment.
She dropped the documents on the coffee table with a thud, deftly pulled several commission forms from the pile, and slid them toward Leon.
"Look these over. The targets are all common monster drops and Dungeon materials. Even someone with your garbage luck should be able to handle them."
Leon took the forms and reviewed them carefully, then passed them to Kureha for a second look. After a brief discussion, they settled on three.
"These three. Could you register them for me?"
Rose glanced at the commission details, then looked back up at Leon. A flash of surprise crossed her eyes.
"You..."
But she caught herself and let it go, her expression smoothing back to neutral.
"Never mind..."
The commission forms were clearly marked: Mission Floors: 25-27.
Still... Rose had some idea of the various irregularities surrounding Leon, so she didn't press.
And Leon, for his part, trusted this werewolf woman and their complicated history just as much.
In all this time, she'd never once leaked any information about him to anyone. That alone said everything about her character.
It was, perhaps, an unspoken understanding between the two of them.
...
...
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