CLANG!!! CLANG!!! CLANG!!!

That is all I can hear as Kazu and I leave the main building. We then witness three people marching towards us. Heck, this looks like some kind of a small parade due to their luxurious and regal appearances. The two players behind the tall one are not only wearing the usual leather armor and robe respectively, but they seem to be wearing silver long capes and sheathes holding a sword and a dagger. As for the brunette-haired guy, he wears gold with white and black accents with a gold long cape behind him and a large sword stored on his back.

If you ask me, they look a little bit gaudy, which reminds me of the exaggerated version of a shining knight that Zac made as his character during one of our TTRPG sessions. Then again, I’m not in a position to criticize their avatar appearance. Besides, as I approach them, I notice Star casually walk up to the man in the gold armor, who seems to be a bit peeved upon seeing her.

“Alton.”

My eyes widen as I see him roll his eyes and sigh when he hears that name.

“Hey, Star. I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“Yeah. I’m not supposed to be here, too. But my customers are in a bit of a bind back in and they need somewhere to stay until then.”

“Customers?”

He bends his neck and turns to see me and Kazu. I didn’t want any attention from him, so all I can do is to avert my eyes.

“Hang on. You two look familiar from the forums.”

Ugh...

“Really? You mean you know who we are?”

“Yeah. You two are the completionists who completed that hidden [Quest], right?”

As I turn my eyes back to him, I gasp to see Star grab his ear and pull him away before he can walk up to us.

“Hold it! Did you remember what we promised back home?”

“Uh... Care to elaborate on that?”

I can hear Star sighing and says, “I mean you’re supposed to keep an eye on Annie this weekend while I head out to work on the pageant at school!”

“Oh, that. Well, why don’t you...”

To my shock, Star quickly grabs his shirt collar and drags him closer to her face.

“No, I do not want Annie to log into [Isekai] without my permission! Besides, your parents want you to take care of her in real-life too! As in no logging in for a day and no sneaking in there just to play your silly little guild game! Seriously, Anton! You’re her big brother and almost an adult, act like it!”

Oh, god. She wasn’t kidding when she said she is completely mad at Annie’s brother.

“Guild games?! I have you know that this is more than a game for us! Listen, if we want to elevate our [Guild] to Gold, we have to keep it active enough to be recognized by the kingdom’s monarchy NPCs.”

“No! You listen to me, Anton! All your doing is ignoring your family for your friends and hobbies! And I’m sick and tired of you throwing your responsibilities onto my lap! You’re almost a senior and you only have one more year till you move out of your house!”

“I-I... Uh...”

“If you keep prioritizing your silly games over your family, chances are, you’re going to have an unfulfilling life after high school! All I’m asking you is to take your role as an older brother more seriously!”

“But still...”

Damn... I can see why she’s a bit pissed whenever we bring up her older cousin. Though I do think her scolding is a bit much.

“Um... Wind, should I...” Kazu starts to speak up before I stop him, know what he was trying to do.

“Yeah. You better do it quickly before this escalates into an extreme sibling-like rivalry.”

With two steps away from my brother, I watch him raise his staff and with a few words of incantation, he manages to summon a large tornado large enough to engulf the two bickering relatives. It’s a bit unorthodox, but at least it’s enough for them to stop and look at us in shock.

“Hey! What’s with the windy fest, you two?!” Star shouts at us.

“It’s the only spell I know I can do without hurting you guys by accident,” Kazu sheepishly explains.

“Plus aren’t you being a bit too hard on your cousin? I know you mean well for him and Annie, but maybe you should cool down a bit,” I added as I carefully walk over to Star. “I mean, you do want to avoid scaring her with all of this bickering, right?”

And just like that, I can see from behind the guild members that Annie is hiding behind Katrine. As I predicted, she is not happy seeing her cousin and brother quarrel. Thankfully, Star seems to get an idea as she lets out a big sigh.

“Yeah, good point. But you better keep your promise back offline, got it?”

With that, she heads inside the main building as Kazu and I sigh in relief.

“That was a close call. I don’t know what happens if we let them fight any longer.”

“You think that’s bad?”

My eyes widen as we turn around to see the guild leader approaching us.

“Try seeing her in her real-life bad hair day and missing bag and you’ll see how scary she is.”

“Um... I don’t think we want to know that.”

“Same,” I added. “So you're the guild leader of [Force Blade], correct?"

"Yep. at your service. Thanks for taking care of my little sister and cousin." The guild leader says as he calmly bows to us.

"Uh... You're welcome? Look, as much as how extreme Star scolded you, she is right. I don't know what's going on between you two, but you need to find a way to balance between your time with [Isekai] and your friends and your family."

Anton let out a sigh and said, "To tell you the truth, I'm trying my best to do so. It's just that I want to make some lasting memories not only with my friends but also with Annie. As Star said, I'm about to become a Senior, which means it's one year away till I go with my separate ways from my parents, my little sister, and possibly, my friends. So to do that, I made this [Guild] to not only connect with my buddies online but to hopefully invite Annie once she's old enough to play by herself and hang out with me like old times."

"O-Oh..."

I didn't realize it until he just said it. Unlike him, I'm already a senior and I have months away till I graduate and get to college. When that happens, I might not able to see Kazuki until college is done. He might be on to something, but still...

"Wow, I can see why Annie misses you."

My eyes widen as I turn around and see Kazu approaching us.

"I can see that you're doing this for your friends and sister. But maybe you should consider their feelings first before you do all of this. I mean, back then, Annie was scared when we first met, like she didn't want to stay here at all."

Anton's eyes widen as he turns to Kazu.

"Really? Is that what she said?"

"Probably. But to be honest, if it wasn't for that, we wouldn't able to find someone to help us out with our equipment. Besides, I wouldn't able to survive that [Quest] without her accessories."

That is true. If we hadn't met Annie, we wouldn't have met Star and obtained this awesome gear.

"S-Seriously? Man, I didn't expect my sister would help out a stranger without a second thought."

"You think so? Because for some reason, she somehow likes me better than my big brother."

Ugh... Why did you just mention that in front of her big brother?!

"Really? Wait, if that's true, then that means..."

Without any thought, I quickly grab Anton's arm and said, "Yes, yes. Your sister has a crush on my brother. Now can we please move on to another topic, please?!"

But as I drag him away, Anton grabs my arm to stop me from leaving.

"Hey. Don't worry about it. As long he doesn’t try anything suspicious, I’ll permit him to date her.”

“H-Huh?! I-I didn’t say...”

The guild leader quickly covers my mouth with his finger.

“As for her attitude regarding you, don’t worry. I know how you feel about it. Just give time. I know she'll come around you someday, future Guild Leader."

Yeah, like when? And wait, future Guild Leader?

"But you're right. I can't dilly-dally around here any longer. How about we head inside and start the party?"

"Party?" Kazu and I ask in confusion. However, Anton replies by grabbing our arms and dragging us inside where his guildmates are waiting.

"Yeah. To celebrate the presence of the first [Isekai] completionists. Don’t worry, the drinks are on me!”

With that, Anton enters the building as everyone greets their leader.

“I’m just hoping that you only have non-alcoholic drinks,” I mutter as Kazu and I enter the building together.