'Silver made his way out of the District and entered an alley where he once again changed clothes into more casual clothes.'

'After a while, he finally arrived in the Guild.'

'The Guild was packed full of adventurers as always.'

'But the atmosphere seemed stuffy today...'

Why is everyone like that? They feel oddly excited yet vigilant...

"Hey hey, did you hear about what happened in the Middle floors?" Said one of the adventurers

"How couldn't I? Everyone is talking about it, supposedly an Irregular appeared and caused chaos right? The Loki Familia killed it." Replied the other adventurer

"Hm... But did you hear that it wasn't the Loki Familia?"

"What? Are you bullshitting me?"

"Just read the board and you will learn everything!... This is how it happened, the monster was ambushed by a passing Familia on the Middle floors, but it fled, it ran and avoided all of the blockages until the Middle floors, where another adventurer took it out!"

"They said the fight was really interesting! The Loki Familia reported that the arena was completely scorched and all plant life in a 20 M radius was burned. I heard it was quite a pain to clean up."

'The listener was quite surprised'

"Hm… And how was this adventurer? For such a thing to happen the monster should've been quite strong, he must be famous, and how strong was that passing Familia anyway?"

"He is quite new, not really talked a lot. There is a painting of him made by one of the investigating teams, it looks quite cool. As for what you asked… I don't know how strong was the Familia that made it flee, but I know the Guild released a notice saying the monster was a Level 3 Irregular."

'The listener was even more surprised'

"Level 3? Irregular? On the Middle floors?... That has to be one of the strongest Irregulars in the past few years right? The last one was the Hellhound that ate a bag filled with Magic stones leading to all of that shit a few years back..." Replied the listener

(N1)

"I don't know about that, but I guess you are right. We should be thankful a strong adventurer was passing by the Upper floors at the time, otherwise, it would have set mayhem in the Upper floors."

"Just imagine the losses… Even if he wasn't there, the Loki Familia was there too, right?" Asked the listener

"Yes they were, but a few would have inevitably died before the Loki Familia acted."

…

'Silver heard the entire conversation and was surprised, it seemed that the Hermes Familia wasn't credited while everything was placed under an anonymous name.'

'Which means...'

The entire credit was placed on top of the Red knight… Fuck.

… Look at these people, are they waiting to see the Red knight?

Was that so important?

I know strong adventurers end up becoming kind of celebrities like the Sword Princess, but I am nothing like that yet.

They are just a little curious, and this is bound o disappear in a few days.

'Silver made his way to the board to look at the painting and read the notice...'

"What..."

'There was an extremely detailed image of a red knight with an extremely long sword.'

'It was a side image of him engaging what seemed to be a humanoid creature in the mist.'

'The painter went out of his way to make the scene heroic and incredible.'

'From the misty environment to the mystery of the monster.'

"Wow… That's a neat painting… I mean, drawing."

However… Where is my white scarf?

Did the author forget? That can't be possible…

"Oh, there's the author's name… Lulune Louie."

Hm… Never heard the name…

There is a symbol?... Isn't that the Hermes Familia symbol?

I made sure to remember some symbols, Hermes was one of the obvious ones.

Hum… Seeing how detailed and accurate it is… It's as if the author saw me, meaning that the ones who were looking at me yesterday were…

The Hermes Família. This makes me a little bit relieved but also a little bit distressed.

Hermes is a nice guy, but his goals… He wants to raise a Hero that will complete Zeus' task, Why does he want to raise a hero? Is it to save the world?

(N2)

He was always shown as a nice guy who acted in the shadows. His hands might get dirty but he is always working towards the greater good.

It all boils down to how interested he is in me, if he likes me, then there isn't much to worry about since he would support me like he did for Bell…

But if I am not…

Asfi and all of the other Familia members were shown to be good people as well.

Knowing them, it wouldn't take long for them to find out my identity… If they didn't already.

Excluding Asfi, it must've been one of the other 4… I don't really know all of their names but I would guess it was that Dog girl since she is their mapper.

There is also something written below it.

Let me see…

/The monster was identified as an Irregular version of a Lamia Mormos, creating a pair of legs with increased intellect and strength, this allowed it to be on par with a regular Lamia while also having the mobility of a bipedal monster./

/It is unknown how strong it truly was, but the overall assessment puts the monster at the high end of Level 3, however, its abilities might pose a danger to adventurers that recently advanced to Level 4./

/The adventurer responsible for the subjugation suffered heavy injuries and returned home to heal, he is alright and his health is stable./

I what? And when did that dude become a being capable of taking on a Level 4?

He was strong, but he was also kinda hurt... At most he could take a high-end Level 3 one-on-one.

Hum… They either lied, or they received false reports.

Sigh… Getting the reward as the Red knight will be a pain in the ass. Perhaps I should just throw it away... I am not in need of money right now.

And I don't think the reward will just disappear, when the time comes, I can always pick it up.

'Silver turned around and went to the counter.'

'Loiju was nowhere to be seen. And the person on the counter seemed to be missing as well...'

"Oh? It's you again? Loiju was pretty anxious yesterday, it's good seeing you safe and sound." Said a girl approaching from the back area

'She had brown hair and thin glasses in front of her beautiful emerald eyes.'

'She had pointed ears similar to elves, although it wasn't as long, it was still pretty big.'

"Sorry… But I don't know your name..." Said Silver, although he had a pretty big idea of who she was…

"Oh yes! I think we have never met before! My name is Eina Tulle, I heard a lot about you from Loiju's braggings."

"..."

So we finally met. After two weeks of adventuring, I met with many people and came to realize just how big Orario is.

And since the only time I actually come to the Guild is during the early morning and in the afternoon… I never actually met with her since she normally works while I am in the Dungeon.

"Nice to meet you too, my name is well, knowing that guy, I am sure he already told you but my name is Mellios Silver. Level 1 adventurer."

'The two shook hands.'

She is indeed beautiful, no wonder she receives many confessions.

"..."

He is really tall… And strong, but not like those perverts from the Hercules Familia.

'Eina noticed she was staring at the adventurer and got embarrassed before saying:'

"Haha… In any case, how can I help you?"

"Ah yes… You must have heard of the incident yesterday right? I came here for that."

'She was surprised'

"Oh? And how can I help you with that?"

"It's like this, while I was adventuring on the Middle floors..."

/BAM!/

"Why did you go to the Middle floors?!"

'Several people looked at the both of us. Eina got embarrassed and fixed her glasses.'

"Cough… As I was saying… Didn't Loiju tell you it was dangerous?!"

"Yes he did, but I didn't go too deep, it was like this..."

'Silver told a story about how he found one of the "monster's" victims and reported to one of the teams that were trailing after the monster, and he was told he would receive a reward.'

"... So here I am."

'Eina had her two hands on her face as she sat on a chair behind the counter.'

"Do you know… Just how close you were..."

"Yes I do."

"And how can you act like that?! Look, next time, just follow your instructor's advice."

'Eina's voice got really serious as the look on her face changed from a welcoming one to a disapproving one.'

She must think I am like those other adventurers… That I am throwing myself to death and being overconfident.

It's a shame that our relationship ended up like this, but I can't really change the misunderstanding, nor will I.

Why should I? What she thinks of me is irrelevant. I barely know her so…

If it was Louji, then I might've cared a little, a friend being upset is one thing.

'Eina turned around and picked a few papers.'

"Sign in the empty spots. The reward is… Around 200K for the information."

'She didn't even bother to explain why it increased, she must've been really pissed.'

'Silver signed the paper and picked his reward, Eina didn't say anything and left after she was done with him.'

"... Sigh"

What a misunderstanding. Although she has every right to be angry.

At this point, I am friends with Loiju, yet, I disregarded his help and dived into a very dangerous area, and not only that, I was very close to actually meeting with the monster.

From her perspective, I am a new Level 1 adventurer. While the monster was a Level 3 Irregular… It's pretty much safe to assume I would have died.

And the type of people Eina hates the most is such people… People who throw themselves into danger while disregarding their friends.

She would come to understand or perhaps she already knows that adventurers need to face danger to grow, but everything has its limits.

Perhaps I am two years too soon...

Since for the current her, this is nothing straight out of suicide...

That's why she is so strict with every single one of her students…

Not that I care, however, I always prefer to make friends over enemies. Or not make anything at all.

"In any case, 200K… It's more than I expected."

With this I have… 4.7 Million right?

My money is increasing at a decent rate… A very fast rate for a Level 1.

After I redeemed my loot 2 weeks ago, I had a little over 3 Million.

During these two weeks, I made a total of 700 thousand, around 50 thousand Valis per day, counting the expenses of course.

And after I redeemed my loot and my commissions yesterday, my total amount rose to 4.5

Soon enough I might have enough money to order one decent high-end gear…

"That's for another day."

'Silver left the Guild and stopped by a stall on the road.'

"Get your sweet potatoes here! We have those of all flavors!" Said the owner

"Can I get one with some cheese filling?"

"On the way!"

(Insert Jagamarukun image)

(Created by adding spices to crushed potatoes and fried after adding an outer skin, sometimes, it has a flavor filling)

'Silver came to love the traditional food of Orario, in every corner you would find a different stall selling something completely different.'

'Hungry adventurers would be constantly looking for those, hence, they are normally filled with people.'

"Here you go, friend." Said the stall owner

"Thanks." Said Silver as he gave 55 Valis to the merchant

…

/Earlier that day, somewhere in Orario/

'Dionysus had just finished reading the report made from one of his Familia members that just came back from the Guild.'

"... How… Disappointing."

'He took another sip of his wine after he placed the paper down.'

"I expected more from this, however, since it was a test I didn't lose much."

Orario was pretty fast in dealing with it, as I expected.

However… Why was the end result… This?

"Did they suppress the news?"

The problem is how much they know…

"There is no evidence that points to me at all… However, my reputation might gain a stain depending on the situation… Depending on how much Frederic talked... Or what they know of him."

'Dionysus was a tactician, one that considered every possibility… That was how he led Evilus to the point it is today… How he managed to make it survive all of this time.'

I need to find out who filed the report of the Guild and the person who subjected Frederic.

'He got up and placed his wine on the table'

"It's better if I do this on my own..."

I need to have this resolved before those guys act…

…

/North of Orario, on the outskirts of a Village/

There was a green-haired Elf with his arms crossed as he looked at a kneeling assassin

"... Where is it?" Asked the green-haired Elf

'The assassin seemed nervous as if he committed a grave mistake...'

"I… The target has disappeared."

'The Elf's eyes didn't change, nor did his stance.'

'But the pressure increased two-fold...'

"Go on… Word by word, what… Happened?"

"... Yesterday, we completely circled the village, but upon arrival, we noticed that the targets were long gone, this was strange since until an hour prior to the operation they were still there."

"But when we arrived, we didn't find any of them, the houses even seemed to have been abandoned for weeks..."

"We tried to contact the villagers but..."

"They all vanished like mist right?" Complimented the Elf

"... Yes sir..."

'The assassin seemed ashamed.'

"Hum… I considered many things, but one of them was this… Yet, I didn't expect that old woman to be capable of such a thing in her old age."

I had researched their Family but I didn't expect it to be so impressive.

"She wasn't capable of such a thing when she left to raise her kid, and now, over 40 years later, I didn't expect her to have trained over this time..."

The Wizard... Misty.

"An oversight caused by the lack of information."

"I AM DEEPLY SORRY SIR! IT WAS MY OVERSIGHT!" Screamed the assassin

"... So make sure to repair it."

"YES SIR! As we are talking, the others are tracking them and looking for clues."

"... Continue with the efforts, no matter how long it takes, they are bound to have made one or two mistakes."

I will give it to you two, Saphos, Ullia, you two made some very reliable allies…

(The parents of the Mc father, grandpa Fading sword and the Demon cat grandma)

But how much time can you buy? Flee, flee as much as you want.

I still need to collect one item before anyway, I will allow you two to hold onto my item for a little bit longer.

"Sir!"

'As the Elf thought, another assassin appeared from the side.'

"Report." He said

"We found a strange gadget in one of the houses, it was inside a complex magic circle! We believe it's a Magic item."

"Leave it, it must be the source of this illusion."

I was asking myself how did the illusion last so long when it was so big… This must be it.

"Once you are all done with the investigation, have one of the mages analyze it and see if they can learn anything." Said the Elf

"Yes sir!"

'The agent turned around and left.'

"... You are dismissed as well." He said towards the agent on the ground

"I will be on my way Sir."

'And like that, he flashed.'

'Although the Elf could clearly see him running across the trees.'

"..."

Is it worth it? Causing so much trouble, wasting away your life running away just because of an ideal? A pitiful one even.

I asked myself this question multiple timers over the past few years...

You could've lived a happy life, nevertheless, you choose to do this.

I was patient enough to lay out my plans for more than 4 decades, don't think I am going to give up that easily.

Once I get my hands on the two items… I will finally be able to get rid of these shackles…

"Two weeks… Wait for me Orario."

...

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