Over the next couple of days, it became a routine for the Otherworlder to go to the cafe with Vera every morning. Whether it was a simple cup of coffee or a hearty full course breakfast, they would go to the quiet cafe and enjoy each other’s company. The routine helped the busy Vera with forgetting her work and responsibilities as she increased the length of their meetups day by day.

The Otherworlder and Vera left the cafe on one such day as they walked around the bright and bustling town.

“Where to now? Do you feel like shooting some scarecrows?” Vera asked. There was, in fact, a shooting range in the town that used magic guns modeled after the artillery of siege monsters that were but advanced mechas falling from the higher worlds.

“Hmm, not today,” the Otherworlder said with downcast eyes. “I think I’ll go check out the adventurer’s guild.”

“Really? I thought you said you don’t want to go to that place again?”

He let out a defeated sigh and slumped his shoulders. Though he was gazing down, his sight was fixated on Vera from the edge of his eyes. “I definitely don’t want to, but I don’t have much money now.”

Vera thought for a few seconds with her fingers on her chin before nodding and skipping ahead. “Then I’ll come to! We’ll go nail a high-paying job real quick.”

The Otherworlder shook his head from side to side while waving his hands exaggeratedly. “No waaay! You don’t need to give me money–Huh? What?”

“High-paying jobs. Let’s go,” Vera said, a smirk on her face.

“Tsk. You shameless noble bitch.”

“Shove it, fucking beggar. Go earn your bread.”

The Otherworlder sighed a genuine sigh at his foiled plans. It seemed that he really would have to go back to that place.

┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

-Thud!

With a loud bang and a subsequent screech, the door to the adventurer’s guild shot open. The rowdy adventurers turned to the door and saw a hooded figure standing at the entrance. They were about to ignore it when a tall man with wheat hair stepped behind the figure.

His sparkling brown eyes, coupled with the sharp features, made him look like a finely crafted sculpture. The adventurers all broke out in loud murmurs.

“What? He’s back! The destroyer is back!”

“H-how? Wasn’t he taken by the imperial guards?”

“You idiots, don’t you know? He’s the new guardian of this town. The palace appointed him!”

“What? Brolo, you are spreading stupid rumors again? Shut up!”

“Brolo, do you really lie in a heartbeat? Stop spreading rumors.”

“Rumors? Hey! So you were lying when you said Jessica was interested in me? I even bought a ring!”

“That’s on you.”

“Yeah, that’s on you.”

“That’s totally on you.”

Yet again, the adventurer’s whispers were more clear to the ears than loud shouts. The Otherworlder thanked Brolo internally for taking the attention away and prayed for the poor soul who got tricked by Brolo, though it was on him.

“You really are some sorta celebrity here, huh? It’s even worse than the reports,” Vera said as she looked around the room.’

“Looking at these guys, though, one would just assume that I am the leader of a bunch of hooligans.”

Paying the adventures no mind, the Otherworlder and his hooded companion went up to the reception of the guild. They were quickly met with a bunch of neon lights going off in a frenzy as a mechanical voice rang out.

“Hello and welcome to the adventurer’s guild. To your front is the–”

“Greeter, no. You are already at the reception desk!” The brunette receptionist of the branch cut off the tiny robot. It seemed a new receptionist was in training at the sight.

“Correct, my apologies,” Greeter said, turning the tiny dome for its head in three circles.

“It is nice to see you, Sir Iatra,” the receptionist then turned her attention back to the Otherworlder with a smile. “How was your trip to the capital?”

“Rough.”

“I-I see...” the receptionist was left slightly speechless by the Otherworlder’s curt response. “Well, I–”

“I am looking for a quick and well-paying job. Difficulty doesn’t matter.” With Vera along, the Otherworlder was sure that there wasn’t anything that he needed to be worried about. No matter the problem, the two of them together would easily manage to run, if not finish their enemies.

Of course, the adventurers were having none of that as they again started praising the Otherworlder for not caring about the difficulty.

“Oh, such a quest...” the receptionist placed a palm on her cheeks and thought with her eyes closed.

“Slay a dragon. Stop mutant donuts. Find the secrets of Mechanical Cultivation.” Taking its turn to shine, Greeter started listing off a bunch of obscure quests that were neither quick nor well-paying.

“Are there only quests like those...?” the Otherworlder muttered.

“Unfortunately, that is the case,” the receptionist added.

“I see, we might just have to settle for the cheaper ones...” The Otherworlder turned back and stepped away. “Let’s go look at the board, then.”

“Uhm, Sir Iatra,” before he could leave, though, the receptionist called out to him again. “About your friends. They accepted a quest but haven’t shown themselves for over a week now. If you could ask them to talk to us, it will be very helpful.”

The Otherworlder’s eyes narrowed at her sudden words. “What friends?” he asked.

“Uh, you know? The Sanguine Snakes?” Though the name sounded familiar, he couldn’t exactly click it with anything. Sensing this, the receptionist continued on in a much lower and skeptical voice. “The ones... you went... to the dungeon with?”

“Oh! them?” He finally remembered! He had, in fact, caught a bunch following him back in the dungeon. “Right, we are not friends.”

They definitely weren’t friends. The Otherworlder immediately shrugged the receptionist off and walked away again. He was sure asking anything would get him involved in something bothersome.

“Y-you’re not...? I left your remaining money from the magic stones with them though...”

Confusion threatened to take over the Otherworlder again, but this time he remembered things much easier. On that shitty day he had got drunk and was caught by Raeran, he had come to the adventurer’s guild to take his remaining money from the dungeon exploration.

“You did what?!” His eyes widened and face hardened as the Otherworlder turned back to the receptionist and approached her with a terrifying gaze.

“U-uh-uh... they kept saying you were best friends. I didn–”

The Otherworlder placed his hands on the receptionist’s shoulders and stared into her eyes. “How much was it?”

“Yes?”

“How much. Was it?”

“U-uh, around ten thousand Syls?”

Ten thousand.

Ten thousand Syls of his were in the hands of some missing snake bastards.

There was no way the Otherworlder was going to have this. He was definitely not going to miss the chance to get money without working for it.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get those friends of mine in touch with you soon. We should also fine them for disappearing.”

“H-huh? Ok?”

The Otherworlder smirked in his mind and rushed through the door, with Vera following behind him.

It was time to go snake hunting.