Mid Morning - Late Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

- Ellen ~

It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and the guild was packed like usual, but the crowd was lingering far longer than normal.

Instead of dispersing after the few dozen quests were ripped off the board, they stuck around and gossiped.

But it wasn't just the adventurers. Today, even regular citizens gathered to question Sir Whyte’s identity, be it through gossip or relentlessly questioning the receptionists.

"Who was the kid who beat the dragon?"

"What family is that kid from?"

"How old was he?"

"What kind of demihuman was the kid?" They were all questions I had been asked countless times that day, and eventually, I just got tired of it.

"Haah.." As my head fell into my hands, I finally gave up trying to politely turn down everyone who came to ask me questions. -I should just make an announcement...-

Standing up on the receptionist's desk, I quickly grabbed everyone's attention.

"Attention everyone! If you are here to ask about the identity of the man who beat the dragon in the plaza last night, please leave. We cannot release any information about him without the Royal Family's permission. If they decide to tell us anything, we will be sure to post an announcement."

The chatter in the room was immediately subdued.

"Phew.." I let out a deep breath as I sat back down and enjoyed the silence, but it was only temporary.

Shortly after, the chatter in the room erupted again.

"Who is he?"

"Could the king actually have a bastard son?"

"No, there's no way. I've never seen a demihuman with such black hair, even in all of the nations I've been to."

"He was really enchanting."

"Since when were you attracted to kids? He definitely wasn't of legal age."

"You know what I mean! You can't tell me you weren't enchanted as well."

"Haaah…" -Maybe I should just head home early today…-

"Miss, are you alright?"

Hearing the unfamiliar voice, I looked up to see a man wearing a brown mask and robe leaving only his eyes clearly visible.

"I’m doing okay. Thank you for your concern." Looking him up and down, his attire screamed 'suspicious', but after looking a little closer, I noticed he only had one arm under his robe and the way he held it made it seem like it was broken. -He must have been in an accident…- "So what can I help you with, sir?"

"I'm looking for a home. A place to settle down outside of the capital." His voice was as calm as water in the morning.

But it didn't make me ignore the unusual request. "Um, sir, it might be better for you to go to the respective villages for that."

"I'm simply looking for suggestions. I want to 'live low' somewhere. Someplace with a close and happy community where I can settle down for the rest of my life..."

Feeling the genuine warmth in his voice, I felt my suspicions of him fade significantly, but they didn't totally disappear. "If you're looking for a nice remote village, there is one by a river 80 kilometers southeast. It's the village I came from. It's a poor village, but it's quite beautiful and everyone there is welcoming." -If he does actually go there and turns out to be a runaway, Dad can 'take care' of him.-

"Thank you, miss.. I'm truly grateful. Are there any specific directions I need to know?"

"If you follow the southern highway and stick left, you'll eventually come to a huge spider oak. Once there, stay right for two turns and then stay straight. You'll come to a river and just follow it downstream for a couple of kilometers."

"Amazing, thank you again.. this helps more than you can imagine. Please take this as a thank you."

The man positioned his boy weirdly before dropping two gold coins down onto the counter.

"Sorry, my arm is pretty destroyed..." After giving a small bow with an apology, he quickly disappeared into the crowd of people again.

-What an odd man..-

*Bang* The door behind me was thrown open as I was ripped out of my thoughts. "EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP!" The Guild Master’s voice ripped through the air and made the entire guild go silent.

"Pfft, hahaha! Is this little dwarf really the great Guild Master of Kaelallan?" A young man with a scuffed appearance spoke up through the silence.

In a heartbeat, the Guild Master appeared in front of the man and grabbed his face.

"Oy oy, let go of my fa-"

Completely ignoring the man's voice, the Guild Master dragged him outside and threw him into the street. "If anyone else has any problems or has work to do here please stay in line for the receptionists. If you are here for news about the event in the plaza, please leave! The news bulletin is outside!" Turning away from the crowd with an agitated look, he tapped on my shoulder and motioned me to follow him.

Quickly hopping up from my seat, I followed him back into his office.

Once we got inside and closed the door, I finally asked him. "So what is it this time? Is it more stuff for the announcement?"

"No, this is different. Lawton Keen nearly died. He is currently recovering in the medical ward."

"So that rumor really was about him.." -To think Sir Keen could actually get that seriously injured…-

"The Royal Family said to give the public an explanation, but they didn't tell me what actually happened. Any ideas?"

After taking a moment to think, I managed to gather a few ideas. "How about we say it was an assassin from the tower?"

"Hm… That could work, but for a mere assassin to hurt Lawton..."

-That's true...- "But what if we said it was a tower executive? Wouldn't that also help rile support for the incoming war?"

"Well…" He took a moment to think about it. "I guess that could work... By the way, have you heard from Michael since the whole dragon incident? I heard he was at the speech, but didn't see him do anything about what happened."

"No actually.. I'm not sure what happened to him… He didn't come by the guild this morning as I expected either."

"He should be fine. It's only been a single night. He doesn't come every day anyway."

But even though the Guild Master managed to casually brush off his worries, I couldn't quite do the same. "Right.. I really shouldn't be worrying about him." Anxiety built in my gut the more I thought about it.

"Haah… Well, that's all for now. I need you to go out and help the other receptionists now. They sound like they're having a hard time."

Outside the door, I could still hear the endless chatter of people mixed with the pitter-patter of the receptionists running around.

"Haah. Okay…" Although a little disappointed that I needed to go back into the chaos, I figured it was for the best. -Hopefully, it can get my thoughts off of Michael…-

- Michael Cotorel ~

"Good morning Michael." Udall's voice was the first thing I woke up to.

"Uwwah… Good morning…" As I rubbed my eyes, I tried to remember what happened before I fell asleep, but my mind drew a blank. "What happened last night?"

"You don't remember?" He looked at me like I was crazy.

"No, not really..." No matter how much I thought, I couldn't remember anything other than an awful feeling in my chest.

*Clink* The clink of glass bottles pulled me out of my thoughts as I looked over to see Udall setting two empty liquor glasses on the table.

"My goodness, did I drink that much?" I gripped my head as I felt a headache coming on.

"Yeah.. all by yourself." His face looked a bit worried.

"So... What happened?"

Udall immediately cringed and hesitated before speaking. "Well, we were in the plaza for the speech and, uh.. Maria.. ahem.. ‘turned into a dragon’ and tried to kill the king… She then proceeded to get beaten up by that demihuman 'kid' you mentioned the other day..."

Almost immediately, a wave of memories from the event washed over my mind. "Oh.. right…" Remembering it made me want to shrivel up in a corner and cry. "Maybe I do need another glass..."

But Udall's face turned stern. "No, you need to try and face it… Maybe you can go talk to her. I'm sure she has a good reason... Hopefully..."

"R..right... Is she still in the plaza?"

"Y..yeah, she's still pinned there..."

"Haah, in that case…" As I stood up, I glanced around the room and noticed Mollie wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Where did Mollie go?"

As I said that, the curtain door behind me was pushed open. "I'm up here sorting contracts. Are you going to head up to the plaza?"

"Yeah... I need to try and talk to her. If I'm honest, I don't think I'll be able to think about anything else until I clear things up." My heart was in turmoil as countless contradicting emotions fought within my mind.

Mollie seemed to notice it as well. "I think I know how you feel... I think we all have some things to clear up with Maria, but.. you should take your time."

Her smile was warm, but I couldn't help but feel like my heart was oddly cold. -Maybe... no, I shouldn't think that...- Quickly shaking the dark thoughts out of my mind, I tried to put on a smile. "Well, let's see if we can even get permission to see her first..."