Ch 78 – Saved by the bell

[Sorry it took me this long to release this bad-boy... Time is flying by and I got a bit of a flu so I legit didn't realize it had been this long since last chapter. Wow... Thank you all so much for the patience though, you guys are amazing <3]

"Sup Hal, did you guys do anything worthwhile?"

"... Why you gotta be this icy..?" Hal smirked as he answered Ace's salty greeting. He felt a fairy die as he saw Ace shrug it off...

"Anyhow, what have you girls been up to?" Bid interjected, asking about their day.

"Not much really... I waited for Necro to get some stuff sold, ate something and came here to register."

"Oh! Awesome, we gotta get some quests to rank her up before we r—"

"I don't think we'll need that..." Mary interrupted him. Her eyes staring daggers at how Ace was clinging to Necro, but her attention was clearly elsewhere. "I guess she skipped a couple ranks, right Nec?"

"Ermm... Yeah, but how did you know?" she responded, surprised.

"You still have your guild card in your hand."

"Oh... right. Forgot to store it."

""EEEHHH C-RANK!?!?!?!?!"" both of the boys yelled in unison, as their gaze wandered to Necro's hand, which was storing the guild card away, gathering the eyes of all other adventurers in the lounge. Necro blinked, not able to understand how they knew it from just a quick glance, but it should have something to do with the color of it or something.

"Guys, tone it down before we gather too much attention!" Mary stepped forward, pulling both down by the ears. "The heck is wrong with you two?!"

"OW~! Oi, what the heck is wrong with you today, did someone step on your toes or something?" Hal sneered, annoyed by the now aching ear.

"I guess." She answered coldly, taking a single step back while the boys straightened themselves up.

"Don't be like this, I'll make it up to you later." As a single hand touched her shoulder over the armor, and a single sentence was whispered, the mighty paladin's stance melted. For the onlookers, it was almost as if a wild beast had been disabled by a spell of its tamer. Thankfully though, those were few and far between.

"Yes~!" A happy nod that contrasted to the sternness left the helmet, letting shine the female charm of the feared warrior.

"Come on... Since when did she become like this?"

"Like hell do I know!" As the words were crossed again, almost like a dejavu, the helmet turned back towards the two who were speaking. "Hii~! Forget it, it was nothing!" Bid managed to squeeze out, calming Mary back down once again, as she turned to watch Necro and Ace walk towards the mission board.

"... Why are we here?" Ace asked.

"Huh? Didn't we come here to see if there was anything good in the first place?"

"I guess so..." She watched in awe as Necro went by the dozens of requests on the board.

"Why is she reading all of them...?" While she waited, Mary made her way next to her, followed by the boys.

"I don't know... I guess she wants to know what kind of stuff is there."

"Why is she reading them all?" Hal arrived, asking the same question as before, but before anyone cared to answer, Necro made her way back.

"... There's only trash..." she mumbled.

"What did you expect... it's very late in the day. If there was anything decent on the boards, make sure these people would've taken it." Ace turned her face around, making Necro look towards the large number of adventurers roaming inside the building.

"I... see..." Necro thought out about something. "Then why the hell are they here anyways?"

"Long story short," Hal started explaining. "these are the people that already finished the quests they got earlier today. Since they had to come back to deliver the proof and get rewards, they mostly hang around to talk to other adventurers and hear the latest rumors."

"He always forgets this, but sometimes they add late-hour requests to the boards too. When that happens, they're generally very urgent and have high rewards, so being around is very important so that you have a chance of taking them."

"Interesting..." Necro thought about some of the things she'd heard. "But... why don't take those up there? They seem to be pretty easy and would be a good source of extra income if they have the free time."

"Oh, those are..." Hal smiled wryly.

"Those are exclusive for F-Rank. As in... they are too easy and are there just for the sake of them being able to train."

"Oh, those are the ones Asfy told us about."

"Umu." Ace nodded.

"Eh... Asfy? Who is that?"

"Don't" Ace rolled her eyes.

"Huh?"

"Please, just... don't ask..." she responded again, annoyed.

"Oh, she's the guildmaster! She was very lovely and cute." Necro smiled, Mary staring in awe as Ace's face soured further.

"And a fucker that wants you naked..."

"Excuse me, what the fuck?!" Mary blinked as she heard Ace's murmur.

"It is exactly what you h— Ay!" Ace flinched while holding her head.

"Don't badmouth that kind of authority. Don't get us all killed, please."

"But she—"

"No buts, she's a good person."

"It's your fault for being such a womanizer!"

"Hai, hai. Now, let's take this inside."

"..." Mary just watched in shock as the conversation unfolded, all she could get is that Ace was jealous about a cute girl, who was also the guildmaster. 'Guildmaster... If I recall, she was a small animal-kin. There's no way—No... wait...'

"Necro... Did you just get another girl?"

"Eh?! Y—No!"

""You stuttered!"" Being cornered by the two, Necro scratched her cheek, smiling as she looked at the boys for some sort of magical way out only they seem to find for this kind of issue... Only for her emancipation to come magically marching down the spiral stairs. "Look, the clerk!" The girls frowned, before realizing the murmur of the guild had died down, and turning back to see the clerk walk towards them, with a small piece of paper in hand.

"H—Hi, I was told to give Ace and Necro this request. It says you may take as much as three others on your party, but that this quest will be shared with other parties. All further details are written down. The guildmaster said she'd already discussed the acceptance. Thank you."

"It's fine. I'm Ace." The clerk and girl nodded at each other, focusing on the two, before wandering off to the clerk, who was now sticking a quest to the mission board. She was, however, putting it on the lower left corner, where B+ rank quests are located, making some groups tension up.

"What's going on?! Where you two going?!"

"Buda. Not us two, us three." Necro smiled innocently at Mary's question, leaving the boys flabbergasted.