Chapter 163: Quest Picking

"Hey, Aiden you're finally back! You spent such a long time in the back!" A familiar and joyful voice could be heard from the hall as soon as the back office door opened. Shortly after a long black haired youth stepped out.

Mary, the brown curly-haired guild attendee was immediately startled when he saw the boy came back on his own. Dropping what she was currently doing and leaving the guy he was attending to hanging, he ran to Aiden's side. With a slightly rosy cheek, she smiled and spoke jovially.

"Aiden, you actually found your way back? I-i would have come and picked you up but I did not receive word that you were finished. D-did the two of you had a good time?" As she blurted out question after question, she also made sure to check the boy all over, to see if there were any signs of struggle. 

Seeing as there were no blemishes or wounds, nor were his hair any more ruffled than it already was, she sighed in relief. Aiden actually came back from meeting the Leader of the examiners completely unharmed! She wouldn't have dreamed of such an outcome, she would have been contemptuous if he wouldn't be too badly hurt.

"Yes, we have come to an agreement. I will be assisting Miss Rox in the future." The boy answered with a friendly smile and cheerful attitude. 

Obviously, he was very happy, as he managed to come to an agreement with the strange and mysterious leader. She, who in the end introduced herself as Miss Sarah Rox, in the end, revealed that she had never heard about such a name before, but she indeed knew of a mystical area deep in the forest that could very well be what he was looking for. The place was a closed-off valley where even the wildest, most fearsome beasts didn't dare to set their foot upon. There was a barrier that seemed to protect the premises. As soon as you crossed over, it was as if you entered into a completely different world. The daylight would vanish, leaving only strange eerie darkness behind. If you would look up, you would only see a dark red, bloody sky. 

What was the most terrifying was the unnatural, guttural howls that you could hear coming from deeper within. Nobody knew what lied deep within its depth, but people who came back reported sighting scarlet demonic eyes from the shadows. They said that the place was cursed, demonic even.

Miss Rox said that that's the only place that she could think of, but as she wasn't sure she promised to send in a scouting team to see if there were any artificial caves in its depth. If there was then they could be certain that the place they found was what Aiden was looking for.

In turn, Aiden agreed to help her when they would need her help during the Selection event being held roughly in a month's time. During that time, he would also be providing assistance for Miss Rox if the need would arise. As for additional compensation, Aiden was to have free reign over what Quests he would be picking from the board and he would be free forming whatever groups he would wish without any restrictions that would be put upon any other that was newly established.

All in all, while Aiden would need to participate in a pointless political struggle that he really didn't want to be a part of, in return he would hopefully gain information about the place he was desperately trying to locate and even be able to move with relative freedom inside the guild.

"Ah, t-that's fine. Did you get hurt anywhere? I-i hope that nothing bad happened to you!" Mary stutteringly responded as she continued to look all over Aiden with concern.

Aiden let the girl do her thing and check him out from head to toe before he looked at the girl and with a friendly smile he nodded.

"Yes, everything is fine. We did not fight, we simply talked about interests. She wanted me to join her, and she asked what I would like in return. In the end, we came to an agreement, that's all."

With his thoughts said, he stepped away and began to walk to the madly waving Cole who already rushed to the front side of the receptionist's desk, looking towards him with an expectant smile.

Looking at Aiden's back as he walked away, Mary was stunned for a moment by his words. Not about the agreement, but the fact that she referred to the Leader as "Miss". She didn't even know all this time that the Leader was a woman. How would she know anyway? The Leader always wore a hood covering her facial features, while her robes hid her feminine features perfectly. As for her voice, it always sounded otherworldly, nobody was able to discern anything out of it other than it was really soothing to the heart and soul and melodious at the same time.

Her reverie was broken when Aiden's found rang in her ears. Shaking her head, she looked ahead, seeing how the boy was already at the other side of the desk waving at her with the same friendly smile as always.

"Hey, Mary! Don't just stand there, come help us. We would like to register our party and take up two quests from the board at the same time!"

Shaking her head, she smiled as well and quickly ran back to the desk.

"Sorry about that. I was just…" She took a deep breath, to calm herself down. Taking a few seconds to collect her thoughts only then did she continue, with a much cooler tone. "It doesn't matter, sorry. So, Aiden, Cole, what can I help you with?"

Aiden looked at the boy next to him and nudged him forward. 

"Show her the papers you took!" He whispered into his ears.

"Y-yeah, uhm…" Cole nervously placed the two almost completely crumpled pieces of paper on the desk, in front of Mary. With an elevated tone due to his anxiousness he spoke.

"W-we would like to take these quests together as a new party. W-we would be the members. C-could you register us please?"

Taking both papers, Mary silently looked them over for a while before he finally looked up and nodded.

"Yes, these should be okay. So, you two would be taking this on as a new party? Have you decided on a name?"

"Uhm, we don't have one…" Cole answered embarrassedly while averting his gaze and looking towards the ground. Why didn't he think of a name while waiting for Aiden? How could he be this stupid?!

"Mary, could you just create the party with our names? As per our agreement with Miss Rox, I should have-" Aiden began to calmly answer, but he was interrupted by a hoarse yell from behind.

"Hold it right there! Our group will take those quests. Attendant, register it under the Bloody Dagger party!"

A dumpy, rough-looking man with an unkempt, stubbled face stepped forward. Behind him, a group of four-man garbed in dark leather armor and a pair of daggers on each of their sides were looking viciously at the duo.

Looking at the approaching man, Mary looked at the man with fright in her eyes. Taking a moment once again, she exhaled to collect herself and spoke with a weaker voice.

"B-but Mr. Ross, both quests were already picked up by Mr. Pharas here. By right, they have the right to register it under their name, and unless they willingly gave it to you, you can't forcibly interfere." 

Hearing the attendant's words, the man frowned. However, he waved at his man who then promptly surrounded both boys, looking at them with eyes full of cruelty. It was clear that they didn't think too much about the duo. After all, they both looked fragile, weak boys. Nothing compared to their experienced group of ruffians.

"Oh, don't worry about that Miss. I am sure that both young men will be wise and know that these quests would be too much for them to handle alone. Besides, they don't even have a group yet, how could they take these two on?"

He turned around, looking at the terrified Cole and the strangely calm looking unknown youth. He looked at the black-haired youth with puzzled eyes, did he not understand the gravity of the situation they were in? Is he an idiot? 

Nevertheless, he quickly regained his wit, and with a fake smile, he clapped his hands, grabbing the attention of both. While Cole had the expression he wanted, the other boy's nonchalant attitude started to irk him quite a bit. Still, he kept it in as he was sure he will have many opportunities to teach him 'manners' soon. 

"So, what do you two say, we would temporarily allow you both to join us, and we can complete these challenging tasks together! That way, we could also show you how things are done, and you could gain some valuable experience! Doing these two quests alone could cause you unexpected harm!"

Although he was smiling, his eyes had a cruel, menacing glint in them that didn't escape Aiden's attention. Aiden's lips curved into a small smile as he thought of an idea.