"Would you like another glass Ice goddess?" A nervous waiter asked. Carlin nodded before taking the glass of water out of his tray. The waiter looked so happy when he made eye contact with the women.
"Umm...can I have your autograph?" He asked nervously as he brought out a pen and paper. Carlin let out a tired smile before signing her name for the man. The man thanked the women genuinely before leaving. Half way through her glass, another waiter suddenly came holding another glass of water.
"Um, dear goddess. Would you like another glass." Carlin looked oddly at the man before pointing at her drink. The waiter looked embarrassed when he realized this but, he did not stay down. He quickly brought out his own pen and paper.
"That was just an excuse. I just want an autograph." Carlin could only smile awkwardly.
"Sure. " She quickly signed his paper and let the man go happily. Carlin did not even get another chance to sip her drink when another waiter arrived with a glass of water.
Carlin: "..."
By the time a fully rested Erin and Mevern got down stairs, Carlin was swamped by fanboys. Mevern and Erin just stared in amazement at the quantity of people entering the dining area of the inn. Carlin was used to the crazy fanboys and swiftly signed all of their papers, cards, and...pillows? Anyway, Erin and Mevern had finished their breakfast and even had desert before Carlin was finally able to see them.
Once she saw that they were there, she quickly greeted them.
"I am sorry for the delay." She said apologetically. Erin did not seem to mind though which was a relief to Carlin.
"Its ok." Carlin sat beside the two which caused the fanboys to question his identity.
"Now as you were saying before, you want to continue with the alliance?" Carlin nodded.
"Its the only way the plan would work. We need to clear the dungeon as soon as possible."
"But from what you were saying before, there are only 10 2 rankers between the 3 of you. Don't you think it would be better to include the Mayor's people as well? If you really don't want to see a large power shift in the city." Carlin face turned a little sour at the mention of the Mayor.
"Well..."
"I am not here to cause a huge shift. You do realize what would happen in Clover if North Grove shifted away from neutral right?" Carlin sighed as she nodded.
"Chaos."
As the two continued to talk, Mevern just stood quietly to the side. Erin had already warned her to not talk too much in public. On the other end of the diner, the minds of the fanboys were running wild.
"Where they lovers?"
"Were they just friends?"
"Is that their child?"
"Is he blackmailing our goddess?"
"He must be a evil mobster taking a child hostage and our goddess is trying to protect the child. He must have forced her to go on a date with him." Everyone turned to the waiter who said this. They all slowly nodded in unison. It was the only thing that made sense!
"Why do you hate the mayor anyway?" Erin asked casually. Carlin's mind wondered to a time before the Expansion era and she could not help but briefly frown.
"...Its complicated." When the fanboys saw their goddess's expression, they could not take it anymore. The less than happy group marched in unison to Erin's table.
"How dare you cause our goddess grief!" A chubby man said angrily.
"Who do you think you are!?" Another scrawnier man screamed.
"Do you think you can get away with this you vile villain. We would rather die before we let this date continue!" A buffer man said as he marched in front of the confused Erin.
"Vile villain?" Erin echoed as he looked back at Carlin.
"Date?" Carlin repeated as she looked at the surrounding fanboys.
"I think there has been a misunderstanding..." Erin said calmly as he saw some of them bring out less then adequate weapons.
"Shush you scumbag!" Erin raised his brow as he heard this. He suddenly turned to Carlin.
"Would you mind having a few headless fans?" Carlin was also annoyed by the sudden confrontation from these men. In a moment she brought out her hand and pointed it at the men. Her eyes turned cold as she slowly captured them in ice.
The fanboys were shocked at this sudden attack but their legs were already frozen so they could not escape. Carlin only lowered her hand down when the ice reached their necks. Erin crept out a smile when he saw this.
"I guess goddesses also have a limit with their patience." Carlin continued to stare down the men with an icy glare. None of them could even say a word as they were frozen by fear.
"We should go to a more private area. I know a place." Erin nodded at this suggestion.
"You can call the guild masters and Mayor while we are at it. " Carlin agreed to this statement and the three left the inn leaving the ice statues to defrost on their own.
Mayor ran speedily out of her office when she heard of the meeting. Her poor secretary sighed as she saw all the papers that she had been meaning to sign.
The Mayor arrived at the most prestigious restaurant in record time. Carlin had booked a sound canceling room so that the group would talk in privacy. When the Mayor opened the door to their room she saw that everyone was already there and the food had already been served. Even her husband was there.
"I am sorry for my tardiness, I somehow got the message an hour later then everyone else." Anelisa said as she stared daggers at Carlin who acted innocent to the whole thing.
"My bad. I must have forgotten to include you in the mass text. An honest mistake."
"Ha, A mistake my ass!"
"Well, you are quite feisty today. What happened? Gained a few pounds." Anelisa gasped as she felt a face.
"How dare you! Hmmph. Even if I did, I would still be able beat you in a beauty contest in a heart beat!" Carlin frowned when she heard this.
"Do you think you actually won that fair and square. It was obviously rigged!" The two continued to argue as the rest ate their lunch as if nothing was happening. Erin turned to Alfred who was right beside him.
"Are they always this way." Alfred sighed as he nodded.
"Indeed. I heard that even before the great expansion, they were rivals in college. Even then, they were known as ice goddess and fire goddess. Apparently, Anelisa was just as hot tempered and Carlin was a cold harsh women." Erin raised his brows when he heard that.
"Interesting." After the two stopped barking across the room, Christopher was finally begin their introductions.
"As I was saying before, this is Major Justin Kingsberg. He was stationed here after the the S rank dungeon appeared to guard the gates entering and leaving North Grove. " Christopher said this as he pointed to the calm man sitting beside the hot headed mayor. Major Kingsberg nodded to greet Erin.
"The women standing beside him is his wife, the Mayor of North Grove. You already know Carlin, this is her Guild master Serena Larry." Erin turned to see a blonde women in her thirties. She greeted Erin with a smile.
"It is nice to finally meet your acquaintance Erin." She said sweetly. Christopher continued.
"The man over here is the guild master of Lightning warriors John Mendilth." A sharp eyed middle aged man stared at Erin confidently.
"Hello Mr. Silvers."
"And the last man is the guild master of Epic troopers, Terran Nightgale." Terran awkwardly nodded as he acknowledged Erin's existence. Erin clasped his hand and smiled once he was introduced to all the necessary people.
"Now you all have already been caught up about the plan. All the 2 rankers in your group will join me and my little sister in the raid tomorrow. As you may have heard from Carlin, yes, I am a third ranker and so, I will be leading this raid." Everyone agreed to this decision although some were less happy then others.
"The raid is happening the day after tomorrow as previously scheduled but, there will a few changes to how things are done. Firstly, I will examine all of your 2 rankers and put them into groups." The guild masters and Major Kingsberg were surprised by this statement. Terran was the first to respond.
"Erin, you do realize that we as the guild masters know our members strength best...." Terran said coolly. Erin smirked as he heard this.
"You do realize that I don't easily forgive people who try to kidnap my sister in the middle of the night right?" Terran coughed awkwardly before letting Erin continue.
"secondly, I will also go out earlier to observe the place before our appointed raid time." Christopher turned to Erin when he heard that.
"Why would that be?" Erin smiled mysteriously.
"I did not come here to answer questions. I came here to assist and deflect a possible storm in this country." Christopher could only awkwardly nod his head. After he said that, it was hard for others to speak up again. Erin smiled when he saw this.
"I see that there are no more stupid questions. Great. Now, we will talk about dungeon reward distribution." Everyone listened attentively to this part.
"I will take 30% plus the Boss monster items and I have already done the math. If we count Mayor office and Major's men as different groups, each group will take 14%." John nodded as she had expected such a split. Serena, Justin, Anelisa and Terran were much less content with his proposition. Anelisa and Terran were not hesitant to express this discontentment.
"14%!? You are only 2 people! I am taking twice as many men along with me!" Terran protested.
"Isn't that a little low? And to take the Boss items as well?" Anelisa complained. Erin slammed his hands down as the two argued. The sound wave from the slam echoed through the room. The door shook for a few seconds and by the time it stopped shaking, the two had already shut their mouths tightly. Erin stared at the two with glaring eyes.
"Let me ask a simple question. Is anyone of you a third ranker? If so, you can also get 30% Do any of you have a druid class? If so, you can get 30%. I am not here to bend my back to your will. You can hire thugs to do that for you." Terran's eyes narrowed as he heard this.
"I am here because of my own reasons. I am only helping you all because I am already tangled up in this bullshit battle so I might as well end it so no one losses. But...don't think for a second that I can't do this raid without a few 2 rankers."
As everyone was still shocked by his sudden show of strength, Mevern continued to sip her tea calmly.