The main street in Eria, leading towards the Adventurer Guild, was buzzing with noise and voices.
No, that was the usual situation; there wasn't anything strange about it. Except that today it seemed somehow different, different because people stopped and were gossiping about something.
Even though Alex and Gracier found the atmosphere quite strange, they decided to continue; whatever had happened had nothing to do with them. So, they thought.
When Alex and Gracier entered the guild, it was crowded as usual, but today the atmosphere was somehow different. It was the same atmosphere as the two witnessed earlier when they came here.
The two continued advancing, but curiosity got the better of them; stretching his ears, Alex tried to listen to the gossiping Adventurers.
"Man, you'll never believe what happened last night," Said Adventurer A.
"What happened? Quickly share it. When coming here, I noticed the unusual atmosphere inside the town." Adventurer B said urging the other to share what he knew quickly
Chuckling, Adventurer A started explaining what happened last night, not forgetting to spice things a little bit.
"You know, last night, an illegal slave organization was raided. All the culprits were bound and the poor girls rescued."
"Fuck those trashes to think that something like this was inside our city. Tell me who raided this illegal organization." another Adventurer asked.
Pursuing his lips together, Adventurer A answered, "It was one girl."
The nearby Adventurer's eyes turned rounder when they heard the man.
"What? Only one girl? She must be strong then." Another Adventurer said after a moment of pondering.
"Strong, she beat fifty bandits by herself. Their Boss is Peak Rank 6, I heard." Adventurer A added.
Suu!!
All nearby Adventurers sucked a mouthful of air while inwardly praising the lady. However, Adventurer A, following words, sends a shiver down their crotches; unconsciously, they protected their family jewel.
"It's good that she saved the girls, but she was ruthless. Too ruthless, even though I know that those bandits are scums that deserve to be punished; however, the way she handled them was too ruthless; sigh!. She crushed their family jewel, erased what made them men forever. They became dickless."
"Indeed, she was ruthless." the Adventurers commented, still feeling chills down there.
Alex also feels a chill running down his crotch; that lady was indeed ruthless. Somehow, Alex had an idea of who the lady in question might be. He glanced at Gracier; the latter had a blank expression on her face as if lost in thoughts, but if you look closely, you could see that her lips were curved upward; she was fighting a grin.
"Let's go," Alex said, bringing Gracier out of her stupor; nodding her head, she followed him.
However, Alex had not taken his third when he almost stripped down; what Adventurer A said caught him off guard.
"You know people surnamed the mysterious lady, the Demoness, a.k.a The Nuts Crusher."
"Pfft. Hahahaha," Alex couldn't control himself any longer, so he started laughing; all nearby Adventurers glanced at him, seeing his unusual behavior; nevertheless, he must have his reason for laughing, shaking their heads, they returned gossiping.
Alex continued smiling as the two went toward Leena's counter. Suddenly, Alex heard Diaz mocking voice,
"Look, it seems that the whelp has finally become crazy. He laughs without any reason. Poor soul."
"Pfft, hahaha. He must be treated; maybe he didn't have money. Should we lend him some?" one of Diaz's men asked.
Chuckling, Diaz crossed his arms and put on a pondering expression as he replied, "Maybe, but Nah, I don't want to help him because he's a foul-mouthed junior."
"Big brother Alex." Gracier held Alex's hand when she heard Diaz mocking him. You could hear the concern in her voice.
Strangely Alex was not angry; smiling, Alex rubbed Gracier and the head and said. "Don't worry, Gracier, he's just a clown. Let's go."
Nodding her head Gracier followed after him. Diaz clicked his tongue in annoyance because his little trick had not worked.
When the two approached Leena's counter, they were surprised because Leena was frustrated. Her head lowered; when she sensed the two approached, her mood brightened, especially when she spotted a smiling Gracier.
"Welcome, you two. Little Cier Big sister is happy to see you. You're my sunshine; I hope you will always smile."
"Morning, Big sister. Are you looking so gloomy?" Gracier asked innocently.
"Ugh! Nothing, I just had a nightmare last night." Leena lied through her teeth.
"It that so. Well, don't worry, it's just a nightmare." Gracier comforted Leena while inwardly smiling, thinking, 'Big sister is so bad at lying, but I won't tell her I know she's lying, though.'
Alex chuckled; he felt that this little sister of his was somehow interesting; Leena had not noticed that Gracier had seen through her lie, or she chose to act like she hadn't.
Smiling, Alex decided to tease Leena, "Morning Nuts Cru-"
Feeling Leena's murderous glare, Alex quickly stopped whatever he was planning to say.
"Alex, boy, did you say something?" Leena asked, arms crossed, eyes narrowed dangerously.
Gulping, Alex shook his head and said, "Nothing, I was just greeting you. Morning Leena."
"Good. Morning Alex. I hope you slept well. Be prudent when speaking; who knows when the Nuts Crusher might visit you." Leena says with a mysterious smile.
Smiling, Alex didn't answer; suddenly, the two turned their heads to see a Gracier chuckling.
"What's wrong little Cier," Leena asked.
Shaking her need, Gracier replied, "Nothing, it's just that you two look like a bickering couple."
Alex and Leena exchanged glances before shaking their heads, thinking that they were unlikely to become couples.
For Alex, it was that he thought Leena was out of his reach as if she stood at the top. He didn't think he had a chance; maybe it would have been different if he was also at the top.
For Leena, it was simply because she didn't have time for something like romance. Maybe she will after achieving her goal.
Gracier looked at the two lost in thoughts with a mysterious smile.
Suddenly, a voice brought Alex and Leena out of their stupor. Glancing at the voice owner, Alex was startled because he remembered the girl; she was the plain girl they saw yesterday evening after leaving Dior's Store.
"Your pervert who was stalking me yesterday now that I saw you, I demand an explanation. Why are you stalking me?" the black-haired girl asked.
〖She's the funny type I see.〗Silveria, who hadn't talked since the morning, finally spoke after hearing the girl's words.
'What's so funny in what she just said? Call her troubles bringer type instead of funny type.' Alex said unhappily.
Frowning, Alex glared at the girl and said, "When did I become a stalker? I never saw you before. Yesterday was the first time I saw you. Do not slander me."
Gracier smiled and observed the two; she was sure that Alex would reencounter this girl; however, she had not thought it would have been so soon.
Leena looked amused because she knew how playful this Black haired girl could be. For proof, when the other Adventurers heard her voice, they thought it would have been something interesting; however, after seeing who the voice owner was, they lost all interest in the matter.
Pursuing her lips, the Black-haired crossed her arms and said, "You're lying. You're staring so intensely at me last night as if you can wait to assault me. I was so scared that I quickly fled. Thanks to the gods, you did not follow me because you saw that I took a busy road."
Feeling headache coming, Alex held his head and said in a frosty tone, "I say girl, you have read too many fantasy books to misinterpret your delusion as reality. Spare me from trouble, will you? I admit that I should not have stared so intensely at you, but it was because somehow I had the feeling that you're not what you're trying to show. That's all, I'm not some fuckin pervert, nor I'm one of the stalkers you read in your books."
The Black-haired girl's eyes shined for a moment when Alex mentioned about her hiding her true self. Inwardly she thought, 'Interesting. You're interesting, do you have some special eyes? It's worth looking into it.'
However, she was not planning to let the matter slide like that; when she wanted to continue pestering Alex, a voice cut her off.
"Okay, that enough, Eleonora. You have teased Alex enough." Leena chimed in.
Glancing at Leena, the Black haired girl, no Eleonora pouted, "Leena, you're no fun at all."
"Fufufu! Thanks for the praise. Let make the presentation. Alex, this is Eleonora, a future D Rank Adventurer, and Eleonora, this is Alex, he's also a future D Rank Adventurer. Maybe you will be taking the D Rank examination together." Leena said with a smile.
Alex's eyes widened; he had not thought the girl to be soon a D Rank Adventurer like him. For him, she will be an E Rank Adventurer at best.
On the other hand, the girl was also astonished by the news. Suddenly she smiled as she thought she was planning something.
Suddenly, someone shouted; this person was furious by the news of Alex becoming a D Rank Adventurer.
"It's unfair. I refuse to accept this. How can that whelp become D Rank just after registering just two weeks ago? He must have cheated." Diaz shouted, not believing in the news.
"Stop it, Diaz. One must have all information before contesting a decision you just heard. It's true that Alex recently became an Adventurer, but he has completed numerous quests; on his last quest, he killed an entire settlement of Goblins. Thirty Goblins, to be exact." a burly Adventurer explained after stopping Diaz.
"What?" Diaz and his men asked, eyes filled with disbelief.
"That not all. He even killed a rare species, something only D Rank Adventurer could face. So, it was normal that he would get promoted. So, stop saying something stupid before it becomes too late. The guild master will not go easy on you if you continue to question a decision he has taken." the burly Adventurer warned.
Diaz and his men's expression turned gloomy as they glared at Alex; the latter smiled in response.
Infuriated, Diaz decided to back down, but after laying down his last card, "Fine, I understand, but eh! the future D Rank wouldn't mind fighting against a poor E Rank Adventurer, will he? I provoke you to a duel. I dare you to accept it. You can refuse, but that will prove that you're nothing, just a lucky dude."
The other Adventurers' eyes shined when they heard Diaz provoking Alex to a duel. An exciting show was about to happen.
Alex smiled hearing Diaz provocation; truth be told, he had become somehow fed up with the man; he was planning to teach him a lesson, but he didn't know how, but who would have thought that the man in question would deliver himself on a silver plate to be sliced. How funny.
Before Alex could respond, Leena approached him and whispered something into his ear; Alex smiled brightly after hearing Leena's words.
"Okay, I accept; let's proceed outside." Alex accepted with a mysterious smile.
Even though Diaz and his men felt that something was wrong, especially after seeing the smiling Alex whose face held no fear, they still decided to continue. Everybody went outside; many Adventurers were ready to watch a good show. The bolder ones started betting on the winner.