Outskirts of Yumin—Yumin Forest [6:12 PM].
Through the forest of Yumin, a young man with pitch-black dark hair and two twin-blades in hand swiftly leapt forward over towards the few monsters in front of him. In the next moment, he quickly swept through the mobs and turned them into grey ash.
"Hah..." The young man—Damian, uttered out in a tired breath as his eyes glanced around the premise in search of new monsters to hunt. "...not good enough."
Despite feeling fatigued all over his body, Damian completely ignored his own well being as he continued on. With a tight grip on his blades, he was ready to strike at the next monster that would appear.
"..." Taking a step forward through the woods, a certain sound soon came from the bushes near him. Taking note of that, his head turned towards the bush as he slowly prepared to initiate an attack on whatever monster that may come out of the bush. However, what greeted him wasn't that of a monster.
"...ah?" From the bushes, a familiar man appeared before him. With blue hair and calm eyes, Damian noted that it was Roy. "...Damian. You've been out here fighting monsters all this time? You know Orelia's worried sick of you."
"Ah. It has gotten this late already?" Damian replied listlessly. "My bad. I'll take my leave then since I'm done for the day."
"..." Shaking his head helplessly, Roy called out to him. "How many mana cores did you gain today from fighting all those monsters?"
"...46? 50? I don't know. I've lost count after 30," Damian stated as he slightly struggled to move. "...just think of it as both of our harvest for today."
"So you've been doing this on behalf of Fei too, huh?" Roy tilted his head. "That's some goodwill you're showing. But... You're pushing yourself too hard. Is it really that bad between you two?"
"..." Damian kept silent as he sheathed his sword. "No comment. It's getting late and I'm quite tired. So... Can we please go back to town now?"
"Sigh... Then let's go then," Roy answered without another word to say. "However. Before you go back to wash up, Orelia apparently has some important announcement to announce at the guild."
"Huh?" Damian raised his brow. "An important announcement?"
"You'll see when we get back," with nothing left to say, Roy turned around as he began leaving the premise. "In any case, let's get going. We don't want to keep the others waiting for too long."
"..." With slight thoughts going on within his head, Damian sighed as he began following behind on Roy, though at a pace at which he could conserve his remaining energy.
...
The Lakeside Town, Yumin—Guildhall [6:34 PM].
With the sounds of the doors opening within the guildhall, Damian and Roy who had finally arrived at the building were greeted by a woman who seemed rather unhappy yet with a slight face of relief at the sight of the young man.
"Damian!" The woman—Orelia, cried out. "Where have you been?! You only had two tasks today! How on earth did it take that long to do both?"
"...my bad. I guess I sort of lost track of time whilst I was defeating the monsters," Damian answered. "I'm sorry for making you worried."
"Sigh, you..." Orelia frowned as her eyes turned to Roy and then back to Damian. "Well, whatever. Have a seat over by the tables and I'll start with the announcement and then later we can have dinner."
"...right," Damian answered unsurely as he began walking past Orelia, quickly heading towards the table that she had pointed at. Nearing the area, his face turned reluctant as he saw that Fei had been staring at Damian with an unwilling and evasive look. "..."
Helpless at her demeanour, Damian averted his gaze away from Fei and turned towards the area where Roy had sat, which was far from Fei. In the next moment, he made his way over to the area and sat together with him.
"Ahem~ Now, now everyone!" Orelia uttered in a loud voice that rang through the room whilst clasping her hands. "I've got an important announcement to make!"
"...ugh, Orelia..." Fei muttered out as she pouted. "How long are you going to keep saying this? It's been hours since I've sat at this table... I'm kind of getting hungry..."
"Now, now Fei! We've had to wait around for your dear brother to come back!" Orelia stated. "But now that his back~ I shall stop beating around the bush and get right to it!" she coughed, clearing her throat. "Ahem... Today, I announce that the branch of Yumin, specifically, the name of Fei, Damian, Xander and I, Orelia shall be going on a trip!"
"...a trip?" Damian blinked. "W-What do you mean?"
"I mean what I mean!" Orelia firmly stated. "A trip to Brime! I figured as new additions to the guild branch, I will gladly take you around for your first trip out of town as guild rankers!"
"...um," Fei murmured in an unsure tone whilst biting her lips. "Is that... Really what you want? A first trip out of town as guild rankers... After the guild exam... After this whole incident... That's just..."
"It is how it is," Roy shrugged. "Orelia wants a vacation after all."
"...a vacation?" Orelia frowned. "No! It is for the importance of bringing out the kids to see the world as guild rankers! They'll be taking up tasks of doing guild jobs from the trip while they're out and about to gain experience!"
"...sounds like an excuse to me," Xander glared at Orelia. "You just really want a vacation don't you?"
"Haha... Well, it can't be helped," Balmar chuckled. "You can have your vacation."
"Excuse me! It is not a vacation!" Orelia cried out. "We're going out for guild business! Nothing else of that sort!"
"...Balmar? You're really letting Orelia go on a vacation?" Damian thought to himself. "...I guess that's warranted for since she's been working hard, but... Why are we being dragged into this mess?"
"Hey, don't ignore the reasons I gave!" Orelia pouted. "I mean what I mean! And I plan on staying true to those words!"
"...yeah right," Xander sighed. "I'll be the judge of that."
"...cough," Orelia coughed. "In any case! We leave tomorrow! So you guys best get ready!"
"...we're leaving tomorrow?" Fei uttered out. "Is it... Really okay? I mean... What happened yesterday... I..." she frowned. "—I don't think it's a good idea. Going out like this and acting as if nothing had happened yesterday, this is just..."
"...Fei," she sighed. "It's fine. It's fine if you'll be sulking the entire day, however, that's that! I'm not going to let you be a lazy bum and not do any tasks, you hear me? So the decisions final! We're going out tomorrow!"
"...but," Fei muttered out as she was quickly interrupted by Damian.
"Sigh... If that's how it is, then fine," Damian silently stood up from his seat. "If there's nothing more to the announcement, then I'll be taking my leave. I'll see you tomorrow," turning towards Fei who seemed intent on remaining at the guildhall, Damian sighed as he began walking over to the entrance of the building, soon leaving the guildhall, quickly making his way back to the cottage.
"Huh? Damian!" Orelia cried out. "You're going to skip dinner that's prepared here?!" However, despite shouting, Damian had already left the premise. "Sigh... This guy..."
"..." With her mouth now closed, Fei frowned. "Can I just... Think about it? For now, I just want some time alone before giving an answer. But... I'll stay for dinner and go back to the room right after. So... Can we just start eating now?"
"I guess there's no delaying it," Aina nodded her head. "Come, everyone! Let's dig in for another day of hard work at the guild!"
With the announcement done, Orelia helplessly sat next to Fei as the dishes were laid out in front of her. "...sigh. I hope this works," muttering out in a hushed voice, the dishes that were prepared by Yena were beginning to be chowed down by the guilders until nothing was left.