After opening my eyes, my eyes were met with a ceiling that I have not seen before.
"Where am I," I asked instinctively. It was a cliché line, it felt like an obvious thing to say in a situation like this.
A voice replied, "In my house.". It was the voice of Frank.
He continued to wave his hand in front of my eye like he was checking my vision.
"Do you remember who I am?" asked Frank.
Is he checking my memory right after I woke up after being passed out? Isn't it too cliché?
"You are...." I stroked my chin as if I was in deep thought.
"Who are you?"
Frank grabbed me "Okay, let's go get your head checked,"
I sook his hands off " I am joking, of course, I know you.".
I narrowed my eyes as if I was trying to pinpoint that where I know him from.
"Oh that's right, you are Spank!!!" I said in an excited tone like I finally remembered him.
"Don't butcher someone's name like that." Said Frank, as grabbed me again "Let's get your head checked."
As he was pulling me, he saw my burn scars in my left hand.
the scar extended from my shoulder till wrist, covering most of my left hand.
"This--" he was hesitant to ask something. I knew what he wanted to ask.
"Do you want to know about this burn scar?" I asked.
to which he nodded hesitantly"Yes if you are okay with it."
"I got this scar because of an incident I was caught in to, because of that even half of my face was burned off," I said.
"But your face, it's smooth without any scars," he said.
"The burn disappeared for an unknown reason leaving no scar behind."
I got close to his face as I said "But if I circulate my mana into my face, you can slightly see the scar."
"Why are so close--" he paused before completing his sentence.
"You are right, I can see slightly see the scars. No, this can't be called scars. it shining in a shade of orange and yellow."
He continued "Looking up closer, even your eyes are different colored. your right eye is bright violet-indigo colored and your left eye has a hint of orange and silver in your violet-indigo left eye."
Later Frank's expression changed, his face turned instant red.
"Why are you so close to my face!!!! don't you have any sense of personal space?!!"
"You guys seem to get along well." Said A young handsome man who just entered the room.
"No, you are wrong!!" strongly denied Frank.
I looked at the young man who just entered the room, I was curious about who he was.
"Oh pardon my rudeness, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Eddie Horn's, the eldest son of the Horn's family." He said as he stretched his hand for a handshake.
"No, it wasn't rude of you," I said as I took the offer for a handshake.
"My name is Grey." I introduced myself.
"Your family name? You never told us your family name." Asked Frank furrowing his brow.
"I don't have a family name, I am an orphan," I said scratching my head awkwardly.
I lied. Of course, I can't let them know that I am a Hoffmann.
Eddie smacked Frank's head gently and said:
"It's rude to ask someone their family name."
Eddie turned to face me and said "I hope you don't mind his rudeness."
Damn, this guy is nice through and through.
"Um-" I opened my mouth to say something but I hesitated a bit.
"Do you want to say something?" asked Eddie.
"Will it be rude to call you big brother Eddie?" I asked.
A smile formed on big brother Eddie's face " Sure, you can!! But big brother will be too long. So you can call me just brother Eddie instead."
"Our conversation went on so smoothly that I forgot to ask most of the important questions.... who brought me here?" I asked.
"I did." Replied Brother Eddie, he continued "I was inside the forest with my team. There I found you, lying on the ground. Your condition was pretty bad, So I rushed you to my house."
So he was the one that saved my life.
Judging from the fact that he was with his team at that part of the forest means he is one of the S rank hunters that was dispatched by the adventure guild.
I sat straight on the bed and bowed my head "Thank you for saving my life." I thanked.
"No, it wasn't anything big. I can't leave an injured person alone." Said Brother Eddie.
He is a good guy. This guy must be the protagonist of some story!!.
"By the way, how did you get injured this bad?" Asked Frank.
I can't say that I was fighting a monster that even A rank hunters couldn't defeat and won.
Wait, why should I hide it? there is no reason for me to hide it. I have a plan!.
"I was hunting a monster. After the fight, I was left in that state, but I was successful." I said.
I continued before they had a chance to say something "That monster looked awfully like a hobgoblin.".
"But hobgoblin's are creatures." Objected Frank.
"Yes, but that hobgoblin had the strength and power of a monster and it even dropped mana crystal at the end," I said.
"Frank, can you step out. I want to ask Grey something." Said Brother Eddie.
Without any objection, Frank left the room.
"Can you show me the mana crystal?" asked brother Eddie.
"I was holding it in my hand before passing out," I said.
"Oh, that mana crystal you were holding on to? It is in this room with your other belongings." Said Brother Eddie as he stood up and walked towards the corner of the room.
There was a bag, he took out the mana rock.
"You are talking about his mana crystal?" he asked, as he showed it to me.
"Yes, this is the one," I confirmed.
"But, this is a normal rock. There seems to be nothing special about this crystal." He said.
"This was the crystal I found after defeating that monster," I said.
"wait for a second, I will pour my mana into it to confirm the grade of this rock." He said as he poured his mana in black mana crystal in his hand.
His eyes grew bigger in shock "This is—"
"Such pure mana, this is an S rank crystal. Unlike its appearance, it's an S rank crystal." He said.
"But, the mana inside this crystal feels different. How do I explain it….. Like it feels kind of ominous." He said.
"You think so?" I asked.
"Defeating an S rank monster is not a small feat. Even though they are ranked S, that doesn't mean an S rank hunter can defeat it alone. To defeat an S rank monster requires multiple S rank hunters.
That's why it's a big feat." He said.
"In truth, It was already injured when I found it.." I said.
"It was already injured?" he asked. He paused as he was pondering over something and said "It does make sense."
After a brief moment of silence, he asked, " Are you going to take it to the adventure guild to sell it?".
"About that….. I don't plan on taking on the credit to defeat that monster." I said Hesitantly.
"Do you have any reason?" Brother Eddie asked.
"It will cause a huge uproar If people were to find that a C rank hunter defeated an S rank monster and It was already pretty weakened when I fought it," I said.
"Then, should I sell It for you? It will sell at a great price." He insisted.
I bowed my head slightly before saying "I will gladly accept your offer."
I am in desperate need of money, I need to sell it.
I need money to save Annie.....