When Lukas arrived at the guild, everyone was already there. It was dark since all the curtains were closed, which gave the place a somewhat gloomy atmosphere, especially since everyone was silent.
Lukas approached the centre of the room where the table and all the guild members were. Everyone was sitting in silence, looking a little sad about something.
"Huh... Did something happen?" Lukas asked as he removed his hood. The projector was not on, the laptop was in front of Karen, and she was the only person with her head up.
Lukas started to get worried even though he didn't care much about those people.
"Karen?" Since she was the only person who seemed willing to talk, he called out to her.
Karen looked at him and then looked at the laptop screen again. After that, Karen sighed and turned the laptop screen to Lukas. He then walked over and saw what was on the screen.
It was an email from the Hunter association.
"What? What do you mean I have to be removed from the guild?"
"Read the rest." Karen scratched her head and looked away.
[ An internal error occurred, which allowed Lukas Ortid to be listed as an active hunter.
You are to appear with Lukas during the afternoon tomorrow so that we can reassess things.
There is no valid signature of a responsible person in our system that allows Lukas to become a hunter. In Lukas' case, his father, the former hunter Aiden Ortid, or his mother, Janne Ortid.
I urge you to attend so that we can put things in order as soon as possible.
Att. Hunter Association ]
"A signature? But they didn't make my license? What do you mean?" Lukas turned away from the laptop and looked at Karen.
"I sent your data... Maybe I sent some incorrect data. Look at your license again."
Lukas pulled the license from his pocket.
"Date of birth, 2012? But I was born in 2015. I am 16 years old."
"..."
"You didn't do that on purpose, did you?"
"No, of course not! When it came time to send it, I sent the correct year, but maybe there was some mistake."
"But I looked at the data on my license when I got it. I'm sure that was correct." Lukas scratched his head as he looked at his license, throwing it on the floor.
"DAMMIT!" He stepped on his license and then turned his back to the table.
"Lukas, wait!" Karen got up and went after him, but Lukas kept walking and opened the front door.
"It's over! There's no way my mother or father will agree to sign a document so I can become a hunter."
"But..."
"I told you, it's over. I can wait two years, all right?" Lukas turned to look at Karen. He wasn't crying, but Karen could see the sadness and anger in his gaze.
Karen could do nothing but watch Lukas walk away with quick steps. She entered the house again next.
"Noelle, we need to visit the association to talk to them about this."
"But..."
"Don't worry. I won't do anything stupid. If I do something, they might want to disable the guild again."
"Fine. But what about Giovan and Ember?"
"The two of them will go to where Lukas lives and try to cheer him up. What do you guys think about that? Stay together with him until we sort this out."
"What?" Ember said in surprise. "I don't even know him properly! Why do I have to go after him and cheer him up?"
"You don't know him, but you're sad for him, aren't you?"
"Of course not." Ember turned her face away.
"Come on, Ember, don't be petty." Giovan took her hand and then stood up. "I like that boy. Even if he's not one to talk much, he's a good boy." Giovan smiled at Ember.
"Tsk" She then clicked her tongue and stood up. "But it's only today, you hear me? You have to solve this today."
Karen looked satisfied. "Don't worry. I'll get it sorted out."
####
"Damn, damn, damn!" In the park a few miles away, Lukas punched one of the trees several times. "Why did they accept it if they shouldn't have accepted it? Why?" Another punch was landed, opening a small cut on his hand.
Lukas then turned away from the tree and started walking through the park.
"When I was getting excited about all this, they say it was a mistake? That sucks..." Lukas lowered his tone of voice, discouraged. Then he walked over to the bench and sat down.
He took off his hoodie and put both hands on his head, wondering what he should do.
"Asking my mother or father to sign a document for me is impossible. After what happened, they will not allow their son to become a hunter. What should I do? Forge a signature?"
"No, don't be an idiot." Lukas looked to his right and saw Giovan. Behind him was Ember.
"What are you guys doing here?" Lukas put his hood back on and turned his face away.
"We're here to cheer you up a little."
"Cheer me up? Do you know what the association did?"
"Yes, I know what they did. I'm as angry as you are."
"They should have refused at once, but they accepted and treated me like an idiot."
"Yeah, the association sucks." Giovan smiled and sat down beside Lukas. He then looked at Ember.
"Listen, Lukas. Don't be so disappointed. Karen is trying to fix all this." Ember said.
"How is she going to do that?"
"I don't know, but I trust her."
"... I hope she doesn't do anything stupid."
"Don't worry. Trust our boss." Giovan gave a broad smile and then hugged Lukas with his right hand and pulled him close. "Listen. Ember also went through the same thing. She's 19 now, but when she tried to join the association, she was only 17."
"And what happened?"
"They didn't want to allow it. Since our mother and father are no longer here, I had to sign since I was responsible for her."
"Speaking of which, how old are you?"
"31."
"31? You look younger."
"Thanks for the compliment. No one in the guild is as young as they look, only Ember. Hahaha." Giovan laughed.
"I'm afraid to ask Karen's age."
"It's better you don't know." Giovan gave a sad smile. "Last time I found out, she almost opened my head to get the information out of my brain."
"Scary, hahaha." Lukas laughed for the first time since Giovan and Ember had met him.
Ember turned her face a little flushed. Giovan, on the other hand. "Oh, you should smile more, man. You look beautiful when you smile."
"Are you gay?"
"No, I was just complimenting you."
Lukas was having fun interacting with someone after a while.