"Why?" Ian asks.
Karl stops for a second and looks away, avoiding eye contact. "We just had slight misunderstanding." Ian raises his eyebrow in question.
Just then, the waiter arrives with the order. One looks like a large black coffee and other looks like vanilla ice cream with honey and some cream on a glass full of milk.
Karl grabs the black coffee and drinks it. 'Tastes like raw coffee beans.'
Ian also takes his cup and drinks it, he sees Karl's eye on his coffee. "Do you want some?" He offers.
Karl nods and takes Ian's cup. When the coffee touches Karl's lips his teeth aches due to cold ice cream and his tongue burns due to hotness. Karl takes few more sips. 'It's perfect!'
From his expression alone the waiter and Ian could guess that Karl liked this coffee more than his own.
"By the way, you saw the news?" Ian asks.
Karl who is lost in taste nods slowly.
Ian leans in and whispers "According to the insiders, federation barely managed to drove the vampyers away. The news of elimination was to calm the public down. Ever since the news of vampyer infiltration came out, the stock market, general stores even the adventure guild stopped functioning due to the lack of people."
"So the federation lied to keep up the general public's morale, huh?" Karl completes Ian's sentence.
"Exactly. If you are planning to go on an adventure now is the perfect time. As there are too many requests piling up and far less adventurers to complete it. Spiking the reward amount of every available quests." Karl nods in understanding, his black coffee almost empty.
"Speaking of adventures, did you bought yourself a permanent weapon?" Ian asks.
"Well, now that I have some money. I was thinking of buying one in the auction alongside the book." Karl explains.
"Don't do that. I was talking to my father and he suggested that Phirsecot knighthood will provide you an excellent weapon. It is to show people that you are representing the Phirsecot knighthood in the tournament." Karl agrees immediately.
'Who says no to free stuff?'
Seeing Karl's cup empty Ian asks if he wants anything but Karl declines.
"I have some things to sort out before going on the adventure so I need to go." He excuses.
Ian looks at Karl suspiciously but doesn't stop him.
Karl comes out of the coffee shop and walks straight to the main gate of the academy. Once outside of the academy he stops on the main road. 'Sabre guild huh?' Karl vividly remembers Leonard's guild.
According to the internet, it is a small scale guild with less than 500 members. The guildmaster isn't even a low knight. Currently Karl is associated with this guild which means he cannot join another guild unless he leaves this one first. Going back as a mercenary isn't an option because the federation is too active and Karl doesn't want to take the risk. The face of the chief flashes in Karl's mind. Ultimately, Karl decides to join Sabre guild.
He taps on his watch and searches for a route to the Sabre guild. He clicks on the shortest route and starts his journey to the guild.
Back in the academy, Ian is still in the coffee shop drinking his half-emptied coffee.
'Something's fishy. He has work suddenly and that pause when talking about Andressa. Should I ask her myself?'
After for few minutes Ian decides to call Andressa. "H-Hello?"
"Oh, hey. Did I disturbed you while sleeping?" Ian asks.
"No. I woke up long ago."
"That's good. Anyways, did something happen between you and Leonard? He is acting a bit weird."
Andressa pauses for few seconds. "Actually, the thing is-" She explains her yesterday's stunt.
Ian chuckles loudly. "Wow. I never thought you of all people would be this bold."
"S-Stop it. I shouldn't have done that. It's my fault that I got rejected."
"Rejected? He didn't say anything. Maybe he got overwhelmed by your strong approach or he got embarrassed because it's his first time?"
"Then, what should I do? I can't upset him anymore."
Ian thinks for a second and reaches a conclusion. "Just formally ask him out. Show your interest in him. We are talking about Leo here; he is kind of dumb. If you properly propose to him, I am sure he will accept."
Andressa blushes brightly. "Y-You are right. When should I do it?"
"How about at the auction? I will book a private compartment for you guys; there you can propose to him."
"Sure, sounds like a great plan."
"And don't be scared. I know him, he likes you too. Just be confident." Ian encourages her.
"Yes. Thank you for the advice."
"Anytime." With this Ian hangs up the call.
'Just accept her you idiot. How long are you going to wait.' He thinks looking at his empty glass.
Karl reached the Sabre guild. It is small wooden bungalow which is on the verge of collapsing. There is no-one at the entrance. Up close, the bungalow looks unmannered and unclean.
Karl goes inside. There he sees a small wooden counter and few tables with chairs around it. Behind the counter there is a stairway leading upstairs. On the left side, there is an almost empty quest board.
'Is there no one here?' He wonders as everything looks empty. He walks towards the counter and sees a small kid sleeping behind the counter. He has brown hair and he seems to be around 12-13 years old. Karl shakes the child. The boy wakes up and yawns.
"Hello, do you work here?" The child is frozen as he stares at Karl.
"Um. Is there anyone I could talk to?" Karl asks again.
The child quickly turns around and yells loudly. "BIG SISTER! A NEW ADVENTURER IS HERE!"
Few seconds later, a girl who was same light brown hair, a pretty face and brown coloured eyes comes running from the room on the right.
"Fen! I told you to look after the counter. How could you sleep?"
"I did not sleep." A trail of drool could be seen on Fen's face.
The girl turns to Karl and smiles brightly. "Welcome! You here to register in our Sabre guild, right?"
Before Karl could answer Fen cuts in. "Please register big brother!" he requests.
"Sorry to disappoint you. But I am already a member of this guild."
"What? I never saw you."
The glow and hope on that woman's face vanishes and she sighs loudly. "So? Are you here to ask for the resignation letter?"
"No. I actually lost my guild card. I am here to get a new one and possibly accept a quest."
When the word quest came from Karl's voice the woman smiled once more. "Quest? Hahaha. You should have said this before. May I know your name warrior?"
"Leonard Avaritia." The woman opens a dusty draw and grabs a modern tablet from it. On the tablet, she searches for Karl's name. Leonard's entire profile opens. There is various information about Leonard is mentioned but Karl only cares about 2 sentences.
Which are [Rank: White Dwarf] and [Number of quests completed: 3].
Even an idiot could tell that Leonard was bad adventurer if not worst.
The woman expression quickly changes. "There is the quest board and your card will be issued to you in 10 minutes. Wait here." Her voice quickly picks up a rude tone. Karl watches her go upstairs.
"Are you not strong, big brother?" Little Fen asks.
"I cannot say strong but I am more than capable." Karl answers as he pats little Fen's head.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because big sister loves strong people! Strong people need to come in the guild so it can run." Fen says it in enthusactic voice.
"Where did everyone go?"
Fen's expression turns sad. "After uncle Tarak left, everybody slowly left. Few strong people stayed but now they too are gone."
'People left this, huh?' Karl glances around and only sees empty chairs with dust. 'This place might not be the best for gaining experience.'
Fen looks at Karl. "Are you going to leave too?" Karl's head slightly hurts.
"No, I am going stay." Leonard answers. Fen sees a faint purple glow in Leonard's eyes. He walks to the quest board and scans the board.
On the watch screen, there are only 17 quests. Karl reads them one by one and selects two quests. [Collect 3 kgs of Felant grass] and a rather familiar one. [Kill 10 white manned desert wolves.]
Karl selects two of them and walks to back to the counter. After a while, the woman comes back with Karl's card in hand. She tosses it to Karl and he catches it.
"Don't lose it again or there will be a charges next time." Karl nods.
"So, are any quest doable for you?" She taunts.
Karl shows her his watch. "Actually, want to accept two quests at the same time. Is it possible?"
The woman reads the quests and laughs loudly. "You want to kill white manned desert wolves? You are just a student who didn't graduate yet. This is a death wish."
Karl smiles. "What if I say I could complete these two quests under a day?"
"Hah! I would be surprised if you could even complete the first quest."
"Wanna bet?"
"Bet? Do you even have money-" Karl takes out his debit card and slams it on the counter.
"It's Remnant and Co card, big sister!" Fen declares.
"S-so what? He doesn't have any money in it."
"1 yellow photon." Karl says it slowly.
"What?"
"If I can't complete these two quests under a day I will donate a yellow photon to the guild."
The woman makes a complicated expression. "Are you serious?"
"Yes." The woman looks at the Remnant and Co card.
"BUT!"
Karl picks his debit card back. "If I win, I need something in equal to the money I am offering." The woman swallows her own saliva.
"Don't think too much. A golden opportunity has come to your door. A chance to restore Sabre guild back to glory. Take it." Karl extends his hand as he manipulates her.
In a pinch situation the woman takes Karl's hand hesitantly. 'Caught you.'
"So, what am I getting?" Karl asks.
'Please be something that will allows me to take bigger quests and make money too.' He hopes in his mind.
The woman steps back and takes a deep breath. Fen covers his ears. "I, Joseline Theodore, the current guildmaster of Sabre guild, hereby swear if I lose this bet that I will make Leonard Avaritia the vice guildmaster!" She announces in a loud voice.
'What?'