Ken strolled through Hido City, heading toward the Adventure Association. His eyes flicked around, taking in the lively atmosphere. It was just past midday, and the earlier rush had eased. The stone walkways doubled as roads for carts, while laughter and chatter filled the air. People went about their day—kids played in the streets, players moved with purpose, trying to make sense of their quests, and guards kept the peace. Despite the tens of thousands of players roaming around, the city had a surprisingly calm and vibrant energy.
Ken appreciated the atmosphere—it was peaceful. Except... the stares. Eyes followed him everywhere, his looks never allowing him to be in public. It prompted him to quicken his pace. He didn't want to get dragged into any drama.
Arriving at the Adventure Association, Ken entered without delay, walking straight to the quest counter. The clerks, a male and a female, were still present. There are a few adventurers around too but Ken ignores them.
The morning rush was over, leaving the room relatively quiet. The adventures were either on rest time after having already taken a quest in the morning or just in the middle of the quest.
Ken stepped up to the counter, and the male clerk immediately straightened up, offering a polite smile.
"Here for a quest, Mr. Ken?" the clerk asked as he pulled out a stack of papers.
Ken nodded. "A gathering quest would be preferable."
Immediately, the clerk got to work, shifted through the stack of paper and pulled out 4 quests. He placed the quests down and pushed them to Ken who took and scanned them.
One of the quests stood out the most, 'Hmm, Red Fire Lily? That's an alchemist item, but 20 gold for this? Guess it's fair.'
Ken decided on the Red Fire Lily, which not to his knowledge, was now the hardest question available. but he did know that the Red Fire Lily only grows at the start of winter and is picked out by adventures on sight to sell. now, it was nearly the end of winter...
Ken placed the quests, separating the Red Fire Lily from the others, "I will take this quest," He said as he tapped the Red Fire Lily quest.
The Clerk's expression stiffened slightly, but seeing Ken's neutral expression, which was Ken's 'don't want to be bothered expression' gave the idea that Ken knew, so the Clerk didn't bother speaking out and just nodded and processed the quest. He took out a thick resister book and wrote down Ken's name and his quest, and it was done.
"Will that be all?" The Clerk asked
"Yes that would be all, have a good day," Ken said and the Clerk's smile widened.
"Same to you, Sir."
Ken didn't say a second longer and walked off, going to a certain place. Ken walked at a brisk pace, going through alleyways, and avoiding the crowd. He kept his pace, About half an hour later, after taking a few shortcuts, he found using the game map, he was in front of a shop.
Siria's shop.
Without hesitation, Ken opened the door and stepped in.
Ring ring!
The doorbell rang, alerting Siria who was lazily sitting behind the counter.
"Oh, a customer~!" Siria's demeanor instantly changed to an excited out as she stood up with a big smile.
"Siria Grandheart, The now-forgotten Queen of VR Gaming," Ken spoke as he stepped in front of the counter.
"Ho ho ho!? Someone recognized me~! And that someone is sure handsome as well~! Is it my lucky day!!" Siria bashfully and teasingly exclaimed, but her eyes stared deeply into Ken,
'So this is the Valxin princes~ I meant the princess already, and now the princes. Should I say I am lucky? Or unlucky, since I am for sure getting involved with the Valxin, I say both!' Siria playfully though, but she was serious and a little concerned.
"Not really, you are still single," Ken unhesitatingly shut her down bluntly, making Siria hang her head.
"Uhh... you didn't have to bring that up..." Siria groaned, 'Great! Even the Valxin prince knows I am single! What a great day!' she sobbed in her mind.
Siria looked up at Ken, giving him a quick look over, and was unable to ignore the bag. Her eyes widened as she gave the back a quick inspection with her eyes, which didn't even take a tenth of a second.
"Where did you get a bag like this? There's no way anyone can make such high-quality bags here..." She directly asked, while she stared at Ken, checking him out, 'Just like Eva said, he looks like his dad but his mom's genes did him good, made him a little cuter,' she mused, a small smile coming to her lips.
Ken placed the bag on the counter, his smile turning amused as Siria didn't hide she was checking him out. "All I can say is, I bought it,"
Siria gave a 'Really?' look and didn't question further. She unzipped the bad and immediately the smell of blood wafted out, causing Siria's brows to rise in surprise. "A Cyclops heart,"
She reached down and, without any disgust, took a hand full of the Cyclops heart which was in pieces. She let them fall into the bag and shifted her attention to the fangs and claws, her eyes narrowing.
"Andrewsarchus... The most obnoxious monster out there." Siria muttered as she picked the fangs and claws out and inspected them. "A baby Andrewsarchus, by the looks of it, this one is just around 30 years old," she said to her analyst and looked at Ken, who was surprised to find out that it was just a baby.
"A baby? This thing?" Ken was skeptical, as far as he remembered in the anime, there was no mention of it being a baby...
"Yep, a baby. 30 years for an Andrewsarchus is equal to 7 years for a human, They are usually quiet when they are still a child. But when they are adults... Arr! Hellishly obnoxious! They can't get a break, they got to howl every 10 minutes!" She groaned and flipped her hand, causing the fangs and claws to fall into the bag.
"There aren't many left in the world now, their obnoxiousness become death of them. They are eliminated on sight by all those who can, or a hunt will start to kill them." Siria added and placed her hand that didn't touch the contents of the bag on the table and used it as support.
Ken pondered for a second, realizing where this was going and that was proven the very next moment.
"So, mind telling me where you killed this thing?" Siria asked
"20 kilometers away from the city, and about 3 kilometers to the right from the dungeon."
Ken didn't bother hiding it, he wasn't dumb enough to try and fight an adult Andrewsarchus, which in his mind was likely a beast rank or higher, which is impossible to deal with at his current level.
"Hmm, thank you," Siria nodded in gratitude and then made an offer, "Here is my offer now. 50 gold for the heart, and 400 for the fangs and claws. As a thank you for the information about the Andrewsarchus, I will give you an armor set and 7,000 gold, plus a space ring to carry all that,"
Ken was slightly taken aback by Siria's sudden offer, but Siria looked serious about it, so he didn't question it.
"Sure, would appreciate that," Ken agreed without giving it much thought, He found the deal more than good enough.
Siria smiled, and flicked her finger, causing the bag to disappear. Right after, her smile turned playful, her demeanor casual and relaxed.
Ken's eyebrows twitched as he felt Siria was more comfortable around him now, 'She is back to her teasing mood...'
"I have something more to add if you don't mind~" Siria's eyes softened, and she played her card. "How about a Date with this big sister~?" She tilted her head a little and bit her lips, overdoing her playfulness.
"Ahem, you will be single for a few more years, don't worry," Ken rejected bluntly, making sure to mention she is single to annoy her.
Siria's smile turned bitter, regretting trying to tease, "Come on, that was just teasing! Why did you go personal!?" she complained dryly.
'I will in every turn... you are a fox, that never stays docile." Ken, equally dryly thought as he recalled Siria from the anime, who was the ultimate manic when provoked.
"Sigh... me and my single life, whatever!" She waved her hand dismissively and smiled at Ken, "I will go out for a bit, to get the gold and armor! Stick around for a bit longer!" Siria said and vanished and beside Ken, a chair appeared.
Ken wasn't surprised, knowing Siria who tended to be free-willed. He sat down and checked the shop, finding the items interesting, but suddenly.
[Got to say she is very free-spirited]
The system's sudden comment didn't surprise Ken. He half-expected it.
'Welcome back. Yeah, she's free-spirited, but when provoked, she's a nightmare. A witch you don't want to cross.'
The system giggled in response.
[We'll see about that~. Oh, by the way, check your right pocket. There's a bracelet—the danger tracker you wanted for Aisa.]
A notification appeared.
[System offline.]
And just like that, the system was gone again—like an online friend who only pops in to see if you're still alive.
Ken sat in silence, waiting for Siria. He didn't mind the system's sporadic appearances. In fact, he preferred it this way. The less it stuck around, the better.
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