"Sir, I already explained what happened. Or were you with us? Because I don't recall seeing you."
Martyn responded directly, attacking the man's abilities.
Executive Lucius saw through Martyn's question and, after thinking it over for a moment, responded again:
"Alright, I think I understand what happened. According to the report from Huntress Daphne, Huntress Roy turned out to be a necromancer. You probably took advantage of the situation to hide."
That was the conclusion Executive Lucius Kraegen could come to, as he couldn't believe that an impure had fought a monster that killed five hunters.
("No matter what I do, he won't believe me. This is the best approach for now.")
Martyn had reached the most reasonable conclusion.
He could keep arguing with Lucius, but it would only be a waste of time.
After thinking it over a bit more, Martyn decided to respond:
"Looks like you've caught me."
Lucius quickly displayed a look of satisfaction; it seemed he just wanted to feel like the winner.
"Well, liar. Based on your performance in this mission, here's your reward."
Lucius snapped his fingers, making a bag and a hunter's star appear out of nowhere.
"It's 500 silver coins and a normal performance star. Just place the star on your badge, and that's it."
Martyn was stunned by the reward; he thought they'd barely give him any money.
But there were 500 silver coins right before his eyes!
He had never seen such an amount of money at his disposal before, and he couldn't help but feel excited.
A few minutes later, Martyn was leaving the hunters' main headquarters.
As for the star, he did what the representative had instructed. When he placed the star on his badge, it disappeared.
But instantly, the star he had earned after the hunter trial began to shine a little brighter.
"What will happen if I keep completing missions? Will a guild become interested in me?"
Martyn knew the consequences of becoming stronger. If he kept completing missions, eventually a guild would take notice of him.
But he would have to turn them down; Martyn's goal was to create the Nordic faction, and he couldn't do that under another faction.
"If I did that, Odin would kill me," Martyn thought as he walked home.
He bought food and a few sets of clothes along the way, and since he now had money, it wasn't a big deal for him.
"Alright, it's time to go."
The moment Martyn had been waiting for all day had arrived.
It was time to go to Valhalla!
He didn't know what new challenges Odin had in store for him, but he was eager to find out.
With these thoughts in mind, Martyn threw himself onto his bed and instantly fell asleep.
[Entry denied]
[The representative has an unresolved matter.]
But unlike previous times, Martyn wasn't taken to a vast garden or a Greek city.
His visit had been instantly denied.
"What? What just happened?"
The boy asked himself as he woke up.
"Unresolved matter? What is that supposed to mean?"
Martyn's mind began to search for an explanation for this message, but it didn't take long for him to realize what was going on:
"I haven't finished the trial yet!"
Martyn had reached the correct conclusion. Due to everything that had happened at headquarters and his shopping spree, he had completely forgotten about Volundr's mission.
For Martyn, he thought he had already completed it, so he decided to check his current progress.
[Trial six: First class]
[Use a rune on one of your weapons: 1/1]
[Defeat an enemy with a weapon containing runes: 0/1]
[Create an elemental rune: 0/1]
The system's message had cleared up Martyn's doubts; he still had two requirements left to complete the trial.
"Of course, I haven't defeated any monsters with my mace yet, and I definitely haven't created a rune."
Martyn thought in frustration. One of the requirements was easy, but creating a rune was quite tedious.
He had tried several times but couldn't craft his own runic pattern.
"I'll need to put more effort into my next mission. Tomorrow, I'll head to the main headquarters and see what happens."
Although Martyn felt dissatisfied, he wasn't too worried. The next mission wouldn't have the same error as the first one he'd taken.
The next day, Martyn was ready to set out. He usually didn't have time for breakfast, but today he made time to cook.
He also had time to groom himself more, so after putting on his blue hoodie, he headed straight to the main headquarters.
("Alright, my goal is to take an easy mission. This will help me meet the requirements.")
Martyn's plan was perfect—he just needed to take on a simple mission and hunt down monsters.
It would be a piece of cake!
After several minutes, he finally arrived at the main headquarters, but as soon as he walked in, the first thing he heard were shouts from someone who seemed angry:
"What do you mean there aren't any missions? Don't mess with me!"
The person responsible for the outburst was someone familiar to Martyn—the problematic boy from the hunter trial.
For some strange reason, he was arguing with the receptionist.
"I'm sorry, young hunter, but it's just as you heard. Currently, the general headquarters doesn't have any available missions."
The girl's response intrigued Martyn.
No available missions?
Determined to find out what was going on, Martyn approached another receptionist—the same one who had given him his first mission.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Martyn asked, pointing to the obvious scene.
"Oh, it's you... Are you seriously alive?"
To his dismay, the girl didn't answer his question; she just looked at him with disdain and asked that question instead.
Martyn couldn't help but feel annoyed, but before he could defend himself, the girl continued:
"Yes, it's just as you heard. The last missions were all high-ranking, and because of that, the other headquarters took them."
The girl explained while keeping an eye on the pair that was still arguing.
("I see, so that's what happened.")
This wasn't anything new in Neo Tyran. Each headquarters managed its own missions.
The harder the mission, the greater the reward. That's why the top members chose to take those missions.
The main headquarters, on the other hand, had to give up all of its high-ranking missions because, unlike the other guilds, they didn't have as much power.
"I see, so there's no mission for me, right?" Martyn asked sarcastically.
The girl looked at him with disdain before responding:
"Unfortunately, or perhaps luckily for you, no, we don't have any available missions. You'll have to come back another day."
With defeat written on his face, Martyn turned toward the door, but the boy's shouting echoed through the place once more.
"Fine, fine, I get it. You're so weak that you have to give your missions to others. I'm leaving, I'll head to the bay. Maybe I'll find a monster there!"
With those final words, the boy left the building.
("The bay, huh?")
Hearing the boy's words, Martyn's mind started working, so he turned back, this time addressing the receptionist.
"Hey, are there monsters in the bay?"