We Were Hired?

It was a gloomy night, location unknown. In some random decrepit building, lit by a few torches, two figures were striking a deal.

“You’ll get it done right?” the dark figure asked, intimidating the cloaked figure he was talking to.

“O-Of course, Master Mauld,” The cloaked figure sheepishly responded, sucking up to the dark figure, Mauld.

“With that beginner party having the remaining two relics instead of the Hero Knight, you have no reason to fail,” Mauled informed the cloaked figure of his expectations.

Mauld handed the cloaked figure the two remaining relics, as if he were giving food to the poor.

“If you mess up, you’re all dead,” Mauld clarified as he disappeared into the night.

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“AAAHHHhhhhh…” Kaito let out a large gasp of air. “We’re finally in the clear,” Kaito announced.

The four of Kaito, Rina, Khrom, and Evona were riding a carriage back to Giora to end their long journey. The initial plan was for Khrom and Evona to go on their way after their trip, but now that they were all likely enemies of the Hero Knight, they decided it was best to stick together.

“Only for now,” Rina mentioned. “Who knows when they might come after us.”

“Well, that’s why we decided to stick together. Just in case we get attacked again,” Khrom reassured Rina.

“Hopefully that doesn’t happen for a long time,” Kaito responded. “I need time with my baby!”

“You’re baby!?” Khrom questioned, shocked. “I didn’t know you had a kid, Kaito.”

Now that Khrom and Evona were permanent allies, Kaito and Rina felt more inclined to share the secrets of their mission with them. The dragon egg ended up as the first thing they would share.

“KAITO AND RINA HAVE A CHILD!!!” Evona shouted out, thinking the baby was theirs.

“NOOOO!!!” Rina panicked to silence Evona immediately. Rina quickly recollected herself so that she could clarify more cleanly. “No, it’s not our child at all…”

Kaito continued to play off of Evona’s assumption, despite Rina being heavily against it. He put his arm around Rina and acted like some playboy.

“Oh, come on, Rina, it’s basically our kid. We worked tirelessly through the night to earn it,” Kaito said, intentionally making the deed sound dirty.

Rina wasn’t having it. Removing Kaito’s arm from around her, she stood up and pushed Kaito out of the open-end carriage with her foot. Rina looked extremely flustered, but nobody noticed due to her aggressive actions.

“Ahhh!!” Kaito let out a small yell before he hit the ground.

THUD!!

“Don’t worry about stopping for him; he wants a little exercise,” Rina turned and told the carriage driver, with a now cold expression.

The carriage driver, heeding Rina’s words, kept going slightly because he was intimidated by Rina.

“We found a dragon egg, that’s the kid he’s so fond of,” Rina properly explained to Khrom and Evona as Kaito was left to run after the carriage.

“Ah, that makes more sense,” Khrom responded.

The carriage was already right by Giora, so Kaito didn’t need to run much before the group got to the city. With their journey officially concluding, the group had tons of free time to relax and catch up with friends!

Or at least, they did for a few days.

“So the guildmaster wants to meet with you and your party.”

The group of four was in the Giora Guild, just being informed of this by the guild lady, Elise. Kaito turned towards Rina for assistance as he was worried.

“Surely we haven’t been found out already, right?” Kaito whispered to Rina.

“We’re fine… I think,” Rina reassured Kaito, stepping to the front desk to take over for him. “Are we fine to meet with him right now?” Rina asked Elise.

“Oh yes, I’ll let the guildmaster know you’re headed up now,” Elise informed the group. She then tapped on a crystal ball, making it light up. This was likely her signalling the guildmaster.

Everyone then headed to the second floor of the guild building, where the guildmaster’s office was. Rina, in front, knocked on the guildmaster’s door to let him know they were present.

“Come in,” the voice behind the door responded to the knocking.

Upon opening the door, the group was greeted by the guildmaster. He was the same guildmaster who was in charge of the tournament during the Giora Festival. He sat behind his desk, which directly faced the door. Between the desk was seating and a low table.

“Please, everyone, take a seat,” the guildmaster suggested as he gestured to the seats before him.

Everyone began to sit down. Evona, who was in her comfy spot in Khrom’s shield, even jumped out to sit alongside everyone.

“You wanted to meet us, Guildmaster?” Rina asked, initiating the conversation.

“Yes, but first, an introduction to those who don’t know me,” the guildmaster stated, aiming to get the pleasantries out of the way. “My name is Gillian, and I am the guildmaster of this establishment, the Giora Guild. I know of Kaito, as he has been working hard alongside Rina, gaining a positive reputation. Though I’m less familiar with you two.”

Kaito was visibly happy learning that his reputation was growing, but Khrom kept the conversation on topic.

“My name is Khrom,” Khrom introduced himself, “and this here is Evona.” Evona waved to greet the guildmaster.

“Hello to you two,” Gillian greeted them back, with a smile. “Now, on to why I called you all here.”

Gillian explained how he had received a personal request issued to Kaito and his party. The details were very vague, and the reward was hefty. Needless to say, Gillian was very skeptical of the quest. He didn’t want to send his adventurers into danger.

With the quest laid in front of Kaito’s party, a decision had to be made. Accept or refuse the quest. Kaito, still giddy about his rising reputation, voiced his opinion.

“Let’s take it!” Kaito started his explanation. “I’m— we’re finally getting big enough to receive personal quests, so we can’t let them down!”

Rina was also skeptical of the quest… as well as Kaito’s self-aborbant claim, but she, for once, didn’t oppose Kaito’s thoughts. Everyone else also seemed to be okay with taking it on, so Rina finalized their decision.

“We’ll take it,” Rina announced for the group. “Even if it is bait, we’ll deal with the situation accordingly.”

The group was confident they could complete the quest, and this reassured Gillian. They weren’t going in with no game plan, and if the worst happens, Gillian would at least know their whereabouts.

With everyone, including Gillian, in agreement, the personal quest was issued to Kaito’s party.