Suicidal mission

'Oi..Oi..Oi.. is she serious?'

Casper gaped at the human in front of her who was oblivious of what she did. He slapped his forehead in defeat as he crouched to the ground with his hands clutching his head.

His mind swirled as he thought, 'Out of all the missions out there, why did she have to pick the most difficult and troublesome one?'

Winter Peaks, as the name sounds, are mountains in the north- west part of Zaria City that are covered in heavy snow throughout the year with their temperature being negative degrees. Blizzards and high winds often blow in the area making it a dangerous place to travel. And, the most annoying part is the beasts residing in the mountains.

The more we climb higher, the more powerful the beasts present. They are the protectors of the Golden Willow growing in the middle of the mountain. The Golden Willow tree bears the golden fruit once in a decade which can be used to save a person who is seconds away from death.

And, it is rumoured to have a fairy residing in the tree, a fairy who can read and predict one's future. The Golden Willow was powerful on its own as no one has been successful enough to snatch the golden fruit without the fairy's permission.

Casper felt a shudder pass through his body when he recalled that to reach the Winter Peaks, one should pass through the Misty Woods in the central region…

He didn't even want to imagine Ezekiel's dark face when he hears about this matter.

Skyla bit her lips as she shook Casper slightly and asked, "Casper, are you alright?"

Casper blinked as he snapped out of his daze and looked at the human for seconds before his face constricted making her eyes widen. He quickly stood up and snatched the flyer out of Melinda's hands and read it.

As seconds passed, his face turned darker making Skyla fret, "Did I pick the wrong one?"

Skyla flinched when she saw Casper raise his head abruptly. On noticing that he had scared her, Casper exhaled as he pinched his nose and sighed, "This is not an easy one...it was a trap mission"

Skyla knitted her brows as she asked softly, "Trap mission?"

Casper nodded as he proceeded to explain, "Technically, every mission is categorized according to their difficulty levels but there are some missions, which do not fall into any category. And those are known as Trap missions"

He looked at the flyer and said, "Trap missions are basically suicidal." He pointed at the flyer and said, " It doesn't necessarily point out the difficulty level in this flyer making it seem like an easy one"

Skyla covered her mouth in horror, 'Did she pick out the most troublesome one?'

She looked at her hands and thought, 'How come she has had bad luck since she arrived here…'

Ah..That wasn't right… She always had bad luck throughout her life.

Casper ruffled his hair and said in a worried tone, "Ezekiel would murder us"

Skyla gulped as she tried to comfort him, "Wouldn't everything be okay if we back out from this mission?"

Unfortunately, she saw Casper shook his head, "Once the mission is sealed, we have no choice other than complete the task…"

"Whaat?" Skyla asked horrified, "But what if we aren't strong enough for the mission"

Casper smiled ruefully at this naive human and said, "That means we have to die and pass the mission to others"

"Oh no…" did she just put everyone on their deathbeds?

Skyla gasped as her eyes widened in fear, 'What the hell did she just do?'

Suddenly, a happy yet carefree voice reverberated inside the hall room, "What is with the heavy atmosphere?"

Everyone turned around to notice Ezekiel, Elena, Xavier coming down with a middle aged man who had red hair and a line drawn perpendicular from his forehead to his cheek. Even though the man looked quite old, he still had his handsomeness from his youth.

Instantly everyone stood up and bowed their heads as they welcomed, "Guild master"

"Now now, how many times have I said not to do this?" The middle aged man laughed freely before his eyes fell onto her.

Skyla flinched when she saw him stare at her one moment but in the next moment, he smiled, "Ah! This must be the friend you mentioned before"

Skyla's lips twitched at the mention of the word friend.She peeked at Ezekiel through the corner of her eyes as she asked silently, ' What kind of friend puts their friends in danger all the time?'

Ezekiel nodded, ignoring her gaze while the Guild Master narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Instantly, he appeared beside Skyla, startling her as she fell backward.

"Woah- " Before she could fall on her back, her hand was caught by the guild master who pulled her towards her making her clutch his shirt.

Skyla felt goosebumps arise on her skin when she felt him sniffing her neck.

"AAAH" she screamed as she pushed the pervert away from her and glared at him as her face turned red.

'P-pervert old man'

The guild master chuckled softly as he said, "Sorry sorry, I was just curious about your scent"

Skyla pursed her lips as she turned her head away from him making Melinda chuckle, "Old man, you are being hated"

The Guild master looked taken aback as if thunder struck him making her laugh out loud.

"I was really only curious about your scent after hearing about it from Ezekiel"

'Curious?' She frowned as she glanced at Ezekiel, who for some reason didn't glance at her from the moment he stepped into the hall.

'Wait.. did he already hear of what I did?' Skyla thought worriedly, 'Is that why he is ignoring me?'

The Guild Master noticed her glances towards the cold reaper and laughed, distracting Skyla. He smiled gently at her and said, "Welcome to our guild, Skyla"

"I am Sylvester, the guild master of Scarlet Legions"

Skyla nodded at him before he turned to the crowd and asked, "So what was happening here?"

One of the vampires chuckled menacingly as he explained, "The human got herself a mission to the Winter Peaks"

"Winter Peaks?" Elena exclaimed in horror before turning towards Skyla who pursed her lips guiltily. She slapped her forehead exasperatedly, making Skyla bite her lips.

She looked at Ezekiel who now looked at her making her wish for him to continue ignoring her.

Sylvester raised her eyebrows before laughter escaped from his lips, "Looks like you can't escape that easily, Ezekiel"

Ezekiel pursed his lips as he looked at Casper who looked quite disheartened.

"I'm sorry, I didn't -"

He cut her off coldly and said, "It's fine.. It's not like it is the first time you created trouble for us"

Skyla flinched as she lowered her head guiltily.

Melinda put her arm around Skyla's shoulder and scolded Ezekiel, "If you keep talking like that, you won't get a girlfriend, Ezekiel"

Ezekiel scoffed ridiculously, "As if I need one"

Melinda shook her head as she sighed, "Cold-hearted as always" She looked at Skyla and said, "Don't mind his words… Mistakes can happen to anyone"

She smiled wryly, 'It only happens to her though'

Sylvester laughed, "Since you guys are heading towards the Winter Peaks, do take a lot of winter coats for the human." He looked at Skyla and said, "It's quite cold there"

Skyla smiled gratefully at the guild master but her smile faded when she saw Ezekiel turn around to leave.

She pushed Melinda's hand off her shoulder and hurried to catch up with him.

"Ezekiel" she called out softly

He paused for a moment and glanced at her through the corner of his eyes and said, "Get your belongings ready.. We will be leaving in an hour"

Skyla clenched her fists and nodded grimly while wondering, 'Why is he cold to me all of a sudden?'