Chapter 25 : Youth

Roth was running, surveying the area for the accuracy of the map. He went past the trees, finding the tallest one he can find for a good vantage point. He climbed what he found was the tallest and peered through the view.

"I didn't expect it to be this dense." He was on top of a tree trying to get a good look at the area, but all were mostly tree tops.

He went down and reassessed his plan.

"15 minutes I think is a good time for them. I think I'll just check the marked areas where monsters are often seen." He mumbled while running.

"Roth's taking a lot of time." Raymond wondered where he went.

"Maybe he's doing other that leaking?" Lilian joked as she started to laugh.

"Haha! Maybe." Raymond agreed and he stood up.

The strategies they talked about was still fresh in his mind and started to simulate them while he rubbed his chin.

There was a brief silence.

"What is the plan then?" Lilian broke the silence.

"Just as we talked about, we test our formations and improve them." Raymond replied as he looked back.

"No, I mean in the future." Lilian wondered.

"Hmm…" Raymond paused for a bit.

"We rank up our class and go towards more adventures in different kingdoms, way more than what mom and dad!" He was smiling as he looked up, staring at the glimpse of the sky being hidden by the leaves.

"And after?" Her voice started to mellow

"Go back here." He was resolute.

"And what about… us?" She started to insinuate something.

"I'm sure, you and Roth will come back with me right?" He questioned innocently.

"Yeah." She was quite disappointed at the response.

"And there might be someone who will join as soon!" He suddenly said as he sat next to Lilian.

"Who?" Lilian was curious to who could join them, since the three of them were always together since forever. There was no other person.

"Maple! The one that Sapphine mentioned this morning." He joyfully said her name.

"Oh." Lilian's heart suddenly tightened as she didn't expect it.

"You see, before we moved here, we lived in the capital right. The new S ranked adventures were actually an owner of an inn at some point. And the owners of the inn also had a child that grew up with me." He boasted.

"She was Maple, and we made a promise together. That we will meet again in the future and form a party together and go for an adventure." He was smiling sweetly as he was remembering parts of his childhood days and Maple.

Lilian couldn't understand what she was feeling right now. She felt like her heart was being gripped and pricked that she started to breathe heavily. It also worsened that the look of Raymond talking about another woman with passion just made her feel extremely jealous.

Her eyes started to well up, and her emotions were about to burst.

"I'm back sorry, gotta do something else.. If you know what I mean." Roth joked as he emerged from the woods and let his presence be known.

Lilian stood up immediately and walked quickly and passed Roth.

"Let's go, I'm needing to go to the toilet too." She said bluntly and started walking forward first.

Roth was rooted in place as Lilian walked passed him. He saw her biting her lower lip while tears slowly fall down her eyes.

"Hey, wait up Lilian!" Raymond stood up and followed.

"Let's go." Raymond said as he closed the distance to Roth.

Roth was wondering what happened since Raymond seems normal.

They went out of the forest and immediately headed towards the guild. They greeted the people that walked passed as well as the guards who were looking at Roth weirdly.

As they were closer to the guild, Lilian sprinted off.

"It's getting really bad, I'm going home first!" She ran home without looking back.

"Oooh, must be a bad stomachache, am I the next one?" Raymond joked as he was seeing a pattern.

"Probably." Roth answered and they walked towards the door.

"Ah, I forgot, we needed our licenses when we submit the quest. Wait here first, I'll go call Lilian, She might be done after I get to her house… or do you want to go instead?" Roth told Raymond.

"You go. I can wait here." Raymond chuckled nervously.

"See you in a bit." Roth jogged towards Lilian's house.

Roth arrived at her place. It was still the same old village chief house, rustic and peaceful. He knocked on the door but no one was answering.

'They are still probably at the manor.' He thought.

He went in the house and upstairs. He was in front of the room that was all too familiar with him, the room he woke up in when he first came to Vonnear.

"Lilian." He knocked on the door.

"Lilian." He knocked once more.

'This girl...' He complained in his mind.

He entered the room and Lilian was on the bed. She was absent mindedly hugging her knees while blankly staring at the window.

Roth walked over and sat on the bedside chair.

"What happened?" Roth asked

Tears started to flow again on Lilian's eyes.

"I don't know Roth.. I don't know." Lilian started to look at him really confused.

"Tell me what happened first. Okay." He tried his best to console his friend.

"The time that Ray mentioned Maple, my heart started to hurt. I feel really jealous… angry… confused... I don't know." She started to cry more.

Roth didn't know what to say. This is the first time he saw Lilian like this, so vulnerable.

"What do I do Roth?" She asked while sniveling.

Roth really didn't know what to do. And looking at Lilian's messy face, he could only try and emulate how Lexia comforted him in this room.

"It's ok Lilian, It's ok to cry." He pulled her for a hug and patted her head.

"I'll help you Lilian, don't worry. I'll help you." His voice was gentle.

Lilian cried out her heartaches, befitting a teenage girl like her.

After a moment of sad wails, she finally stopped.

"Thanks Roth." She started to calm down and gave out a sweet smile.

Roth pulled back from the embrace and clasped her shoulders.

"Good. Now wash your face. Raymond must be waiting at the guild." he stood up and walked towards the door.

"We need the license of all party members for the completion of the quest." He smirked.

Lilian suddenly got out of the bed, nudged Roth out the door and ran furiously downstairs to wash up.

"Why didn't you say that first!" A shout of complain rang in the entire house.

"This job is way harder than I thought." Roth mumbled and let out a self-deprecating smile.

Roth went downstairs and saw Lilian already looking fresh waiting at the door.

"That was fast." He said.

"You're just slow. Anyway let's go." She told him to hurry.

"Go first, it would be weird if we just strolled in together." He was shooing her away.

"Fine! Don't forget to lock the doors." She went out and ran towards the guild.

Roth let out a heavy sigh.

'This is seriously tiring.' He locked the door and walked casually towards the guild.

"What took you so long Roth!" Raymond was sitting beside Lilian tired of waiting as he wanted to finish the quest.

"Sorry, got stopped by some folks." He made an excuse.

"Come over then, let's submit the quest." Raymond said in a hurry.

Roth summoned the rucksack that contained 10 Pilaf Herbs and handed it to Roth. They walked towards the receptionist table and was greeted by Stella.

"Altogether now I see. Please hand in your quest items and let me check." She said.

Raymond handed the bag over to her. She took it out piece by piece and examined the quality.

"These are all at a good quality, no damages whatsoever. Please give me your license for me to record." She said.

The three handed their license.

"Please wait a moment." She updated their progress and returned their license plates.

"Here are 10 copper coins as per reward. Thank you very much." She handed the money and bowed.

"Thank you as well." Raymond accepted it.

"Well, 10 coppers for 1 beef skewer. Wanna fight who's gonna get it?" Lilian asked for a challenge.

"That's the F rank quest for you." Roth ignored Lilian's challenge as new stacks of papers on the desk piqued his interest.

"What are these?' He asked Stella.

"New bounties, just came up just now. I'm going to post them soon." She answered.

"Hmmm." he pondered as he walked over and flipped through them.

He suddenly stopped and his eyes turned pitch black, then a burst of anger and violence erupted from within him. This malevolent aura enveloped the whole guild.

Lilian and Raymond instinctively backed off and drew their weapons to defend themselves, even some of the adventurers that were loafing around got ready.

On the second floor, the branch manager flinched.

"What the hell?!" He immediately stormed downstairs.

In the Dawnsteel manor, the two families were still engaging in talks about the future of the village. Glidal, Lexia, and Carlin suddenly stood up and stared at the direction of the guild.

"That is some sinister energy." Carlin muttered.

"Let's go. Elias, wait here for a moment." Glidal hurried to the guild with Lexia and Calrin