Chapter 99: Firemania Party

"It's not funny, Alexander." Said Yuki with a frown in a deep voice as she walked beside Alexander, who was doing his best to suppress his laughter.

"Haha, b-but it is, Yuki." Replied Alexander as he took a breath to calm himself, though he immediately started chuckling when he noticed the brown poop smeared on the side of her helmet.

"You're annoying, you know that, Alexander." Remarked Yuki with an irritated growl as she looked down at the laughing Alexander.

"Hehe, oh, stop being so dramatic, Yuki; if it happened to me, I know you'd be laughing at my misfortune." Said Alexander with a small smile as he wiped the tears threatening to escape his eyes and nudged Yuki with his elbow, though other than a glare and huff, she didn't respond.

It's been a little over a month since I first became an adventurer, and ever since that day, I've been doing some basic quests, getting a better understanding of how the quest system works, though mainly, I just wanted some easy stuff to do as I wasn't in the mood to do anything else; besides, I didn't think I was in the right state of mind to fight inside a dungeon or what not. Speaking of quests, I'd just gotten back from doing one, and on my way out, Yuki, despite being a C-rank adventurer, decided to tag along with me on my F-rank quest.

While it was slightly surprising, I didn't object; she's one of the few friends I've made in Hyphen, and I don't know what it is about her, but her presence always improves my mood, even making me laugh on several occasions like just right now. While doing our quest, which required us to acquire a variety of animal eggs, though I only grabbed unfertilized ones, Yuki happened to get pooped on by a bird while reaching inside a nest; that happened about fifteen minutes ago, yet I still can't stop laughing.

Another thing I never noticed until leaving in a city was how much Talis enjoyed flying; in the forest, she could fly to her heart's content, but in Hyphen, she was quite limited, so some days, she'd spend the entire time in the forest just flying around to her heart's content. Of course, I'm worried about her, but she's stubborn, not stupid, so I doubt she'll purposely get into something dangerous, and if she does, I'll chase her into the forest in search of her, though that's only if she doesn't return by dusk.

"I'm going to wash my helmet." Said Yuki as she leaned down and entered the adventurer guild, walking straight towards the bathrooms while everyone moved out of her way.

"Hehe, I'm going to turn the quest in, then." Remarked Alexander with a soft chuckle as he walked through the building, which he'd gotten acquainted with, and approached Cath's desk.

"Is it just me, Cath, or does it seem like you get no business?" Asked Alexander curiously as he glanced at the few other attendants, who were almost always assisting adventurers.

"Well, unlike them, Alexander, I'm not willing to prostitute myself, and even if I was willing to, I'm too old for that." Replied Cath lightly as she looked at her young colleagues, who were all wearing tight clothes and showcasing their cleavages, which the adventurers, mainly consisting of men, loved.

"Eh, old? Aren't you, like, in your early 20's or something, Cath?" Asked Alexander as he suspiciously eyed Cath, who smiled at his compliment.

"I've long since passed my early 20s. I'm 38, nearing 40, and to make matters worse, I'm so old, yet still single." Said Cath with a happy smile before sporting an ugly expression as she covered her face with her hands and sighed.

"You're only 38, Cath; what do you mean old? You're still super young; besides, for a 38-year-old, you look fantastic. I'd flirt with you if I weren't already married." Declared Alexander with a shake of his head, causing Cath to lightly blush at his compliment, though she widened her eyes in shock towards the end.

"Eh!? M-Married!?" Exclaimed Cath in astonishment as she eyed Alexander, who nodded, in disbelief, causing everyone in the vicinity to give her weird looks.

"Ugh, there is no hope for me if people as young as you are marrying. I'm going to be lonely for the rest of my life. So, who is this lucky woman?" Muttered Cath in defeat as she slammed her head onto her desk, feeling completely unmotivated, before curiously looking at Alexander.

"I think you meant to say who is the lucky man; I was the one lucky enough to meet her." Remarked Alexander with an expression of love as he reminisced about Lavender.

"Though, things… Things had happened, and she's no longer with us, so I'd prefer not to speak about it too much." Added Alexander with a bitter-sweet smile as he looked at Cath, who slightly widened her eyes and nodded in understanding.

"I'm sorry I brought up such painful memories; it's never good to hear the passing of such a young woman." Said Cath with a look of pity as she glanced at Alexander.

"Heh, she wasn't young by any means, but that's beside the point." Muttered Alexander with a small smile as he looked at Cath before shaking his head and reaching into his breast pocket, grabbing both the quest paper and space pouch.

"Here, I'm here to turn in the quest." Said Alexander as he handed the two things to Cath, who took them with a nod and stood up, entering the back door sort through the space pouch.

Seeing Cath disappear into the back rooms, I sighed in sadness before turning around, leaning against her desk while observing the adventurer guild, which was currently filled with Adventurers since it was around noon. However, while looking at everyone, I spotted a group of people suddenly enter the building, they were about six people in total, five men surrounding one woman, who seemed to be a mage if I had to guess, considering she held a staff and wasn't donned in armour like almost everyone else.

Similar to how the treated Yuki, they all paved way for the group as they approached the attendant right beside where I was, and in doing so, they practically kicked the people out of line as they skipped directly to the front.

"Ah, I was here f-" Said the man at the front with a frown as he eyed the group, though before he could finish speaking, one of the men punched him in the face, causing him to stumble backwards.

"We don't give a fuck!" Said one of the five men with a nasty smirk as he looked at the man he had just punched, who was on the ground, holding his broken and bleeding nose.

"Huh, what're you staring at!?" Exclaimed another one of the five men as he walked towards the man on the ground and grabbed his sword from his scabbard, causing the man to gnash his teeth in anger, though other than glaring he didn't act hostile and backed away.

"Tch, that's what I thought; don't let me see you again, or…" Declared the second man as he pressed his sword against his own neck while eyeing fleeing man before returning to his group and laughing.

'Bunch of belligerent fools.' Thought Alexander with a frown as he glanced at the group before ignoring them, though the woman in the center sensed his gaze, prompting her to look at him in confusion.

While waiting for Cath to return, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the mage woman approach me, causing me to internally wince, as I had no desire to interact with such a ignorant group of people; I'd prefer if I were approached by stupid people instead. I did my best to ignore the woman, but it became quite difficult when she was standing about a foot away from me, and eventually, I figured it would be better to greet her, lest we end up on the wrong foot.

"Yes, Ms?" Asked Alexander lightly as he glanced at the woman, who wore a large hat, a long bluish robe and a black staff with a blue gem on the end.

"I've never seen your face before." Remarked the woman softly, speaking moreso to herself as she closely observed Alexander, causing him to slightly lean back.

"Well I could say the same for you too, Ms; however, I'm a new Adventurer, started only a month ago. The name's Alexander Vestalis." Said Alexander with a friendly smile as he extended his hand toward the woman, who promptly ignored his words, causing him to awkwardly retract his hand.

"Hmm, you've got decent control over your mana. Join my party." Stated the woman with a scrutinizing look before speaking in a commanding tone.

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Accept party invitation from [Lucy Monrue: Leader of the Firemania]?

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"Eh, I appreciate the offer Ms. Monrue, but I'll have to decline. I'm not really looking to join a party right now." Replied Alexander with an apologetic smile as he refused Lucy's request, before shifting his attention to Cath, who returned from the backroom.

"A lot like always, Alexander; he's your pay." Remarked Cath lightly as she handed Alexander his space pouch while the two ignored Lucy, who only grew more furious.

"Thanks Cath." Said Alexander with a soft smile as he stored his space pouch in his breast pocket before glancing at Lucy, who was glaring at him.

"It was pleasure to meet you, Ms. Munrue, but I must go now. Hope to see you again." Added Alexander with a smile, his [Heroes Aura] seemingly having minimal effect on Lucy.