Lord’s Request

He had wanted to keep his cover hidden and enjoy the lack of attention for at least a few days, but with this, it probably wouldn't be possible. Not that he hated the attention; he just didn't really like it. It was somewhat stifling.

Sighing again, he opened his eyes and looked at the woman in front of him, who still had a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Considering that she did not seem to be the least bit surprised, the woman probably expected this development.

"So? What do you want?"

"Well, you don't have to be so on guard; we both want the same thing, after all."

Leaning forward, she let her hair droop out of her left side, and, her…wow, those were some massive assets that were currently inches away from Noah. Didn't she mention that she was the branch guild master? Wasn't she married? Was it really fine for her to go around showing off her…womanly wiles like that? Noah shut his eyes again in an effort to reorient himself and think through things.

If she, as a guildmaster, was acting all amiable and friendly with him simply because she was a fan, it was strange that she was doing it in her workplace, where she was the person in charge, as that could diminish her image amongst her subordinates. Besides, that wouldn't really benefit him, as she said it would.

In that case, she had to be hiring him. As a guildmaster, though, if she had a job for the Hero Noah, the request was likely quite dangerous. He certainly needed money…but there was no reason for him to take on any abnormal requests just for money, which both of them knew he would eventually earn anyway.

What could only the guildmaster do for him as payment, if not money, in exchange for his help?

He ignored the certain suggestion that his hormonal teenage brain made, and spoke.

"What rank are you offering me?"

Being a guildmaster, rank was the only thing she could offer Noah aside from money, and unlike money, rank could take years to get. A guildmaster could greatly exacerbate the process.

"Wow! Smart! I like smart boys like you!"

The deadpan expression of an utterly unamused man bore into the guildmaster at her patronizing response. Trying to act unfazed, she took a step back, placed one arm behind her back, and balled her other fist, which she coughed into.

"Kuhum. A-rank. However, depending on your performance, an S rank could be possible."

"Say less. I'm in."

The next morning, Noah found himself in a very posh estate in front of a rectangular wood table. It was the same mysterious wood Noah had found in his room in the palace that shone like ceramic with the warmth and sturdiness of wood.

In front of him were three figures: two women, one with white hair, the other with red hair, both with green eyes, and the third, a man with red hair and eyes.

The woman who led him here, guildmaster Aeloria, was still in her black bodysuit, while the redhead with hair that came down to her waist, who seemed to be about Noah's own age, was in light armour, a short breastplate over her upper torso with vambraces and greaves.

With a stoic expression that resembled the man beside her, a relatively good-looking man of average height with an overall gentle vibe, the girl and the man both bowed together.

"Hero Noah, we are in need of your power. Please lend us your assistance."

"I wouldn't be opposed. Stop with the Hero stuff, though. My run with the Demon Lord is over. I lost spectacularly."

"In the eyes of the people, your actions have always been heroic. There can be no better word. Your loss does not diminish your valor, nor does it take away from your strength, matched only by major monarchs."

Noah grimaced at the words of the man. To most, the Monarchs of the major nations were figures of untouchable strength, but Noah only saw it as his own weakness. The heroes in the history of the Calysta continent were said to be god-like, not 'matched by monarchs'. Still, this wasn't the place to discuss his inferiority complex.

Re-assuming his noble cadence that he had learned to fake over the past year, Noah pointed to the chairs at the table with his hand, inviting discussion. He proceeded to sit on the chair beside him, such that he was now opposite the pair he assumed to be a father and daughter.

Aeloria had simply vanished. For some reason, Noah wasn't surprised. The city lord and the redhead didn't seem to be surprised at her antics either. The three silently and unanimously agreed to pretend she didn't exist.

"Let's skip the formalities and get to the point. What do you need me to do?"

Although the redhead, who had revealed her name to be Ariel, had initially probably been only invited in the midst of her training as a formality, she now perfectly supplemented her father's explanation of the request in depth.

It seemed that Verdant Oakwoods had been overflowing recently, to the point where it had even overtaken the Demon Forest in its threat level as of late. They had noticed the problem a couple weeks ago and had attributed it to Eldoria's second hero summoning, provoking monsters from Verdant Oakwoods to train the new heroes.

However, the problem had gotten too large for them to deal with by throwing adventurers at it, and Noah's heaven-sent arrival earlier today was a perfect opportunity to rectify the issue.

In short, Noah was to investigate and resolve the issue in Verdant Oakwoods, which would grant him an A-rank. If the matter were resolved with minimal collateral damage, S-rank.

As much as the request sounded simple and straightforward, the experienced eye could tell that it wasn't. For one, it was a major alarm signal that the overflow had lasted so long. It wasn't weird for monsters to temporarily overflow from the forest, and this happened all the time when the monster overlords of the forest duked it out. The monsters would flee the forest to avoid being made into collateral damage and would terrorise human territory as they ran into it. Such events would only last mere hours or days in the worst case, however, and would eventually calm down.

But weeks? Truthfully, following the ogre demon subjugation, Noah's party had had several other subjugations in Verdant Oakwoods, and most of them weren't demons but rather monsters they would provoke that played a part in the ecosystem of Verdant Oakwoods. These subjugations would result in monster overflows, and sometimes, back-to-back subjugations could lead to monster overflows lasting several days. The kind of threat that could cause weeks of overflow had to be unfathomable.

Additionally, considering the size of Verdant Oakwoods, the request would likely take several days to complete, days of time that the overflow could continue to occur. All damage due to monster overflow would count toward collateral damage once he accepted the request, and too much collateral damage would cause the S-rank promotion to slip out of his hands. If he accepted, he would likely spend the next few days searching furiously without breaks. It wasn't going to be easy. However, the typical route from A-rank to S-rank took years, and Noah did not want to miss this golden opportunity. 

"This is of absolute urgency, and we are willing to support you in any way possible."

The father-daughter duo watched as Noah's contemplative countenance firmed into one of resolve.

"I'll do it."