Impert Snakes

"Don't cry, Thalia," said Master Godric with a frown on his face. "There is no need to complain so much. You are the daughter of a beastmen, so trust in your father and stay at home patiently waiting for his return." 

"You do not understand," said Thalia with tears falling from her green eyes. "He—He said that he would be back in three or four days but it has been a week." Her sobs echoed in the guild.

Damien looked at the girl who was crying and turned to look at Xavier before asking, "What's going on?" 

"Her father took a job at Forest of Magma Cross," before Xavier could say anything, the drunken boy who sat at a table right beside them, answered Damien's query. "It isn't far from the city, if —hic— if everything went alright then Samuel should have returned hic three days ago. But he hasn't." 

"I think he is already—"

"Levi." Gina stopped the boy from speaking anything more. Though everyone knew the truth, there was no need to put those ugly words up front like that. 

Levi shrugged as he took another swig from the alcohol bottle.

However, Thalia still heard him. She shivered and said desperately, "Please Master Godric! You have to help my father, he agreed to this request because he wanted to save the lives of the villagers living near that forest." 

"You—You cannot leave him alone, can you?" 

From the look on Master Godric's face, Damien had a feeling that the man was going to do just that. 

Thalia also seemed to sense it. She shouted in desperation, "Please go after him!" 

"Don't be foolish, girl!" Master Godric smashed the cane in his hand on the floor while sitting cross-legged on the counter of the bar. "Your father is a beastman, isn't he? Any beastman can take care of those beasts easily. And if he cannot hack them beasts, then he doesn't deserve to be in this guild!" 

Silence ensued in the guild and just as Damien took a step close to the woman, she raised her hand and punched Master Godric in the face.

"You are despicable! My father took that mission because of you!" Thalia shouted as she turned on her feet and looked at everyone in the guild. "Is anyone going to help me or not?" She shouted but no one spoke up causing Thalia to let out a whimpering sob as she covered her face and ran out of the guild.

"That's mean," said Damien as he turned to look at Gina. "Why is no one willing to help her? Even the master is being too tough on her." 

Gina smiled ruefully before saying, "It's not that we are not willing to help. Samuel went to destroy the nest of Impret Snakes." 

"Those beasts are C-ranked beasts. It's really difficult to kill those snake beasts and Samuel took the job of killing fifty of them alone," explained Gina with a sad smile. "He should have returned three days ago but he didn't, which means he is already—.." she trailed off and closed her eyes as if she were in pain. "We just don't want Lia to continue hoping and refusing to accept that her father is gone." 

She turned and looked at Master Godric whose expression was sombre. "Master knows about this as well which is why he is being so hard on her. The sooner she accepts reality, the better. She needs to step up." 

Once she finished speaking, Gina turned and smiled at Damien, "By the way, I have already—Lord Damien where are you going?" she called out from behind when she saw that Damien was heading out of the guild. 

Everyone turned to look at Damien who left the guild in a few strides. 

"Lord Damien!" Xavier called out as he chased after the man. 

"Whats up with him? Is he going to look for Samuel?" Gina asked with a worried look on her face. 

"If that's what he is going to do then he is a fool," chuckled Levi. "The Impert Snakes are one of the vilest creatures roaming in this world." 

"But what if he succeeds? Wouldn't Samuel be embarrassed? I mean, Damien doesn't even have a beast nucleus." 

"Hahaha! If that man could save Samuel then I will take my hat off for him. We might as well start making preparations for a funeral." 

"Tsk." 

Master Godric clicked his tongue and the entire guild turned silent. "No wonder we are not getting enough requests done. You all are so used to sitting in the guild and gossiping that it's affecting our work efficiency." 

He brought the smoking pipe to his lips and looked from one embarrassed face to another, before saying, "No one can decide your destiny for you. Who says that you cannot fight fate? Just let nature take its course." 

Outside the guild, Damien searched for Thalia before finally finding her crying in a small park which wasn't far from the guild. 

He walked over to the woman and sat next to her, he couldn't see her face as she had buried it in her knees. 

"Hey, can you tell me more about where your father went?" 

"Lord Damien!" Xavier was stunned when he heard Damien question the girl about her father's disappearance. For he had a feeling that Damien wasn't asking this just out of curiosity. 

Thalia raised her head and looked at Damien before saying, "Why are you asking? Are you also here to tell me that I should give up looking for my father?"

"No, I was asking because I was going to bring your father back but if you don't want that then I will not bother—" he started to rise from the bench when Damien felt someone grasp his wrist.

"You—are you really going to save my father?" Thalia asked as she held his wrist. Hope surged in her heart when she heard that someone was going to look for her father, while despair surged in Xavier's.

Unlike Damien, he wasn't keen on the idea of bringing the girl's father back.