Episode 2: Guild Exam (4)

The moment Damian shouted out, he quickly rushed over towards the fallen Fei. Soon after, he hurriedly bent down whilst lending over a hand to her in order to pull her up.

"My, are you okay?" The person's voice rang out in worry.

"Ouchie..." Grabbing Damian's hand, Fei quickly stood up with his help. "Yeah, I'm okay..." Tidying up her clothing, Fei's eyes glanced over towards the person who she had bumped into. Instantly, she was greeted by the sight of a rosy red-haired woman, with peachy eyes.

The woman donned a shining white armour which gave off an aura of elegance. On the armour itself, it had an emblem of roses on it.

"Phew... that is good to know." The woman let a sigh of relief as she gave a smile to Fei. "You should watch where you're going you know? You could have gotten hurt."

"Aha... right, my bad... I'm sorry!" she bowed her head. "I'll watch where I'm going next time..."

"Mhm. Good, good!" she chuckled. "Now, it seems you were in a rush for something? I don't want you to end up late or anything!"

"...ahem! Right! Then... I'll be going now," Fei waved goodbye as she quickly fastened her pace once again, speedily heading towards the guildhall.

"Sigh," Damian sighed as he saw Fei running off. "I'm sorry for the trouble that we caused." he bowed to the woman.

"Hehe. It's no problem."

"Then, I'll be on my way now," Damain said as he quickly followed after Fei.

"How cute," she smiled at the two siblings running off into the crowd. Quickly, her eyes moved towards the entrance that led to the twin-pathway. "Now~ Back to business! Where did he say he lived again?"

...

The Lakeside Town, Yumin—Guildhall [11:30 AM].

Footsteps rang out from outside the guildhall as the door to it quickly opened. At the entrance, Fei and Damian quickly walked in.

"Finally back~!" Fei cheered. "Now, where's everyone?" her eyes turned to scrutinize the area almost instantly as she entered the room.

"Jee, Fei. You're really that eager, huh?" A voice rang out from the staircase of the building.

"Huh?" Quickly getting the attention of the two siblings, they swiftly turned towards the area as they were greeted by the sight of Orelia who was coming down the stairs from the second floor. "Orelia!"

The moment the two locked eyes onto one another, Fei hurriedly rushed up to Orelia as she pulled out a sheet of paper—the form in which had the details of the earlier job that they had taken.

"We're finished with the exam!" Fei excitedly shouted out whilst confidently pointing her finger towards the words 'completed' stamped onto the paper.

"Hehe~ That I can see!" Orelia nodded her head in satisfaction. "Well done!"

"...so does this mean...?" she anxiously asked as she saw Orelia continuing down the stairs. Soon after, Orelia quickly made her way over towards the counter where Aina stood.

"Mhm~ Aina, would you please?" Without answering Fei's question, Orelia turned to Aina as she asked.

"Of course!" Aina smiled happily as she quickly headed into the office from behind the counter.

"...umm, Orelia?" Fei tilted her head still in anxiousness. "What's the verdict?"

"Why don't you two come over here? Maybe then you'll know!" Orelia chuckled.

"...a-alright...!" Fei hesitantly nodded her head as she walked over towards the guildhall.

While she did so, Damian followed behind as he calmly asked. "I don't see Roy anywhere, where is he?"

"Hmm? Roy? He's upstairs! He'll be down in just a second," Orelia replied.

"I see," he nodded his head.

"Umm... so what now?" Fei asked in a worried tone. Although Fei knew well that she completed the task without fail, she still couldn't help but felt nervous before the verdict was about to be given.

Deep within her mind, a thought lingered that there would be an unexpected outcome waiting for her instead of becoming the guild ranker that she dreamt to be.

"Mhm~" Without a reply, Orelia hummed a tune as she waited for Aina. Not a minute later, the woman that she awaited for walked out of the office, in hand, she held onto a small box.

"...um..." Fei turned towards Aina. "What's that?"

"Hehe. Close your eyes with your hands open!" Orelia gestured over towards the two siblings as she took the small box from Aina. Soon after, she opened it as she quickly took out the contents from the box.

"...alright..." Fei anxiously closed her eyes. With her shaky hands, she waited for what Orelia was about to give them. "...please be it! Please be it!" she silently prayed. Not a minute later, she felt a small item on her hand.

"Hehe, now you can open your eyes!" Orelia's voice rang out.

"..." Hesitantly opening her eyes, Fei continued to pray to herself as she slowly took a peek at the item that was given to her by Orelia. In the next second, a bright smile appeared on her face, as she quickly jumped in excitement.

In her hands was that of a small badge that illustrated a shield with a sword on it. From the left side, a wing protruded out. This was the guild's badge. A symbolism of which represented one's identity as a guild ranker,

"...hah," Damain let out a sigh as he looked at Fei who was jumping around madly. "It's funny how you were worried just a few seconds ago. Now, look at you."

"Cough... hey! I couldn't help but be worried about the fact that Orelia wasn't giving me a straight answer!" she pouted.

"Haha, my, was that why you were worried the entire time?" Orelia chuckled "There wasn't a need to be that worried, you know? Didn't you clear the job without a problem? Hmm... unless... you got outside help?"

"What? No!" she glared at Orelia.

"Hehe~ Of course, I knew that! I was just joking silly," she teased.

"Wait... Orelia!! You did that on purpose?!" Fei shouted out.

"Haha. In any case, congratulations you two! You have finally become full-fledged guild rankers!" Orelia smiled joyfully. "I hope you'll work hard in making your way up the ranks!"

"Mmm..." Still pouting at the fact that Orelia was teasing her earlier, she quickly responded, "Of course! I'll do my very best in going down the path to becoming an S-Ranker like dad!"

"My, such a big dream, huh?"

"Hmm... indeed it is." From behind the two siblings, a voice rang out.

"...?" Turning around to see where the voice came from, they were quickly greeted by the appearance of Roy. "Ah, Roy! You came down!" Fei excitedly said. "You heard the news, right?!"

"Of course. I could hear your cheering all the way from the second floor, you know?" Roy chuckled. "Anyhow, congratulations you two. You deserved it."

"Hehe!" Fei let out a bright smile.

From the side of her, Damain silently watched the happy Fei whilst giving out a slight smile of satisfaction on his face.

"Mhm~ Now then! With the guild exams out of the way, what are you two going to do now?" Orelia asked.

"Well obviously, it's to make our way into becoming S-Rankers!" she said excitedly as her stomach suddenly growled. "Uh... well, maybe after lunch... I'm hungry..."

"Hah, Fei..." Damian's slight smile quickly turned to a sigh as he heard the statement from Fei.

"Aha... well, it can't be helped, huh?" Roy shook his head helplessly. "Why don't I take you two out to lunch then? It's on me."

"...really?! Yay!" she cheered.