Not knowing the identity of an enemy is the greatest disadvantage there is, and now, both the half-dragon and the half-wolf were at this impasse.
Whether there were demons or not, Luke still had an obligation to continue his Mission of helping Nathalia reach at least D-Class; however, the danger from the demons and the Chaos Followers was still imminent.
"Now, I think it's the time for you to talk about yourself." The half-wolf spoke with a condescending smile.
Earlier, the half-dragon was clearly thoughtful as she stared at the white granite of the kitchen counter, and after hearing the man's speech, she let a smile slip.
"To introduce myself, first I need to explain how it was that I found you."
So, the girl got up, went to the broken door, whose handle and hinges had been detonated by a kick from the half-wolf a few minutes ago, and opened it.
Nathalia was sitting on the floor of the hallway, with the odd bird on her lap, looking down at the floor. Then, after noticing that the conversation, which had lasted some time, was over, she stood up digestively.
"Come, sit with us. It's time we told him how we met." Said the half-dragon, making room for Nathalia to enter.
Sitting on the messy bed, the Elf said while her heart was racing:
"Luke, I think I've made a mistake, one of those that are beyond repair."
****
As soon as Nathalia heard a bang that day in the Dungeon five days ago, she tried for over an hour to open the gigantic stone door.
Then, seeing that none of her efforts would have any effect, she left the Dungeon to seek help from someone.
However, the bang was not only heard by her as it reverberated all the way to the surface. Desperate, Nathalia eagerly tried to find someone willing to enter the Dungeon with her, to try to open the door, but no one was willing to risk themselves in a supposed Dungeon Event with an E-Class as a partner, no matter how beautiful she was.
So, when the Elf couldn't think of any other options, she went to the Vasconcelos Guild and opened an official, Active Mission request in her real name. In addition, she announced to all those present in the Guild building that the Mission was to begin immediately and would be worth one hundred gold coins.
"One hundred gold coins!? For me!?" The half-wolf questioned, startled because not even working for a year he would get that amount.
"Desperate situations, require desperate measures." The Elf said, smiling and blushing.
At that moment, Luke actually realized that Nathalia didn't just consider him as an employee but as a real friend.
"So? Did you accept the Mission?"
"Actually, I had some problems about the value of it..."
Since the value was exuberant and extremely attractive, as well as giving the opportunity for an Adventurer to carry out a Mission for a member of a noble family, it caused quite a bit of euphoria among the Adventurers.
For this reason, Nathalia was soon called into the Zion Room, where she had to explain to him everything that had occurred.
"I understand that Luke is an important colleague."
"He is my only colleague."
"Yes, I understand perfectly, but we don't even know what's going on inside the Dungeon right now, and while I'm sure at least a hundred adventurers would be willing to take this on with you, I'm afraid it's too dangerous and risky... I'm sorry."
Luckily, there was a newcomer in town, who while she was pretty curious about the great success that was the Vasconcelos Guild, was even more curious about a mission that offered a small fortune. This was Nathalia's Quest, whose poster was on the counter.
For the half-dragon, it was the ideal opportunity to finally get rid of the debts she had made in Stahurt. However, more than the reward value, a factor written in the description of the quest alerted her.
[Quest for any Rank.
Title: Missing.
A companion and I were scouring the depths of the second floor in search of an entrance to the third when we were surprised by a giant door made of stone. Upon opening it, we saw a giant white cube. Besides the cube was a lizard, which seemed extremely strong.
I ran away, but my companion, named Luke Lange, stayed to distract the creature. Then I heard the crash, and when I returned to check what had happened, my friend was gone.
This quest is being proposed by Nathalia Yamazaki Strogueher, Ayumi Yamazaki Strogueher's firstborn.
Reward: 100 gold coins].
'A white cube!?' The half-dragon thought, while trembling with excitement. 'White cubes are the hallmarks of a high-level sealing. And that kind of sealing is only done with demons! Great! That would allow me to kill two birds with just one stone!'
The woman was very excited, both because of the reward value of the Mission and also because of the opportunity to meet yet another demon.
With the Mission in hand, she decided that she would do it.
However, she didn't dare go knocking on the door of the mansion of a noble family to look for additional information about the Mission or even ask for confirmation in the guild that was taking the Mission, because there wasn't much time either.
Instead, she ran to the second floor and tried for a long time to find the giant door mentioned in the mission parchment and was unsuccessful for four days straight, which left her frustrated and hungry.
"Now that you know how I found you, at last, I can tell you who I am." said the half-dragon, finishing telling the story and standing up with a severe expression. "Nice to meet you, my name is Alexis and I am a broke mercenary working for the Cardinal Church."
At that moment, Luke stood up from his chair, looked her up and down, and spoke:
"You work for a church? Hmph... You should review your repertoire of jokes."
"Why? You don't believe me?" She inquired, placing her hands on her waist and tapering her eyebrows.
"A long time ago, my mistress told me about the dangers that dwell in a Dungeon, and from what she told me, the Cardinal Church keeps all those secrets under lock and key, why would there be someone like you distributing information about demons like that?"
"You have a great point." The half-dragon said, stepping back with a faint smile.
"Anyway, thanks for the help. I have quite a bit to think about, and I have to recover to get back to work." the man said, turning to leave.
"Wait!" The woman called out to him. Nathalia and Luke, already heading for the broken door, braked and looked back, abstruse. "Can you guys do me a favor?"
______
Discord for illustrations of the characters:
https://discord.gg/qz2vDAn7Kb
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺