"Don't you have any other Porter?"
"As I said, the only one that still hasn't come in today is the Porter you were with last time. A lot of people wanted to reserve him, but as he hasn't come into the guild since yesterday, most just opted for another one. He is the only one available."
"N…not him."
The Leville party was currently inside the Hunter's guild, and have been exchanging words with the woman behind the counter for several minutes now. They were trying to find a new Porter and have been checking with the guild every minute or so.
Fortunately for them, the concierge seems patient, as they just smiled at them even though they'd been asking the same questions for hours now—well, at least until now.
"Look, lady. You're already presented with someone you already previously worked with—and judging by his record in the last dungeon you guys did, he did well," the woman lightly slammed her palm on the counter, "If you want someone else other than what the guild is providing, then go fucking recruit a personal porter for your party!"
"That—"
"You're holding up the line!"
"Eek!"
Lilly could really only move away as the woman behind the counter started violently pointing at her to go away. Lilly glanced behind her, only to see there wasn't actually a line—most parties were already out hunting in dungeons.
"...What do we do now?" And as she walked away, her sighs almost filled the entire guild hall. This sigh, however, was quickly swallowed as she saw Riley casually sitting with Bert and Roan at their table.
"R… Riley!" Lilly quickly feigned a smile; her halted steps and the bead of sweat on her face, however, quickly gave away the growing anxiety crawling through the back of her neck.
"Lililly."
"H…hey, Lilly. Riley's back," Roan also stuttered as he looked Lilly in the eyes; urging her to quickly join them, "I guess… we don't have to keep searching for another Porter, right? Right?"
"R…right," Lilly forced a chuckle as she very slowly approached their table, violently patting Bert to move so she could sit as far away from Riley as possible.
"I apologize, everyone," Riley let out a small sigh as he looked at Lilly, "I wasn't here yesterday as I had some reading to do in the library."
"Pft, no. It's fine," Lilly then elbowed Bert, urging him to say something as the oldest one in the group.
"...Right," Bert quickly cleared his throat and nodded, "We earned a lot of money from the orcs, so there is really no need to work yet. You know what? I believe we should all just rest again today."
"That's a good idea!" A loud gasp escaped from Roan's mouth, "We… we should just call it a day today and—"
"Oh, you are scared of me," And before the Leville party could continue their rambles and excuses, Riley let out a small hum as he looked at the members of the Leville party one by one,
"You could have just said so, everyone. I would have understood," Riley then stood up and sighed, "I assure you, you do not need to be afraid of me yet, I do not have plans in harming any of you."
"We're not scared of you!" And before Riley could step away from the table, Lilly quickly stood up. It wasn't only her, both Bert and Roan also got on their feet as they looked at Riley.
"We… believe that it would be best for you to go to another party, Riley," Bert said, "We don't know your circumstances, but you're strong. Stronger than the three of us combined. We… don't deserve to have you on our team as a porter."
"It's not… it's us," Roan sighed and shook his head, "We're lacking as a party."
"I am a 1-Star Porter, everyone," Riley tilted his head to the side, slightly confused by the party's words, "If not your party, then I would just be booked by another group that is similar to you in strength. No one deserves to have me at their party."
"Oh."
And as soon as they heard Riley's words, the three looked at each other—their eyes, completely blank from realizing their stupidity. They were so in awe of Riley's strength, that they completely forgot he really was registered as a Low-ranking Porter. And in the first place, based on the brief show of strength that Riley showed them… there shouldn't be anyone stronger than him in this city.
The three continued to look at each other, not knowing that Riley Ross is actually considered to be the most dangerous individual in the Known Universe.
"In that case…" Lilly then took in a long and very deep breath as she looked Riley in the eyes, "...I would like to formally invite you to our party to become our member."
"That's… shameless," Roan widened his eyes as he looked at Lilly.
"...We just said we don't deserve him," Bert sighed.
"Wait, no!" Lilly shook her head and waved her hands, "As a porter! Of course, we're not going to let him fight. If he did, we might as well just become the porters for him."
"That… that's true."
"Why are you guys talking like he already accepted to be in our party?"
"W—"
"It's fine," Riley then raised his hand before anyone else could talk, "I prefer working with familiar faces."
"..." Leville party quickly looked at each other again as they heard Riley's words. And after a few seconds of heavy breathing around their table, the Leville party all cheered and rejoiced.
"Wait… wait," and before Bert could order some alcohol to celebrate their new member, Roan unexpectedly stopped cheering; the tone of his voice, slightly turning serious as he looked at Riley, "Since we're going to do this, I want to check something… if that's alright with you, Riley."
"Hm?"
"I… want to know how strong you are," Roan then said—and it wasn't only him. Lilly and Bert, who were initially not interested in what Roan was about to say, could not help but once again look at each other when they heard his words,
"Let's… spar, Riley."
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