Nobina, Fay, and Harton made their way down the stairs back to the front. Arriving there, they met not only Tia but another guild officer as well. It was a man that seemed to be in their forties with black, short hair. They wore standard guild attire but had an additional badge on them that likely symbolized their status as a supervisor.


    “Ah,” said Tia, seeing the three come downstairs. “Hello everyone. I would like to introduce you to my supervisor, Loct Moren.”


    Loct gave a short bow, smiling after looking them over.


    “It’s a pleasure to meet you three. As Tia has said, I’m the supervisor of this branch. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask any of us. Tia has already informed me that one of you is a guild officer and the other an S-Rank adventurer. Both demanding as much respect as possible.”


    “That is correct,” smiled Nobina, stepping forward. “My name is Nobina and I’m the financial guild officer of Agora. Next to me is Fay, an S-Rank adventurer and also Harton, a fellow adventurer as well.”


    Harton gave a nod.


    “My rank might be a humble B status, but I do carry my weigh,” he smiled.


    Loct gave him a nod back.


    “Despite how much respect we give S-Ranks, we do hold someone who reaches B-Rank in high regard. Glad to meet you as well,” said Loct.


    With the greetings out of the way, Nobina relayed the words of Guild Master Ina to the rest of them. Listening to her speak, both kept quiet until Nobina finished the message. Once she was done, both Tia and Loct gave them a respectful bow.


    “We will do what we can to accommodate you. For now, would you like to know the details of the mission?” asked Loct.


    “That would be great,” said Nobina, curious about the nature of the job at hand. If it wasn’t something an A-rank or even multiple lower ranks could handle, then it must have been something serious.


    The three of them followed Loct into his office within the guild. Tia, whose attention went back to the front, waved them goodbye as they left her sight.


    Nobina was impressed by how the guild interior looked. It was mainly a wooden structure with a mixture of different types of wood. Stone columns did appear here and there, helping make up the core of the building. Once they were at Loct’s office, Nobina was further impressed by its décor. There were a decent number of books that seemed to relate to adventuring. Not only that but there were a few well-crafted furniture pieces that looked to be miniature monsters serving multiple purposes. One of those was the center table surrounded by two clothed couches.


    “Please take a seat,” said Loct, motioning towards the couches to sit.


    Once all of them were seated, with Harton taking the opportunity to be the most comfortable, Loct began relaying the mission.


    “Two weeks ago, we noticed a change in the northern forest. Monsters became more and more active, prompting us to send out an investigation. At the time, we had members of the Arrin guild here that were lending a hand. The result was the discovery of a new alpha monster taking over the arena. Normally, we wouldn’t care too much about such a thing, as it was natural for a region to gain a new alpha every once in a while. However, the sheer amount of activity has indicated the alpha is attempting to claim even more territory, including this village.”


    Loct opened up a map and set it before them, pointing to a particular circled area.


    “We’ve identified this as the likely spot of the cave of this monster. We don’t have any details of what it is though, unfortunately. Before we could send out a second scout party, an emissary from the Arrin Adventuring Guild ordered all Arrin adventurers to return to Arrin in order to deal with an immediate threat.”


    “What’s the threat?” asked Fay, curious about the recall. She knew that whatever could have caused the recall must have been serious since they would rarely take such an action.


    “They were unable to tell us at the time,” sighed Loct. “However, they promised to send us a report once the situation was handled. Hence, the border between our nations is closed.”


    “Excuse me,” said Nobina. “You said the border is closed, but isn’t there the small nation of Nitu between us and Arrin?”


    “That is correct,” replied Loct. “The order to seal the border was informed to us by Nitu. Travel between here and Nitu has not been suspended.”


    Nobina gave a nod. She was aware there were a string of nations that created a natural barrier between the three great nations. It acted as a sort of neutral ground where parties of both nation could meet and do business. It also acted as the first line of defense should something go wrong in any of the major nations.


    “Back to what I was saying,” said Loct, turning to the map. “We’ve been holding off sending any quests north to prevent drawing more monsters in our direction. So far, we’ve seen a decent number of strong monsters appearing that normally are closer to the Letun Mountains. We speculate it’s an indication of something happening to the north as well, but that is strictly off limits due to the dragons demands.”


    Fay gave it some thought before taking the lead in the conversation.


    “Do you need us to scout of the location or eliminate this new alpha monster?” asked Fay.


    “The primary mission would be to scout the circled location and then scout the mountainside. If you spot the alpha, please give us as much information as you can, but finding it is not necessary. All we need is information and getting information on the status of the two is all that matters,” said Loct.


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    “Seems a trivial task for an S-Rank,” said Harton, wondering what would have prevented the guild master or other adventurers from taking this task.


    “I’d normally agree with you, but we’ve gotten recent reports that the monsters slowly approaching the village are around C-Rank in strength. We have a few B-Ranks and C-Ranks, but most of the adventurers here are D or under. After all, this is merely a village. We also do not want to risk losing either, as this could leave us virtually defenseless against the alpha,” said Loct, a worried expression on his face.


    “So that basically covers the mission. It would roughly take two days to reach the alpha’s location and then two more days to reach the mountains. I’m not sure if you have to depart immediately, but any help would be appreciated.”


    Fay once again turned to Nobina, who merely nodded her head.


    “We do have something time sensitive, but if the border is closed then there’s no rush to get it done. We’ll help you out,” she replied.


    Relief washed over Loct as he heard the good news.


    “Guild Master Ina did inform us she’d assist us crossing the border though, so any help in that matter would be appreciated,” said Nobina.


    “Of course,” he replied. “We’ll send out a team to check the border status and report back. That way you are informed once the border situation is resolved.”


    With that, Loct went over the rest of the smaller details with the team. Most of it was information about what the monster could potentially be, but it was mostly speculation. As soon as he was done, he told them about the place where they would be able to stay for the duration.


    “Please informed Jerina the Inn Keeper that you are working an important guild mission. She’ll ensure you are treated well,” said Loct. “Besides that, do any of you have any questions?”


    “Only one question,” said Harton, drawing all of their attention. “Do you happen to have a nice restaurant in this town? I’m in the mood to try more new foods.”


    Both Fay and Nobina sighed as Loct started to laugh.


    “We do have one called the Carton Birds. They specialized in winged monster meat if you’re fine with that.”


    “Perfect for me,” smiled Harton.


    The group thanked Loct for his help, making their way out. As soon as they were back in front, Tia inquired about the status of the quest.


    “We’ve decided to take it and will head out tomorrow,” said Nobina.


    “Oh great,” said Tia, feeling relieved herself. “It’s hard sending out adventurers to something risky, as you might know as well Nobina. Many of them want a chance to test their mettle, but we don’t want to lose anyone during this time. Once those adventurers from Arrin are back, things will be different. For now though, we are just playing it safe.”


    “I can understand that,” said Nobina. “The safety of others is important and a part of being guild officers is prioritizing adventurer safety. Despite us sending them on risky missions, it’s always because it’s necessary.”


    “Exactly,” nodded Tia. “I’m glad you understand that. Anyway, I don’t want to keep you three waiting. Good luck!”


    Nobina nodded, and the group headed out of the guild moments later. Once they were outside, Harton shook his head.


    “Are you sure it’s wise to take such a quest? Time is of the essence and the border might be open by the time we reach it,” he pointed out.


    “Harton… does have a good point,” said Fay. “Despite it being closed, my status as an S-Rank adventurer of Arrin would be sufficient to get us through. I do agree though that we should help out fellow adventurers, but we do need to consider the greater impact of this decision.”


    Nobina was quiet for a bit before nodding back.


    “I understand. Do you think we should just abandon this promise and attempt to cross?” asked Nobina. “You know where I stand on the matter.”


    “I’ll still stand with you as well Nobina, but we need to be prepared to accelerate this trip once this quest is done. I’m very tempted to ask you to remain here with Harton as I clear the locations myself.”


    There was a bit of a disappointed look on Nobina’s face, but Harton quickly changed that.


    “It would be a better alternative. We can study your two problems in the meantime Nobina and make some headway there. Else, we can also work a bit on training. Nothing speaks opportunity like training with those around your skill level, right?” he smiled.


    Harton had a point. Nobina knew that she’d merely slow down the mission in her current state. If Fay was fine with it, Nobina was good with her handling the mission alone.


    “That’s… fine with me,” said Nobina. “We’ll take the time gathering information and training a bit.”


    Fay gave a nod, hugging Nobina. “Don’t worry about me either. I’ve done plenty of solo quests before and this will merely just be another one of them.”


    “I know,” said Nobina, returning the hug.


    With that settled, the group headed to the inn. Once they were there, Nobina felt a sense of homeliness with how the small eating area of the inn looked somewhat similar to the one back in Agora. The differences were in regard to the Arrin building style, but it was mostly the same.


    “I’ll merely have the guild cover the payment,” said Jerina. “If you need anything, please let me know.”


    “Of course,” said Nobina.


    The group headed upstairs to unload their gear before heading back down. It was still halfway in the day, so they decided to explore the village a bit before eating dinner and calling it a night.


    Tugan itself was a calm village compared to Dega. There were far fewer people walking around, and practically no one came up to them or talked about them. Of course, no one knew Fay was an S-Rank, which helped a lot, but it felt relieving, to say the least. The town had a general store, a blacksmith, an alchemy store, a clothing store, and a medical office. It was a similar setup to Agora, though they only had one of each building. Agora had multiple blacksmiths and general stores, as well as restaurants.


    In the center of the village was a small garden with a few benches to sit down and relax on. Nobina felt tempted to take one herself to write a bit on, but Harton ended up leading them to the next location.


    Eventually, the group reached the Carton Bird, causing Fay to chuckle.


    “Have a bit of an appetite right now, huh?” she smiled.


    “Well… I do eat a bit more when nervous,” he sighed. “Though, I will not deny wanting to try more foods all the time.”


    With the decision of what to do next basically made, the three made their way inside to enjoy a nice dinner. Once again, Harton ordered everything on the menu, with Nobina and Fay ordering two Winder-Hawk dishes. According to the waiter, the Winder-Hawks had a taste similar to chicken, yet it was a bit sweeter thanks to their diet.


    As they ate, Harton turned to Fay with a curious look.


    “Hey Fay,” said Harton, drawing her attention.


    “Yes?” she asked with a curious look.


    “Would you have preferred this journey without me?” he replied back, eyeing her to see her reaction.


    Fay thought about his question for a bit before shaking her head.


    “I’d prefer Nobina have someone I trust watching her. While I cannot say I completely trusted you before, I feel almost certain I can completely trust you now,” said Fay.


    “You know, I appreciate that,” nodded Harton. “After this journey, we might all end up good friends and grow old together! Wouldn’t that be a sight.”


    Nobina and Fay gave a sigh, shaking their heads. Both knew that by the time they passed on, Harton would still have plenty of years left in his life.


    “I guess having someone watching over our descendants isn’t bad,” said Nobina, thinking about the positives.”


    “Exactly,” Harton nodded. “And with me and Nobina getting closer, you never know!”


    Hearing that, Harton could sense a bit of hostility from Fay, causing him to chuckle.


    “Wow… you really are bad at hiding your feelings for Nobina,” he smiled.


    Nobina could barely hold back her laugh as Harton left the restaurant as Fay chased him down. Moments like these were amazing and she hoped that she could have more calm light-hearted moments in the future.


    “Cheers to an optimistic future,” she smiled.