Elsewhere a man can be seen walking towards the adventurer’s hub in Larien while deep in thought. It was none other than captain Clarks, the scolding he received from Nelson still fresh in his mind. He was having doubts about his goals, his entire person.

Christopher ever since he was young always thought of soldiers as heroic. They viewed them as paragons of good protecting those who cannot stand up for himself. And all throughout his career as a soldier, this view of his never changed. He always believed he did the right thing.

When he first arrived in Nelithea this part of him didn’t change, this was evident during his scouting mission that ended with him and his men fending off a demonic horde.

He didn’t have to help the villagers, and his actions even put his men at risk when they fought an unknown threat head on. But he did it anyway, because he wanted to help. But Nelson's words echoed through his mind and just won't leave him in peace.

“You are not here to play hero”

As he walked along the road to the hub he saw children running around and playing, their faces free of any worry and he could see genuine happiness in their faces. Usually these children would stop and stare at him, but since today he decided to not wear his exoskeleton he didn’t stand out much even with his military uniform.

Still there were people who walked up to greet him, those people were the ones he personally saved two years ago. These people feel eternal gratitude toward him and will always stop whatever they are doing just to greet him.

“Good day to you Captain Clarks” An elderly woman said as he passed by

“Good day to you too ma’am” Clarks replied with a smile

This was the norm for him now, but not just for him, but for every soldier stationed in Larien.

After a few more minutes of walking he finally reached the adventurer’s hub.

The building wasn’t anything fancy, it was you typical medieval structure with stone walls and a wooden roof, though it should be noted that the hub itself encompasses a large area since it receives a lot of adventurer’s every day, plus the people who work for the guild stay within the building.

He then entered the hub and was immediately greeted by the clerks working for the guild despite them looking busier than usual today. He was a familiar face here, since he would often mingle with the adventurers and eat the local cuisine.

“Good day to you Mr. Clarks, how can we be of service today?” A blonde woman wearing something that resembled the average office attire on earth said as she walked up to him.

Clarks could see that she was very busy with the beads of sweat forming on her forehead and the fact that she was briskly walking before she noticed him. In fact everyone in the reception hall looked like they were in some kind of last minute crunch.

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“Are you okay? Everyone seems to be really busy today. Did something happen?” Clarks asked the blonde clerk

“Oh, yes. There was a surge of adventurers that came in.” The woman said as she shook her head

“After you guys defeated those Manticores the amount of adventurers visiting Larien has increased. It seemed that Mystic forest related requests and jobs have become real popular recently.”

“Sounds like a huge pain” Clarks commented

“Yeah it kinda is, at this rate we might need to expand the hub because if this trend keeps up we might even have adventurers lined up outside the guild and we probably won’t be able to handle them all.” The Clerk said feeling a little dejected

“Thankfully the guild has agreed to send in more staff, but they won’t be here in another week, as for the expansion we were thinking of building a second hub somewhere in the village” The Clerk said as she regained a little bit of her smile

Clarks was a little amused at this sight because it felt too familiar. It looked like the average scene at any firm back on earth, with people always busy and walking around nonstop.

“I guess office work is still a pain no matter the world” Clarks said to himself.

“Oh would you like for me to find you a table to sit on? I mean the canteen is full right now, but the staff probably reserved a seat for you since you always come here anyway. The chef is also excited for you try his new dish” The Clerk said as she puffed out her chest while smiling

“Thank you, that would be lovely.” Clarks replied

“Right this way Mr. follow my lead” The clerk said as she lead him to the canteen

And as she described earlier, the place was indeed full of people. Large half naked muscled men with axes or spears, fully armored men, cloaked magic users, heck even a few elves and dwarves were present. It truly was a packed place, yet they were still able to reserve a table just for him.

As he sat down to the table and prepared to order whatever it is the chef was proud of, a group of three unruly men entered the canteen. They were large men with battle scars and tattoos, yet their actions are almost too juvenile.

They noticed that there was no seat available and immediately tried to force people out of their tables. They picked on the nearest table to them which seated four adventurers. Two men and two women, although one of the girls was very short and quite frankly looked like a little girl.

They walked up to the 4 adventurers and tried to intimidate them.

“Hey ugly, this is our seats go find someone else to bother” The little lady said in an angry voice

“What’s this? A little girl trying to act tough? Haha, are the men with you so weak that they feel the need for a little girl to speak for them” The largest man of the three sneered

“ENOUGH” One of the men sitting at the table screamed at the men.

The man looked young and was sporting some brand new armor that he probably purchased recently.

“Oh hoho, what’s this, you want to fight? Well bring it on. And after I beat you, I’ll be taking that sweet looking armor of yours.” The man replied

“Let’s see you try then” The other man with the adventurers replied, this man was wielding a rather large axe that also looked brand new.

“Draug, Roman, stop this. Don’t get baited into a fight please” The other woman with them begged.

Everyone could see that the two men were at a disadvantage not only in numbers but in size, while the axe wielding man was rather large, his companion however wasn’t. Even If the women with them joined they would probably still get overpowered.

Things were about to get ugly until largest man of the three instigators felt a tap on from behind, when he looked back he saw a dark skinned man wearing a strange looking grey uniform. It was none other than captain Clarks

“Sir, I would like for you to think carefully about what you are about to do next.” Captain Clarks said in a calm manner

“Make the wrong move and someone might get hurt” Captain Clarks said with a smile