Nobina awoke in a room she was starting to get tired of seeing. The soft, white bed was still as relaxing as ever, yet being here meant one thing.

“Sigh… I must have fainted due to those auras. The strong really are something, huh…” said Nobina to herself.

“I’m so sorry,” came Lila’s voice to her left.

She turned and was surprised to see her sitting there. The last thing she recalled was seeing Lila’s terrified face when she was fainting. Nobina honestly expected to wake up back in that room, but being at the medical office meant Lila went out of her way to bring her there.

“You know,” said Nobina, slowly getting up. “I just fainted due to the pressure. I’m sure all of this wasn’t necessary.

Lila shook her head vigorously.

“It was very necessary,” she replied. “Imagine what would have happened if you hit your head too hard or something. You did fall a bit hard onto the ground… I think.”

Nobina was very skeptical of that being a good enough reason to be here. However, she was thankful that Lila did show care for her. Even if it was because of Pausers.

“Well… thank you anyways for bringing me here. Now then…”

She slowly got up off the bed and stretched her arms. Looking herself over, Nobina saw nothing obviously wrong with her. With that reassurance, she made her way out of the room, down the hallway, and into the lobby. When she got there, she saw Medical Mage Kim and Witmi, who both were having a casual conversation.

“Ah, Nobina,” said Kim. “How are you doing? I didn’t see anything wrong with you, so I opted not to use my ability. However, if you can recall it being necessary please let me know immediately. Internal injuries are a serious thing.”

“Hey,” said Lila, showing a shocked look. “Wasn’t my word that it was possible Nobina had a really serious injury good enough to use a heal? Someone as important as Nobina…”

“Enough,” said Nobina, shutting up Lila. “I appreciate all your doing for me Lila, but I rather Kim has her ability for more serious cases.”

“Sorry,” said Lila, shrinking a bit.

Kim and Witmi both chuckled at seeing Lila’s reaction. To them, an S-rank acting like this towards a simple guild officer showed that she really had the utmost respect for Nobina. That or she believed Nobina something far more than she actually was.

“Now I don’t mean to pry, but what exactly happened Nobina?” asked Kim. “Lila said that there was some sort of argument and the auras of Eric, Aunai and herself knocked you out.”

“Right… There’s just a lot of talk about my future in the guild,” sighed Nobina.

“It sounds like it’s complicated,” replied Kim. “If it’s something you don’t want to say…”

Nobina thought about whether she could tell them the whole story but decided to merely ask her the question she’s been debating.

“I’ve been thinking about whether to go on a journey or stay in town,” she told Kim, taking a seat. “There’s a good reason for the journey, but I’ll likely be away for a long while. It’s unlikely my friends here can come either, so I’d be saying goodbye for now.”

Kim chuckled, shaking her head.

“There’s nothing wrong with a trip of necessity, but I’d imagine you wouldn’t have felt it necessary to tell me if there wasn’t more to it.”

Nobina gave a nod. Lila, Witmi, and Kim took a seat as Nobina continued answering her question.

“Part me of wants to say, despite feeling it necessary for me to leave. The reason being is that I do enjoy the quiet life here. All the people here are great. Besides the goblin incident, it’s a rather peaceful town. I love that I can pursue my dreams and do meaningful work. I worry… That if I leave, I might not get this quiet life back.”

Hearing that, Kim seemed to go into deep thought. As she did that, Witmi gave a concerned face as she asked her next question.

“Why would this trip change that? Are you going to become a national hero or someone famous?”

Nobina struggled to decide what to tell her. She didn’t want to reveal her secrets, yet without revealing them, it would be harder to paint an accurate picture.

“Honestly… I’m not sure what will happen. The worst case is… well…”

Her voice trailed off as she didn’t want to think more about everything that could happen on this trip. It was a trip that was both necessary and unnecessary. Things could go well or terribly. She wasn’t sure what would ultimately happen.

“I don’t understand,” said Lila. “I told you I’d go on the trip. Why would you say you’ll go instead now?”

“Because of what happened earlier,” said Nobina. “Aunai is right. You’re an important person to the guild. If I ended up taking you away and something bad happens, any lost lives would be on me.”

At the very end of what she said, Nobina noticed she emphasized the “me” part of it. She was once again thinking about the potential consequences of her actions. Realizing that, she merely covered her face, shaking her head.

“I’m becoming a mess,” she said, her voice muffled by her hands.

Kim stood up and took a seat next to Nobina, patting her on the back.

“Oh Nobina,” said Kim. “There is one thing you need to do. Speak with Eric and Aunai about this. Work out a plan. There’s not much more you can do yourself, right?”

Nobina gave a nod.

As she did that, she noticed the door open. Stepping through the door was Line, who was holding his stomach.

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“Are you alright Line?” asked Nobina.

Kim walked over to Line, checking to see if he was alright.

“Sorry to intrude,” bowed Line. “I have seemed to have eaten something poisonous. Can you hand me medication for it?”

“I can handle your case in the back,” nodded Kim.

She then turned to Nobina, giving her a smile.

“Do you need any more advice?” asked Kim.

Nobina shook her head.

“Thank you Kim… I appreciate all the advice.”

With that, Nobina and Lila departed from the medical office and headed back to the guild. On the way, Lila made her way next to Nobina. There was a somewhat guilty look on her face as she began talking to Nobina.

“Am I… being a bit too protective Nobina?” asked Lila. “I’m doing this because of Pausers, but… I can hold back if I’m being too involved.”

She shook her head.

“It’s alright. I appreciate you helping me out, even if it’s just because of Pausers.”

A few minutes later, they arrived at the guild. A few eyes fell on them due to both of their statuses, but no one impeded them as they headed into the back and up the stairs to the second floor. Once they were in the meeting room, they saw it was empty. They then went to Eric’s office, where they saw Eric and Aunai chatting and enjoying a cup of tea.

“Oh Nobina,” said Eric. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” she smiled back. “Sorry about earlier.”

“It’s our fault for escalating things to a completely unacceptable level,” said Aunai. “Please forgive us S-ranks for pressuring you with our auras.”

Aunai stood up and gave a bow, followed by Eric and Lila. Seeing this, she merely nodded to acknowledge their apology.

“Oh. One more thing… Well, I guess two things,” said Eric, grabbing Nobina’s two bags. “Your Gaze bag produced food that had poisoned Line. I’m sure he’s fine, but…”

“He’s at the medical office right now,” said Nobina. “But… did you say you received poisoned food?”

Eric brought out a basket with food that was somewhat familiar to Nobina. It was Filipino food, yet there was an odd smell about it.

“What did they do to this perfectly good food?” asked Nobina, staring at it in hopes of getting an answer.

“I cannot say,” said Eric. “It’s honestly depressing seeing a new potential meal wasted.”

“I can agree with that,” said Aunai. “More important, why is your bag trying to poison guild masters? You know that’s a crime right.”

Nobina’s face went pale, but Lila stepped up to protect her.

“Why exactly did you try to eat food from her bags without her approval?” asked Lila, her hands against her hips.

Aunai, realizing she had no real defense, apologized.

“Sorry,” was the only word she said.

“Now now,” said Eric. “The bag offered it to us, so it’s not solely to blame. Rather, it’s the Gaze itself.”

“What is the Gaze,” asked Lila. “Someone strong? Can I fight them?”

“No,” replied Nobina and Eric, causing Lila to frown.

“So boring,” she sighed.

Aunai looked at all of them, trying to think about what to say next.

“Anyways, there was a second glow,” said Eric. “Mind looking and telling us what it is?”

Nobina dug into her Gaze bag and saw it was a beautiful portrait of herself The nice wooden carved frame helped highlight the beauty of the portrait. In particular, she was impressed with the style of the portrait, which was a sort of cute artwork. If she could recall, the artwork was in a chibi-style.

“Thank you…”

She looked around a bit and saw the artist’s name.

“Miso...”

Nobina wasn’t familiar with the artist, but there was some sort of familiar feeling she was getting.

“Wait… did they give me the miso soup awhile back?”

She wasn’t sure if this was the same person. However, it would make sense for someone named Miso to have given her the soup.

Not sure what to do next, she merely put the portrait into her special bag. She then turned to the others, who were merely waiting for her to speak.

“Now then,” said Nobina. “What’s the plan? Will Lila be unable to assist me?”

Aunai seemed surprised by her response but quickly returned to a more neutral position to answer Nobina’s question.

“Officially, we are completely against an S-rank abandoning her duties for the sake of a non-essential personal errand,” said Aunai. “Unless you can prove this is a serious matter worth taking away such an important asset, we cannot give our consent to the action.”

“It’s unnecessary,” said Lila. “I’ll go regardless of…”

“I understand,” responded Nobina. “Lila… please don’t force yourself out of the guild for my sake.”

Hearing that, Lila had no choice but to agree.

“The offer always remains,” said Lila. “I shall leave this matter to you.”

With that, Nobina heard a sigh of relief from Aunai. It was clear how stressful this issue was since Nobina knew first-hand how important S-ranks were.

“I know this is a poor excuse of an apology, but do you mind if I treat you and your fellow guild officers to a meal?” asked Aunai. “We can discuss alternatives to fulfilling your request as thanks for allowing Lila to stay. I cannot guarantee we can get similar results, but we can try our best.”

“I appreciate it,” said Nobina. “What about you Eric? Anything to add?”

“This arrangement is acceptable,” he responded. “I shall inform the others of the plan.”

Eric took his leave from the room. Before exiting, he told Nobina and Aunai they can chat as long as they wanted. As soon as he was gone, Aunai gave a small stretch.

“Man… What a last few days,” she sighed. “Culling a nest and potentially losing a S-rank really is a bit stress inducing.”

“Sorry,” said Nobina.

“Don’t apologize for it,” responded Aunai. “This is a choice that Lila is making, not you. I understand the desire to see a close friend. That is why I can see why you’d resort to accepting the help of an S-rank without thinking about the consequences.”

Nobina nodded, unable to deny the truth in her statement.

“Anyways,” said Aunai. “We got some time before dinner, so let’s have some casual talk. I’m sure you must be curious about our guild as a fellow guild officer, right?”

Upon hearing that, Nobina shook her head vigorously.

“I love learning cool stuff like that, so lay it on me,” she said, her eyes shining.

The rest of the time before dinner was spent with Aunai and Lila talking about the adventuring guild in the city of Navira. Unlike Nobina’s guild, the Navira adventuring guild was significantly larger than their guild. It was a guild well known for producing top adventurers who used a melee Path. There were a decent number of notable adventurers who weren’t melee-based, but that was a small number.

Lila talked about how many people saw the Navira adventuring guild as the step right before going to the capital. At the capital was where adventurers either aimed for A-rank, S-rank, or the become a Royal Adventurer.

“What’s a Royal Adventurer?” asked Nobina.

“A special designation for adventurers who serve the crown,” said Aunai. “This status is separate from the adventurer ranking system, meaning even an F-rank can become a Royal Adventurer. The crown merely seeks that these adventurer meet certain criteria. After all, not all adventurers are combat based. As you know, the rank S does not mean you can find extremely rare herbs.”

Nobina knew that all too well. She was flabbergasted by how unskilled some C-ranks were at simple gathering quests. This time of peace was shining a light on these people in particular.

“I swear,” said Nobina, talking about the adventurers she was working with. “We need a separate qualification for non-combat adventurers.”

“I believe they’ve adapted that in the Federation of the Great Gar Gar,” said Aunai. “As you know, we are a bit dated, so it might be a while before we adopt a similar system.”

Nobina sighed, shaking her head.

Soon, Eric gave a knock and came into the room.

“Am I interrupting something?” he asked.

“We were just talking about Navira. I’m still sad she rejected us so brutally to stay here,” said Aunai in a slight fake cry.

Nobina felt embarrassed seeing that, while Lila gave a strong laugh.

“Oh, if only you knew Aunai,” she laughed. “You wouldn’t have even tried to pry her away from this town.”

“Oh?” replied Aunai. “I was curious about why you decided to become so close to Nobina. Perhaps that’s the key to all of this?”

Realizing her mistake, Lila shook her head.

“I refuse to talk,” she said.

Aunai looked at her a bit before smiling.

“Give me a week,” she said.

“Eep,” replied Lila, knowing exactly what Aunai was going to do.

Seeing that, Nobina couldn’t help but chuckle. Seeing interactions like this really made Nobina happy. It was the main reason she was planning to listen to everyone’s advice.

“Perhaps… I’ll end up staying after all,” she told herself.