“Hm…. No… I’m sure this feels too drastic… What if I…”

Nobina found herself standing in a dark room barely illuminated. The only thing she could see was someone typing on a computer in what appeared to be a modern-day personal office. There was a glass wall behind them revealing a dark back yard that led into a rather open forest.

Beside him were two wall sized bookcases full of modern-day science books and fantasy books. It would have fascinated Nobina, but she felt extremely sleepy.

“Is this… a dream,” she thought to herself.”

Her gaze fell onto the man in a white coat sitting behind the computer. Looking at them, she instantly realized who that was, but suddenly, everything went completely dark. His voice said one last thing before it went silent.

“Erase…”

…

Nobina found herself waking up in the middle of the night. There was an odd sense of loneliness as Nobina noticed the lack of a gaze upon her. Usually, the Gaze was either intense or light, but she had only rarely remembered a few times it was as light as it was now.

“Wait… was that…. Nonomo?

“Ah… my head,” said Nobina, grabbing it with her right head.

A familiar headache appeared, making her wonder what was happening.

“What… is going on,” Nobina asked herself as she tried to get her bearings.

She got out of her bed, the room dark except for the moonlight shining through the room. Her vision could barely see the rest of the room, but she managed to reach the nearby candle to light it.

“Hm…” said Nobina, grabbing the nearby Spark Rocks. Those were two stones that, when struck together, created a spark. The rocks were especially good at creating these sparks and weren’t too expensive to make. It was often used in adventuring parties as an inexpensive Firestarter.

“Curious…” said Nobina as she examined the rocks. She had been in this world for a while and was quite familiar with Spark Rocks, which was the name that people called them. She hadn’t really thought about the logic behind how they worked before. However, her curiosity at the moment was at an all-time high.

She began taking out all her objects from her bag, taking a look at everything she had. From the grenades she still hadn’t had usage for to the newer items like the scarf and the water horn, there was an ever-growing number of items she had that all did their own special things. Looking at all of them, she received some of them at times where they might have been useful but also received items that had no immediate usage.

Part of her felt like these were ultimately the key to solving the great mystery behind the Gaze and the entities behind it. However, there was a building up worry regarding these items.

“Once again… I wonder if these items are a sign of future events to come, or if they exist regardless of what’s going to happen.”

Her eyes started to find themselves closing as she felt fatigue kicking in. She put away all her items and headed to bed. Tomorrow, she’d meet with Carina and give her response. After that she guessed it be back to business as usual.

“Tomorrow…” she whispered before falling asleep.

…

The next day, Nobina felt a warm ray of sunlight piecing into her room. She slowly got up, looking out the window to see what time of day it was.

“Guess it’s time to give my answer,” she told herself.

Once again, the Gaze was weaker than usual, but it was still there. She tried to pay it no mind though, as she had something important to do.

After putting on her uniform, she headed downstairs and to the guild building. She was feeling a bit nervous, but she merely hoped Carina wouldn’t take her decision too badly.

Entering the guild, the air was as hectic as usual as the morning quest rush was still going on. She hadn’t been there long, but she saw something on a small scale in the Agora guild. It was basically people trying to get the easiest jobs or the highest-paying jobs.

“Guess things never change,” she chuckled.

Nobina headed upstairs and soon found herself instead the financial room. Mustan and Carina were arguing again, but now on a different topic.

“Are you kidding me?” said Carina, sounding baffled. “You can’t tell me that the quest was worth fifty gold. It should have been thirty.”

“Demand was quite low when it was posted at that amount,” replied Mustan with a sigh. “It was increased in accordance with policy.”

“Policy is up to fifty percent. The fact it was pushed up beyond that is inexcusable, especially from a veteran officer,” she said, slamming her hands to the center table.

“Uh,” said Nobina, once again breaking the deadlock.

Both of them looked towards Nobina before looking back at each other.

“We’ll handle this later,” said Mustan. “I have a report to give.”

“Whatever,” said Carina, clearly frustrated.

As soon as Mustan was gone, Nobina found Carina’s gaze intently on her as her expression changed to a smile.

“Ah… Nobina. Hopefully you’ve thought it over and have an answer.”

Nobina felt as if Carina had expected her to say she’d become a noble, but Doriten’s clear threat, above all else, was the biggest deterrent.

“Uh… I’m sorry Carina, but I’ve determined it is not in my best interest to become a noble by merit.”

She expected to see disappointment flash on Carina’s face, but instead, it was just curiosity.

“Hm… Any particular reason why? Certainly there’s something I can do to help,” she smiled.

“That’s the thing…. Doriten warned me against becoming a noble.”

The mention of his name caused the expected disappointment to appear on Carina’s face. She merely shook her head as she sat down.

“Can you tell me what your relationship is with Doriten Nobina? It would be… problematic if you were his ally.”

The implied threat was clear as Nobina felt herself scrambling to explain the situation. She told Carina about their two meetings, with the most recent one resulting Doriten learning about her potentially being a noble.

Carina sighed, shaking her head.

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“Ah… you gave him a heads up. I expected better of you Nobina,” said Carina, turning a page in one of the books she was looking at.

“It didn’t help that I was a bit fearful of my life,” she responded. “I don’t know what Doriten is capable of, nor did I want to anger him.”

Carina shook her head, continuing to read the financial book she was holding.

“Regardless, what’s done is done. There’s no way you’ll be able to become a noble if Doriten is going to oppose it actively. Anyways, continue learning about our financials. If you have any questions let me know,” said Carina, turning her attention back to her financial book.

Nobina looked at Carina a bit before turning to her own work. She wasn’t sure how Carina felt about her, given the answer she gave, but she could only hope it wouldn’t affect their relationship that much. Without another word, she continued her research into the financials of the Navira guild.

A few days had passed since she had given her answer to Carina. To Nobina’s surprise, her attitude remained relatively friendly. She didn’t invite her to go out, but Carina didn’t show any disdain towards her. Rather, she treated Nobina as a co-worker, even asking if she needed help every once in a while. It was a good experience, making Nobina wonder if things were finally going to go smoothly.

In the meantime, Nobina had been hard at work making sure to understand the financial situation of the Navira Adventuring Guild. So far, they had a lot of programs that had to be monitored and paid for, leading to her realizing they needed financial officers for that specific reason. She had also thought more about the costs of swapping their system to something similar to Agora, but it wasn’t a simple matter and would likely take weeks to do.

“Guess I’ll think more about it today,” sighed Nobina as she walked into the guild.

Nobina headed to the financial office of the guild, but as soon as she got to the entrance, she saw Carina and Mustan were heading out of the room.

“Oh Nobina,” said Carina. “Aunai has something she needs to let us know. Come on.”

Without missing a beat, Nobina was right behind the two as they headed to the guild master’s office. Once they were there, they all stood in a line, with Nobina standing on the right of Carina, who was the center of the three.

“Ah,” said Aunai, who was sitting at her desk. “Glad you could all be here on such short notice. There’s been a report that was just received a few minutes ago. No one else knows this, but news will quickly spread. I need you three to take action immediately.”

All of them straightened up, waiting for whatever Aunai had to say.

“A few scouts were sent to watch of for a dragon that had recently destroyed a village. One of them was near the Town of Wistern when a dragon appeared. Luckily, the dragon merely did a pass by, but we are concerned that the town will be the next target. Evacuations have been ordered immediately and reinforcements have been sent. Ideally, they decide to evacuate themselves, but they might wait for our directive. In the worst case…”

Aunai seemed hesitant to speak but mustered the will to do so after a bit.

“… it might attack before the order is received or before they can evacuate.”

All of them stood there, dumbfounded by what she just said. The first to speak was Carina, who was extremely emotional.

“Damn it! No! Are you telling me that an order for evacuation wasn’t given when the sighting of the dragon happened initially? What were you thinking Aunai!”

Nobina could see tears coming from her eyes, making her wonder if Carina had a link with Wistern.

“We’ve already been gathering a hunting party and did not expect another dragon sighting so soon,” said Aunai. “Wistern was a key economic town for the territory and an unnecessary evacuation would severely hamper Lord Kasanta. However, the situation leaves me no choice but to act now. Not to mention I have no choice but to request reinforcements from the capital as we mount the best dragon-hunting group we can. A rogue dragon cannot be left alone and if it ends up destroying Wistern, it must be eliminated as soon as possible”

All of them nodded, with Carina still visibly shaken.

“I trust you know what to do Carina,” said Aunai.

She gave a nod, trying to wipe away her tears.

“I will speak with the nobility and get their financial support. They will certainly give it, due to how dire this situation is and how many… including myself… had ties to that town.”

Aunai gave a nod, turning to Mustan.

“As the most senior guild officer, I’m trusting you to determine the impact of the towns destruction and the funds we’ll need to send off a dragon hunting squad, as well as the funds needed to bolster the City of Navira’s defenses.”

“Of course,” he nodded.

Lastly, Aunai turned to Nobina.

“I want you to meet with the leader of the merchant’s guild and obtain as much funds as possible. Time is of the essence and the economic crisis will likely cause a panic amongst the merchants who might flee out of the territory in fear of us failing to dispatch the dragon. If necessary, tell them you have my full authority.”

Nobina felt the immense pressure of Aunai’s request, prompting her to immediately question it.

“Why me? I’m just a temporary guild officer here. Certainly a more senior officer would be more suited,” Nobina replied, waving her hands.

“That’s unfortunately not the case. The merchant guild and adventuring guild have recently come into… unfortunate tension. They might be more willing to listen to an outsider’s request with my authority. If you are unable to secure funds, then merely report back. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Nobina gave a nod. She was very concerned about the sudden news they had received. Was this the same dragon Nobina had met or another one? Was this her Path at work, or was this unrelated?

“Damn it,” she said under her breath, both towards the current situation and her lack of knowledge.

It hadn’t been that long since she had arrived in town, but she felt she wasn’t getting enough time to settle in, at the very least.

“Don’t stress yourself out too much Nobina,” said Aunai, drawing Nobina’s attention.

“Despite how urgent everything is, hunting a dragon could take weeks or longer. The town’s location is about a week away and the news is technically four days old. If not for the scout’s speed, this matter might have been more…”

“How can you say that” said Carina in almost a scream. “The town is under immediate danger … So many people can lose their lives! How can you…”

Nobina found herself freezing upon hearing Carina’s yelling. Immediately, Nobina feared for the worse, thinking about her Path and the potential of her being the cause of the issue. She then wondered if she had gotten a whole village destroyed by the dragon earlier as her Path began placing her in the center of a potential disaster yet again.

“No…” she found herself saying to herself, pure fear on her face. The stress was building up as she felt the guilt of so many lives on her.

“Enough,” said Aunai, her voice echoing her authority. Carina immediately backed off, causing Aunai to shake her head.

“Please keep a level head Carina. I know how you must be feeling, but I’m trying to make sure we handle this as best as possible. Sending Nobina into a panic isn’t helping.”

Carina turned to Nobina and froze upon seeing Nobina.

She was hyperventilating, finding herself unable to breathe.

“Nobina,” said Mustan, holding onto her.

“Huh,” said Nobina, managing to slow down her breathing. “Oh… I’m… I’m so…”

“I’m so sorry Nobina,” said Carina, bowing her head.

Seeing that, Nobina managed to recompose herself, but she did find herself flustered by Carina’s action.

“No. I should apologize… I was…”

“You don’t need to explain it Nobina,” said Carina. “You must be feeling immense stress and I’m not helping. Please forgive me.”

Nobina, realizing how much pressure all of this was putting on her, took a deep breath to calm herself as much as possible.

“I… Do forgive you Carina,” she responded. “Can I… get a moment? I’m so sorry…”

“No worries,” said Aunai. “Please. Let Mustan keep you company at least.”

She gave a nod, leaving the room with Mustan. As soon as she was out, Aunai spoke to Carina.

“I’m sorry Carina… I know you’ve lost people you hold dear, but…”

“It’s ok,” she said, trying to regain a noble demeanor. “It’s unbecoming of a noble to let emotions get the best of them. I shall execute the task you have given me.”

She gave a bow before stepping out.

Aunai gave a sigh, standing up and looking out her window. Her gaze fell onto the townsfolk and then widened to the town itself.

“Demons and dragons… What is happening,” she asked herself.

Nobina was walking downstairs and out of the guild. Once she was near the statue, she found herself staring at it.

“Nobina?” asked Mustan, drawing her attention.

“Huh? Oh… Sorry Mustan… I…”

“Nobina,” he smiled. “You don’t need to apologize for everything. You’re under a lot of stress right now, right?”

She gave a nod. Deep down, Nobina had gone into a panic as she feared she was the cause of so much death. However, she managed to keep herself sane by telling herself that there was a chance she didn’t cause the dragon’s attack. She couldn’t blame herself for everything that happened in the world.

“I… I understand,” she told Mustan, keeping her gaze on the statue. “Honestly, I’m so…”

Nobina held back, calling herself weak. She already knew she had her own strength, and it could help her get through this situation. Her mind was already running through the things she had and what she could do.

“I wish I didn’t have to deal with this. It feels so unfair that I can’t relax,” she sighed.

“Nobina,” said Mustan. “This isn’t your burden to bear, but ours. This is the Navira guild and you’re our guest. We appreciate everything you’re doing, and we are asking so much from you. Honestly? I’m sure after you do this, Aunai will ask you to take a step back and do a minor task. She must know how unfair it is to stress you out.”

She wanted to protest that but merely stayed silent. If taking action threatened to make her panic or worse, it was better she did a more relaxing task.

“You’re right Mustan… Thank you for telling me that.”

He smiled, giving a nod.

“It to be expected from your senior Nobina,” he smiled.

With that, Nobina nodded to herself. She had a job to do and wasn’t going to waste any more time dreading the past, present, or future. Rather, she was going to do the best she could right now and worry about the problems as they came.