Nobina was still outside of the room when Immana left Aunai’s room.

“Lady Immana,” said Nobina, walking over and giving a short bow. “I wanted to ask what happens now.”

“Hm?” said Immana, surprised by her question. “What do you mean? The test started yesterday. You’re currently trying to get rid of this rogue dragon. Seems like a silly thing to ask honestly.”

Nobina nodded her head.

“I’m aware of that, but I wanted to know if you’ll be following be the whole time.”

“Well… yes. If I miss you recruiting someone or obtaining a key weapon to defeat this dragon, I couldn’t award you a positive score for those actions. Unless you are trying to fail intentionally,” she giggled.

“Ah no… I just wanted to clarify, that’s all.”

The day was still young, yet Nobina was already feeling the whole situation wearing on her. She knew that she had a simple goal, but accomplishing was no easy feat. She had avoided asking Aunai regarding Fay since she did not want her best friend in the crosshairs of Immana.

Thinking about it logically, it made sense to begin by gathering the current squad and learning what they needed. Two people came to mind, which were Lila and Mimiki, who could assist her with the matter.

“I think I have someone that can help,” said Nobina. “Let’s go.”

Nobina made her way downstairs and located one of the supervisors.

“Excuse me,” said Nobina, getting their attention.

“Oh Nobina,” responded the supervisor. “Did you need something?”

“Do you know where Mimiki or Lila are?”

He gave a nod, pointing out of the guild.

“I believe both of them headed to the Auluren Training Grounds. You know where that is, right?”

Nobina gave a nod. The Auluren Training Grounds was a more advanced area for people to train. One had to be at least C-rank to even use the grounds, leaving it relatively open for C-ranks to come and go without a reservation. However, higher ranks like A or even S would reserve spots in advance to ensure their training wasn’t delayed. The main difference between the Auluren Training Grounds and the other training areas was that they usually had an S-rank adventurer there either training themselves or helping out.

Initially, Nobina was worried she’d have trouble leaving the guild, but Immana removed that concern immediately. She merely began walking towards the exit, and people naturally cleared the way for her. She wasn’t even giving off an aura that would make people move. Rather, everyone in the room was likely aware she was there and making sure they didn’t do anything to disrupt her. It was both impressive and scary.

Once both were out, Nobina didn’t even need to say anything. Immana told one of her servants to get her carriage for their departure to the Auluren training grounds. Nobina followed behind her, and the carriage arrived only ten seconds later. Once they were on their way, Immana spoke up, shaking her head.

“You really should be making a better impression Nobina. For me to have to do all the work is pretty sad. Especially since it’s not helping your test score.”

“What do you mean?” asked Nobina, dumbfounded by what Immana was saying. “You didn’t really give me a chance.”

Immama gave her a nice smile before speaking again.

“Oh. How were you going to get us there? Having us move slowly through the crowd then walking all the way there?” she chuckled.

Nobina didn’t want to admit it, but Immana was right. Nobina didn’t have an easy way to get them around. There was probably a way that could have gotten them through without issue, but she would have taken a bit of time to figure it out.

“I can certainly stop requesting a carriage to get places and also no longer lead but think about what’s more important right now. Taking a bit of a hit to get us to a place, or losing points cause your wasting time,” smiled Immana. “You wouldn’t want that, right?”

“No… just keep requesting it,” she said, gritting her teeth. They were already off to a rough start.

Traveling to the arena, Nobina could only try to keep her gaze away from Immana. Every time she looked over to her, she saw that Immana was merely looking out the window peacefully, not saying a word. Looking at her closely, Nobina had so many conflicting feelings about Immana. She felt very capable but also someone who would do whatever it took to get what they wanted. Not only that, but the way she spoke to her bothered her more than she wanted to admit.

The two arrived at the Auluren Training Grounds not too long later. Once they were there, one of the staff members there immediately greeted Lady Immana and escorted the two of them into the grounds themselves. Looking at the grounds, Nobina was impressed by how organization it was. Not to mention there were strong individuals in every training square. Many were practicing their skills or training, but there were the occasion individuals sparring as well.

“So how may I help you?” asked the training grounds employee.

“We are here to see Lila,” said Nobina.

She didn’t even need to hear a response before she saw Lila dashing in the air before landing in one of the squares. At the spot of her landing was Mimiki, who tried to swipe her sword upward to hit Lila. However, she dodged it mid-air with ease and landed a hit with her training sword on Mimiki’s side. When Mimiki tried to retaliate, her sword only caught air as Lila created distance.

“A bit more prediction Mimiki,” instructed Lila. “A dragon won’t give you a chance like I did.”

“Got it,” she responded. “Again.”

They were at it again, with Lila jumping and then dashing in the air before trying to land another swing at Mimiki. Nobina knew she could stand there for hours just studying how they fought, but she knew time was of the essence. The two approached them, and Nobina called out.

“Mimiki! Lila,” she yelled.

The two stopped and turned their attention to Nobina, who was still waving at them.

“Oh Nobina,” said Mimiki, waving her over.

As the two saw them approach, both of them suddenly froze as their gaze realized who was standing next to Nobina. When the two finally got there, Lila spoke up first.

“Hello there Lady Immana,” she grinned. “Do you got any strong opponents for me to face?”

“As eager for combat as ever Lila,” chuckled Immana in a rare display of genuine joy.

“Do you know each other, Lady Immana?” asked Nobina.

“Hm? Of course I would know a future leader of the Magical Wolves. We speak from time to time, she does me favors, I do her some favors. A very reasonable relationship,” she nodded.

Nobina turned to Lila, who was only nodding at this point. Whether Immana was leading people to believe such a thing or not didn’t really matter. What mattered was this could potentially further complicate her job.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Alright,” said Nobina, turning her attention to the two of them. “Aunai left me in charge of assembling the dragon hunting team. I wanted to ask you two for assistance in getting more members.”

Both of them seem to hesitate to speak before looking a bit away.

“Well…” said Mimiki, not being able to finish the sentence.

“I don’t think you can do it,” said Lila bluntly.

Nobina was surprised by the bluntness, waiting for clarification from Lila.

“Honestly Nobina. I don’t know if anyone will be convinced to join you,” said Lila, shaking her head. “You don’t have the strength to convince others. At least without Pausers.”

“Pausers?” asked Lady Immana, curious about who this Pausers was.

Lila was about to speak, but Mimiki managed to intercept the request.

“Pausers is one of Nobina’s companions back in Agora. They are decently strong but will be unable to help.”

Immana stared at Mimiki for a bit before sighing in disappointment.

“Oh. How unfortunate for you Nobina,” said Immana, who was basically mocking her now. “I guess we’ll see what you have planned to win people to your side.”

“Oh, I got a plan,” said Nobina, turning to Lila and Mimiki. “Are you two enough to convince more S-ranks?”

Lila shook her head.

“Yeah… I’m not on the best terms with others. I also believe Mimiki doesn’t really know anyone. She spends most of her time helping weaker adventurers, even if I requested her to stop doing so,” said Lila with a look of disappointment.

It was worrying that they lacked the confidence to convince others. Nobina had some items that could potentially help, but she doubted it was enough power to directly convince them. The only saving grace was that Nobina could work with them to get others.

“We’ll take whatever we can get at this point,” said Nobina. “Can you lead us to the first free one you know?”

“Yeah,” nodded Lila.

The three of them followed Lila as she made her way into one of the buildings. Inside the building was a woman with a book reading in what appeared to be a mini library. Nobina was in awe and wanted to check out the books, but she decided against it. Instead, she approached the woman sitting next to the table.

“Hello there,” smiled Nobina.

Her smile was immediately ignored as the woman continued reading her book.

“Hey Casi. These three wish to speak to you,” said Lila, looking a bit impatient.

Casi’s gaze turned to the four of them before locking on to Immana. When Immana shook her head, Casi merely nodded and continued to read her book.

“What was that?” asked Nobina to Immana.

“Hm? She was merely checking if I really wanted to speak to her. Of course, the answer was no, so she decided the two of you weren’t worth time,” smiled Immana. “Honestly, you should really just ignore my actions if you want to stay focus to the priority.”

Nobina was getting annoyed but kept herself calm. At that point, Nobina was curious about the topic of the book Casi was reading. When she was close enough, she noticed it was a book regarding abilities.

“You know Casi, I have a rather unique ability,” said Nobina casually.

Casi took a pause and looked at Nobina. She eyed her for a bit before speaking.

“Really,” said Casi, curiosity changing her tone. “Show me.”

Nobina held out her hand and called forth her ability.

“Pen Blade,” she spoke, summoning a pen. She then held it like a sword, leading to the black ink blade forming. Nobina was feeling the drain more than usual due to how out of practice she was, but she seemed to have Casi’s attention.

Casi stood up and went towards the blade. She stopped right next to it, barraging her with questions.

“Fascinating. Is this a skill? Is the pen a magic item? What powers the blade? How strong is it? Can you create more?”

The question onslaught didn’t stop the whole time, leading to Nobina waving her hands.

“Will you listen to my question if I answer them?” asked Nobina.

“Certainly,” she said, giving a gentle smile.

Nobina began answering every question she had. Each answer she gave seemed to convince Casi more and more to speak. Once Nobina was done though, Casi merely nodded.

“Thank you. You may ask your question as per our agreement,” said Casi, with her listening attentively.

“Great. So, we are trying to form a dragon hunting party, and I wanted to know if you would join us.”

“No,” is all she said before turning back to her books.

“Wait,” called Nobina. “Aren’t you going to even consider it even a little bit?”

“Why would I? You gave me what I wanted, and I gave you what I promised. I see no benefit to entertaining you further,” she said, turning to the next page.

Nobina, furious at her response, recalled her blade as she began yelling at her.

“Are you really just going to take that knowledge and give us some half-baked response? The nerve of you to prioritize your reading over what is pretty important.”

Casi stopped, not looking at them but also not reading her book anymore. Instead, she spoke in a rather aggressively neutral tone to them.

“Bold of you to assume that what I’m doing isn’t important,” she responded back. “I have a duty to help these fledgling swordsmen become powerhouses. I have no interest in what you’re doing.”

“It’s hunting the dragon that’s cause this mess,” Nobina replied, trying to keep herself under control. “Don’t you think that’s important to handle right now?”

“Hmph. And what do you want me to do?” asked Casi. “Do you even know who I am and what my abilities are?”

“Well, no, but Lila led us to you for a reason,” she replied back, looking to her for a response.

Casi turned to Lila, who gave a shrug.

“She’s known to be a non-combative S-rank who specializes in information gathering and planning. Can you provide us information regarding the other S-ranks that are available?” asked Lila.

“Don’t you have that access already?” spoke Casi, a bit annoyed now. “I don’t know why you need a non-combat S rank. I certainly can’t offer anything to this hunt considering it requires S and A-ranks who specialize in either combat or searching.”

“Wait, but how did you get S-rank?” asked Nobina.

“A deal with me,” smiled Immana. “Casi is a brilliant adventurer that I’d have loved either as a fellow noble or as a servant. However, Casi does not possess the drive or charisma needed for a noble. As for being a servant…. There’s no way I can convince her. She’s too good and she’d lose so much benefit to Lord Kasanta if I bounded her to my service.”

Immana gave a chuckle, shaking her head as she thought about Casi more and more. In her mind, she was a prize jewel she wanted to protect from harm. At this point, Nobina could only sigh.

“So?” asked Lila, clearly impatient. “Do you have some people in mind at least?”

“Hmph,” said Casi, turning her attention to her book. “Logna is currently working an escort roll. As for Desa, she’s currently negotiating for a higher pay for her escort. You might win her over with even more pay, but outbidding a noble with economic support is a tall order. I have no information on other S-ranks at this time.”

“Thanks,” said Lila, turning to the others. “We got the info. Let’s go.”

Nobina followed Lila as she took the lead. As they walked, Immana moved next to Nobina and spoke soft enough that only she could hear.

“Not looking too hot right now Nobina,” sighed Immana. “If I had to guess, you’ll likely need to get way more points in on-field leading or even helping defeat the dragon.”

Nobina was feeling the dread all over. If things didn’t change soon, Nobina would be in a world of trouble when it was time to hunt the dragon.

…

“Message for Fay,” said a messenger to the guild receptionist at the table.

“I’ll deliver it to the grand guild master,” nodded the receptionist, taking the letter.

It took them a bit to get to the top floor of the guild. Once they were at the office of the grand guild master, they gave a knock.

“Come in,” called Lent.

The guild receptionist entered and handed off the letter. Once that was done, they left immediately, leaving Lent to open the letter in private. Reading it through, he gave a chuckle.

“Ah. You have something to cheer up the depressed one. Let me do the honors.”

Lent took the whistle he had and blew on it. No sound came out, but that didn’t matter. Lent merely had to wait for Fay to hear the call. Ten minutes later, she was already knocking on the door.

“Come in,” said Lent.

Fay entered the room, looking a bit depressed. It was a sad sight that Lent didn’t take any join in seeing. Her spirit had been like that for a while, and Lent was still trying to find a way to cheer her up. At least until the letter came.

“Lent,” said Fay, sitting on the couch. She then laid down on the couch, shaking her head.

“I… I need a break. Failure after failure… The desire to see my best friend... I really can’t do any job right now.”

Looking at Fay, Lent decided to begin his speech.

“Oh,” sighed Lent. “A bit disappointing. Rogue dragons are tough opponents many crave to fight. Whether it’s wealth, power, or something else, there’s always something you can get out of fighting one, even if you don’t win. Though, you’d have to survive and not get permanently injured.”

Lent’s eyes moved to Fay, who didn’t respond at all to his words.

“Well… Take a look at this then,” said Lent, holding out the letter.”

Fay slowly got up and got the letter. She then sat down in front of Lent and began to read it.

“Urgent Request. We request any free S-rank adventurers to assist with the subjugation of a Rogue Dragon. Payment will be twice the standard expected of such a job. We will also offer double credit to the ones who join. Message for Lent. If the request is acceptable, please make sure it is fulfilled. We are willing to owe the Capital guild if necessary. Message for Fay. Nobina is here.”

Lent saw the letter fall out of Fay’s hands as she seemed to freeze. Her expression was hard to read even for Lent, but immediately, Fay burst into excitement.

“Is this real Lent? Who sent this? Can you confirm everything is true?”

“Calm down,” chuckled Lent. “Who is Nobina?”

“She’s… my best friend,” grinned Fay. “I’m off.”

Fay began leaving, with Lent standing to call to her.

“Wait,” he said. “Don’t you need to prepare?”

She gave a strong laugh, shaking her head.

“If I really desire something, I can make anything possible,” she said, a fire in her eyes. “I’ll only be slowed down. I shall see you later.”

Lent didn’t get a chance to say anything before Fay was gone.

“Is Nobina really that important to you Fay?” wondered Lent, sitting back down behind his desk.