The group made haste and headed back to the guild. As the rest of the party was scattered, Nobina was aware that the only way to get the party together was to have the guild send messengers to locate and give notice that the hunting party was assembling. Things were rapidly developing, and they didn’t have a moment to lose.

Once again, the groups entered two carriages, but this time, Master Helios joined Nobina and Lady Immana. As the carriages set off, Nobina saw Immana immediately try to chat with Helios.

“Master Helios. It is truly an honor to get to work with you once again,” she smiled.

“Likewise,” said Helios, merely bowing politely before turning their focus back to Nobina’s special book.

Nobina was getting better at noticing the slight differences with Immana with her smile. They all seemed the same on the surface, but underneath each of them was a different meaning.

For example, most of her smiles towards Nobina were not genuine. She partly wanted Nobina to fail due to it leading to Nobina serving her. However, she also wanted Nobina to succeed enough to not let Lord Kasanta down. It was a weird position to be in, but Nobina knew it helped keep Immana in check.

“Excuse me Miss Nobina,” said Helios, turning to her. “This book mentions such concepts as space travel. Can you explain what this exactly is?”

Nobina was already feeling a headache hearing the question. Considering the book was science fiction, there were a lot of things within the stories Nobina recognized as problematic. If Helios used some of the knowledge in the book that wasn’t science fiction, he could very well have a serious impact on the world. Despite the fact otherworlders were a part of this place, she hadn’t noticed any significant impact they had. At least, within the region she was in. The only thing she could really do was to explain it in a way that wouldn’t cause problems later down the line.

“Hm… Imagine there’s another realm outside of this realm that expands almost endlessly. That endless realm links all the other realms together.”

“I see,” said Helios, giving a nod. “So our realm is linked to all others via this ‘space’ and we can access not only ‘space’ but other realms as well with these ‘space ships’ I’m assuming. Fascinating.”

Helios seemed to be lost in thought as he thought of the possibilities of space travel. As that was happening, Nobina noticed Immana merely giving a nice smile. However, she could already tell Immana wasn’t pleased with the situation either.

It didn’t take long before they arrived at the guild. Nobina took back the book, telling Helios that until the mission was concluded, he wouldn’t be allowed to see it again.

“Ah… understandable,” he sighed, looking rather displeased.

The group made their way into the guild, where it was still bustling in activity. Most of the conversations were about getting escorts or doing quests away from where the dragon was last sighted. Luckily, it did seem that the recent news wasn’t being spread.

“Nobina,” called Guild Supervisor Oren.

Oren was one of the supervisors in charge of the front desk. Nobina hadn’t spoken to him besides one prior greeting, so she was unfamiliar with them in general.

“Yes Oren?” asked Nobina.

“Guild Master Aunai wishes to speak to you regarding the special mission,” he replied back.

“Let’s get going,” said Mimiki, taking the lead.

Nobina found herself naturally following Mimiki as the whole group followed her up. It didn’t take long for Mimiki to begin knocking, with Aunai inviting them in.

“Ah. It seems most of the party is already with you,” said Aunai, looking relieved. “We don’t have much time. That dragon report is likely outdated, and that dragon could potentially be making Wistern its home or worse, heading in our direction.”

“If it’s the latter, then we’ll hit it with everything we got,” laughed Lila.

“Lila,” sighed Helios. “We don’t have as much firepower here as we’d want. The city itself could suffer serious damage if we fought it here.”

“This is why I need you to gather the group you have and move out as soon as possible, tomorrow at the latest,” responded Aunai. “I have already sent the messengers to gather all the registered party members. It’s good you got a few more A’s and Helios in your party though. As it was previously, I was concerned you were outmatched.”

It was a valid concern for sure. Nobina knew that as it currently stood, the party was under the recommended composition to deal with a rogue dragon. In the worst case, Nobina worried most of them could very well die.

“We got this,” said Mimiki confidently. “Me and Lila have been practicing anti-dragon combat so it should help even the odds.”

Aunai looked at Lila, who nodded.

“I’ve taught her about the techniques my race uses to fight against dragons. As our race has a close border with theirs, we’re always prepared to fight them,” nodded Lila.

“That’s good to hear,” smiled Aunai. “If you have any questions, let me know. Else, meet downstairs and await for the remaining party members.”

“Got it,” replied Nobina.

Once again, the group began heading downstairs. All except Helios, Lila, and Immana.

“We’ll be chatting with Aunai for a bit,” said Immana. “We’ll be down right afterwards.”

Nobina gave a nod, heading back downstairs. Once she was downstairs, she saw Mimiki and the others head into the back. It didn’t take long before they entered one of the meeting rooms.

The guild had specific meeting rooms where adventurers could gather their parties. It was often used to either plan missions, negotiate between parties, or as a staging area if messengers were being employed. In the fourth meeting room, where the rest of the party was, Nobina saw the rest of them discussing the mission at hand.

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“Nobina,” called Mimiki. “We were discussing the plan to deal with the dragon given the limited party composition.”

“Right,” nodded Nobina.

She joined the group as they stood around a round table in the middle of the room. Mimiki took out a map that showed the territory itself, along with the points of interest within it.

“So,” said Mimiki, pointing to the Town of Wistern. “Currently, we are operating on a two-day old report that states the dragon was spotted here. As far as we know, a dragon could likely fly from this town to the city in half a day. However, that would be at its fastest speed. They have a tendency to fly at half that speed, meaning that they would likely take a day to reach the town. Assuming they weren’t rushing of course.”

“What’s the odds it even has interest in the town?” asked Cain. “If it really wanted to strike it, it would have been here by now.”

“Which leads to two cases,” said Mimiki. “Either the dragon left right after or is staying in the town. Until we get a follow up report, we won’t know.”

“So what’s our plan?” asked Nobina. “Do we stick with the plan that was made when the party was establish, or form a new one?”

When the party was formed, a plan was established regarding how the dragon hunt was supposed to go. The group was to speak with the scouts currently monitoring where the dragon was or could be for the most up to date intel. Once that was obtained, they would then attempt to pinpoint its location with the assistance of adventurers skilled at hunting or locating monsters.

Unfortunately, the group did not have any adventurers of A rank or higher who specialized in hunting dragons. Nobina wanted to find some in her search, but she was prioritizing looking for any A or S ranks to fill out their party. It was a good thing she did since if they went at it with just the A and S ranks they had when she took over, it would have gone horribly wrong.

“We should stick with the plan,” replied Mimiki. “We’ll reconvene with the scouts, get current information, and work with them on hunting the dragons. A part of the contingency if we couldn’t get any scouting adventurers was to have those scouts join us on the hunt.”

“Say,” spoke Marve. “Why is Mimiki leading the meeting? Isn’t Nobina team lead here?”

“Marve,” said Mimiki sharply. “Nobina is leading the group overall, but I’ll be handling the party on-site. As such, I’ll be handling the meeting unless Nobina has something to say.”

Marve gave a nod.

“Well if you say so…”

“Marve,” sighed Cain. “It’s quite rude to speak out like that. Every one of us has a role and it makes sense for the most suited person for each role to take over. Nobina is quite capable as you’ve tested, so rest assured that she could take over if necessary.”

Marve gave a nod.

“Aye… I apologize Nobina.”

Nobina nodded her head.

“Listen. My specialty is in the financial side of the guild. Leading or even assembling a party is a bit out of my realm of expertise. However, I’m aware of what is needed to do both, and doing my best to let those more skilled take over. After all…”

A knock came on the door.

“Come in,” said Mimiki.

The door opened, revealing an individual wearing a full black robe. Their face was covered by a black mask, making it hard to even see their eyes and mouths. On their left side was a set of tools, while on their right side was a sword. Besides their mysterious look, Nobina felt alarms going off as she looked at the individual. Something about them screamed danger, but no one else seemed to be worried.

“Ah,” smiled Mimiki. “This is Nia. She’s the other S-rank adventurer that is in the party. She specializes in killing, so we are leaning on her to help deal serious damage to the dragon.”

Hearing the word killing mentioned so casually made Nobina wonder what exactly did Nia specialize in killing?

“Uh…” said Nobina, confused by what was being said. “I’m sorry… but… what exactly does she specialize in killing in particular?”

“I believe… uh… humanoid monsters,” said Mimiki. “Though her second best target is winged monsters, so that’s what we are banking on here.”

Nobina nodded, giving a weak smile. There was something really odd about her being skilled at killing humanoid monsters. What exactly made her skilled in that type?

“Anyways,” said Mimiki. “Welcome Nia.”

Nia, who was not saying a word, merely nodded, heading to the table. She stood between Nobina and Mimiki, creating a bit of tension as Nobina felt unsafe next to Nia. Nobina didn’t want to say anything, but part of her was screaming at her to avoid eye contact.

“Now back to the plan,” said Mimiki, turning her attention to the map.

“The main plan previously was to have the S-rank strike at the dragon as a spearhead, while us A-ranks cover any gaps in the defense or offense. As we know, fighting a dragon is extremely dangerous. They are winged beasts with the strength to level towns or worse. The Queen of Dragons Elanor has destructive power that could very well level a nation or worse. However, that’s luckily not what we are dealing with.”

Mimiki circled the mountain range nearby.

“We are suspecting the dragon is likely in the nearby mountain range, which is the territory of the dragons. Our close proximity to them usually is not an issue, but in this case it presents a problem. If this dragon retreats there, it’s technically untouchable unless we get approval by one of the Elder Dragons to enter the territory to hunt it.”

“It complicates this a lot,” sighed Cain. “A target that can merely retreat for safety. How do we even deal with it if it does a hit and run type attack?”

“A single strike to weaken it’s ability to retreat or deal with it outright,” said Mimiki. “It’s possible we might be able to defeat it off the bat, but we need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. That means dealing damage to either its wings or other parts of the body that would hamper it.”

Mimiki reached into her backpack and pulled out a book. She opened it to a page that had a full diagram of a dragon.

“If we strike it at these specific points,” she said, pointing at the weak spots of the dragon. “We’ll do serious damage and likely disable its ability to retreat. Of course, a cornered dragon is extremely dangerous. That is the reason why we wanted four S-ranks to deal with it. Lila, Nia and now Helios is a strong party no doubt, but we need that keystone that would really round out the party.”

“Well… what do we do about that?” asked Nobina.

“Nothing,” sighed Mimiki. “If we leave now, then there’s no chance of getting another A or S rank. And if we don’t leave now, we risk losing the dragon or worse, it doing more damage. For now, we should merely plan with this party in mind.”

Mimiki turned to Nia, who hadn’t said a word yet.

“Nia. If you have any idea’s we’d love to hear them,” said Mimiki, looking at her directly.

Silence.

It felt extremely awkward, but Nobina was shocked by the lack of concern from any of them. Did they merely accept Nia was like this?

“Uh,” said Nobina. “Is she normally this quiet?”

“Oh absolutely,” said Mimiki. “Nia never really says anything, though she isn’t mute. Rather, she’s someone of little words.”

Nobina could only give a nod. Even if that was true, Nobina felt that couldn’t be the reason for the dangerous feeling Nia was giving off. What exactly was causing it. Not only that, but how familiar was Mimiki with Nia? It hadn’t even been that long since they’ve arrived.

“Alright,” sighed Mimiki. “We’ll spend the rest of the day gathering everything we need for the hunt and depart. Despite Aunai saying we should depart today, we’ll have to wait for the remaining A ranks to join us. There’s no point in leaving early after all.”

“That being said, we don’t have time to recruit and get people up to speed. Of course, if someone just falls from the sky ready to help, we won’t deny them. However, we’ll have to prioritize getting everyone else together first. Any questions?”

None of them said a word. Nobina’s eyes were still on Nia, but she had more pressing issues to worry about. Could their party really handle a dragon in its current configuration?

“Squeak!”

A loud squeak came from outside. Nobina recognized it immediately, as it sounded like Giggles. Worry filled her face as she wondered what exactly was going on with Giggles. The remaining soup she gave them shouldn’t have run out yet, meaning that they might have been in danger.

“I have to leave,” said Nobina. “Giggles might be in danger.”

“We’ll have to go fast,” said Mimiki. “I did not like that sound.”

“Who is Giggles?” asked Marve.

“A giant bunny,” replied Nobina.

“My god,” said Cain, appearing shocked. “Is it your bunny Nobina?”

“Yes, but I’ll answer any more questions on the way. Would you guys like to come, or will you wait here?” asked Nobina.

“No point in waiting. Let’s move,” laughed Marve.

Cain merely gave a nod while Nia said nothing. Nobina and Mimiki departed first, and Nobina saw the rest of them, including Nia, following right behind.

“What’s going on now?” she sighed.