Heading back to the guild, the group reached where the carriages were. To their surprise, there were a few more guards waiting for them. Not only that but there was another individual with whom they were familiar with there to greet them.

“Oh! You’re all safe,” smiled Doriten, who was standing nearby with his knights.

Immediately, Immana spoke up to greet him.

“Ah… Doriten… brother. It’s good to see you are making sure we all were safe,” smiled Immana, clearly disliking his presence there. “I would like to ask how your current assignment is going.”

Doriten clicked his tongue before returning a rather deceptively calm smile.

“Well, you know…” he smiled. “Trying to convince so many nobles to not leave is tough work. Despite them being minor nobles, they find themselves unbound to the spirit of nobility. Thus, it requires… persuasion to change their minds.”

“If necessary, of course,” nodded Immana.

Nobina could see the two were at each other’s throats as their proximity seemed to get closer. The knights next to Doriten seemed to back off as Immana got close enough.

“Well… we have important matters to handle unrelated to your mission. Do you require anything from us?” smiled Immana.

“Oh no… I was merely curious considering the whole town heard the squeak,” he smiled back. “Good day sister…”

With that, everyone entered their carriage once again. As they got farther from Doriten and his group, it seemed Doriten was now heading towards Giggles. It made Nobina worried, but she trusted Nia, Marve, and Cain to protect them. Turning back to Immana, she began revealing her true feelings regarding Doriten.

“Doriten… always in the right place at the right time…” sighed Immana. “I do wish he’d stay in his lane. Despite being Vert’s right-hand man, he does him no favors sometimes.”

“It is not my business to speak on the matter,” replied Helios as Nobina’s gaze fell on him. “For now, you should let nobles handle noble matters themselves.”

As he said that, Nobina’s bag gave a flash. Nobina turned to it, pulling out an orange.

“Oh! It’s been a while since I had one,” smiled Nobina.

“What is that?” asked Helios, staring at the fruit Nobina held.

“An orange. It’s a fruit that sounds like the name,” said Nobina.

“Orange,” said Immana, thinking about the name. “Mind if we all try some?”

“Not at all,” she smiled.

As Nobina split up the orange and handed it to Helios and Immana, she noticed the note with it.

“Have some more fruit *wave* It’s healthy!!” – Pottered plant symbol.

The interesting thing about the message was it had the face of someone on it waving. She could only imagine that it was perhaps the entity behind all these gifts involving the potted plant. It seemed that they’d reveal themselves more and more over time, but it was hard to say if that was the case.

“Amazing,” nodded Immana. “A nice treat considering that insult of a brother was souring the mood.”

“I do enjoy this ‘orange’ that you’ve provided. Thank you Nobina,” smiled Helios.

“It’s nice sharing some of the things I receive,” smiled Nobina back.

The three of them were enjoying the orange, but soon Immana’s attention was turned to Nobina.

“So Nobina… Do you mind telling me more about that bunny under your control? Uh… Giggles, I believe. How did you manage to get such a powerful monster? Is it a summon? No… It has to be a tamed creature, all things considered.”

“It would be surprising if it was tamed,” laughed Helios. “You should very well be aware of how strong these ‘bunny’ monsters can be Lady Immana. The strongest of them are well documented in history as dragon slayers.”

Immana shook her head.

“Those are merely myths Master Helios. No one has seen a bunny of that power in such a long time. Even then, I doubt one of those Death Hares could stand against the current Queen of Dragons,” she chuckled.

“It’s a bet I wouldn’t make at least,” responded Helios.

Nobina noticed their attention turned back to her, prompting her to speak.

“In regard to Giggles… He was a gift, if you can believe that,” smiled Nobina, feeling a bit nervous about how ridiculous it might sound.

Both of their expressions matched their shock. To receive a massive bunny as a gift that can fire a beam of energy seemed like fantasy.

“Oh please,” sighed Immana. “If you could receive creatures of that power as a gift, that would make you a valuable asset not only to the estate, but the nation as a whole. Regardless, I’m excited to see what other cards you have up your sleeves.”

“Indeed,” nodded Helios. “I’m excited to see what more you have in store for us.”

The rest of the ride to the guild was rather quiet, leaving Nobina to reflect for a bit.

They were right in the sense she had a lot of items at her disposal. There were still powerful items unused, and there was also Pausers, who was probably even stronger than Giggles. However, it was still hard for Nobina to believe that, given she never saw Pausers in action. It could have been a case where people were assuming they were something they weren’t.

Beyond that, Nobina realized her friends were quite strong as well. With so much going for her, it seemed that the world around her was matching her strength. That, or the world itself, was much tougher than she knew, and she was only running into things now.

“Which is it,” wondered Nobina.

Eventually, the group arrived back at the guild, where it was even more active. Adventurers, civilians, and even nobles were moving in and out faster than normal. If not for Immana and Helios, the group would have had trouble navigating the guild. Once they were through the guild lobby, Mimiki recommended that most of them stay while Helios, Immana, and Nobina spoke with Guild Master Aunai directly. From the conversations they were hearing, the sighting of that dragon from that demon was making rounds, accelerating the desire to evacuate the city.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join?” asked Nobina.

“Someone needs to hold down the fort while your handling business leader,” smiled Mimiki innocently.

Nobina could only sigh as she realized why she was electing to stay behind.

“Come now,” said Immana, already heading up the stairs. Helios was right behind Immana, leaving Nobina the last one to catch up.

Once the three arrived at Aunai’s door, they gave a knock.

“Come in,” said Aunai.

They entered the room and saw that Mustan was there. The shock on his face upon seeing both Immana and Helios made Nobina chuckle a bit, realizing how much more influence the two had.

“Excuse our interruption,” said Immana.

“Not at all Lady Immana,” smiled Aunai. “I’d imagine you’re here to talk about the dragon sighting?”

“Indeed we are,” nodded Helios. “We were actually directly involved in the altercation between us and the dragon.”

Aunai’s eyes widened upon hearing that.

“Really… I’d love to hear a more detailed report on the matter,” she smiled.

“Does…” his eyes turned, glaring at Mustan.

“Mustan is my name,” he replied.

“Mustan… need to hear this?” spoke Helios, wary of his presence here.

“Mustan has the clearance to hear this,” nodded Aunai.

Helios gave a nod. He began talking about what had happened from his perspective. Hearing it, Nobina was surprised at how detailed he was in regard to small things. From the description of the monsters themselves to what was said, Helios left no stone unturned when it came to discussing what had happened. Funny enough, it made Nobina really want to write her story again. Hearing and envisioning everything based on both what she remembered, and his words painted a clear picture in her mind.

“I see,” said Aunai, seriously forming over her face. “So, we are dealing with a demon who controls a dragon, trolls and wolves. It wouldn’t be out of the question to say this is a summoner path demon either.”

“It wouldn’t,” replied Helios with an equal amount of seriousness. “A dragon-wolf might not be a full dragon, but its danger cannot be understated. If a demon has one under its control, summon or not, it implies they are quite powerful.”

“Which begs the question,” said Immana. “What are you planning to do Aunai? Certainly leaving this to us alone is now out of the question.”

“It is,” nodded Aunai. “As of now, I’m taking over as the lead to the subjugation of the dragon and potential demon. However, the knowledge of the demon shall be kept under wraps until necessary.”

“Is that the wisest choice?” asked Nobina. “If people find out that the guild is hiding the true scope of the threat…”

“It will prevent mass chaos Nobina,” said Helios. “We do not need to deal with a city under panic. Not only that, but the implications a demon is involved, even if rogue, will make people question the king himself. He’s been trying to convince everyone to accept the demons are being re-integrated into society in the federation. If something throws any doubt into that idea, it would be bad news for all of us.”

Nobina knew he was right, yet part of her worried about the backlash if people found out about the demon before it was dealt with.

“Ok,” conceded Nobina. “So, what will happen with my role?”

“It stays relatively the same,” replied Aunai. “Your group moves out tomorrow, yet I’ll be assembling a second raid to reinforce. It might be difficult doing, but…”

“The nobility will fully support this,” said Immana, taking out a letter she had.

Reading it over, Aunai gave a nod.

“In three days, we will mobilize and move towards the Town of Wistern. Unless we suspect this demon and dragon intend to attack Navira directly, we will need to be proactive in this matter,” said Aunai. “Any questions?”

“A few,” responded Immana. “Were you aware of Giggles power when you had it within the guild monster containment area?”

Aunai’s look of confusion seemed to answer the question as Immana turned to Nobina.

“What about you Nobina? Were you aware of Giggles strength?”

“Not really?” said Nobina, rubbing the back of her head. “Giggles just seemed like a normal large bunny, though I guess normal might be a stretch.”

“Well it would depend on what you define normal as,” chuckled Helios. “Regardless, it seems that you are aware of how strong some of your assets are Nobina. I’d recommend taking stock of them at some point and formulating a gameplan based on that.”

Nobina gave a nod. She was overdue to check her items again, but she felt she hadn’t gotten a chance to do so.

“Another one to the list,” sighed Nobina, realizing how much she wanted to do, yet she had a lack of time.

“Anything else?” asked Aunai.

“Yes. Who is Pausers? Are they an adventurer or is this also another creature under your command,” smiled Immana.

Helios immediately noticed Aunai’s face go pale, and he did not say a word.

“Aunai?” asked Immana, not letting it go unrecognized.

“Pausers is another bunny under Nobina’s command. A Death Hare,” spoke Aunai reluctantly.

Both Helios and Immana’s expressions turned serious upon hearing that.

“To say that a Death Hare is under someone’s command… What a truly scary idea,” said Helios.

“But it makes sense,” nodded Immana. “Nobina wouldn’t have such a strong connection with Aunai unless she had some key card under her control. In this case, a Death Hare would certainly be it.”

Immana turned to Nobina, who found herself instinctively looking away.

“Nobina,” smiled Immana. “Where is Pausers again?”

“He’s… back at my home guild,” said Nobina reluctantly.

“I see… Well, I guess getting them here is out of the question then?” asked Immana.

In response, Nobina noticed Hammy fly out of her bag with Speck on its head. From Hammy’s mouth dropped a scroll with information on it. Reading it, Nobina gave a nod.

“What was it?” asked Aunai.

“Hammy and Speck plan to contact Pausers and have him come here to…”

“No,” said Aunai, standing up. “Do not have them bring Pausers here.”

“You cannot say it’s a bad decision Aunai, given what’s happening,” said Immana. “Having the enemy of the dragons here to assist would be a boon.”

“It could be an issue though,” said Helios, who was thinking more about the idea. “If Pausers was here, it could potentially invite more danger to the city. They say power invites challenge, so a Death Hare might invite dragons to get more ‘involved’ with the city.”

Nobina’s face drained as soon as she finished speaking. Helios mentioning power invited challenged made her wonder if she was inviting the chaos.

“Damn it,” said Nobina out loud, causing all of them to look at her.

“What’s wrong Nobina?” asked Aunai. “Do you wish for Pausers to be here?”

“No,” said Nobina. “In fact, I’m tired of dealing with this.”

Nobina immediately regretted speaking those words, but it was too late to take them back.

“What do you mean Nobina”? asked Immana. “Are you… perhaps… withdrawing from the test and wishing to abandon the team?”

“What? No,” she responded back. “I’m just tired of dealing with so much chaos. However, I will keep to my obligations. That includes passing the test.”

Immana seemed to think over what Nobina was saying before nodding.

“Well that’s fair,” she smiled. “Dealing with crisis after crisis, it’s hard to say you aren’t a hero Nobina.”

“But…”

Nobina never wanted to be a hero. All she wanted to do was write her book, but it seemed the world had something else in store for her. She couldn’t deny the claim either since she was at least a hero to Agora at this point. If she succeeded in her subjugation of the rogue dragon, what would stop her from being a hero in Navira as well.

“This is more suited for you Fay…” thought Nobina.

As Nobina stood there thinking about the matter more, Aunai spoke up.

“Anyway, we all have much to do. For now, please get ready to head out tomorrow and I will handle things on my end,” said Aunai.

“Got it,” said Nobina, with her the first out.

Once she was gone, neither Helios nor Immana made a move for the exit.

“Aunai,” said Immana. “What is Nobina’s path?”

“I cannot say,” said Aunai,” shaking her head.

“If she is either the hero or one mean to influence the world, we must know,” responded Helios. “And if you were hiding either…”

“I’m well aware of the issue with hiding such information,” said Aunai. “However, be aware Nobina has a Death Hare under her command. If something were to happen to her…”

“All the more reason for her not to participate,” responded Immana. “With what we know now, Nobina should be as far away from this danger as possible. It might be prudent to say she shouldn’t be in this city.”

“Are you suggestion she go back to Agora?” asked Aunai.

“I’m suggesting… she be isolated from people in general,” said Immana, her face fully serious.

The tension in the room was high as all of them contemplated what Immana suggested. None of them knew how Nobina would react to such a suggestion, nor if it would even be wise to force such a decision onto her if it was made. Regardless, they had to figure out how to proceed, whether with or without Nobina.