“Wilma! Did you have a good shift?”

Ackster didn't know what to say, so he just decided to make small talk and be nice until he could get to know Wilma a little better.

“Hi, Dean. So-so, I guess. I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

Wilma smiled slightly and shrugged a shoulder before linking arms with Ackster, which surprised him but not enough to make him get rid of her touch.

“If I did, I forgot all about it as soon as I saw you.”

‘Flirting a little should be fine since she linked arms first.’

Wilma chuckled a little, not displeased by Ackster’s cheesiness.

“That’s good, then. Are you hungry?”

Ackster nodded as he let Wilma lead the way.

“I sure am. Um, I think I might have to warn you, but I tend to eat a lot.”

“Which adventurer doesn’t?”

Ackster shrugged and didn’t deny it. Considering their lifestyles, adventurers usually ate a lot more than people like receptionists who didn’t move around as much. But Ackster was pretty sure he was in a class of his own, considering he ate an entire rock lizard in one sitting.

They continued making small talk while walking to a nearby restaurant, which Wilma seemed to frequent, based on the friendly air between her and the employees.

It was a pretty small restaurant, but it wasn’t shoddy. It had an elegant atmosphere and smelled like what Ackster imagined an establishment for fine dining would look like.

“...you weren’t kidding.”

Wilma had been unable to suppress her shock halfway through the meal and had spent the rest of it staring at Ackster as he devoured plate after plate of food.

“Oh, sorry. It was just so delicious. I couldn’t help it.”

Ackster smiled with embarrassment as he put another clean plate on the pile next to him. Compared to what he had been forcing himself to eat the last couple of weeks, proper food from an established restaurant was like food from the heavens. He had just ended up ordering everything on the menu a couple of times without even thinking about it.

“But I’m feeling full now, so….”

“Oh, it’s fine. People should eat if they’re hungry. Besides, it’s my treat. Go wild.”

“Really?”

Wilma nodded and reassured Ackster again.

Eventually, Ackster actually finished eating for real. It had just taken practically all the food that the restaurant had in the kitchen.

“Um, Dean…?”

The servers had cleaned the table, but Ackster and Wilma were still sitting and digesting their food and talking.

“The rock lizard’s meat?”

Ackster nodded.

“Yep. This bad boy right here disposed of it.”

Ackster patted his stomach playfully. Lying at this point wouldn’t serve any use. It would be pretty easy for someone like Wilma to send someone and check if there was a pile of flesh and organs out where the rock lizard’s nest was.

“I see. That is certainly impressive.”

Ackster was a little worried that his appetite and how he had eaten so much when Wilma was treating him was off-putting, but she seemed genuinely amazed by how much he had eaten.

After talking for a little more and Wilma asking Ackster if his lack of clothes was because he spent all his money on food, they left the restaurant and took a walk through town.

Although their walk was pleasant, and they had an enjoyable time talking about their surroundings and Ilto or whatever else popped up, it was getting late. However, almost as if they knew the other was going to do it too, both Ackster and Wilma stopped walking in a dark corner of a park they had been strolling through.

Neither of the two said anything for several awkwardly long moments. They could tell since both had stopped at the same time once they reached a secluded area, that the other had something to say. And that, because they had waited for a secluded area, it most likely was something more private and serious than their previous conversations.

Ackster waited for a few moments as he wondered if it was time for an ambush. But it wasn’t. However, he could tell that Wilma was hesitating. He was curious about it, but he could tell even without trying to ask her to spill it without being willing to do it himself wouldn’t fly.

Instead, he decided to take the initiative, and, hopefully, Wilma would say what was on her mind after he had said his part, which would be a vague question backed up by a backstory to explain his doubts.

“Wilma.”

“Yes?”

“I am going to be honest with you now.”

Ackster lowered his head slightly and gently pushed it forward as a way to get closer and express his seriousness and honesty without actually getting closer to Wilma. He gave her as serious a look as he could.

Wilma nodded, slightly curious about what he was going to say and also a little nervous.

“Okay.”

“I have a hard time trusting people.”

‘Not a lie.’

“Okay…?”

“There’s no big reasons or traumatic incident for it. I just find it very difficult to trust other people. I usually spend my time in the forest, hunting monsters and so on. And compared to humans, monsters are so straightforward that it’s hard to trust humans. Monsters want to kill me, and I want to kill them. It’s as simple and straightforward as a relationship can get.”

“...”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“But with humans, I just never know what to expect. Are they going to be a friend I can trust? An acquaintance only interested in my companionship when I buy the food? Will they smile in my face and stab me in the back? I just never know, and so I can never trust them with my whole heart. So, when I ask you this, I want you to be completely honest with me, alright? I want to be able to trust you, Wilma.”

‘That’s a load of bull if I ever heard one.’

Listening to himself speak of worries he didn’t even have made Ackster consider lying more, just because it seemed so easy when he could control his expressions and tone of voice at will. After all, those things were part of his body, which, under Strong Body’s influence, followed his order down to the last letter.

“Yes. Ask away, Dean.”

“Why did you invite me out for a date? I mean, I don’t mind it, but when I boil down my worries about your intentions, that’s the question I end up with.”

Wilma hesitated.

Ackster and Wilma stared at each other in silence. Ackster waited for Wilma to talk, and Wilma wasn’t sure what to say. However, she knew that the longer she stayed silent, the less trust Ackster would have for her. Eventually, she sighed in resignation.

“Alright. My intentions weren’t purely honest or because I wanted to go on a date with you, even if it was nice.”

“...”

Ackster nodded almost as if he had expected it.

“However, what I am about to say now is something you will need to keep secret.”

Wilma had a grave face as she made sure Ackster understood.

“I mean it, Dean. Since you asked for it, I’m going honest from the very start. However, this honesty comes with a price. If what I tell you now leaks out, depending on the circumstances, you will never have existed.”

Ackster’s mind raced as he thought about what Wilma could be talking about. But no matter how much he recalled from the original story, he couldn’t recall anything like this, and he had no idea what Wilma was going to tell him. However, he knew that he was at a crossroads.

“Do you still want to hear my reason for getting closer to you?”

Ackster could choose to hear it and never go back, depending on what it was. Or he could step away right now, forget this ever happened, and continue with his original plan.

Naturally, there was only one choice for Ackster to make.

If he was reading the situation and the meaning behind Wilma’s words correctly, this was an opportunity to get close to the Adventurer’s Guild or someone capable of infiltrating them and rising through the ranks. He was already having trouble coming up with a feasible plan to stop The Hero on his own.

However, with the Adventurer’s Guild helping him, it could greatly increase his chances of success.

Besides, the fact that Wilma was willing to tell him and make it sound like he was going to live afterward hinted that it wasn’t necessarily something dangerous, at least not immediately.

Ackster nodded.

“I want to hear it.”

Wilma made a complicated expression, and Ackster couldn’t tell what it meant. But it was too late to regret now since Wilma had already opened her mouth.

“Because I want to recruit you.”

Ackster tilted his head.

‘What? Why all the secrecy, then?’

Wilma could tell that Ackster was confused, even if he didn’t say anything, and she continued.

“This is the part you can’t tell anyone about, okay?”

Ackster nodded.

“The Adventurer’s Guild recruits young talents before they make a name for themselves and help raise them. And when I say young talents, I don’t mean people who know how to swing a sword a little better than a dog. I’m talking about people with the potential to reach or surpass the S-rank.”

Ackster’s eyes widened in surprise. Raising S-ranks wasn’t an easy task. It also wasn’t something he had heard the Guild was doing. He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t have to because Wilma continued anyways.

“There are several famous S-ranks working for the Guild. But they are just a fraction of that. The Guild has a covert operations special force that operates in the shadows of the world, doing what needs to be done.”

Ackster’s jaw dropped. He quickly picked it back up, but he still couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

But as his mind spun, he quickly realized it made sense. There was no way the Advneture’s Guild would be so powerful if it didn’t have dedicated forces on its own. After all, there was only so much the officially affiliated adventurers could do if the countries or continents decided to unite against the Guild or something.

Besides, practically all the other forces and kingdoms that the original story had gone into enough detail about had mentioned secret royal guards or assassin corps that no one except the person in the highest position knew about.

Although it was shocking, Ackster quickly accepted Wilma’s words.

“And you want me for that?”

“Yes.”

“Why? I mean, you’ve known about me for more than a day. How do you know you want me?”

Ackster narrowed his eyes as he looked at Wilma. She felt his suspicion poke her face, but it didn’t bother her. She understood his wariness.

“Because what I’ve seen so far is enough. Without saying too much, I have an innate skill that helps me look for potential. Also, when I checked your background, there was too much weirdness.”

Ackster tensed.

If Wilma had checked his background using the Adventurer*s Guild’s resources, she shouldn’t have had any trouble realizing that Dean was a fake identity he had thrown together on the fly. He had hoped he wouldn’t have given the Guild any reason to check that, but that was obviously a mistake.

Ackster didn’t calm down and looked around to see if there was anyone waiting in the surroundings.

“First off, there was no one in Tillo who had ever heard of you. And according to the guards, you were a low-ranked adventurer just a couple of weeks ago. And while Jim told us about the Lover’s Petal, that isn’t enough to explain how a low-ranked adventurer could kill a rock lizard on their own without any weapons and come back intact.”

‘Fuck.’

Ackster hadn’t thought he had been conspicuous, but apparently, he had been enough to grab Wilma’s attention. He wondered if it was too late to run.

“And looking at your movements, it’s obvious you aren’t trained or perfectly used to your strength, which means that while you lied about who you are, you didn’t lie about your strength. You were weak not long ago. But now you’re strong enough to solo a rock lizard. That’s the kind of explosive growth that makes the Guild want you. Of course, we’ll have to see if you can continue like that all the way to the S-rank or if you will hit a wall first.”

Ackster was more than a little scared at how easily Wilma had seen through him. It didn’t even feel like he was wearing clothes anymore.

“...wait. So you still want me, even if you don’t know who I am? What if I’m a murderer or something?”

“That’s good, actually. There wouldn’t be a need to operate in secrecy if we weren’t doing questionable things.”

“But how do you know you can trust me? How do I know I can trust you?”

“Those are good questions. One answer is that there is no trust. The other is that there is no choice but to trust. There’s also the fact that we’ll be offering each other mutual benefits. Don’t trust in the Guild, Dean. Trust in what we can offer. All we ask in exchange is that you do things for us.”

“Such as…?”

Wilma shrugged.

“Could be anything. Take care of a monster, deal with bandits, or capture a rare beast. But it can also be things that aren’t quite in line with what an adventurer is supposed to do.”

“For example…?”

“Infiltration and assassination jobs, though those are usually only given to people who specialize in them or can guarantee success or that they won’t leak any information. You’ll also be sent to other parts of the world and asked to participate in wars to ensure the outcome is something the Guild wants.”

“And what does the Guild want.”

“Many things.”

Ackster sighed as his head ached from all that Wilma had told him. It also seemed like he had reached the limit of how much he could ask in regard to what it entailed. However, he wasn’t satisfied yet.

“Why tell me now? And why invite me on a date?”

“My judgment told me it would be better to act quickly. And if you’re as good as my skills and instincts say you are or can be, there’s no reason for me to delay. And inviting you out on a date was the quickest way to get to know you.”

“I see….”

“I’m sorry if I got your hopes up.”

“No worries.”

Since Ackster had sounded a little dejected after Wilma revealed she had ulterior motives for asking him out on a date, she apologized. But she didn’t know what to think after he disregarded her apology.

Ackster was in deep thought as he considered what Wilma had said for several minutes.

“Alright. Let’s say I agree, despite wondering how you’re guaranteeing my cooperation. What’s next?”