‘Let me do the talking,’ Mylana instructed as she dragged Severin behind her and into the building with any possible objection on his part, immediately drowned out by the sudden noise that broke over them as she opened the door.

It was more crowded than on Severin’s last visit.

Long lines had formed behind each of the numerous counters at the other side of the room, reaching all the way towards the entrance, ending just in front of them. Even if it wasn’t for all the other visitors, just those people made the whole room feel cramped and difficult to navigate.

But it wasn’t enough to stop Mylana; with the help of her elbows and liberate use of her cane, she forced her way through those throngs of people.

“Heey, careful there.”

“Get in line, hag!”

Accompanied by the swearing of many aggrieved, they soon stood at the front of one of those lines.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Hey boy, tell your grandma she can’t just skip lines as she pleases.”

“Ma’am! I’m sorry, but you can’t ju-”

Mylana ignored the complaints and curses of the other patrons.

And even the clerk in front of whose counter they were standing right now was promptly interrupted by the old woman as she tried to repeat the same trick she had just pulled on the guards outside; once again, she flashed her adventurer’s badge for everyone to see.

With only moderate success, it seemed at first.

Though for a moment the clerk didn’t seem to know exactly what to do, with his eyes bulging at the sight, he soon enough regained his composure, and though obviously flustered, still stood his ground and explained,

“I-I’m sorry. B- But I still can’t have you skip in line like this. In compliance with the Adventurers Society’s st-statutes that state that an adventurer’s rank shall hold no sway in t-terms of quality of received services nor in terms of granted privileges, I-I have to kindly ask you t-to wait for your turn just like anybody else.”

Between dying of embarrassment and feeling sorry for the poor clerk who had been put in such a difficult situation, Severin was wondering whether that badge was even valid anymore now that Mylana was his [Employee].

The woman herself, however, obviously had no such concerns. As response to the clerk’s short speech, her only reaction was to deliberately turn around, take a short look at the people she had squeezed in front of, and then, with a raised eyebrow, back towards the clerk.

Somehow the line as a whole had taken ten steps backwards, with those people who had shouted the rudest remarks, nowhere to be seen, at all.

“I think we are, in fact, next in line. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Gulp

“I, am… uhm.” The clerk stuttered. “Pl-please wait a moment. I think I should get Dan, our man-”

“Don’t bother,” she ordered, making the clerk freeze in his tracks. “It’s nothing much. Just a quick word, and we’ll be out of your hair.

We’re here to meet with a contractor, regarding a request commissioned under the name…” Mylana paused and turned around towards her company.

“Seriously?!” the man asked in disbelief once he understood why the woman was looking at him. “Severin. The name’s Severin,” he then answered, rolling eyes. “Unbelievable.”

“Right. Severin. Anyway. We’re supposed to meet them here.”

“Of-Of course, one second.”

The clerk nervously flipped through his notes. Suddenly he perked up and with relief said, “Got it! Yes. They have already signed in with us. Booth six. Over there,” eager to get rid of the old woman, the clerk pointed. “There on the left.”

Severin traced the direction the man was pointing, but the dense crowd of people blocked his view. Mylana, on the other hand, didn’t even bother; the layout of most of these branches was all the same, anyway; she knew exactly where to find each of the booths.

“They are already here? Since when?”

“I... don’t know.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Not the answer she wanted to hear; she shot him an annoyed look as if saying, of course you don’t, but pulled herself together.

She further inquired, “What do you know about them? Something you can tell me? Anything?”

Again, the clerk started flipping through some sheets. “No, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am. It doesn’t say.”

And again she shot him the same look.

“M-Maybe you want to speak to our manager, after all? I’m sure he could help you.”

Silence.

For a moment, Mylana seriously considered the offer.

But ultimately declined, saying, “That won’t be necessary,” and abruptly turned around.

Severin was still considering whether it was more appropriate to apologize or to thank the clerk, but before he could do either, he was already dragged away again.

“So. It seems that whole affair, that waste of time, has cost us.”

“Which means? What are we doing now?”

“Nothing much we can do. If they were planning anything nefarious to begin with, we can only assume they had their eyes on us from the moment we entered.

If not earlier.

In which case we can only hope that my short performance was enou-”

Cough cough

A coughing fit overcame Severin. A performance? Who would believe that?

Even knowing her for only this short amount of time, he certainly didn’t.

Mylana shot him a glance, annoyed by the sudden interruption, but didn’t bother continuing.

Instead, she repeated her earlier instruction, “I’ll do the talking”, as they had successfully navigated the crowd and had almost reached their destination, giving Severin little time to prepare himself.

They sidestepped what looked to be a group of newbie adventurers deep in discussion and came face-to-face with the person sitting in booth number six.

Severin had yet to fully catch his breath, as Mylana next to him was already saying,

“Are you- Senheim!? Is that you, boy?”

The boy in question was, in fact, a grown man.

Tall - that much was clear even when he was seated. At least one, if not two heads, taller than Severin, who himself, with his almost 1.9 meters, was already far taller than most. And unlike Severin, he was in shape.

“Lana?!” His voice was surprisingly soft for a man his stature, Severin thought.

“What are you doing here?” Without warning and without waiting for an answer, the boy bent down onto his knee and embraced the woman into a hug.

She let it happen.

“So, what are you doing here?” He asked again, but this time did expect an answer. What he got was a counter-question.

“Where did you get a dungeon core from? And why did you have us come here?”

“What? You are the client?” the man only now realized. “Then you are…” For the first time, his attention shifted away from the woman and towards the chubby man accompanying her.

“Sa- Severin,” she introduced. “He is your client.”

Instead of greeting him, Senheim’s eye’s wandered back towards the woman.

“He? Then what are you …?”

“I’m working for him. He is my boss.”

“WHAT?! You? Working for him? For anybody?! What’s going on here?”

That last question would have to wait until later, the man understood. His attention was now fully back on Severin, scrutinizing him further.

And then reached out his hand.

“Senheim. My pleasure.”

“Severin. Likewise.”

“He is the leader of the White Squall,” Mylana interjected from the side, sounding as if that name should mean something to Severin. But to him, it sounded vaguely familiar at best.

“You two are acquainted,” Severin instead voiced the obvious, hoping that fact would make things easier going forward.

“Know each other? Haha. Everyone knows her.”

‘Certainly not the clerk or anyone else in here.’

Apparently Severin’s doubts showed on his face.

“Anyone of standing, that is. Or of a certain age.”

“What do you mean age?!” On a first glance Mylana seemed and sounded offended, but by now Severin knew better than to take her outbursts at face-value. Especially considering how often the woman liked to point out her age, herself.

“Haha, what can I say? After all, I truly was truly just a boy back then.” Senheim pointed at his hair. “Now look. I’m starting to become gray. I have kids now. And they are older than I was back then.”

Strangely enough, the moment he said those words, his expression turned into a grimace, an ugly sight as if reminded of something unpleasant.

“Which brings us to our business and the answer to your question as to why I’m meeting you here.”

With that, the big man moved to the side and gave way to two other people who had been hidden by his shadow until now.

First was a strangely familiar and amiable looking man, but Severin was too occupied by the question of how he could have missed a man of such volume, until now.

And then there was the other person. Younger. Also, somehow familiar and with a face that instinctively made Severin want to slap him.

And then it came to him.

“You!” Severin roared, enraged.