Chapter 189

Chapter 190: Just Coming Home

On a bright and sunny morning, sunlight streamed through the windows into the Guild Headquarters.

In an interview room used for receiving guests, Eina shakily adjusted her round-framed glasses.

“Sorry to bother you, Izay-kun, but could you repeat that? The part just now… I zoned out and didn’t catch it.”

The evident tremor in Eina’s voice was unmistakable; she felt she had heard something alarming in Izay’s mission report.

“That part? The ancient monster known as ‘Calamity Scorpion,’ Andarius?” Izay blinked innocently, obliging her request.

“—Ancient!? Ancient monster!??”

At the realization, she suddenly felt dizzy.

The brown-haired half-elf started seeing stars, slumping onto the table, even knocking off her glasses.

Izay sat across from her on the couch, at a loss for words at the sight.

‘Right… ordinary guild clerks like Eina wouldn’t have access to this kind of information, would they?’ Izay recalled.

Andarius’s resurrection and rampaging in the Great Tree Sea were definitely known by Uranus, the guild’s main deity, and his right-hand sage Fels. Other high-ranking members of other guilds might also be aware under Uranus’s orders. Who exactly, Izay wasn’t sure, but Eina was clearly not among them.

Not only had she never seen an ancient monster that once wreaked havoc in the lower realms and had to be sealed away, she hadn’t even encountered many regular monsters—just attended the Monster Festival for fun.

So her reaction wasn’t surprising.

Izay was currently giving Eina feedback on his mission.

Every mission released by the guild came with a corresponding report, which writing up was part of the daily duties of guild clerks.

Since this external investigation mission was handled by Eina, naturally the feedback report would be written by her.

But Eina hadn’t expected that within this seemingly simple anomaly investigation mission lay the existence of an ancient monster.

Almost fainting from the shock.

“You said earlier… that Andarius was defeated by you?”

“More or less. But I don’t have anything tangible to prove Andarius’s existence; there are witnesses though.”

“And specifically?”

“Given the dire situation at the time—it was literally life or death—I couldn’t hold back. Witnesses include Lady Artemis and Hermes, along with other members of their factions.”

“…”

This level of power and growth speed… no wonder he was praised by the gods as the most talented adventurer…

To actually defeat an ancient monster?!

After a long silence, Eina took a deep breath and nodded, “I understand… I’ll report this truthfully to my superiors.”

“This mission has already reached the risk level of a first-class adventurer, so I’ll do my best to secure the best reward for you.”

Her face was full of determination.

Since what Izay resolved was far beyond the scope of the originally posted mission, the reward certainly shouldn’t be stingy.

He was Riviria-sama’s ‘relative’ and, strictly speaking, her friend too. Of course, Eina wanted to help him get the best possible outcome.

‘But such a big deal… surely the higher-ups must know something about it, right?’ Considering the current situation, Eina couldn’t help but make this guess.

It would be too implausible if no one in the guild knew anything about this.

More likely, they were controlling the information to avoid public panic.

After all, when it comes to controlling information, the Orario Guild was absolutely top-notch. On the surface, the guild basically controlled more than half of the flow of information in Orario.

“Thank you, Eina.” Izay smiled at her, not wanting to refuse her kindness.

Actually, he didn’t really care about the rewards from the guild. With items like eye crystals, he could directly contact Fels and the old god, and then just have a quick ‘call’ to discuss things.

…………

After finishing the feedback report with Eina, Izay returned to the guild hall. Artemis had acted faster than him, already finishing her meeting with Uranus and waiting for him at a resting spot.

Seeing Izay appear, the goddess waved at him with a smile.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Lady Artemis.” Izay approached her.

Artemis shook her head, “Not at all, I just came out not long ago myself.”

“Everything sorted out?”

“Yeah, I’ve discussed with Uranus. Not only about Andarius, but also about our residence here in Orario…”

According to Artemis, perhaps as a gesture of goodwill or due to the events in the Great Tree Sea, Uranus would cover the costs of her faction’s residence selection and expenses within a certain range in Orario.

In other words, as long as it wasn’t ridiculously expensive, Uranus was essentially giving her a free property in Orario, with freely chosen location, plus additional startup funds.

“Truly worthy of being the main deity of the guild, the aura of wealth is overwhelming.” Izay shook his head in amazement.

The guild has never flaunted its wealth, but that doesn’t mean it lacks money.

On the contrary, the guild was incredibly wealthy.

Just look at that ‘fattened pig’ of the guild.

Artemis couldn’t help but laugh at Izay’s expression, “Actually, it’s not that bad. You did contribute significantly this time, so I’ve helped you lobby for rewards too. Though Uranus didn’t give a clear response, it will definitely turn out well.”

Unexpectedly, a specialist might contact Izay later to discuss the details. The goddess added at the end.

“Then, Lady Artemis, how about I join you in selecting the faction’s residence?”

Izay showed some interest because it felt somewhat like going house hunting with a girlfriend.

Though tempting, Artemis declined.

“Let me handle it alone. You should worry about yourself instead～”

“Your first action after being away for so long isn’t returning to your faction but wandering around with me. Loki will definitely nag about this if she finds out.”

Izay: “…”

Touche…

“Alright then, Lady Artemis, see you later.”

“Yep, see you later.”

Since Artemis would be staying in Orario for a while, they didn’t need to rush their time together.

With his nearly empty backpack, Izay waved goodbye to the goddess.

…………

North District, Twilight Manor.

Buying some fried potato balls on the street near the entrance, Izay carried the bag, munching on a potato ball, thinking about what to say when he met his companions.

Ais… probably the naturally dense girl would simply say “Welcome back,” right?

Then he’d just give her these red bean cream-flavored fried potato balls.

After all, someone naturally dense is easily satisfied, right?

But truly speaking… maintaining a normal heart should suffice, right?

It’s just coming home…