*Bam!!
William chugged the twelfth jug of alcohol in one long pull before slamming the empty wooden jug hard against the table, the dull sound echoed briefly through the now nearly empty inn hall.
His body swayed heavily as if he had lost all balance, and in the next moment, he collapsed forward onto the table, his head turning to the side while a thin trail of saliva slipped from the corner of his mouth.
Budeen watched him closely for a few seconds, a glint passed his eyes before he slowly stood up from his chair and stepped closer to William.
He shook William's shoulder twice, not too gently, he was testing whether there was any response left in the boy's body.
"Suckmadi!!" Budeen called out in a rough voice. "Can you hear me?"
There was no response at all, not even a twitch, and William's breathing appeared slow and uneven like a man completely drowned in alcohol.
Budeen straightened up and clapped his hands twice.
The door behind the counter opened immediately, and a black-robed man stepped inside, along with the inn owner.
Both were wearing expressions that showed this was not their first time doing this kind of work.
Without wasting any time, they moved toward William and lifted his limp body from the chair.
Mana-restricting chains appeared in their hands, and in a practiced motion, William's wrists and ankles were bound tightly, and the faint glow of the chains suppressed any flow of mana in his body.
The black-robed man sneered as he adjusted his grip and lifted William like a sack of grain.
"Easy prey," he muttered with satisfaction. Very rarely would cases like this happen where they would face no resistance from their prey.
As he turned around to leave, Budeen raised a hand, stopping the black-robed man for a moment, and stepped forward as he carefully removed the storage ring from William's finger.
He slid it onto his own hand, feeling the weight of it, and with a wave of his hand, several crates appeared on the floor, each one filled to the brim with neatly packed chocolate bars.
"This stuff is good," Budeen said greedily as he grabbed a handful and stuffed them into his pockets without shame.
The inn owner and the black-robed man also picked up a bar each, taking cautious bites at first, before their expressions softened in surprise.
"This might actually be useful for the businesses run by the cult," the black-robed man said while chewing. "Send one batch to the headquarters, they will figure out how it's made."
"I'll keep the rest for my post," he continued with a grin. "The commander would love this."
With that, he nodded and walked out of the inn with William slung over his shoulder.
Outside, a carriage waited with a large iron cage fixed onto its back, already holding several unconscious bodies.
William was thrown inside without ceremony, the cage door slammed shut, and the carriage moved off quietly into the night.
Although the man didn't notice shadows shifting under his feet.
***
Ethan stood outside Andrea's office, his back straight, but his shoulders were tensed, while seven heads peeked awkwardly from behind the wall at the end of the corridor.
After a long and chaotic discussion, it had been decided that the highest-ranked among them would go in first.
Naturally, that responsibility had landed on Ethan's shoulders.
Ethan sighed quietly as he glanced back at the seven idiots staring at him with hopeful, glowing eyes that made him feel like he was about to walk into an execution chamber on their behalf.
Knock!Knock!
"Come in," a calm voice answered from inside.
Ethan swallowed hard before pushing the door open with careful hands.
Inside the room, Andrea sat behind her desk with a grim expression, her quill moving steadily across parchment as if nothing in the world could disturb her.
Ethan stepped inside and bowed silently, standing stiffly like a student caught stealing.
Andrea lifted her eyes just enough to glance at him and spoke without wasting words. "You are here for my permission to go on a mission?"
Ethan froze.
His eyes widened, his throat went dry, and for a moment, no sound came out at all.
He nodded slowly, and Andrea smiled faintly as if she had already known the answer.
With a simple swirl of her finger, an empty letter appeared in her hand, and she began writing a recommendation without hesitation.
"Umm...?" Ethan finally managed to make a sound.
"Hm?" Andrea asked calmly. "Do you have something to say, Student Ethan?"
"Miss Andrea... there are seven more people with me."
Andrea did not even look surprised. "Oh? But I only see you standing here."
"They are outside," Ethan replied honestly.
Andrea finished stamping the letter, sealed it, and handed it to Ethan with a soft smile.
"If someone wants my permission, they should come and ask for it personally. I believe that is fair, isn't it, Ethan?"
"Yes, ma'am," Ethan replied stiffly, sweat forming on his brow.
He took the letter and quickly exited the office, leaving Andrea behind with a thoughtful expression. She leaned back slightly, remembering the deal she had made with William.
William had asked that anyone from the first year who came to her for a mission within one week should be approved. She wondered what that boy had been wondering, anyway; she didn't worry after she came to know about the huge amount of missing and kidnapping reports.
The staff had been instructed to remove all these missions from the hall; only harmless hunting and foraging missions were left, while some more dangerous missions were elevated for the second year.
The only thing that bothered her was that William himself took a kidnapping mission; she decided that she would personally move if he didn't return in a week.
For now she looked towards the upcoming meeting regarding this case.
***
William's original plan had been built around Maximus alone, and he had never intended to involve the rest of the first year, especially Sera.
But now eight people were moving together, and one of them was Seraphine.
This deviation was already beyond William's expectations, and in the coming days, unwanted surprises would greet him from almost every side.
Some sweet and some sour.
***
The moment Ethan stepped out with the letter in his hand, the rest of the group erupted into cheers.
Leila rushed forward and hugged his arm tightly, deliberately flashing the letter in front of Seraphine.
"I told you Ethan is not any less than William when it comes to charming other women" Leila said proudly. "Look at this."
"He bought a recommendation for every one of us," she added confidently.
"Umm, Leila..." Ethan smiled awkwardly.
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"Don't worry, I am not angry anymore," Leila said happily as she cupped his face confidently. "I forgive you."
Ethan's smile stiffened.
"Leila... this is just for me," he said quietly.
He opened the envelope and showed them the single letter inside.
"But don't worry, when I told her about how you all were standing outside in the hope of getting the approval letters, Miss Andrea told me that as long as you all go inside her office and ask her directly, she won't refuse."
The mood shifted instantly.
Katherine stepped forward with narrowed eyes. "You idiot," she snapped. "You told her we were standing outside?"
"What if she thinks we're causing trouble?" Katherine continued sharply. "You made it obvious that we want to take missions together."
"And who knows what else your slippery tongue said in there," she added loudly.
"Hey, why are you talking to him like that?" Leila shot back.
The argument escalated quickly, both Katherine's and Leila's voices rose quickly, they started hurling insults at each other, and attempts by the others to stop them failed.
Ethan tried to calm Leila down, but Katherine kept mocking him, making things worse.
Seraphine rubbed her forehead, exhausted by the chaos, while Galeion and Desmond stood near the window, completely detached from the current topic.
"Do you often use that brick to fight?" Galeion asked randomly.
Desmond's eyes sparkled as he pulled out the brick proudly and started describing its properties.
Meanwhile, Maximus had gone silent.
He turned away from the noise and walked straight toward Andrea's office.
As the sound of his boots echoed in everyone's ears, the corridor fell quiet, and everyone watched him enter the office directly without any hesitation.
An uneasy silence followed.
A few minutes later, Maximus walked out holding an envelope of his own.
"I am going alone," he said firmly while walking towards the exit of the small corridor "No need to trouble yourselves."
"Wait, Max..." Leila tried to stop him.
Maximus shook his head and turned around for a brief moment. "I am going to save the love of my life, Leila. You all are going because you all either pity me or want to go on a dreamy adventure."
He paused, then added calmly,
"Now I understand why William left quietly without telling anyone about it."
" We lack guts and decision-making capacity, but since I am desperate to save Lia, I will have no choice but to move forward."
"You guys are different, stakes are not high enough for you guys to be decisive on this mission"
Maximus spoke with a cold gaze, "Thanks for your help until now, but I am alright alone"
"And yes, after William returns, please thank him from my side, he was the one who convinced Miss Andrea to allow first years to take missions"