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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Search and Subjugation Request (1)
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Phrygia Alliance was one of the four major powers on the continent.
Hakapia, one of the territories under the Alliance's rule.
In 'Shaon', one of Hakapia's three great cities, stood the headquarters of an adventurer's guild that ranked among the top five in all of Phrygia.
This enormous guild housed more than ten of those rare A-Class adventurers, and even sheltered three S-Class adventurers.
A building towering over five stories high and sprawling sideways like a fortress, the guild house headquarters was a symbol of the guild's immense prestige, one that spoke volumes just from its imposing sight.
Most guild members handled their lodging and meals right there in the guild house.
Lower-ranked members took on missions at their leisure, while higher-ups tackled special operations or dungeon assaults.
Higher-ranked members had scarcely any time to themselves.
Yet for all its intensity, the guild house always brimmed with laughter.
Failures were practically unheard of, and massive rewards always followed success.
Even the lower ranks swelled with pride at belonging to such a renowned guild.
Except today.
"Do we really have to block the way like this?"
The first-floor lobby of the guild house.
The atmosphere there was utterly frigid, like thin ice, nothing like the usual vibe.
"Sorry. You know we don't have a choice. This is more critical than ever. Without you, there's no way we'll succeed in the conquest."
"My little sister! My little sister's gone missing right now. I don't even know where she is or what monster did what to her, and you're telling me to just go dungeon crawling like it's no big deal?"
A woman with short orange bobbed hair snarled at the blonde woman blocking the entrance.
Her ferocity was so intense that sparks of lightning crackled in the air around her from sheer aura alone.
The woman glared wide-eyed and spat.
"My sister's the most important thing to me right now. Move, or you're dead."
Her gaze was sharp as a blade, sharp enough to slice just by looking.
The blonde blocking the door gulped nervously, her face tense as she stared back.
At that moment, a woman with long purple hair cascading down her back stepped in with her staff in hand.
"St-still, killing...? Elena, aren't you being a bit too harsh with the guild master-."
"Want me to kill you too?"
"...Hic."
The woman called Elena whipped around in an instant, unleashing killing intent that left the purple-haired woman speechless, trembling and hiccupping.
Even a B-Class adventurer treated as a powerhouse couldn't withstand an S-Class adventurer's killing intent.
In truth, among everyone present, only the blonde at the door could stand unaffected by Elena's aura.
"No need to butt in, Hina. Elena's extremely worked up right now."
"B-but! If things go wrong, it'll break guild rules-."
"Her little sister's missing. She's got every reason to be on edge. We let that slide. If worst comes to worst... I'll stop her."
The blonde woman spoke with a conflicted expression. Elena's eyebrow twitched at the words.
"Stop me? Got the confidence?"
"I'm S-Class, same as you. Even back when you were A-Class."
"...No holding back for a senior."
Stung by the blonde's words, Elena gripped the handles of the daggers at her hips, glaring with fierce intensity.
The blonde, looking resigned at Elena's actions, lowered her stance slightly and placed a hand on her sword hilt.
Gulp-
A razor-thin tension rippled through the entire lobby, like a taut thread ready to snap.
One wrong move, and it could spark a clash between S-Class adventurers.
Just their clashing auras alone made the whole guild house tremble. The other members gathered on the first floor fidgeted anxiously, at a loss.
No one here could stop them if they fought.
Everyone knew it.
"Elena... calm down. I don't want to fight you."
The blonde said it even as she ramped up her own aura. Elena kept firing off her deadly glare.
"If that's the case, then move. Right now."
"I can't do that. But I can offer a solution. Calm down first. Hear me out."
"No...! Just move and everything's solved! Why can't you do something so simple!?"
Elena's shout brought fresh lightning sparks. The blonde tensed even further, channeling her full power.
It was a powder-keg moment. Any twitch could ignite the fight.
But fortunately, neither drew their blade.
"Haa... fuck! Seriously."
Elena released the dagger hilts and spat a curse. As her aura faltered, the suffocating tension in the lobby eased a bit.
The blonde also let go of her sword hilt. The auras faded, and the building stopped shaking.
"Good choice. Us clashing would be a disaster. Head upstairs and rest."
"Rest? Every second counts right now. Move already. I don't wanna fight either."
"I can't let you through. I know it's selfish, but without you, we'll lose this dungeon conquest guaranteed."
Elena bellowed at the blonde's words.
"No, fuck that conquest! My sister's missing!"
"Cool your head too! All teleports are blocked right now. If they weren't, I'd send you myself. But in this situation, even if you ran to her village, it'd take over two weeks. You just gonna pray she's okay that long?"
Elena ground her teeth at the blonde's words.
It was true. In fact, it had already been three days since her sister went missing.
The missing persons report had come in just that morning.
Her sister had gone on a picnic with a friend and hadn't returned to the village after three days, so the villagers sent a message via communication magic.
With teleports sealed, getting there on foot would take well over two weeks past the disappearance. Too late by far.
"Teleports are jammed by sudden mana distortions from the new dungeon. We wrap it up quick, done in under ten days. Then you teleport straight to find her. That's the smart play."
Elena fell silent at the blonde's reasoning.
There wasn't a single flaw in it.
"Plus, the second we got the message, we sent a recruitment request to the adventurer branch near her village. Put out a search-and-subjugation job with killer terms. Adventurers who take it will head out right away."
"..."
"Don't worry too much. Luis Village is famous for zero monsters nearby. Probably got lost deep in the woods, or at worst nabbed by some unusual slime pack."
The blonde continued.
"Slimes don't kill prey outright—they dissolve it. Their digestive juices are weak. Even for untrained civilians, it takes weeks to fully melt them. If we find her in days, it'll be aftereffects at most, like burns."
She stepped closer and placed a hand on Elena's shoulder.
"So leave the search to them. We'll focus on what we have to do."
"..."
Elena was utterly torn.
Her body screamed to rush to her sister, but her head fully grasped that the guild master was right.
In the end, her tightly clenched fists trembled before finally going slack.
"Elena?"
"...Fine. We'll do it that way."
"Smart thinking. Nothing happened today. Alright, everyone, head in!"
And with that, the commotion at the guild house came to a close.
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Clamour filled the air-
"Hmm. A search-and-subjugation request?"
"The pay's nuts? Like three times a normal job."
"They're recruiting top talent, huh."
"C-Class or higher with tracking skills only... Isn't that overkill for finding missing people? Luis Village has no monsters anyway. Subjugation of what?"
"Slimes come to mind... E-Class or D-Class could handle that easy."
In the outer reaches of Hakapia territory.
Beside Pedros city lay Amus Lake, home to a massive adventurer branch office.
Thousands of adventurers passed through daily for dungeon and monster intel, byproduct trades, and a flood of personal requests.
From F-Class to S-Class, staff recommended jobs fitting each adventurer's rank.
And the three-woman party—Piona, Amy, and Rosa—who'd just all promoted to C-Class and were riding high on confidence, were chatting over one of the five request forms the staff had suggested.
"What do you think? Looks straightforward. I'm game for this one."
Piona asked, her red hair swaying just past her shoulders as she eyed Amy and Rosa. Amy's ample chest bounced as she chimed in brightly right away.
"Me too! Totally agree~!"
Their gazes naturally turned to Rosa.
Rosa glanced back and forth between Piona and Amy, her haughty features twisting into a reluctant pout. Twirling her blue hair, she fired back.
"...It does look good, but we just hit C-Class. Didn't we agree on two weeks off? Another job already?"
It was a fair question.
They'd only just climbed from D-Class to C-Class the other day, and thrown a celebratory drinking party yesterday.
Today was meant for a group meal at a restaurant, but Amy had raved about the branch cafeteria food and dragged them here.
Taking a request? That wasn't on the agenda at all.
Piona replied to Rosa.
"I wasn't planning to take anything either, but honestly, this one's too good to pass."
"Right, right. Just find the people, yeah? No monsters in Luis Village, so it's basically a stroll!"
Amy piled on in support of Piona.
Their eyes looked downright desperate...
"Sorry, I'm out. Gonna rest."
Rosa shook her head.
"For real?"
"Yeah. If you wanna, you two go ahead. Looks easy enough for a duo. I need to recharge for two weeks. Ugh, I've been wiped lately."
Rosa's words drew a nod from Piona.
"Hm, fair enough. Two should handle it fine... What about you, Amy?"
"Yup! Count me in."
"Alright, we tell 'em now? Rosa, you sure? Full pay for us two?"
"Have at it~ I'll be home sleeping."
Rosa shook her head firmly, and in the end, only Piona and Amy stood up.
The pair headed to the request counter, showed the form to the staff, and stamped the contract.
"Here are photos of the two missing. No strict deadline since it's a disappearance, but please resolve it as fast as possible."
A man with a typical clerk look handed them the paperwork and two photos.
The missing were one man and one woman. The woman was strikingly pretty, with orange hair.
Piona and Amy studied the photos, then nodded with brimming confidence.
"Got it."
"You bet!"