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“It’s fine. It’s finished. The troublemakers are gone, and you’ve already apologized. Also, I’m sure you’ll do something about anyone else who calls me Black Rabbit from here on out?”

They raised their heads. They both looked so full of regret that tears were threatening to fall from their eyes.

“Come on, don’t look like that. You two are the first adventurers I met when arriving here. You came because you were worried about me. I’m thankful for that.”

“You dumb shit… We are on duty!”

Gardo looked away and spat. Ness was wiping at his reddened eyes.

“Asagi, I’m real sorry! From now on, we’re comrades!”

“Aye, we’re now on equal footing! Does anyone here have any complaints!?”

Gardo glared towards the bar. While they weren’t involved in last nights incident, they were all part of the jeering crowd. They now looked at their glasses as if to avoid Gardo’s stare.

“Well, that seems to settle it.”

“That went well, Asagi.”

Daniela said as she placed a hand gently on my shoulder.

“Yes, thanks to you as well, Daniela.”

“Don’t mention it. We are also comrades who are equals.”

She chuckled softly and I felt my face to turn red. Now, now, was I falling for her?

“By the way, Asagi.”

“What is it, Ness?”

“Who’s the pretty lady next you?”

Ness was looking at Daniela with his usual comical smile. That was a quick turnaround.

“Ahh, I forgot to introduce you. This is Daniela. She was forcefully involved in last night’s incident. And since then, we’ve found a reason to form a party together.”

“I’m Daniela. Nice to meet you.”

Daniela, Ness, and Gardo offered and shook each other’s hands. I felt my connections as an adventurer were growing.

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We separated from the two, and I took Daniela over to the Reception counter. Today’s guild worker was the bookworm, Flo.

“It’s been a while.”

“Oh, Mr. Asagi. Nice to see you again. Though, I have seen you within the guild house. So what’s your business here today?”

I guess she had seen me around. Well, things tended to get rowdy, so it was not surprising.

“Yes, I want to form a party with her.”

“I see. Party registration. Please give me your status cards.”

Flo accepted our status cards and placed them onto a tray.

“Thank you. This will be finished in just a minute. Please stay here and wait.”

So saying, she disappeared through the back. We saw her leave and then chatted together for a few minutes until she returned.

“Thank you for your patience. Your party has now been registered. You may have your cards back.”

I took the cards off the tray and handed Daniela’s card to her.

“Thank you.”

“No, no. It’s just my job.”

Flo brought her small hand over to her mouth and laughed. She used to act quite strangely around me, mostly due to the way the others treated me, but things had become normal now. Thankfully.

We thanked her again and then decided to stop at the bar. The two of us sat together at the bar counter and ordered some flavored water and a side dish. The plate that eventually arrived was a river fish meunière. For a bar full of rougher clients, the food here was strangely refined.

We poked at our food with forks and talked about what we would do next.

“I’m thinking of going after the forest wolves.”

“Mmm, forest wolves. I think the two of us should be able to manage them, even in a pack.”

Daniela said as she pushed her bones to a corner of the plate.

“The forest wolves live in the forest to the north. By the way, did you just arrive in this town recently?”

“Yes. I came from the eastern plains along with a caravan. Those plains were infested with grass wolves.”

“Grass wolves?”

“The wolves in those plains have turned into monsters. Unlike forest wolves, their fur is a yellowish green.”

Interesting. So the wolf that I ate was just a normal wolf.

We discussed such things until we finished our plate.

Well then, it was time to head for the forest.

The two of us accepted our first quest as a party, then made our way out through the western gate and into the forest.

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