“Talk to Rose, she will prepare the papers so you can go back to work for the guild. And don’t forget what I told you, you are not to blame for anything.”

“Okay, thank you. But before I leave, I’d like to ask you a question.”

“Hm?”

“Someone was watching me from the roof of that building.” Noah approached the window and pointed to the building across the street. The guild master looked there, then he looked at Noah looking confused.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I saw someone watching me. As soon as I looked at the person, he/she hid. I was wondering if you had anything to do with it.”

“Why would I have someone watch you?”

“I don’t know.”

“I didn’t even know you were in the capital. But if that’s true, be careful.”

“Yes, I am being very cautious.”

“You do that. In case something happens, I’ll be here to help.”

“Thank you. Now I will talk to Rose, see you later.”

“See ya.”

Noah walked down the stairs.

As soon as he reached the downstairs, the adventurers stared at him for a while. But as soon as Noah looked at them, they looked away looking scared.

‘Are they afraid of me or something? Or maybe it’s because of my mom?’ Noah smiled and then went to the reception counter.

As he approached, the adventurers standing nearby stepped back.

“Am I that intimidating?”

“Well, you have grown a lot. Plus you have a lot of muscles and appear to be very strong.”

“But most of the adventurers around here have as much muscle as I do.”

“You don’t understand, do you? Your aura is that of someone quite dangerous.”

“My aura? But I don’t try to intimidate people.”

“I know, but you still end up intimidating them. Your hair is also a bit messy and you have a rather serious face. When you face others with your clear eyes, they become intimidated.”

“Don’t say stupid things, it even sounds like you’re trying to flatter my appearance.”

“What if I am? You’re quite handsome. Okay, but what do you need? You were talking to the guild master, weren’t you?”

“Exactly. I will be working for the guild again starting today. The guild master asked me to talk to you about it.”

“I understand. I will talk to Riata so she can make a new guild card for you with a new image.”

“Right. Speaking of her, how is she?”

“She has recovered, but she still talks about her husband quite a bit.”

“I see.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in just a moment. You can sit down if you like.”

“Thank you.”

Noah walked over to a table that had two men sitting at it and then sat down with them. Noah was taller and also more muscular than the two men who were much older than him.

The men clicked their tongues and then got up to leave.

“Hm?” Not understanding the reason behind that, Noah looked at the men and then shrugged.

Some of the adventurers around began to laugh at the situation.

But as soon as Noah looked at them, the adventurers were silent.

‘Looks like I won’t get any friends around here.’

####

“Noah, everything is ready.”

“Already? I thought it would take longer.” Noah stood up and then went to the counter to get his new guild license.

“The data is the same, I just changed the age and the image, is that okay?”

“Yes, everything is fine.” Noah took his license and evaluated it. 

After seeing his rank, he felt a little sad.

“So I’m still Rank F.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter since you’re sure to take the harder missions, right?”

“You guessed it. Well, I guess I’ll take a mission already.”

“Already?”

“Yes. Since Lisandra and the others will take a long time to return, I’ll enjoy the time left so I can take a mission.”

“I see.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Noah walked to the missions board and scanned the available missions. Lots of subjugation missions, some quest missions, and even an escort mission to another city and country. Noah analyzed well before choosing one of the missions.

And he chose a subjugation mission because it would be faster.

A RANK C quest.

Kill five red-skinned ogres that are threatening a rural village that was a few hours away from the capital.

‘It is the same village I had helped a few years ago?’

“Here, this mission.”

“Hm? That’s a bit difficult, are you sure?”

“I’ve become an adult and will you still act this way?”

“I’m worried about you, all right?”

“Right, right.”

“Be careful, these ogres can use fire magic. It’s not very strong, but it can hurt you.”

“I’m not sure about that.”

Noah gave a sarcastic smile and then left the adventurer’s guild. After that, he took a deep breath. After standing in front of the guild for a while, he went to the inn to let his mother and father know he was leaving.

But when he got there, his parents had not yet returned.

So he left unannounced and headed towards the mission site.

Since it was a few hours of travel, Noah activated his strengthening magic to run even faster.

Because of this, he was able to spot the village in the distance with only an hour’s travel. It was another village that he had seen before, but had never visited. Unlike the other village he had helped, this village looked much better.

It had walls around it, it had some visible buildings that appeared to be of high quality, and outside it had large plantations with lots of vegetables. It seemed to be harvest time.

And inside the town, Noah could hear many voices, so they had many residents.

And as Noah approached the village, some children who were outside the village ran inside looking scared. Soon after, the gate closed.

‘Maybe they thought I was a monster.’ Noah smiled bitterly at the situation.

Then, so as not to cause any misunderstanding, he shouted for the villagers and guards on the other side of the gate to listen.

“I am an adventurer, I am here to help you.” After hearing that, the guards cautiously opened the gate.

Who came out, was a tall, muscular man wearing leather armor reinforced with metal plates.

The man held a spear in his right hand and at his waist was also a sword. He had a face very similar to that of a drunk man who sits 20 hours a day in a bar drinking.

His beard was shabby and his hair was all messed up.

But even though he looked like a drunk, he looked quite sober.

“Are you an adventurer? Show me your ID!” The man shouted at Noah, threatening him.

But Noah didn’t care, because that was the doctrine of the guards in any village or town.

After handing over his guild ID, the man looked at it and raised both his eyebrows.

“Rank F?”

“Yes, any problems?”

“Well, yes. I’m sure someone who is Rank F can’t fight an ogre, imagine 5 of them? Are you trying to fool me?”

“Of course not. A person can take any mission they want, right? I decided to take this one. If it goes wrong I’ll die and that’s it, it won’t affect you.”

“…”

“Is there a problem?”

“Are you crazy?”

“No, I’m just confident. Now could you tell me where the ogres are? They might be hiding.”

“Okay, I’ll take you there.”

“Are you sure? I thought you didn’t trust me.”

“Your license is not fake, and if you are a Rank F, you won’t be able to do anything against me. It’s better to take you there than to let you into the village.”

‘He’s really worried that I’ll do something against the village.’

“I see. Then let’s go.” Noah smiled.

The man went to the gate, talked to a few men, and then the gate closed.

“Let’s go.” The guard said in a serious tone. He was acting very cautiously, not letting Noah get at his back. 

The guard was afraid that Noah would suddenly attack him.

Because of the guard’s way of acting, Noah started laughing at him, causing the guard to become a little irritated.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing, I’m just surprised by all this.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing, just keep going.”

“…”

The man moved on to a small forest that was 300 meters away from the village. It wasn’t a dense forest, it just had a few scattered trees here and there.

“The last time the ogres were seen they were around here.”

“Okay, so you can go back now.”

“No need to say it twice. And before I leave, I’d like to ask you to leave, don’t do this with your life.”

“You didn’t seem to be worried before.”

“Well… You seem to be my son’s age, so letting you die like that… It’s…”

“I see. But you don’t have to worry, I’m quite strong.” Noah withdrew his sword from his waist and smiled at the man. 

Surprised the man raised his spear, but Noah ignored him and moved on.

Then the man lowered his spear and watched Noah walk away.

“This boy… He doesn’t care about his own life…. I hope they don’t have to collect your dead body later.”