The Adventurer’s Guild of the town located near the Forest of Darkness was in a tumultuous riot.
Why? Because a dangerous-looking monster had gotten inside. The creature in question was a bipedal beast covered in black fur. It also had horns, wings, and a tail. It was clearly powerful and also exuded an ominous, sinister aura.
All the adventurers in the building hurriedly used their Appraisal skills on it, but they couldn’t glean anything—its status was being concealed.
“Damn you!” An adventurer, probably unable to take the fear anymore, took his life into his own hands and charged at the monster.
*Swip-THUD!*
The adventurer was easily neutralized by the monster’s tail. He crashed into the wall and collapsed. Luckily, he wasn’t dead—just unconscious.
“You bastards! Behold—this is the great Garellia, the Polar Sky! Show some respect!” the receptionist shouted at the crowd.
Her words froze the combat-ready adventurers in their tracks.
“Are you sure? That thing’s totally a monster.”
“Yeah, there’s no way that’s a human, right?”
“I agree, but...if Éclair says so, then maybe it’s true...”
The beast-slash-supposed-human Garellia, who looked every bit the poster child of a vicious monster, slowly walked over to the receptionist.
“It’s been a while, Éclair.”
“I believe I have told you before to refrain from walking around town in that form, sir...”
“It is inefficient to go through the trouble of taking human form, though.”
“So, what do you need? Seeing as how you brought your entire school with you, this can’t be a simple visit.”
Virtually everyone had been too preoccupied with Garellia’s appearance to have noticed, but he’d arrived with a full retinue of students trailing behind him. They all donned robes and wielded staves.
“Norton’s been killed. I must avenge him for the reputation of my school.”
“Unbelievable...to think Sir Norton was killed!”
“Are there any rumors of mimics in this area?”
“Mimics?” she asked, then paused for a second to think. “Now that you mention it, a monster tamer came by recently—a girl with a mimic in tow.”
“That should be the one I am looking for. Mimics would be a rare sight in town, after all. That girl must be camouflage. How unfortunate for her.”
Despite Garellia’s monstrous appearance, he still retained a base amount of common sense. He felt empathy and concern for an uninvolved girl who’d been dragged into the mess.
“I introduced the girl to a monster tamer named Dolhoi, so they should be there right now.”
“I see. Thank you.” Garellia turned on his heels.
“Um, I should go with—”
“You have your job at the guild.”
He immediately shut down Éclair’s attempt to forcefully accompany them. She turned away, sullen.
Meanwhile, Johannes was observing everything that happened from a corner of the guild.