"Now," the guildmaster continued, finally setting down his quill and glancing up, "let's get to the matter of the girl who's gone missing. Annie, was it? Or was it Anne… Anna?"
He turned his eyes to Misha, brow slightly raised. "Misha, what was her name again?"
Misha let out an exasperated sigh. "Her name's Annie. And yes, she's missing. That's what I've been trying to say—she didn't show up for work, and she's not at her house. I think the church took her."
"Right. Now then, Adrian," the guildmaster said, voice flat and firm. "We want you to check it out—with Sarah and Misha."
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"Sarah's there to make sure you aren't seen," the guildmaster continued, already sounding exhausted. "She's an Umbramancy user. And if you're not smart enough to understand what that means—it's shadow magic."
The jab wasn't subtle. The guildmaster's tone practically dripped with disdain, like he couldn't believe he had to share a room with this level of chaos. Everything about him screamed: be professional or leave.
"Oh, Umbramancy?" Adrian lit up, stepping closer to Sarah like a moth to a sharp, pointy flame. "I want it. Teach me."
He took her hand with exaggerated flair, leaning in with what he clearly thought was a seductive smirk.
Sarah didn't flinch—she just stabbed him. Five times. Quick, clean strikes, all missing vital organs with surgical precision.
Adrian barely reacted. "Persistent, aren't you?" he said, unfazed, even as a sixth blade sank into his ribs. With the same maddening grin, he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Madam," he added smoothly, switching to a mock-gentlemanly tone.
Misha, still standing off to the side, clutched her arms and tried her best not to burst out laughing.
The guildmaster, however, simply stared at the scene unfolding before him—stone-faced, unimpressed, and increasingly annoyed.
He didn't say a word.
But his silence said everything.
Sarah looked at him—still holding her knife—watching as Adrian healed yet another stab wound without flinching. Even after the eighth time, he was still grinning, still shamelessly close, still absolutely undeterred.
She finally let out a long, dramatic sigh and lowered her arm. "I'm gonna report you for sexual harassment," she said, her voice cheerily sing-song, as if the threat was just another way to annoy him.
Adrian didn't miss a beat. "Get in line. You're not the first or the last."
He jerked his thumb toward Misha without even looking. "Misha said the same thing once. And now look at us—best of friends."
He turned to glance at Misha with a cocky grin.
Misha crossed her arms and raised a brow. "If by 'best of friends' you mean I occasionally don't strangle you in your sleep, then yes. Best."
Sarah's laughter bubbled up unexpectedly, filling the room with a light, infectious sound that even caught the guildmaster off guard.
"Hahha—oh, ahhaha, hahaha!" Her giggles were genuine and bright, almost childlike in their joy.
Adrian, caught off guard, cracked a smile that soon blossomed into a full laugh. Misha, unable to resist, joined in, their laughter blending into a rare moment of warmth.
The guildmaster, watching quietly, allowed himself a small, soft smile. Maybe these two can be her new friends, he thought, she's been carrying a lot since her mother died.
The room felt a little lighter, even if just for a moment.
"Okay, okay, off you go. And try not to kill each other—especially you, Sarah. Don't try to kill Misha, only Adrian," the guildmaster said, waving them toward the door. The small smile on his face faded almost instantly.
"Hey, why only me? I'm starting to feel like you don't like me that much," Adrian said, feigning offense.
"Because you're a moron who knows no manners," the guildmaster shot back, his gaze sharp and commanding.
"Alright, alright, fuck you too," Adrian muttered, pulling Misha along as he strode out.
The guildmaster turned back, voice firm but thoughtful. "Sarah, try to keep Misha safe. She can't use magic yet. And be nice to Adrian—if he knows a mana gathering technique, we need to keep him here to teach it. Whether it's you or someone else loyal to us. He's already taught Misha, and she's not the type to break the trust of those she cares about, so she won't tell us how the technique works."
"Alright, I'll try. But do we even need the technique? From what Misha told us, it's not that good in the first place," Sarah said, her tone shifting back to serious.
The guildmaster's eyes darkened slightly, greed creeping into his voice despite his earlier professionalism. "Listen, even if it's not the best, it would still be worth a lot of money selling it to rich nobles. They'd do anything to use mana and magic."
"Alright, I'll do as you ask, Guildmaster," Sarah said, nodding before walking out to follow Adrian and Misha.
As soon as the door closed behind her, a husk-like grin twisted the guildmaster's face. His eyes lost their light, becoming hollow and empty. And then, as if conjured by an illusion, a man appeared behind him in the blink of an eye.
The man's grin matched the hollow one on the guildmaster's face. "Good, my little worshiper. You've earned yourself a reward," the man said, his voice unmistakably that of the old man from the church.
Without another word, the man tossed a small pouch onto the guildmaster's desk and vanished just as mysteriously as he'd appeared.
The guildmaster ripped open the bag, revealing crystals identical to the ones Adrian had seen before. He scooped some into his hand and began eating them, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Why? Why can't I control myself around this? Why do I listen to him? I want to warn them—I want to tell them the truth—but this drug is just too good. I can't stop. I don't want to stop... but I have to. Even if I don't want to, I need to tell them. I need to tell Sarah," he thought, trembling as he cried and swallowed the crystals.
"Hey, so Misha, why did he send you? You'd be useless in a fight," Adrian asked, glancing over at her without noticing Sarah catching up behind them as they stepped out of the guild.
Misha shot him a sharp look. "Because my friend is missing, and I'm going to save her. I can't just sit around and do nothing while you"—she said it like it was an insult—"try to save her. I just know you'd mess something up."
Sarah finally caught up, staying silent as she fell in step beside them.
Adrian turned to look at Sarah's clothes. "Shouldn't you at least wear something that covers you better in the dark? I mean, we're sneaking in—not just strolling through the front door."
Sarah glanced down at her outfit, tugging lightly at her shirt. "Oh, these? Does it matter? I can make us invisible with my magic, so it doesn't matter if we walk right in or sneak. They won't see us—even if we were naked." Her tone was flat, serious.
Adrian's eyes drifted closer to Sarah's chest, just as he was about to say something. Suddenly, Misha grabbed his arm firmly, sinking her nails into his skin—a silent, sharp warning to stop being a pervert.
Sarah didn't notice any of it, her focus locked on the task ahead, completely unfazed by the tension between the two.
They arrived at the church some time later, slipping quietly to the back of the building. The evening air was cool and still, shadows stretching long against the stone.