46 Meeting My Friend's Friend.



I explained how I am going to leave the town so I can't keep going on hunts and have to prepare for the departure to Anabelle; it's like only a matter of three days and then I am out of Sephra.

 

 

"Oh, you meant it like that; I thought you got bored of hanging out with me." Anabelle sighed. She literally thought I was bored of her. How can someone be bored while being with her? She's fun to hang out with.

 

 

"Yeah, I thought I should tell you before leaving." I said, 

 

"Where are you going from here, then?" Anabelle asked, It's normal to be curious.

 

"Not far, just to the western border." I answered, It's not like I don't believe her, but I won't tell her about my trip to the kingdom of Reva.

 

"That's quite interesting." Anabelle raised her eyebrows, like she remembered something.

 

"Interesting?" I didn't get the meaning behind it.

 

"You're aware that I work for a mercenary organisation, right? In a few days, namely the day after you indicated you would leave the Sephra, we are travelling to the capital to finalise our business before moving to a town close to the western border." Anabelle explained that her group is here just for vacation, so it's understandable that they are going back, but it's quite baffling that they are going in the same direction as me.

 

"So?" I think I know what she is trying to convey, but I still wanted to be sure.

 

"So we can give you a lift to the western border if you wait for one more day than your decided date of departure." Anabelle said it enthusiastically.

 

"Really? " Don't you have to get other mercenary members consent before that?" I know that she's in a not-so-great situation with her friends,so me going in there out of nowhere would not be a good idea.

 

"Then we just have to get their permission, right?" Anabelle said calmly, "It's like that's not even a problem for her.

 

We agreed to meet tomorrow morning at the guild and then speak to her friends about travelling with them after talking for a little while. She is heading to the hotel they are staying in, and I am going to my house.

 

 

 ...

 

"Rise and shine, princess." Blaze woke me up in the morning with such crappy words; why does he have to call me princess the first thing in the morning?

 

I feel sluggish because of all of the things that happened yesterday. I just don't feel like going outside, but I have an appointment with Anabelle today, so I've got to go.

 

She said she'd introduce me to her friends, aka group members,

 

I got up from the bed and looked around my room, specifically towards my table, and as always, there was an azure-feathered bird sitting on my desk.

 

"Oh, you are here again." I walked to the bird. At first, the bird would always fly away even before I got close, but as time went by, it seemed to know that I was harmless to itself, and now it doesn't even hesitate to fly over my head or shoulders.

 

This bird has been coming to my room since the day I arrived in this world.

 

I pulled some sunflower seeds out of the desk drawer and fed them to the bird. I bought them from the market, especially for the bird.

 

 

Peck peck

 

It pecked at the seed and then flew out of the window.

 

"Now then, let's get going." I brushed my teeth,took a bath, and changed my clothes.

 

' I still don't like the clothes, though." I always have second thoughts whenever I wear something from this closet.

 

"Then just buy some clothes, dammit,"" Blaze said, not so calmly. I'll take his advice.

 

"Yeah, I will, but for now, let's get down." I descended downstairs and was met with the smell of heavenly food that my mom had been cooking since the morning.

 

I had breakfast and left the house.

 

I am headed towards the guild. Anabelle said that all of them gather at the diner for breakfast and then just chill there.

 

I don't know what kind of people her friends are, but I hope they are not unfriendly, because if they are, then

 

"You will kill them.' Blaze finished my sentence, but what I was trying to say was completely different. I meant to say, "Ugh, who am I even explaining myself to?

 

Bump

 

"Hey!" Someone bumped into my shoulder as I was walking.

 

"I am sorry, but I am in a hurry." The man wearing armour apologised as he ran away in the direction I was going.

 

"That's weird." I saw a few more guards running in the same direction; it's like they are on some kind of red alert.

 

"I hope everything is alright." I prayed that nothing was wrong and headed on my way to the guild.

 

 

...

 

Once I was at the guild, I entered the guild, and what I was met with was an atmosphere that I never imagined that such a busy guild could have.

 

The whole Demacia guild is in a very gloomy atmosphere; it's like everyone is wary of something.

 

"Ren, here." Soon Anabelle's voice invites me in the direction of the diner; there are a few more people with her. I walked there.

 

"Good morning." I greeted her the moment I got to the table. The table was occupied by a group of five people, including Anabelle.

 

"Good morning, Hey, listen, everyone, this is Ren, the boy I've told you about,my hunting partner." Anabelle introduced me to them: "And Ren,these are my friends, Barbara, Ali, Zark, and Henry."

 

"Hi,we heard a lot about you, kid," said the muscular woman to the left of Anabelle. She has blond hair braided in two long braids. Her name is Barbara.

 

"Hello there; nice to meet you, young man. My name is Zark." The bespectacled man next to Barbara offered a hand for the handshake. He has a long staff beside him; he must be the mage of the group.

 

"You've got nice hair, by the way; it looks like a bird nest." The bald guy besides Zark threw in a mischievous comment,

 

"Ali!" Anabelle raised her voice at her friend's disrespectful manner, but I cut her off in the middle when I offered a handshake to Ali and Said.

 

"Not as good as yours though; I hope I'd be able to have hair like you, then I won't have to be worried about combing them or styling them." I answered with a big smile on my face, and I saw the bald guy's face turn rosy due to shame. I heard a suppressed laugh from Barbara's seat.

 

 

"You—" he tried to say something, but the man to his left shut him up.

 

"I am sorry for my friend's behaviour; he's a little bird brain. I hope you won't take his joke to heart." The last guy, who must be Henry, apologised on behalf of his friend.

 

"No, don't worry, I was also playing. Anyway,my name is Ren. Nice to meet you." I diverted the still-in-the-air hand that I previously offered to Ali towards Henry, and for goodness sake, he shook my hand, saying,

 

"Nice to meet you too; I am Henry Cloter." He introduced himself.

 

Henry, by appearance, looks like a reliable person; he has brown hair and chestnut eyes and is like slightly shorter than me in height, maybe like five and eleven or something.

 

Anabelle then told them the reason for my arrival, and they listened. The Ali guy, for some reason, said something rude here and there in between but was silenced by Henry,as I thought he was a reliable person.

 

"Ren,you are going to the western border, but why?" Barbara asked this question:

 

"Umm. I am applying for the imperial academy of the Hestia Empire, so I was going for some real-life experience." I thought a lot about it and came up with this reasoning: simple but reasonable.

 

"Okay, then I guess you are applying next year since admission for this year is done already." Zark said as he adjusted his glasses.

 

"Yeah, I am trying." I answered, to which he just nodded to himself.

 

"Well, in this group, nothing happens without asking anyone, so we are going to have a pole." Henry brought everyone's attention to himself. "Listen, whoever is theopposite of bringing this kid with us, raise your hand."

 

 

Raise

 

 

Ali was the only person who raised his hand.

 

"Hey! "You've all gone crazy, or why are we even bringing a kid along with us? He'll just be baggage to carry around." Ali was not happy when no one other than himself raised the hand.

 

 

"That's rude." Anabelle tried to argue but was stopped in the middle of the sentence when a man wearing a full knight's armour came to our table.

 

"Sorry to interrupt, but are Miss Anabelle Lockner and Mr. Ren Hilton here?" He asked politely, but I can sense his piercing gaze even through his helmet; it's like he is evaluating us.

 

"Yes, I am Anabelle Lockner, and Ren Hilton is the name of my friend over there." Anabelle took the lead in the conversation. "How can we help you?" she asked.

 

The knight then pulled a poster out of the sack he was carrying and showed it to us.

 

"Have you seen these guys anywhere?" He asked, and I felt my heart stop for a second at the moment when he asked that question.

 

There was a poster of Kyle, Kale, Dane, Nyle, and the other two members of the goon gang with capital letters spelling the word

"MISSING"

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 [A/N: Busted!?]