A Mistaken Encounter: The Hero of the World

"Mr. Serven?" Aina walked over.

"It's Miss Aina. Long time no see."

Serven turned his head and looked over. It was still the familiar facial features, but he was completely different from before.

Whether it was the body shape or the hair, or the mysterious black patterns that were clearly visible under the eyes and the sharp golden-brown eyes, they all indicated huge changes.

The most important thing is temperament!

This drastic change in temperament cannot be wrong——

"Mr. Serven, you took a risk, didn't you?!" Aina was inexplicably angry. Although she knew that Serven was not the adventurer under her responsibility and her actions were a bit presumptuous, she inexplicably wanted to criticize and lecture him on this impulsive behavior.

"Ms. Aegina, I did take a risk." Serven said with a smile, "After all, the dungeon loves to take advantage of people's misfortunes..."

Aina quickly understood what Serven meant. "I'm so sorry for getting angry without knowing the reason. It's hard enough to be forced to take risks like this, but I..."

Serven interrupted Aina's continued self-reflection, "It just so happens that your guild is going to record the level-up activities? You can also come and listen."

"Monster Banquet"? The enhanced silverback ape on the 15th floor? !

Although Serven deliberately concealed a lot of information, even the main credit for killing the golden-haired silverback ape was attributed to Lefiya. He attributed his own upgrade to Lefiya's experience.

But this still surprised Misia, who was in charge of recording, and Aina, who was listening.

Is it a Level 2 monster? They asked Serven for confirmation, but Serven just smiled and agreed without actually answering the question.

After the recording was completed, Aina bowed again to apologize to Serven.

"I'm sorry. You've worked so hard to get back to the surface, but I didn't care about your feelings and started to blame you..."

Serven just waved his hand and smiled, "Well, after all, you are concerned about me. Thank you for your concern, Aegina."

A simple thank you, however, broke down Aina, who was often misunderstood by the adventurers she served as a consultant to, and tears began to fall from her eyes like pearls from a broken string.

Doesn't she want to relax a little?

However, when the first adventurer she met became a limp arm on a stretcher due to carelessness, with only dripping blood beads left, she could no longer turn a blind eye to these proud adventurers who looked down on dungeons.

She was like an old woman who liked to meddle in other people's business. She was nagging and not paying attention to other people's expressions. She reminded these adventurers again and again not to take risks, even if it would cause resentment.

Every time she was blamed, she wanted to give up, but when she saw another careless adventurer coming back wrapped in a white cloth, or simply turning into a monster and never coming back, she would end up nagging at the adventurers she was responsible for again and again.

Serven's understanding made her unable to control her emotions. The more she tried to stop crying, the more her tears burst out unrestrainedly.

Serven was at a loss, he wanted to offer a handkerchief to comfort her but the straight man didn't have such a thing. He wanted to lend her a shoulder but he didn't dare to get close because they were not close enough and she was an elf.

This flustered look made Aegina, who was in tears, laugh, and finally stopped crying.

"It's great to be back alive." Aina said, with tears on her face.

"Yeah." Serven was a little dazed as he recalled his dreamlike experience.

Aegina captured this moment. Her heart beat faster for unknown reasons, and her breathing and cheeks became hotter.

When Serven left the guild, Aegina's friend Misia Flot ran over with a smirk on her face.

"Aina, Mr. Serven is so handsome."

"Uh-huh."

"I saw it. You were stunned just now..."

"Misia~" Aina quickly covered her friend's stinky mouth.

(Seeking flowers, collections, and rewards).

Chapter 26: Ephemerality

"What advice do you have? I suggest you not to get too emotionally invested in adventurers."

When she joined the guild, Aina received this advice from a senior at work.

"What? He's actually such a half-Asian who's still wet behind the ears."

At the beginning, Aegina was in charge of a very troublesome adventurer named Maris Heckard, who had a face full of disgust. She was a human girl with only short blue hair.

"What, what..." Aina was a little annoyed. Elves, orcs, and dwarves were all subhumans, but because she was of human and elf blood, she was called half-subhuman, which was just like calling a black man "Nico".

"Hey, what's your name?"

I didn't even listen to my self-introduction just now...

Aina forced a smile, "My name is Aina Zul, please guide me."

……

Aina began to slowly adapt to the life in Orario, learned from her predecessors and senior adventurers, and mastered more business.

The number of adventurers she was in charge of also increased to four.

"Aina! I'm back after breaking through the 10th floor!"

Maris also did not stand still and also made great progress.

"There will be fog starting from the tenth floor, so you better be careful." Aegina had already left the counter and was ready to go home, but she still hadn't forgotten her responsibilities as a consultant.

"You're so nagging! Stop nagging and let's go have a drink together!"

"No, as a guild employee, being too close to adventurers will lead to unnecessary misunderstandings!"

Just as Aegina opened her mouth to refuse, Maris hugged her shoulders.

"It's my treat today! Don't be so fussy, just come!"

Being forcefully dragged by Maris who was in a good mood, Aina had no choice but to go and drink with her.

"By the way, Aegina, you are very popular among adventurers, right? Everyone says that there is an elf consultant who graduated from the [school district] and she is very cute, right?" Maris drank a glass of wine in a big gulp and started teasing.

Hearing the laughter of the adventurers around her, Aina's face turned red and she said angrily: "...Maris!"

"Hehe!" Maris just smiled smugly and started drinking again.

"Don't drink so much..." Aina began to worry about her friend's health.

"It's okay..." Maris waved her hands, her face flushed. "Aina, it's great that you are my advisor!"

"Eh?! Why are you suddenly so..."

"The information you taught me about the Orcs and the Little Devils this morning came in handy and saved my companion's life..." Maris looked over with hazy eyes and burped, "...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have looked down on you."

"It's okay, you still have to be more careful in the future..."

"You never gave up on a stupid person like me. It's great to have you as my advisor!"

Looking at Maris who was expressing her gratitude under the guise of drunkenness, Aina smiled and said, "I am also very lucky to have met you."

Maris smiled at Aegina and started drinking again.

"M-Maris, why did you become an adventurer?"

"My parents abandoned me, my relatives refused to take me in, and I was looked down upon everywhere after I came here... Only the immortal took in a dirty girl like me..."

Maris's face showed a look of reminiscence. "So... I want to show it to those people. I want to become as powerful as a first-level adventurer, make a name for myself and show it to those people... and also to show the Immortal that she did not choose the wrong person..."

Aegina narrowed her emerald eyes - then supporting the dreams of people like Maris was the meaning of her work!

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

It was sunset, and the setting sun was falling weakly towards the ground.

Aegina and her colleagues came to the Tower of Babel. When they were about to return after completing the inspection work of the guild, they saw several bodies being carried up from underground.

The crowd was discussing loudly, saying that a team of adventurers had been completely killed.

"Let's go, Aina." The older staff member was already used to this and had a blank expression on his face.

Aina nodded, intending to follow her senior's instructions and leave, but she seemed to have some sense when she looked at the body being carried up.

Tattered leather armor, a broken sword held in a stiff hand, and familiar blue hair.

That human girl covered in blood—was none other than Maris Heckard herself.

She had already lost one arm, but her eyes were still open, staring into the void with empty eyes.

Aegina's knees automatically softened and she fell to her knees.

Maris is dead——!!!

Aina's mind was completely shut down, and she only hoped that what she saw was just a nightmare.

But Maris was indeed dead, her bloodstained face was right in front of her!!

Aegina's eyes went dark, and her consciousness became blurred.

"Zul!"

"Hey, Aina!? Ahhh, don't faint, damn it!"

It seemed as if the separation from Maris had become an opportunity.

The four adventurers that Aegina was responsible for at the beginning all died later.

Even the high-level adventurers she took over later went to the "middle level" and never returned.

She finally understood the meaning of the advice given by her guild elders.

It's better not to invest too much emotion in adventurers.

Yes, adventurers are like ephemeral flowers, always disappearing silently while they are trying to bloom.

However, Aegina remained steadfast in her determination to fulfill her duties.

Even though the adventurers could easily lose their lives, she hoped that she could increase their chances of survival to the best of her ability.

She became more cautious, studied countermeasures more carefully, explained everything in more detail, and became more verbose.

Chapter 27 Dinner

After coming out of the Adventurer's Guild Headquarters, Serven returned to the Dusk Mansion at a leisurely pace.

Everyone in the clan greeted him politely, with expressions of gratitude on their faces. Serven thought it was a bit strange, but he didn't think about it too much.

"Oh, Serven." Loki paused, "To celebrate your upgrade, let's go have a drink together tonight!"

"Yeah, sure! No problem."

"You pay the bill. We've already told everyone that tonight's bill will be charged to you!"

He then learned that in order to celebrate his upgrade, Loki had already notified everyone to have a meal at the [Hostes of Opulence] in the evening.

He must want to kill me and vent his anger as soon as possible - Serven saw through Loki's little thoughts, despised him in his heart, and glanced at Loki.

He couldn't help but feel a little headache. The petty-minded Lord God in front of him who didn't hold grudges overnight was nothing special, but the main thing was that he didn't expect that he would take the initiative to go over to Xier in the evening just after he got rid of her in the morning.

Am I going to reenact the story of going in and out of Changbanpo seven times?

Even though the seafood merchant doesn't have a very good reputation, after all, he looks so delicious and has top-notch skills, so it doesn't seem too bad that he can play the role of Zhao Zilong, right?

Serven shook his head quickly.

With a strange feeling, Serven's wallet was escorted all the way to the tavern by the large army.

"Welcome, meow!" Aniya, the poster girl, greeted everyone. "Oh, there's a newcomer, meow——"

"Haha, this is a new member of our clan!"

"Serven Adonis, nice to meet you." Serven smiled and greeted the innocent cat man.

"Mama Mia, bring the wine!" Loki was the first to enter, and he shouted with a smile as soon as he stepped into the tavern.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Lord Loki."

"It's Xi'er-chan, she's still so cute! Our child has been promoted, so of course we have to celebrate."

Xi'er's smile dimmed, and her expression became a little gloomy. Loki didn't notice and strode into the tavern.

The other adventurers in the tavern looked over curiously. Seeing the looks on their faces wanting to know the answer to the riddle, Loki hummed a smug little tune, deliberately kept silent, and sat down.

Serven, Aisi and others also walked over.

"Oh, I have seen this gentleman before." Xier said to Serven.

Sure enough, it is unavoidable!

"Good evening, nice to see you again." Serven greeted everyone, found a seat and sat down, and other members also took their seats one by one.