Chapter 90: Drake Aquila (1/2)
”How may I help you, sir?” Mary asked the ragged clothed man in front of him. Similarly to Lily, he was also trying to cover himself, although his attire wasn't nearly as good as Lily's, and she could see the silver tinges shining under his hood. His ruffled, lank hair reached just under his chin, providing an additional obstacle for his left eye.
Speaking of eyes, Mary was stunned when he noticed those shining silvery irises. They had a tint of light blue hue over them.
”That door behind you.” The man said in his silvery voice as he pointed his wrapped right hand towards the back door. ”I would like to know what's there.”
Following the line of his pointed finger, Mary looked at the door where Lily and Sir Michael just left. ”That? That is the service door to the office area of the guild. Are you looking for an employee? If so, can you tell me his or her name?”
Pulling his arm back, he looked at the receptionist, with uncertainty in his eyes. Although he stuttered a bit, his creamy, silvery voice made Mary not notice it.
”N-no. I was just curious. *Ahem*” he coughed, to change the subject ” I would like you to check up my name and see if I have any active quests listed under it, that would be doable in this area.”
Mary gave the man a surprised look.
”Oh? Did you just arrive? May I ask your name, sir?”
”Drake Aquila” the man answered.
Although that was not his real name, this was the name he registered as an adventurer in the capital and has been using every time he sneaked out from the palace. To him, this fake felt more real, than his actual birth name that only reminded him of the sorrow and anguish of all those years.
”Thank you, since you are not from here, please wait there for a moment, while I go and check the details. I won't take too long, but please, sit down while waiting.” Mary answered as she pointed to the couches and chairs on the side.
Then, with a slight professional bow, she turned around and quickly left through the back door. Meanwhile, Drake watched intently as she opened the door and left through a long hallway. His left hand resting on the wrapped-up hilt of his sword, he muttered to himself.
”Yes, I'm sure that another artifact wielder is through there. Question is, how could I get there, without raising suspicion or breaking any laws…” As the door closed, he silently walked to a nearby couch and plopped down with a tired sigh. There was no point in keeping up his vigil, as the person he was looking for was no longer in the hall.
Several minutes passed before the back door finally opened and Mary returned. Promptly standing up, Drake walked to the desk.
Smiling, Mary spoke with a very respectful tone.
”Sir Drake, I f-” she started, but was interrupted by Drake's silvery voice.
”Just Drake, please don't use Sir, or Lord or anything of that matter.”
”S-sorry.” she meekly answered, then after taking a short pause and a long and deep breath, she continued with her previous respectful tone. ”So, Drake, we got your profile, and I have to say we were surprised. 3-star adventurers are already few and far between, but you being one rank higher…” she looked at him with admiration, as she continued.
”You are the only 4-star adventurer in Higrove currently, and while we do have a few 4-star requests they are aimed for larger parties instead of solo adventurers. You also have no open requests under your name, so I would suggest you take a look at our board over there and try to find something to your liking.”
Looking over to the request board, she pointed towards the last column on the right as she spoke.
”The last section is the one where we list the hardest group requests our guild occasionally receives. Please take a look at them, but feel free to pick anything from the other sections as well. I hope you find something to your liking.”
”Thank you” he was looking at the woman with a questioning look, as she never told him her name. Reeling the mistake, Mary turned beet red and embarrassedly answered.
”M-mary.”
”Thank you, Mary. I will go and take a look now.”