Meanwhile, in the town or Beakwood, inside the Adventurer's Guild—
"Goddamnit there's more papers than yesterday.." A man said in disappointment, his voice sounded tired as he was sitting on a chair.
He looked young, presumably in his 30's, he wears a glasses along with having a somewhat beautiful face despite his age, his hair dyed with yellow and his eyes shimmering with green under the sunlight that shone through the window.
The man was inside a room within the adventurer's guild, and from his clothes alone, it seems like he holds a significant role in the building. He then proceeded to take one of the paper thag were piled up ontop of his desk infront of him, he examined the paper and realized that it was a request paper that hasn't been accepted yet.
"Hmm.. the applicant's name is.. Mr. Bon from Lushstone- Isn't that the village that's located near Boonsap? The request is– Orc extermination.. Another one?!" He said.
"How many orcs requests have we got today.. 6? 7? Not counting yesterday.. This is certainly worrying, this many orcs sighting near villages is not normal.. The abundant requests for orc extermination started a few days ago, and at first i thought it was just a coincidence or a bad luck, but now that nothing has changed—
"No, it has changed, but not in the way i wanted.. The orcs just kept increasing in numbers, and there will naturally be more orc extermination requests.. Does that mean my intuition was correct that there's an orc dungeon somewhere within the Northen forest.. It's no longer just a coincidence at this point, i have to launch an investigation."
The man went silent for a few seconds, as if thinking about what he should do next, he put his elbow on the table and intertwined his fingers with each other before making a decision.
'There it is.' He said to himself as he stood up from his chair and walked towards the exit door.
Clack!
The door was opened, and from the inside, the man from before suddenly peeked towards the outside and he saw a girl walking in the hallway while wearing the receptionist outfit.
"Theresa!" The man shouted at the girl.
Soon after, the girl receptionist then turned her head and noticed the peeking man from one of the room that was in the guild's hallway.
"Guildmaster?.." Theresa said with a slight hint of confusion.
As it turns out, the man that was in the room was none other than the Guildmaster, who could've guessed– Anyway, the guildmaster then gave Theresa a hand sign to come closer.
"Hm?" Theresa saw the sign that was given by the guildmaster and obliged, she walked closer to the man that was peeking only with his head and when she arrived infront of him, the guildmaster face quickly turn into a serious one.
"Write a quest for the adventurers in the main hall to investigate the northern forest, i think its not a coincidence anymore and it is exactly what we thought a few days ago, there's most likely an orc dungeon there." He said sternly.
"Are you serious? Th- then i'll go right away!" Theresa replied in shock as she was about to ran away from the guildmaster and tell the others.
But when she almost took her first step, the guildmaster abruptly stopped her in her place, he held her one of her hand and caused Theresa to look back at him.
"Ah and also, if you found a party that's willing to accept the quest, tell me immediately, because i'll also go with them." He said.
"G- Guildmaster? You?! You're also going!?" Theresa responded while stuttering, her mouth seemingly struggling to form a sentence.
"I doubt an orc dungeon would be as easy as a rogue goblin dungeon, knowing that there's no A-Rank adventurer here, it could be dangerous— Well as long as it hasn't grow into an unprecedented size, it should be manageable." The guildmaster looked so sure with his decision, his face didn't have any hint of fear or anxiety, and Theresa who saw how confident the guildmaster was couldn't help but allow him to do what he wanted.
"Haahh, you know your work will only double if you slack off today right? Don't ask for my or other receptionist's help tomorrow.." Theresa sighed before turning her head away and walked towards the guild's main hall.
While she was going further and further away from the guildmaster, he suddenly shouted towards her from his room.
"Oh yeah! One more thing!" He said, causing Theresa to turn her head again for the third time. "I heard about what happened this morning, a ruckus in the guild? Just because a demihuman appeared? No no no."
Just then, the guildmaster's face changed almost instantly, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips frowned as if he was angry at something. He came out from his room, no longer peeking at Theresa as he approached her, his head clearly towering over Theresa's with his height being over 2 meters tall.
"I thought you all read the rules when you applied for this position? What was it again? Oh yeah.. Treat all species as equal as long as they don't cause any trouble. But alas, what am i hearing.. Even the receptionist felt disgusted by seeing a demihuman? Oh my, it seems like this town still holds true to the rumor."
As the guildmaster was talking, he could see Theresa's face slowly becoming more and more scared but also frustrated at his words, her pupils shrinked like a ball that was heated, and her fist clenched tightly.
"Not many people know about the rumor, but i came from a noble lineage, so its only natural that i managed to get my hands on an information not known to the public yet– The town infamous for its frequent discrimination against inhuman species, just because the people still held the old way of thinking that humans are superior to every species, that's Beakwood... And my father, who worked hard establishing this adventurer's guild, never had any intention of making it a human exclusive building—
"And i, Varnir la Yurthen– Plan to keep it that way, if you don't like it, that's fine, take off that receptionist outfit and get the fuck out of here."
Varnir ended his long speech with a cold stare into Theresa's eyes, he was standing so close to her that his pressure can be felt directly, and it was suffocating.
Theresa stood motionlessly, her eyes still locked with Varnir as she struggle to give a reply. Then after what seem to be 10 seconds of silence, she chose to bow down at Varnir.
"Im terribly sorry, Guildmaster.. I promise that this will never again.. So, if you could, please give us another chance, i'll make sure to tell the other receptionist about it so that they could also atone for their mistake." Theresa said.
Initially, Varnir was skeptical, he didn't give an answer right away, instead he kept looking at Theresa, observing her movements, her hands, her eyes, if she were to show even a single sign of lying, he would've fired her on the spot.
'...Hmm– Impressive, you're either good at concealing your emotion, or you're really reflecting on your action..' Varnir thought before saying his words.
"Alright, raise your head.. And follow me to the main hall."
Theresa momentarily smiled after hearing that Varnir accepted her apology and gave her a second chance, she then nodded her head and followed Varnir from behind, her face still covered with sweats and her arms was a little shaky.
'Varnir la Yurthen.. He's undoubtely one of the most influential person in this town beside the mayor.. He came from the capital to live in Beakwood 15 years ago, and in that time.. He saved the town from famine, monster invasion, job vacancy, and even lack of education.. He taught the people of Beakwood who previously couldn't read to read, he supported the town with food and other supplies using his own money, his father built the adventurer's guild to give the young and the skilled a way to make money and feed their families—
'He also gave us.. The women who previously couldn't do anything except prostitution.. A honorable job and treated us well- While the nobles were ignorant of the state of Beakwood, he who came from a rundown noble family that is on the brink of destruction, cared about us and used every last bit of their wealth for this town.. Now that his father had passed away, he took over the Guildmaster position and was able to make most of the money he previously used for the town—
'If there's one thing that the people of Beakwood hate about him, it's probably his concept of equality to all species that directly opposed Beakwood's tradition.. Even for me, ever since i was little, my parents always told me that humans is the species chosen by the gods, and that other species shouldn't be treated the same as humans.. I believed them, and to this day, i still don't understand why Varnir think that those inhuman species even matter at all..'
A few seconds later, Theresa and Varnir arrived at the guild's main hall, they watched as countless adventurers hang out and drank their beers like there's no tomorrow, they also gathered at many spots, mostly around the quest board.
"Should we tell them straight? Or should we just give out papers to them.." Varnir said.