"Kara, what are you doing here?" Sera stares in shock.
The receptionist looks at her closer. "Wait, you know her? Wait, is this the new girl you were talking about?"
Of course my whole appearance changed so no one would know it."You know what… I think I left it in my house. I will be back later." Sera Sounding hesitant starts to walk out.
Kara pulls out his hand and grabs her. "There is no need for that. I am here for your ID actually. It's lucky I found you here."
Wait, what a bad timing. what do I do if he finds out.
The receptionist calmly looks at them with her hands on her chin. They look so cute together, and their eyes—both of them have such beautiful glowy eyes. I wonder what her rank is.
She starts to get excited inside her mind.
"Hey Chino, um would you mind making things ready for the thing we talked about yesterday?"
He pulls Sera a little, making her get a little closer.
Wait, did he just call her by her name? Wait… he knows her name. Wait, why am I feeling this? Well, it's not like I love him—wait, what am I thinking? I do love him…
Sera gets all red again and puts both of her hands on her cheeks.
There she goes again, her usual daydreaming. Kara gives a smile looking at her.
"So let me introduce myself first. I am Chino Himastha, and I am in charge for being the main receptionist to be honest. She looks around the Room.
but I am the best receptionist in Lanark, and you can come to me if there is any huge issue. Also, I am the one who does work for the S-ranks in town." She brings her hand in front of Sera to get a handshake, looking very confident and happy.
Sera, with a little unconfidence, also brings up her hands. "Um, nice to meet you too, Chino. I am Sera."Wait, what do I say my name is? I have like multiple last names.
"Dharovin. Sera Dharovin, and I am a girl who wants to join Kioku. Hope we become close together."
"So now, Miss Sera and Kara, please wait in the Grand Master's office until I make the things ready."
Chino guides them to the staff room inside.
"He is right inside, so take your time talking. I will be right back."
They get in the Grand Master's office.
Sera looks around as they enter the huge door. This is the Grand Master's room? This? It's really big… more like a boss room of a dungeon.
"So this is the girl, huh? I get why you would go beyond and above to get back with her." The Grand Master shouts, looking at them with a certain laugh.
He is quite humorous, unlike I thought he would be. Sera thinks. "Wait… what do you mean by go above and beyond…" She takes a glance at Kara.
He looks away, ears almost red.
She keeps staring at him; she gets a bit flustered as well.
This big muscle head… why did he have to tell her that? Anyway, it wasn't technically for her.
"Haha, you two are like me and my wife on a daily basis. Come on, have a seat, don't feel shy about it."
They both take a seat on the sofas.
"So, Sera, I am Jitam Adhijaya, and I am the Grand Master of the Lanark branch of Kioku. Hahaha."
Well, he looks way more friendly. He makes the atmosphere very comfortable. Sera sits a bit more relaxed.
"Oh, by the way, Did he tell you about the party, Sera?" The Grand Master asks, leaning on his desk.
"What do you—"
Kara looks at Sera. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. So since Seka won't be there to lead the team, they had to make Mizuno the team leader, which basically makes him alone. So he said he would transfer all party members to Stelar Orion's."
"So you have already transferred my party already?" Sera asks Kara with a surprised look.
The Grand Master places two coffee cups. "Here, have a drink."
"Not really, we can't do it without your permission, so—"
Wait, that means I will be joining him. That does sound good but from how things are going right now…
"I need some time to think about it. I think that would be the safest option." She gives a smile as she grabs the coffee cup.
Kara, looking at her, clearly sees she is having problems deciding.
"It's okay, take your time. You don't need to hurry. We can transfer everything to you if you want, so we'll wait."
The door opens and Chino comes in knocking.
"Kara, you can now take your girlfriend's assessm—"Wait, did I enter in a very serious moment or something…
"Ah, thank you, Chino. We'll be taking on the assessment now." Kara looks at Chino and stands up, placing his cup.
Wait, he is finished already? How fast do you drink? It was frikin hot… she thinks as she puts her lips on the cup and looks at Kara.
Kara looks back at her and twitches.
The coffee starts to freeze a little and chills down. Oh, that's how he did it.
They get out and start walking the hallway to the assessment room.
"Hey Sera, do you like reading novels or something? I would love to know you better," Chino asks Sera, smiling.
Comfortably, Sera walks beside her. "Wait, how did you know I love reading novels?" Sera smiles back.
"Ah wait, Sera, would you come inside with me? I want you to fill this form out for me."
Kara tries to walk inside. Chino looks at Kara.
"Oi, not you. We need to measure her body, so just stay there."
Ah right, forgot about that part, Kara thinks as his cheeks go red.
As she is measuring—
"So have you read First Crush Is a Vampire? I loved it so much I finished the entire novel in just 2 days."
"Yes, I have read that one. It's like 400 pages—how did you even finish all that?" Sera puts her arms up.
"Well, it was a day off, so I spent the whole day reading. It was way too tiring though." Chino pulls the measuring tape around her bust. "Wow, that bust is perfect. It's like I am taking the measurements of a goddess."
"Awh, come on, don't tease me like that," Sera says, getting a bit embarrassed.
"Well, that will be it. I heard you haven't confirmed whether you want to join Stelar Orion's?" Chino starts wrapping the measuring materials.
"It's a little complicated…"
They come out of the room and see Kara waiting just outside.
"Are you done? Let's go then."
They start walking.
Sign… Do I really want to join him? But it's the right thing to do.
"This is the assessment room specially prepared for you." Chino opens the door slowly, revealing a huge room with two chambers.
Sera, thinking, gets distracted and looks at the room she has never seen before. "Wait, what is this room? I've never seen a room this big in Kioku."
"Well, you see, this room was specially ordered by your very strong boyfriend here." Chino points at Kara, looking at Sera.
"But I am surprised he told no one that he had a secret girlfriend." Chino stares at Kara, smirking really hard.
Kara looks at her and laughs. "Hey Chino, the thing is she—"
"Umm, is it okay to call you Chino?" She calls her, putting her hands together formally.
"Yeah, right, go ahead." She looks at Sera, a little surprised.
"The thing is we are not dating or anything. He is just a friend from way before."
Chino stands there staring at both of them. "Is that so…" She thinks for a moment. "Then that means I am free to get him to fall for me, am I wrong?" She gives a humorous smirk and a side-eye to Sera.
Sera instantly gets her guard up and flinches, with a little red on her cheeks.
Wait, does that mean Kara and her… no, it's not possible. Anyway, if I join his group then I can monitor him, but it will just be a hassle for him thinking about our condition. But it will be a problem after I go to being Seka and Chio again…
"Um, Sera, are you all right? You've been thinking for a long time." Kara leans in front of her.
"Huh? Ah right, I am just nervous that's all."
Chino puts her hand on her mouth. "Hmm, so that's your answer."
"Please stand by in the room next so I can collect your info on Sima level." Chino starts typing and writing something.
"Wait, what do you mean by Sima level?" Sera looks at her a bit confused.
"Oh right, you are new. So Sima is Mana actually—it's just what we use in Lanark for the term."
I should have known… why did I not pay attention during my first assessment then? The room was also way smaller…
"Wait, um, can you tell me why there is this big room?"
"Oh, we forgot to tell you. Kara thinks your rank is more than A-rank—means S-rank. Reason on why he thinks that, I don't know. He only told the Grand Master." She places her pen and clipboard down. "Let's see how much of the things he said are true."
Kara watches her from the control room.
"You're quite lucky, girl. You'll have a license in no time. It would have taken almost a day or more if you were just starting. She looks at Kara with a smile.
Well, this girl surely talks a lot. Kara takes a glance at Chino. "Sigh…"
And looks at the floor.
And what was she trying to do back there? With an international quest on hand… did she want to get some rest because of all the things? Even I am stressing her too much.
Zuuup! The machine starts to turn on.
"Please put your hand on the Sima calculator in the middle."
Sera puts out her hand and touches the ball connected to two ends.
We should take a break from all this and talk about this. Maybe I need some rest too…
"So, Sera, why haven't you told him yet?" She pushes buttons as she tries to calm Sera's anxiety.
"It's just… he— I mean, I still have to figure some things out."
"So the culprit is our S-rank leader." She gives Kara a side-eye.
"Why are you guys talking like I am not even in the room? I can hear you both, you know."
Kara says.
And what kind of psychology did you study being so confident in that answer, Kara looks at Chino uncomfortably.
"But I really tell you two have a grea—"
Zooooop!
Chino looks at the Sima meter. "Wait… what is this? This is just like—"
Electrical sparks start to go off in the room.
"Wait, what is going on, Chino?"
"I don't know! The system is taking in too much data—wait, it's like she doesn't have a limiter. If we don't do something, the room might—"
BRANG! SWISH!!
Kara launches toward Sera. This is happening just like that time.
As Kara launches, he sees Sera literally scared and unmovable because of the electricity.
Sera, squinting her eyes, starts getting exhausted. as she tries to pull her hands.
Kara almost reaches Sera when the machine—the machine starts to shine.!!