"BLAM," the Guild door burst open. Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin walked in. Every eye immediately snapped toward the entrance, except for one—Burguk—who only glanced at the door before quickly returning his gaze to his glass. Of course, all eyes were now fixed on Lilin because she was a Succubus—something they'd never seen in their lives. The group continued walking toward the counter to register Lilin.
But it wasn't just Lilin they were looking at. Almost everyone was surprised to see Marle, who usually operated solo and was a fairly well-known Rank A Hunter, now with a group of weirdos, one of whom had beaten up Burguk. Burguk, apparently, was also quite famous, having a high rank but notorious for bullying low-ranking Hunters.
As Dash passed Burguk, who was sitting with his back to the walkway, Dash tapped him on the shoulder, making Burguk flinch, but he didn't turn around and kept staring at his half-empty glass. Once they were standing in front of Helen, she immediately greeted them cheerfully, then turned to look at Marle.
"Are you with them, Marle?" Helen asked.
"Yep. We're here to register her," Marle replied, pointing at Lilin next to her with her thumb.
Helen saw Lilin's horns and tail and immediately looked stunned. She leaned forward, bracing herself on the counter, and stared at Lilin up close.
"Um... what?" Lilin asked, confused, backing up slightly.
"Are you a Succubus?" Helen asked.
"I don't know, but they say I am," Lilin answered innocently.
"Wow... this is amazing. First a Dragonkin and a Half-Orc, now a Succubus," Helen muttered.
"So, can she register?" Marle asked.
"Oh, yeah, yeah... she can... just a moment," Helen replied, immediately grabbing a form.
Seeing there were no forms under the counter, Helen quickly turned around and went into the back, leaving the counter unattended. While they waited, a handsome man from the Human race, wearing ornate, full armor like a nobleman, approached Lilin.
"Hi, what's your name?" the man asked.
"Lilin," Lilin replied, smiling.
"My name is Garin, nice to meet you, Lilin. Do you have a party yet? Want to join us? Our party is full of handsome men," Garin said, promoting his group.
"Hey... back off, Garin," Marle warned.
"Don't interfere, Marle. You can join too, if you want," Garin said.
"No thanks. I'd rather go solo than join your party," Marle retorted.
"Then keep quiet. Don't bother me. I'm asking Lilin right now," Garin said harshly.
Hearing Garin's rude tone toward Marle, Lilin immediately stared at Garin's smiling face. Lilin smiled back at Garin, but her eyes instantly glowed pink. Garin, who had been smiling, suddenly went stiff and froze, completely motionless.
"Open your pants," Lilin commanded.
Without protesting, Garin immediately unbuckled his belt and lowered his trousers.
"Now bend over and turn your back to me," Lilin instructed.
Garin immediately turned around, then knelt, supporting the front of his body with his arms like a horse. After that, Lilin raised her foot, stepped onto his waist, then she looked over at Marle.
"Can I keep him as a pet/toy?" Lilin asked.
"Don't... let him go," Marle replied, trying to suppress her laughter.
"Alright," Lilin answered.
Snap. Lilin snapped her fingers, then lowered her foot again. "Huh," Garin, who realized he was posing like a horse without pants on, immediately stood up and covered his privates. His face was beet red from shame mixed with anger, and he looked around at all the hunters in the room, including the Guild receptionists and staff who were pretending not to look but were stifling their laughter.
Finally, he crouched down to grab his pants, then bolted out of the Guild without looking back. After Garin left, everyone burst into laughter and enthusiastically talked about him, with some saying, "serves him right," and "no shame." Dash glanced at Burguk, who was sitting at a table also laughing, then calmly downed his drink without moving at all. Shel, who watched Garin run away in a panic, turned to look at Marle.
"Do you know him, Marle?" Shel asked.
"Yeah, he's a Rank B Hunter. He's usually with his three friends—all guys, and they're really vain. He and his party always invite a girl to go with them, and after that, the girl is never seen at the Guild again. Who knows what happens to them, but it always happens when Garin and his party invite a girl out... it's not proven, but it's an open secret," Marle explained.
"Oh, if I had known that, I should have just kept him as my pet. At least he wouldn't bother anyone else," Lilin said.
"Forget it, just let him be. As long as he doesn't bother us, just leave it alone," Dash replied casually.
It wasn't long before Helen returned with the forms. Marle filled out the form on behalf of Lilin, who watched next to her. After filling it out and handing the form back, Helen immediately processed it by placing it on a stone-like tablet that made the writing glow and then print onto a card, complete with Lilin's member number, rank, and personal data—most of which was filled with question marks, just like Dash's, because she came from an 'extinct' race.
Then they started looking at the quest board to choose tasks that suited them and could take them to another city.
"Hmm," Dash mumbled, looking at the posters displayed on the quest board.
"There aren't many Rank F ones to take, huh?" Shel muttered.
"Okay, I'll take the missions... First, hunting a Dire Wolf in the village north of the city, and second, hunting an Asura Ape in the forest and bringing back one of its arms," Marle said, taking two sheets from the board.
"Wait a minute, the Dire Wolf is a Rank C mission, and the Asura Ape is a Rank B mission. Can we even take those?" Shel asked.
"We can if I take them and the three of you become members of my party. Let's go back to the counter. There's also a Hunter Guild branch in the village north of the city, so we can check in there for a while," Marle answered.
"Okay, let's go... I'm just following along because I don't understand," Dash said.
"Me too," Lilin added.
"Come on, follow me," Marle replied.
They all immediately returned to the counter and met Helen again. Marle handed her the mission sheets to be recorded. When Helen saw them, she immediately looked up at Marle.
"These are... just for you?" Helen asked Marle.
"No, for my party. Please register Dash, Shel, and Lilin as my party members," Marle answered.
All the hunters in the Guild immediately turned toward the counter. This time, even Burguk turned his head, the reason being that they heard Marle, who had always only moved solo and never wanted to be recruited by anyone, was now forming a party with Rank F hunters who had only just registered a few days ago.
But the one who felt the sharpest stares from the hunters, especially the men, was Dash. He glanced over and saw the male hunters grinding their teeth looking at him, except for Burguk. Curious, Dash finally walked toward Burguk and sat down in the empty seat to his right.
"Hey, why are they looking at me like that?" Dash asked.
"Simple. They're jealous. Besides being Rank A and strong, Marle is also famous for being beautiful and sexy. Add in the Half-Orc who's with you and that Demon girl... who wouldn't be jealous," Burguk replied, looking away.
"Oh, I see. Thanks," Dash said, placing his hand on Burguk's shoulder.
"You... are you just messing with me or what?" Burguk asked, annoyed.
"I'm not trying to mess with you. I'm giving you a tip: try taking a shower. Maybe a woman will stick with you. Alright, I'm heading back over there," Dash said, standing up.
Dash immediately left Burguk, while Burguk started sniffing himself after hearing Dash's advice. Meanwhile, Helen registered the new party with Marle as the leader. She immediately stamped the quest documents, then handed them over to Marle after logging them in her book. Then Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin walked out of the Guild, escorted by the eyes of the other hunters who continued to stare at them.