Chapter 34: Reunion

Inside the guild hall of the kingdom of Satirica, the current guild master, Tobey Cren, was sitting on his office desk. He was an old man who was wearing a set of brown formal attire. His brown eyes, hidden behind his reading glasses, were looking attentively at the person in front of him.

Sitting in front of the guild master's desk was none other than Mikaela Pascal, one of the most influential people in the kingdom, the current right hand of the king, and a former member of the hero's party.

However, her former beauty and strength were no more. What could be seen was an old lady in her 70s, her head filled with white hair, and her face had wrinkles, hiding the unimaginable youthful and jaw-dropping blonde appearance she once had.

What didn't change, though, was the strict gaze coming from her eyes, always sharp and always observant—a characteristic that made her the formidable Guardian of the hero's party more than fifty years ago.

Tobey cleared his throat. "Lady Mikaela, as you ordered us, we tried to keep a close eye on the happenings through the operations of the adventurers of the guild. However, we noticed no changes at all."

Mikaela narrowed her eyes. "I see. How about inside the dungeon? I am sure the dungeon would be the first place Zero would go the moment he decided to show up."

Tobey leaned on his chair. "Assuming that Zero still doesn't know about the whereabouts of that item and still believes that it is still inside the dungeon where he threw it out, that place would be the best place to wait for his first move." He put his hand on his chin. "I had the spot scouted by the best rogues of the guild all day and night—every day, but they saw none."

"I know that he is lazy as a rock, but I can't believe he hasn't shown any signs of movement yet. He's probably playing around right now—chasing women," Mikaela said with a sigh.

Tobey chuckled. "Forgive my rudeness, Lady Mikaela, but I can't even imagine Lord Zero being interested in a woman—that man only wants one thing, and women are not it." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I heard from the report that he mentioned that he would come for you when he met Princess Hyuna and Vahili; it surprised me that he didn't come to meet you."

Half of Mikaela's lips rose. "Believe me, I know him enough that I am not even surprised that he didn't come for me after saying so."

Tobey's eyes lit up with admiration. "Lord Zero is unpredictable."

"More like he is a big showoff," Mikaela shrugged.

Tobey raised both of his hands and smiled. "I still remember when he saved my life that day, surrounded by demons—on the edge of my life. I remember what he told me when I asked him why he was willing to kill demons—his people—just to save a lowly human like me. He said..." Nostalgia filled his face. "Demons, beastkin, and humans, I see them equally—all equal to trash. It's only a matter which one is worth saving for—you are trash too, but you deserve to live." He looked at Mikaela. "That was his answer."

"He just said that to insult you while sounding cool," Mikaela said nonchalantly.

"A man of honor," Tobey replied with a smile.

"Now I am starting to wonder again why no one—literally no one—is listening to me when I am telling them Zero's true color," Mikaela said, shaking her head. She stood up. "Anyway, I think that's all we need to talk about today."

"Are you leaving already?" Tobey asked as he stood.

"Yeah, I am not comfortable with my best friend talking about his deep admiration addressing my other best friend—especially if that other best friend is Zero," Mikaela said as she walked towards the door.

"But be honest, are you not excited to see him again too? It's been 50 years since you two saw each other," Tobey said, walking towards Mikaela.

Mikaela's hand reached for the doorknob. "Last time I saw him, I was still a fair lady." She clenched the doorknob, destroying it with her bare hand. "I will kill him if he calls me grandma!" She pulled the door open and walked out of the office.

Tobey just watched, shaking his head. "And you wonder why he hasn't come to you yet? Age doesn't decrease your violent tendency."

Mikaela walked out into the guild hall, towards the entrance. All the eyes of the adventurers darted at her, looking at her with admiration. Not every day one could see one of the members of the hero's party.

"Horny Ikemen, where are you hiding?" Mikaela whispered, calling Zero using a nickname given to him by the hero Hikari herself.

As if her question were answered instantly, Mikaela's eyes darted towards a certain person blending with the crowd—a weak healer. Mikaela suddenly stopped as she focused on the person—and that person was none other than Killian, looking at Mikaela with a smirk on his lips.

Mikaela's eyes widened as her jaw dropped. His appearance changed a little bit—he was a human instead of a demon. His face was still as handsome and charismatic as always, but the strength in his aura was greatly toned down, giving the impression that he was weak. And because of those changes, he was concealed from any detection, making it impossible to know that it was actually Zero.

The only way to determine that it was actually him was to recognize his face—a face that was always hidden in a mask and that only a handful of people had actually seen—and one of those very few people was Mikaela, one of the members of the hero's party.

"You still flaunting that annoying smug of yours, huh?" Mikaela whispered.

"Is there a problem, Lady Mikaela?" Tobey asked, looking at her. He looked at the crowd but noticed nothing.

Mikaela shook her head. "Nothing." She walked away without looking back. Slowly showing on her lips was a smile of relief, and her prayers were answered. "The new hero is here," she whispered.