Chapter 344: Calm down!

"Investigate? What are you all investigating? So, Granny and Master are here in the city as well?"

Lily nodded at the question, leaning her head against her brother's shoulder once more.

"Yes, we are all here. We all separated when we arrived to check the things out on our own."  Her smile faded, replaced by a stern look as she revealed the cause of their unplanned arrival. "We were attacked a few days ago, Aiden. We want to know who did we anger, and why did he or she send a group of thugs to our home."

Just as expected, as soon as Aiden registered her sister's words, his body trembled with a newly emerging anger, rapidly transforming into something more… Thankfully, for the time being, he still managed to contain his emotions in check, albeit barely. He was hanging by a thread, he really started to get annoyed by the constant attacks against people close to him. 

Still, learning about Cole's predicament albeit it angered him and made him worry, the feeling was nothing when he learned about a potential attack on his dear little sister. 

"Hehe… Drake, your friend has a huge sister complex!" Scarlet muttered, leaning closer to his brother as they watched the scene play out from a few steps behind. 

Drake merely nodded at her sister's words, wondering if he was similar to him…

"Brother, calm down! Nothing bad happened, we dealt with the baddies easily!" Seeing her brother's reaction, Lily gently rubbed his chest, as she whispered while still keeping her head over her proper place, his shoulder.

"I can tell you more, but we should first move from here. People are still looking…" She added, looking to the side with a wry expression.

It took a bit of time before Aiden managed to quell the storm that was brewing inside him. After heaving a longer sigh, he closed his eyes as he nodded. 

"Yeah, you are right… Let's talk to Mary, I think they should be able to give us a room." Thinking about it for a moment, Aiden advised, turning his head to the side and looking at Drake and Scarlet. "Come guys, let's get something more… private."

Seeing how the sister-brother duo was so lovey-dovey in front of him, Sir Michael's jealousy-fueled raging heart couldn't calm down. Instead, it continued to burn with great intensity. 

'How dare he that this nobody, touches my muse! He will pay for this!' He clenched his fists, shaking with anger. However, seeing how the small group turned towards their direction, he quickly forced his feelings down, forcing his usual, polite smile back on his face. Although his hands were balled a few seconds longer, in the end, as the group stepped to his side, to the counter, he managed to smooth it out. He stepped closer to them, ignoring the newcomers and focusing on the blonde hooded girl only.

"Miss Lily, is everything okay? Are you ready to pick a quest and depart?" He probed with his usual fake kindness. He was the city's hero for a reason, after all.

He was, however, to his great annoyance, completely ignored, as if he no longer existed. The quartet was focused on their discussion with the surprised, curly, brown-haired attendant, Mary.

"So, you two are the brother and sister you both have been talking about!" After the initial shock wore off, Mary's usual smile returned. Although she still tried not looking directly at the boy, she was much calmer than usual. Maybe it was the presence of the others, Lily, maybe she just had time to confirm and accept the desires of her heart… maybe it was all of the above, but she could talk to the group. 

She didn't shut down completely like she usually does. After a bit of time, she even managed to gather the willpower to turn to Aiden and ask him about his journey.

"So, Aiden, what happened during your quest? Do you have anything to report? Want me to credit the quests?"

Mary's innocent question reminded Aiden of one crucial fact: He didn't notice any notification from the system when he recounted everything to the Mistress. However, he skipped over a few moments which he felt should be kept a secret. Could that mean that he would have to tell the Mistress everything? 

'No… That couldn't be… Maybe I just missed the notification…' He lamented inwardly. Thinking about it a bit more, that shouldn't be the case, he was only requested to tell what happened, which he fulfilled. 

Knowing he wouldn't get anywhere, he decided to call the one person that could maybe reveal the truth of the matter.

'Enya! Do you happen to know if I had any unread notifications waiting for me before the system began this… upgrade?' He asked out mentally.

In the next instant, his guide's voice came, sounding a bit distant. He couldn't feel her presence either, as if she wasn't with him but was speaking to him from somewhere else.

'[Yes Aiden, you had a couple. You seem to have completely ignored them, but since they were only quest updates, they weren't critical for you to read them through at the moment. I planned to bring your attention to them once the system was back.]'

'I see…' Aiden hummed thoughtfully, feeling relieved for a moment before realization hit him once again. 'Wait for a second… Did you check the notes? Were they quest completions or updates? If the latter, did you see what it was requesting me to do?'

'[They were quest completion updates. You completed two quests with similar names. Before you ask, I didn't check the rewards, you will have to check them once everything is available again.]' She sighed, which surprised Aiden considering she shouldn't be needing air to breathe at all. She had no material form. 

'[Sorry Aiden, but I need to focus for the time being. She needs our attention, she is in a critical point in her evolution.]' With that said, she swiftly closed the connection and ended their conversation.

'Wha- Wait! Hey!' Aiden tried calling for her but received no response. She closed their connection. Although he still had the connection he had with Galina, other than feeling her agitated state, he couldn't call out to her. Either Ryg's protective shield or Enya somehow managed to block his connection to her as well, not allowing him to disturb the girl at all.

Learning about this, caused a frown to appear over Aiden's face, forcing him to return to reality, and finally hear Mary's repeated question.

"Aiden… Are you okay?!" As he came back to his senses, he saw the duo of Mary and Lily looking at him with a worried look in their eyes. Scarlet and Drake were behind them, looking quizzically, waiting for his explanation. After all, he just stood there frozen for over a minute…

Sir Michael on the other hand, was wearing a smug smirk over his face for a brief moment before it vanished as it was replaced by a theatrical, worried expression. He stepped closer, next to Lily, looking at Aiden whilst leaning towards the girl.

"Are you okay… Aiden, right? Miss Lily was worried, you suddenly turned silent and looked lost. Let me know if you are in trouble, I will do my very best to help you! Someone important to Miss Lily is important to me as well!"

Once again, to his rising frustration, his display of care was mostly ignored, Aiden looked at the girls with a warm smile appearing over his face. Reaching out with both hands, he gently caressed both girl's cheeks as he replied to their concerned question.

"Nothing happened, I was just deep in thought." He turned to look at the curly, brown-haired attendant once again. "As to answer your first inquiry Mary, I was with Sar-"

"He was with me, Mary. He already reported the completion of both quests." Suddenly, before he could finish his words and reveal something he probably shouldn't, a familiar, angelic-sounding, heavenly and ambiguous voice came from behind them. 

The back door, leading to the office area of the Guild was sprung open, and the hooded figure of Sara, donning her leader of the examiner's outfit was standing at the doorway.  Amidst the eyes of many that saw her appear, she walked closer to the group and continued whilst turning towards Mary.

"Please, register the completion of two 5-star quests under Aiden's name. Make sure to mark it as a solo-achievement with the highest results."

This time, not just Mary but even Sir Michael couldn't hide his shock. He looked stunned, wide-eyed at the boy that now looked more like a monster than a weakling, a pushover like he thought a few moments ago.

"What?! H-how can you say something like that! There's no way he could take two quests of that caliber and complete them alone!" He cried out, not willing to accept what was just revealed.

The hooded Sara, turned towards him, and whilst her face remained hidden, a rising annoyance could be heard from her cold, but magically disguised tone of voice.

"I was there with him. Do you question my words, Mr. Sonovan?"