Picking a Fight

When Lu Mao woke up, it was already noon the next day.

To be precise, he was jolted awake by a loud shout.

“We just need one ranged attacker! Dammit, is there not a single breathing Silver Rank ranger here? Do you people have eyes in your asses? Take a look, will you!”

The one shouting was a bearded warrior. His beard was matted and stiff, and his breastplate was stained with dark grease spots from god knows how long ago.

He was currently standing in front of the request board in the center of the hall, screaming curses at the passing crowd.

Behind him stood a bald man carrying a two-handed axe. The blade of the axe was chipped, and he loomed in place like a silent wall.

Squeezed between the two was a female rogue with a smoking hot figure, dressed in revealing clothes.

She didn't join in the shouting, merely crossing her arms and tapping her toe against the floor tiles every now and then, her expression hovering somewhere between impatience and amusement.

Lu Mao pushed himself up from the bench in the hall, rubbing the back of his neck, which was sore from being propped against the armrest.

Last night, he had waited for Novia until midnight. Unable to hold out any longer, he had simply made do and slept on the bench in the First Hall.

The midday sun streamed diagonally through the high windows, forcing him to squint for a good while before he could make out his surroundings.

The hall was bustling with people, all of them adventurers who had come to turn in requests or pick up missions.

Suddenly, Lu Mao felt a heavy weight on his shoulder as a hand slapped down.

“Hey, kid.”

The bearded warrior had approached him at some point, his thick finger nearly poking into his face.

“You're a Silver Rank ranger, right? Perfect. We just took a promotion quest and need a ranged leader. Come with us. Once we're done, you'll get your share of the credit.”

Lu Mao pulled his hood down to shield his sore, sun-strained eyes, his voice still raspy from sleep.

“No, thanks. I have some things to take care of, so I can't take on any requests right now.”

Having been rejected, the bearded warrior felt he had lost face, and his entire visage flushed bright red.

“Things to take care of? I've been watching you for a while now. You've been sleeping on this bench since we walked in. You call that having things to do?

“Aren't you just looking down on us because we're three ordinary Bronze Rank adventurers? To tell you the truth, our team has had Silver Rank combat power for a long time. We just haven't run into a decent promotion quest!

“We finally managed to get a proper job this time, and we only need a Silver Rank leader to meet the threshold. Asking you is doing you a favor!”

The bald warrior slammed his axe onto the floor and grunted, adding:

“Don't push your luck.”

“What's there to say to a piece of trash like him? Looking at this pathetic coward, he doesn't seem like a fighter anyway. Let's go.”

The female rogue stood before Lu Mao with her arms crossed, looking him up and down condescendingly, her eyes filled with disgust.

Lu Mao was utterly speechless. Not only had his peaceful sleep been interrupted, but out of politeness, he had merely rejected them instead of shouting at them, which was already more than generous.

Yet his simple refusal had somehow triggered their "unrivaled combat strength but frustrated adventurer" complex. Who could he even complain to?

Just because he was good-natured didn't mean he was a pushover!

He was already holding in a stomach full of frustration and was looking for a place to vent.

Lu Mao pushed his hood back and stood up from the bench.

The sleepiness hadn't fully faded from his face, but his voice was as clear as day.

“Stop right there.”

The female rogue paused and glanced back at him, the trace of disdain still lingering on her lips.

“First of all, what does my sleeping have to do with you? Second, you've been shouting since you walked through the door, begging for someone to help as if everyone owed you eight hundred gold coins—

“Do you see a single person in this entire hall paying attention to you?”

Lu Mao's voice wasn't loud, but his words were sharp and clear. Several nearby adventurers who had been browsing the request board stopped what they were doing and turned their gazes toward them.

“If no one's answering, so be it. But what makes you think someone sleeping in a corner would be easier to talk to than those who are standing?

“Is it because I look like an easy target, or because you can't find anyone at all and have to try your luck on someone who just woke up?”

The bearded warrior spun around, his flushed face now burning all the way down to his neck. He stepped forward aggressively, his gold-capped molar glinting in the sunlight.

“What did you say?”

“Actually, it makes sense. One of you has a chip in his axe big enough to fit a finger, another's breastplate looks like a treasure freshly fished out of a slop bucket, and the last one is dressed like she just escaped from a red-light district.

“Unless all the other adventurers in Rhode City are dead, who in their right mind would want to party up with you guys?”

The bearded warrior's face turned the color of pig liver. He snatched the axe from the bald warrior and threatened Lu Mao:

“You fucking trash who only knows how to run his mouth! Do you believe I'll split your head like firewood with one swing of this axe?!”

This roar silenced the entire hall.

More adventurers stopped their work and gathered around. Several clerks in guild uniforms nervously exchanged glances, and one of them had already turned and run down the corridor to call for help.

Lu Mao wasn't the least bit concerned by the threat. He didn't believe they would dare lay a hand on another adventurer on the guild's premises.

And even if they did, did they really think the guild's security personnel were just for show?

“Picking a fight in the guild hall... Do you think the guild's rules are just a joke?”

A low voice drifted in from the edge of the crowd. It wasn't loud, but every word carried clearly into the ears of everyone present.

The spectating adventurers automatically parted to make way as a petite dragon girl floated in. She was still wearing that ill-fitting, oversized uniform, only this time it was stained with quite a bit of blood.

Beside her was Kran. His lean upper body was covered in countless terrifying scars. His face was expressionless, but just standing there was enough to freeze the bearded warrior's axe mid-air.

“Lady Novia.”

Someone in the crowd was the first to bow their head, greeting her respectfully.

Immediately after, greetings echoed from various parts of the crowd:

“Lady Novia!” “Hello, Leader!”

Novia floated in front of the trio. Although her height was less than half of the bearded warrior's, the moment her slitted pupils swept up from below, the three of them were instantly terrified into silence, bowing their heads.

“What happened?”

Novia looked at Lu Mao, tilting her chin slightly.

Fearing that Lu Mao would repeat all those insults verbatim, the bearded warrior squeezed out a smile and took half a step forward before Lu Mao could speak:

“Lady Novia, don't listen to his nonsense. It went like this...”

“Did I tell you to speak?”

Novia's slitted pupils swept over, her voice low but effectively choking back the rest of the bearded warrior's words in his throat.

Lu Mao briefly explained what had happened.

After listening, Novia casually pointed to a spectating Silver Rank mage to verify. The mage nodded, confirming his account.

She immediately turned back to the trio:

“Leave your badges. Your adventurer qualifications are revoked. Don't let me see you set foot inside the guild's doors ever again.”

The three didn't dare say another word. The female rogue unpinned her badge and placed it on the floor, and the two warriors slunk after her, fleeing the scene with the look of defeated dogs.