The young girl's voice was very loud, drawing the attention of many people in the hall.
Including Charles.
Milia grabbed the collar of Miss Coco, the receptionist at the Adventurer's Guild, shaking her vigorously with urgency on her face and a sob in her voice.
Miss Coco felt dizzy, as if the entire world were spinning, her eyes turning into swirling spirals.
In her panic, she spotted Charles standing in the distance.
Possessing excellent professionalism, she remembered from Charles's profile that he was a Healer, and she pointed a trembling finger at him.
“H-He... He's a Healer.”
Looking in the direction Miss Coco was pointing, it was as if an invisible force pushed the bystanders aside.
A straight path opened up, and the ordinary-looking Charles came clearly into Milia's line of sight.
Letting go of Miss Coco's collar, she left the receptionist spinning in place.
Milia excitedly jogged over to Charles, her eyes shining as she stared at him.
She leaned in so close she was almost pressed against him.
“Are you a Healer?!”
Milia's intense gaze, combined with the onlookers' curious stares, made Charles's scalp tingle.
He held his hands up defensively, gently pushing the excited girl back a bit before nodding slightly.
“Yes, my class is a Healer.”
“That's great! Come with me!”
Hearing this, the young girl Milia's eyes lit up even more.
They were like two bright lightbulbs.
Giving Charles no time to speak, her small hand grabbed his collar, preparing to drag him away.
Just as Charles was about to struggle, a mocking voice echoed from the crowd.
“I can't believe there's actually a party that wants that useless trash!”
Milia heard it too. She looked toward the source of the voice, her face full of displeasure.
She voiced her annoyance.
“Who's mocking my teammate?!”
Hearing this, Charles snapped his gaze to Milia beside him, his pupils shrinking in shock.
Someone as weak as me was actually being considered a teammate by her?!
Meanwhile, Milia located the culprit who had spoken so rudely to Charles.
It was a young girl carrying a longbow, with her red hair tied in twin tails, wearing short shorts and short boots, with short legs and a scattering of freckles on her face.
Standing beside her was a handsome, blond youth.
They were none other than Charles's former teammates, Reid and Kathleen.
At this moment, Kathleen had a sour look on her face, staring disdainfully at Milia and Charles. Though Reid beside her didn't say anything, his handsome face carried a clear look of arrogance.
“Are you the one speaking ill of my teammate?”
Milia led Charles over to Kathleen, furrowing her brows and glaring at her huffily.
For some reason, despite Milia's extremely cute appearance, Kathleen felt a trace of pressure and subconsciously took a step back.
But once she snapped out of it, she felt she had lost face.
So, she took a small step forward to confront Milia.
Seemingly embarrassed by her own reaction just now, she redirected her anger at Charles to regain her ground.
“Am I wrong?! Charles is just a piece of trash!”
Milia huffed in protest.
“What right do you have to say that?!”
“Because I'm his former teammate!”
At those words, Milia suddenly froze. Seeing Milia pause, Kathleen felt a surge of triumph, as if she had won some great war.
She raised her chin, looking at Charles with disdain as she continued:
“As our party's Healer, Charles was completely useless. During combat, he not only hid at the very back but didn't even cast a single healing spell!
He stayed in our party doing absolutely nothing, just freeloading off us!
Is there a problem with me calling him trash?”
Milia turned her head to look at Charles in surprise, her eyes questioning him.
“Is that true?”
Meeting the girl's inquiring gaze, Charles silently lowered his head without a word. But then he remembered how she had just stood up for him.
After a moment of hesitation, he slowly shook his head to deny it.
Seeing Charles shake his head in denial, Milia first let out a sigh of relief, then glared at Kathleen.
“See? He said he didn't.
Now, please apologize to my teammate!”
Her tone was sharp, carrying an undeniable authority.
Kathleen felt like her lungs were about to burst from anger. Staring at Charles, who kept his head lowered, her voice shot up several octaves.
“Why are you lying?!”
Charles kept his head down, avoiding her gaze as he mumbled, “I'm not lying.”
His voice was very quiet, but beneath that calm lay a deep sense of self-deprecation.
“Lying and refusing to admit it?!”
Kathleen panted heavily, her face twisting in rage. She reached out to grab Charles's collar to interrogate him.
But another hand was faster, slapping her hand away from the side.
“What do you think you're doing? Are you getting physical with my teammate out of embarrassment?”
Kathleen winced from the pain, then glared angrily at Milia, who stood protectively in front of Charles, and shrieked, “What right do you have to stop me?! Clearly...”
“Because he is my teammate now!”
Before Kathleen could finish venting her fury, Milia answered her with a solemn tone.
Her eyes were serious, and for some reason, her cute face radiated a trace of majesty that shook Kathleen to her core, leaving her speechless.
An even greater shock went through Charles, the sole catalyst of this entire dispute.
He stared blankly at Milia's back. Though she was petite, she seemed incredibly large in his eyes.
Ever since he left his master to travel and train, no one had ever protected him like this.
His mouth parted slightly, wanting to say something, but then he remembered his master's words.
“Haha, Charles, your magic is still half-baked, not even reaching the average level out there. Remember, don't go showing it off and embarrassing yourself!”
Yes, he was weak.
He was terrified that if he spoke up, Milia would realize how weak he was and refuse to party with him.
He had wandered for days just to find a party willing to accept him!
So, he simply stood silently behind Milia without saying a word.
Kathleen's chest heaved as she panted, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. Combined with the burning pain in her hand from Milia's slap, she couldn't take it anymore.
She threw herself into Reid's arms and sobbed petulantly, “They're all bullying me! It's clearly Charles's fault! Why is everyone picking on me?!”
The soft sensation of Kathleen's body pressing against him finally snapped Reid out of his daze. He had been admiring Milia's beauty and figure from the very beginning.
Sensing that all eyes in the room were on him, Reid cleared his throat, raising a fist to his mouth.
“My fair lady, please calm down first. We mean no harm.
The truth is indeed as Kathleen said. While Charles was in our party, he always hid in the back.
Though no one ever got hurt under my wise and powerful leadership, he never cast a single healing spell despite being a Healer. I believe anyone would find that hard to tolerate.
I was even generous enough to let Charles stay with us for two months, and I gave him a sufficient severance payment when he left the party.
Therefore, I do not believe we did anything wrong.
So, my fair lady, please do not think of us as bad people.”
Then, his gaze fell back onto Charles, who stood with his head lowered in silence.
“Charles, you too. Why lie? Just apologize to Kathleen and we can put this behind us.”
As he spoke, he politely extended his right hand, a gentlemanly smile on his handsome face as he looked at Milia.
“My fair lady, I wonder if I might have the honor of treating you to a cup of tea later so we can get to know each other?”
But Milia merely stared at him blankly, offering no response.
Caw... Caw... Caw...
It was as if a crow had flown overhead, leaving the hall in a sudden, awkward silence.
The smile on the blond youth Reid's face twitched slightly, but he forced himself to keep smiling to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor.
Before he could say anything to break the awkward silence, Kathleen suddenly erupted. She lunged forward, reaching out to grab Charles's collar.
Her voice was thick with rage.
“It's all your fault! You did it, but you don't have the guts to admit it!”
However, to the onlookers, her movements were painfully slow.
Milia reacted instantly, catching Kathleen's hand and pulling it over her shoulder. Shifting her feet, she used Kathleen's own momentum to hurl her through the air.
Kathleen was airborne...
She flew out like a shuttlecock, one of her twin tails coming undone. She landed face-first with a loud thud, splayed out flat on the ground right at the entrance of the Adventurer's Hall.
Then, everyone heard a slightly surprised voice come from the doorway.
“Oh? I just got here and someone's already giving me a full prostrate bow.
Are Toka City's adventurers always this welcoming?”
Rate on N.U.
