Hero Of Harmony

Just as I was getting ready to leave the adventurer guild, or more like stand outside and wait for Yuki to return from cleaning the poop off her helmet, one of Ms. Monrue’s men, the same one that punched the other adventurer from a few minutes ago, suddenly appeared before me with a snarl, blocking my path to the exit.

Sighing to myself as my heart warned me of the inevitable clash between the Firemania party, I still responded kindly, trying my best not to make unnecessary enemies.

“Um, can I help you, Sir?” Asked Alexander curiously as he looked down at the man; the sheer difference in size made Alexander a little imposing.

“I heard leader speaking to you, so where do you think you’re going?” Replied the man aggressively as he stepped forward and glared at Alexander, who wasn’t the least bit nervous, though he was slightly annoyed.

I wasn’t even able to respond as Ms. Monrue walked up from behind and aggressively grabbed my shoulder, prompting me to turn around and give her a slight frown. Now, I wasn’t the kind of person who was violent or easily angered, but I also wasn’t about to let them treat me like a child or anything of the sort.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time; I told you to join my Party.” Said Lucy as she breathed to calm herself before intently eyeing Alexander with an authoritative voice and a smile, which swiftly cracked.

Seeing her party request once more, I shook my head as I refused her request, though neither she nor her party seemed to take kindly to that; in fact, some of them even started directing their killing intent at me.

‘Haa, I didn’t even do anything to garner their anger.’ Thought Alexander with a sigh of annoyance as he filled his body with mana, strengthening it, preparing just in case a fight happened.

“Did… Did I hear you correctly? Did you just refuse MY request? Lucy Monroe’s request!?” Exclaimed Lucy in unbridled rage as she glared at Alexander while her five other party members slowly surrounded him from a distance.

“Yes.” Replied Alexander with a deep frown as he activated [Heroes Gaze], giving him a full, three-sixty view of his surroundings, leaving him with no blind spots.

“Hehe, stupid kid; do you know what happened to the last person who dared to refuse our Leader’s request?” Remarked a scrawny, short, greenish man with pointy ears and a large nose as he glared at Alexander with vicious eyes.

“We cut his tendons and left him to hang in the forest; his agonizing screams as he was eaten alive by beasts were music to my ears.” Said another man with his top half of a human, while his bottom half was of a snake, eyeing Alexander with his vertical, slit-like pupils.

Although I didn’t say I wasn’t easily angered, his words were sickening to hear; what kind of psychotic person would ever do that to someone else? Not to mention, it was over something stupid like refusing a request.

“If you were trying to scare me into agreeing to Lucy’s request, you’ve done the complete opposite; I would never associate myself with such demented beings like yourselves.” Declared Alexander with a disgusted and angry expression as he glanced at the snake demi-human before eyeing Lucy.

“I will not be joining your party, Lucy; now, don’t bother me again.” Added Alexander as he glared at the furious Lucy before turning around and walking away, though in doing so, two people equipped their weapons and pointed them at him.

Seeing the scrawny, short, greenish man and what I presumed was a snake demi-human point their dagger and bow at me, I frowned, but I didn’t stop walking. There is a strict rule that forbids fighting within adventurer guilds, and if you’re caught doing so, you’re temporarily banned from working as an Adventurer for six months; if you’re caught doing so again, you’re permanently banned from not only being an Adventurer but entering any establishments owned by the adventure guild.

Now, when I first read that rule, it had slightly confused me since I’ll see several adventurers fighting regularly, but from what Jackal said, they were “playing around” and not actually fighting. I didn’t see punching each other as playing around, but that was just me; so long as no weapons were drawn, it technically didn’t count as fighting, at least by the guild standard. So, even though those two had drawn their weapon, I wasn’t too worried they would actually follow through and attack me; well, so long as I was inside the guild, and I was correct.

Walking right up to them, I reached down towards them, grabbing their shoulders, before separating the two; while I continued walking right past them, neither one of them attacked me.

“Don’t walk away when I’m speaking to you!” Yelled Lucy angrily as she stomped her foot on the ground like a spoiled brat and aimed her staff at Alexander, her blue gem glowing.

Sensing the sudden movement of mana, I turned around and eyed Lucy, lowering my stance just in case she really dared to attack; however, all of a sudden, loud, heavy footsteps rang out through the quiet building as Yuki emerged from the hall.

‘Eh, she looks rather angry.’ Mused Alexander as he glanced at Yuki, anger at the forefront of her heart.

“ENOUGH!” Yelled Yuki in a deep, angry voice, causing everyone to suddenly reel back and look at Yuki, most sighing in relief, though that couldn’t be said for the Firemania party.

“No fighting in the guild.” Added Yuki as her massive, imposing figure stood right in front of Lucy, completely towering over her while her pierce yellow eyes stared at her through the slits in her helmet.

“Yuki, don’t think you can tell me what to do; you’re just a C-rank adventurer, same as I. So move.” Said Lucy with a furious expression as she looked up at Yuki, who didn’t so much budge.

“Make me.” Stated Yuki, squinting her eyes as she reached behind her, grabbing her two massive shields off her back with her four arms and turning herself into a literal defensive wall.

Just when I thought the two might actually fight it out, I heard a voice coming from the second stairs; looking up, I spotted a middle-aged man who honestly seemed about average; nothing about his appearance stood out from me, other than the fact that he had a full head a hair, which was good for him.

“Every time you return from your stupid missions, you cause a fuss. Lucy, Yuki, stand down, or I’ll kick the both of you out of my guild.” Declared the man with an irritated expression as he looked at both Yuki and Lucy.

“Guild Leader.” Muttered the snake demi-human with an ugly expression as he instantly holstered his bow while the scrawny greenish man sheathed his dagger.

‘Guild Leader?’ Thought Alexander with a raised eyebrow as he observed the middle-aged man, who glanced at him before ignoring him.

The moment the guild leader glanced at me, I felt my heart warn me of danger, and while the intensity was nothing compared to what I felt when Simba, Marlin, and Lily first arrived, It was enough to tell me my chances of beating him in a fight very slim, though luckily, it wasn’t nonexistent.

With the guild leader's presence, it seemed Lucy had reached her limit of testing people as she retracted her staff, rather reluctantly, before Yuki holstered her two massive shields onto her back.

“Tch, let’s go.” Remarked Lucy with an ugly expression as she glared at Yuki before walking right past her towards the exit, her party gathered right behind her.

When Lucy reached me, she gave me an intense glare, and from the anger in her heart, I could tell she wasn’t going to just forget about it; besides, she acted like a spoiled brat who didn’t get her way, and people like that, usually hold a grudge.

‘Haa, great. I just unfortunately had to encounter a group of idiotic psychopaths and make them my enemies. Actually, I didn’t even do that; they made themselves my enemies for no reason other than the fact her child-like ego couldn’t accept it when someone refused her request.’ Thought Alexander in annoyance as he watched Lucy and her group leave the guild, though while doing so, the snake demi-human kept giving him dangerous looks.

“Bunch of annoying fools.” Muttering the guild leader with an annoyed expression as he shook his head before turning around and walking up a flight of stairs.

Once the guild leader left, the place slowly returned to normal, as everyone pretty much forgot what had just happened.

“Are you okay, Alexander?” Asked Yuki in concern as she turned and approached Alexander, getting onto one knee, though she was still taller than him by at least a foot.

“Yes, though I should thank you, Yuki; you didn’t need to get involved with them, yet you did. However, that group of psychos might hold a grudge against you now.” Replied Alexander with a grateful smile as he looked up at Yuki, who shook her head with a smile.

“It’s fine, Alexander, you’re a friend.” Said Yuki in her deep voice as she rested her hand on Alexander's shoulder.

“Besides, you don’t need to worry about me; I’m more than capable of handling myself against the Firemania group. However, you, on the other hand, are different; you’re merely an F-rank Adventurer, though everyone but Lucy is a D-rank adventurer.” Added Yuki with a slight frown, looking at Alexander as if he were a fragile little boy, which wasn’t too far from the truth, at least from her perspective.