One week later…
Shye arrived at the familiar gates of Nookbury City.
It had been several months since he last saw Shirley, and he sure missed her a lot.
The thought of seeing her again naturally brought an excited smile to his face.
Queuing to enter the city, Shye retrieved his Balkrow City token and adventurer license, and as he did so, he inevitably caught wind of so slightly unnerving rumors from a party of adventurers who were preparing to embark on a quest at the adventurers' lobby in front of the main gate.
"Sigh…I really want to back out on this quest…"
" too…the ssedin Advanced Adventurer Zone is just too dangerous right now…"
"If not for the party leader being keen on going on a solo quest to earn money for the treatnt of his child with a severe illness, I wouldn't have gone."
"Sigh…Indeed. I'm sure my conscience wouldn't allow to sleep soundly at night if sothing happens to him so I decided to go."
"How many adventurers have already gone missing inside again? twenty-nine?"
"It's already thirty-eight…"
"What?!"
Overhearing the contents of the adventurer party's conversation, a tinge of worry crept into Shye's heart.
'She wouldn't be one of those thirty-eight, would she?'
Promptly after being granted entry, Shye madly sprinted towards the Nookbury branch headquarters.
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Then, around five minutes later, he arrived at his destination.
So individuals recognized him, while others didn't, resulting in most casting him puzzled glances.
The confusion only intensified as the mbers of the Raven's Blade Nookbury Branch guild noticed him making his way toward the entrance.
Shortly after, so of the ill-tempered ones and the naturally protective ones barred his way.
However, he wasn't intimidated by them one bit as he did not have bad intentions.
Moreover, even if all of them jumped at him together, he could simply beat the crap out of them.
"This establishnt is off-limits for outsiders, leave."
"I'm also soone from Raven's Blade, though, from another branch. I'm just visiting my girlfriend, Shirley Locke."
"HA! You? The Ice Queen's lover? Don't make la–"
"Stop making trouble, Vass, this guy is indeed Miss Shirley's boyfriend, and the last person from our branch who challenged him lost everything so I advise you to not make things difficult for him or things might end badly for you too..."
Fortunately, things didn't take a turn for the worse as Cascade, a ruby-ranked adventurer whose na commands a fair bit of respect in the guild, spoke up for Shye, discouraging the hotblooded troublemaker from escalating things.
Vass didn't want to drop the matter but he was also hesitant to defy Cascade's advice as the man was well-liked in the guild due to his kind and sensible nature.
If Cascade said that this guy in front of him was bad news, then the man probably was.
Hence, after taking one deep breath, Vass decided to drop the matter.
"Hmmph! Consider yourself lucky this ti, brat."
Under normal circumstances, Shye would've used the guy to earn what little points he could from the disagreent; however, he wasn't in such a mood now as he was eager to know if his dearest Shirley was safe.
Looking back, he thought that he already "changed" from a useless boyfriend to a good one, however, upon mulling over things during the past week, he realized how wrong he was.
First and foremost, he shouldn't have imdiately agreed to Shirley's proposition of wanting to grow stronger and catch up to him on her own, fully aware from the beginning that it would be a futile effort.
After all, he had the system.
Secondly, the reason she might've even proposed such an idea was because of the insecurities in her heart.
If he had to guess, it probably has sothing to do with him leaving her because she believes that she wasn't good enough for soone of such talents.
Little did Shye know, his guess was spot on.
If only he did a better job at giving her so assurance…
Well, he still had a chance to do better. All he had to do was et her now and treat her better.
Only, he didn't expect that even eting again was an uncertainty.
"Hello."
"Oh, hello…Shye Crowley from Balkrow Branch, correct?"
"Yes, I would just like to ask if Shirley is currently out on a quest?"
Hearing his question, the receptionist slightly flinched, intensifying the feeling of anxiousness in Shye's heart.
"Y-Yes, Miss Locke has been out on a quest for two weeks now and she only has one more week to complete her quest."
"Phew…I see…then please give this to h–"
"However…the quest she took this ti shouldn't take her more than ten days to complete despite the ti allowance so I can't help but feel a bit worried…" Receptionist Eva courageously said.
Over the past few months, she found out that she was wrong about Shirley's cold temperant, realizing that there was a kind, compassionate, and sweet young girl hiding behind the frosty facade.
Finding the so-called Ice Queen to be pleasant company, their friendship deepened to the point where Eva couldn't bear to watch her friend push herself too hard and suffer alone.
Now, she wasn't even sure if Shirley was safe.
Fortunately, her boyfriend, the renowned Shye Crowley, ca to visit, and she couldn't pass up the opportunity to inform him about Shirley's situation, even though it ant letting personal feelings interfere with her work.
"I see…thank you for honestly informing of her situation," Shye said, feigning calmness despite experiencing a turbulent heart. "Can you tell where she is and what her quest was?"
"She's at…"
…
Hearing that his beloved was currently inside the ssedin Advanced Adventurer Zone, the frown on Shye's face deepened.
Earlier, he heard a group of adventurers talking about how dangerous the zone was right now, yet, Shirley still decided to temper herself in such a perilous area.
She clearly wasn't thinking straight!
After sincerely thanking Receptionist Eva for her cooperation, Shye darted out of the branch headquarters, swiftly heading towards where Shirley was.
'Shirley, please be safe…'
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