Inigo simply followed Lyra who still had her cheeks puffing up from earlier and minutes later, they arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild.
As expected, it was full of people. The atmosphere was lively and there were cliques here and there who were discussing their affairs. anwhile, Lyra was heading towards the weapon’s shop, a place that Inigo didn’t explore much since his arrival.
He followed her and then watched as she grabbed arrows from a neatly stacked display, examining the fletching with practiced fingers. The bowyer behind the counter—an older man with thick arms and a patch over one eye—nodded in silent approval as she tested the spine of each shaft.
"These aren’t bad," Lyra murmured, running her thumb along the shaft of a black-feathered arrow. "Enchanted tips, cold-etched runes for piercing minor barriers. Good against magically-reinforced hides."
Inigo stepped up quietly behind her, hands in his pockets, watching as she continued sorting through the bundle of arrows. Her focus was sharp, almost like a ritual. The way she moved—precise, no wasted motion—reminded him again just how many years of experience Lyra likely had under her belt.
He leaned in a little.
"You always this serious when shopping?" he asked casually, his breath brushing near her ear.
Lyra flinched—just a little—and straightened.
"You trying to make misjudge the balance?" she said, giving him a sideways glance.
Inigo chuckled. "You’re hard to distract. Thought I’d give it a shot."
She turned slightly, holding up one of the arrows. "This is how I not end up getting impaled in a dungeon."
"Duly noted," Inigo replied, smirking.
She gave him a light jab in the ribs with the blunt end of a shaft. "Behave."
"No promises," he said, leaning back just enough to avoid the next jab.
As the bowyer returned to wrap up her purchase, Lyra turned away to pay, shaking her head—though he could see the faintest hint of a smile tugging at her lips.
Yep. He was definitely getting to her.
It was really fun teasing her.
"You will have your breakf—"
As Lyra was about to complete her sentence, a person barged inside the adventurer’s guild hall.
"Ergency! A rift! A rift has appeared!"
Inigo grabbed Lyra by the arm and pulled her closer to him. Lyra was caught off guard from it but didn’t mind it as she knew it was just his protective instincts to protect her.
"A rift," Inigo repeated. He rembered that term before from Elise. According to her, a rift is a...spatial distortion—an unstable tear in the boundary between this world and whatever lies beyond. Monsters, corrupted beasts, and even stranger things had been known to pour out from them. They weren’t common, but when they appeared, it was bad news for everyone nearby.
The hall shifted instantly. Conversations halted. Chairs scraped. Adventurers who were lounging just a mont ago were now standing, hands moving toward weapons and belts. The atmosphere changed from relaxed to tense in a single breath.
Inigo let go of Lyra’s arm slowly, scanning the room as the guild receptionist scrambled to calm the shouting man who had brought the news.
"Where?" soone asked.
"West ridge! Just past the old quarry!" the man panted, sweat dripping from his brow.
The adventurer’s guild staffs imdiately get to work, one of them, Elise, was already heading upstairs to et with the guildmaster. anwhile, Inigo observed what the adventurers would do in this situation.
"Have there been any monsters who ca out from it?"
"There was none," the old man replied.
"Then there’s ti."
"But the rifts have the most fearso monsters. I don’t want to risk going inside of it."
"You are right, this is above our rank. I don’t think we can handle that kind of threat. Unless there are high-ranking adventurers or the governnt itself sends their elite troops in the rift."
"There’s no high-ranking adventurers present in this hall."
"What do we do then? Soone has to go before monsters start coming out from the rift."
While listening to their conversation, Inigo turned to Lyra.
"Have you experienced fighting in a rift before?" he asked.
Lyra shook her head. "I haven’t."
Inigo frowned as he saw her face in a fearful expression. It seems that the rift had made a huge impression on the denizens of this world.
Elise exited the guildmaster’s office and walked up to the old man who announced that there was a rift. He was pulled into to the office and spent five minutes there.
After that, Elise ca out again along with the old man and announced.
"The rift that this gentleman told us is not yet verified. With that we would like to verify it. The guildmaster is offering 1 gold coin to scout the periter of the rift. Again, you won’t have to go inside the rift, just confirm the presence of the rift."
Every adventurer looked at one another, hoping that among them would volunteer for the job. There were no easy takers as they knew how dangerous rift is and it’s making everyone unease.
However—Inigo stepped forward, his voice cutting cleanly through the murmuring crowd.
"I’ll take it."
The entire guild hall seed to still for a heartbeat. Heads turned. Conversations froze. The receptionist blinked, stunned, as silence rippled across the room like a shockwave.
Elise, who had just returned to the front desk, paused with a stack of papers in her hands. Her eyes snapped to the voice—recognition imdiately blooming across her face.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, she smiled.
"Inigo," she said, tone light but steady. "Of course it’d be you."
He walked up casually, hands in his pockets, with Lyra just behind him. "One gold coin for a confirmation job? Can’t say no to sothing so simple."
Simple—if it wasn’t a rift.
Elise handed him the quest slip without hesitation. "You know what you’re doing, so I won’t ask you to be careful. Just co back with the truth."
"I always do," he replied with a smirk.
He turned to Lyra. "You coming with ?"
Lyra hesitated, glancing around the room—at the unsure faces, the cautious eyes, the tension.
Then she t his gaze and gave a slow, reluctant nod. "I’ll go."
The murmurs returned, louder this ti, with disbelief and awe mixing in equal asure.
Two adventurers heading toward a rift—when the rest wouldn’t even move an inch.
Elise watched them go, quietly satisfied. She knew what Inigo could do—and more importantly, she knew he hadn’t even shown his full hand yet.
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