Chapter 138: A Blink of an Eye II

"Did what?"

Regis asked as he and Pandora glanced at each other in confusion.

Looking at how happy Killian seemed to be, they felt curious as to what the reason behind it was.

After all, not many things would be able to make him as happy as he was right now.

Killian couldn’t seem to contain his excitement as he spoke, "Our application for the official establishment of our party has been approved!"

However, the confusion on the two’s faces only worsened as they heard his words.

"Application? Did we apply for something?"

Regis muttered with a frown on his face as he turned towards Pandora who shook her head immediately, "Nothing comes to mind..."

Not to mention a memory of sending an application, they didn’t even have any idea as to what it entails.

At this moment, Killian seemed to have remembered something as his expression fell in the next second.

"O-Oh, really? It must’ve been a mistake, then. Don’t worry, I’ll just throw it awa—"

"Where do you think you’re going?"

Before Killian could walk away, he felt a strong grip on his shoulder.

Without an ounce of hesitation, he suddenly broke free from Regis’s grasp as yellow sparks of lightning erupted from his body.

[Lightning God’s Descent]

’I mustn’t get caught!!!’

Killian thought to himself as he ran while looking at the door like it was his salvation.

BZZZ—!!!

BBBBBZZZZZTTTTT— THUD!!

’I’m done fo—’

However, he was only able to take less than five steps before he was tackled to the ground by Regis.

"Let me go, please! I won’t do it again!!" Killian immediately protested with teary eyes.

However, no matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t escape from Regis’s grasp even if he circulated his aura.

Feeling his weirdness, Pandora crouched down and gave him a crispy slap on the cheek.

POW—!!!

"Have you calmed down?"

She asked with an annoyed voice as he saw Killian staring blankly in the ceiling.

"Now, can you tell us what happened? Why the hell are you acting like this? And what’s up with that application you mentioned?"

Seeing that Killian had stopped struggling, Regis loosened his grip as he sat on the ground beside Pandora.

"That hurt..." Killian complained, only making Pandora even more annoyed.

Meanwhile, Regis took the opportunity and asked, "Can you tell us what happened now?"

"He’s not responding, Brother. Maybe I need to give him one more slap to wake him u–"

"I’m fine. I’m fine."

Killian immediately sat up, "Promise to me that you two won’t get mad, okay?"

Seeing his friends just silently stare at him in response, he couldn’t help but feel shivers down his spine.

Clearing his throat with a cough, he decided to stop playing anymore and come clean.

"The application I was telling you about was an official recognition of the Adventurer Guild towards our party."

As Killian started to speak, Regis and Pandora listened to him attentively.

"You see, there are three levels to being an adventurer. The first is to become a lone adventurer, the second to form an official party, and the last would be to form a corporation."

"Being a lone adventurer is self explanatory: it is when someone takes quests alone in exchange for rewards."

"Of course, they could also form groups in order to finish a quest with a promise of splitting the reward with each other."

"However, an official party recognized by the Adventurer Guild is a different matter altogether."

At this moment, Regis felt his curiosity peaked and asked, "What’s the difference?"

Killian smirked as he looked at them, "Are you familiar with the squadrons of the Acheron Kingdom?"

"The kingdom’s army?"

"Exactly. It’s just like that, but with us being the squadrons while the Adventurer Guild, the kingdom that grants us authority."

"With the recognition of the Adventurer Guild, we could gain authority by growing the reputation of our party through completion of quests."

"We will also be able to take on quests that are reserved for official parties only."

"Not only that, as our reputation grows, receiving sponsorships from different organizations wouldn’t be just a dream!"

"The only difference is..." Killian’s smirk widened as he continued, "...that unlike the Acheron Kingdom, the Adventurer Guild is recognized even by other races."

"You know what this means, right?"

Hearing his explanation, Regis and Pandora began to ponder deeply about the information he had said to them.

However, no matter how hard they racked their brains, they weren’t able to think of a disadvantage to this "official recognition".

At this moment, Regis asked, "That didn’t seem too bad... Why did you react like that earlier?"

Killian couldn’t help but awkwardly scratch the back of his head, "Ummm, you see... we’re just going to the bad part now."

"I might really slap you again if you keep wasting our time."

Pandora spoke monotonously.

Killian flinched a little before his shoulders dropped.

"Well, it happened a few months ago when me and Rebecca broke up..."

"Is it because she caught you with another woman?" Pandora interjected from the side.

Killian exaggeratedly clutched his chest as he said in a dramatic voice, "You don’t know what it feels like when the one for you suddenly leaves!"

"The one? More like the two, the three, or the five. Why not just say the many?"

"Pandora, let him speak first..."

"Okay, Brother..."

"Anyways, I was so crestfallen and heartbroken that day... when a woman suddenly graced my eyes with her one of a kind beauty."

"She asked me for a favor in exchange for giving me an experience of paradise!"

"The paradise that will make me a true man!"

For some reason, Regis and Pandora felt a stinging bad premonition.

Still, they listened quietly as Killian narrated what happened that led up to the current situation.

It turned out that he met a girl in the bar who happened to be someone who works at the Adventurer Guild.

That girl opened up her troubles to him, thinking that it would be solved if someone who had enough potential could apply for an official party under her referral.

This was in order for her to receive a one-time commission that she described would solve all of her problems.

As a noble who was educated at an early age, it was devastatingly obvious that it was a trap.

Therefore, Killian already knew her motives.

However, everything began to blur when she whispered something about ’The Paradise’ about him.

With descriptive imagery, she described to him how "entering" it will make him a true man.

That was when everything fell to ruin.

At this moment, Regis and Pandora were frowning so much that their foreheads wrinkled.

"So? Were you able to ’enter the paradise’?"

Pandora asked spitefully, making Killian flinch a little, "No... I collapsed because I’m not good with alcohol... I also think that they drugged me so that’s why my memories are blurry..."

’If not, I wouldn’t just excitedly go to you and confess my mistakes...’ he added in his mind.

"Maybe they had a powerful mage with them who’s an expert in illusions?" Regis looked at Pandora.

"It’s possible, Brother. They might have done something to give this idiot here the false memory of us applying directly to the Adventurer Guild."

However, Killian didn’t seem to be finished as he spoke, "A-And..."

"What is it?"

This time, it was Regis who posed the question.

Even though his expression was calm, Killian wasn’t able to figure out what he was thinking, adding more to his anxiety.

"I-I asked them to investigate and found out that they were in cahoots with the Maryutorry Party..."

Hearing his words, Regis began to think deeply.

The Maryutorry Party was one of the parties who were after them.

The reason for this being their recent rise as new and upcoming adventurers who had a lot of potential.

Amongst common quests, there was a special type called Exclusive Quest.

They were quests wherein the requestor could choose to select a certain adventurer in order to accomplish said quests.

Of course, the main reason was because exclusive quests offer high rewards.

It was also inevitable that the majority of the clients would want to try their services which led to the decrease in income for the other groups.

"Besides that..."

Regis’s eyes widened, "You’re still not done yet?"

Pandora also had a speechless expression.

Killian lowered his head with a guilty expression on his face, "They also found out that it was a plan for us and the Ashen Axe Corps to have a conflict."

Regis held his head as he could feel a big headache incoming.

However, the chaotic situation became even more chaotic as Pandora read the document in the envelope and exclaimed, "What the hell!?"

With a tired expression on his face, Regis looked at her and asked, "What is it?"

Pandora didn’t respond and just silently gave the document to him.

Seeing this, Killian wanted to bury himself in a hole.

To: Regis, Pandora, and Killian.

Greetings, Young Adventurers!

...we are excited to inform you that your application for the establishment of the Decadence Tea Party has been approved...