Chapter 985: [985] : The Quest

But in that exact same moment, the fallen guild members began to stir, color returning to their faces.

Alice was overwhelmed with joy. She stared at Shin and spoke, her voice trembling, "YOU REALLY DID IT. EVERYONE... EVERYONE IS HERE. THEY’RE ALL STILL HERE."

Right then, it was as if a dam had broken. Alice could no longer hold it together and burst into tears.

The newly resurrected guild members, entirely oblivious to the fact that they had just died, saw Alice crying. Spotting Lucy nearby, they naturally assumed the tears were because of her younger sister.

They immediately tried to console her. "Vice Master, look! Your sister made it here safe and sound. Just have a good talk with her later so she doesn’t run off again."

"Little Lucy is all grown up now. She must understand how things work. And honestly, we don’t need to meddle in all of this. There are just some things that are out of our hands."

"As long as she’s safe, that’s all that matters."

Lucy beamed at Shin and whispered, "You literally killed them all just a minute ago. What exactly is going through your head right now? I’m genuinely curious."

"I know you didn’t do it maliciously, but seriously—even if you can bring people back to life, please don’t pull a stunt like that again. If my sister finds out the truth, she’s going to be furious. Resurrecting them is one thing, but you still actually killed them."

Shin ruffled Lucy’s hair and gave her a sharp look.

"This is entirely your fault. If you had just explained the situation to your sister from the start, none of this would have happened. Honestly, I half suspect you did this on purpose just to watch your sister and me throw down."

Lucy didn’t even try to deny it. She playfully stuck out her tongue.

"You hit the nail right on the head. I did do it on purpose. But there were some things I just couldn’t bring myself to say out loud."

"I just wanted to see you and Alice spar for a bit. Who knew she would completely fly off the handle and start trash-talking you nonstop? I didn’t even know what to say."

"She was never like this before. I honestly have no idea why she acted that way."

"But looking at it now, I don’t think she’s holding a grudge. My guess is that tapping into Mother’s lingering power temporarily corrupted her mind."

Shin finally understood. So that was it. No wonder Alice was acting so erratic.

At that moment, Alice looked over at Shin and offered a warm smile. "You were looking to take on a quest, right? I’ve personally tested this man’s abilities. He may not possess any magic power..."

"...but his sheer strength is undeniably at an A-Class level."

"Since Alice has made the call, we’ll back her up."

"We trust your judgment completely."

"Alright then, Vice Master. Since he’s looking to take on a quest, I’ll show him the ropes."

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Alice produced an A-Class insignia and handed it over to Shin.

Shin was a bit baffled by the sudden shift in tone, but he didn’t overthink it and pinned the badge on.

Ever since the fight ended, Alice hadn’t spoken a single word to him about it, acting as if the entire life-or-death struggle had never even happened.

But Shin figured this was probably for the best. It saved him a ton of headaches. It was basically a "you’re good, I’m good, we’re all good" situation.

"Alice, let’s go check out the quest board."

Shin realized that Alice had completely dropped her guard around him.

But he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes, people are just gluttons for punishment. She clearly wanted to bury the incident, yet here he was, about to bring it back up.

And bringing it up would undoubtedly backfire.

"So, Vice Master," Shin drawled, "didn’t you say you were going to submit to me? Why so quiet now? Seriously."

"Are you still going to claim I’m weak? After I beat you that badly, I guess you don’t have much room to talk, do you?? Giving me the silent treatment isn’t a good look. I know you’re probably still fuming, but that’s not how this works."

"Facts are facts..."

Alice was genuinely at a loss for what to do. This man had utterly defeated her.

Logically, she should be happy that someone so strong was protecting her sister, but right now, she couldn’t muster an ounce of joy.

This man was nothing like what she had expected. But then again, she was the one who instigated the entire mess.

She wasn’t going to admit that out loud, of course. But just letting him walk away, never to cross paths again?

What about her vow? If she broke her own oath, she’d lose her sense of purpose, and the thought of living like that was terrifying.

That was not the future she wanted.

But she couldn’t beat him. Was she supposed to just sit there and cry about it?

No, he clearly didn’t harbor any ill will toward her. She looked at Shin and spoke slowly.

"I made a vow, and I stand by it. If you want me to submit to you, I will."

"Once I step down as Vice Master and formally pay my respects to my mother and father, I will find you. From that day on, I will be your slave."

Shin was completely blindsided. He was just messing around! Did she really take him seriously? He quickly tried to backpedal.

"Whoa, hold on. You don’t need to do that. I was just joking around. I’m partly to blame here too; I should have explained things clearly from the start."

"Just hook me up with a quest. Once I make enough cash, I’m hitting the road. If Lucy still wants to tag along, and you’re okay with it, I’ll make sure she gets home safe."

"To be honest, I have my own reasons for doing this. I want to meet your father and enroll in the Magic Academy."

With those words, Shin’s image in Alice’s mind instantly transformed from a sleazy, arrogant scumbag into someone respectable.

’So this is the real you,’ Alice thought. ’If that’s the case, then I can finally relax.’

She offered a genuine smile. "I feel much better about this now. With someone as strong as you around, there is absolutely no way anyone will mess with my little sister. But you should definitely focus on making some money first."

Shin was completely lost now. What exactly was going on inside this woman’s head? Wasn’t she just gunning for him a minute ago?

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