Chapter 266: Anonymous

"Welcome and good morning, Mr. Lucian!"

Lily enthusiastically greeted them as Lucian and the masked Selene walked towards her counter.

There was an obvious enthusiasm in her voice that hadn’t been there before, and a few adventurers nearby couldn’t help but notice the clear difference in treatment—though they couldn’t say anything.

Everyone still remembered what had happened yesterday, and nobody intended to make a similar mistake.

"Morning, Lily."

Lucian gave a small smile, and after admiring that for a few seconds, Lily immediately got to work.

"About the dungeon raid yesterday, I heard about it, and it seems the Dungeon Suppression Squad took quite a liking to you."

"Oh...?"

Lucian’s brows rose slightly.

"Did they send something good...?"

Lucian was more interested in that, especially since he had already heard about it from Leonardo yesterday.

Lily nodded. She leaned down beneath her desk before pulling out a rather large pouch and placing it in front of him.

"We’ve analysed them already. They’ve sent a total of ninety F-rank monsters to you as a reward for helping them."

The moment those words left her mouth, several people nearby, along with the receptionists, froze.

"N-Ninety...?"

"J-Just what kind of spoon-feeding is this...?"

A few of them couldn’t hide their expressions of disbelief.

Many of them were obviously jealous and couldn’t help but wonder...

Was this the difference between going into a dungeon with their own small, untrained groups and going with the Association’s Squad themselves?

"That’s almost half of what we earned," Lucian muttered to himself.

Didn’t this mean they had given him a bit too much?

Well... Lucian particularly didn’t care.

He was perfectly fine with accepting them, and if anything, he still felt like it was less than what he had worked for.

Lily suddenly spoke again.

"They also said that they’re extremely sorry for only bringing this despite your efforts, but it was the most they could do."

Lucian shifted his gaze towards her.

"The Association and other organisations try to keep most of the resources to themselves, so it’s hard to give everything to a single individual. And you aren’t even a real member of their squad, so..."

She tried her best to make it seem like the squad hadn’t done anything wrong, and Lucian couldn’t help but chuckle at her futile attempt.

"Don’t worry about that."

He waved it off, then got to the main reason he had come here.

"Anyways, I wanted to see if I could go to another dungeon."

Lily’s eyes widened.

"Are you going with the Association members today as well...?"

Lucian shook his head, causing a small frown to appear on her face.

But then, realisation set in.

"Mr. Lucian, you cannot enter a dungeon with just two people. You must have at least a group of five individuals."

Even if he found some people willing to accompany him, not everyone could suddenly get the chance to enter a dungeon.

Only groups that were somewhat known were able to enter dungeons that easily, and even they usually had to register for an entry beforehand.

"Don’t worry about that. I already have a group of my own."

Lily slowly nodded, believing in him.

If he said so, then she was sure he would have one, and it wouldn’t even be surprising if many people wanted to join him after knowing his feats—the dungeon one, not the one where he had strangled an awakened.

Lucian glanced behind him, and his expression slowly became annoyed.

’Just where did they die off to?’

Selene, who was standing silently beside him with her face hidden behind the mask, looked at her son, still wondering who this group was.

Earlier this morning, she had asked him where he had gone the previous night and what exactly he had done, but Lucian didn’t give her an answer.

Not because he was keeping it a secret, but because he said that she would find out later.

’He isn’t talking about them, is he...?’

Selene’s thoughts drifted towards the same men who had tried to approach them yesterday, one who had tried to grab her wrist, only to get his neck almost broken by her lovely son.

And knowing his protectiveness, she found it difficult to imagine him bringing them here again.

So then...

Who was this group?

Her question was eventually answered as, a few minutes later, a small group of men entered the Association Building.

Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn towards them, especially towards the largest-looking man, who almost towered over most people inside the Association.

Yet despite their intimidating appearances, the large man and even the five others didn’t look around.

The moment they saw Lucian, they immediately walked towards him, almost looking hurried... and scared...

Even their faces looked traumatised and carried a lack of sleep, as if none of them had even slept properly the entire night... though how could they? Especially with the nightmares haunting them from yesterday...

Lucian narrowed his eyes.

"You’re late."

The six men immediately froze.

"W-We—"

Lucian clicked his tongue, and ignoring them entirely, he turned towards Lily, who looked at the men behind him with a small look of surprise... and beneath it, some hate too.

Her eyes narrowed for a moment, then she glanced towards Lucian before quietly speaking.

"Mr. Lucian... they...?"

There was a clear questioning expression on her face.

"Yes. These are the members who are joining me."

Lily blinked, her eyes faintly lingering on him... then moving towards the group, and a small frown appeared on her face.

Selene quietly glanced at them as well, and though she didn’t know who they were, she didn’t ask or say anything.

Meanwhile...

"W-Wait, isn’t that the Leader of the Lone Wolves?" someone in the background muttered in clear surprise.

"It’s been over a week since we last saw him, and now he’s suddenly letting a newbie join him...?"

"What happened to his arm?" another person frowned as he looked at the Boss’s left side, where there was a complete lack of an arm.

His empty sleeve simply dangled beside his body as he walked.

Nobody knew what had happened.

They also didn’t know whether the Boss was letting Lucian and Selene join his group... or was it the other way around...?

"Lone Wolves? What is that name?" Lucian frowned slightly.

"B-Boss, it’s the name of our group," the Boss muttered in a low voice.

However, the moment those words left his mouth, the surrounding people became even more surprised.

The Leader of the Lone Wolves—a man who was an E-Ranker—was calling the newcomer with sunglasses... Boss?!

Lucian, however, simply stared at them, his expression turning unimpressed.

"You are all a group of multiple others, and your name is LoneWolves? Just when I thought you couldn’t get any dumber."

Lucian let out a faint sigh, genuinely wondering if he should’ve even let them live—not that they would for a long time anyways.

The moment he entered the Guild, these morons were useless to him—but they didn’t know that yet.

"Anyways, Lily..."

"Ah... yes."

Lily immediately snapped out of her surprise and looked towards him.

"Are you joining their group?" she asked, but hearing that question, Lucian’s lips immediately twisted.

He remained silent for a moment, and after thinking for a few seconds, he asked,

"Can we change the name of the party?"

Lily smiled faintly, as she could easily understand what he was thinking.

However, she still glanced towards the Leader of the Lone Wolves, seemingly asking him if he was okay with it, and not knowing how he would react to Lucian’s decision.

"Can’t you hear her, woman? Do as Boss says!" the large man snapped in irritation, making Lily flinch.

He was already scared out of his wits, and the last thing he wanted was someone else to somehow irritate Lucian.

He also couldn’t help but briefly glance at the masked woman for a second, the same woman who was the beginning of all their misfortune.

’Just why did Glenn have to go after them? I should’ve stopped him when I knew.’

His jaw tightened in frustration.

But in the very next instant, Lucian silently turned towards him.

The Boss froze, and even though he couldn’t see the crimson eyes hidden behind Lucian’s sunglasses, a cold shiver travelled down his spine.

"Who gave you the right to speak like that?

Apologise to her."

Lily’s eyes widened, but before she could say anything—

The Boss immediately turned towards her, and rather than the expected glare... the man’s expression shifted into clearly visible fear as he quickly lowered his head.

"I-I’m sorry..."

"Properly," Lucian muttered coldly.

The Boss swallowed hard.

"I’m sorry. Really, really sorry, Madam."

He lowered his head even further, forcing the most genuine voice he could muster into his apology. Unfortunately, his naturally heavy voice made it sound strange and awkward.

"Lower..."

His body froze.

Then, without hesitation, he lowered himself even further, almost hitting his head on the glass panel separating the counter.

"I-I’m very really—I’m sorry!"

"..."

Almost everyone nearby stopped what they were doing.

Even those who had previously shown little interest in the commotion couldn’t help but turn their heads, completely speechless.

The same arrogant, foul-mouthed man they had seen before was now practically bowing himself in half and apologising to Lily... simply at the presence of this newcomer.

Lily was speechless as well.

Yet when she saw the Boss’s frightened expression, she couldn’t help but feel a small sense of admiration and gratitude towards Lucian.

This was the same man who had once called her out.

The same man who had even tried using disgusting words against her, words that still made her skin crawl whenever she remembered the expression on his face at the time.

And now...

The corners of her lips twitched faintly, but she quickly suppressed the smile, returning to her usual professional expression.

"What name do you want to keep for your party, Mr. Lucian?" she asked, deliberately ignoring the man who slowly lifted his head.

He didn’t even seem to mind her manners, and seeing himself still alive and breathing, he let out a long sigh of relief.

"Hmm..."

Lucian crossed his arms, tilting his head as he tried to think of something.

His gaze briefly shifted towards Selene.

"What do you think?"

Selene shrugged.

"It’s your decision, dear. I don’t think it matters much."

"But I want it to be something memorable."

After a few seconds of silence, Lucian’s eyes lit up faintly.

He looked towards Selene.

"Since you don’t want many people to know about us, let’s keep the name..."

Hearing the name, Selene nodded, agreeing that it was a good one.

Lucian then turned towards Lily and walked closer to the counter.

"Have you thought of a name?" Lily asked.

Lucian nodded.

"The name of our party will be Anonymous."