*yawn* Mikuo slowly opened his sleepy eyes.
 What welcomed him was a white wall, no, it was a white ceiling since he was lying down the bed.
 He slowly lifted up his heavy body and rubbed his eyes.
 He looked on his surroundings. Once again, he was inside a room in the headquarters of the Arctic Knights, but this time, it was different.
 He is now a temporary member of the guild and will stay for about a week. He will use that time to look for some people in the city while helping in the guild as payment for his stay.
 Now that he thinks about it, this situation was the results of the unbelievable events that took place these fast few days. Even he found it hard to believe it.
 He stretched a bit and got off the bed, tidied it up and headed out the room.
 He went to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast but along the way, he saw Lan Lei who was about to go to the cafeteria too.
 The moment she saw him, she immediately looked away and walked fast ahead of him.
"Hmmmft!"
"Hayyyy. . . . It seems like she really hates me." he said that with his shoulders dropped while silently walking towards the cafeteria.
 There were less people in the cafeteria than before when he got there. None of them were familiar to him, but for some reason, they were looking at him, no, staring to be more specific (though Lan Lei was acting as if he was not there).
 He just ignored the uncomfortable feeling and went to the counter to get some food. But what welcomed him was a—
"Good morning temporary member, Yuoh-san." it was a pretty large yet calm voice.
"A-a-a muscle man?" he unconsciously took a step back.
 Yes, it was a 6-feet tall muscle man wearing a chef's uniform. His body was well-toned, enough that you can still see the shape even with the clothing. But despite the overwhelming physique, he looked like he was just in his mid-thirties with grey hair. His facial features were also calm in contrast to his body.
"Oh . . . Sorry. Did I scare you?"
"N-n-no. That's not it. It's just that—" he was totally scared even if he doesn't admit it.
"Don't worry. I'm used to it. Everyone here had the same reaction when they first met me. He he. By the way, the name is Alexei Ivanov" he laughed even though he seemed depressed about it.
"E-eh. Uhm. Sorry. Yuoh Mikuo, nice to meet you." he just bowed a little and scratched his hair a bit to calm himself.
"Don't sweat about it. By the way, maybe you're wondering why I know your name, right?"
"Hmmm…. Now that you mentioned it, how did you?"
"Well, everyone in the Arctic Knights knows about you already, at least everyone from this branch. To be honest, you are quite popular now."
"Huh?" he was dumbfounded because of that unexpected reason. "By popular, you mean?"
"Popular as in popular." Alexei just raised his shoulders along with that reply to emphasize the words "Popular".
"I mean, what it is specifically that made me popular?" he was a bit nervous on what was the reason of his popularity.
"Hmmm . . . Let's see." he looked up and touched his chin as if he was thinking. "Well, something like…. you are the one who took Yume-sama. And you did dirty tricks to defeat the Arctic Trio. And uhm… Oh!! This is probably the best one, they say you also snuck yourself into Yume-sama while she was sleeping or do perverted things to her when you two are alone." he said with a teasing smile on his face.
"Huh?" Mikuo's only response was his dumbfounded expression.
"I'm not sure though whether they are real or not, but I really don't care. Hehe." he just gave him a careless smile.
"Wait wait wait." it was slowly sinking into his head.
"Huh? What is it?" Alexei tilted its head in wonder.
"You said the Arctic Trio right?"
"Yup, why?" his eyebrows frowned.
"By that you mean the one of the strongest parties in the Arctic Knights?"
"Yup, who else?" it seemed even the big guy was starting to feel confused because of him.
"But-but-but I don't remember defeating them, let alone meet them. I don't even know them, and even if I do, there's no way that I can defeat them." he was confused.
 Yes, anyone will be confused if someone said to them that they defeated the Arctic Trio out of nowhere. After all, they are the Arctic Trio, one of the most well-known parties not only in the Arctic Knights but over the entire continent. They were usually requested to join massive monster-clearing quests where only very skilled people were invited.
By the way, if you were wondering what a party was; it was a group in a guild that was usually made up of 3-10 members. They usually stick together most of the time, like groups in a classroom. They also took in quest together, and if they were good enough, they will earn their own title as a party.
"Huh? But you already met them, and it seems like you already picked a fight with one of them."
"Huh? What do you mean?" he's really clueless about what he was saying.
"Don't tell me you don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Geeezz… Honestly?" Alexei made a problematic expression with his right hand on his forehead."You met already met them, Ashbell-san, Tachibana-san and Yu-san."
"What??!! You mean Clerica, Sena and Lan Lei??!!" he accidentally raised his voice because of surprise.
"Yup, unless there are others here with the same surnames."
"You mean those three are the Arctic Trio? No kidding? Seriously?" his voice was loud because he was shocked.
"Well, well, please calm down first." Alexei was making a troubled expression because the other members in the cafeteria were starting to look at them.
"But-but-but…"
 He was still bugging Alexei when someone stepped in the conversation.
"Yes, WE are the Arctic Trio. Do you have a problem with that?!" it was Lan Lei. She was wearing an annoyed expression with her arms folded. She was already near enough to hear them without him noticing.
( When the hell did she come this close to us?! ) he thought.
"Ah? Uhm… No, it's just that, I was just surprised. I didn't thought about the possibility of meeting the Arctic Trio even if I joined here. That's all." that's not all, he was also thinking that he was a bit disappointed because he didn't expect that the party is not that strong. Even if they were holding back their punches in that fight, he was holding back too, so they were just in the same boat.
"Oh? Really? You're not thinking about something like "Oooooh… What a waste, the Trio is not that strong after all.", aren't you?" she was giving him a doubtful stare.
"Huh? Ah! Of course not! Ha-ha-hahaha." he averted his sight away to avoid her doubtful stare. (What is she, a mind-reader?) he thought.
"Hmmm… And you're not thinking about something like "What is she, a mind-reader?" now, aren't you?" she moved closer to him with her doubtful stare.
"He-he-hehehe. Of course not!" his cheeks was twitching because of this girl's extremely keen senses.
"Hmmm…" she looked closer to his face until their faces are close to each other.
 He moved his face back a little to avoid the pressure of her stare. More and more people were starting to look at them and Alexei seemed troubled and can't stop them.
"Hmmm… Now that I got a closer look of her face, it's not bad. Nope, saying just that will be understatement. If you look closer, Lan Lei is beautiful, a true Asian beauty. If only her attitude is a bit better, maybe we can get along well." he shrugged his shoulders.
"Huh? Wh-wh-what did you say?!" Lan Lei's face blushed all of a sudden.
"Huh?! What do you mean?" he was shocked because he doesn't remember saying anything just now.
"Do you have a problem with my attitude?!!" it seems she was really pissed off.
"Huh?! Oh! This is bad." he immediately covered his mouth. It seemed like he whispered his thoughts unconsciously, and since their faces were close to each other, she heard him. But since it's just a whisper, it doesn't seem like the spectators heard it.
 He was cornered, he can't think of anything that will save him from that situation. Until . . . .
"Eheeeemm." a deep voice from behind the counter caught the attention of the two.
 Both of them looked towards the source of the voice, and it was Alexei who was wearing a smile on his face.
"If the two are going to fight, please do it outside okay? It will make the food taste bad if you do it here." he was smiling, but somehow, there's a menacing aura coming out of him along his words.
 Chills instantly ran through his spine because of that and when he looked at Lan Lei, it seemed that she was equally scared as well.
"Well, maybe let's just continue this in some other day." it's his suggestion.
"You know, that might be the only thing that we will agree on." she then walked away carrying her breakfast but she glanced once more towards him (it was a glare to be precise) as if saying "We'll settle this some other day, got that?".
 He just raised his hands as a sign of defeat and turned back towards Alexei.
"She's quite the girl isn't she?" Alexei leaned his body on the counter with his hand supporting his chin.
"Yeah right." (and a serious pain in the neck) he wanted to add that but chose not to avoid another quarrel.
"Well then, so much for that. What do you want for breakfast? I usually charge for food but since you're new here, it's my treat."
"Well then. Hmmmm. Maybe a normal breakfast meal? You know, those with eggs and hotdogs, usually for breakfast."
"Ohhhh. I get what you're saying. Wait here." he just raised a thumb and went to the kitchen.
 It didn't even lasted a minute until he came back carrying his order.
"That was fast." he unconsciously said in his astonishment.
"Well. People often say that, but it's pretty normal for me, since I ran my own diner back in the Old World. Here you go, your breakfast. This is free, but next time you'll need to pay okay? Hope you like it." he then handed the tray carrying his food towards him.
 He took the tray and began looking for a vacant seat to eat. But all the tables were occupied and he was having a hard time to find a place because he was too shy to talk to the other members.
"Ah geeeeez!!!! I wish Yume and the others are here." he was starting to lose hope when he suddenly noticed an empty spot on the corner of the room.
"I guess that will do." He walked towards the table and quietly ate his meal when someone tapped lightly on his shoulders.
"Still the loner, aren't we?" when he looked towards the person who tapped him, what he saw was the grinning face of Leu.
"Mind if I sit here?" he sat right next to him without even waiting for his answer.
"Actually, I do." he gave Leu an annoyed looked but the guy seemed unaffected as he continued to ate his meal.
 Moments of silence went between them as they ate but it was Leu who broke it.
"Man, you have no idea how glad I am to know that you are safe." he stopped his meal and made a smile filled with nostalgia.
 Mikuo was taken back because he did not expect such words from his friend. He scratched the back of his head and made a wry smile to hide his embarrassment.
"Same here." he only managed to reply that because of his embarrassment.
 Another moment of silence went between them when suddenly ---
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Leu suddenly laughed out of nowhere gathering some attention from the neighboring tables.
 Mikuo understood the meaning behind his laugh and held his forehead as if he was having a headache.
"I always wanted to try that scene, but it sure is cringy that I can't stay in character. Pfft --- Ahahaha" Leu was trying to hold his laughter but he was obviously failing.
"Seems like your idiocy remains regardless of the world we are in." he was sounding annoyed but there was a smile on his face.
"So, what do you need?" he knowingly asked his long-time friend pointing his fork to him.
"How mean, I was genuinely glad you know? I've been looking for you guys ever since." he was pouting but it looked weird due to the fierce feature of his face.
"So, do you have any leads about the location of the others? Oh, give me that pork cutlet of yours. Ohmp." he swiftly pierced the pork cutlet on Leu's plate and brought it to his mouth without any hesitation.
"Hey! I was saving that for later. Damn." he slumped his shoulders with a defeated look on his face before continuing. "Well, I don't know if you can call them leads but being in a guild this big, a certainly hear a lot of rumors. And when I say a lot, I mean they just come to me every day without even searching."
"Rumors? Like what exactly?" he was expecting a lot about the rumors since this is a big guild.
"One of them is about a certain someone ---" Leu paused on purpose to see his reaction and to pique his curiosity.
"Someone?" he was successful because Mikuo was certainly curious.
"A certain someone who was going around towns and accepting monster extermination quests. Rumor has it that he was really good at it. Reducing every monster his way into ash with a single spell. Some even says that he might be a guild-less so there was some who was actively searching for him in hopes to recruit him into their guild. This one ring any bells?" Leu tried to see what will be his reactions and he managed to get the reaction that he was expecting.
 Mikuo's face turned sour as if he was reminded of something bad.
"Damn those bastards. Searching for any leads became hard because they were constantly bugging me. Some even exaggerated my feats that caused more and more people to come after me." he devoured his remaining food viciously as if he was trying to distract his thoughts from the gruesome memory.
"So, it really was you huh? I can only your face while trying to shake of those guys. Pfft. " he looked like he was consoling Mikuo but in fact, he was making fun of him knowing that he really hated attention.
"Enough of that, what about the other rumors?" having finished his meal, Mikuo tried to change to topic.
"The others? Hmmmmm. I'm not really sure about this one, but it seems like Rikka is in this c----" Leu was not able to finish because Mikuo suddenly grabbed him by the neck and shook him violently.
"Where?! Where is she?! Is she safe?!" he shook him so hard that Leu was not even able to form words.
 Foams started forming on Leu's mouth because Mikuo was grabbing and shaking him so intensely.
 It took Mikuo around 5 minutes to calm and by then, Leu was already out cold with foams around his mouth.