Long time no see

Lanse's confusion was justified since the Lucentia family had only produced male heroes for countless generations. Some even speculated that the hero blessing was something that only appeared in male heirs of the duke family. Nevertheless, the women from the family were also formidable in their own ways, possessing powerful blessings ranging from great magi to impregnable paladins.

But, Marilyn just stood there with an emotionless smile, avoiding the answer, as she stared- well, not exactly stare since her eyes were closed- at him.

"Uh, Pardon me. I'm from the Western front so, I'm not quite up to date with the news. Anyway, as you were saying?"

"My lady has been expecting you, sir. I was already on my way to her office to report, so, feel free to follow me."

As they walked to the Hero's office, Lanse observed the Lucentia mansion and also the attendant, Marilyn. She wore a simple black and white outfit of maid attendants which complemented her jet black hair tied in a chignon. She had her eyes closed which made Lanse wonder how she was able to see the path in front of her. Her actions and demeanors exuded elegance befitting of a noble which was nothing strange since nobles of lower born usually served the ladies and lords of the higher-ranked nobles.

Other than that, Lanse also noticed how utterly empty the mansion was and how small it was for a nobility of such rank. Along the way, he didn't find anyone besides the two of them, and most of the rooms were either closed off or just left empty without furniture and such.

Noticing his curious stare, Marilyn slowed down her pace and gave a brief introduction to the mansion and its current state.

"We just recently moved here because of my lady's new mission. As such, there is only my lady, me, and the gate warden here. I hope that clears your curiosity, sir."

"Ah yes. Thank you, Marilyn."

'That must be why the mansion is small. They must have bought some other noble's property and moved in a rush. I wonder what the mission is about though…'

Now done with the explanation, Marilyn picked up the pace again. After a short while, they reached a room that was marginally better than others in the mansion.

'This must be the hero's office.'

"I shall go in first to report. Please wait outside for a moment, sir. I'll notify my lady about you as well."

Just before Lanse nodded, A powerful yet strangely melodic voice resounded from inside the room.

"No need, both of you can come in."

"Yes, my lady."

'Hmm, that voice sounds oddly familiar.'

Turning the doorknob gently, Marilyn led Lanse into the office room. Although the room was supposed to be big enough for three beds to fit in, there was barely any space left from all the paperwork and packages. And behind all those was an office table where a giant stack of documents sat. All he could see of the person working at the table was her radiant blonde hair, the symbol of the Lucentia family.

"Marilyn, report."

"Yes, my lady. We have received news about your comrades. They will be arriving in two days."

"Anything else?"

"No, my lady. That is all."

"You may go."

"Yes, my lady. Please excuse me."

After performing a curtesy, Marilyn left the room, leaving Lanse and the hero alone in the room. Not knowing what to say or what to do, Lanse just stood still on the spot.

"Not talking, are we?"

The sudden drop of formal language took Lanse by surprise, but he replied in a formal tone because, at the end of the day, he was just a lowly commoner while the other party was a high-born nobility.

"Apologies, my lady. Allow me to introduc-"

"Drop the formal tone, will you?"

This surprised Lanse yet again as a look of confusion showed up on his face. At that moment, the hero got up from her desk and walked past the towering stack of documents. She stood by the window, as the rays of sunlight fell on her radiant hair, almost illuminating the whole room.

She was wearing a waist coat and pants which was unheard of for a nobility of her rank to wear, especially for a woman. Despite her simple clothes, her appearance was the epitome of beauty. Although her clothes hid most of her features, they failed to conceal her ample figure. Her sky blue eyes stared at Lanse while putting on a warm smile, which resurfaced many memories of Lanse.

"Guin?!"

"Yep. Long time no see, Lanse."

"Huh? What? You are the hero? Huh?"

"Yeah, it turned out like that."

Containing his surprise and confusion, Lanse calmed himself down and properly greeted his childhood friend.

"Long time no see, Guin. I thought I'd never see you again."

"Not for me though. I definitely thought I'd see you again."

"Huh? How?"

"The promise, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I did my best to pass the entrance test, but, I wasn't up to par."

"What do you mean? Didn't you use my gift?"

"Gift? That shiny orb you gave? I never saw it since that day."

Guin inhaled at that statement as she massaged her nose bridge.

"Lanse."

"Yeah?"

"That was the token given to those affiliated with the Lucentia family or those favored by us. You just need to show it in order to enroll. I even made all the adjustments necessary so it shows up immediately during the mana aptitude test."

"Umm… about that… It turned out that I have no mana at all, probably because of the curse I got at the village."

"What? No mana? And you got cursed?"

"Yeah, it's a long story."

Lanse lifted up his sleeves and showed Guin the coiling serpent tattoo. Immediately, a serious look appeared on Guin's face as she spoke under her breath "The serpent's sin…"

Noticing that Guin was thinking hard about something, Lanse quickly added: "You must be wondering how you didn't notice it at all, right? It's probably because of my blessing. It's basically undetectable when I'm not using it."

"Wait, using it? What do you mean by that?"

"At first, it was just a plain old curse with a small serpent marking, just sticking around. Then, it turned into a coiling tattoo like right now. Oh, It grew in size a lot too."

"We'll talk more about that later. For now, I have something to ask."

"Oh, okay."

"You must have heard something about a mission from Marilyn."

"Yeah, I did. I heard it's the reason you moved here. Where are we at by the way?"

"The central front. And for that mission, I want to recruit you to my team."

He anticipated some kind of request for an assist but he never expected a recruitment to the hero's team.

"Can I think about it first?"

"Of course, you can. We'll be here for a while and I'll tell you the contents later as well. So, take your time. And... I saw what happened to your mercenary corps. I'm so sorry, Lanse. If only I was quicker…"

"No, no. Don't blame yourself. It was nobody's fault. Besides, returning to the goddess's embrace at a battle is a great honor."

"Still, I'm sorry."

Silence took over the densely paperlated room as a somber atmosphere slowly crept out in an attempt to overwhelm the humans. But, the uncomfortable silence was suddenly broken by a clap from Guin. It was as if the dull mood had never existed at all. The room felt warm, radiant from the sunlight, and soothing. Lanse suddenly saw the dark thoughts disappear from his mind as if some sort of holy spell had been cast.

"Wait, did you just?"

"Yes, I did. Now, go rest for a while. Be sure to tell me your thoughts on my request later." Guin pointed at the giant document stack on the office table and continued, "These won't finish by themselves. So, bye!"

After basically being kicked out of the office room, Lanse walked back to his room to rest. He lay on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling, many thoughts coming and going through his head.

'Wait, if she was the reinforcement, hadn't she seen my curse already? Well, I guess it hid itself after I lost consciousness.'

Instead of feeling rested, the more he stayed still on the bed, the more tired he got from all the stray thoughts. The pictures of his comrades kept appearing in his mind, making him restless. Lanse decided the best action would be to go out and slay some beasts in the area. After all, the forest around Central Front was quite famous for its hunting grounds.

"I wonder where my armor and weapons are…"

Just as he was about to get up and leave his room, he heard a knock on the door.