Flags! Flags everywhere!

It was supposed to be an uneventful evening for Eina. All that was left to do was finish this last report, and she is a free bird.

But despite her best efforts, her mind couldn't help but wander off, planning her evening after every word she wrote.

It had been a long while since the last time she was ahead of schedule, and it had also been so since the last time she visited Hostess of Fertility. Her mouth would water every time her mind flashed the cake she ordered- that sweet fluffy heaven.

Or maybe she'd visit the restaurant that recently opened up on her way home, or maybe venture into the unknown- the food stalls.

When was the last she fancied herself a dress? Sounds like a plan.

Or not, she spends most of her time dressed in black and white. That dress is only going to rot in the wardrobe.

Then how abou-

-AHEM!

But the dreamy thoughts of hers shatters into pieces the moment a crisp, loud cough barges into her ears unannounced, giving her a jump scare she won't forget. At least for a while, she won't.

Her widened eyes jumped up along with a yelp of surprise, revealing the poker face of a hooded Pallum girl standing in front of her desk.

In a flat tone, the girl then said, "Good evening, I and my friend would like for you to arrange a private transaction."

Her emerald eyes blinked twice.

And the rest will forever be preserved as one of the funniest memory in her mind.

The stuttering excitement of the apple faced boy and his friend's vain attempt to hold her laughter.

At first glance, Eina thought he was just another boy with a torrent of hormones raging in his body, but she quickly ruled that possibility out.

She's had enough encounters with such men to know this wasn't one.

That sticky perversion that daily comes her way wasn't there in his eyes.

In his eyes was pure, jittering flustered-excitement.

But no matter how Eina rocked her brain, she couldn't make head or tales of the reason he was so excited to see her. Eina was sure she had never seen him before, nor she was someone special- she was just a Guild employee, and that's it.

Looking at the peaking embarrassment on his face, Eina quickly returned the greeting to which he replied with such a volley of stutters it took all the poised control she had cultivated over the years to keep herself from giggling out loud.

[He's just so adorable!] She thought.

And to add even more red, it turned out that the boy's partner didn't happen to share the same degree of control, as the girl's trembling hand passed her the ID.

'Liliruca Arde… Soma Familia… Level-1…'

A quick scan of her ID and Lili's enormous bag revealed- the boy was probably a Low-Class Adventurer as well- A newbie Level-1, teamed up with an experienced supporter. Otherwise, he would've been the one to do the talking.

That's when a stray thought flashed in her mind, [Maybe they just don't want to stand in line?]

So, she decided to politely state the condition of a private transaction- As an indirect signal. Even though the body currently hiding behind his friend's bag didn't seem to be someone who'd try something like this.

But before Liliruca could even open her mouth, the adorable grinning apple jumped once again. And what a mess it was!

His silly antics reminded Eina a lot about the boy she was the current advisor of.

He was shy and straightforward.

While the boy in front of her was a rather cute blend of shyness, sweet and mischief.

It was written very clearly in his sparkling grey eyes- he knew her from somewhere and was very excited to see her, and wanted to talk to her but his tongue just won't corporate.

The butterflies in her stomach fluttered as she watched him try his best to form sentences, failing to, and then hide back behind the bag before trying once again.

And the butterflies near exploded when Liliruca stepped away just when he was about to hide back in to prepare for his next attempt.

But it was only short-lived. The frenzied butterflies died down as soon as her gaze landed on his bandaged and wounded body.

The gauze wrapped around his neck was red on the left side, and it was only now she paid attention to his wounded smiling face- the gauze running from his right cheek, all the way to the back of his head.

The yellow Healing-Jelly applied to his ear was visible even from the thick bandage covering it.

What hit like a pang was the fact that, all this while, he had been jumping on just one leg.

His left leg seemed to be injured as well, which explained the cane in his hand.

To think that even with such injuries he was so excited to see her, and here she was, enjoying it like a cute comedy skit.

Just when she was about to offer him a seat and maybe apologize, Lili's voice broke through her train of thoughts.

"Please don't mind him… and yes, I know the rules."

"Very well then, if you'd please follow me…" Eina replied, pushing up the glasses which were just a centimeter away from falling off her nose, skeptical about this whole strange encounter.

But her personal take on things was worthless. As a Guild employee, she was entitled to arrange a private transaction if a party requested it, given they know the rules to initiate one.

What baffled her wasn't that someone was requesting a private transaction. It was almost a daily occurrence here.

What did in fact- was two Low-Class Adventurers requesting it– These transactions are usually requested by Mid or High-Class Adventurers wishing to conduct the business of or above at least a million, or when they have something special to trade- something they do not want others to see.

Still, as skeptical as she was, she had no choice but to arrange a private transaction.

"Get over yourself, Eina. Never judge a book by its cover…" she whispered under her breath as she led the duo towards the 'Private Transactions Room.'

.

.

.

*Argus's Narration*

Finally, the moment moved on from the embarrassing stunt I pulled and Eina guided us to the so-called 'Private Transactions Room'.

And lo-and-behold! It was just another room with a simple set of tables and chairs along with a tea set.

[Please tell me, it's at least soundproof…]

/Please tell me you weren't expecting a reality marble or something… /

[Of course, I wasn't!]

"Please take a seat… and would you like some tea?" Eina asked, and for some reason, she was looking only at me.

While I... had a long day.

"I-um… can I get some coffee?"

But before Eina could even open her mouth, Lili moved first.

"Master Argus, your stomach…" she said with a poised and unyielding look in her eyes before turning to Eina, "We're fine, Miss Eina… truth to be told, we have places to be so, can we speed this up?"

Eina blinked twice before nodding with a smile as she took a seat across us before gesturing us to begin.

A small but noticeable smile curved Lili's lips as well, as she opened her bag and pulled out the star of the evening- The Egg, before placing it on the table.

And just like how we expected, Eina's little mouth gaped in shock the second her eyes landed on the Egg, "Jack Bird's Golden Egg!" she couldn't help murmuring.

But nothing escapes Lili's keen hearing as she said, smirking, "Yup… one and only."

While I, had to pinch my unwounded thigh hard to keep myself from jumping again, but I still wasn't able to hold back the silent giggles.

My mind just won't stop thinking about stuff I could buy with so much money. Part of the reason was, after Lili's lessons on 'how to respect money', a mere million had become too big of a deal of me now.

Even so, my mind couldn't help but dream about a new and improved Karambit, or maybe a light armor.

As for Eina, it took her more than a second to shake herself out of her stun before she spoke between disbelieving chuckles, "Wow… I have read and heard about this many times but, this is the first time I'm seeing this drop-item with my own two eyes."

"Understandable…There is a reason Guild has classified it as a rare drop item. I'll get straight to the point Miss Eina, how much can you offer us?" Lili said with the same poised expression on her face.

I know her well enough to know it was all just a facade. Her tapping foot under the table was proof enough for me to establish she was getting increasingly impatient.

And the reason was none other than me.

Although I was still feeling nothing, it really was a wonder how long will this last.

"Since, it's a rare one… I will first need to get the item appraised before we can state a price. Is that alright with you?" Eina asked with the signature Guild employee smile pasted on her face.

[Lili didn't offend her somehow, did she?]

/Eina would be one stuck-up bitch, if that was the case… /

[Why are you always so sour?]

/Better off than being a staring creep. Oh! I just remembered! They have a name for it. What was it again? Ah! Yes- A Degenerate Weeb! /

[Oh, shut up!] I shushed the annoying whisper while watching Eina walk out of the room in graceful steps along with the Egg in her hand.

And the moment Eina stepped out of the room, Lili's head snapped in my direction, "Master Argus, how are you feeling?"

"Kinda like… wanna dig a hole and never come out."

"I'm talking about the wounds!"

"Oh… I'm fine then."

"I see… we need to rush out of here as fast as we can… As you can see my Cinder Ella is down right now, and there is a chance that a member of my Familia might see us… and there'll be hell to pay if that happened." Lili whispered.

And it was at this moment, I knew- I fucked up…

"Holy fu-! Why didn't tell me this before… I wouldn't have insisted on coming here in the first place!" I panicked. I didn't give it much thought before, but things can get disastrous if someone recognized us.

I for one- can't even put up a fight given my condition. Not to mention the said condition is a ticking time bomb in itself.

"I thought it was obvious!" Lili said as her face morphed into one of pure bewilderment.

"And I thought, you knew I'm stupid!" I countered in shame.

With eyes stretched wide open, she stared at me speechless for a moment before muttering between deep breaths, "You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days…"

While I hid my face behind my palms.

And after the few excruciating minutes which felt like hours-

-Click!

Both our eyes shot ahead as the door clicked open and the smiling Eina walked in with the Egg as she spoke before taking her seat, "The Jack Bird's Golden Egg, you brought is of splendid quality! We are willing to offer 1.2 Million Vs for it. Is that acceptable?"

Just as I was about to jump in saying 'Yes' and buzz the hell off of here, Lili spoke first with the same poised look from before,

"We know the quality is splendid… 1.3 take it or leave it."

With the same professional smile adorning Eina's lips, she said, "Miss Liliruca, Guild's prices are and have always been-"

But Lili wasn't having any of it.

"Are you really gonna start preaching? I've got some time to kill, but before you begin… will you please pour us some tea?"

The polite smile on Eina's face stretched scrunched while Lili mimicked her look. And I just sat there drowning in awkwardness as the showdown of wills continued.

"1.25 Million." Eina broke the silence, half-stepping back from the argument.

"How does 1.4 sound?" Lili replied with apparent sarcasm in her voice.

"Miss Liliruca… that's the furthest we will go."

-Thump!

With no warning what so even, Lili stood up with a jolt, slapping both her palms on the table for leverage as she said, "Then I guess, we'll take our business some other 'time'… it is as you said, our Egg is of splendid quality, and we just can't let our hard work be sold for anything less than it's worth, now can we?"

Eina's body flinched back from Lili's sudden outburst, before her eyes gazed at me, but only for a second.

Taking a deep breath, she then said, "Miss Liliruca, you know our prices are fair… Pray tell, by some… time, you did not mean some 'place', did you? Because that'd be illegal, and I genuinely do not wish to see him-"

Lili's wind's shifted at that very second as she cut her off, the poise in her eyes was now freezing cold,

"I meant what I said, Miss Eina… And you don't have to worry about Master Argus… We're done here." she stated, gesturing her to return the Egg.

While I sighed in defeat. Eina indeed is one of my all-time favorite characters, and I'm not just talking about the series, but from anime as a whole.

I remember the first time I saw her on the screen, and before I knew it, her character captivated me.

No romantic feelings included.

I just wished if I had a big sister like that.

That's the sole reason I was so excited to see her.

But as things stand now, if I am to choose between the two- I'd choose Lili in a heartbeat.

So, following Lili, I too slowly got up.

But surprisingly or maybe it was just my imagination, Eina's eyes rolled in my direction for a fraction of a second before settling back on Lili's outstretched hand.

Taking a deep breath, Eina then slowly closed her eyes, "Very well… you win, 1.3 Million."

.

.

.

"Why'd you have to push her so far? Weren't we in a hurry?" I asked the humming Elven Loli tottering beside me, as I stepped on, supporting myself with a cane, my eyes darting across the streets like searchlights, looking for a Taxi.

"Aww~ got a crush?"

"Hell no! It's just that before coming here, I had heard a lot about a Half-Elf called Eina Tulle… like a lot. So she's kind of a big deal in my head. That's all."

"Well, you're not being completely honest, but it's clear to see- she means a lot to you… and I was just messing with you."

But my mind didn't register a damn word she said.

-For my eyes had found the person I only ever imagined I'd get to see again.

My heart pounded a rush of frenzied adrenalin at that very instance while my mind ascended to the highest peak of ecstasy.

My hand lost the cane and my wounded legs shot in her direction at the fastest speed attainable.

Teary eyes blurred my vision, but I had no time to wipe them off!

What if I closed my eyes and lost her again!

So I ran- I ran with no other thought than to reach out to her, hold her hand, and just cry… Cry and say how sorry I am. Admit, how stupid it was of me to...

She'll forgive me, right? She will, right? She always did!

When my maddened steps finally reached her, I grabbed her sleeve for my dear life and wiped the tears off my eyes- I'll finally get to see her face again!

With the biggest smile on my face, I called out words I've been dying to since day one, "Maa, Look! Look! It's me, Ma!"