Chapter 16: CH. 16 | Theo’s Party

***

The next day.

Theo managed to wake up on time without oversleeping, though he had to skip breakfast. Still, he wasn’t too worried about it. He could eat once the guild processed his mission later.

He put his gear back on and headed out of the apartment.

That morning, it wasn’t even seven yet, closer to six, but he could already see plenty of adventurers moving through the streets.

They were stepping out of their homes and apartments, heading straight for the City Guild. Theo saw it clearly enough.

In his mind, the earlier they showed up, the better their odds of grabbing a good mission off the bulletin board.

But Theo didn’t need to bother with any of that. He didn’t have to fight through the crowd since he already had his own mission secured, a reward from Sara for successfully saving Thalia the day before.

From a distance, his eyes landed on the city guild building. Both doors stood wide open, making it easy for adventurers to file in and get ready.

Theo moved among them, still keeping the mission sheet tucked in his pocket. He planned to pull it out only once he reached the reception desk.

That morning, one of the staff members stationed behind the desk was Sara. The moment their eyes met, Sara smiled and waved.

"Theo?" Sara greeted him, "Surprised to see you up this early, you could’ve slept in since you’ve already got that mission locked down."

"Sister Anna always told me if I want to succeed at something, I need to start early," Theo answered.

"Don’t ever forget that. What Sister Anna said is absolutely true," Sara added.

"Actually, I feel a little embarrassed bringing this up, but could you hear me out for a second?"

"What is it?" Theo asked.

"Last night, Thalia came back to the guild. I don’t know why she was here so late, but I saw her still in the tavern area even at midnight."

"What do you mean?" Theo asked, a little confused.

"I went over and talked to her for a while that night. From what I gathered, she doesn’t have anywhere else to stay," Sara answered.

Theo narrowed his eyes, finding the answer a little odd. Thalia had clearly been an adventurer longer than Theo had, even if both of them were still technically rookies.

Still, once Theo actually compared himself to Thalia’s situation, he realized just how lucky he had it in comparison.

"Where was she staying before this?" Theo asked.

"Denis covered her rent at the inn. But she said her room’s rental period had already run out. She doesn’t have any money either," Sara answered, "She told me about the inventory bag, but her ability level makes it hard for her to open Denis’s bag."

"That’s why she ended up following you all the way to your apartment last night," Sara added.

So the reason she followed me yesterday was because she had no idea where she was even supposed to sleep?

She told Theo that Thalia was currently sleeping in her own inn room. Sara had agreed to let her stay there until Thalia earned enough money to rent a room of her own later on.

Theo took it all in, then let out a short breath. He held out the mission sheet, and Sara took it from him.

But before Sara could finalize the mission for Theo, he stepped forward and asked her to hold off for a moment. That clearly caught Sara off guard.

"What is it, Theo?"

"About this mission... I think I’ll register it a little later in the day," Theo answered, "I haven’t had breakfast yet. I’m going to eat first."

Sara looked at him, brow furrowed, as if she couldn’t quite follow what was going through Theo’s head.

Still, as the mission holder, he had every right to delay finalizing it for other reasons within the 24 hour window before the deadline.

Theo took the mission sheet back and tucked it away, then headed over to the tavern area to order breakfast.

Plenty of adventurers already filled the tables there, some eating and drinking before the scramble for missions on the bulletin board began.

Time slipped by quickly. Theo finished his meal and watched the guild fill up with more and more adventurers.

They arrived with their parties, each party sending a representative to stand ready in front of the mission board, waiting for the guild staff to post the day’s new listings.

The guild door swung open, and Theo turned to see that the person walking in at seven that morning was Thalia. The girl smiled and waved a greeting to Sara, who stood behind the reception desk.

Theo watched them from a distance, unable to make out what they were saying. But one thing was clear enough, Sara was telling Thalia something about him, pointing in his direction at one point.

Thalia followed the direction of Sara’s finger, then smiled the moment her eyes met Theo’s.

Instead of walking over to him, though, she pushed forward with plenty of nerve, squeezing in among the other adventurers.

There was only one reason for that, grabbing a mission off the bulletin board.

Right as the clock struck seven, the guild staff pulled back the barrier and the adventurers surged forward toward the mission board.

They used their bodies and their strength to dominate the crowd, the weaker ones got shoved aside easily, and the women were the first to get knocked down.

In under five minutes, the bulletin board that had been packed with missions was down to just a handful, the leftovers nobody wanted to take on because of how difficult they looked.

Did she manage to get one?

Theo focused his attention forward and clearly saw that Thalia still had nothing in her hands.

In the scramble, she’d been shoved and squeezed within the chaos, her weaker frame no match for the crowd, and she’d been pushed right out of it.

Even so, she didn’t look like she was giving up. After that failed attempt, Thalia walked over to another party’s table and offered to join their group instead.

Not only did she get turned down, she also got insulted, called weak, a useless mage, and trash.

Watching that happen was too much for Theo to just sit and watch. He got up and walked over to Thalia, who was standing there with her head bowed, pleading with them.

Theo put a hand on Thalia’s shoulder, and she turned to face him. A wide smile spread across her face the moment she saw him standing beside her.

"You don’t need to bow your head and beg like that," Theo said, "If you want, you can help me out instead."

Thalia smiled and nodded. Theo immediately pulled up his system panel and formed a party with himself as the leader.

[Congratulations! Party successfully formed]

[Party No.: AGP94500178]

[Name: Theo’s Party]

[Leader: Theo (None || Lv. 2)]

[Member: -]

He’d successfully formed a party, and he could see it clearly displayed, especially in the leader section. Right beside his name, None indicated his class, followed by his individual level.

In short, any party member would immediately be able to see that Theo had no class and his level was still low.

Thalia nodded and entered Theo’s party number. When the system panel opened, she looked a little startled by what she saw regarding Theo’s status.

Her head tilted up, her eyes settling on him with obvious confusion.

"You... don’t have a class?" Thalia asked quietly.

Theo paused for a moment, "No."

The woman hesitated for a second, maybe she’d assumed Theo was a knight or an assassin. But reality told a different story. It was clear as day, Theo had no class at all.

"If that makes you unsure, you can back out and—"

[Congratulations! Thalia has joined the party]

[Party No.: AGP94500178]

[Name: Theo’s Party]

[Leader: Theo (None || Lv. 2)]

[Member: 1. Thalia (Mage || Lv. 3)]

Theo blinked in surprise at the panel that appeared in front of him. He immediately asked whether Thalia was really serious about this. Thalia smiled and closed her eyes.

"Of course I’m serious," Thalia answered, "I’ve already seen the courage in your heart. I don’t have a single doubt."