The Author's POV

"Is it tasty?"

Grabbing Nola's little hand, I walked her around the busy streets. Right after leaving the waiting room, I quickly got changed and took Nola to see around the academy.

"Um."

Nola held onto the cone of the ice cream. Cream was all over her lips as she vigorously nodded her head.

"Don't make such a mess when you eat"

Taking out a handkerchief, I wiped the cream that was all over her lips.

"Uhh, stop."

Nola did not like that as she turned her head to the side and tried to avoid my handkerchief.

"Stop moving"

"Uhmm"

Softly grabbing Nola's tender cheeks, I wiped away every last bit of cream that was on her face.

"Alright, done. here, make sure you hold onto my hand tightly"

Because of the tournament that was happening, the current academy was extremely crowded. In fact, it was so crowded that I could barely see what was in front of me.

As such, I needed to make sure Nola held onto my hand tightly.

"You want this one?"

"Um, I want"

For the next twenty minutes or so, with Nola, I walked around the academy campus. On multiple occasions, I would stop and buy things for Nola to keep her entertained.

"I'd like one pl'”"

'”TWIIIING! '”TWIIIING!

At Nola's request, I made my way towards a cotton candy stall. Waiting in line for a couple of minutes, I arrived before the clerk. Just as I was about to order one cotton candy, my phone suddenly rang.

"Excuse me for a moment"

Letting go of Nola's hand, I rummaged through my right pocket and took out my wallet and phone.

Taking out a phew bills and handing them to the clerk, I answered the call.

"Hello?"

A polite voice answered the phone.

'”Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Simon Masquer, and I'm currently working for Moonlight Incarnation.

"Who?"

'”...

For a couple of seconds, the person on the other side of the phone didn't speak. It was evident that they didn't expect such an answer.

'”Keummm, Keummm, Moonlight Incarnation. We are a platinum graded guild. Have you perhaps not heard of us?

After clearing his throat, the person on the other side of the phone recollected himself and continued.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I, unfortunately, haven't"

I shook my head.

There were over a thousand platinum graded guilds in the human domain. Though I tried my best to memorize most of them, the sheer amount of platinum-graded guilds out there made it impossible for me to memorize all of them.

In the end, I settled on memorizing the more important ones.

And since I didn't remember this guild, it meant that they weren't important.

'”I-Is that so. Well, it's okay if you don't know about u-

The person on the other side of the phone, Simon, sounded a little flustered, but before he could speak any further I cut him off.

"Before you continue, I'd like to ask how you got my number?"

I was quite certain that apart from a few people, no one should've known my phone number.

So how was it possible for them to get in contact with me when I never gave them my phone number?

'”Let's not dwell on such trivial matters and let's get straight to the point. Ren Dover, us, Moonlight Incarnation would like to make a formal pro-

"Not interested"

I instantly cut him off.

'”Wai...

Without giving the other guy a chance to speak, I quickly hung up.

'”Tak!

"It seems like I need to change my number..."

I was quite pissed. This was an obvious invasion of privacy.

With my performances being broadcasted throughout the whole world, I'd expect guilds to be attracted by my performance.

In fact, as time passed and I shone more, chances were that my performances would attract the attention of more and more guilds.

What I didn't expect was for them to straight-up stalk me and find my phone number.

Did they seriously expect me to agree to join them when they pulled such a stunt? What a bunch of idiots.

"How annoying. Sorry Nola, let's go back for no'”"

Putting my phone away, I looked down to my right. I instantly froze.

Frantically looking around, my face became pale as I saw the endless crowd of people.

"Nola!"

To my absolute horror, Nola was no longer next to me.

***

Greenery filled the surroundings, and the thick vegetation made it hard for one to see. The world was enveloped by absolute silence. It was so quiet that if one listened attentively, they could've even heard the sound of a pin dropping.

Above the vegetation was a massive transparent dome that allowed the light from the sun to come in, energizing the plants.

'”Rustle!

The silence was soon broken by a rustling sound as a small boar suddenly dashed forwards.

Twang.Twang.Twang. Following the appearance of the boar, the vibrating sound of a bowstring echoed across the area.

"Guaaa'”!"

A pained shriek followed after.

'”Thump!

With a large thud, the boar dropped to the ground and stopped moving.

Red blood flowed from the area where the arrow impaled its body.

"huuu..."

Standing a couple of meters away from the boar, Amanda exhaled. This was the fifteenth board that she had hunted.

Just like the name suggested, hunter's quadrant was a game dedicated to hunting. The goal of the game was simple.

Within a specified amount of time, contestants would compete against fifty other people.

The top five contestants within the group that hunted the most animals in the designated time limit would make it to the next round.

Amanda's score was currently fifteen, which was five more than the previous number one spot of the group that had entered before her.

'”Beeep!

[Message to all contestants. The time is up. Please make your way out of the dome]

A voice suddenly echoed throughout the whole forest-like space announcing the end of the games.

Following the announcement, Amanda lowered her bow and made her way towards the exit of the dome.

Right after she stepped out, she felt countless eyes directed in her direction.

Amanda did not mind the stares as she indifferently left the premises. She didn't even bother checking the result of the game.

Most shockingly, even though there were reporters everywhere, none of them approached her.

The reporters could feel it from her aura; Amanda didn't want to be approached at the moment.

***

"Thank god..."

Taking out my phone I quickly followed the direction shown to me on the screen. Fortunately, Nola was currently wearing a hairpin that I had given to her as a gift not too long ago.

On it was a small GPS tracking device that I had installed just in case someone tried to kidnap her.

I had done this in case a situation like this happened in the future. I was glad I did.

Now I could track her position with a simple app on my phone.

"She should be near the park"

Turning right, I hastened my steps.

Fortunately, Nola didn't walk that far. In fact, she was actually quite close to me.

Yet, although I knew where she was, I rushed to where she was with all my might.

I couldn't discard the possibility of someone taking advantage of her. The more time I wasn't with her, the more exposed to danger she was.

"Nola, please be safe"

Clenching my phone, I quickly rushed towards where the GPS said she was.

***

Leaving the dome, Amanda aimlessly wandered around the academy. She was at a loss.

The most logical option would've been for her to go to the waiting room alongside the others, but she wanted to be left alone.

Amanda didn't want the others to see her in her current state.

In the end, she settled down for a nearby bench. Tapping onto a ring on her finger, a picture appeared in her hand. In it was an image of a handsome middle-aged man and a young girl happily hugging each other.

Amanda gently stroked the picture in her hand.

"Dad."

At that moment, it was as if her icy visage had never existed. A warm smile appeared on her face.

It was a smile that caused anyone that saw it to be mesmerized by it for a couple of seconds.

But for some reason, there was a gloomy feeling around her. Even though she was smiling warmly, the gloom didn't leave her face.

Her slender fingers continued to stroke the picture of her father. She had been smiling, but her expression was steadily getting darker.

Her grip on the picture tightened.

"Dad, I don't know what to do..."

The situation back in the guild was nothing but stable. With the disappearance of her father, the guild master, the elders were having a difficult time.

The pillar of the guild had suddenly gone missing. Chaos was inevitable.

Fortunately, none of the elders were coveting the main seat, as they all held massive respect for the current guild master.

This allowed Amanda to breathe more easily.

There was one problem though; for how long would they be able to keep the news of the guild master disappearance a secret?

Perhaps they could use the excuse of guild master being on a mission for a couple of years, but what about after that? For how much longer would their lie be able to keep up?

Amanda didn't know. Everyone at the guild didn't know.

Once the news got out, the guild's dark days would begin.

Although they had <S> ranked heroes at their disposal, once news of the guild master going missing would become known, Amanda wasn't sure whether they would stay or not.

Not all of the members in the guild were here because of their loyalty towards it. They were all here for the money. If their stability was jeopardized, chances were that they might suddenly jump ship.

Without a doubt, the competing guilds would spread their fangs in their direction once the situation reached such levels.

Once that happened, the guild would enter a state of vulnerability. There was a possibility for the guild to disband.

"I can't, let that happen."

Just the thought angered Amanda. She couldn't allow that to happen.

She couldn't allow the guild, which her father had painstakingly built from scratch be destroyed under her watch.

As his daughter, Amanda believed that it was her duty to protect what her father had built.

"Fuuu..."

Exhaling slightly, Amanda once again looked at the picture in her hand.

"Don't worry father, I'll try my best to keep the guild from bein'”hm?"

Amanda suddenly felt a slight tug on her pants. Snapping out of her thoughts, Amanda looked down as she saw a young girl looking up at her with sparkling blue eyes.

"Waaah, are you a princess?"