The soft, warm morning light filtered through the elegant curtains of the luxury suite.
Sera's eyes fluttered open. For a second, she forgot where she was, completely enveloped in a thick, incredibly cozy velvet blanket. Then, the events of the previous night rushed back into her brain. She bolted upright, her heart dropping into her stomach as she looked around the room and realized she had fallen fast asleep on the floor during a shift for a high-ranking A-rank adventurer.
"Oh no, oh no, I'm dead, I'm so fired—!" she panicked, frantically trying to smooth down her messy blonde hair.
"Morning," a calm voice called out.
Sera snapped her head around. Shin'ya was sitting casually at the room's elegant wooden table, already fully dressed in his freshly sewn gray hoodie and his new eastern sword-wrap. He was mid-bite into a piece of toasted bread, looking completely relaxed.
"I-I am so incredibly sorry, Shin!" Sera squeaked, bowing her head so fast she nearly hit the floor. "I was supposed to keep watch and help you, but I completely passed out on the job! Please don't report me to the manager!"
"Relax, Sera. I told you to sleep," Shin'ya said, letting out a small chuckle. He reached into his pocket and slid a surprisingly heavy, clanking stack of gold coins across the polished table. "Here. This is for you."
Sera blinked, staring at the small fortune of gold glinting in the morning light. Her jaw dropped. "W-What? This is way too much for a basic maid service! I can't accept this!"
Shin'ya crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair with a smug, perfectly executed anime-protagonist smirk. "Take it. Consider it a special reward... for your current family financial quest."
Sera froze. The color completely drained from her face as her eyes widened in absolute shock. She looked at him like he was a ghost. "H-How did you... How could you possibly know about my family's debt?!"
Internally, Shin'ya was violently pumping his fist in pure triumph. YES! I KNEW IT! Classic fantasy light novel tropes never fail me! Financial issues every single time!
Maintaining his cool, mysterious outer composure, Shin'ya cleared his throat and closed his eyes, speaking in a deeply dramatic, knowing tone. "Ahem... I know everything. Don't underestimate an A-ranker's information network."
Sera swallowed hard, staring at him with a newfound, terrifying level of respect. To her, this fourteen-year-old boy wasn't just a powerful swordsman—he was a terrifyingly perceptive, all-knowing mastermind who could see right through people. She carefully took the gold, her hands shaking. "T-Thank you, Shin... I'll never forget this."
A little while later, Shin'ya walked down the grand wooden staircase into the main tavern and dining hall to grab a proper breakfast. The room was bustling with wealthy merchants and local mercenaries, but the exact millisecond Shin'ya's boots hit the bottom step, the entire hall went dead silent.
Dozens of eyes locked onto him. The atmosphere was incredibly weird. People weren't just whispering about his insane A-rank promotion anymore—they were staring at his waist, then at his face, with looks of utter awe and horror.
Shin'ya ignored them, walking straight to the front counter where Ms. Roxy was wiping down the surface. The moment Roxy saw him approaching, her face flushed into a violent, burning crimson, and she practically bit her lower lip to keep from screaming.
Oh, come on, what did she tell people?!Shin'ya thought, suffering immense internal mental damage as he heard the muffled whispers from the tables behind him.
"Yo, that's him... the fourteen-year-old monster."
"I heard he has insane stamina... forty minutes straight on his very first night!"
"Forty minutes?! At his age?! What a mythical beast..."
Shin'ya wanted to scream at the top of his lungs that it was a sleep schedule, but before he could even order his eggs, the heavy front doors of the tavern swung open with a loud thud.
An elegant, stern-faced woman dressed in high-ranking, official administrative robes stepped into the hall. Two armored guild guards flanked her. The entire tavern crowd instantly parted, recognizing the personal seal of the Oakhaven Guild Master.
The woman scanned the room, her eyes instantly locking onto Shin'ya's gray hoodie and the black hilt of the Ketsugai. She walked straight toward him, stopping a few paces away before delivering a highly formal, deep bow.
"Sir Arata," she spoke, her voice cutting through the silent room with absolute authority. "I am the Chief Assistant to the Branch Guild Master. I apologize for the sudden intrusion, but I am here to deliver a Designated Mandatory Request directly from the Guild Master himself."
Shin'ya frowned slightly, his inner anime nerd instantly recognizing the plot hook. "A mandatory request? For me?"
"Yes," the assistant replied, straightening up. "Due to your newly registered status as an A-rank vanguard and your confirmed Shadow Affinity, you are the only capable asset within three territories who fits the criteria for an emergency operation. A highly volatile anomaly has been detected in the deep catacombs beneath the northern ruins."
She extended a sealed parchment roll tied with a crimson ribbon. "The operation is scheduled to commence exactly two days from now. The Guild Master requests your presence at the central office this afternoon to brief you on the details. Will you accept, Sir Arata?"
Shin'ya stared at the scroll. Two days... That was actually a massive blessing. A two-day buffer meant he had forty-eight hours to abuse his 40-minute sleep cycle, build up his stamina, figure out how to properly utilize his shadow manipulation abilities, and get completely battle-ready without the risk of accidentally waking up in a completely different world mid-dungeon.
A sharp, confident smile crossed Shin'ya's face. He snatched the scroll from her hand.
"Tell the Guild Master I'll be there this afternoon. I'm taking the request."
[To Be Continued]