After the quest ended, both Rhea and Graham reached Level 10.
The +5 level reward was therefore put on hold until they ranked up to D-Class.
With the monsters gone, Rhea approached Graham to return the twin daggers back to him.
But he simply smiled and refused to take them back.
"I gave them to you as a gift. I'm not taking them back."
Frustrated, Rhea sighed.
"I don't even know how to repay you for saving my life. How can I accept these with a clear conscience?"
"I don't want any repayment. But if you insist…"
With a sly smile, Graham added,
"How about treating me to dinner tonight, for starters?"
After thinking for a moment, Rhea agreed.
"Let's go check on the students. I'm sure they're terrified after everything that happened."
"You go ahead. I'll just tag along."
With their brief exchange over, the two of them headed straight toward the school gym.
Inside, most of the students were huddled together in a corner, fear etched across their faces. A few teachers paced nervously nearby.
As soon as Rhea entered, the headmaster hurried over.
"Ms. Rhea… Thank God you're safe."
"We were really worried when you ran headfirst toward those dangerous-looking monsters."
"Is everything alright outside? Are the monsters really gone, like the voice said?"
"Yes, the monsters are gone,for now," Rhea replied calmly.
"But the portals are still there, so we don't know when they might return."
The headmaster let out a sigh of relief at her first statement, but it quickly faded at the second.
The school was his livelihood. If a portal remained nearby, parents would never send their children here again. The thought alone left him visibly dejected.
Ignoring his expression, Rhea continued,
"Headmaster, you should dismiss the students and send them home to their parents first."
"Y-Yes… I'll do that…"
Still looking troubled, the headmaster announced the school's closure until further notice.
Many of the students, who were fond of Rhea, wanted to approach her.
However, the sight of blood still staining her clothes made them hesitate. One by one, they quietly left without even greeting her.
Rhea loved her students, so she didn't take it to heart. Their reaction was only natural.
Once everyone had left, she took out her phone,which had somehow survived the chaos,and turned to Graham.
"Give me a moment. I'll call and reserve a table for dinner."
She made a call, but no one answered.
After trying several restaurants with the same result, she frowned slightly.
"Graham, no one's picking up."
"Maybe they all shut down and ran because of the monsters," he speculated.
"That might be it… So what do we do now? It looks like I can't treat you to dinner tonight."
"Why not? Can't Teacher Rhea cook for me?"
"From what I've heard, you live alone. So you should have some cooking experience, right? Or are you saying you can't even make a single dish?"
"Of course I can cook. But___"
"There, problem solved. I'll come to your place at 7 PM. Bye!"
Before she could protest, Graham waved and hurried off.
Rhea stood there, stunned, her mouth slightly open.
But I never agreed to meet at my house…
With a resigned sigh, she eventually left to prepare for the unexpected dinner.
**"
Meanwhile,
[Master, you're a genius.]
[She completely fell for your trick without a single clue… Hahaha…]
Graham simply smiled.
Of course, this had been his plan all along. He had never intended to settle for a simple dinner at a restaurant. His real goal was something else entirely.
Knowing that no restaurant would be operating in the middle of such chaos, he just used the idea of dinner as an excuse to get entry into Rhea's home.
"I'm really looking forward to it…"
"The dinner, I mean."
***
Hi Readers...
I know exactly what you are thinking will happen next. 🤤
But...
will it really happen? 😜