“This crazy woman……!”

Unable to contain his anger, the man slammed the rum bottle on the table. Wood splinters and spilled alcohol splattered across the surface.

The man didn’t stop there and abruptly stood up.

“Do you want to die?”

The chair fell backward with a clatter, and a threatening shadow fell over Helena’s face. Instead of avoiding it, Helena calmly looked up at the man.

‘……I’m not afraid of pain. I’m not afraid of dying.’

Such thoughts occurred to her with surprising calmness.

‘I don’t know why I should be afraid.’

The thick palm came straight at her, about to strike her cheek. Even then, Helena stood still, as if her legs were glued to the ground.

‘How can I, when you’re the only person I fear.’

And the next moment.

Smack!

A loud cracking sound echoed, so intense it made one wonder if something had broken.

“Argh!!”

From the man, not her.

“Well done, you bastard. You sure have a knack for tarnishing my reputation, don’t you?”

The line, incongruous with the situation, instantly shattered the heated atmosphere.

Even the man who had been huffing and puffing just moments ago didn’t dare confront the one who had struck his head. He merely whimpered, rubbing his sore scalp.

“But boss, you’re different……!”

“Different? How am I different? Do I look like a man to you?”

The woman turned around and shouted, surveying the tavern.

“You lot, tell me. Do I look like a man to you!”

Overwhelmed by the thunderous bellow, the crowd shouted in unison.

“N-no, boss!”

“That’s right.”

Only then did the woman allow a satisfied smile to grace her lips.

Black hair shaved on one side and swept to the other, tattoos scattered haphazardly across her skin, and a towering height of at least 180 centimeters including her boot heels.

This was the guild master of the Partren Guild.

“Now forget about this and get back to enjoying yourselves.”

Though it seemed casual, an order was an order. With a few waves of Guild Master Gelda’s hand, the crowd’s focused attention scattered.

Most were guild members who had occupied the tavern to wet their throats with alcohol after finishing their daily tasks.

“Hey, bring some more lamb over here!”

“And two more beers!”

Soon the place was covered in boisterous noise as if nothing had happened.

Gelda turned back to face the two protagonists of the commotion. Even her small gestures exuded an unrefined, raw energy.

She first scolded the man who was holding his head and looking pitiful with a large lump.

“Angry, I told you if you keep causing trouble like this, get out. I said Partren doesn’t need a hothead like you. Are you trying to burn everything down because you can’t control your pathetic temper?”

“But……!”

“No excuses.”

Gelda cut him off firmly and shifted her gaze.

“And you,”

Fixing her gaze on Helena while pointing her thumb at Angry, she declared,

“I don’t mean to belittle you like this idiot, but we’re pretty annoyed too.”

“Do you think…… I can’t do it?”

“Of course. Just as you can’t blindly trust me when you’ve just met me. We’ve had more than a few who came in half-heartedly, stole money, and left without a word.”

“Then what do I need to do for you to trust me?”

Gelda gestured towards the wall where the golden knife was embedded, speaking in an indifferent tone.

“Even our little ones can put on a show like that.”

Of course, it was a lie.

She had instantly recognized that Helena’s level was different from the riffraff who flitted in and out of the guild on a whim.

The trajectory of the knife, the accuracy of cutting only the beard, the fluidity of her movements, and above all, the darkness lurking behind her calm eyes.

It was a mystery how such depth could be found in a novice who looked barely in her early to mid-twenties.

‘I wonder what kind of life she’s led to end up like this.’

Where could one find such a rare individual? Even after traveling across the continent before settling in Dailon, she had never encountered someone with such a twisted aura.

‘Looking like she might die if pushed wrong, yet not flinching at all…..’

One would expect her to be cautious among burly, rough men. But she remained consistently like a calm storm.

A whirlpool that couldn’t be gauged until you dove in.

Even her unremarkable attitude piqued Gelda’s interest, making her lick her lips.

She wanted to see more.

She wanted to see just how far she could go, to bring out the best proof Helena could offer in this situation.

A justification for other guild members to accept her without question. In this place where strength was justice, that would be enough.

“Show me skills that would make us willing to bear the doubts about you.”

Gelda stepped back a few paces, as if to say ‘do whatever you like’.

The tavern was still buzzing, but everyone was watching Helena out of the corner of their eyes.

It didn’t take long for Helena to move on the stage of scattered attention.

She picked up several of the same knives again.

And,

Crack! Thwack! Crack-crack!

She proved herself.

The three knives that flew in an almost straight line failed to embed in the wall and fell to the floor.

“……Oh.”

After precisely splitting the wooden handles of the already embedded knives in half.

Immediately, a whistle sounded from one corner of the tavern.

“Not bad, missy!”

“Better than that Angry fellow! Hahaha!”

The men who had been mocking Helena just moments ago clapped and laughed raucously.

Helena met Gelda’s eyes and asked,

“Does it still seem impossible?”

A hollow sigh escaped between Gelda’s teeth.

Though she had no intention of rejecting Helena from the start, she deliberately affected a regretful tone.

“Oh my. How did I get to this position, forgetting that? I must have gotten dull from resting too long. Understandable.”

“……I know. Even when you do your best, the easiest thing to lose is yourself.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“At least you’re listening to me. Making you acknowledge me after that is my job, isn’t it?”

Helena lowered her gaze, which had momentarily become empty. Gelda, not missing this, lit up her eyes.

“I like desperate people.”

She unfolded her arms and raised her upper body that had been leisurely leaning on the bar table.

“People may have many holes, but work shouldn’t have any.”

With a faint smile lingering on her face, she extended her hand to Helena.

“I lead the Partren Guild, and my name is Gelda. I won’t stop you if you decide to leave later, but for now, congratulations on joining the guild.”

Helena stared blankly at the hand in front of her without raising her lowered gaze.

A rough and coarse hand with calluses embedded in each knuckle.

Helena once had such hands too. She knew how long it took for slender fingers to become hardened.

So she grasped that hand without hesitation.

“Helena A……”

She almost habitually attached Yujin’s surname. Quickly changing her words, she said,

“Helena. Just call me Helen, please.”

Gelda didn’t seem to mind much and moved on.

“Alright, Helen. Will you be staying with us starting today? If you have things to settle, you can come tomorrow.”

“If possible, I’d like to start from today.”

At that, a guild member wearing an eye patch at a nearby table shouted jovially,

“Our boss must be in a good mood! We keep getting tough new recruits these days!”

“Shut up, you lot go do your work now. Are you planning to drink until this place’s barrels run dry?”

Gelda kicked the chair he was sitting on repeatedly, urging him to get up quickly.

Even as the chair rattled, he stubbornly drained his rum bottle and only stood up after emptying it.

“Burp, that was good.”

As he straightened up, he suddenly towered a span above Gelda’s head. He seemed to be the largest man in here.

He picked up the axe he had leaned against the wall and strode towards the door. Led by him, other guild members gradually left the tavern.

Angry, who had been standing awkwardly beside Helena and Gelda, tried to slink away to join that procession.

“Wait, don’t you have something to say?”

But Gelda caught him, foiling his attempt.

“You started the fire, I put it out, so you should at least clean up the ashes before you go.”

Guided by Gelda’s arm, Angry was pushed in front of Helena. Left with no choice, he mumbled awkwardly.

“I-I’m sorry. A guy I trusted quite a bit emptied my safe this morning…… I thought you might have the same intentions.”

“That’s your situation. Bow deeper, deeper. Put some sincerity into it, bow deeply.”

Gelda pressed down on the back of Angry’s head. Only after making him bow five or six times like bouncing a ball did she let him go.

He scampered away like a wild boar released from a hunter’s trap.

Not knowing how to react, Helena just gnawed at the strap of her bag with her nails. Then she suddenly remembered something and blurted it out.

“Ah, I forgot to mention, but I have one more companion.”

At that moment, a man pushed through the departing guild members and entered. He rushed over as soon as he saw Helena.

“You scared me.”

Ian hugged Helena tightly once and let go. It was a brief but strong embrace.

“I’m glad I found you right away.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“I happened to ask a man coming out of here, and he said you were inside. Luckily, the man who told me was a guild member, so we agreed to go to the guild together.”

Ian rattled off the information he had heard from the man earlier to Helena, who was looking at him with slightly surprised eyes.

“The guild master is a woman named Gelda, he said. The guild itself is not in a harsh location or living space, and can be entered freely. However, nine out of ten people can’t endure and end up leaving again frequently. He warned us to be careful because the guild master is apparently as fierce as a mad dog, so we should approach more cautiously……”

Helena poked Ian in the side.

“What’s wrong?”

Helena quietly gestured with her eyes. Ian followed her gaze. A tall woman was standing there with a displeased expression.

Only then did Ian recognize Gelda and gave Helena a look asking for an explanation. But before Helena could open her mouth, Gelda snapped,

“The guy who told you that, he was wearing an eye patch and had a stupidly big build, right? Carrying an axe in his left hand.”

“……That’s right.”

“Damn bastard, he’s been talking about me like that? No wonder the rumors have been getting worse. I ought to yank his hair out one of these days.”

About ‘me’?

Ian’s face showed realization at the word clearly referring to herself.

Helena nodded, confirming that what he was thinking was correct.

Meanwhile, Gelda, who had preciously stored the earlier conversation in her heart, brushed back her fallen hair and faced Ian.

“So you’re that companion.”

A slow but sharp gaze scanned Ian up and down.

“Hmm.”

After letting out an indecipherable nasal sound, Gelda picked up the bottle of alcohol Angry had left behind. When she shook the bottle under the orange light, the remaining liquid could be seen sloshing around.

After roughly gauging the amount, Gelda tilted her head back and downed it in one go. With a few gulping sounds, the bottle was cleanly emptied.

“Phew− Can’t let expensive alcohol go to waste.”

She roughly wiped her mouth with her hand and suddenly flung her wrist upward, throwing the bottle.

It was close enough to hit Ian if he didn’t dodge, but he simply tilted his head slightly to avoid its trajectory.

The bottle, after drawing an ellipse in the air and making one rotation, landed back in Gelda’s hand.

As soon as the bottle settled in her grasp with a ‘thunk’, she grinned.

“Well, no need to see anything more.”

Gelda shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket made from Level 2 magical beast leather. She nodded her head, walking ahead of them.

“Follow me. I’ll show you your new home.”