Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

After trembling for a few moments, Rene suddenly clenched his fists. His once terrified face smoothed over, giving way to a sinister sneer that looked like it belonged on a villain. Without saying a word to Cleo, he turned on his heel and began marching toward the city gates.

"Hey! Where do you think you’re going?" Cleo shouted after him.

"The capital! There’s no way in hell I’m letting that dragon tear my city apart. Besides, I’m going to prove to the entire world that I can beat that bastard dragon," Rene shot back snidely.

"What? Don’t be insane! Get back here right now!" Cleo yelled, breaking into a light jog to catch up to him.

"Hah! If you’re too scared, keep your nose out of it and stay right here like a shivering little kitten," Rene yelled back.

"What did you just say to me? I told you to stop! I’m the leader of this party!" Cleo shouted, her annoyance boiling over.

Rene completely ignored her demands. Cleo was forced to trail behind him as he made his way toward the gates.

"Hey! Rene!"

Despite Cleo calling out his name, Rene kept marching straight toward the exit, picking up his pace as if he were in a desperate rush. Cleo and the rest of the adventurers broke into a jog to keep up. Picking up her speed, Cleo finally caught up with Rene and jammed the shaft of her staff into the gap of his shoulder armor, forcing him to a sudden halt. Irritated, Rene spun around.

"What is your problem?! If you don’t have the guts to go to the capital, stop getting in my way!" Rene barked in annoyance.

Cleo didn’t offer a quick retort. Instead, her hand shot out, grabbing the front of Rene’s armor and yanking him down slightly so her sharp eyes locked directly onto his. There wasn’t a trace of a smile on her face, which looked as cold and frozen as Millfrost City itself.

"What are you actually trying to accomplish in the capital? Are you going there to help people, or are you just trying to act like a hotshot?" Cleo asked in an ice-cold, razor-sharp voice.

"None of your business," Rene replied, slapping Cleo’s hand away from his armor.

"It is entirely my business. You’re my subordinate, so don’t act recklessly. As the party leader, I’m making the call: we need to gather enough strength before we even think about confronting a legendary monster. If you go there alone, you’re going to die. You aren’t strong enough to take on Gemmeth," Cleo countered.

Hearing Cleo’s words, Rene’s eyes instantly shot bloodshot red and his jaw clenched tight. He glared viciously at Cleo, stepping up until he was inches from her face, leaning down so his mouth was right near her ear.

"Hah... what the hell do you know? For your information, I’m the Hero. My class is SS-rank Sword Saint. I obviously have more than enough power to defeat your pathetic calamity dragon. So don’t pretend you can stop me. You’re just a Royal Mage, so don’t you dare look down on me," Rene growled in a deep snarl.

Rene shoved Cleo back and turned to leave. But before he could take a single step, blam! a violent bolt of lightning crashed down right in front of him. Startled, he stumbled back a step and turned around. His eyes widened in shock as he saw Cleo levitating slightly off the ground, her entire body enveloped in crackling arcs of electricity, while the gem atop her staff glowed like a compressed power grid.

"What... did you just say?" Cleo asked, her head bowed low.

Realizing that Cleo was beyond furious, Rene drew his sword and dropped into a defensive combat stance. Cleo slowly raised her head, revealing eyes that sputtered with raw electrical sparks.

"You said I’m just a Royal Mage, and you’re the Hero with an SS-rank Sword Saint class?" Cleo asked in a low, thunderous growl.

Sensing an intense battle was about to erupt and with dark, rolling storm clouds suddenly gathering in the sky directly above Cleo’s hovering form the adventurers in Cleo’s and Rene’s party scrambled backward to create distance. Everyone else in the immediate area backed away as well.

"Just so you know... I’m an SSS-rank All-Around Sage. Compared to me, you’re a absolute nobody. You know, I’ve been needing a punching bag to vent my stress on for the past few days, and I finally got my turn. So I’m going to beat you to a pulp right here and now," Cleo said through her teeth.

Blam! Blam!

Cleo raised her staff, and two massive magic circles instantly formed above, raining down two thick pillars of lightning right in front of Rene. The sheer concussive blast knocked Rene flat onto his rear, his face instantly turning ghost-white. Cleo then spread her arms wide as her staff floated horizontally above her head, thick arcs of electricity tethering it to both of her palms. Her glowing, sparking eyes never left Rene’s terrified face.

"Royal Mage of the Lutherias Kingdom! Stop! You’re going to destroy the city!"

Hearing a loud shout off to her side, Cleo turned her head to see a knight struggling to approach her, looking utterly terrified. Cleo looked around her surroundings. Gasp! She realized that every single bystander was staring at her with faces filled with sheer terror, as if she were a monster. Sigh. Cleo let out a long breath, caught her staff out of the air, and touched back down on the ground. The crackling electricity vanished, and the dark clouds swirling overhead dissipated into nothing.

She bent down to pick up her wide-brimmed hat, which had tumbled off when Rene shoved her, and calmly placed it back on her head. She threw one final, piercing glare at Rene.

"Get lost. As of this exact second, you’re kicked out of my party. Whether you go to the capital, stay right here, or crawl back to Minatheras is none of my damn business," Cleo said firmly and sharply.

Cleo turned on her heel and began marching back toward the guild. The adventurers who made up her expedition party cast disdainful looks at Rene, silently blaming him for the entire mess, before turning around to follow Cleo. Rene, still sitting stunned on the ground, was completely speechless. He remained frozen in place for a long moment, but then, blam! he slammed his fist into the snow-covered cobblestones beside him.

"Damn it... damn it all to hell! Royal Mage? SSS-rank All-Around Sage? Bullshit! Why is everyone stronger than me?! I’m the Hero... There’s no point in me staying here anymore... It’s useless! I need to find a way to get my pride back, and for that, I need real power," Rene muttered in his head, his eyes bloodshot and his jaw clenching so hard his teeth threatened to shatter.

***

Meanwhile, back inside the guild hall, Cleo sat down at a wooden table and slouched over. She removed her hat, resting her forehead directly onto the cold wooden surface.

"I want to retire... I got kicked out of the kingdom just to track down Gemmeth, and now the capital of the Thetor Kingdom is getting attacked... I’m so exhausted... hic... It’s all Dion’s fault... I should’ve just tagged along with him instead of heading back to the kingdom back then... I regret everything," she thought to herself.

"Umm... Royal Mage?" one of the adventurers under her command asked timidly.

Cleo raised her head and was surprised to see two young children standing before her, dressed in shabby rags and looking like runaway slaves. She then looked at the adventurer, who had been missing from her side since that morning and had apparently just returned to the guild right when she stepped outside to check on the commotion at the gates.

"Who are they?" Cleo asked.

"They’re refugees from the capital of Thetor. There are still a ton of people waiting outside the gates trying to get in. Should we escort them back to Lutherias?" the adventurer asked.

"That’s out of the question. The roads outside this city are way too dangerous with a calamity dragon roaming around. They’ll die on the way if we try that," Cleo answered.

"Oh, what if we head down southeast instead?" the adventurer suggested.

"Hmm? Why? What’s down there?" Cleo asked, her curiosity piqued.

"I heard at the market that an employee from the Aetherias Trading Company who just arrived from the capital said there’s a slave settlement out in the southeast. They just came back from delivering a batch of supplies over there yesterday," the adventurer explained.

"Is that so? Now I’m curious... Is that information actually reliable?" Cleo asked, stroking her chin.

"I can’t say for sure... Oh, right! He also mentioned something really interesting," the adventurer added.

"What is it?" Cleo pressed, leaning in closer.

"He said a girl went along with them, accompanied by two ancient artifacts, just like those constructs we saw stepping into the guild yesterday," the adventurer recalled, resting a hand on the shoulder of the young child standing in front of him.

Hearing those words, Cleo shot up from her chair. Her face expressed total shock, her sharp eyes locking onto the adventurer so intensely that the man flinched.

"Is that true?! What did this girl look like? Was she wearing something like a pure white nun outfit, or what?" Cleo demanded, stepping forward to grab both of the adventurer’s shoulders.

"I’m not sure... He didn’t give me the full details, but those two round ancient artifacts were definitely traveling alongside her," the adventurer answered.

Cleo sank back into her chair, but this time she sat bolt upright. Her fingers tapped rhythmically against the wooden table, her eyebrows knotting together as everyone in the room could practically hear the gears turning inside her head.

"Tell me the exact location. We’re going there right now, and we’re bringing all those refugees waiting at the gates with us. Move out!" Cleo ordered, standing up with renewed energy. "Time to officially retire... Right, Dion?" Cleo muttered in her head, a faint, knowing smile spreading across her face.