Soren stared at the men surrounding him, his brows twitching slightly as he took in their drunken, greedy smiles.
'...Right, I should've expected this.'
Most of the adventurers around him were either drunk or out of their minds, staring at him with lustful eyes, or sizing him up as an easy target to scam, and their numbers were only increasing as time passed.
None of it was surprising, really.
The guild hall had the same chaos as a bar after all, loud laughter, sloshing mugs, and people who looked like they hadn't seen a bath in weeks.
He sighed quietly.
'I was too naive.'
Even after everything that had happened since the academy started, he still tended to assume people were mostly decent, that if he treated them politely, that they would do the same.
But that was wishful thinking.
This wasn't Earth, where a culture of polite indifference had been built up over time.
This was Ivansia.
And here, strength meant everything.
"Hey, sweetheart," one of the men slurred, leaning in with a grin that showed several missing teeth. "You new here? Why don't we show you around, huh?"
Soren blinked slowly.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'll be fine. I'm just taking some low-rank quests for now."
A man's grin widened.
"Low rank? Oh, come on. Pretty thing like you doesn't need to dirty those hands. We'll do the work. You just… repay us in other ways."
Laughter erupted from the group behind him.
"Yeah, let the big boys handle it!" another said, his eyes sweeping shamelessly up and down Soren's slender frame. "You can't even lift half the things on those requests anyway!"
"It'd be a shame to see such a cute face wasting away on guts and dirt."
The words oozed with mockery and filth.
Soren's lips tightened, and he took a quiet breath, forcing himself to keep his tone even.
"I said I'm not interested."
But the men only laughed harder.
"Come on, don't be like that," one said, stepping closer. "We're just trying to help."
"Yeah, yeah. What he said. You'll change your mind soon enough. Ain't a girl here who can handle the wilds alone."
Soren closed his eyes for a second.
'Guess this isn't going to work, huh?'
He was trying to be kind and polite to prevent things from escalating, but no matter what he said, these men weren't going to take no for an answer.
When he opened his eyes again, the warmth had vanished.
His crimson gaze had turned sharp and cold, cutting through the laughter like a blade.
"Piss off."
The men froze.
"What was that, sweetheart?"
"I said piss off. I'm not interested." Soren repeated, his voice flat and icy.
The tallest of the group scowled, clearly not used to being told off by someone who looked as delicate as Soren did.
"You've got a dirty tongue for such a pretty face." He reached out, his hand moving toward Soren's shoulder. "Relax, will ya? No need to get mad—"
"Touch me and I'll burn your dick off," Soren said, an orange light flickering in his palm.
The man's hand stopped mid-air.
For a moment, silence blanketed the hall.
Then someone coughed awkwardly in the background, and another took a step back.
Even as drunk as they were, they could feel it, the faint pressure that seeped out from Soren.
It wasn't much, barely enough to shake the air, but it carried a dangerous edge, like a blade hovering just above their skin.
The man who had reached out swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.
"W-We were just kidding around, no need to—"
"Oh, shut up already," a new voice interrupted.
All heads turned.
A group of women was approaching from across the hall, their expressions a mixture of irritation and boredom.
The one in front had long, deep purple hair tied into a loose braid and bright green eyes that shimmered with amusement and exasperation.
"Seriously? You lot again?" she said, hands on her hips. "Can't you do anything different for once? I swear, every week it's the same thing, a new recruit walks in, and you idiots start drooling like dogs."
The men visibly shrank under her gaze.
"M-Morrigan, we were just—"
"Just what?" she snapped. "Harrassing someone because you've got nothing better to do? Pathetic."
Behind her, the rest of her party, four other women, stepped forward, forming a loose circle around Soren.
"Move along, boys," said a tall elf with shoulder-length green hair and grey eyes, crossing her arms. "Before I make you."
"Y-Yeah, fine, whatever," one of the men muttered, backing off.
"Crazy bitches…"
"Still better than drunk pigs like you," another woman said under her breath.
Soren remained silent throughout the entire exchange, his crimson eyes flicking from the group of women to the retreating men.
'They're misunderstanding again…' he thought tiredly. 'They think I'm a woman.'
He considered correcting them, but the idea of explaining himself in front of half the guild made his head hurt.
Besides, the misunderstanding had actually helped him, even if unintentionally.
Once the men finally slunk away, the purple-haired woman turned back to him, a faint smirk tugging at her lips.
"You okay?"
Soren gave a small nod.
"Yeah. Thanks for the help."
She chuckled softly.
"Help? If anything, we saved those idiots. Anyone could see they were the ones in trouble."
A quiet laugh escaped him.
"...Who knows."
Her smirk widened.
"Knew it."
The tension melted as quickly as it had come.
The women who had been surrounding him lowered their guard and stepped back, giving him some space.
Then the purple-haired woman extended her hand.
"Morrigan. Leader of Witch Hunt."
Soren blinked, then shook her hand lightly.
"Soren."
"Pretty name," said another of the women, a bubbly blonde with bright blue eyes. "I'm Alice! That scary one earlier is Hannah, our archer. The quiet one over there is Amber."
Amber, the cloaked woman, gave a subtle nod without saying a word.
"And I'm Soni!" said a short cat beastkin girl with light blue hair, her tail swishing lazily behind her. "Nice to meet ya, Cutie~"
Soren gave a polite smile, pretending not to notice how Soni's yellow eyes sparkled with amusement.
'Oh great… another Essy.'
Morrigan gestured toward a table near the bar.
"Come on, let's sit. You look like you could use a drink."
Soren hesitated but followed, reasoning that refusing might seem rude considering they had helped him.
They settled around a round wooden table.
Morrigan flagged down a server and ordered a few drinks and food.
The hall was loud, but somehow their little table felt comfortable, perhaps because everyone else seemed to steer clear of Witch Hunt's table.
"So, Soren," Morrigan said once drinks arrived, "what brings you to the Guild? Not exactly the usual hangout for… well, people like you."
"People like me?"
She smirked.
"You don't exactly look like someone who enjoys getting dirty. No offence."
Soren took a small sip of his drink and smiled faintly.
"None taken. I'm a student at Stellaris Academy. You may have heard, but some students died not long ago. I thought I'd spend my break gaining some experience."
"Ah, an academy girl, huh?" Alice said, eyes sparkling. "That explains why your skin's so nice. I'm so jealous!"
Soren sipped his drink with a tired expression.
'At this point, should I just wear a badge that says 'I'm a guy!' in massive letters?'
He briefly considered the idea before steering the conversation away.
"I also need some money," he added.
"Fair enough," Morrigan said, running her finger along the edge of her mug. "Fighting and coin. Two things adventurers never get enough of."
They chatted idly for a while until food arrived, and the conversation shifted from casual gossip to stories about hunts gone wrong, tavern fights, and strange monsters.
Even Soren found himself laughing once or twice.
It was nice.
Eventually, Morrigan set her mug down and looked at him thoughtfully.
"You planning on adventuring alone?"
"For now, yeah."
She frowned slightly.
"That's dangerous. Especially for a woman."
Soren blinked but didn't correct her.
"There's plenty out there who'd target you for your belongings," she continued, her tone darkening, "and even more who'd target you for… other reasons."
The table fell quiet for a moment, the others exchanging knowing glances.
Morrigan sighed and leaned forward.
"How about this? Why don't you join us? Temporarily, that is, at least until the end of summer break."
Soren opened his mouth to decline, but she raised her hand before he could speak.
"Before you say anything, hear me out. We can register you as a temporary member of Witch Hunt. Even if it's only on paper, it'll keep you safe. Anyone stupid enough to touch you will be marked as an enemy of our party, and we're Gold-rank. That kind of mistake doesn't end well for people."
Soren hesitated.
"Why go that far for me?"
Morrigan gave a bitter laugh, her green eyes softening.
"Because we know how hard it is to be a woman in this line of work."
The others nodded in agreement.
Soni flicked her tail and sighed.
"You wouldn't believe how many creeps there are in this city. I almost bit a guy's hand off last week."
"Almost?" Alice teased.
"Okay, fine, I did bite him, but he deserved it."
Hannah, the elf, smirked faintly.
"I once woke up to find a man trying to 'inspect' my… 'equipment' while I was sleeping."
Amber spoke quietly from under her hood.
"O-One of my old parties tried to sell me to a noble… I… I had to kill them all to escape."
The table fell silent at that, but none of them looked shocked, only grim.
Soren felt his chest tighten.
'They've all been through hell…'
And here he was, sitting among them, feeling guilty because they thought he was one of them.
He lowered his gaze slightly.
'I didn't lie to them. They just misunderstood. But still…'
But then he remembered what he had resolved earlier, that he couldn't afford to be so naive anymore.
If using this misunderstanding would make things easier and safer, then so be it.
Morrigan must have noticed his conflicted expression because she suddenly slapped him on the back, making him flinch.
"Don't look so guilty," she said with a grin. "It's no burden to us. We do this all the time for new girls. It's better than watching someone's innocence get crushed by the scum in this city."
Soren blinked, then gave a quiet laugh.
"I see."
"So, what do you say?" she asked, extending her hand once again. "Want to join Witch Hunt, at least for the summer?"
He stared at her outstretched hand for a moment, then, slowly, he smiled.
"Sure," he said, reaching out and grabbing it. "I'll be in your care."
Morrigan grinned.
"Good girl," she said playfully.
Soren's smile twitched.
'She doesn't know… right?'
The rest of the party cheered lightly, clinking their mugs together in celebration.
And as the laughter filled the air again, Soren leaned back in his chair, letting out a quiet sigh.
'So this is my life for the next month and a half, huh?'
But strangely enough, it didn't feel bad.
At the very least, it was better than the suffocating Arden estate.
In a place like this, he felt like he could breathe.
Even if it was only temporarily.
————「❤︎」————