The vineyard was a peaceful, sun-drenched place, a world away from the oppressive gloom of the Murkwood or the tense scrutiny of the guild. The owner, a weary man named Corbin, pointed to a massive, pulsing nest hanging from an ancient oak at the field's edge. "They're not normal, son. Big as your hand, and their stings make the vines wither overnight. Please, be careful."
Kaito nodded. This was the kind of simple problem he understood. A clear target, a clear goal.
He approached the nest. The hornets were indeed massive, their bodies shimmering with a faint, aggressive mana. They swarmed out, a buzzing cloud of iridescent wings and needle-sharp stingers.
He didn't need the staff. He didn't need grand terrakinesis. He simply raised a hand and focused a Targeted Energy Siphon on the swarm itself. He wasn't draining their life, just the excess mana that made them aggressive and oversized. The furious buzzing softened. The hornets, confused, slowed their assault, their glowing aura dimming. They drifted back towards their nest, their threat neutralized without a single one being killed.
It was quick, clean, and efficient. Exactly the kind of "pacification" his title suggested.
But he was not alone.
From the cover of a nearby hedgerow, two low-ranking adventurers—a wiry scout named Finn and a burly warrior named Grigg—watched, their eyes wide. They'd heard the rumors about the meteoric B-ranker and had followed him out of morbid curiosity.
"See? I told you!" Finn whispered, elbowing Grigg. "He didn't even swat 'em! Just... waved his hand and they calmed down. How's he do that?"
"Witchcraft," Grigg grunted, hefting his axe uneasily. "No normal magic looks like that. It's not right."
They watched as Kaito collected his proof—a small, now-docile hornet in a jar provided by Corbin—and accepted the man's tearful gratitude and pouch of silver coins.
---
Back at the Guild - Evening
The guild hall was packed and loud. Kaito made his way to the counter, where Lyra was managing the chaos with her usual bright efficiency.
"Back already, Kaito?" she said with a smile, taking the jar. She peered at the calm hornet inside. "And you brought one back alive? Corbin's runner just arrived, said his vineyard is saved. He called you a 'miracle worker'." She stamped his completion slip and pushed his reward across the counter. "You're making quite a name for yourself."
As he turned, he heard snippets of conversation from a nearby table where Finn and Grigg were holding court, already deep into their cups.
"...I'm tellin' ya, he just looked at 'em and they went tame!" Finn slurred.
"Didn't cast a spell,didn't chant nothin'," Grigg added, shaking his head. "It's unnatural, is what it is."
"Aye,"another adventurer chimed in. "Jumps from F to B in a week, and now he's got the Hero himself noticin' him? That ain't luck. That's somethin' else."
The tone wasn't full of awe, like after the Murkwood. It was a lower, uglier sound—a mix of jealousy, suspicion, and fear of the unknown. He wasn't a celebrity; he was a freak.
He saw Seraphina seated at a corner table, a book open in front of her. She wasn't looking at him, but he knew she was listening. She heard the same whispers he did. Her lack of reaction was more telling than any stare.
Kaito quickly left the guild, the silver coins feeling dirty in his pocket. He had completed another successful quest. He had helped someone. But with each success, the walls of his world grew tighter, and the voices of the crowd grew louder and less friendly. He was solving small problems, but he was creating a much bigger one: himself
-----
The Walls Close In
The walk back to the Oakwood Lodge was no longer a quiet respite. Kaito felt eyes on him from the shadows of alleyways, heard his name muttered by city guards who nodded to him with a new, wary respect. He was a known quantity now, and it was suffocating.
His room, once a sanctuary, now felt like a cage. He sat on the bed, the silence pressing in on him.
[Sage, they're all talking about me. They're afraid of me.]
[Analysis: Social integration is failing. Your rapid advancement and unexplained methods violate this society's understanding of progression, breeding distrust. Recommendation: Maintain course. Explaining your nature is not a viable option.]
[I don't want them to be afraid!] he thought, a surge of frustrated sadness overwhelming him. He wasn't a monster. He was just... himself. But "himself" was something this world had no box for.
A sharp, official knock rattled his door. His heart leaped into his throat. Had the Castellan summoned him again? Had the guild decided to investigate him?
He opened the door to find a young page in the livery of the City Watch, not the Castellan's personal guard.
"Message for the adventurer Kaito," the page said formally, handing him a small, high-quality parchment sealed with wax, but not the official seal of the city. This was different.
Breaking the seal, Kaito read the elegant, precise script.
Adventurer Kaito,
Your unique talents are the subject of much discussion. Discussion, however, is a poor substitute for data. I propose a meeting away from the noise of the guild. I have questions. You, I suspect, have need of a... contextual understanding of the forces you are engaging with.
The Azure Willow Teahouse, tomorrow, one hour past noon.
Come alone.
There was no signature, but none was needed. The phrasing, the intelligence, the sheer, bold presumption—it could only be Seraphina.
She wasn't waiting and watching anymore. She was making her move. She was offering to talk, but on her terms. It was an invitation that felt like a summons.
[This is a high-risk interaction,] [Sage] stated. [Subject Seraphina's analytical capabilities are significant. The probability of maintaining your narrative under direct, focused inquiry is low.]
[I have to go,] Kaito thought, his decision instant. He was tired of being a mystery, a subject of whispers. If someone, even someone as terrifyingly intelligent as Seraphina, was willing to talk instead of just stare, he had to try. He was lonely. And a lonely child, even one with infinite power, will grasp at any offer of connection, even from the spider at the center of the web.
He folded the note, his hands trembling slightly. The simple quests, the gold coins, the rank advancements—it all felt like a prelude to this. Tomorrow, he would step out from behind the curtain of his own making and meet the gaze of the one person who seemed to have been reading the play all along.