Aldes immediately calmed himself. He took a short breath and exhaled it slowly. His body posture relaxed again.
"Yes," Aldes answered. His voice sounded deep from behind his white porcelain mask. "I want to make an adventurer card. And look around at the same time."
The man in the gray cloak folded both his arms in front of his chest. He stared intently at Aldes's all-black appearance.
"Ah. So you decided to enter the adventurer world."
The envoy of the Viona Kingdom nodded slowly.
"Why?"
Aldes tilted his head slightly.
"What do you mean why."
"Why do you want to be an adventurer?" the Viona envoy asked back with a very calm, flat tone of voice.
Why is he asking like that. What is his business. It is up to me what I want to be. No. Maybe there is another meaning, Aldes muttered inwardly. His brain processed the random question from the man in front of him.
"Why do you ask that?" Aldes returned the question.
The Viona envoy chuckled softly. He formed a faint smile, then turned toward the marble wall displaying the wanted posters.
"How old are you?" the man asked.
"Nineteen," Aldes answered, lying without hesitation.
The middle-aged man's eyes turned back to stare straight at Aldes for a few seconds. He observed Aldes's posture before finally turning his face back toward the row of poster papers.
"Trust me. It is not worth it."
Aldes stayed silent. He did not answer anything. He let the atmosphere fall quiet for a moment while waiting for the man to continue. Aldes already knew where this conversation was heading.
"My son was twenty years old when he decided to become an adventurer," the envoy said. He smiled faintly, but his gaze looked empty while staring at the stone wall in front of him.
"For a few years, he succeeded. He became stronger, of course. Completed many difficult missions. His name rose and he had great comrades."
The man fell silent for a moment. He took a deep breath.
"Until one day he took that mission."
The atmosphere around them felt very contrasting to the conversation. The trickling sound of the fountain and the clinking of metal glasses could be heard clearly from the other adventurers' tables.
"Before leaving, he promised me. If he succeeded, he would retire from being an adventurer. He planned to open a restaurant and marry one of his party members."
The man exhaled heavily.
"He did not return."
His hands clenched slowly at the sides of his gray cloak.
"When I heard the news that my son disappeared, I volunteered to the kingdom to go look for him."
The man's voice trembled slightly, holding back emotion.
"When I went to that place. In a snowy mountain. I found my son. He was hugging his future wife. With his lower body already gone."
"All of his party members died in a very, very tragic state." The man lowered his face. He closed his eyes tightly, as if trying to banish the bloody memory in his head.
"Not just my son. My friends. Even my family. Everyone who chose to be an adventurer died."
The man opened his eyes again and looked at Aldes.
"So, kid."
"Choose another path. You are still young. Enjoy the normalcy in this peaceful time that might not last long."
The man stared at Aldes with a serious look.
"Play with your friends. Confess your love. Do what you want to do other than being an adventurer."
"There are many interesting jobs in this world besides being an adventurer."
Aldes stayed silent. He looked toward the row of mission boards in front of him. He daydreamed for a few seconds, digesting the series of tragedies from the stranger in front of him.
"Thank you for the warning," Aldes said flatly. He turned back toward the envoy. "Are you an adventurer. What are you doing here right now."
"I used to be. Now I work for someone," the Viona envoy answered casually.
"Did you come here to take a mission?" Aldes asked again.
The man shook his head.
"No. I came here to find an adventurer willing to deliver a letter for me."
"A letter?" Aldes repeated that one word.
"Oh. You already made a friend, huh, Zakra," Illfa said from behind.
The red-haired girl walked closer while carrying two wooden glasses filled with hot chocolate. White steam billowed into the air from the surface of the drinks. Her casual steps slowly stopped when her eyes accidentally recognized the facial profile of the middle-aged man standing in front of Aldes.
If I am not mistaken, that person is the Viona envoy. Why is the Viona Kingdom envoy here, Illfa muttered inwardly. Her shoulder muscles immediately tensed in alertness.
"Oh." The Viona envoy raised one eyebrow. He looked at Illfa from top to bottom with a slightly cynical gaze. "Who is this beautiful girl. Is she your girlfriend?"
"G-Girlfriend?" Illfa's eyes widened perfectly round. She pulled her face back slightly with half-open lips.
Aldes raised one eyebrow behind his porcelain mask. His brain worked extremely fast.
He nodded calmly.
"Yes. She is my girlfriend."
Without giving any signal, Aldes stepped closer to Illfa. He slightly lifted the bottom part of his porcelain mask up to the bridge of his nose. Aldes tilted his face, then pressed his lips against Illfa's right cheek.
Illfa's body instantly stiffened like a stone statue. The wooden glass in her hand tilted slightly, causing a drop of hot chocolate to spill onto the marble floor. The girl's face turned bright red in a matter of seconds. She stood rooted to the spot, unable to say anything.
"I see," the Viona envoy said. He formed another faint smile.
"Sir. Sorry to interrupt your time." A neatly uniformed association staff member stepped closer to the envoy. The staff member bowed politely. "There is an adventurer willing to take your mission."
The Viona envoy took another deep breath after hearing the report. He stepped forward toward Aldes and patted the shoulder of the young man's black cloak.
"Good luck," the man said firmly.
He then turned around and walked away following the staff member's direction.