My Roleplay System
Chapter 139: Old Acquaintance

Chapter 139: Chapter 139: Old Acquaintance

Near the stronghold exit, a young man with fiery red hair and a chiseled physique sat on a bench as the gentle breeze rustled his hair.

As he watched the students pass by, a heavy sigh escaped him, a manifestation of his profound frustration.

"No one wants me as their guardian..."

Restless, Romero tapped his fingers impatiently on the bench.

He had been waiting at the exit of the stronghold for a few hours now, but no matter how many students walked by, they all avoided him like the plague.

"Your public image and reputation within the guild have plummeted."

The current situation caused him to recall his guild master’s disheartening words which caused his tapping fingers to stop.

"I know you’ve been working hard to make up for your previous losses, but I can’t afford to put you on any important missions right now."

"But sir, I’ve already broken through to the Martial Master realm. Keeping me out from higher ranked missions is just wasting the guild’s resources!" He had voiced his opinion. It was true that he had worked hard after the Star City disaster.

After figuring out his talent was not with the spear but with his fist, his training had advanced by leaps and bounds, and he had even managed to break through to the Martial Master realm within a short time after the incident.

However, it didn’t seem like his hard work was enough.

"Sigh... I know, Romero. I know all too well... But many people have long voiced their dissatisfaction with you, and I can’t simply ignore it, lest I want my authority and reputation as the guild master to be challenged."

Remembering the haggard face of his Guild Master when he said that, Romero felt a little pained. He knew that he must have already done everything he could for him.

His Guild Master was a kind man and a loving father. Their relationship was only that of a Guild Master and his subordinate on the outside, but to Romero, the guild master was also the father of his beloved.

"I hope you can work on some smaller requests in the meantime," he said. "Besides, Eliza has been feeling lonely since you’ve dedicated yourself to training. Take this opportunity to spend some quality time together."

Remembering the warm smile his guild master had given him when he said that, Romero couldn’t help but release another sigh as he watched the students pass by.

Since there was nothing he could do about the current situation, he had just been obediently following the orders he received from the guild for the past few months. It was mostly low-level assignments that even a Martial Apprentice could accomplish, but Romero still gave it his all despite this.

After the Star City incident, he had promised himself that he would never let something like that happen in front of him again. Thankfully, his efforts paid off, and he recently started getting assigned some more significant missions again, with his current mission being the latest.

The officials of the Academy had hired many high-ranking guilds for the sake of this exam, and Romero’s guild was no exception.

He was assigned to be one of the guardians responsible for protecting the students while they hunted in the field. However, it seems that he had underestimated how bad his reputation was.

Before he went to Star City, Romero was an extremely popular celebrity in the hunter world as one of the youngest and most talented hunters in recent times. He had many fans, and a lot of them were also young students who aspired to be hunters.

That was why when his recent failures were exposed, most of the students in the Academy had heard about it. Despite him being one of the few Martial Masters assigned for this exam, no one wanted to take the risk of accepting him as their team’s guardian after knowing about his recent failures.

"Hah... There goes another group. At this rate, I’ll be lucky if even one student decides to talk to me, haha..." Romero laughed dryly at his own joke as he watched student after student walk out of the stronghold gates.

"Hmm? I didn’t know there were fairies taking part in this exam..." Romero was surprised when he saw a new group of students arrive.

In fact, many hunters from the other guilds and passersby were also looking over curiously. The fairies were still a mystery to most people, having only been revealed to the public a month ago. That was why when they saw the translucent wings and gorgeous faces of the group, they all felt slightly amazed.

"The fairies certainly are as beautiful as the rumors. It seems like the world is becoming more and more of a bizarre place. It’s a shame that I won’t get the chance to observe them closer..." Romero whispered to himself in a self-deprecating tone.

As soon as he finished speaking, however, one of the students that was walking with the fairies seemed to look over to him.

Looking at those deep blue eyes, Romero felt that they looked a little familiar but didn’t think much about it.

He received many passing gazes in the past few hours, some curious, some surprised, and some a little scared, but they all ended with them walking away, so he didn’t find the student’s sudden gaze strange.

However, after a few minutes passed and Romero saw that the student was still staring at him, he started to feel a bit comfortable.

’Why is he staring so hard... Is he even looking at me? He seems to be looking a little bit over my head.’

As Romero wondered what he was up to, he saw that the student started to walk over to him.

....

’I didn’t predict that he would be here too...’ Looking at the shining golden fate above Romero’s head, Lake felt a little nostalgic after seeing his old acquaintance.

A few minutes ago, he had arrived at the stronghold exit, only to hear a familiar voice mutter something under their breath. When he looked over and saw the Romero, he was a little surprised.

He didn’t pay much attention to who the hunters that would be protecting them were, as he felt that they didn’t play that big of a role.

The hunters were only there to protect them in case of danger. So long as students could handle themselves during the exam, the hunters didn’t have to do much.

Since Lake didn’t plan on putting himself in any danger that he couldn’t handle, there was no need to think too deeply on who to choose as his team’s guardian.

However, after seeing Romero and his golden fate, Lake suddenly had a change of thought. If he could get the luck and destiny of someone with a golden fate besides him, Lake felt that his hunting operation would be a hundred times smoother, even if all they did was stand there.

It was also a good chance for him to start up his Golden Fate Farming Operation he had planned a while ago but didn’t get a chance to start.

As he thought of this, he looked through Romero’s fate, wanting to figure out what he had been up to in the past few months, but what he saw caused him to sigh.

Although he knew that competition was fierce and jealousy was common in a workplace such as a guild, Lake didn’t expect Romero to suffer such a heavy setback despite his increase in strength.

If Lake was the Guild Master, knowing the benefits that someone with a golden fate could bring to a team, Lake would have ignored all criticism and assigned Romero to all high-level operations.

At this thought, Lake took a glance at Kate. From what he observed, the Blackheart Guild was far better in this regard as the members were more united and under complete control of the Guild Master, which was also one of the reasons for their ranking in the top ten among the thousands of guilds.

As Lake walked in front of Romero, he extended a hand towards him. "It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Romero. I assume you’re a part of the guardian program for the exam?"

As Romero heard Lake’s words, he shook his hand and took the chance to observe Lake as well. Lake’s body had lost considerable muscle mass since he established his Mana Heart, so he looked quite weak and skinny, but the rich mana flowing through him made Romero think otherwise.

’With that level of mana, he’s probably at the peak of Mid-Rank Apprentice. Is this really a first year student?’ Romero was slightly startled after sensing Lake’s mana flow after having shaken his hand.

However, despite his doubts, Romero still replied to Lake, "Indeed."

"Then it wouldn’t be a problem for you to be my team’s guardian, right?"

’He’s the leader?’ Romero was surprised when he heard Lake’s question. He thought it would’ve been one of the fairies considering the current relationship between the two races, but he didn’t ask further.

"Sure," Romero agreed. "Are you leaving now, or do you still have preparations to make?"

"All preparations are already complete. I’d like to leave now."

"Alright. As per the rules, I won’t interfere with your hunting unless your life is in immediate danger, so you’ll be in charge of leading the way."

Lake nodded his head before turning to face everyone else. "Let’s get going."

"You still haven’t told us your plan?" Iris asked again with an irritated look when she saw Lake prepared to walk out the stronghold gate.

’He hasn’t consulted with his team yet?’ Romero frowned as he also heard Iris’ question.

He could see that the blue-haired fairy wasn’t the only one that was confused in the group.

’This group’s already off to a bad start if that’s how he’s leading it...’ Romero thought to himself.

Lake didn’t pay much attention to them as he continued to walk, "There’s a pack of wolves that resides in the hills to the east. We’ll be heading there first."

"We’re going to be hunting wolves?" Sylph, who had been unusually quiet all this time, finally spoke up.

"Hmm, not quite..." Lake replied with a mysterious expression.

Kate, who saw Lake’s expression, suddenly had a shiver crawl up her spine as she had a far deeper understanding of Lake’s character compared to the others.

’This exam involves our lives, he wouldn’t try to pull something crazy knowing that, right?’

As Kate’s face turned slightly pale at the thought, the group completed the final checks and finally left the stronghold.