The silence in the Guild Hall grew heavy as the receptionist tapped her quill impatiently against the copper plates. Lyra was holding her breath, and Silvane was vibrating with the urge to just tell the truth.

  Kaito, however, simply smiled—the practiced, apologetic smile of a man who had forgotten his car keys a thousand times in a previous life.

  "Ah, my apologies," Kaito said, his voice smooth and sheepish. "Forgive an old man’s memory. I’m afraid my mind is often quite literally in the clouds. I forgot I’d tucked them away for safekeeping."

  He reached into the folds of his cobalt robes. His fingers glowed for a fraction of a second—a micro-burst of [Imaginative Construct]. He didn't just create cards; he reached into the local aether, found the "format" for the highest level of identification the Guild’s network could recognize, and manifested them in real-time.

  He placed three cards on the counter.

  They weren't copper. They weren't even gold. They were made of a shimmering, translucent obsidian that pulsed with a faint, rhythmic violet light.

  The receptionist’s quill snapped in her hand.

  The Reveal

  She leaned in, her spectacles sliding down her nose. "This... this is impossible. This is Abyssal-Grade obsidian."

  She read the first card.

  Name: Silvane Class: SSS-Rank Shadow Stalker (Rogue) Rank: Maximum

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "A... a Rogue?" the receptionist stammered, looking at Silvane’s heavy boots and the massive greatsword she was still leaning on. "But she’s... she’s carrying a weapon the size of a door. And she has the presence of a charging rhinoceros."

  "She’s very enthusiastic," Kaito explained gently, patting Silvane on the shoulder. "Her strength is so immense she often thinks she’s a Warrior. It’s a recurring clerical error we’ve stopped trying to fix."

  The girl moved to the next card.

  Name: Lyra Class: SSS-Rank Divine Saint (Priestess)

  "A Saint?" The girl looked at Lyra, who was trying to look "holy" but mostly just looked like she wanted to hide under the table.

  Finally, the girl reached Kaito’s card.

  Name: Kaito Class: SSS-Rank Archmage of the Origin Rank: Maximum

  The receptionist didn't speak. She couldn't. Her brain was experiencing a "Default Settings" error. Oakhaven was a sleepy town that dealt with D-Rank goblins and the occasional C-Rank forest wolf. Having three SSS-Rank adventurers appear at once was like a god descending to buy a loaf of bread.

  The Mental Patch

  As her mouth opened to scream for the Guild Master, Kaito’s eyes flashed with a subtle, shimmering silver.

  Click.

  He reached out and lightly tapped the counter, sending a ripple of "False Logic" into the air around her.

  "Now, now," Kaito said softly. "You remember us, don't you? We’ve been traveling for weeks. We’re just passing through on a very quiet, very private sabbatical. There’s no need to ring the bells or wake the Master. We just need a quiet place to work and a simple task to pass the time. In fact, you were just about to tell us that privacy is our utmost priority here."

  The girl’s eyes glazed over for a second. She blinked, her posture relaxing. The shock remained, but the "emergency" reflex was gone. It was replaced by a strange, calm certainty that these three legends were exactly where they were supposed to be.

  "Of... of course," she whispered, her voice dazed. "Privacy. High-level discretion. I... I remember now. You’re the travelers from the South. Forgive me, my head has been in a fog all day."

  She looked at the cards again, then back at Kaito with a mix of terror and reverence. "Since you require... 'discretion'... perhaps you’d like to look at the Restricted Board? We have some cases that have been sitting for years because nobody of your... caliber... has ever walked through that door."

  "That," Kaito smiled, "sounds like a very efficient use of our time."