Noctis Noir

After the end of the day, Astrid, Amelie, and Luna returned to the guild headquarters to sort out the inventory left and continue calculating the profit they made. Anna went to Mir to meet up with a client who wanted her to design a costume, while Lyria stopped by the Lamont Café to buy more tea. Christina's whereabouts were unknown.

As they sat at the dining table together, Astrid noticed Amelie's new headgear. "Amelie, what happened to that golden turtle hat you had?"

"Oh, Christina said it wasn't for mages, so she traded it with me for a more suitable hat." Amelie pointed at the stuffed sheep hat she had on now. "Isn't it adorable?"

"That's way less the value of the turtle hat you used to have. It sounds like you got scammed."

Amelie pouted. "I did not! Twinnie is not a scammer!"

"Still, you should probably get that hat back. You could sell it and get a way better hat than that one."

"I don't mind Twinnie having my golden turtle hat. This hat looks cute anyway!"

Astrid sighed and gave up. "Very well then." Her gaze landed on Luna this time. "You ok?"

Luna's cheek was flat on the table top. Her eyes looked as empty as a dead fish's. It was as if she realized that humanity was doomed to perish. "I didn't get to talk to him..."

"Isn't that because you stayed under the table?"

"Not only that, Christina was talking to him and they went away to spar. She's not even back yet! They could still be hanging out together."

"Maybe she had other business to do like Anna."

"I hope so."

The front door suddenly opened. It was Christina looking incredibly happy.

"Speak of the devil," Luna murmured under her breath.

"Twinnie is back!" Amelie clapped her hands together and ran to the door like a dog meeting its owner.

Christina had an ecstatic look on her face. "You'll never guess what just happened! Tank asked me to spar with him and taught me some new tricks with the sword. After that, he even gave me a tour of their guild headquarters. I got to meet all the other members. He even invited me to train with their guild tomorrow!"

"Wow! So lucky, Twinnie!"

A drop of sweat trickled down Astrid's cheek as she stared at Luna who went deeper into dead fish mode.

"Hey, Luna!" Christina approached the lady knight.

"Yeah?" Luna lifted her head a bit.

"Can I see your stats?"

Luna spoke unemotionally, "Sure, go ahead."

Christina took out her menu tablet and switched on player scan. She compared Luna's stats with hers. "Wow. My strength and agility points are much higher and I'm just a few levels below you," she said with a smile.

"That's amazing, Twinnie!" Amelie said cheerfully.

"Looks like you need to work on your stats and equipment, Luna."

Luna felt annoyed. "I'll be getting new equipment soon before the next preliminary round."

"I am back!" Anna entered through the front door with a huge smile on her face and suddenly stopped when she sensed the tension in the air. She was the type who could easily sense people's moods. Her smile immediately vanished. "Did something happen while I was away?"

"Hm? Nothing happened. We were just chatting," Christina replied calmly. "I'll be going to bed early tonight. I need the energy for tomorrow." She disappeared into the bedroom.

Anna walked over to the dining table. "Luna, the warrior beauty! What's making you feel down?"

Luna glanced at the bedroom door before answering. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Don't worry, Luna! I'm sure you'll become as good as Twinnie soon," Amelie said with a smile.

Luna's eyes narrowed. "Amelie, just shut up please."

"It's Chris! Why won't you call me Chris? Even Christina calls me Chris!"

"Will you stop saying her name?" The lady knight became even more annoyed.

Astrid sensed that the conversation was escalating into an argument. She placed two bowls of soup in between them. "I made this. Eat up."

The two tried a sip and immediately collapsed on the table. They were fast asleep.

Anna's jaw dropped. "Did you drug the soup?"

"I always keep sleeping powder and other poisons with me for emergencies." Astrid took out the bottle and smiled.

Suddenly, Anna was afraid of the guildmaster. "I... I see..."

"Hopefully these two will calm down by tomorrow," said Astrid as she watched the two sleeping guild managers. "Although I have a feeling that this won't end that easily."

***

The next day, they continued selling pizza at the Lamont Free Marketplace. More people showed up to try the legendary Pizza Noir, which was said to have a mysterious secret ingredient. No one realized that the secret ingredient was actually poison.

"Hmm? What is this, Pumpkin Girl?" Magnus suddenly appeared behind Lyria. He was looking at their flashy booth. Lyria noticed he wore a new set of dark blue clothes that made him look like a nobleman.

"It's pizza. Would you like to place an order?" Lyria replied.

He examined her from head to toe and smirked. "Nice outfit you have there. Can I have a picture with you?"

Lyria frowned. "That depends. Are you going to make an order?"

"I'll buy 1,000 slices. My guild needs it anyway."

"You get your picture after your order is complete."

Magnus shrugged. "Sure thing."

As Lyria prepared Magnus' order, Christina and Anna were busy unloading the fresh batch of pizza Amelie just dropped off. The scent of pizza was making Anna's mouth water.

"Where's Luna? Shouldn't she be helping us here?" Christina asked Anna.

"The guildmaster took her along to go farm for ingredients," Anna replied.

"Oh. I thought she was slacking off or something."

Christina stood in front of the priestess and held up a pendant. "Hey, I have a rare pendant for priests. I'll trade it to you for ten million gold."

Lyria had a look at the pendant. It looked exactly like the one she was looking for. "Is this the Sylph's Pendant?"

"Yup. It is."

For some reason, Lyria felt uneasy. She couldn't bring herself to believe that it was the real thing. It was so rare that no one sold it at the Lamont Free Market. She looked closer at the pendant. It was just as she suspected. It was a different one, the Siren's Pendant. They looked almost identical except for the small jewel in the middle. Thanks to Astrid's frequent discussions on expensive items and market prices, she knew this one was worth just five hundred thousand gold.

"How about it?"

Lyria pretended to smile and returned the pendant. "I'm saving up for something else right now. Sorry."

"That's too bad. I'll just sell it to someone else then."

As Christina went back to selling pizza, Lyria kept her eyes locked on her. Did she just try to scam me?

Whether it was a scam or a misunderstanding, she didn't know. She decided to keep her guard up when around Christina.