The adventurer's guild of Melromarc was busy today, it was the eve before the second wave of calamity would hit, many people of all shapes and ages were there preparing themselves for it after being called to it by the headmistress
All with the exception of three, the Three legendary heroes, Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki as they sat together at a table with some drinks as they just watched the place and the people there.
It changed a lot since their first visit, the place had been expanded and redecorated, what once looked like a pub for drinking and fighting was now much more civic and organized as it actually looked like an establishment where business was conducted, but the first floor retained the aspect of being a place to do some social gathering
They had the quests given a danger ranking as well as containing more information about what it was actually about. And they expanded beyond just monster slaying missions, now there were also job offers and requests for more minimal work like bodyguard duty or helping out small business and farms, the place had become less of a den for monster hunters and more like a center for handymen and people looking for a quick job, the majority was still adventurers but there had been a miniature boom in normal people joining the guild. And according to a rumor Itsuki heard, even job offers for less... Honest work, but he was never able to prove those rumors true
They also had more impressive technology for the period, like actual plumbing so someone could take a nice hot shower, indoor lighting that wasn't candle light, and typing machines and presses to produce documents faster
The changes weren't all good in the heroes' opinions as the place was more bureaucratic, as they and their team had to sign a contract and make what they saw as a "character sheet" with all their relevant information like age, level, stats, etc that they had to update every time they went up ten levels. And that shit was mandatory as they couldn't get quest without that being provided to the guild
There's also a limit on how many quests and missions someone could get per week, with the limit being five per person and ten per group, a decision made to avoid the occasion where a single person grabs most if not all the quests available. They cringed every time about that rule since they knew it was added because of them, just because they might've in more than one gotten every single quest in the board and left other adventurers without work for a week, and unfortunately their "hero privilege" only made it so their limit was 15 per week
They knew others didn't like these changes as well but weren't vocal about it, heck, they were legendary heroes that could probably get away with complaining and they didn't want to complain. Why? Because of the headmistress of the guild, a woman whose authority and power laid hidden under her misleading appearance, who could boss the other heroes around not only because of her position making her their handler that could very well hinder their growth in power more than it already has and that unfortunately they had to work and see daily because unfortunately... She was also a summoned hero, the shield heroine in fact
"It just doesn't make sense" Ren mummered as he held on to his drink with both hands as he eyed the room
"What doesn't make sense?" Motoyasu asked as he laid down further into the chair he was sitting
"How the heck did a simple business woman from Japan become the head of a guild of monster hunting adventurers and the strongest among us?" Ren asked the others as he still couldn't wrap his head around it, such an ordinary looking woman with the exception of her hair and eyes getting to the point where she had more power than the three of them. Sure they were all cardinal heroes but as the shield she was supposed to be the weakest, the most irrelevant, the most ignorable of them and yet it seemed like by the day she made herself the center of the web of their lives, heck, she made herself their boss and them her employees
Who was this woman in question? A beautiful woman who appeared to be in her early twenties. Her hair color was a light red, kept in a loose braid with bangs reaching just past her eyebrows and two longer side bangs that frame her face. Her eyes were yellow with several red rings inside them. She dressed like a modern office worker on the day that they were summoned, even after the month they had been here she still wore the outfit
Her name? Makima. She appeared on the surface to be a pleasant, kind, social, and friendly, seen almost all the time with a smile on her face and acts relaxed and confident, and with a voice as smooth as silk.
But she just freaked them out, at least Ren and Itsuki as Motoyasu was smitten by her. Those unnatural eyes of her made them shiver and send every type of alarm off in their heads, she was just so cold even when speaking in warmth. They couldn't tell if she even felt emotions, one or two of their teammates called her devil with disdain once in a while, and although they thought it was excessive it did oddly fit her
After all, how could one woman have amassed this level of power and influence in such a short period? They knew that in an Isekai world things tended to go either slow or fast but becoming head of one of the major organizations in the country in a month? That was absurd, the three heroes wondered if there was something like "beat the leader of the organization and thus you become leader" type of rule in place here, certainly would be fitting of a Isekai
"Whoa there, she's not the strongest between us. She's the shield" Itsuki said as he just couldn't accept something so factually wrong, the shield made whoever used it a weak and pathetic hero compared to them, it could only use support and defensive spells and skills not to mention that it made the user absolutely weak offensively with no capability for high damage thresholds or more than single target counter skills with poor range
"I can't see her levels, which means she is at least ten levels above me. I'm forty, and that was through grinding hard every day on the best spots against the strongest monsters" Ren pointed out, he avoided seeing the woman in the flesh as something about her made his sword shake, he didn't understand why his inanimate weapon reacted to her that way, but it must be him projecting his inner anxiety to her. She was scary, he felt like he was safe with her but also that she was too dangerous to be comfortable around, contradiction was the way he felt about her, it was like every interaction with her was a struggle to keep his freedom and not submit, but why he felt like that was the case was a mystery to him
"Shit for real?" Itsuki said as he bit his lips, he assumed she was way behind on levels than that, he was almost the same level as Ren, about 36, for her to be on level 50 this early was surprising. She didn't have the information they had, she didn't know the best grinding spots and what monster gave the most exp. So she either forced that information out of Motoyasu which seemed likely or she was using her power as guild master to get the most out of quests "She must be hogging all the good monster slaying quests, probably the high paying ones as well. Greedy pig"
"Hey! She's not a pig, but a goddess~" Motoyasu replied as he was soon thinking about that red haired woman, from the day they were summoned he was in love, such perfection in her body, lovely face, delightful voice, impressive proportions, all in a single package. It truly put other women to shame, not even the teammates he got could match her, Malty was probably the closest but it still didn't compare and it was clear she knew that as she called Makima all sorts of things like skank or devil,
Devil, something that he would never attribute to any woman ever oddly seemed to fit right at home with Makima, but if she was a demon, it was most definitely a succubus, the pinnacle of seduction. He always had a thing for cute and small blonde angels, but now he might be developing a taste for bursty adult red hair demons
He thought how unfair it was that their weapons repelled each other, otherwise he could have her by his side since day one, he liked to believe he could have won her heart over at this point, it was really unfair that such a damsel had to make it on her own with such an abysmal weapon.
Though all she was able to achieve alone was a bit surprising, it really did make it seem that he and the others didn't do much in comparison, and he also didn't exactly know how to feel about the dynamic they had, she was definitely a girl boss in the literal sense, she was always commanding the conversations, ordering others around and planning ahead, which was a problem because Motoyasu was very conflicted on this, he hadn't a problem with letting others do or decide for him of they were a pretty woman but something about Makima ordering him felt... Wrong? Like there's this voice in the back of his head saying to not trust her, it was probably because of how his last relationship ended, probably had no relation with the fact his weapon's gem glowed when she was close like an emergency light
"My problem is that a bunch of resources and experience is being wasted in a thrash weapon, though it doesn't help that it is attached to such a creepy individual" Ren stated, he did have problems with such power going to a worthless weapon, but the person wielding it didn't make it any better. Why couldn't the shield have chosen a loser or weeabo instead of such... Enigmatic creature
"Well she always did stand out, I mean, she has unnatural red hair and those weird but beautiful eyes." Motoyasu commented, probably being the only one there to find those eyes of her anything but creepy. But his comment about her eyes made Itsuki look away into the distance
Ever since they met he had a feeling about her, a hunch of her true nature. She was definitely an Esper, a human with a superhuman power just like him, but while he had a low power ability that simply improved his eyesight and aim, she definitely had a powerful and probably terrifying ability, her abnormal eyes most definitely played a part in that. He theorized it daily on what it could be, but with her recent achievements, commanding presence and how people obeyed her, a mind control power was most likely the answer, it was probably nothing like brainwashing or hypnosis, considering how small he felt when close to her and how intimidating she felt even though she didn't look the like, it might be a passive perception manipulation that made her seem like the supreme authority in the room
"So what? She's the protagonist?" Ren commented sarcastically and with disdain. No way in hell was that a possibility, she had much more final boss energy than the protagonist, although the unique hair and eyes definitely were a good indicative she wasn't just an average smuck. Through Isekai logic that would make him, Itsuki and Motoyasu the protagonist, unless Makima was either a reincarnation or had something occur before or during her summoning. He really hoped he wasn't a side character for someone's story
"No, she's the end goal. And I can't wait to score her for myself" Motoyasu said as he daydream about the two of them going on dates, spending time together, doing the naughty
"Good luck with that, I hear she's only into dogs. She has like six of them as her team" Ren said as he finally took a sip of his drink, from what he heard of her team, the implications were obvious
"And? What does she liking dogs have anything to do with my chances of scoring her?" Motoyasu was baffled slightly by the sword hero bringing such a random topic, sure he was more of a cat person but he could get along with dog lovers, that wasn't a deterrent for him
"There's your answer" Itsuki said as he pointed behind Motoyasu, the spear hero turned to see his beloved makima entering the main hall, along with her group... Of dog people, three men and three women all from different breeds. The bow hero got a lite chuckle from Motoyasu cursing under his breath, probably realizing what Ren implication meant now, but his happiness died as it gave way to displeasure hidden as indifference as she came to their table
"I'm assuming you three are making preparations for the wave. Or have you just come to enjoy the meantime?" Makima said, her tone of voice sweet but hiding something more sinister
"A knight informed us every adventurer was meeting in the guild, so we went to see what was going on" Ren told her and she simply nodded, clearly this was to her expectation
"Yes, they are all preparing to accompany me in the wave, from the information I gather they are a problem that would require large groups to deal with" Makima said as the other heroes looked at her surprised, she had called up all these people for the wave? She practically had a small army with her. With so many people the wave would be a walk in the park, but it also would allow her to gather the resources from the monsters and level up the many followers she has made, she had her six most loyal servants with the rest being assigned to various sub parties led, it would be beneficial to test the strength of these adventurers with this wave
"Oi, you went beyond the six party members limit? You know your exp will diminish and that the max is ten and there's like thirty people here" Motoyasu said as he looked at the many people there, for a small moment Makima's smile broke to let a small surprise look made itself known for less than a second
"Seems you three don't know about the squadron formation function" she said with her usual smile, pleased at their unawareness of such function of their weapons, just as they were about to ask her what that was, a person came to her and whispered into her ear before bowing and going away
"Ah, I have to go. The finishing touches for my armor are completed. I hope to see your performance in the wave" she gave them a simple hear nod as a goodbye and went away. The way she said performance freaked them, they could only assume she was going to take notes on how they fought the monsters like she was evaluating their capabilities as heroes, all they had to say about this whole matter was one word: Creepy