Tatiana nodded once before turning back toward the receptionist. "Hmm..." she murmured softly, then looked the woman in the eyes. "Can we accept the strongest mission available?"

The large woman behind the counter blinked.

"...The strongest?"

Her eyes slowly moved from Tatiana to Liam, carefully sizing the pair up from head to toe. Liam still looked pale from his injuries, his long white hair draped over his shoulders, and despite how handsome he was, there wasn’t anything about his current appearance that suggested he was in fighting condition. Tatiana looked even less convincing. She was beautiful beyond words, but she possessed the gentle appearance of a noble lady rather than a seasoned hunter. The receptionist had seen countless adventurers over the years, and if she judged purely by appearances, these two wouldn’t survive half a day outside the town.

Still...

It wasn’t her place to question customers.

Her responsibility was simply to assign missions.

Whether they returned alive or not...

That was entirely their own decision.

"If that’s what you want."

She turned around and began sorting through a collection of rolled parchments stacked behind the counter before eventually pulling out one that looked considerably older than the others. She spread it open on the wooden desk, revealing a hand-drawn map with forests, streams and hills carefully marked in black ink.

Her finger settled on one section.

"Around this region."

Tatiana leaned forward to study it carefully.

"A beast has been attacking farmers over the past two weeks. Livestock have disappeared almost every night, and several people have gone missing after wandering too close to the forest."

She tapped the marked location once.

"Our scouts believe it’s a Mid-Tier Spawn Beast."

Tatiana silently memorized the route before nodding.

"I understand."

The receptionist reached beneath the counter again before placing a smooth black stone on top of the map.

It was no bigger than the palm of a hand and surprisingly cold despite having rested indoors.

"What is this?"

Tatiana asked.

"A verification stone."

The receptionist pushed it toward her.

"Take it with you."

"When the beast dies, the stone will react to the remaining magical essence and change from black to red."

"Bring it back together with the beast crystal."

"That’ll be your proof."

Tatiana accepted both the map and the stone before asking the final question.

"...The reward?"

The woman answered without hesitation.

"Twenty silver coins."

Tatiana’s eyes widened.

Twenty?

Her heart skipped a beat.

That was...

A fortune compared to what they currently possessed.

The spider they had unknowingly killed earlier would have earned three silver coins had they claimed the mission first. Even the beast crystal alone had been worth only one silver coin.

Twenty...

That could comfortably support all seven of them for quite some time.

She carefully folded the map before turning toward Liam.

Since he still couldn’t understand the language, she patiently translated every detail for him, explaining the location, the beast’s estimated strength, the purpose of the black stone and finally the reward waiting for them.

Liam listened quietly.

Then nodded once.

"Sounds good."

He smiled.

"Let’s get moving."

Tatiana nodded, slipping both the map and the black stone safely into a leather pouch hanging from her belt before the pair turned around to leave.

They only managed two steps.

Then...

They stopped.

Two enormous men stood directly in front of them.

Broad shoulders.

Heavy muscles.

Thick beards.

They completely blocked the path leading toward the entrance.

Liam frowned slightly.

The doorway itself was wide enough for everyone to pass comfortably.

There was absolutely no reason for them to stand there like that.

His eyes shifted toward the two men.

Neither of them looked at him.

Their eyes remained fixed solely on Tatiana.

One slowly grinned.

Then casually pointed toward Liam before making a dismissive waving gesture.

"You."

"Leave."

His finger immediately shifted toward Tatiana.

"She stays."

Liam didn’t understand their words.

He didn’t need to.

The gestures alone were more than enough.

He slowly smiled.

Actually...

He laughed quietly under his breath.

"...Oh, for fuck’s sake."

Of all the days.

Why today?

He silently cursed whatever luck governed his life.

Couldn’t these idiots have picked tomorrow?

Or five days from now?

Or after he’d completed this mission and regained every ounce of his strength?

Why now...

When his body still felt like it belonged to someone else?

He sighed to himself.

"Seriously..."

"My timing sucks."

Tatiana’s expression had already turned ice cold.

She could clearly understand every filthy implication behind the men’s words.

The atmosphere around her began changing.

Very subtly...

But noticeably.

Then...

One of the men apparently grew tired of waiting.

He stepped forward with a disgusting grin stretching beneath his beard and extended a large rough hand toward Tatiana’s chest, intending to grab one of her breasts as though she were some object sitting on a market shelf.

Liam’s brows immediately furrowed.

Without thinking...

His arm shot forward.

Smack!

His palm knocked the man’s hand sideways before it could touch her.

The impact wasn’t powerful.

Far from it.

In his current condition, it barely carried any force at all.

But...

It was enough.

The man’s hand was successfully slapped away.

Tatiana froze.

Just a second earlier...

She had already been preparing to shatter the man’s entire arm.

Her fingers had begun curling.

Her muscles had tightened.

Her eyes had filled with murderous intent.

Then Liam moved first.

She stopped.

The giant man slowly looked down at the hand that had just been knocked aside.

Then...

He looked back at Liam.

His face filled with disbelief.

This pale-looking young man...

Who barely looked capable of standing steadily...

Had actually dared touch him?

His thick beard twitched violently.

Without warning...

His expression darkened.

He lifted one leg.

Then exploded forward.

Bang!!

Everything happened too quickly.

Not even Liam expected it.

The heavy kick crashed directly into his chest with enough force to lift him clean off the ground.

His vision blurred.

Air exploded from his lungs.

His entire body flew backward through the guild hall while every conversation inside the building came to an abrupt stop.

And standing where he had been only a heartbeat earlier...

Tatiana slowly lifted her head.

Her beautiful face had completely changed.

The gentleness in her emerald eyes vanished.

In its place...

Was something utterly terrifying.

Tatiana moved.

The instant Liam’s body left the ground, something inside her snapped. She didn’t hesitate for even the smallest fraction of a second. Her body exploded forward with terrifying speed, the wooden floor beneath her feet cracking from the force as she leaped into the air. The giant man had barely begun lowering his leg after kicking Liam when her knee came crashing upward into his chin.

CRUNCH!!

The impact echoed throughout the entire guild.

The man’s eyes rolled upward as every one of his massive muscles went limp for an instant. His feet completely left the ground, his enormous body rising into the air as though he weighed nothing at all. Gasps filled the guild hall from every direction. Nobody could believe what they had just witnessed. The quiet, beautiful young woman who had walked in behind Liam had just launched a man nearly three times her size completely off the floor with a single knee.

She wasn’t finished.

Not even close.

Before gravity could reclaim him, Tatiana appeared beside him again.

Boom!

Her boot slammed into his ribs with explosive force.

The sound of splintering wood erupted as his body became a living projectile, smashing through the guild’s double doors before the heavy wooden panels exploded from their hinges. Fragments flew in every direction as the man skipped violently across the street outside before rolling to a stop in a cloud of dust.

Silence swallowed the guild.

The remaining large man instinctively took one step backward.

Nobody moved.

Tatiana didn’t even spare them another glance.

She spun around and rushed toward Liam instead.

"Liam!"

She dropped beside him as he slowly pushed himself onto one knee. Blood trickled steadily from his nose, staining the front of his shirt, and although he was trying to keep a calm expression, the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed how much that kick had hurt. His current body simply couldn’t absorb attacks the way it normally could.

Tatiana’s heart tightened.

"I’m sorry..."

She reached toward him instinctively, but Liam gently waved her off.

"I’m... fine."

He definitely wasn’t.

His jaw remained tightly clenched as he slowly wiped the blood from beneath his nose with the back of his hand.

"...Don’t worry about me."

He forced a weak grin.

"Go."

"Give him hell."

Tatiana looked into his eyes for one brief second before silently nodding.

Then she stood.

The warmth vanished from her face.

She turned around and calmly walked through the shattered doorway.

Outside...

The large man groaned as he slowly pushed himself upright from the broken pieces of wood scattered across the street. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and one side of his face had already begun swelling from the earlier strike. His breathing grew heavier with every passing second.

Around him, people had stopped whatever they were doing.

Shopkeepers.

Travellers.

Merchants.

Children.

Everyone stared toward the guild entrance.

None of them had expected to witness someone being blasted straight through the building.

The large man finally lifted his head.

His eyes landed on Tatiana.

His entire face twisted with humiliation.

He...

Had been thrown around...

By a woman.

His pride burned hotter than the pain spreading through his body.

"I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!"

He roared loud enough for the entire street to hear.

His muscles bulged as he charged forward like a maddened beast, every step leaving cracks across the stone road beneath him. His fist pulled back, gathering every ounce of strength he possessed before driving forward toward Tatiana’s head.

Tatiana didn’t move.

Not until the very last instant.

She tilted her head ever so slightly.

The fist rushed past her cheek.

Missed.

Before the man could even register what had happened—

Crack!

Her elbow buried itself into the center of his chest.

The air exploded from his lungs.

His eyes widened.

His body folded involuntarily.

Tatiana immediately followed with an upward palm strike beneath his jaw.

Bang!

His head snapped backward.

He staggered.

She stepped forward again.

A kick slammed into his thigh.

Crack!

His leg buckled beneath him.

Before he could fall, her fist crashed into his stomach.

Boom!

His body bent around the punch as saliva sprayed from his mouth.

Every attack flowed into the next with frightening precision.

She wasn’t wildly swinging.

Every strike had purpose.

Every movement stole his balance before he could recover.

He desperately tried throwing another punch.

Tatiana caught his wrist.

Twisted.

The large man cried out as his body spun with the motion before she drove her knee straight into his abdomen again.

He collapsed onto both knees.

The crowd stared in complete silence.

Nobody...

Nobody had imagined this.

From the moment the fight began, the giant hadn’t landed a single meaningful hit.

He couldn’t.

The beautiful young woman standing before him wasn’t simply stronger.

She completely outclassed him.

Even the adventurers watching from the guild entrance unconsciously swallowed.

One quietly muttered,

"...She’s terrifying."

Another slowly nodded.

"I thought she was some noble lady..."

"I was wrong."

The giant forced himself back to his feet one final time.

His face had become swollen.

Blood covered his beard.

His breathing sounded ragged.

Still...

He screamed and rushed toward her again.

Tatiana calmly stepped into his attack.

Boom!

Her fist met his.

The larger man’s arm was violently knocked aside.

Before he could recover—

Bang!

Her knee struck his ribs.

Bang!

Her elbow smashed into his shoulder.

Bang!

A spinning kick crashed into the side of his head.

His massive body lifted from the ground once again before crashing heavily onto the street.

Dust rose around him.

He tried crawling.

He couldn’t.

Tatiana slowly walked over.

Each step echoed through the silent street.

She reached down.

Grabbed the front of his torn shirt.

Then effortlessly lifted the enormous man until his feet dangled above the ground.

The difference in size between them made the sight almost unbelievable.

The crowd simply watched.

Nobody dared interfere.

Nobody even spoke.

Tatiana’s emerald eyes had become frighteningly cold.

She stared directly into the man’s trembling face.

Then, in a calm voice that carried across the silent street, she said,

"Nobody..."

"...fucking hurts him."

Boom!!

Her fist crashed into his face with a thunderous impact.

The man’s eyes rolled backward instantly.

His body went completely limp in her grip.

Without another word, Tatiana released her hand.

He hit the ground unconscious.

Not a single sound came from the crowd.

Only silence remained as everyone stared at the sweet-looking young woman standing over the fallen giant, finally realizing that beneath her gentle smile hid someone no sane person should ever provoke.