Extra's Rise: I Stole All The Women In The Hero's Party-Chapter 122: Uhm... Awkward?

The adventurer’s guild door creaked open with the dramatic flair of someone about to announce their presence to the world... only for a random adventurer to sneeze loudly from one of the tables and completely ruin the moment.

Zayn stepped inside anyway, the morning light casting a soft glow behind him like he was the star of a soap opera titled "Regretfully Yours."

The rest of the party followed close behind — Tobias adjusting his glasses, Kara spinning her staff lazily, Bran grumbling about how early it was, and Elisse humming a cheerful tune that had no business being that cheerful after breakfast.

And then Zayn saw her.

Althea. The nice half-elf receptionist.

The one with the soft purple eyes, calm voice, and the unfortunate habit of vanishing after sharing an intimate night with someone.

Zayn’s breath caught in his throat.

His cheeks flushed pink.

He did not, however, turn around and bolt out the door screaming.

Which was... Progress in a way.

"Don’t stare too long," Elisse whispered teasingly beside him, nudging his arm with a sly smile though he could see the venom in it. "She might think you’re about to propose."

Zayn let out a nervous half-laugh that sounded like a squeaky cupboard hinge. "H-Haha, what? Nah. I’m just... uhh... taking in the architecture."

"You’re staring at the counter."

"It’s a nice counter."

Elisse gave him a look before skipping over to Kara, who had started a mini argument with Bran about whether cart missions were beneath them now that they were C-rank.

Zayn, meanwhile, had to face the music. Or more accurately — the receptionist.

He took a slow, hesitant step toward the counter like a man approaching a sleeping beast with a grudge.

Althea glanced up, and their eyes met.

Her lips parted slightly, as if to say something, then quickly snapped into a polite — but undeniably shaky — smile.

"G-Good morning," she said, the words nearly getting tangled in her throat. "Welcome back."

Zayn nearly tripped over his own feet. "Y-Yeah. Morning. Uh. Good."

There was a pause.

Not a normal pause.

Zayn cleared his throat. "Nice counter."

Althea blinked. "Thank you?"

Before the awkwardness could physically manifest as a third person in the room and slap him, Tobias strolled up beside Zayn and leaned over the counter.

"We’re looking for a decent raid mission. Preferably something outside the city. A goblin nest, kobold outpost, something that doesn’t involve escorting chickens."

Althea opened her mouth to respond, but then she remembered something and straightened quickly, trying to be professional.

"Actually," she said, glancing at Zayn again, "the Guild Master... asked to see Zayn. He left instructions. He said it was important."

Tobias raised an eyebrow and turned to Zayn, who blinked.

"Me?"

"Yes. Just you."

Bran grunted from the side. "What’d you do this time?"

"Nothing!" Zayn insisted, looking thoroughly innocent and deeply guilty all at once. "I haven’t even done anything in public lately!"

Tobias shrugged. "Guess we’ll go pick something local, then. No point waiting."

He turned to the board and began scanning the parchment postings, his finger gliding over a few before stopping.

"Cart escort. Within towns. Low threat, but quick pay. And we can grab lunch after."

"Oooh, lunch," Kara chimed in, poking her head in. "If it doesn’t involve monster goblins again, I’m in."

"Hey," Elisse called over, "We should try and get ingredients for slime soup."

"I think not Elisse," Kara retorted.

Zayn stood silently at the counter, the party’s voices buzzing in the background as Althea avoided direct eye contact, brushing invisible dust from the papers in front of her.

Tobias returned with the slip.

"We’ll take this. You," he pointed at Zayn, "go see what the Guild Master wants. And don’t get dragged into anything weird. I don’t want to find you halfway into a demon-slaying contract because you couldn’t say no to a scary old man."

"No promises," Zayn muttered, already feeling his nerves spike.

"Take care," Elisse said softly, giving him a look.

"Let’s go, people," Tobias said, already marching toward the exit.

The rest of the party followed, Bran grumbling and Kara still defending her opinion on soup. The door swung closed behind them with a jingle.

And then there were two.

Althea tapped her fingers against the counter, then stopped. Her fingers were trembling slightly.

"So..." she began.

"So..." Zayn echoed, scratching the back of his neck. "Long time no see."

Althea laughed softly. "Yeah. I... wasn’t sure if you’d even come back."

Zayn looked down. "I... I probably should’ve said something. I didn’t know what to say. That night was — "

"I left," she cut in, her voice quieter now. "I didn’t say anything. That was on me."

They stood in that fragile quiet, the kind where one wrong word might send them both spiraling into emotional confusion.

Zayn looked up. "I didn’t want you to think I was... trying to take advantage of you."

"I know you weren’t," she said, voice firm despite the nerves. "I just... panicked. It’s not exactly something I’ve done before. Being close like that. And I felt like if I stayed, I’d do something I didn’t want to do."

Zayn blinked. "Oh."

They stared at each other.

"I polished the counter to emotionally prepare for this conversation," Althea admitted with a tiny, almost embarrassed smile.

Zayn chuckled. "It’s a very polished counter. I felt that from across the room."

"I wanted it to shine with my regrets."

"Well, it’s reflecting mine too."

They shared a laugh, soft and honest.

The tension didn’t vanish completely, but it cracked enough to let something warm through.

"Isn’t the guild master calling me?" Zayn asked, glancing back toward the door like he expected a shadowy figure in a cloak to step out and start giving him life-threatening quests.

Althea’s eyes widened — just a little.

"Uh, no," she admitted, brushing a lock of blond hair behind her pointed ear. "That was... an excuse. To, um, spend time with you."

Zayn blinked. "Figures."

Honestly, he wasn’t even mad.

He half-expected a punch to the gut or a surprise dungeon boss whenever a beautiful woman spoke to him these days.

Getting dragged into what he assumed was a date? Honestly, not the worst turn of events.

"I’ll have someone cover for me," she added quickly, waving over a scrawny human kid in a guild trainee vest who looked absolutely terrified to be in the same room as multiple adventurers.