She whirled around—Nainai was already there, looking at her with wide eyes and a calm, almost innocent expression.

  “What the hell just happened???”

  Violet looked around in disbelief, trying to understand whether any of that had been real or just some bizarre hallucination.

  The guild door… Where did it go?

  Right in front of her, where the door should have been, there was nothing but a plain stone wall with a large, darkened window.

  Impossible…

  Instinctively, Violet stepped up to the window, rising on her toes to peek inside, only to see her own reflection staring back.

  “But you can’t see anything… and yet I’m sure I came out exactly from here…”

  Was it all just my imagination? Maybe I’m still asleep…

  She spun around—and found herself nose-to-nose with the dwarf, who was just standing there in the sunlight, stock-still, staring at her… with a huge bee perched right on top of his nose.

  Nope. Fully real.

  Overwhelmed by frustration, Violet tore open the envelope she had been given, desperate to understand what was inside.

  The first thing she pulled out was a large sheet folded several times. She opened it—and froze.

  “…A world map?”

  Looking closely, she noticed a little doodle scribbled in pink ink near the top edge of the map.

  “Is that… a cat?”

  The drawing was simple and childish, with long whiskers and a skinny tail. Beside it, a neat handwritten note read Meow-sama, with an arrow pointing to the creature.

  Aside from the map, the envelope also contained a copy of the contract she had signed, and a much smaller note, folded many times. Violet unfolded it.

  Inside was a single message:

  “Go north!”

  “What??? That’s it???”

  No clues, no context, no explanation.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Violet remembered the papers she had signed and felt panic rising fast.

  The contract!

  She pulled it out as well and skimmed the lines at top speed, reading out loud as an icy shiver crawled down her spine and grew worse with every sentence.

  It was a standard-looking mission contract… with no time limit specified.

  “The contract shall be considered fulfilled once (write name here) retrieves the aforementioned object.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!!! This is way too vague!”

  Her stomach dropped, her legs trembling. She hadn’t even had time to process what had happened, and now she was stuck with a signed contract in her hand—and a mission she knew absolutely nothing about.

  And then, that dwarf…

  Wait—maybe he knows something…

  Violet whipped around to face him.

  “You! Do you have any idea who those two were? Can you tell me what just happened?”

  No reply. Nainai kept staring at her, expression unchanged.

  “Can you even talk?”

  Maybe he has… issues…

  Violet’s composure finally cracked.

  “And you’re supposed to be my partner? You can’t even speak! And I don’t even know where I’m supposed to go or what I’m supposed to look for… This is awful…”

  She pressed a hand to her forehead as dizziness washed over her. Her legs went weak, and for a moment she felt herself close to fainting.

  Maybe I should just go back to the orphanage and talk to Célene…

  Inside the guild, Silvine and Marielle were watching the scene unfold safely from behind the magically darkened window.

  “W-well… it went fine, didn’t it?”

  Silvine, having removed her wig, brought a hand to her head to take off the net covering her real hair—revealing her flowing golden locks, from which divine motes of light scattered throughout the room.

  “Was all of this theatrics really necessary, my goddess?”

  Muryel, now without her hood, stared at the girl outside the window gesticulating frantically at the dwarf.

  “Well, it was fun, wasn’t it? And did you see how adorable little Violet is?”

  Muryel exhaled deeply.

  I can’t believe I let myself get dragged into this…

  “Wouldn’t it have been better to just be honest, my goddess? To tell her the truth?”

  Sigillaria jerked upright.

  “The truth? The truth would crush her, Muryel. This way is far better…”

  “But the girl is not ready! She’s not even a real adventurer!”

  “She’ll learn, Muryel. She has to learn.”

  “And so we simply let her go like this?”

  Sigillaria turned toward her assistant, looking genuinely puzzled.

  “Well… she has Nainai with her…”

  “Oh yes, the dwarf who can’t speak!”

  Those words made the goddess frown.

  “I detect a hint of sarcasm in your tone, Muryel. Is there something you’d like to tell me?”

  Muryel, who had always been unwaveringly loyal, faltered—struggling to maintain her composure.

  “I assume you’ll notify the Divine Council about what happened…”

  Like hell! If those snobs find out, they’ll have me scrubbing the divine bathrooms for the next ten thousand years!

  “No… that won’t be necessary, Muryel.”

  The assistant’s eyes widened.

  “Then what? What are we supposed to do now?”

  “Now? Now we wait!”

  Sigillaria turned to her assistant, gently taking her hands with a warm, reassuring smile.

  “Come now, don’t make that face, Muryel. Everything will be fine. After all, it’s her we're talking about…”

  Extending her arm forward, Sigillaria opened a second portal.

  “Well then, let’s head back before they notice we’re gone! It’s almost teatime, and I was gifted some biscuits from a pastry shop that just opened. I can’t wait to try them!”

  And with that, the goddess—followed by her ever-loyal assistant—stepped through the portal and vanished.