"Say yes, you fool!"

A veteran warrior shouted from the back, leaning over his ale. Another staff member, a young man usually buried under stacks of parchment, came rushing out from behind the mail sorter. He was breathless, his eyes wide as he hissed in a frantic whisper,

"Are you crazy?! That’s the man who ignited the Eternal Ember! You’d be set for life! Think of the rank progression! Think of becoming the legendary party member of a hero... think of the glory! Think of the HISTORY!"

The room erupted into a chorus of voices, all of them trying to convince her, push her, or shame her into accepting. To them, it was the opportunity of a thousand lifetimes. To Maddy, it was a golden collar being held out by a smiling idiot.

She slowly turned around, her face still partially obscured, but the sheer, cold irritation radiating from her was palpable. She looked at the guild staff, then at the gawking adventurers, and finally at Johnn, who was standing there with that same hopeful, puppy dog expression, completely unaware that he had just made her the most targeted woman in the kingdom.

"Please..."

Maddy’s eyes narrowed. She had two choices: walk out and starve in the shadows of a city she had already "cleared," or take the hand of the sun and use his light to hide her darkest secrets.

"You really don’t know how to take a hint, do you, Johnn?" she said, her voice low and dangerous.

The pressure in the room was suffocating. It wasn’t just the smell of sweat and cheap ale anymore; it was the collective, desperate hope of a hundred people who viewed this as a fairy tale unfolding in real-time.

Johnn didn’t just stand there. He practically scrambled toward her, closing the distance with a frantic energy that nearly knocked over a nearby table. He dropped to one knee, not in a formal knight’s salute, but in the desperate plea of a man who realized he was about to lose the only competent person he’d met all week.

"Listen to me!"

Johnn urged, his voice dropping the public bravado for a moment of raw, logical pleading.

"If we’re a party, the guild rules don’t apply to you the same way. I’m registered as an SSS rank. My authority bleeds into yours. You want to clear the Robot Ruins? Done. You want to hunt the Mythic Monsters? We go tonight! You can take any job, and the pay will be ten times what you’re used to!"

Johnn stayed on one knee, his eyes wide and shimmering with a desperate, puppy dog intensity. He looked less like the "Chosen Hero of the Golden Flame" and more like a stray dog begging for a scrap of attention or in this case, a miracle worker to carry his team.

Maddy didn’t move. She looked down at him with a flicker of visible distaste, her maternal mask nearly slipping to reveal the predator beneath. But on the internal comms, she felt a slight, smug pulse of data from her system. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

[Analysis: Proposal accepted by logic. Partnering with the ’Hero’ provides 100% immunity to guild investigation and unlimited access to restricted zones. He is the ultimate camouflage.]

She muttered to herself, the words echoing only in the silent space she shared with Lucy.

"Even Lucy is in my ear telling me to take the deal... yeah, it’s true. High rank access, zero suspicion, and enough gold to buy every resource in this damn nation."

She looked down at the top of Johnn’s head. His hair was messy, and he was vibrating with an almost physical need for her to say yes.

"I know it’s the logical move," she continued, her thoughts darkening. "But this kid... he’s a total disaster. He’s a loud, overly enthusiastic, horny young boy who probably can’t go five minutes without causing a scene or making eyes at anything that breathes. He’s a walking ’no no’ for my sanity."

But then, Johnn looked up. He didn’t just look at her; he peered toward the shadows of her hood with a gaze that was disturbingly sincere. There was no mockery in his expression, only a raw, star struck admiration that bordered on worship.

It was the look of a man utterly, hopelessly lost... a man who needed someone. Not a hero, just her.

"Please..."

Johnn whispered, his hand hovering near the hem of her cloak, not quite daring to touch it.

"I’m the Hero, sure... but I have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t even understand why I’m so drawn to you... and—you’re the only one I can think of. The only one I want to be with."

His voice trembled, raw and unguarded.

"You don’t look at me like I’m important. Not like I’m a hero. You never changed the way you see me, even after I ignited those golden flames. To you... I never became anything different."

He swallowed hard, the confession catching in his throat.

"And that’s exactly why I want... to be with you."

He swallowed hard, his voice breaking.

"Please... I’ll give you all the credit. I’ll give you all the gold. You could even just think of me as a dog following you around on a quest, doing its own thing. You don’t even need to mind me. Just... accept me."

The guild fell into a stunned, tomb-like silence. The "Hero of the Golden Flame" wasn’t just recruiting a party member; he was surrendering himself to her.

But as John waited for a benediction, Maddy’s face didn’t soften into maternal pity. Instead, her expression became increasingly sour, her brow twitching with a mix of irritation and genuine disbelief.

"F*ck this boy, he is way too dramatic!"

She let out a long, weary sigh, the kind a mother uses when a child has made a scene in the middle of a crowded market. She didn’t take his hand immediately. Instead, she flick her chin up signaling him.

"Get up, Johnn. A ’Hero’ shouldn’t be down in the dirt. If you’re so determined to follow me around, then stop making a scene and act like you have some sense. And stop saying you can be a dog. You shouldn’t speak of yourself so lowly... you are the hero of this nation."

John’s face lit up.

"SO??? You accept?"