--

"Dude, must you be suspicious of everything?" Alex frowned in dissatisfaction and crossed his arms. "We just need your help to accelerate the licensing process of my cousin. He already did the pre-registration online; only the biometrics are left." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Oh." Nathan blinked. Then he looked at Ren as if trying to confirm if Alex’s words were true.

Ren sighed; Alex’s chaotic nature really causes problems from time to time, but he nodded to confirm.

"If it’s not much of trouble, Sir, we’d greatly appreciate your assistance. If not, I’m fine going through the normal process too, no big deal."

"I see," Nathan sighed, sounding as if he were relieved. "And here I thought Alex was onto his usual shenanigans again, just dragging you along this time."

"Hey!" Alex tried to protest but was promptly ignored.

"Alright, fine. I’ll help you out; this isn’t much trouble at all." Nathan took out a device and continued, "Place your fingers in here, all of them, one by one. This will capture your fingerprints and will also prick your index finger to draw out a drop of your blood."

"Don’t worry, your blood won’t be used for nefarious means. I promise it will only be used to record your identity."

Ren nodded with that assurance. He was familiar with this since it was mentioned in the story. So, one by one, he inserted his fingers in the device that Nathan brought out. When it’s his right index finger’s turn, a needle pricked it and captured a drop of his blood.

That small wound closed up by the time he inserted another finger. It’s his natural recovery aided by the green lotus chakra that healed him right up. Nobody seemed to notice though.

"Alright, that’s it for your fingerprints. Now, Face ID and retinal scan. Look straight here; keep your head still; it’ll only take a moment."

Now might be a good time to mention that Ren was doing all of this while sitting in front of Nathan’s desk in his office. These tools that he’s using, he pulled them out of somewhere, possibly a personal system inventory, from what Ren guesses.

He just had this around for some reason, as if he knew that he’d be needing it. Ren intially thought that they’d do this somewhere else, but he was wrong. It looks like people visiting Nathan personally for this purpose happens quite often.

At least, that’ll be a good reason why he just had this equipment with him at all times.

Just as Nathan said, recording and registering his Face ID and capturing his retinal scan only took a moment.

"Alright, let’s see here..."

Nathan then moved to his computer and began typing away. His typing speed sure was fast, his fingers practically turning to a blur as they danced on the keyboard.

After a couple of minutes, with Alex certainly growing more impatient since he had to be still and silent, making Ren somewhat nervous that he’s about to do something crazy, Nathan exhaled loudly and said the following:

"Okay, it’s done."

Then, he pulled a card from the printer next to him. It was a license, Ren’s dungeon license.

"Oh!" Ren was actually surprised. "I thought..."

"That it’s going to take at least a day or two?" Nathan finished his sentence for him. "Well, usually you’d be right. It might even take longer if you didn’t come straight to me. But you did, and I’m me. I could do little things like this, no big deal. So yeah, here’s your license."

"Be responsible. Follow the rules. Prioritize safety over everything. If you must, sacrifice Alex to save your own life..."

"Hey!"

"...you’re more valuable than him. At most, your clan leader would mourn him for a while, but he’d be forgotten eventually. You, on the other hand, had a bright future before you. Other people’s limits are just your starting point. So again, pay attention to your safety. Don’t die before you grow to your full potential."

Alex’s protests were, once again, promptly ignored.

Nathan was joking, of course. He actually wasn’t serious about sacrificing Alex just to preserve Ren’s life. But he did sound serious when he said that Ren should pay attention to his safety, which is very thoughtful of him.

Whether he’s doing this out of routine or because he genuinely means it, Ren appreciates it, anyway.

"Alright. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, there’s none," Ren responded before Alex could speak. He stood up, bowed to Nathan, and said, "Thank you for your help, Sir. We appreciate it. If there’s a way for us to return the favor, please don’t hesitate to ask. So long as it’s within our capabilities, we’d do our best to help you out too."

"Damn...are you sure you and Alex are related? Seriously? If Alex had even half of your manners, I wouldn’t be this unwelcoming of his presence all the damn time."

"Whatchu say to me? You trying to fight me, huh!? Come at me, bruh!!" Alex feigned lunging at Nathan, but once again, his outburst was noticed, then ignored.

"Alright, off you two go. I need to return to work. Be careful on the road."

After saying this, Nathan shooed them away with his hand; his attention was once again immersed in his own screen.

Ren practically had to drag Alex out of Nathan’s office to leave the man alone. If he didn’t do it, Alex would surely continue bothering the man.

"How did you know Nathan, anyway?" Ren couldn’t help but be curious, so he asked Alex on their way out. "He doesn’t seem to be a fighter or a dungeon explorer, to be honest."

"Yeah, he really isn’t," Alex responded; he sounds calmer now. "But he used to be a party manager."

"A party manager, huh?"

Party managers were basically people who handle the legal and paperwork that comes with forming parties for dungeon exploring. The dungeons had their own rules, which must be observed and followed. Without these rules, the stability of the dungeon environment, the monster horde will go out of control.

If that were to happen, dungeon overflows would happen more often, and human civilization would be in deeper peril.

Back when party managers weren’t a thing yet, all the legal stuff and paperwork fell to the responsibility of the party leader. However, the further a party goes to the dungeon stages, the more hectic and dangerous it becomes. Sometimes, there would be casualties, and in those cases, it’s almost always the party leaders that choose to stay behind to open a path of retreat for the rest of the party.

Without the party leader, who usually does the paperwork, the parties become unstable and stagnant. Often times, they disperse to go their own ways.

With the party managers, the whole party can rest easy. Since they don’t have to be bogged down by all the legal stuff and the paperwork, they can just focus on their martial practice and their dungeon explorations. Party managers also reduce the risk of parties breaking off after the death of a member.

"He was your party manager?"

"For a time, yes." Alex nodded. "Our original party manager got pregnant and had to take a leave. Nathan subbed in for quite some time."

"He was a complete beginner, though. As in literally having no experience. In fact, it was his first day on the job when he came to us, and he was candid about it."

"We thought that we were in trouble, but it turns out that he was a nice dude and got some seriously sharp memory and a deep sense of responsibility. He asked questions when he was confused, and he always respected our opinions."

"He didn’t hold us back because he was a beginner. To our surprise, our performance didn’t even dip at all. Sure, it didn’t rise, but the fact that our performance didn’t decline with Nathan basically says a lot about his skills."

"Our performance also surprised our original manager. And because Nathan was very capable with his job, she extended her leave, comforted that we’re in good hands."

"He was with us for about a year and half before our original manager returned and took us back. We got close to Nathan, of course, with me mainly driving him insane with my usual shenanigans. But we also parted at ease. No hard feelings or any dramas. It’s just another episode at work, really."

"We didn’t lose contact, though. We kept in touch. Boss Lady told us to keep Nathan close, and we agreed."

"In the end, we thought that Nathan would pursue the party manager role, but he was transferred to this branch instead. It seemed to be a demotion at first, and we were ready to help him out. But to our surprise, he quickly rose to the ranks."

"He’s too good at his job, I guess. Before we knew it, he was practically running this whole branch."

"Even the oldest of the senior managers didn’t command as much authority and power as him. That’s why I said that he’s irreplaceable here. GMU’s desperate for people like him; there’s no way they’d let him go."