After blaming everyone and everything for a while, Gildarts pulled himself together and strode toward the other end of the square.
But before he had gone far, he stopped again.
A slender figure with silvery-white hair suddenly stepped around the corner ahead.
The moment she appeared, she faced Gildarts head-on, her usual gentle smile on her face, but a meaningful glint in her eyes.
Mira stood in Gildarts's path, her posture relaxed, looking as natural as she did serving her guildmates behind the guild's bar.
Gildarts's mouth twitched violently.
What the hell is wrong with this place? I just sent one group packing, and here comes another. Enemies keep respawning like this is a spawn point. Are they determined not to let me leave...?
He even began to suspect someone had installed surveillance nearby and was deliberately sending people to intercept him whenever he was about to leave.
Though he was furiously grumbling inside, he still raised a hand and greeted Mira with a dry laugh:
"Hey, Mira! What a coincidence!"
Mira tilted her head slightly and teased him as casually as if they were making small talk:
"Not a coincidence. I came here specifically for you. Gildarts, it's time for you to bow out~"
Gildarts froze for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed, a note of admiration in his voice:
"Hahaha! Mira, you've still got just as much guts as ever!"
Then his smile faded, his gaze sharpened, and an air of easy confidence appeared on his face:
"But making me bow out won't be that easy."
Mira's lips curved into a playful smile as she said meaningfully, "Is that so?"
Seeing Mira so full of confidence, Gildarts felt his eyelid twitch sharply, and a sense of foreboding rose within him.
Sure enough, a jumble of