The days came and went in quick succession. Not having an actual, usable cheat, meant that climbing the social ladder took far, far longer.

The two would wake up in the morning and then work until the afternoon. Atilia, who learned magic faster than the average person, would in turn try to teach Remy magic. Remy struggled, as none of his experience in playing video games got carried over. He made little to zero progress. He couldn't even utilize his magic for simple tasks.

Atilia would sometimes go to the library at midnight. She stated that she wanted to learn about this world. Remy offered to accompany her, but she rejected, saying that it would be better for him to rest at the inn.

She’s probably doing this for me.

Knowing how she couldn’t rely on him, thus must go on her own, made him feel bad. Yet, at the same time, if he came with her, he would probably just fall asleep anyway.

They spent most of the time working. They couldn’t afford anything, as they used most of their money to pay their debts, extend their rent, and fill their stomachs. They repeated the routine day after day, getting more accustomed to this new life. One odd job then the next, repeating the routine for several days.

Remy didn't mind, though. He enjoyed spending time with his wife, regardless of what they did. As long as they did it together. He did regret being unable to take his wife on epic journeys across the world. Slaying demons and casting powerful magic spells remained a dream. It was, however, a dream he worked hard toward. He put her in his thoughts every time he worked, doing his best to get them closer to that point.

It was the second month of the year, the fourth day of the month. Another normal, if rather cold, morning, or so he thought.

"We need to talk."

From outside the window, there were visible water puddles. It rained again last night, causing the temperature in the room to drop. He wasn’t sure if that coldness had anything to do with the girl staring at him, though.

Atilia stood next to the bed, hands on her hip. She wore her white dress and not her pajamas, meaning she had just returned from somewhere. Remy gulped, sitting next to the bedside, twiddling his fingers.

“Sorry.”

“You do understand that girls don’t like it when you say that while not knowing what you did wrong. It felt ingenuine, as if all you care about is getting out of trouble.”

“Yeah… So… umm… if you don’t mind me asking… what did I do wrong?”

He couldn't remember doing something that pissed her off, nor could he remember making any mistake in particular. The only thing he could think of was that he struggled to learn magic. But when she taught him, she always had a gentle, sweet smile on her face, teaching him with patience. It would be weird for her to be angry all of a sudden because of that. Had she gotten fed up with him?

"You really don't know?"

"Please tell me. I'll try my best to fix myself."

She stared at him, before covering her mouth and letting out a snicker.

“You- Pfft! You should have a look at your face!” She laughed. She went toward Remy and opened her arms, throwing them around him and pushing him down to the bed. She continued laughing, despite looking so pissed a few seconds ago, all while hugging Remy. Remy gawked at her, confused by the sudden change of mood. He decided to not say a thing, at least not until she calmed down. Still, he couldn't help but think that he made the right choice in choosing her. She was worth far above any ability he could have gained.

“It’s been a week, hasn’t it? We’re so busy taking jobs left and right that we don’t have much time to talk to each other. When we’re not taking jobs, it’s magic training.”

“... Should I accompany you to the library?”

“You’re supposed to be silent in a library.”

“Ah, right. Sorry for not being able to provide for you.”

“Nah. I learned a lot, as well. Couldn’t say I regret it, but...” She let go of Remy and sat upright. He pulled himself up, sitting next to her.

“We came here for a reason, remember? A mission?”

Remy needed to think of it for a while before he could remember what she was talking about, then it occurred to him. Yes, they did come here for a specific task.

“So you do remember about those demons..." he murmured.

“... Yep, totally remember it. Definitely didn’t forget.”

“... You've forgotten about it.” Remy narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t act like you remember,” Atilia grumbled.

“Still… what triggered this?” Remy asked. Something might have happened during her trip out.

“... Kathy.”

“... Oh.”

“Act more surprised.”

“WHAT!?”

“Not that surprised. But yeah, Kathy appeared out of nowhere and began telling me about how we’re supposed to be hitting demons.”

“And you said?”

“I told her to shut up.”

“...”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Remy didn’t expect her to say that to her fellow angel. Seeing him, Atilia let out a sigh.

“We’re in the library, and she’s already catching the attention of the people around us. I told her to shut up and meet us back here.”

“Ah… is that why you did the little angry thing earlier?”

“Yes, as a joke, though.” Atilia then stood up. “Let’s go and get some breakfast first, I’m starving.”

Remy followed Atilia down to the first floor, where the guild’s tavern was located. After they finished eating, they made their way to the quest board. All kinds of quests filled the board. The ones that were left weren't as favored, though. When he woke up early on the third day, he found out that they weren’t qualified to take most of the good quest anyway.

The quests in this world followed a level system. Outworlders needed to be a high enough rank to take certain better, and more dangerous, quests. To rise in rank, people must kill monsters, proving that they can protect themselves. The Outworlders’ Card used magic to track their progress. They didn’t need to gather proof, although they could sell their hunt for some pocket change.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The problem was, the pair didn’t even have a weapon. Atilia could utilize magic. She had gotten good enough to fight monsters, but Remy couldn’t do anything. Handling monsters while protecting someone was a tough task. She didn’t want to abandon Remy alone in the city, so the two stuck together, doing various mundane, boring tasks to afford a living.

A far cry from how other outworlders live, especially the senior ones who had been around for a while. Remy never complained, though. He didn’t care. He loved her, and as long as she loved him, it was enough.

With that said, the quests that didn’t get taken were these mundane, boring ones. They couldn’t rank up, as it didn’t provide them with monsters to kill. So, after waking up early only to find they couldn’t take most of the quest, Remy decided to wake up later in the day. They took whatever quest the board had left. Only the missing person quest and the construction one were updated every day, though

They hadn’t even killed a single monster, nor did they have experience with finding missing people. As a result, they chose to ignore it, heading straight for the next quest that could provide their meals for the day.

After taking a quick look, the two went back to their room. They locked the door. Remy sat down on the bed, Atilia standing in front of him. She clasped her hands together, putting them in front of her chest. She looked toward Remy, letting out a sigh.

“... Is everything alright?” Remy asked. Atilia shook her head.

“I don’t want her to steal you again.”

Remy stood up and ensured the door was locked, then headed to the window and tightened the curtains. After making sure there was no way for her to escape, he sat back down.

“... Alright, thanks.” Atilia closed her eyes. A white glow engulfed her. The glow lit up the room, overlapping with the little magic lamp on the bedside table. It didn’t take long for a familiar figure to show her face.

“Yo.” The figure grinned, lifting her hand. Atilia reacted with a frown.

“Take it from here,” Atilia said, heading to the bed and sitting down.

“Hey, you’re an angel as well, help me explain things.”

“No thanks.”

“Sigh, you’re no fun.” Kathy shook her head. “Anyway, Remy.”

Remy straightened up at the mention of his name.

“Relax, I’m not here to kidnap you.” She tried calming him down. “Anyway, what I am here for is to discuss your cheat.”

“My cheat?”

“When other people ask for companions, they usually get some ability with a major downgrade. Here's the thing, they still get something. Our fellow angel here messed up.”

“You-”

“It’s alright. I’m fine with just Atilia.” Remy’s statement caused both the angels to look toward him.

“I’m fine with just you as well…”

“Look, I’m not here to see you flirting. And since you both say you’re fine, mind reminding me how many demons you two killed?”

“Excuse me? Do you think all humans that came here went on to help?”

“We’re talking about you two, specifically. Besides, you’re an angel, Atilia. You need to be the one keeping him in line.”

The two stared daggers at each other, leaving the confused Remy in the middle.

“Umm…”

“Sigh… back to the topic. Remy, what do you want?”

Atilia waited for his answer. He remained silent, thinking about the possible things he could ask for. For one, since he already received Atilia, whatever thing he got wouldn’t be as powerful or useful. It wouldn’t matter much to him, either, so, “How about Atilia getting the ability, instead?”

“Huh?” The two angels looked at him, dumbfounded. Atilia brought herself closer. “Are you sure?”

“Well, she is a human now, so there’s nothing against her receiving the ability, but she was an angel.”

“Didn’t she lose most of her powers?”

“Keyword, most. Why do you think she’s able to learn magic so quickly?”

“I think it’s better if you take the ability, Remy. You can’t use magic, I can. I have more strength between the two of us.”

“You’re right… Still…”

Remy thought about it more. He tried recalling memories of his past life. There must be something back then that he always wanted. A powerful ability, a cheat skill, or maybe a legendary weapon. Yet, his mind returned to one thing.

“I want Atilia,” he admitted. Atilia’s face reddened and she looked away.

“You want duplicates of her?”

“I think one is enough.”

“Think?”

Remy looked toward Atilia. He didn’t see a need to have many duplicates of her. He didn’t know how angels work, but even if she could duplicate herself, he needed only her.

Unless they were planning on building an army of Atilias. But if they could do that, they probably wouldn’t need to call normal humans like him to help.

“Anything else? Weapons? Vehicles? Anything?” Kathy tried pushing the conversation forward. Remy thought about it again and again, yet nothing came into his mind. If he could, he would postpone it. He wanted time to think about it, but at the same time, he didn’t want to weigh down Atilia further. She came here to explore the world. There would be no point in coming with him if the two of them were confined to this city and its surrounding area.

“... Battleship Yamato-”

“Rejected.”

“Iowa?”

“Which ship you choose isn’t the problem.”

“Remy, you jumped from wanting nothing to a freaking battleship?” Atilia gave him a side glance.

“Sorry, it was the first thing that popped into my mind.”

“Try finding something that can be operated with a small number of people.”

“How small are we talking?”

“Ideally one. And no, an automated battleship doesn’t count. Try something that isn’t blatantly overpowered. We need you to fight the demons, not conquer the world.”

“... A starship?”

“Did you even hear yourself?” Kathy facepalmed.

“I give up. I only want Atilia.” Remy turned his head and rested it on Atilia’s shoulders. She began stroking his hair.

“You two look like you’re an old couple, you know that? Fine… I’ll think of something. How about a gun?” Kathy suggested.

“You played a lot of first-person shooters before, right?” Atilia asked.

“Yeah. Actually, that is a good idea.”

Remy’s previous life wasn’t filled with him doing physical training or learning sword fights. It would take him longer to learn how to use a sword compared to using a gun. Another factor was that he had seen Atilia using magic before. He trusted her ability to cover him in close-quarter combat.

“Can Atilia use it?”

“To prevent people from stealing each other’s weapons, no. Only their owners can operate weapons like guns. An angel can deactivate it if you misuse the weapon, but Atilia had that part of her ability revoked.”

“Can’t you use a better word? You made it sound like it’s my fault.”

“It is, though? If you chose to stay in heaven, you would still have that ability.”

“Yeah, not like I will ever use it.”

“So, Remy, any particular type you want?”

Remy played shooter games before and even shot an airsoft gun once when he was still little. He had no further experience, though. He didn’t want to choose the type based on how the weapon acted in a video game, especially since every game had its own weapon system. Unable to rely on his past experiences, he looked toward Atilia.

“How far can your magic reach?”

“As of now… maybe two hundred meters?”

“A sniper rifle, then.”

It would allow him to hit targets beyond Atilia’s range. They could complement each other in battle. He would handle the farther ones and Atilia would take out the closer ones.

“Alright.” Kathy didn’t object to the idea. She extended her hands. Her hands glow, a blinding light covering her palms and fingers. It was so bright that it forced Remy to look away. It took a while before it faded away. A long, black case appeared in Kathy’s hand. She then handed it over to Remy.

Remy set it down on the floor, opening the case and revealing the weapon inside.

“You can reload it with lightning magic," Kathy explained.

Remy then pulled it out. The weapon looked like a bolt-action sniper rifle. The magazine had a small lightning mark underneath. The sniper came with a scope with a little screen underneath it. Curious, Atilia held the magazine.

“Generate, Lightning!”

The screen lit up. A vertical purple bar appeared, followed by four others. The five bars occupied the entirety of the tiny screen.

“That’s the amount of shots you have after one charge.”

“Ah, that’ll be useful.”

“Anyway, I’m pretty sure you know how to use it. I’ll leave you two to your flirting. See you later.” With a wave, Kathy disappeared into thin air.

“Should we try it?” Remy asked.

“Sure.”