The thunder roared overhead as water droplets struck the ground. Remy and Atilia stood in front of the receptionist desk, with Cathirina sitting behind it.

“... What?” Cathirina stared at them in surprise. Remy nodded, confirming what he had said.

“It’s true,” Atilia added. “You don’t know about her skills?”

“Pfft, not that. Trust me, we know quite well. I mean the monster. We never heard any reports about it.”

“There aren't any missing people reported around that area, are there?” Remy asked, glancing at the missing person poster posted on the guild quest board. Cathirina shook her head.

“No. I don’t think anyone has ever seen such a monster before. Still… it’s scary to think about.”

“So, what should we do?”

Cathirina mulled it over. “The only thing we, no, I can do for now is to report the case to the higher-ups. I can then assemble a party to investigate. But, for you two, do not do anything. Don't even go near the area. I mean, you saw how scary it is yourself, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Still, congrats on killing your first monsters. I’ll send a group to check on the cows. If there’s still any leftover, we’ll pay you. Sorry I can’t pay you the full price, though.”

Remy let out a breath of relief. On his trip back, after seeing the aftermath of the fight, he thought he wouldn't receive anything. There was blood everywhere, with cracks on the surface. Atilia said that magic could repair those cracks and damages, but not their cows. If he could receive some money for his efforts, however much, he would be happy.

“No problem. We’re happy to receive anything.”

“I’ll keep you posted.”

The two then made their way back to their room. This simple inn room had become their home for the last couple of days. It would be nice if they could get a home of their own someday, but for now, this inn room would have to do. After entering, Remy put down his weapon on the floor, resting it against the walls next to the bedside table. He then proceeded to head to his bed, snuggling under the bed sheets. He let out a smile as the sheets warmed him up.

The fatigue of the day fell onto him. For a moment, only for a brief moment, he thought about what would happen had he asked for a weapon instead. Something that could make him look cool and kill that cow like Mimiyat did. He quickly dismissed the idea. No matter what, Atilia was much more important than it all. He wouldn’t trade her for anything.

“Hah… so this is what a human felt heading into bed after a long day.” Atilia lay down on the bed with a smile. She slid closer, creeping up next to him underneath the warm blankets.

When Atilia slid closer, her shoulder touched his. Physical contact was no longer an uncommon thing for them. Atilia would sometimes choose to sleep above him, using his body as her bed. She looked adorable doing it, so Remy let her be.

“So angels don’t have unlimited energy?”

“What made you think so?”

“Kathy.”

Atilia frowned when she heard her name. “She’s still an angel, for one. And no, angels don’t have unlimited energy, they just have a whole lot.”

“Will she get tired as well?”

“Most likely no, because she doesn’t do enough things to run out of it. Don’t compare her to me. As an ex-angel, I don’t have the same amount of energy as I used to have.”

“I see…”

“Hey, Remy.” Atilia hugged his arms, tightening her grip. “Would you rather have her than me?”

“Of course not,” Remy stated.

“I… I genuinely don’t understand how you don’t hesitate when saying those things.”

“I guess I saw it as a fact that I don’t need to think about.”

“... Guess that part of you didn’t change, huh? Reminds me of the time when we first met, with you acting awkward and all that.” She rested her cheeks on his shoulder. Remy reached out and began rustling her hair.

“Your hair smells sweet. What shampoo did you use?”

“I think it’s a property of my status.”

“As an ex-angel, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

Remy began sniffing all around. There was something captivating about her smell. It pulled him closer, his lips kissing her hair.

“But you do use shampoo, right?” he asked out of curiosity.

“As a human, I needed to take care of my own body, so yeah.”

“How do you like the human life so far?”

“It’s fun, honestly. There are some things that I used to take for granted, like not needing food and not needing to take a bath. It’s convenient, but at the same time, I do enjoy eating delicious food and relaxing in the tub. I guess there’s a trade-off.”

“Is it worthwhile?”

“Very. I definitely made the right choice.” Atilia said with a gentle smile, looking straight into his eyes. She looked adorable, beautiful. Remy messed with her hair even more.

“Nyaa~~” Atilia let out cute little noises, inching closer and resting her head on his chest. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“No. If anything, I’m supposed to be the one thanking you. This week is the best time of my life.”

“Even if you’re doing nothing but boring jobs?”

“I’m doing it with my loving wife. If anything, I ought to be the one apologizing for dragging you to all that work.”

“It’s fine. I can handle some hard labor.” Atilia grinned. “By the way…” Her cheeks reddened all of a sudden. Remy looked at her, confused. She looked away, moving her head so that her left ear was placed above his heart.

“Umm…”

“Atilia? Something’s up?”

“Umm… you know… the thing married couples do?”

“The… what?”

Remy tried thinking about it, but his head came empty.

The thing married couples do, huh? Married couple specifically…

“... Sorry, I don’t understand what you meant.”

“You know… that…”

“What’s that…”

“... It’s easier just showing you, huh?”

Atilia rose from the bed. She headed toward the window. She made sure that the windows were locked then pulled the curtains shut. The room darkened, with a faint glow coming from the magic lamp on the bedside table. She then checked the door and made sure that it was locked. Finally, she headed for the bedside table and turned off the magic lamp. The room fell dark.

Atilia crawled back onto the bed and above Remy. Through the darkness, Remy could see her dark golden eyes. Only slightly, yet he could tell that they were staring into him.

“... Atilia?”

Her breathing became heavier. Her heartbeats quickened, then their lips touched.

The circuit finally connected. Remy now understood well what she meant. He waited for Atilia to pull her head back.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Why? You’re not going to say you prefer Kathy, are you?”

“Of course not!”

“Then?”

“It’s just…” Remy looked for the correct words. “Doing that with an angel-”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I’m no longer one, remember? I’m a human now. Your human.”

“Yeah…” Remy nodded. Atilia approached him, closing her eyes, their lips touching once more. Remy brought her arms over her back and held her gently. She opened her eyes, the gold color shining despite no light inside the room. They looked so clear, so beautiful.

“I love you,” Remy whispered, going in for another kiss. Atilia accepted.

“I love you too.”

* ••

The next day, Remy and Atilia enjoyed their breakfast in the tavern like usual.

“I’m surprised at how much peaceful this world is compared to Earth,” Remy murmured. Despite being in a war against the demons, the city didn’t look like it was in some dire state. Several people hung around the tavern, talking to their party mates, having some idle chat.

“I think they’re holding up pretty well.”

“Basically people around here aren’t screwed, but we struggle to push back the demons?”

“Basically, yeah.”

“If this continues, and outworlders fill the world, will there be change?”

“The requirements for an outworlder are much, much tighter. Humans aren’t perfect, so it’s understandable if you made a huge sin in your previous life. As long as you repent and go back on the right track, you can still go to heaven. But, here’s the thing, there are some people that we just don’t want to risk sending here.” Atilia spun the little spoon in her teacup.

“So not everyone that goes to heaven gets the offer?”

“No. The number is further reduced when you consider that a portion of people don’t really want another life. They’re satisfied with their previous one. I mean, yes. They got a cheat, but it came with various other responsibilities and hardships. Not everyone has an ambition large enough to convince them to come here. Plus, the general rule is that we angels cannot try to convince them. We’re only there to help guide them.”

“Are there people that cause trouble after they receive their cheat?”

“There are. That’s why proper angels, like Kathy, can take away their cheat. That only happens if you use your cheat to do bad things, though. If you changed your mind and wanted to live a life of peace, we let you do that. That’s why not every outworlder is fighting the demons. A lot of them retained their cheat even if they’re not fighting.”

“Hmm… Just making sure, but you can’t be taken away from me, right?”

Atilia shook her head. “You cannot use me to cause trouble. One of the downsides of getting a weapon with a mind of its own, I guess.” She chuckled.

“You’re not a weapon, though. Certainly not mine.”

“Yeah. Still, you better be careful of using your sniper. That one can definitely be taken away,” she said before taking a sip from her drink. “I may not have the authority to take your sniper away, but I can call Kathy to do that.”

“I’ll make sure it never comes to that.”

“Good. So, our schedule for the day?”

Now that he had the sniper, they could afford to try harder quests that involved killing monsters. He needed to get better, a lot better, before he could actually go to the frontlines and help in the attempt to push back demons. Even if there weren’t many outworlders, the fact that they couldn’t push the demons back filled him with concern. Would he even be able to make a difference, or would he be no more than deadweight?

“Let’s take a look at the quest board.”

“Roger.”

They finished their meal and headed to the guild’s quest board. There were several quests on the board. Most of them were the usual mundane tasks like transport quests or gathering quests. There was also the construction quest Mimiyat had shown them when they first came. Remy and Atilia actually took it once before. The construction was from someone building a house. Apparently, the owner wanted to quicken the completion and looked for extra workers who could cut an hour or two from the build time. It wasn't too bad, and the pay was pretty decent, but definitely far from their mission of killing demons.

They decided not to take it again. Remy himself was fine with more normal quests, but Atilia came here to explore. If they were to grab ‘normal’ quests, he wanted it to always be different from one to the other. Remy scanned the board. In the days after their arrival, the two took so many different quests that there were no new kinds. A guild receptionist walked up to them, offering a new quest that had just come in. It was a quest to look for some mushrooms.

The two had taken that quest before, even coming into the quest giver’s house and having a quick drink. He still went ahead and asked Atilia for her opinion, but she shrugged. Remy politely declined. The receptionist nodded and posted it on the board. Another person that just arrived came by, took a quick look, let out a little nice! and took the quest before scurrying to the receptionist's table. his party waited for him near the door.

"So, what do we do?" Atilia asked.

"How about we go and hunt? Increase our levels. I wonder if this world had dungeons or the like…"

“Good idea.”

They went toward the receptionist and waited for the person in front of them to finish their business with Cathirina, before going up to talk to her.

"Ah, Remy, Atilia. About yesterday, our team had inspected your hunt. Luckily, three of the five cows remained unscathed. We have transferred the rewards to your account."

Remy took out his card, then tapped on its rear, bringing up the magic screen, checking the balance written on it. There wasn’t much of an increase, but he accepted with gratitude.

"Thank you," he said, before returning the card into his pocket.

"No problem. By the way, have you seen Mimiyat?" Cathirina asked all of a sudden.

“We’ll be off,” a voice said. Cathirina paused, leaned her body, and waved to the party that left. It was the same party that took the mushroom quest earlier.

“You know them?” Atilia asked. Cathirina nodded.

“They’ve gone with Mimiyat before, actually. The cooperation didn’t last long.” Cathirina let out a tired sigh. “She’s a great fighter, but teamwork isn’t her forte.” She rested her head on her hand. "So, you’ve seen her?"

“No. She disappeared after helping us yesterday. Why?”

"We need to discuss that monster."

"Oh, yeah, what is that?" Atilia asked. Cathirina straightened her posture, pushed her glasses up, and assumed a serious look.

"A mutant of the Arstulz cow. Based on our initial investigation, it shared the same genes with a normal Atstulz cow. At the same time, something is causing that original gene to mutate way beyond its original form. We assume it has something to do with the magic and the demons."

"Should we investigate?"

"Absolutely not! It's way too dangerous for you to investigate. If anything, that area is supposed to be off-limits for the time being! Seriously, unless you have like, very pressing matters, don’t go there."

“Oh, alright. Are there any other areas we can hunt in? Dungeons, maybe?”

The guidebook mentioned some areas where wild animals gather. There was no limit on how many animals or monsters they could kill in a day. The animals reproduce quickly, so there was no concern of running out. There was a limit on how many the guild would buy, though.

Cathirina had warned them about this before. Too much, and they would have useless dead meat on their hands.

“Dungeons? I think I’ve heard about them before.” Cathirina tapped her temple. “Oh, yeah. They’re places in video games from your previous world, right? Where you find treasure and various monsters?”

“Right.”

“Dungeons… dungeons… There are caves around here, but no treasure or the like. There are several monsters, but they don’t drop anything valuable. People who go there often return with disappointment. Still, I can mark them on your map for you.”

“Good to know… Where do we get a map, again?”

Cathirina looked at the two of them, raising her eyebrow. “You don’t have a map?”

Both Remy and Atilia shook their heads. They had the map in the guidebook, but both felt pretty sure that it wasn’t the one Cathirina was talking about. There was no way for Cathirina to know about the guidebook. Remy decided to not involve it in their day-to-day life, and based on her silence, Atilia agreed.

“Then… Wait.”

Cathirina rose from her seat, heading to the rear of the guild. She later returned with two pieces of paper. “Here you go.”

She set the two down on the table. The one on the left had a map of Purwa and its surroundings on it, while the one on the right was blank. She pushed the map of Purwa toward the two.

“Create, Dirt Wind!”

Sprinkles of dirt began forming above certain points on the map. The dirt marked three different locations. One in the east, one in the north, and one in the west. They were located quite far from the city itself, farther away than the free hunting grounds.

“Are those all the dungeons?”

“They’re the closest ones, yeah. Interesting places to explore, but don’t expect to be bringing back some kind of buried treasure. They’re quite ideal places to grind, though, improve your skills a bit. The monsters are easy, although I still suggest you be careful. Combine, Dirt Map!”

The specks of dirt lit up, and once the light faded, they were painted onto the map. Cathirina then gave the map to Atilia.

Curious, Atilia flipped the map and then tried shaking it, but none of the dirt fell off. She then rolled it up and tucked it into her bag. “Alright. Do we need to mark our route?”

“You can use magic to do that. Use any Form magic to create a marking, then the spell Seal to make the marking last longer. Seal is an advanced-level magic, though, and you don’t actually need it. You can also go in without all that. Again, all these dungeons are like little caves. I never played any of the video games from your world before, but I imagine it to be something very different.”

“Alright then.”

“Now, this.” Cathirina took the second paper. Unlike the first one, this one was empty, except for the little ‘Purwa’ written on the top right corner. “This will act as your emergency line with the guild.”

“Like a smartphone?” Remy asked, immediately remembering that phones didn’t exist in this world. To his surprise, Cathirina nodded.

“Yes, it functioned like what you called text messages in your previous world, albeit not as easy. Now, pay attention.”

The two crept closer to the desk. Cathirina aimed her hand above the piece of paper.

“Create, Dirt Wind!” Using her mind, she controlled the sprinkles of dirt. She placed them exactly where she wanted. It formed the words ‘test run’ in the local language. “Combine, Dirt Paper!”

Like before, the specks of dirt lit up and were attached to the paper.

“This magic paper is connected with one in the guild, so back there in the guild’s headquarters, the message is received.” Using her thumb, Cathirina pointed toward the area behind the tavern.

The paper glowed white. A new text appeared under the first one.

‘Message accepted.’

“Now, to delete our original text. Undo Combine, Dirt Paper!”

The specks of dirt that formed the original message lit up. After the light faded, Cathirina tilted the paper, and the dirt slid right off. The words underneath it stayed for just a moment. Soon, it too disappeared. The paper now returned to its original, clean form.

Cathirina then handed over the paper to Atilia, who folded it up and put it next to the map in her bag.

“Remember two things. One, only use it if you need it. This is not like in your previous life where you can just message someone as you please. Two, if you decide to stay in another place for an extended period, make sure you remember to ask the local outworlder guild for a new magic paper. You'll need to contact that branch directly.”

“We’ll keep that in mind.”

“Alright then. Be careful you two.”

With a wave, the two outworlders left the guild. They decided to go to the one closest to their location, the one in the north.

“We’re quite close to the coast,” Remy said, looking at the map. A blue line traveled from the bottom of the map, going all the way to the top parallel to their route north.

Atilia, who held up the map, shook her head in disapproval. “It looks close because the map is zoomed out. It’s quite a long walk from here.”

“So no swimsuit episode?”

Atilia reacted with an elbow to his side.