Letting out a yawn, Saleh stood helplessly outside the room. He was both used to and hated this side of the job.

A majority of the requests he took up were protection. As someone with a very high offensive ability, he could make the most money and learn the most from doing such work. Unfortunately, that also meant he had to train his patience.

His favorite were simple escort jobs that gave him a lot of free time. If not for the long duration of the mission allowing him to take lessons from teacher, he would not take this type of request.

Even knowing connections were very important, in fact he didn’t dislike Cassie. She was good company. However, she was also a political guest, that meant she wasn’t here just for herself. Much of the time was spent going around having fun.

Finally, came the meetings, drawing the short stick. It was his turn to sit through this boring period of meetings. It was a side effect of him being the tour guide, meaning he enjoyed much of the time outside playing.

Jessica would tag along a bit, though, overall she focused on growing stronger. This also caused him to feel a bit oppressed in their sparring. After all this time, Jessica was no longer being held at bay by his instincts.

Stifling a yawn, Saleh turned to see a smiling Cassie who came close, “Let’s get out of here before they find another reason to keep me!”

Currently, Saleh was just a bodyguard, his stance in this situation was purely on the side of Cassie. With that in mind, the two scampered off.

Only when they made it outside did Cassie really let loose, yelling up at the sky as she stretched. Letting go of the pent-up frustration of the stuffy environment of annoying discussions.

Having come and gone, every single day. Word and sights of Cassie had been spread. Outside of a few stares that quickly went away, nobody bothered them.

“Today is the last day…” Saleh wasn’t sure what to say. On one hand, he himself didn’t hate leaving. But he also didn’t think it was right for him to stay, either. Without an advantage, his talent would be wasted.

Before becoming Everblood’s student, he was sent to Mercury City to progress. It wasn’t very hard for him, he had been on patrols and dealt with many different things before.

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If they meet a dangerous beast, they would need to kill it or distract it before another team came to deal with it. If someone was injured, they needed to be escorted back. This was much worse if the scenario was a dangerous beast they were not equipped to deal with.

Blood not only caused most beast that were hungry in the first place, enough to invade their territory, to became frenzied. From there, they could become more ruthless, or possibly tunnel on the bleeding tribe member.

Much of what Saleh had to get used to was working alone without team members. In that sense, he could handle most of what Mercury City had to throw at him.

The most difficult part was truly being alone. As someone that grew up in a tribe that even enemies would turn around and fight together when a patrol team met trouble. In a sense, they were willing to put the tribe above themselves. It was not an easy thing to do at all.

“Hehehe, do you not want to leave?” Saleh’s thoughts were interrupted, Cassie walking next to him was chuckling as she stared seriously at his face. Looking for any signs he might expose. “You’re easier to read than Jessica, sometimes I think she has facial paralysis.”

Saleh smiled at the mention of Jessica. “Yeah, she really does. Though, I don’t have any problems about leaving. I can come back home anytime I want. You’re the one that keeps mentioning delaying and waiting until your mother comes to pick you up.”

“That snitch, doesn’t she know snitches get stitches!” Cassie puffed up her cheeks as she spread out her stance with her arms raised. As if trying to make herself look bigger and more intimidating than she was.

He could only stare at her with a strange look, “Exactly where has Jessica been taking you?”

“What? That was what I heard in your gambling dens. Is it not true?” Bringing her finger to her chin, she looked at him for clarification.

“Oh, are you going to stab me in my sleep?” A voice came out behind them. Saleh was a bit surprised, however, he could easily identify the voice.

Cassie’s face physically paled as she looked at Saleh, “I am hearing things we should hurry and leave here.”

Watching Cassie walk forward, Saleh could only shake his head. “What were you doing?”

Seeing him glance at the bag in her hand, she didn’t hide it, “I wanted to pick up some spices. The food here is honestly the best food I have ever tasted, they’re just a bit overly meaty.”

Having his people’s cuisine praised, he couldn’t help but smile. As they walked, Cassie was in front of them.

As they stepped into Isabel’s restriction, Cassie rushed in with excitement from the smell.

Jessica had a frown as she looked at the now open plain behind her. Saleh didn’t leave either.

“Can you also feel it?” Jessica couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah, but I don’t know who it is. They’re very subtle, and I can’t even tell if there is any ill will.”

“When was the last time you saw Everblood?” Jessica asked with a bit of worry in her voice.

“Teacher? It has been close to a month, maybe a few weeks. It should be fine, if we can feel their gaze it could be for a number of things. Ultimately, it won’t be easy to attack her on the road. Once we leave the patrol area, the land flattens out, and we can make a large amount of distance.”

Nodding her head, the two returned inside to eat their last dinner.