After my brief visit to the church, I arrived at our new home.

My roommates had left the gate open, so I was able to enter without any issues and locked the house up. From outside, I could hear the girls arguing:

"The biggest room should be mine."

"I disagree; Miss Raiza, being a woman, needs more space."

"That's a lie; didn't you see that the boss fell asleep on the living room sofa?"

Those two idiots were fighting over a simple room. Ignoring their quarrel, I quietly entered the first room I saw, got into bed, and slept like a rock.

…

That night I dreamed I was holding Amelia's hand.

I think it was the day she got lost after trying to escape from the orphanage. At that time, Amelia was new to the place, and she did know her mother, unlike me, who never knew my parents.

She hadn't accepted her mother's death and wanted to escape the orphanage to find her…

"Mommy, where are you?" the little Amelia cried out.

In her innocence, she searched for her in the small forest behind the orphanage.

Her cries attracted some stray dogs that scared the little Amelia. When she saw them, she ran away, stumbling on the ground.

I used to play a lot in that area and could see everything from a distance…

I ran and positioned myself between her and the dogs. For Amelia, it must have been a terrifying moment; yes, those dogs were scary, but they were very docile.

"Go away, puppies, go away!" I shouted loudly.

The dogs wagged their tails and walked away.

I looked back, and Amelia was crying with scraped knees.

I took her hand and slowly led her to the orphanage's infirmary, disinfected her scrapes with alcohol, and put bandages on her knees. I knew it hurt, but she bore it like a champ and thanked me even with tears in her eyes.

I remember that moment fondly, as it was the first time I healed Amelia.

…

I woke up to a lot of noise.

"For God's sake, those two fools aren't fighting again."

I noticed Chizze's scent on my sheets, so she must have snuck into my bed again but had gotten up before me…

…

"Oh, damn, I overslept. I need to go to the mercenary company. That guy told me to come early."

I dressed in my priest outfit, and when I left the house, I saw something I wasn't expecting.

"Master, you're awake. Come join us. We're enjoying the pool. We also have good wine and lots of snacks to eat."

I wasn't expecting to see my three roommates in swimsuits sunbathing by the pool. They were having a private party.

Chizze was eating while enjoying the wine, Raiza was tanning, and Kharla was enjoying swimming in the pool. I felt very tempted to join them…

"Sorry, Chizze. I have plans. I think I might be able to get a job at the national mercenary company of Khisphe. Although it's not certain, I think it's best if I go alone."

Raiza took off her sunglasses, looked me in the eye, and asked, "Are you sure you can do this alone?"

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I replied, "Of course. During the rescue of the ogres from the forest, you did almost all the work. I may not have the hero's gift, but I can and want to be of more help this time. I also know you're tired; you deserve a week off."

"Master, do you want Chizze to accompany you?" Chizze asked with her ears drooping.

"No, it's better if I go alone for now. Maybe another day I'll need your help, but today take the day off." Chizze began wagging her tail.

"Thank you very much, master."

Kharla interrupted us: "Have a nice day, Ester. We'll enjoy the pool for you. Just let me help you with one thing…"

"Hallowed blessing only the faithful can appreciate, that invisible strength you provide, helps this mere mortal overcome the greatest battles. Strength."

Kharla began to recite a spell, and when she finished, I felt she had done something to my body.

"I just enhanced your perception of the environment. You will now automatically pay more attention to simple details without exhausting yourself. This will help you gather information and could be useful if you get into trouble. Now, goodbye, Ester," Kharla said as she continued enjoying the pool.

…

I left the house and took a carriage.

I told the driver to take me to the Khisphe National Mercenary Company. He took a somewhat strange route; I think it was a tourist route, as I noticed he took unnecessary turns.

I generally wouldn't have noticed this, but I think Kharla's spell made me more aware of my surroundings.

Once we arrived at the Khisphe National Mercenary Company, the driver said, "That was a 40-minute trip. It's 2 silver coins."

I had the money, but I don't like being scammed.

"It's curious, an acquaintance told me this trip would only cost a few copper coins, and I noticed you used the longer route to extend the journey."

The driver replied, "You must be mistaken. If I took a different route, it was to avoid traffic. What kind of person would believe a trip in this city costs only a few copper coins? What idiot would tell you that?"

"It was a guy I met at the church. He had many tattoos and two scars on his face. I think his name was Rammus Essko… something, I don't remember well."

Thanks to my heightened perception, I noticed the driver became agitated and said, "Do you mean Rammus Esskobar?"

"That was his name, but I'm not sure if he's the same person you're thinking of or if that name isn't very common."

The driver said, "I've heard enough. Get out of my carriage and pay me whatever you want, but get out."

I noticed the driver's fear. Since I had no change, I took out a silver coin, handed it to the driver, and he hurriedly left.

I think I said something I shouldn't have…

I entered the offices of the Khisphe National Mercenary Company. Inside, it looked like an ordinary bureaucratic office; I didn't see anything special about the place.

I approached the receptionist and asked about job offers.

"Sir, the job interviews were earlier. It's quite late now. Could you come back tomorrow at a better time?"

At that moment, I thought I should have stayed at the pool.

The receptionist continued, "If you like, you can leave your name and, if you have a recommendation from someone, also give me their name."

I hesitated a bit, but said, "My name is Ester, I'm a Silver 2 adventurer, and a man whom I'm not friends with, just met yesterday at a church, recommended I come here. We're not friends or anything."

The receptionist gave a look of - Just tell me his name quickly, don't waste my time. -

"He said his name is Rammus Esskobar."

The receptionist put on a serious face and said, "Are you sure you're telling the truth?" I kept my face serious. "Wait here for a moment." She told me that and went into an office, leaving me alone for about 10 minutes.

She came back with some forms and said, "Fill out these papers, and when you're done, you'll have a practical exam." I complied and filled out all the documents.

After all the bureaucracy, I was taken to a small private coliseum within the guild, where there was a supervisor. He was reading my details and said to me:

"You're Ester, a priest and adventurer. You could be useful to us, but we need people who can fight. We'll have a match. If you manage to defeat me, I'll approve you as an intern. If you perform well as an intern, we might hire you."

The supervisor handed me a wooden sword, and he took another one.

"Sir, I'm not good with a sword. I'm more comfortable fighting with just my hands."

"As you wish, kid, just don't complain afterward." For this fight, I don't have to use my degenerative magic unless it's really necessary…

Then the supervisor marked the start of the fight.

His movements were good, but I've been training with Chizze for a long time, and he doesn't compare to her, let alone to Raiza…

Thanks to the magic Kharla applied to me, I can see his movements clearly and my body can keep up with my eyes. I just focus on dodging his blows without hurting him.

"Not bad, kid, but if you don't beat me, we won't hire you." At that moment, I noticed he got a bit distracted, so I struck his knees, causing him to fall to the ground, and with his own wooden sword, I pointed at his neck.

"Wait, when did you do that? I had that sword in my hands. I can't believe it. You must be one of those priests who heal wounds. I think you're more of the type who causes them."

I noticed his legs were injured. I didn't use much force, but I think he fell in a bad way, so I placed my hands on his legs and started casting healing magic.

"Healing",

My holy magic slowly healed the instructor's knees while he looked at me astonished.

"Well, I take back what I said. You do know how to heal wounds."

"Good job, Ester," said a man entering the place of our test.

"Chief, I was finishing his exam…"

The man interrupted the supervisor.

"Don't worry, I saw everything. I even saw you arrived late to the test, Ester. You know, since I recommended you, you're making me look bad."

I just recognized that the man was the same person I saw yesterday at the church: Rammus Esskobar.

Rammus pushed the supervisor away from the combat arena and said, "Now it's my turn to test what you're capable of. The first one to receive a hit loses. Simple, don't you think?"

The supervisor was relatively easy, but Rammus doesn't seem like an ordinary person; that man is strong.

The supervisor announced the start of the fight.

I could see everything. I saw how Rammus moved out of my sight, and before I could even look for him, I received a slight hit on the head.

"You lost, Ester. Too bad, I thought I'd find someone who could fight at my level. Although I noticed you saw my movements, your eyes could follow me, but just your eyes… that's enough for me. You passed."

And at that moment, I got my first formal job.

…

After the exam and finishing some paperwork, I was given a badge which I put on my right chest.

"That's your guild badge, though it's the one we give to interns. Now I'll have to give you your first job."

Apparently, Rammus is a high-ranking member of the mercenary guild, and I suppose it's rare for him to personally assign jobs to a mere intern.

"Ester, before giving you your job, let me tell you something. Mercenaries can work in the name of the law, but the difference between us and the public police is that we choose our jobs and how to resolve them. I want you to keep that in mind. Now, here's your first job, which you can't refuse because you're just an intern and you must obey me."

What a way to ruin your little monologue. Obviously, I won't say that. I'll just stay silent while nodding in agreement.

"The job is simple: you need to evict a family from a house. Apparently, a member of that family incurred debts and ran away, so the creditor has the right to get their money back. That's why we have the job of recovering the money. The details are in these documents. Now go and remember: you have until the day after tomorrow to bring me results."

I took the documents and headed to the address of the house. This time, thanks to my guild badge, the driver of my carriage took me by the shortest route and charged me a fair price.

image [https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/078/679/819/large/duval-saul-3424344323423.jpg?1722795066]