The room was covered with black slate stones, the only light came from several torches that burned with green flames. In the centre, a red pentagram surrounded by 5 men was glowing.

Krager, the weakest of the 5 archangels, was meditating in the middle of it, his consciousness far away from the realm of the living. Suddenly, his blood red eyes opened.

“Master Krager, did you get the…” The head of the disciple fell lifeless to the floor before he could finish the sentence.

“Karitsa, tell the saint to revive him later.” The tall archangel said.

He tried to leave the room but a man stopped him. “Am I right to assume that you couldn't steal the curse.”

“I consumed the soul of the hero and his friends, but the curse wasn't there.” He responded. “Unless the spell your master gave me was faulty, that idiot managed to get rid of his curse before dying.”

He finally left the room, leaving Karitsa and the man quite confused.

“Do you think the spell could fail?” Karitsa asked.

“Impossible, master is the best mage of the 5 archangels.” The man replied. “However, I find all possibilities quite hard to believe. Mister Krager is a fairly good mage, so him messing up the spell is not a real possibility…”

“... But to think that Kancor managed to get rid of a curse given by the world itself.” Karitsa finished her reasoning.

“Anyways, I should report to my master, and I think you should carry that man with the saint.” The man left the room, leaving Karitsa alone with the 5 acolytes that supported the ritual.

“Sometimes I hoped that my master was more considerate with his servants.” Karitsa muttered. “Reviving them is always such a headache.”

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The girl's knife pierced the goblin’s head as she swiftly launched herself towards the nearest one. Several bodies lay dead on the floor already.

“Don’t get carried away too much.” A tanned black haired man advised her. “Even if they are only goblins, they can still overwhelm us easily.”

“Especially since your friend can’t fight.” Another blond man said.

“You knew he was a healer when we signed up for the job.” The girl, whose pink hair danced as she severed a goblin’s neck, reminded them. “Besides, you were the ones asking for a healer.”

“...from the damage. Barrier.” A circular transparent shield blocked the attack of a goblin that tried to backstab the black haired man, who rapidly smashed the goblin’s head with his large iron hammer. “Yeah, who needs a healer or something…”

“See, even if he can't fight he is still useful.” The girl said as she dodged an attack. “Unless you weren’t planning on surviving this quest that’s it.”

It didn’t take them much more to finish off the last of the goblins, and while they were mostly unscratched, Dere, the pink haired girl, was stabbed in her shoulder.

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“I told you to be careful…” Jhol told her as the healer, a short semi-human boy with wolf ears casted a spell on her.

“May your blessing wash away my pain and vanish my wounds. Heal.” A gentle glow of green light covered Dere’s shoulder as her wounds began to heal. “Please, be more careful next time, even if I can heal you, it’s better if you don’t get damaged in the first place.”

“It’s fine, after all, you said that you would always be there to heal me.” The girl responded smiling.

“As much as I would hate ending this beautiful moment, we must report to the guild that the extermination is completed, and I would like to do so before sunset.” Fiol explained as he finished harvesting the goblins' ears.

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“You are leaving tomorrow, right?” Jhol asked Dere as they walked out of the adventurers guild, which served as a gathering spot for adventures as well as a place to report completed missions or even sell uncommon items.

“Yes, we made enough to pay for a caravan and food, so we are leaving at dawn.” Dere explained as she jiggled a brown leather bag full of copper coins.

“You know, even if you got to level 22 after killing those goblins, you should be more careful with your money…” Fiol scolded her.

“Please, the highest level person in this town is level 60 at most, and he surely has more important things to do than stealing a bag of copper coins.” She carelessly moved her shoulders, as if she was mocking him for even suggesting that.

“But Dere, even if you can protect our money, it's better to be safe than sorry…” The semi-human boy said.

“Ok, ok, I will be more careful.” She said, putting the bag inside of her bag as she approached the boy. “I know you are always worried about me, Iso.”

Shortly after, the couple left for their inn, leaving the two veterans behind.

“Aren't they cute.” Jhol asked Fiol, watching Dere playfully mess with Iso’s hair as they both walked away.

“You are too old for him.” Fiol joked. “Let's go to Celestine’s brothel, maybe she has a cute boy for you.”

Jhol stared at him for some time, trying to understand what he ment. “You fucking idiot!” He screamed once he understood. “I don’t swing that way.”

“You better not…” Dere muttered in the distance.

“Did you say anything?!” Iso asked her.

“Nah, only my usual nonsense.” She said. “Most importantly, I’m quite tired after today's exercise, do y-”

“You are not skipping dinner.” Iso cut her off before she could finish, his face completely serious. “Understood?”

“... yes” She reluctantly agreed.

It took them less than ten minutes to arrive at the inn. Once they stepped in, the landlady greeted them.

“Welcome back kids, dinner is on the table.”

“I’m not a kid!” Dere yelled as she placed some baked potatoes and pork on her plate.

“Once you get to my age, everybody is a kid to your eyes” She explained as she brushed the floor.

“But miss Levil, you are still fairly young, you are only 40 after all.” Iso said after sitting next to Dere.

“What a cute boy, I might ask you to replace my husband one of these days.” Miss Levil joked.

“I’m sorry but we are leaving at dawn, so he will have to decline your offer.” Dere replied coldly.

“Dere she was just joking…” Iso explained.

“I’m going to sleep, Iso, wake me up tomorrow.” She head to the stairway that lead to the dormitories.

“She can't take a joke…” Miss Levil said.

“She is just tired.” Iso defended her.

“You are such a cute boy…”

Iso entered their bedroom after helping Miss Levil clean. He saw Dere’s clothes scattered around the room, her shirt and jacket hanging on a chair, and her pants and boots were thrown to a trunk.

Dere herself was sleeping face down on the bed. The bandages she used to restrain her breast from annoying her during her fights laid next to the bed.

“You should sleep with something more than just your underwear, especially if we are sharing the room…” He muttered before starting to undress.

Once he was almost naked, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. His rather long hazel hair was still messy after Dere played with it. His green eyes went all over his body, he was short, no taller than 150 centimetres, and his body was lean, not muscular, but at least he wasn’t fat.

“I’m 16 for god's sake…” He muttered. “I’m not supposed to be cute…”

His right hand slowly reached towards the blue collar in his neck, he hated it, but he also couldn’t bring himself to take it off. Finally, he put on a big shirt he used as sleepwear and laid down on the bed.

He looked at Dere’s sleeping face. She was quite a brat, sometimes even slightly annoying, but she was really cute while she slept. His gaze slowly moved down, until he saw the side of one of her breasts.

He rapidly turned around facing the opposite direction, his face completely flustered. “... At least wear a shirt or something…!"