Nobina returned to her desk, sitting down and trying to switch gears. She wanted no part in dealing with Mimiki anymore, especially after what she did earlier. As she stared at her financial documents, she immediately knew this wasn’t going to happen today. Her mind was all over the place and she just wanted to go home. Not to her room, but back to her world.

It wasn’t that this world was a bad place to her, but she felt the only way she could put all of this trouble with Mimiki behind her was being in a place she truly considered home. She imagined herself back in her room with her computer, able to type as much as she wanted. No worries about work either. In fact, she missed watching streamers and enjoying the simple things in life.

“I… want to go home,” she found herself saying.

As Nobina finally calmed down, the pain of the sword hits earlier were now seeping into her. All around, she felt like she needed a ton of ice or something to dull the pain. Eventually, before it got too rough, she decided to see Lare about it.

Heading to his office, he once again found it closed and heard Lare chewing out Mimiki, with her now firing back at him.

“Are you stupid Mimiki? We can’t lose another guild officer because…”

“Because of me? Don’t try to hide it Lare. I know you blame me for the last officer we lost.”

“You’re not making this any easier,” he barked back. “You didn’t give Nobina even a bit of a chance.”

“She doesn’t deserve it. This is clearly going to be the same case as last time. She’ll work here and go, like Eisa did.”

Eisa? Was this someone who previously worked at the guild? Nobina was fully invested in hearing the conversation, but she found herself grunting in pain, stopping the conversation. At that moment, she saw the door swing open, with Mimiki storming out and not looking at her once. Nobina was very tempted to yell something, but part of her told her to avoid escalating things. There was a story behind Mimiki’s actions, and Nobina fully intended to learn it.

Nobina headed into Lare’s room, where he seemed stressed out by what was happening. Seeing Nobina, all he could do was give as calm of a smile as he could.

“Are you alright Nobina?”

“I need medical treatment. I can’t work like this. Also… I want the full story regarding Mimiki. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Lare could see the seriousness in her face, leading him to merely nod.

“I’ll call Sarah back to help. Mind waiting a bit?”

Nobina nodded back, taking a seat. She didn’t really know what Sarah did on her off days, so all she could do was ask her the next time they saw each other.

Waiting around allowed her to really think about what had happened and if this was the end of the line. No one should be expected to deal with something like this. For her, she felt that if she didn’t get a good enough reason to give Mimiki another chance, this truly would be it. She was willing to leave the guild rather than deal with Mimiki.

About ten minutes later, Sarah was back, running into Lare’s office and giving Nobina a hug, crying tears. Nobina’s reaction of pain stopped the hug immediately though, making Sarah apologize for causing her trouble.

“I swear, I’ll speak to Eric about this and make sure that vile woman is punished,” said Sarah.

“Sarah,” said Lare strongly. “You can’t call Mimiki vile.”

Sarah immediately snapped back, giving Lare a sharps stare.

“Oh? Are we defending Mimiki’s actions again Lare. She will ruin everything in this guild if we don’t even punish stuff like this. Besides. Don’t think I will take this lying down.”

Her words made it clear to Lare how much this was escalating. However, Nobina had no intention of ruining the guild.

“Enough,” said Nobina. “No one is punishing anyone.”

Her words surprised Sarah and Lare, who looked at her.

“I’ll talk to both of you about it more later, but for now, can we heal these bruises?”

Sarah, realizing Nobina was still in pain, nodded.

“I’m so sorry,” said Sarah.

“It’s not your fault Sarah,” Nobina replied back. “None of this is any of your fault. Just… let me gather my thoughts regarding Mimiki and make my desires known first, ok?”

Both of them nodded, with Sarah helping her up. With that, Nobina was escorted out of the office with the assistance of Sarah. As they went out the back to avoid a scene, Sarah couldn’t help but talk regarding Mimiki.

“She knows no limits,” said Sarah.”

“Sarah…”

Sarah shook her head as the two continued on. The trek to the medical office wasn’t that far, though Nobina felt every step. Mimiki did a number to her legs, but despite how cruel Mimiki’s strikes seemed, she didn’t cause any serious harm. Nobina could tell she was holding back. When Nobina snapped back at Mimiki, it seemed to stop her from holding back and almost delivering a serious hit. It was that sole fact that she wasn’t just beating her up that made her wonder if it was her own fault for not being able to take the hits without being frustrated.

At the medical office, which was a two-story building made of stone and wood, Nobina was escorted into a rather nice waiting room. At the desk was a kind receptionist who recognized Sarah. The receptionist was wearing a nice orange and white outfit, having brown hair going a bit past her shoulders.

“Hello Sarah,” said the receptionist. “Another adventurer who bit off more than they could chew this time?”

“Uh… No. An unfortunate training incident with a fellow guild officer,” Sarah sighed back.

“Oh dear. Hopefully it wasn’t too bad. Bring her in the back.”

With that, Nobina and Sarah found themselves in a nice, clean room. All over were vials and medical equipment. In the center of everything was a nice large bed and a more solid bed to the right of it.

“As this seems rather simple, we’ll go with the comfort room,” said the receptionist. “Please relax in the bed miss…”

“Nobina.”

The receptionist smiled and nodded.

“Names Witmi,” said the receptionist. “Medical Mage Kim will be here shortly.”

“Medical Mage?” asked Nobina.

“Oh right. Medical mages are rare in this nation, but we are blessed we have one in our town. Kim is an excellent doctor and medical mage. You’re in good hands.”

With that, Witmi stepped out, leaving the two alone.

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“Do you…” spoke Sarah, clearly not wanting to leave the topic of Mimiki alone.

“No,” responded Nobina.

Nobina was still tired of dealing with Mimiki, but she intended to get the story about her from Lare. Sarah might know, but her bias was too clear to make any conversation productive.

Eventually, a nice lady in a white robe appeared. She had a gentle expression on her face, giving a bow to Nobina.

“Pleasure to meet you,” said the lady.

“I didn’t know people bowed,” said Nobina.

“Oh, it’s something I’m used to dealing with nobles,” chuckled the lady. “My name is Kim Auri. Nice to meet you…”

“Nobina,” she replied back, giving a nod.

With that, Kim asked Nobina to let her examine her, which she did without problems. Checking all over Nobina, Kim confirmed what spots were bruised and what spots were fine.

“Nothing broken, correct?”

“I believe nothing is broken,” Nobina responded.

“Then it should be a simple healing procedure. Please stand still.”

Kim held out her hand, chanting something as she held her wooden staff. Energy began flowing out of the tip of it and into Nobina, providing a smooth feeling of comfort. As she relaxed, she noticed the disappearing pain. It was truly magical, making Nobina look in awe as she was amazed by what she considered traditional magic. This was everything she wanted to see in a fantasy world and seeing it firsthand was an experience unlike any other.

“Amazing,” said Nobina.

“Truly, it is,” said Sarah. “Everyone is awed by healing magic, so I’m not surprised.”

Nobina’s concerns and desire to go back to her old world seemed to disappear at that moment. Her realization that she still had yet to fully master her own power made her realize what she could do was magical in itself. If she could unlock another crazy power, then perhaps she could say she was as amazing as Medical Mage Kim. Not only that, but she wasn’t going to run away from her goal to complete her dream, no matter how rough it got.

“Done,” said Kim, stopping the spell.

Looking herself over, she saw she was in perfectly good condition, thanking Kim profusely.

“No worries,” she smiled. “Honestly, I’m more surprised by how good of a condition your clothes are. Those bruises would have indicated that your clothes would be quite scuffed up. However, they appear perfectly fine.”

Nobina understood what she meant. She was leaning more and more into the idea her clothes were magical, but she wasn’t going to say it.

“What can I say,” Nobina chuckled. “I guess I got some good quality ones.”

With that, Kim gave the price of ten gold coins, which was a decent amount, but Sarah immediately covered it.

“Thank you for your services Kim,” said Nobina and Sarah.

“Glad to get to help another fellow civil servant,” replied Kim.

With that, the two departed back to the guild. As they walked back, Sarah asked Nobina what was going to happen now.

“Hm? I’ll speak with Lare and then decide what I want to do regarding Mimiki.”

As they continued to walk, Sarah seemed to slow down, prompting Nobina to do so as well. Eventually, both stopped as Nobina found herself turning to Sarah.

“Are you… Are you considering leaving?”

Hearing those last words being spoken out in an almost sad tone prompted Nobina to hug Sarah. When she did, Sarah settled into the hug, taking it in as Nobina spoke.

“Sarah… No matter what happens, we’ll always be friends.”

Sarah nodded, hugging her back strongly. With that, the two entered the back of the guild. As soon as they did, Nobina went into Lare office, sitting down with him.

“Sarah,” said Lare. “Please stand by just in case you’re needed. Sorry for making you work on your day off. I’ll talk with Nobina in private.”

Sarah gave a salute, taking a seat in Lare’s office to relax.

With that, Nobina and Lare took their leave. As they walked, they headed into the nearby forest. Looking around, it felt peaceful as it was only the two of them now. It was as private as they were going to get.

“So,” said Lare. “Where to start…”

…

“Three years ago, it was the three of us working. Me, Mimiki and Sarah. However, one day we received a request for employment from another woman named Eisa. She, like Mimiki, was an adventurer. However, she was only an F-rank scout and nothing of note. She didn’t expect to be hired actually, but she was encouraged by her friends, who told her it was a chance to find a new path outside of the risky life of being an adventurer. Safe to say, she ended up getting the job once Eric met with her.”

“At the time, Eric told me that Eisa seemed like she was capable of reaching C-rank, which would make her a quality guild officer. They did lack scouts as well, so it was a good chance to increase the guild officer diversity. He did have reservations of her commitment to being their long term, but not enough to deny her the position. I was on board with the hire and so were Sarah and Mimiki. Mimiki in particular was excited, offering to do whatever she could to help Eisa succeed.”

“That offer was taken instantly. Eisa was supposedly going to fill an important role to their fledgling guild and be Mimiki’s buddy in the field. Sarah and Mimiki were on somewhat bad terms at that point, but they avoided actively fighting for the guild’s sakes. When Eisa came around, her kind attitude to both Sarah and Mimiki seemed to create a sense of harmony in the guild. Things seemed to be working out.”

“Fast forward to a year ago, and Eisa was promoted to C-rank adventurer and considered a quality scout amongst the adventurers in our town. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say she was the best scout, in fact. Mimiki and Eisa were as close as they could be, and things seemed to be working out for the best. However, it seemed that the moment she became a C-rank was the start of the end for Eisa’s time here. It only took a month after that for Eisa to speak to Eric regarding her employment. She informed Eric she had received an offer from a larger town to join their guild office. Eric asked her if there was anything he could offer to get her to reconsider. When the offer was mentioned though, Eric had no choice but to say they weren’t able to meet it.”

“The day she was set to leave, Mimiki was practically begging for Eisa to stay, asking why she wanted to leave them all behind for some big guild. Eisa, whose expression changed that day, merely told Mimiki the guild was not capable of helping her achieve her dream and left it at that. Her response felt cold and unfriendly. Like the two weren’t even friends anymore. That was probably why it hurt Mimiki so much.”

“Safe to say, the moment Eisa left broke Mimiki’s heart. Mimiki had changed ever since then, being more distant with us guild officers. Of course, she’d never show such discourtesy to Eric but that’s understandable. Eric was a master to her, after all.”

“As for her treatment of others, it’s hard to say why she started to dislike non-adventurers. It happened ever since Eisa left and she still hasn’t given either of us a good enough reason. Mimiki likely thought some sort of non-adventurer had put into Eisa’s mind that she had to leave to accomplish her dreams. I think it’s possible, but we can’t know. Eisa never told us. Anyway… That’s the story of Mimiki and Eisa.”

…

As Lare finished the story, Nobina merely nodded. A lot of things started making sense. Mimiki dislike and distrust was due to years of it being broken by Eisa. Of course, it didn’t justify her doing everything she has done so far, but it was a reason at least. Nobina wanted to question all of them for not telling her this information, but part of her felt there had to be a reason they hid this information. Perhaps it was a matter of trust that if they told her the story, Mimiki wouldn’t trust any of them again. Regardless, the story was all Nobina needed to give her response on how she planned to handle Mimiki.

“I understand…” said Nobina, going silent after that.

The silence was building up tension as Lare waited for her to say something. As for Nobina, she was in deep thought, thinking about Mimiki before speaking.

“If I’m being honest, I want to give her another chance.”

Hearing that, Lare felt surprised.

“Why?” Lare asked. “After everything she did to you…”

Nobina gave a kind smile as she spoke.

“I can finally understand her pain and work to help not only myself, but her resolve the rift that’s between us. It won’t stop with me if I leave, so I have to do what I can. Not only for myself, but for everyone. We’ll keep up with training together and hopefully we can work out our differences.”

To Nobina, she wanted to repay the kindness that all of them had given her. If she could resolve her differences with Mimiki, it could very well eventually mend the divide between Sarah and Mimiki as well. It would be the best gift she could give Sarah, who had done so many kind things for her.

Lare nodded, giving a smile.

“Nobina… You’re truly a kind person to be willing to train with Mimiki despite what she did to you.”

Nobina enjoyed the kind words and knew he was right. Nobina, at her core, detested conflict. If she could resolve everything, that would be her dream situation.

As she thought about it, she heard something moving in her bag.

“Huh?”

Nobina took her bag and placed it on the table. Opening it up, she saw a white bunny hop out, shocking the both of them.

“Nobina?” asked Lare. “Why… Why do you have a bunny?”

“I… Don’t know,” she replied.

Next to the bunny appeared a single piece of paper. She took it and saw the name “Pausers” on it.

The word felt somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t recall why.

“Apparently, it’s named Pausers… I have honestly no idea what to do with it.”

Nobina had resolved to work things out with Mimiki, but the appearance of a bunny was once again reminding her that not all was as it seemed. There was still a Gaze watching over her and it felt it was appropriate to give her a bunny.

Why? Who knows.

“Well… I guess you could… release it?” mentioned Lare.

Immediately, Pausers hopped onto Nobina’s lap, snuggling against her.

“Aww….”

Her heart melted, and any chance of releasing it went out the window.

“Nah. I’ll keep it,” she smiled.

She needed more friends, and Pausers was perfect for her. A kind companion that seemed happy and content. She’d need to figure out more about the logistics of caring for the bunny, but for now, she hugged her furry friend, happy to have it along for the ride.

“Well Pausers… I guess we’re buddies from now on.”

In response to her words, Pausers merely snuggled into Nobina, causing her heart to melt even more.

“This truly is a magical world,” smiled Nobina.