“No! Absolutely not!” Cecilia said as soon as she heard Alnea’s guess, vehemently shaking her head, while looking incredulously at Zain. “Why do you even want to join our team anyway?”

“Who wants to join your team?” Zain said, while clicking his tongue, before turning back towards Alnea. “This is why women are so troublesome.”

“That’s right,” Cecilia said, nodding in agreement. “Women are troublesome. And there are three women in our team. We will be even more troublesome when we are together. You would be better off not joining us.”

“…If I did not pity that his talent would be buried in the city, why would I waste my time with you?”

“…If that is your reason, then I am afraid that I cannot let you join our team,” Yuri said, shaking her head, before taking on a solemn tone. “And there is no need to bother yourself with Alnea. He is strong enough to take care of himself.”

“Why is he not speaking up for himself then?” Zain said, smirking at Yuri. This man… he truly deserved a beating. “It is because he agrees with me.”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Alnea said hurriedly. “I just did not have the chance to say anything.”

“See? He is also agreeing that you are troublesome. You do not even give him the chance to speak. How can you protect him from the dangers of the city? By locking him up in a room?”

…When did he ever say those things? This crazy man… what exactly was he trying to do? Get them both beaten up?

“Don’t believe his nonsense!”

“Of course, we believe in you, Alnea,” Vestia said from the side, earning another good point for herself from Alnea. “As for you… Zain, is it?”

“Zain Enhall.”

“…The Enhall clan of Inar?”

“…That’s right,” Zain said, with a hint of pride on his face. “The Enhall clan of Inar.”

“Well, Zain Enhall. Although I do not wish to have anything to do with you, basic etiquette dictates that I still ask you. Why do you want to join our team?”

“I have said it already,” Zain said impatiently, waving his hand to dismiss the question. “I just do not wish to see him get buried in the city.”

“The truth only, Wanderer Zain,” Yuri said. “We will never allow someone with ulterior motives to join our team.”

“Do really want to let this crazy man join us?”

“It is what we promised,” Yuri said, turning her solemn face towards Cecilia. “To welcome all those who come to join us. And we do need teammates… Let us see what he has to say about himself first.”

“…I do not have any ulterior motives.”

“Let us judge whether or not you have any ulterior motives,” Vestia added. “You just tell us the truth. Why do you want to join us?”

“…Star Seekers.”

“What did you say?”

“…I heard what you said yesterday. About chasing the ‘Stars’… I also want to chase after the star that belongs to me.”

“…And what exactly is your star?”

“…Do I have to say it?”

“How else are we going to judge if you are lying to us or not?”

“I…”

Zain clenched his fists, and took a deep breath, before continuing.

“I want to enter the inner city and prove myself. To my parents, to my clan, and to the people who abandoned me. I want to tell them that they were all wrong. That I am the greatest genius in the clan.”

“…Geniuses do not have to prove anything. It is their talent, their hard work, and the way they shine that makes them a genius. Even if others try to bury them, their shine can never be taken away by anyone but themselves. Rather than trying to prove yourself to be a genius, you should try to work harder and shine in your right. Maybe then everyone will recognise you as a genius. The star that you seek will also come flying to you on its own.”

“Stop speaking nonsense. Just tell me, will you let me join the team or not?”

“…Although your words make it seem that you are in line with the philosophy of our team, we cannot be sure just yet.”

“…What else do you want to ask?”

“How long have you been in the Lost City, Wanderer Zain?”

“…Five months.”

“Five months,” Vestia said, nodding to herself. “And in those five months, you have not joined any other teams, have you?”

“…No.”

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“Your clan must have a few teams of its own—

“I will never join the teams of my clan.”

“…Even if we ignore the teams of your clan, there are still hundreds, if not thousands of teams in the city. If you just want to prove yourself, why have you not joined any of those teams yet? Why have you waited until now, and why do you want to join our team?”

“…This is why I do not like women,” Zain said, with impatience seething in his voice. “If you do not wish for me to join your team, just say so. Why are you asking all these questions?”

“We do not want you in our team,” Cecilia said with a solemn face, fulfilling Zain’s wish, only for Alnea to pull her away from the crazy man. “What are you doing?”

“…Let Yuri and Vestia handle this.”

“…As you can see, there are people in our team who are quite dissatisfied with you,” Yuri said, adding a hint of dissatisfaction to her voice. “So, if you wish to join your team, then just honestly answer the questions that we have asked.”

“…The other teams were not good enough for me.”

“And what makes you think that we are good enough for you?” Vestia said. “I can list ten different teams that are composed of just Peak Stage Wanderers, with at least seven members in each team. And this is just teams in the Northern District. There are even more teams in the other Districts. In comparison, as of now, our team has only four Wanderers, with one at the Peak Stage, one at the Advanced Stage, and two at the Intermediate Stage. If you think that other teams are not worthy of you, then we should be even less worthy.”

“…Why are you spinning your words so much? Just tell me if you will let me join your team or not.”

“…A team is a group of Wanderers who can trust each other with their lives. And you cannot even trust us with the truth. You tell me, Wanderer Zain, should we let you join our team or not?”

“…It is not like I did not try teaming up with other Wanderers,” Zain said after a brief moment of silence. “I even got a few invitations from some of the best teams in the city. After all, I can fight against Peak Stage Wanderer while being just at the Advanced Stage myself. And I reached the bottleneck to the Peak Stage over a month ago. It should not take me more than a month to truly become a Peak Stage False Wanderer. Most importantly, I am still three months short of becoming seventeen years old. I remember that back when I had come to the city, I had also shocked everyone with my talent. Just like you.”

“…And yet, here you are, still alone.”

“Those ignorant fools… they are just jealous of me. Even the Wanderers of my clan. They just cannot stand to see me becoming stronger than them. This is the reason why they have been suppressing me. There were times when some teams were willing to accept me. But then, all of them changed their mind the very next day. Not to mention how people often keep challenging me in the Arena, or the countless ambushes that I face whenever I participate in the Black Desert Trials.”

“…Let me get this straight. The other teams do not accept you because you are too talented, and they are jealous of you?”

“That’s right.”

“And since we are more talented than you, you think that we should not be jealous of you?”

“Do not take yourself too seriously,” Zain said, sneering at Yuri. This crazy man… Alnea had a sudden urge to challenge Zain to a battle in the Arena. “Whether it is you, the Serpia girl, or even the Weina girl, all three of you are just about one tenth as talented as me. Among the four of you, only Alnea can be considered to be about half as talented as me. But you are right about the second part. I do think that the four of you should not be jealous of my talent.”

“…Should we thank you for your complement?”

“No need. I was just speaking the truth. The four of you are indeed some of the most talented Wanderers in the city. Especially you, Alnea. If not for me, you might even have been the most talented Wanderer in the city. But do not worry. With your talent, if you work hard enough, you might be able to catch up to about a third of my progress.”

“…I think I understand why those people challenged him in the Arena.”

“I want to beat him up too…”

“…I understand your situation,” Yuri said, ignoring Alnea and Cecilia’s antics, and nodding at Vestia in acquiescence, signalling her to pick up the conversation. These two… When did they develop such a tacit understanding?

“In short, you want us to help you complete the quota of the Black Desert Trials, and block some pressure in the Arena so that you can take the time to upgrade to the Peak Stage?”

“Do not get me wrong. It is me, who has to block—

“The truth, Zain.”

“…I do need a little rest to break through the bottleneck. But I cannot fall behind on my quota of the Black Desert Trials either. According to the agreement I had made with my clan, if I cannot enter the inner city in one and a half year after coming to the Lost City, then I will have to go back and listen to their arrangements. Now, I only have a little over a year left. And there are so many trials left…”

“…You do know that we have offended the Lotus clan, right?”

“What about a declining clan like them? Even dogs would not be afraid of them.”

“…I will give you another chance to reorganise your language.”

“…As long as they are in the city, they have to abide by its rules. And outside of the city, they dare not do anything to me. After all, I am genius of the Enhalls. Even if an abandoned one. I cannot tell you much as it involves the secret of my clan, but rest assured, as long as they dare to move against me outside of the rules, their entire clan will have to pay a terrible price.”

“…What do you think?” Vestia said to Yuri.

“…Although he is annoying, I cannot find any reasons to reject him.”

“…Being annoying is a reason enough,” Cecilia grumbled, and looked at Alnea for help. But Alnea himself agreed more with Yuri. They had already announced in front of all the Wanderers that they would welcome everyone who came to them. If they rejected someone just because of personal preferences, then not only would it mean breaking their word, but it would also make them used to abusing their power. Both were things that Alnea could not allow to happen.

“…Let’s give him a chance,” Alnea said after thinking over his decision for a few moments. “Although he has a mean mouth, he is also a pitiful and lonely person.”

“Three against one,” Vestia said, before turning towards Zain. “Congratulations, Zain Enhall. You have passed the initial screening of the Star Seekers.”

“…Do not worry,” Zain said in a calm and collected voice, trying not to show his excitement, but was betrayed by his clenched fist, and shining light in his eyes. “With me around, no one will be able to trouble you in the city.”

“…You are just a temporary member, and will be under probation until you earn our trust. Till then, we will not register you in our team at the Blood Hall.”

“We can register our team at the Blood Hall?”

“…No, do you not even know something as simple as this? Do not tell me that you have not even registered your team yet? How dare you try to fool the entire city like this?”

“…We came to the city just four days ago.”

“So? Registering your team after creating it should be the basic common sense, right?

“…Has no one ever told you that you should speak a little less?”

“Would it not be a loss to the world if I spoke less?”

“…I have been getting a little rusty lately. Since we are all a team now… How about you help me out with my fighting skills?”