A little later, the group was outside the rift, back at the car, with Dora taking a piggyback ride to Lilith as an apology while Hope and Cid, still unconscious, were in the car.

"The rift will be closed in about 30 minutes, I've called the guild and they will send some officers just to stand guard. We can finally rest... Good job everyone."

Kraim bowed to the group. Marie turned to Eryl, looking worried.

“Will Barron be okay?”

"Don't worry, his life is not in danger. I'll make sure to take him to some people to see if they can do anything about his leg."

"I see... Sorry, if my defense had been better this wouldn't have happened."

Freya placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Why are you apologizing? We are emissaries and these kinds of events are part of our world... Besides, I was the one who brought him into this. It was my fault."

They lowered their heads for a moment, after which, she turned to Dora.

"Don't think this has anything to do with you either. Ultimately, it was my decision. I may have overreacted when I met you, but my mind is clear now, so don't overestimate your worth."

“... I never felt sorry for any of that.”

She smiled and walked towards the car. Dora smiled back and turned to Kraim.

"Okay, then... Paycheck, when?"

“Idiora you never change…”

“You idiot, you think you’re just going to take your money and leave?” Lilith added.

"Come on, Mr. Dora, we just found each other... Okay, I still have to spend some time with you."

Morgiana sighed but with a smile on her lips, she walked towards him.

"Don't bother him too much, he's done a lot for us so give him a little rest, okay?"

They looked a little surprised, Dora more than the others. In memory, it was the first time Morgiana had paid him a compliment.

"Thank you. Thank you for today, you don't know how important this battle was to us... When we were in Sofiya, I knew you had more in you than you ever showed. But you never showed any interest in our dream, so I genuinely thought that kicking you out was the right thing to do... But little did I know... Hm, but seeing how strong you are, I can understand why you didn't want to team up."

Dora looked away slowly. The afternoon had brought more emotions and surprises than he had lived the entire year.

"... Sorry, about the bus thing, I may have overreacted."

Lilith and Marie showed a small surprised reaction, Morgiana's apology was unprecedented but you could bet your life that Dora had never apologized before. Morgiana smiled and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, just buy me a drink and I’ll forget about it, okay?”

Dora laughed softly and readjusted his position so as not to make Lilith fall.

“Alright, I'll stay a little longer, dinner's on me, no problem Zuzu?"

"Hm? As long as no one hugs me again."

Liliana bumped into Marie to express her joy, the latter trying to repress her emotions but unable to hide her trembling hands.

Kraim walked forward proudly, a smile on his face.

"Haha, that's the spirit, don't worry about the money, it will be sent to your bank account in the following 5 days. But, I've received some advice and I have a great proposal for you."

Dora raised his eyebrows. Kraim walked towards the car and stood at the door next to Freya.

“Little Miss, you who are so wise, you said that this team has no future in the emissaries world right?”

"... Considering you've still got one, anyone can have a future. Well, that is if this life is what you have wished for."

"Hehehe... little bi... Because you're right! So, Anesidora, what's about becoming the Ace of the Southern Guild?"

Everyone gasped in sync, Dora quickly shook his head and opened his eyes.

“Mis-Mister Kraim?” Morgiana could barely say, trying to understand what he just said.

"Yes, as you know, the best emissary in every guild is the Ace, the one who will carry the party and ensure the victory. I agree that you're really fit for this role boy, and let's be honest, if your little friends go back to another rift, they will get clapped, hahahahaha! But with you, I don't think anyone could lose."

Everyone looked at him in amazement, silently. Hope didn't look up and kept staring at his knee when Leon broke the silence.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"What? What the fuck, are you kidding me?!"

"No, this is serious. As you've seen today, our guild lacks a..."

"No, you're not! Why are you bringing this? What's wrong with you?!"

Kraim looked at Leon like a vulgar garbage.

"Are you insulting an elder of the guild? Watch your language you idiot, I've seen how lame you are as a leader and I'm doing this on your team's request."

"Request? Who requested that?!"

"If you refuse to cooperate, we'll kick you out, you idiot! You think they'll think twice between you and him? Know your place, idiot!"

Leon, burning with rage, trembled all over and threw his sword to the ground before heading towards the city on foot.

"Good riddance... So, what do you think? We're getting lots of requests to subjugate C and D rank rifts, and E too, but I think you'll get bored there. So, do you want to stop being a simple scholar and join the world of real emissaries? As one of the best."

He held out his hand to Dora, everyone around him had different reactions. The Shining Sword members were stunned, Mercy seemed surprised, and even Eryl and Freya were silently waiting for his response.

Zuri remained impassive for a moment before opening her eyes wide.

"... What? What's taking you so long? You're not thinking about it, are you??"

“Ehem…”

"Don't you dare Ehem me! What are you thinking?! I am your lord and you are my soulmate! We are bound for life and you will never escape!"

"... Don't You mean knight?"

"I know what I said... come on, without you, I can't go to the forest."

Kraim laughed again, a laugh that aroused murderous desires in Zuri.

“Little miss, I’m sorry but there’s more to life than playing princess in a castle, let the pros talk, please?”

She flinched and looked at the ground, her hands trembling. She glanced at Dora, her face gaining color for the first time, and then, she met his gaze and swallowed her rage.

"No one but me has the right to make fun of her, No-One. Don't ever do that again."

His piercing gaze froze the atmosphere and Kraim's arm instinctively retracted. His power to inspire fear in others was on another level but this time his motivation delighted Freya and Mercy who smiled.

"Easy... It was just a joke..."

"People die for a joke too. Anyway, your proposal is interesting so let's get to the point: how much can you pay me?"

Zuri jumped and squeezed his arm, everyone looked at him with incomprehension.

"Haha... I knew you had this in you. As an Ace, you will participate in every expedition, so you will receive around 2% of the income from each raid, for the start, plus a bonus for every 5 successful raids. And as the guild grows, we will receive greater demand and your bonus will increase accordingly."

“Put it into numbers, how much is the bonus? And how much does 2% of income represent?"

“Idiora, are you really considering this?”

"You're very petty about money, huh? Income is based on the money left after the guild association pays us, and also on the soul stones we can sell. So for example, we can get about 5 to 8 million on average, sometimes more, like today, so... eh..."

“100 thousand lyres.” Mercy sighed.

"Yes! 100 thousand lyres per raid, and 50 thousand more after 5 raids, do you like it?"

Dora narrowed his eyes, everyone was waiting for his answer and impatience was starting to show.

Suddenly, the boy smiled and patted Zuri's head.

"I refuse."

"... What?"

“No deal, I’m not interested.

"Are you kidding, what??? Why?! You asked for money, you'll get more than everyone else!"

"I said, no deal. 100 thousand for a raid? Please, that's my monthly allowance with my scholarship, and I get a 200 thousand bonus for each raid. Why should I leave that for your piece of bread?"

Kraim was taken aback and stammered. The others, not surprised, began to laugh at first, Morgiana patting Dora on the back.

“Give it up, Kraim, when he has something on his mind, nothing can make him change.”

“Yeah, he’s our idiot.” Lilith made a circle with her finger on his cheek. “But I didn’t know you were loaded, you beautiful monster.”

"So you rejected us for money? Now dinner will become a banquet, Idiora."

They gathered around him, not because of his wealth but because his strange morality made them feel good, this was the Dora they knew.

The boy, a little annoyed, or perhaps something else, his chest spreading an unfamiliar warmth throughout his body, glanced at his companions and turned to Kraim.

“I won’t join you, but I’m willing to give you a hand.”

"... What now?"

"You're not wrong, we won because... We were strong enough together, but they'll start losing again after we leave. So how about this: I'll follow you in raids until they are able to do this easily. It should also be financially beneficial for the guild, I think."

They looked at him and suddenly entered into a general euphoria.

"Really?! You're not kidding?! That's a great idea!"

"M-Mr. Kraim, you must accept!"

Marie and Lilie jumped on Dora while Morgiana and Liliana rushed at Kraim, pulling him in every direction.

"Are you... You kidding... you refused to..."

"Mr. Kraim!"

“You said we needed to get stronger!”

Marie and Lilith joined their friends to put pressure on poor Kraim who who could barely speak.

"F-F-Fine!!! Fine! Let me go!... I'll talk to the manager, your gold-licking friend is temporarily registered!"

They jumped for joy and rushed towards Dora, and also Zuri who ran towards the car.

They celebrated for a moment, thinking about the reunification of Shining Sword for the next few days.

Hope sighed loudly when a noise made him look up. The car door had just been opened and Freya walked towards them.

Mercy was already standing in front of Dora.

"So... Huh, like, you're going to raid again, s'that it?"

"Yeah, Ah! Yeah, Zuzu and I won't go back now. Okay, Zuzu?"

Further away, Zuri held her shoulders, looking very irritated.

"Why do you ask? I'm just a mascot."

“You are more than a mascot, you are my mascot.”

He smiled at the girl whose mouth widened but she just shook her head.

“Just take the compliment…”

Mercy readjusted her hair while looking to the side and asked in a very light voice.

"Cool if I tag along too?"

"Hm?"

Hope shuddered.

"I... Huh... Well, Y'said I could try again later so... If you don't mind..."

"Oh, you want to join us? Fine with me."

"R-really? Great!!! Thank you!!!"

She hugged him tightly but abruptly walked away.

"Oh, uh, sorry, it's... It means a lot to me."

"It's okay, and you look like you could be a good friend to Zui, so you're welcome."

She tried to hold back her laughter at the massacre of Zuri's name, but Freya intervened in turn.

"I also want to join, I lack experience in rift battle."

“Huh? Aren’t you supposed to take Barron to a doctor or something?”

"I mean, after I accompany Cid to the capital, I'll come back when he's under care... Or are you going to play me again?"

"Here we go…"

They were talking in a rather good mood, everyone had their say and a few laughs arose from time to time, a hard blow for Hope who could only sit and watch from the car.

The sky was getting dark, nothing was abnormal in his world, but he couldn't imagine that this moment was the starting point of a gigantic tragedy.

In a luxurious room, Midgard contemplated the system screen after their victory. You could bet she was celebrating this milestone, but the young woman looked, very worried, at a new pattern that had previously caught Dora's attention.

|Jobs

Warrior lvl1

Knight lvl1

Healer lvl30

Swordmaster lvl1

Archer lvl30

Rogue lvl30

Mage lvl30

Special Job (Locked)

|Greed: 2%