"Haaah... Finally... That's the last group of monsters."

Zeigel took a moment to catch his breath before pulling his dagger out of the neck of a monster.

"Aw man, we're done with all the missions already? Time sure flies by fast." said Saliza.

"Fast my ass! That felt too damn long!"

"Good work completing these ten missions." Reizo said as he led Verny who had a box covering its head towards the two.

After saying their goodbyes to the gardvern, the two followed Reizo as he led them to a house located near the headquarters.

"Why are we here?" Saliza asked. "The headquarters is right there."

"Just for today, you don't need to turn in the missions at the headquarters." Reizo said as he dug through his pocket for his keys. "I'll also be the one paying you for your efforts."

He unlocked the door to the house and brought the two inside.

"Is this where you live?" Zeigel asked.

"Yes. Take a seat while I go get your payment."

The inside of his house was very dusty but well organised and free of any rubbish. The living room was quite empty and had very little furnishing. It was almost as if the house had been bought very recently.

Zeigel and Saliza took a seat on a sofa. A coffee table in front of them had framed pictures of a younger and far happier version of Reizo along with other vanguards.

"My god, can you believe that he once looked this?" Zeigel whispered to Saliza as he stared at a picture of Reizo with a female vanguard with short red hair and glowing crimson glasses. It was quite bizarre seeing Reizo with such a wide beaming smile.

How did this guy turn into Reizo?

Saliza didn't seem to hear him. She was focused on the largest picture frame that had a group shot of various vanguards as well as Meitre in the centre. The words 'Defenders Of Mezio' were carved into the top of the frame.

"Hah! Look at Reizo!" Zeigel laughed as he spotted Reizo and a blonde guy being put in a headlock by a muscular woman who beamed proudly at the camera.

Weirdly enough, Saliza remained silent. She picked up the frame and took a closer look at it, seeming interested in something about it.

"You know any of these people?" Zeigel asked.

"No...not at all. I just thought it would be cool to be like them one day." Her voice wasn't as energetic as usual. It was hard to tell what she was feeling with her mask covering her face.

"When you two are done looking at pictures of my past, please take your money and leave."ssaid Reizo who was standing behind the sofa with two envelopes in hand, causing Zeigel to jump out of his skin.

"Can you tell me more about this?" Saliza asked, pointing at the group photo.

"Oh that. Several years ago nearly every vanguard in Mezio came together to celebrate Meitre's birthday. After the celebration, we decided to take this photo as a way to let Meitre know that she could count on us to protect Mezio. Unfortunately..." Reizo let out a dejected sigh before continuing.

"Most of the vanguards here are long gone. Excluding me and Meitre, only four other people in this photo are still alive. Two of them are currently trainers while one of them has retired to open up a restaurant you two should be familiar with."

"Barill is in this shot?" Zeigel exclaimed. "I don't see him here."

"He's the one in the large heavy armour. Back then, he'd always wear that armour to create a sort of persona of a tough guy people can rely on to protect them. He said he did it because he was inspired by my trainer who was considered by many to be invincible."

"What about the woman who has you in a headlock?" Saliza asked. "Can you tell me more about her?"

"...That's Feyra" Reizo said with a grim look on his face. "She's very wild and does all sorts of crazy things, and more often than not, I'm on the receiving end of her antics. The first time we met, she dropped out of the sky and broke every bone in my body upon landing. That wasn't even the worse thing she's done to me..."

"What's the worse thing she did?" Zeigel asked.

"I'd rather keep that memory suppressed."

"But what was she like as a vanguard? Was she super strong and cool?" Saliza excitedly asked.

"Ignoring all the traumatic experiences she's given me, she's an incredible vanguard and was one of the strongest fighters I knew. Are you a fan of her?"

"Yeah! She saved my life before! She's the reason why I wanted to become a vanguard!"

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"I see." A faint smile appeared on his face. "Do your best and I'm sure you'll become a great vanguard like her."

"I will!"

And I'll be there to support you for as long as I'm here.

The two collected their payments and made their way back to their room.

"I'm gonna lose all my clothes at this rate." Zeigel complained after tossing away a shirt that had holes melted through the back of it.

"We can just buy more."

"I'd rather save as much money as possible since we're not getting paid much at the moment. I mean look at how thin this envelope is. I know there isn't much in it." Zeigel said before opening the envelope to prove it.

His jaw dropped as soon as he saw how much was inside. "HOLY SHIT! HE GAVE US 300 DOLLARS!"

"WAIT WHAT?" Saliza exclaimed in disbelief. She opened her envelope to see if what Zeigel said was true. "OH MY GOD! WE'RE RICH!"

"I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING I SAID ABOUT YOU REIZO! BEST TRAINER EVER!"

"ALL HAIL REIZO!"

The two spent the next few minutes celebrating their large pay and sang praises of their trainers.

"Should we pay off the fee for our bracers?" Saliza asked. "We have enough now."

"Nah, we don't need to pay it off immediately. What we need now are better weapons and armour."

"Oh yeah, a better axe would be nice."

The two made their to the blacksmith shop. Surprisingly, there were only kitchen wares on display. Not a single weapon or armour were in sight.

"Hey, ya need something?" A teenage boy at the cashier counter asked.

"This is the blacksmith shop right?" Zeigel asked.

The teenager turned to the door behind him and shouted, "Mom! We got some vanguards here to buy weapons and stuff!"

Sarhen soon came out of the room behind the teenager wearing an apron and a pair of gloves. Her long braided hair was wrapped around her neck like a scarf.

"Ah, Reizo's recruits. Is your trainer not here to pay for you two?"

"No, but he did give us a lot of money." Said Saliza.

"As long as you can pay up, I'll be happy to forge whatever you want."

"Oh! Can you make me a big axe?" Saliza asked.

"I can make one that's a little bigger than the one you're currently using. What about you boy?" Sarhen turned to Zeigel.

I'm not sure if I should stick to using a dagger. Its short range forces me to get uncomfortably close to monsters. A short sword might be better, and I don't need to worry about how heavy it is thanks to my stats.

"I'll take a short sword."

"Alright. Now then, what materials do you want me to use?"

"Uh, what are our options?" Zeigel asked.

"Options?" Sarhen looked at him confused. "I'm taking about the materials your trainer brought over to my shop. Did he not tell you?"

The two shook their heads in response.

"As you know, if you want me to forge something for you, you need to provide me with your own materials. A few days ago, Reizo came in here with a box of zinite parts and edgorn horns and told me that I can use them to forge whatever you two need."

He did all that for us? Now I'm really starting to feel bad about cursing him out so much.

"What I can recommend is that I use the zinite claws for the blades of your weapons and the edgorn horns for the handles. As for armour, I can melt down the zinite feathers to create light armour for the both of you. Is that alright with you two?"

"Sounds good, we'll take it." Zeigel happily agreed and paid the blacksmith.

"Stop by the shop tomorrow morning and I'll have your equipments ready by then."

"Just out of curiosity, why is there kitchen ware here?" Zeigel asked.

"Only vanguards buy weapons and armour, and with more than half of them gone, I needed to start selling something normal people would buy."

"Don't worry, Zeigel and I are gonna inspire more people to join the vanguards. That way you'll be able to get more customers." Saliza spoke with confidence in her voice.

"Heh, good luck with that." Sarhen chuckled.

"Hey Saliza, why don't you head back first. I'm gonna go do a little shopping."

----------------------------------------

Zeigel returned back to his room with several bags in hand. He spotted Saliza in the middle of the room without her mask on.

"Check it out Zeigel, I've upgraded my masks." She said as she held up a mask that now had a poorly drawn smiley face on it.

"I don't understand why you need to draw on your masks."

"To show how I'm feeling, duh. Now that I have even more masks, I can express myself even more."

She held up a few more masks that had different poorly drawn expressions on them.

"Good god, you have the drawing skills of a five-year old."

"How dare you, that makes me angry!" She playfully said as she put on a mask with an angry face.

"See, now I can express myself more."

"Pfft, that is so dumb." Zeigel chuckled.

"By the way, what did you buy?" Saliza asked.

"Dinner." Zeigel said as he took out packets of meat and vegetables, some sauces, and a cookbook written by Barill.

Hopefully learning how to cook various dishes will help me avoid eating anything unsavoury.

"I'm gonna make something simple for tonight. I'm an amateur cook so please bear with me."

Zeigel flipped through the cookbook and carefully followed the instructions as he got to making a stir fry.

"So how's it taste?" He asked after serving the first meal he's ever made.

"Not bad. It's not quite good as Barill's cooking, but it's pretty good."

"Really?" Zeigel took a bite out of his own dish. "Hmm, could be better. I'll try to improve my cooking skills next time."

"Then you can be my personal chef too."

"I'm gonna charge you for your meals if you call me that."

After finishing their dinner, the two brushed their teeth and went to their bedroom to get some sleep. As he laid down on his bed, Zeigel reflected on everything that has happened to him this week and how crazy his life had gotten so quickly.

He hated it. Everytime he thought about the portal, his blood would boil, but what could be do? He could whine and complain all he wanted, but nothing would change. All he could do is pray that through some miracle, he'll be able to find a way back home.

For now, he'll have to settle with the life he currently has, which wasn't entirely dog shit. Being a vanguard may be something that he loathed, but at least he has a friend who while annoying, cares deeply about him and kept things lively, and a moody trainer who wasn't quite as bad as he made him out to be.

For just a brief moment, he asked himself, would living in this world be so bad?

It was a question he immediately denied. The fact that he would even contemplate such a ridiculous question made him want to slap himself.

I'm going insane aren't I? Of course I don't want to continue living in this godforsaken world! If I can just return to Earth, I'll be able to pursue that ideal life. I'll continue my studies, get a good paying job, and live out the rest of my life peacefully without needing to put up with bullshit from others. That's way better than what I have here, isn't it?

He glanced over at Saliza who was fast asleep and drooling all over her pillow. This was the first time he saw her sleeping without her mask on. He didn't understand why, but the sight of her somehow made his resolve to return back to Earth waver.

Don't be stupid Zeigel. She's a good friend, but I can't be too attached to her. I'll do what I can to help her while I'm here, but I can't let something as trivial as friendship keep me away from a better life. I need to do whatever it takes to get back to Earth.