It’s the day after Raela and Klare joined our party.

We were having breakfast when Jiuru called out to me.

“By the way, brother Greo.”

“Mmm?”

“Starting today, we have three days of break, right?”

“Yeah. Are you going somewhere?”

“Yes. I just need to take care of some things.”

Hm?

“I see. Be careful, alright?”

“Greo, I’ll also head out to the guild with Klare later. We’ll notify them about our missing adventurer cards. The guild should have jobs for adventurers who lost their cards.”

“Oh, that’s right; they do have that. Then that means you will need a letter from someone who can vouch for you since both of you are not from this town.”

If an adventurer lost their card, they can go to the guild and ask for a temporary job. The receptionist will then give them a suitable job based on their class.

If an adventurer is from that town, all they needed to do is go to a receptionist and tell them. Otherwise, you will need an adventurer from that town to vouch for you. What the guild will need is a letter with a small orb containing the mana of the adventurer vouching for you.

“Yes. I was hoping you could do that for us.”

“It’s fine, but can’t I just accompany you both to the guild?”

“Ah, well, you see…” Raela glanced to her left.

“Oh, I see. Got it, I’ll write one after this.”

“Thank you very much.”

*****

It is the afternoon. The day is clear and the weather is just right. Greo decided to spend the day training his [Synchro Summon Magic] at the back of their house.

He is training to get used to it, but…

“Hollo. Are you ready?”

“Yes, master.”

“Alright. [Synchro Summon Magic!]”

A strong, ominous gust of wind, shook the nearby trees and swallowed both Greo and Hollo. The wind briefly intensified and then disappeared, revealing a figure of a man with a deep, dark eyes and white wings.

“Haa… Mmm. No problem up until this part. Let’s try this. [Earth Spike!]”

Nothing happened.

“[Water Ball!]”

Nothing happened.

“Hmm… I really can’t use my own magic, huh. Let’s try the skill then. [Locator.]”

A map of Luminus Town appeared in his mind.

“Ohh! It works. I can see the colosseum, plaza, and the guild. So skills are fine? Or maybe it’s because it’s the skill I got when I summoned Hollo?”

Summoning another one will answer my question, but what can I even summon? I’ll think about that later.

“Since Hollo’s and my mind are synchronized on this state, I could pretty much tell what magic and skills he has. Alright, this one uses less mana. Let’s try it.”

Greo aimed at the nearby tree.

“[Black Tornado!]”

A tornado exactly the size of the tree slowly approached and obliterated its target.

“What!? Did the size of the spell adjust to the size of the target? Let me try it again—Ugh!”

My head is throbbing! It’s as if someone is splitting my head with their bare hands! It hurts…!

The excruciating pain brought Greo to his knees. Unable to bear the pain any longer, he passed out, undoing his transformation.

*****

A woman approached an unconscious Greo and Hollo.

“Geez, Greo, you sure love passing out, don’t you?”

After picking up the unconscious eagle, she slowly sat beside Greo and placed his head on her lap. She then laid the eagle next to Greo.

She gently caressed Greo’s head as she cast a spell to alleviate their pain. Their faces that were in pain earlier are now sleeping peacefully.

Feeling the wind, she closed her eyes and hummed a song.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

*****

In a distant mountain, a demon is watching Greo.

“Hoo. While in a form that basically uses up all your mana upon transformation, he still managed to cast a skill. That’s a big leap of progress, if I say so myself. What do you think?”

“Impressive. But still not enough. He still won’t be able to wield my power like that. I’d say he needs ten times more of what he has now.”

“Six months.”

“Hah?”

“In six months, you’ll answer his call. Wanna make a bet?” The demon grinned.

“Let’s not. I’d like to keep the fishes for myself. But since you’re so sure, I’ll be waiting for that moment. Zelentriya.”

*****

At the guild, two unfamiliar faces to Bel walked to her desk.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes. How may I help you?”

“Umm. The two of us lost our cards, so we were hoping to see if there are any jobs available that we can do for the time being.”

As adventurers, their main source of income is from accepting quests and slaying monsters. Of course, they can slay monsters if they wish to do so, but the rewards that come along with slaying a monster are—most of the time—better than only selling the parts of the slain monster.

“I see. That’s quite unfortunate. May I ask what your names and classes are?”

“I’m Raela. A hydral.”

“Klare. A combuster.”

“My! A hydral and combuster. We don’t have many adventurers with advanced classes. Seeing as the two of you are not from this town, do you have a letter from an adventurer here?”

“Here.”

Raela handed the letter to Bel. Afterwards, Bel quietly read the content of the letter.

“Oh my! It’s from Greo. So both of you will be joining his party once your cards returned?”

“Yes, that’s right. Is something wrong?”

“No, there’s nothing wrong. You see, even though their party only has four members, their party’s rank is already at Platinum-IV, and their success rate is currently sitting at one hundred percent with their quests ranging from Silver-II to Platinum-III.”

“That’s pretty amazing. Monsters and wild beasts at platinum rank are quite powerful and tricky to deal with.”

“You said it. Oh, excuse me, I’m getting sidetracked. Please take a seat; I’ll call your name once we find a job for you two ladies.”

“I understand. Thank you very much.”

After talking to Bel, they found a table available. It’s already in the afternoon, so the guild only has a few people in it. Those who are on their day off and those who slept in.

“Thank goodness Greo wrote a letter for us.”

“Mmm. They’ve been helping us a lot; we cannot just continue living off of their kindness.”

“Yeah. We need to earn our fair share of work. But you’re pretty clumsy, so let’s just hope they don’t give us any work at restaurants.”

“Geez, Raela. I’m not that clumsy…”

Raela watched Klare’s face turn beet red as she recalled the moment when Klare tried working as a waitress. She would sometimes trip over nothing, get the wrong order, and spill drinks occasionally. And when a rude customer harassed or disrespected Raela, she would send them flying outside.

“Oh? You two are Greo’s acquaintances, right?”

Out of nowhere, Pilo spoke to them.

“You are…?” Raela asked.

“Ah, my bad. Name’s Pilo. I’m an adventurer in this town and a friend of Greo’s.”

“I see. I’m Raela, and the gorgeous girl next to me is Klare. So, how can I help you?”

“Right, right. You see, I was watching your ‘mock battle’ yesterday; it was so flashy… especially the last part. Both of you are so strong.”

“I see? Thank you.”

“And, uh… I have one question.”

“What is it?”

“Uh… Is it true that the two of you are a married couple?”

“That’s right. What of it?” Klare answered, glaring at Pilo.

Pilo shivered. “See! I told you dumbasses they’re married!” Pilo shouted. A collective “Aww…” was heard as he did so. He continued, “I’m sorry about that; they’re getting kinda annoying, you see? They kept nagging me to ask you that question. My bad.”

“No, it’s quite alright. It was only a question, no need to worry,” Raela replied.

“Cool, thanks. Alright, see you two around,” he waved as he went back to the group of men and hit their heads one by one.

“Yeah…” Raela turned to Klare. “That was weird,” she chuckled.

“A couple like us is probably rare in this kingdom. Never mind that; where should we go afterwards?”

“Greo recommended a couple of places to me earlier. We can go there if you want.”

“Well, then. I’ll let you lead me to many places today.”

“Gladly. I’ll make sure we’ll enjoy this day,” Raela declared as she grabbed Klare’s right hand and slowly brought it to her lips.

It made Klare giggle.

Raela’s action caught the attention of the adventurers from earlier and a couple more. One of the female adventurers said, “That girl is much more romantic than you!” It was then followed with, “Geez, give me a break.”

Bel’s voice called out to Raela.

“Oh? Let’s go, Klare,” extending her hand to Klare.

The two of them walked towards Bel’s desk with a few eyes watching them.

“How is it, Miss Bel?”

“We found a few jobs available for you two. First, for Miss Raela, a pond on the west of the town is looking for a temporary caretaker as the current caretaker is sick. Next, for Miss Klare, a blacksmith is looking for any mage to assist him on the weapon he’s making. The blacksmith is located a bit further to the east of the town. There are three more jobs available, but what do you think?”

“The next jobs, please,” answered Klare.

“Alright. Here we have clerks for Blanche Trading, waitresses at Lando Resto, and temporary maids.”

“Hmmm. Should we take the one at Blanche Trading, Klare?”

“Fine with me. So long as we’re not separated.”

“Then, Miss Bel. We’ll do the first one.”

“Clerks for Blanche Trading it is. Then, please sign these.”

Bel handed the two of them forms that they quickly signed.

*****

Inside a thick and dark forest. A lone mage is walking towards a boulder that is surrounded by white concrete pillars, corroded by vines and ivies.

The lone mage looked up to the boulder; he spoke, “I’m here.”

A figure appeared atop the boulder. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the foolish mage. Changed your mind, eh?”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“Aww. Too bad,” he pouted. He then glared at him and asked, “Then?”

“A Devil appeared. It turned out exactly the way you said. A kid asking me to find his lost toy, Mist, and the vice mayor of Luminus Town…”

He sighed. “How many times does this make? We’ve been at it for three years now. It’s about time you start believing me—Hmm?” He jumped down and took a closer look at the mage. “Well. Would you look at that? At least you listened to one thing I said. You’ve been focusing on your barrier, huh?”

“I only used it because I was in a desperate situation back then; it’s been useful since then. That’s all.”

“Is that so? And then? That’s not the only reason you’re here, right?”

“The first thing you proposed. I’ll accept it.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about. You’re still level four, right?”

“Yeah.”

The man grinned. “Kuhehehe. Good, good.” His demeanor changed from a seemingly normal person to a twisted man with a few loose screws. “Kihihihi. Now, then. Place your hand on my chest.”

“Did you even wash it?”

“How rude! Of course I did!”

The lone mage reluctantly pressed his hand against the man’s chest. The moment that it touched the man’s skin, the mage felt a stinging pain, and the hand he used started to bleed.

“Do not move your hand. You have to endure it, for this is your wish.” His demeanor changed once more. The crazy guy is gone and was replaced with a wise and serene man.

A few minutes passed, and the mage’s hand is still bleeding.

Due to the amount of blood he lost, he started turning pale.

A few minutes more have passed.

His consciousness is starting to become blurry. He’s now merely standing using his pure will.

“It is done. I congratulate you, Jiuru Trelio. Should you reach the level of five, you are guaranteed to obtain the unique skill, [Barrier Manipulation].”

“Tha…thank you…Erio,” as he thanked the man, he fell on his knees.

“Oh? This won’t do. You lost too much blood.” Erio placed his hand on Jiuru’s head, “[Mega Heal.]”

The color of Jiuru’s skin went back to normal, the wound on his hand was also healed, and he was strangely energized.

“This is…”

“Please do hurry and make your way out of the forest. The sun is about to set.”

“Yes, thank you again, Erio. Unlike the other two, you are kind.”

“’We’ did not do it out of kindness. Surely, you are aware of the price of the skill we bestow to you?”

“I know.”

“Very good. Now, now. Please hurry home.”

“Heh. See ya, foolish mage.”

“Kuhihihi. Please do come back.”

Without turning his back, Jiuru made his way out of the thick forest.