“…lee… Aelee…”

Nhngh! That was…! That was the first…!

“Aelee? Are you okay?”

“Ha… Ha… Yes, I’m fine… I just had a bad dream.”

A quite but firm and gentle voice woke me up from a traumatic nightmare. It is a voice that I’ve heard a million times and no matter how many times I listened to it, I never get tired of hearing it.

“Are you sure? You can go back to sleep if you’re still not feeling good, don’t worry about the nigh watch.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m fine now. I’ll do it with you.”

Since Gretta is also there…

It’s the first night of our escort quest.

———

——

—

The next day after we met with the other party for the quest, we went to the south gate of Luminus town to meet with them again along with the client.

When we arrived, we saw the three familiar faces and six new faces unfamiliar faces; five men and a woman. There are also wagons that has two men seated in front and on both sides of the wagon are two horses without riders.

“That other man must be the client. Who’s the other person?” Asked Greo.

“His wife, perhaps?” I answered.

“Huh… The quest said we only have to escort merchant Warren and his wagoners.”

“Well, we can just ask those three. It looks like they already settled it,” said Zel, pointing at the three adventurers, waving their hands at us.

They sure are a lively bunch.

As we approached the three, we were greeted by Randal.

“Yo! Good morning, you guys.”

“Wow. You really healed overnight,” said Greo, surprised. “And uh… My bad, I kind of took it too far with my last attack yesterday.”

“I don’t think it was just the last attack,” commented Gretta.

“Don’t worry about it. I acted like a jerk yesterday, I pretty much deserved it. You know what they say, fuck around and find out. Ahahaha!” He laughed.

It seems like he never took it too hard despite getting one-sidedly beaten up yesterday.

This was also…

“In any case,” interrupted Gretta. “This is merchant Warren and his wife, Yumi.”

“Hello there, adventurers. I’m sorry about this. You see, my wife’s brother in Shimmer town was suddenly caught in an accident. He lost his right eye and leg during the incident. Ahh, please do not worry, I already informed the guild and raised the reward to one million oires.”

“Huh…?” Greo looks dumfounded.

Hehe… cute.

But I couldn’t help but asked, “How long has it been since the accident?”

Depending on their answer, I might be able to restore his sight and his ability to walk.

His wife, Yumi, answered, “Since she used a messenger pigeon, it must’ve been three days ago when she sent the message. We received it last night.”

Three days ago… adding the fourteen days of travelling…

I won’t make it. At best, I can only alleviate the pain.

“I see. Then, we must hurry. Let’s be on our way. Gretta, please tell us the plan while we’re travelling,” I urged.

“I understand. Randal and Balka. You two will ride the horses in front. Zelentriya and Greo will ride in the first wagon along with Mr. Warren and Mrs. Yumi. The three of us will ride in the second wagon.”

“Sounds good,” approved Greo.

I do have my own problems with the formation, but if Greo says that it’s good, then it’s good.

“Hm? Brother Greo, where’s Hollo?”

“Hollo? You guys have another member? Miss Bel said there are only four of you,” asked Gretta.

“Ah, no. It’s my summon. I called him just now. He was probably still on our roof, sleeping. He should be arriving soon. We can just go on ahead.”

“What type of summon is it?”

“It’s a support animal. A hollow eagle.”

“Geh! A h-hollow eagle…,” she said, as she slowly got on her knees, shaking.

Although hollow eagles are beings from the demon realm, there’s already been multiple records of summoners summoning hollow eagles as their companion, so it’s not something that most people would freak out about.

That reminds me… Even though everyone from the guild knows that Greo summoned a hollow eagle, none of them questioned it. Not even once… Was it also because of his uncle?

“What’s wrong?”

“Ahahaha! Don’t worry about her. She just had a little traumatic experience against a hollow eagle once,” said Randal.

“Oh? What happened?”

“It’s nothing serious… or maybe or it is. You see…”

According to Randal’s story, it went like this:

Their party took an escort quest going to Immernight kingdom, a kingdom where the sun doesn’t shine. It’s a small kingdom where vampires, demons and any other beings that you can see in the demon realm resides. Most people refer to it as an extension of demon realm.

When they arrived in the Immernight kingdom, Gretta saw an ‘eagle’ suddenly perched on top of the wagon while they were they taking a break. She tried to shoo it away normally, but when that didn’t work, she threatened it with a sword. Unsurprisingly, it worked, the ‘eagle’ flew up… and hovered in front of her.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

For an ‘eagle’ without eyes, it seems to be looking at her with anger.

“Eh…?”

All of a sudden an intense dark gust of wind enveloped Gretta. After the wind dispersed and the ‘eagle’ flew away, it revealed Gretta… in her raw and purest form…

What made it worse is that a lot of adventurers were watching the commotion. There were two parties, including theirs, that took the quest and the other party has eight members.

“STOOPPP!!! Why are you telling them that story, Randal!?”

“Ahahaha! My bad, my bad. Anyway, there you have it.”

“That… must’ve been tough…”

“Adventurers, we’re ready to depart now,” merchant Warren notified.

We quickly ended the conversation and got in our respective wagons and horses.

—

——

———

“Oh, Greo, Aelee. You’re here. Have a sit,” she invited, lightly tapping the log she’s sitting on.

Behind the two wagons and sleeping horses is a small campfire surrounded by four logs that could accommodate four people each. I slowly took Greo’s right arm and lead him to sit in one of the logs, opposite to where Gretta is sitting.

“I have to say. Your summon is really good at scouting. We managed to avoid the goblins’ and wild beasts’ ambushes thanks to it. I was scared at first, but now that I take a look at him, he’s very different from the hollow eagle I encountered. He’s… very chill, I think?”

“Well, as long as you don’t hurt him, he’ll leave you alone too. Especially when he’s taking a nap.”

“Is that so? I’ll keep that in mind,” Gretta giggled.

They continued their conversation for quite some time. All their topics so far was all about their everyday lives. I’m not exactly thrilled about it, but I love hearing everything about Greo.

Yes, he and I live on the same house, but it’s not as if we’re always together. I’d love for it to be like that every day, but I have to hold myself back.

For now, at least.

“By the way…”

“Hm?”

“I noticed that Aelee’s been clinging on her arm ever since you two came here. You guys have that kind of relationship?”

“Well—“

Before Greo answered, I interrupted, “Pretty much, yes.”

“That’s… not wrong, I guess…?”

“Must be nice! Ha… I also want to find a partner.”

Hm…?

“Is Randal not your lover?”

“Ha!? That guy? Impossible,” she dismissed, laughing.

That’s strange…

“And besides,” she added, “Randal has his eyes set on one of the receptionists in the guild. I couldn’t quite remember her name but she has a black hair with a bob haircut…”

“You mean Mel?” Greo asked.

There are three different desks in the guild with three different receptionists. Miss Bel, the one we always go to, is stationed in the middle. On her left side is Tir, she’s got a long silver hair that also covers her sleepy looking eyes. She’s constantly yawning and, most of the time, people who see it will also yawn in response.

On her right side is Mel. A girl with a pretty small stature. She has a black hair with a bob haircut. She has a cheerful and innocent demeanor that attracts most adventurers. Although she looks like that, she’s…

“Yeah, yeah. That girl. Other than her huge breasts, I don’t know what else he sees on her, really. She’s got the worst reputation among the receptionists.”

“That innocent-looking girl?”

“Tsk. Tsk,” she waved her finger. “Don’t let her innocent face fool you. Everyone knows that she has the habit of taking adventurers in her home and she’s not even trying to hide it. It doesn’t matter whether they’re male or female, old or young, She’ll take them home with her.”

“Hmm… I didn’t know that.”

“Anyway. Can you tell me about summoning magic? I’ve been to many places, but it’s actually my first time meeting a summoner. I’m curious as to how summoning works.”

“Well, it’s a pretty simple but hard to execute as you need precision, concentration, and a lot of mana.”

Greo then proceeded to explain the basics of summoning magic. According to him, there are two types of summoning magic. The one that he’s currently using is what they call “Physical Summoning.” It’s a type of summoning where the summoned being has a physical body.

The second one is “Spirit Summoning.” It’s where summoners will summon spirits whose power they could borrow for a short amount of time.

“Spirits themselves cannot influence our realm nor can we see them normally. Using the summoner’s body as a medium, they use our mana and materializes themselves. This is also the reason why I don’t use “Spirit Summoning” they continuously sap your mana until you’re completely wiped. On top of that, they cause a heavy burden on your body. The current me can’t handle it.”

Afterwards, he explained the two different methods. The first one is “Controlled.” This method uses a magic circle where the summon’s appearance and what type of creature they are, is already determined.

“Just like Hollo,” I added.

“Yes.”

Second is “Aimless.” Although this method also uses a magic circle, it’s the complete opposite of controlled as this only uses the summoner’s ‘desire.’ For example, if the summoner desires a strong and fast summon, a strong and fast summon will appear. Their appearance, what type of creature they are, and everything else will be random according to the amount of mana they poured. So it could either be a monster, wild beast or just a normal animal.

“Hee… That’s pretty interesting. I thought they just draw a magic circle, pour a little mana on it then boom, a summon will appear.”

“Haha. I wish it was also that easy.”

“Don’t worry too much, Greo. I’m sure you’ll be able to do much more in the future.”

“Ahaha… Hearing you say that kinda makes me happy. Thank you, Aelee.”

“Hello~ Beautiful ladies~”

Just then, our conversation got interrupted. The sudden voice made Gretta jump back to our side of the log.

A man with a black bandana and a sword approached us, and behind him is a total of thirteen people. I guess they’re the bandits residing near the place.

“Hmph! I guess luck is on our side today. Oi! You said there were only one fighter and one swordsman here, right?”

“Yes, boss.”

“Greaaat~”

What a lecherous gaze. It’s enough to make me puke.

“Greo. Did you not notice them?” I asked.

“Yeah… I was so absorbed with on our conversation. But it seems like none of them are hiding. That’s all of them.”

Gretta, while holding her staff tight, asked, “What do you bastards want?”

“Haaa? Isn’t it obvious. Every body of the girls here, of course~ Gahahaha!”

“Scoundrels!” She gritted her teeth.

“Say what you want. You lot, kill all the men you see and capture every woman.”

With his signal, all of them charged at the same time.

“Greo, Gretta, close your eyes.”

They both quickly shut their eyes off.

“[Flash!]”

Right after I casted the spell, a few screams echoed in the middle of the night. I managed to slow their movements.

“GAH! MY EYES! MY EYES!”

“Blasted mage!”

But it seems like a few them was able to recover quickly.

Gretta then used this chance to cast a spell. “[Rock rain!]”

Numerous amount of fist-sized rocks flew towards them. Her barrage of rocks lasted for five seconds and she was able to take down three bandits with it.

“Tsk! What assholes! They’re using their comrade’s body as a shield.”

Wow, she becomes pretty foul when she gets angry, huh.

“Huh!? Where’s the other guy—!? Ggah!!”

All of a sudden, the man at the very back was knocked out.

“Where is he—!? Ack!”

Followed by another one.

“You piece of shit! Gahak!!”

And another one.

“Dammit! Is that guy actually an assassin!? Agh!!”

And one more.

Not quite. Greo can conceal his mana and presence, but that doesn’t mean it makes him invisible. Because of Gretta’s spell earlier, they got distracted and Greo was able to blend into the darkness of the night and take them down from behind.

Well, I shouldn’t slack off either.

“Gretta, ready your powerful spell.”

“What? I might hit the wagons behind us too, you know?”

“It’s alright, don’t worry.”

“I got it,” she replied as she began charging her spell.

With this much noise, the rest of them are bound to wake up. And if Zel and Jiuru are awake…

Including that one who looks like their boss, there are still seven bandits left.

“You really think I will let you finish what you’re doing, woman!?”

Another bandit charged at Gretta. I was about to fire a magic at him when a dark streak of light flung him onto the nearby tree.

“That must be Hollo. Anyway, [Light Bind!]”

A string of light slowly crept up to the bandits and quickly coiled around them. The bind gathered all the remaining bandits in the same place.

“What the hell is this!?” asked their leader.

“Hmm… A bind?”

“You bitch!”

“Aelee! I’m done!”

When I looked at Gretta’s direction a humungous, rapidly spinning ball of water with chunks of rocks inside is floating above her head.

“Fire away!”

She then hurled her spell towards the bandits and they all let out a cry before getting knocked out.

The water flooded the area, but…

“The wagons and horses… Not even wet.”

A voice came out of the wagon.

“Geez, I was wondering what’s with the noise and it’s just some unruly humans…,” said Zel, clearly sleepy.

“Is everyone alright?” Asked Jiuru, who came out after Zel.

“Yeah. Fortunately, none of us are hurt,” answered Greo.

“That’s strange, you two are awake but the rest aren’t. Why’s that?” Asked Gretta.

“Ah, it’s because of my barrier. I can block out sounds too. I’m currently working to hopefully block the smell next.”

In just a short month, he managed to make a barrier that could block sounds.

Not even an Arch Mage could do that.