Heading back into classes on Friday was... strange, for Rin.

She didn't go back to the Arena after the loss she'd taken. Instead, she wanted to get some more training in and really hammer out her issues before she fought anyone else again. During her classes, all she could do was hope that time would pass just a little sooner so that she could go up and start training with her teacher already.

Every now and then, her eyes would meet Seth's, and the boy would just turn away nonchalantly. Whenever this happened, Rin would scowl, wondering if she'd ever get a chance to rectify that loss.

"... ruins, among them were dungeons," Cara said, and Rin started paying attention again. "Cradle and Libera tend to keep prisoners in small cells located within the cities, but researchers believe that in the Old World, there were facilities located outside of human settlements that worked as prisons. Giant, sprawling buildings, and it's not too rare that the Guild receives missions related to these places, so, we'll be going over them and the sorts of monsters you can expect to see there."

As Cara explained this matter further, Rin turned to her left and saw Eve with her head in her arms on her chair.

[Hm?]

"Eve," Rin leaned in and whispered.

"Yeah?" The fairy answered.

"Are you okay?"

"Mhm, I'm just... Yeah, yeah," Eve said, injecting some energy into her tone and straightening up. "I'm good."

"Uh... Alright," Rin nodded.

"... undead are mostly what you'll find," Cara said. "In these closed little spaces, where there's a large mix of old and new skeletons from settlers and adventurers alike, undead are very common. However, that's not all. Many spider-like monsters also call these places home, so you should keep that in mind if you ever find yourself in one."

As Rin went back to her own thoughts, however, she tuned Cara's lessons out and lost herself in her daydreams.

[Actually, today's Friday,] Rin thought. [I should probably do another Triss night, shouldn't I? I'm not really in the mood, but whatever. Maybe it'll be fun.]

And so, as the class ended soon after that, Rin was about to walk out of the classroom when Cara made a minor announcement.

"By the way," Cara spoke up and the students all looked her way, "today we'll be having some slightly higher-rank adventurers come in."

The students were all fairly surprised by this, and Rin's brows went up as she tilted her head, wondering what was the occasion.

"They should be here at about midday, so make sure to go down to the lobby after Eli's class. We'll be having them take questions from you. Think of it as a chance to do your own little interviews, just so you can learn a little about the job from other people. I know you all must be pretty damn tired of seeing nothing but our faces every day," Cara said with a smirk, and with that, the students made their exit.

"Hm, some adventurers, huh?" Eve said as she floated by Rin while the two of them walked to the next classroom. "Sounds cool, but what could they tell us that our teachers can't tell us?"

"Ah, well," a voice said behind them and both girls turned around. Lisa was there, speaking up with that usual little smile of hers. "If these adventurers are working more often, their perspectives are probably still valuable, even if their ranks are a little lower."

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"Uh, yeah," Eve replied with a nod and an awkward smile. "Makes sense!"

"Guess so," Rin shrugged.

[Eh, I guess I'll go there, maybe ask a question or two, and then I'll head up to train. I really need to get better.]

---

The next classes all went by in a flash and soon the students were returning to the Academy with sore legs and arms. Rin had pushed herself as hard as she could during Eli's class, with that loss serving as fuel. She tried to savor that feeling with every step, as she looked over at Seth and found that he was just fine.

[If he can take it in stride, then I should too,] Rin resolved as she tried to push through the pain of the workout.

Behind the other classmates, she re-entered the Academy building and found that there were three unknown figures at the front.

[Uh... What?]

Rin hadn't run into too many adventurers, and her brother spent so much time away from home that she almost never got to see him before he went missing. So, Rin didn't really know what to expect in terms of how adventurers looked. What she saw here, however, was weird, to say the least.

There were two guys and one girl. One of the boys was a thin guy with long blue hair who had no shirt on and some fur-covered pants, with markings all around his body like artsy tattoos. The other was the complete opposite, wearing bulky, uncomfortable-looking armor and carrying a giant ax on his back. Between them was the woman, who looked comically small in comparison to her allies.

"Yo!" The girl raised a hand up as soon as she saw the students arrive.

She was wearing a green scarf around her neck, some shorts, and had some wrappings around her chest, but what really shocked Rin was how many weapons she had on her. Daggers, throwing knives, a pair of swords, and a shortbow at her back, she looked like she wanted to be ready for anything.

Aside from that, however, she had a pair of mischievous brown eyes and short black hair, winking at the students ahead of her.

"Name's Miri!" She let them know. "These lumps of meat over here are Farron and Leon. We'll be your adventurers this afternoon!"

Seth, Alea, Varyn, and Sara all instantly walked away. Honestly, Rin was tempted to do the same.

[This is cool and all but... What can I even ask about?]

"So, yeah," Miri kept going. "You just ask us whatever's on your mind and we'll try to answer for you."

"Uh," Eve raised a hand. "So, what rank are you?"

"We're all Rank B," Miri answered with a proud smile and a fist over her chest.

"Oh, okay," Eve replied. Upon hearing that, Elisa was the next to leave.

"Oof, tough crowd," Miri chuckled.

"Well, I suppose I would like to know what sorts of missions you normally go on," Lisa meekly asked and Miri pointed at her with a smile.

"Cool. So," she turned to the boy to her right, "Farron, care to let her know?"

"Sure," he said, and his voice was a little raspier than Rin had expected. "We usually take things relating to small undead or minor beast nests that need clearing out. Kobold camps too, if we want. The key to survival in this career is to always shoot under your weight, not over," he explained. "If a mission seems remotely challenging, it's questionable whether it's worth taking or not. Remember," he said, "our lives are at risk every time we walk out of the safety of these walls. There's no reason to take anything too dangerous."

"Ohhh, I see," Lisa nodded.

"So, uh, how far do you have to go in missions?" Eve asked next.

"Normally," Miri said, "a short mission can take about a day or two's worth of travel. A long one can be almost a week," she explained. "But, the longest mission we've had to go on took about three weeks, if I remember correctly. So, yeah, you'll be going all over the place as an adventurer."

As the questions went on, Rin slowly grew less interested with each query. The more she stood there, listening to them talking about what food to bring on missions, the more she just wanted to go up and start throwing punches already. So, eventually, she put a hand on Eve's shoulder and the fairy turned to look at her.

"I'm gonna go up," she let her friend know, and Eve nodded.

"Ah, Rin, I assume Maria already knows, but could you tell her the rest of us will be here for a while longer?"

"Sure," she answered, but not before she noticed Miri's eyes widening. She had been in the middle of saying something too, but at some point during this last exchange, it appeared she'd heard something that outright shocked her.

Rin, however, turned toward the woman and said:

"Thanks for the info," Rin bowed a little. "I gotta go to practice though."

Miri took a few seconds to answer her. Instead, for an awkward amount of time, she just stared at Rin with a stunned expression.

[Uh... Is she okay?]

Then, she shook her head.

"Yeah, of course," Miri answered, and her voice sounded a lot quieter than it had been before.

Rin, however, just nodded and walked away then, eager to get going already.