?


    "Hey, all of yours went up by a bit, ude." Elric spoke to ude as the three of them viewed their soul stones. They hadn''t shown the stats yet to the receptionist and to Hyden, and neither of the two tried to peek in, knowing well how rude it was.


    "Maybe so, but how has your charm gone up so much?"


    "I cut my hair?"


    "I don''t think that would affect much. You probably emit more of a cool aura after fighting that thing back there."


    "Um, guys…" Erika called, her hands trembling. "This here… this title…"


    The two boys peeked over her shoulder and looked down at her soul stone.


    The receptionist and Hyden were both rather surprised by the three''s closeness, but their faces were soon overtaken by smiles.


    Three innocent kids, no matter how much they had troubled Hyden, he still thought they were quite cute.


    And so, helping them a little didn''t hurt him a lot.


    He could do that, and keep on his own purpose as well.


    After discussing with each other, the three kids finally turned their soul stones to the spectator mode. Erika handed it to the receptionist while ude and Elric took out their guild cards.


    "Oh… these stats! This is crazy! A-at this level, can''t you be a court magician apprentice? You can easily do that!"


    "What? Is it that great?"


    "She''s at the level of A-Ranked adventurers! An all rounded mage." The receptionist said, her head shuffling from side to side in excitement. "Hey, miss, what''s your ss? I won''t tell anyone."


    "I am… just an intermediate wizard for now."


    "Specialization?"


    Erika prodded over her words a lot before speaking. "None."


    "I-I see… that''s a bit of a waste, huh?"


    Erika found her slightly rude, but did not object to anything yet.


    sses were assigned by the gods themselves. It just appeared in one''s soul stone for extreme achievement or recognition, or even aptitude and cultivation in a direction. Normal sses were rather easy and natural to obtain for people who held a level of expertise, usually adventurers that fit the bar for the C-Rank.


    For wizards that had as wide a range of specialization as modern day doctors, getting a speciality ss was a natural step in their growth journey, so Erika iming she had none showed that she wasn''t as skilled a wizard as her stats would lead one to believe.


    Who was to admit now that Erika was the rarest ss of wizards one can only dream of reaching?


    In that sense, Elric''s sslessness was something very strange since his stats were in two hundreds, but the boy himself wasn''t one to worry about it.


    "It will take some time, but I can probably, probably get you at the B-Rank? You might have to hit some targets for us, but I guess that''s no problem?"


    Erika nodded. Showing off was her area of expertise.


    "Hey, can you really do it?"


    "Should we just tell her you''re as useless as an ant without pheromones?"


    Erika clicked her tongue.


    "You rats…" Erika pouted her cheeks. "Of course I can do that much."


    "Well you don''t really have a good track record with magic," ude said.


    "I''ll have you know, a teleportation spell like mine is something many people can not do in their entire lifetime."


    "Because they''re too strong to run away?"


    Erika turned away at Elric''sments.


    "B-Rank. Done. What rank are you two, by the way?"


    "Hah!" ude scoffed. "Of course we''re…"


    And his words trailed off.


    "C-Ranked! Take that!" Elricpleted his sentence for him, his hands on his waist a proud grin hanging from his lips.


    "And!? That''s worse!" Erika screamed.


    "Eh? Whates first, B or C?"


    "B does?"


    "And what''s bigger, two or three?"


    Erika raised her finger.


    Then stroked her chin in deliberation.


    "I guess that makes sense…"


    "No, it doesn''t!"


    "Stay out of this, Mr. Hidden."


    Hyden shook his head and turned back to the receptionist. And so did ude.


    "Hey, miss. What kind of privacy does the adventurer guild offer? Considering we already are adventurers."


    "We usually receive notice for major criminals from the countries," the receptionist said. "And all of them are immediately removed from the list. So, as long as you haven''t done anything like that, nothing about you will be told to anyone outside of the guild. No, even people inside won''t know what you don''t want them to. We value our adventurers first and foremost."


    ude nodded at her words.


    It seemed the adventurer guild that was pretty much an organization that could stand against most countries could be trusted.


    "Then, I believe you would want your friend to be registered? We can finish the process by this evening and she can sign and collect her card then."


    "Sounds good to me."


    "I guess you''ll also be forming a party to operate from here?" The receptionist asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "YES!" Elric dived in. "Please name it—"


    "Ruler of Water and sidekicks."


    "Twilight Lord and sidekicks."


    "AWA?"


    Elric and ude both turned toward Erika at her suggestion.


    "Hey, what kind of nder is that?"


    "You think we don''t even deserve being called sidekicks?"


    Erika took a step back.


    "No? I mean, Almstedt Wald and Arkwin? Or do you prefer first names?"


    Elric and ude stopped.


    She didn''t n to make them sidekicks at all, it was pure hearted!


    They both patted her shoulders and turned back.


    "Leave the name alone for now."


    "Yes, lets do that."


    They both decided toe aroundter and have it changed to their preferred names at ater time.


    Finally, the receptionist was free of their bber and they were let go.


    "Alright, Mr. You guys saved my life," Elric called. "How about treating us to a meal instead of giving us money."


    "A meal?" Hyden thought on the matter and then nodded. "Fine. I''ll do that, but unfortunately, we''ll have to go our separate ways after that."


    "Sounds good to me," Elric said.


    "Oh? You''re treating us? Thanks."


    "Ending so soon, it was good traveling with you, Mr. Hidden."


    Erika could have saved that for when he was gone, but this was fine too.


    Hyden and the three then stepped out of the guild and tread their way through the many houses around. The buildings covered with ivory paints and oak nks, tiled with simr wood roofs or stones made for a peaceful sight to walk through.


    The color of the city was calming, and the air that breezed along with it was just as helpful.


    It ced the skipping Elric into a bright mood as dragonflies and butterflies danced around him, earning amused wows from the few onlookers. Even Hyden was surprised by the effect of Elric''s beauty that captured insects and humans alike.


    The group soon entered a small cafe in the edge of the town, the symbol of a coffee engraved on a nk and hung outside the door. A chime rang as they stepped inside and took to their seats.


    An old blonde man in a tailcoat was at the counter, wiping his dishes dry as the group stepped inside. The cafe had barely a few customers other than themselves.


    In the back of the counter, a single gramophone rang with vinyl disks spinning on it, a soft jazzy tune filling the air.


    "Quite the ce…" Elric muttered.


    "Right? The Silvanus ranges are like that," Hyden said. "It''s all as cozy and nice as you imagine it to be."


    Elric nodded at his words.


    "Why don''t you all take a seat, I''ll ask the chef for whatever''s good."


    Hyden offered and the three partook.


    "I want something sweet please!"


    "I''ll take something strong."


    Elric and Erika made their demand while ude flicked his hand. "I am good with anything edible and a lot."


    Hyden smiled and walked away.


    It was then that ude stood up too.


    "Where are you going?"


    "I''ll just… go to the washroom."


    Leaving those words behind, ude slowly moved away from the table and walked toward the back of the shop, near the counter. His senses heightened as he slowed his gait at a distance, and his ears started picking up the words those two exchanged.


    "Excuse me, master." Hyden called to the barista with a strange title. "Do you think you have seen any people in robes around these parts? Someone that might have looked like a young girl?"


    "A young girl in robes?"


    "Yes, and two more people."


    The barista raised his chin and shook his head.


    "I don''t think so."


    ude''s eyes immediately shifted toward Hyden as the man clenched his fists, trying to hide his frustration.


    Things had started bing clear in ude''s mind.


    It seemed Hyden was looking for something.


    He decided to trust the man for now and indulge in the food. They were going to go their separate way anyways—


    "Whats this service! I sent my ve for an order long ago!"


    If Elric would stop making a scene first, that is.


    "Hand over some food for free!"