The grumpy brown-haired girl left the barracks without a word and instantly jumped on her griffin's back and they flew into the foggy sky without even a second of delay, as if it was some sort of showcase of riding skill mastery.

"Uh-oh, Mary sure didn't look pleased."

Corvus breathed out and slowly inched away from behind the corner of the building to check on whether the brown-haired girl was still around.

"Why are we hiding away from her in the first place?"

Cri, Ti, and Cal all leaned away from the corner of the wall, staring at the white-haired young man with annoyed expressions, which actually made for a rather comical effect.

"You know how I'm always lucky, or rather, mostly lucky?"

Corvus asked.

"Yeah."

"Sure."

"Show off."

The three bodyguards nodded in unison.

"...I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Cri - anyway..."

Corvus frowned at the fluffy-haired smugly-smiling man.

"Since I am that lucky, once something unlucky happens to me it feels so different that thorough the years I ended up developing a knack for sensing where something can bring me bad luck."

He said with a serious expression.

"So... something like a danger sense skill but for misfortune...?"

Ti furrowed her brows, more than just doubtful.

"..."

Cal held back whatever he wanted to say and just looked away, dodging eye contact.

"Wow. What a show-off...!"

Cri didn't even try to mask a deep sigh and he shook his head at the white-haired young man.

"You don't have to believe me, but I'm telling you. There is something about that girl and one of her familiars, the super skinny wolf, that just reeks of bad luck. She doesn't seem like a bad person but... let's just stay away from her, alright? And let's keep Mika away from her too if possible."

Corvus frowned and crossed his arms defensively.

"Aww! Guys! Little Corvus is worried about us!"

Ti snorted and started giggling like crazy.

"Shut up, old hag."

Corvus scoffed back at her and turned away.

"Pfft...! Say, do you really think that this level of insult will work on me? You do know that the older you are in the bodyguard business the better you are at your job? It means you are good enough to keep both your clients and yourself alive! Call me old hag or granny Ti as much as you want, kiddo!"

Ti stood tall proudly, moving her hands in a way that suggested that she wants Corvus to roll more age-related insults her way.

Cal and Cri burst into laughter and even Corvus couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"Heh, I like hanging out with you, little Corvus, it helps me forget the shitshow that we got ourselves into by accepting that stupid quest."

Ti stopped fooling around and put her hand on Corvus's shoulder, voicing her genuine appreciation.

"Ah, yeah, I know exactly what you mean! Who knows, maybe the reason why we can just stay here on the third defense line instead of actually sticking our neck under the executioner's axe on the first or second one is because of our little Corvus's silver lining affinity?"

Cri laughed and stuck to Corvus's other shoulder, sliding under Ti's arm.

"Hey, that makes you our lucky charm, doesn't it?"

He added with a cheeky smile.

"Cal, you join us too!"

Ti giggled and called the scary-faced bodyguard over.

"..."

But the man didn't just cling to the white-haired man like his companions did, and instead glanced at him with an expectant look in his beady eyes.

"...okay. Feel free."

Corvus rolled his eyes and lowered his head in defeat.

*pat*

"...?!"

Instead of going for a more joking response Cal went for a headpat to get his luck from the white-haired man which made the said man flinch from surprise.

/Wrathful protector role-specific achievement unlocked

People I want to protect

/Role exclusive skill granted

Player receives a skill

Lucky charm (level 1)

"Huh...?!"

Corvus flinched and gasped in shock, staring at the surprise message.

"...?"

"Eh...?"

"Wh-what...?"

And the three bodyguards showed the exact same type of reaction.

"Hey, Corvus, I was joking about that whole lucky charm thing you know? How come that a message saying that Lucky charm boosted my luck by 200% for the next thirty minutes showed up for me just now?"

Cri asked surprised enough to pull away from the white-haired man.

Well, he pulled away but only enough so that he could get a good look at Corvus's face - his hand was still firmly placed on the wrathful protector's arm.

"...I... I just got a system message about completing some sort of achievement... and it gave me that skill... it's a role exclusive skill too...!"

No matter how much shocked the other three were, Corvus was the most surprised one by far.

"It's the first time I got a role exclusive anything too..."

He explained staring at his hands in confusion.

"Doesn't that mean that you actually want to be our lucky charm? Hmm... wrathful protector might sound like a scary role but isn't it actually kind of cute? You want to keep us safe!"

Cal furrowed his brows and deduced while rubbing his chin with a profound expression.

"Wh-what's so wrong with making reliable allies and not wanting to lose them? I'm not made of stone, you know?"

Corvus blushed, staring down at his own feet.

Even though he never actually intended to reveal that he came to like the powerful trio by keeping the air of a cold and distant person - the very system that he trusted went ahead and exposed his real feelings.

"Just look at you, aren't you just a big softie?"

Ti snickered and patted Corvus's shoulder.

"Hey! That LUC increase... Now that I think bout it, wouldn't that be perfect for the royal family with their obnoxiously low luck stat? How about, after we'll be done with all that special quests and whatnots, we will recommend you to the queen? The fourth bodyguard! That would make your life nice and easy, right?"

Cri pointed out, still stuck in a bodyguard's mindset.

"..."

But Corvus simply shook his head from side to side.

"Sorry, but could you keep my powers a secret from the Queen? Actually, not just my affinities and skills, just don't mention me to the queen at all, okay? to her, and any other Greed for the matter."

He suddenly became very serious causing the other three to stop joking around.

"...sure...?"

They looked at each other in confusion.