Emil felt as if his entire life had taken another turn.

Currently, he was being pulled along to the mercenary’s guild by Ira. She had barely given him a second to process her words before she had grabbed him and dragged him out of the inn, proclaiming that the two of them were going to go let off some steam.

He dragged his feet on the stone pavement, his eyelids hanging low over his eyes. His lazy, gloomy aura was back in full force, greatly contrasting with the excitement being exuded by Ira.

He stared at her back, wondering if he would regret the decision. Ira seemed like a ticking time bomb, but if he wanted to get away from her, he’d have to expend some energy. Emil couldn’t determine if it was worth it or not. Ira, ultimately, didn’t have negative intentions. She just wanted to battle.

But, he had initially planned to find someone to help him learn some more basic information about the city and mercenary’s, and Ira fit that. Also, she was rather willing and knowledgeable. Even if her personality was a bit off putting, there wasn’t a need for him to turn down her assistance.

That was why he was allowing her to drag him around.

“Emil, you’re D-ranked, right?” Ira questioned, tossing a glance back at him.

“Yes.”

“What’s the current level of your anima circuit?”

“First level of Argenti. Same as you,” he lied smoothly. He had already reached the second level after his two years of seclusion, but he didn’t plan on letting that be known.

“Hmm.” She stared at him for a while longer, her grip on his forearm tightening.

“What?”

Her gaze shifted back to the front and loosened up her hold. “No, nothing.”

Emil’s eyes narrowed. Could she see through that? No, it didn’t make sense. He was suppressing himself and restraining his aura. Only those at the Adamantem level would be able to determine his true strength and even then, they’d only get a sense that he was hiding it. They had to reach the Speculo level to see-through him completely.

Of course, Emil was not capable of this level of subterfuge on his own yet. The Night Sage had given him two rings that he had blessed with his magic that were capable of the feat. To anyone else that wasn’t past the mortal rankings, they appeared to be normal accessories.

Was it because of his blood, like she had said? No, he couldn’t even be certain that she could tell. Thus far, she had been very upfront with everything. Emil got the sense that she was a direct person that didn’t bother with lying or trickery.

It worked out better for him, in that case.

“Are you interested in joining me for a job, by the way?” Ira suddenly questioned, redirecting Emil’s train of thought.

He nodded. He was looking for a mission anyway. “Well, wouldn’t it be a B-ranked, though?” He didn’t know why she would accept anything lower than that.

“No. Not necessarily.”

“Oh?”

“Some new ruins opened up. It’s a C-ranked job, but if I recommend you, you’ll be able to do it.”

C-ranked? Even though it was only a rank above his own, that meant that the job carried the risk of injury or death. Ruin exploration was particularly dangerous because the previous inhabitants tended to leave traps and guards… but at the same time, treasure could be found. “Are they dangerous?”

“Hmm? Probably. I haven’t been yet. There’s fifty spots and around half are taken already. I signed up earlier today and there should be room for at least one more. The job starts tonight,” she explained patiently as they approached a nondescript building.

Emil could sense that it was reinforced with magical arrays though and nodded appreciatively. “I’m fine with that.”

The two of them entered the building. The first floor had a decent amount of people in it but it was relatively quiet. Directly ahead was the registration desk where the mercenaries could pick up jobs and the like as well as for new ones to sign up. To the left was the mission listing board, and the right side had most of the chairs and tables that they could sit at.

There wasn’t much of a line at the desk, so Emil was able to register to accept the job pretty quickly. He had wanted to ask questions and read more of what it was about, but Ira was rushing him, so he didn’t bother.

It was still only C-ranked and the strength requirement was being the third rank Aes stage. This meant that, technically speaking, he would be perfectly safe.

Now that he had secured a spot—there had only been two remaining—Ira was no longer trying to make him hurry, so he was able to look at the paper he had been given once they sat down.

Emil read through the description. Apparently, the ruins belonged to a Speculo ranked mage from a few centuries ago. He had died, but left an inheritance for his late son who had passed away before he could receive it. One of their ancestors was the job commissioner, so they were able to get access into the old manor which required a blood right.

The base pay was already at ten gold coins and the mercenaries were allowed to keep any items they found on their own.

“That’s weird, isn’t it?” Emil asked Ira.

“What is?”

“We can keep what we find. Normally, wouldn’t we give these items to the family?”

She shrugged. “Who cares? I just heard that the first team got wiped out, so something strong must be there. I’m interested.”

“Huh? Wiped out?”

Ira blinked. “Oh. Yeah. They died. There was a survivor, but he passed later from the poison in his system. His throat had been crushed and his hands were chopped off, so no one knows what happened.”

“Brutal… and it’s only C-ranked?”

“Yeah. It was a bunch of weaklings that went—none of them met the current strength requirement, so they upped it.”

Emil sunk into thought. It made more sense now as to why Ira wanted to go. He wasn’t too concerned about his own safety because he could protect himself as long as the enemy wasn’t too much stronger than him. But in that case, Emil was more than capable of escaping with his spatial magic.

Still, the circumstances of the survivor seemed a bit strange. He was injured in way that left him incapable of communicating, which felt suspicious because he was the only one that got out. And the poison…

“Was he a warning?” Emil wondered aloud.

“What are you talking about? Does it even matter?” Ira kicked her legs up onto the table they sat at. “I’m taking a nap. Wake me up when it’s time to leave.”

A nap? Emil blinked drowsily. Indeed, it sounded like a good idea. But also, he had the sense that this job was not simple. It was that gut feeling again.

He patted his mouth as he yawned, resting his head down on his arms.

Well, it’d be fine.