Waiting for the day of the mission seemed like an eternity. The experience was made even more bothersome by the fact that Dallion wasn’t allowed to take any other missions by then. The logic given by Estezol was that the guild didn’t want to dilute his focus, which, as far as explanations went, was pretty bad.

What was more annoying, the requests from friends and acquaintances to set up the Luors to join them on jobs kept growing. Dallion, of course, had spoken with Gloria and Veil to join in on a job with Janna and Kallan. Gloria wasn’t overly thrilled, but her brother accepted without a fuss. However, things didn’t stop there. Falkner was particularly eager to be on a mission with Gloria, although, atypically for him, he was hesitant to ask her directly. He had gone even as far as reminding Dallion of the time he’d helped with the awakening fee. The only thing Dallion was able to do was to promise he’d talk to Gloria again on the matter, even if he suspected what the answer would be.

For some reason, Vend was also unavailable for training. Neither Nil nor Estezol knew where he was, and as for Vend’s own echo, it was highly evasive when asked. The only piece of advice it gave Dallion was to do his daily stiletto improvements and do some splitting training.

The only highlight of the day was when Dallion went to visit Eury, which he did in the early afternoon, when she usually woke up.

Piles of armor were stacked up on the floor, each with a cloth tag attached. All of them were in need of serious repair. In some cases, Dallion wondered why they weren’t thrown out outright.

“This one is completely gone,” he said, looking at what was supposed to be a breastplate.

“Observant,” the gorgon smirked, while repairing an epaulette. “And very expensive to repair. Some of the materials were difficult to come by before, which makes it nearly impossible during the festival.”

“Everyone’s going nuts with this festival thing. Is it such a big deal?”

“It’s a day that dreams are made or broken,” Eury said, then lifted the armor piece she was working on. “What do you think?”

Dallion looked at it using his music skills. There were some hairline cracks, though he could see no serious flaws.

“Looks great.”

“Liar,” the gorgon smiled. “It’ll need two more passes.”

“Why don’t people just buy new armor? It’ll be far less expensive by the sound of it.”

“It definitely will, but not many are willing to part with guardians they’ve known for decades. There’s something special with the first armor—people build a relationship with it. And I’m not talking about companion equipment.” Several of her snakes stretched in Dallion’s direction—the gorgon equivalent of a stern look.

“Right.”

That made sense. In the world of awakened, sentimental value was a real thing. To a degree, it was like having a treasured pet. Of course, people would be willing to spend vast amounts of money to have them brought back to full health. Dallion himself had a close relationship with his harpsisword, shield, and familiars. Normal guardians he viewed more as acquaintances, or work colleagues.

“That’s one of the most difficult parts of being a forger,” the gorgon went on, making a few more adjustments to the epaulette. “Giving away something you’ve created. It’s the same for other crafters as well, but it’s forgers that have it the hardest.”

As hard as he tried, Dallion still couldn’t grasp the meaning behind the words. The phrase giving away your babies came to mind, although that too was just a set of words. Hopefully, soon he’d find out.

“I’ll be going on a sanitation mission tomorrow,” he said. “It’s supposedly a big deal.”

“But?”

“But it’s just mending a house. It’s nothing exciting and I won’t get any level increases from it.”

“That’s not what’s worrying you, is it?” A large cluster of snakes turned Dallion’s direction. With the perception she had, she could probably see his emotions as easily as Dallion using his music skills.

“Just the usual fears of messing up. It’s not like the party lead has it in for me or anything.” He went to a nearby set of armor, pretending to examine it. “I guess I’m just worried not to mess up.”

“If you’re worried, you definitely will,” Eury replied in her most charming fashion. “If you’re not you won’t.”

The desire for her to hug him vibrated loud enough for Dallion to sense thanks to his skills: there was a deep intention to show support, but also a fear not to hurt his pride. No question about it, Dallion’s ability to read emotions even in the real world had improved quite a bit.

“I know, I’m just venting.” Dallion put out a brave front. “It’s the job that comes after this that’s really important.”

“A job you can’t talk about?”

“I’m not sure. It’s a bit complicated…” As much as he wanted to ask her, he didn’t want to do it in a room full of guardians. Maybe sometime when they had their blocking rings, he would. “So, when will you start training me in the ways of forging?”

“I know you only have two eyes, but you’ve probably seen how much work I have to catch up with. Going hunting for a week does that. And don’t even get me started about the mess with the guard.”

“The guard?” Curiosity sparked inside Dallion.

“There are always bound to be problems in a city this big, but lately things have started to get strange. Normally they’d sweep it under the rug, but with the countess arriving for the festival, it’s all hands on deck.”

“Anything you can talk about?”

“It’s complicated,” the gorgon mocked. “It’s hunter stuff. Nothing for you to worry about. It only affects black market stuff.”

“Smuggling?” Dallion pressed on. “Anything to do with the mirror pool?”

“Dal, you’re cute, but you’re really clueless about these sorts of things. The less you get involved, the better.” Her tone was warm, but firm. There was real concern there. “All I can say is don’t go exploring shady items on the side. But since it’s you, I know you won’t.”

There was something dangerous in exploring items? That would explain the recent offer coming from the mirror pool. If things were happening during item exploration, they weren’t going to risk their own investigation. Given their dislike of Dallion, there was only one thing he could come up with—some of the items were infected with chainlings. If the city guard was involved, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that a few awakened had been found dead or in a non-responsive state.

Nil, know anything on the matter?

Nothing out of the ordinary, dear boy, the echo replied. There’s always the minuscule danger of something unexpected happening during item exploration. Sphere items being part of the far past and all that. Normally, the awakened has a slight scare, and that’s it.

You mean like when a few of our scouts got lost in an item? Or when I had my encounter with the Star?

That shut up Nil pretty fast. For several seconds there was no response. Finally, the echo brought himself to continue.

Those would be good examples, yes, he said reluctantly. It does seem the number of such cases is on the rise, but that’s only because of the overall exploration volume. Percentage-wise we’re going quite well. Most cases have to do with inexperienced awakened, in some cases even semis.

I thought semi-awakened couldn’t explore items.

Normally they don’t, but since they’re cheap labor, some less scrupulous guilds and individuals bring them along as packrats. As the gorgon said, you have nothing to worry about. Guild items undergo testing before members are assigned jobs in them. And even in the unlikely scenario that something should happen, we take care of our own.

While true, that didn’t paint a pretty picture. Up till now, Dallion didn’t even think about it, but now that he had an arrangement with the general, and was also approached by the mirror pool, he was going to look into it.

Seriously, you have nothing to worry about, Nil insisted. Just keep to your normal jobs and everything would be fine.

“Pouting doesn’t suit you,” Euryale said.

“Huh? Oh, it’s not that. Was having an argument with Nil about something.”

“Ah.” The gorgon’s attitude quickly changed. “I can empathize. I used to have those a lot until one day I decided not to.”

Dallion stared at her.

“I unlinked all my items. Arguing with them all the time just wasn’t for me. As they say, to each their own. What do you think now?” She held up the epaulette.

“To be honest… I can’t see the difference.”

At that, the gorgon chuckled. “Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it in a few months.” She put the item on her workbench. “About that mission. Do you need anything? Weapons, armor, something else?”

“I think I’m good. I already have your blossom armor.” Even if he didn’t know how to adequately use it yet. “Why? Have something in mind?”

“As a matter of fact…” Euryale went to the bedroom. Shortly later, she emerged, holding what looked like a sky silver chain. Quite delicate, it resembled a piece of jewelry. “A little something, I picked up for you.”

“A necklace?” Dallion didn’t know how to react.

“Wow, you’ve really improved your perception.” Euryale shook her head. “It’s something that will keep you a bit safer.”

The chain felt unusually heavy for its size. Dallion felt it in his hand. When he put it around his neck, the weight seemed to disappear.

“Thanks. What does it do?”

“Hopefully you’ll never have to find out.” Her expression was jokey, but Dallion’s music skills told him she was deadly serious.

Any comment, Nil?

There’s little I can say without you exploring its realm. At this point better do as she says. I don’t see any downside.

The conversation devolved to jabs and jokes, after which Dallion was chased out so she could get back to her work. The only thing left for him was to go get back to the Gremlin’s Timepiece and train a bit on his singing for the evening’s shift.

The night passed like a flash. There was no telling where Dallion’s mind was, but it definitely wasn’t in what he was doing. He wasn’t even focused on the incidents that had been affecting awakened, or at least not entirely. The thing Dallion was most concerned about was the sanitation mission, specifically how he would get along with the lieutenant.

In theory, there was nothing for him to be concerned about—the guild was set up so as to help their members achieve their goals. After all, the order to include him had come from March, and Dallion could rest assured that Adzorg was also supporting him. Even so, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was nastiness to come. From his experience back on Earth, when things started on the wrong foot, it was always long and painful to return to normal relations.

Even after he went to bed, Dallion kept delving into the thought.

You’re worrying for nothing, dear boy, Nil sighed. Nothing bad is going to happen. I know the people involved. Everything will be just fine.

I know, Dallion lied.

What exactly is worrying you?

It’s just that…

Thinking about it, Dallion wasn’t able to pinpoint anything. Rather, it was a general feeling of unease associated with the upcoming job. He knew he had to make a good performance, but that was only part of it. And on further thought, it wasn’t the lieutenant either… at least not entirely.

I don’t know, Dallion turned to the other side. Maybe I need to level up.

Go ahead if you feel like it. As long as it puts your mind at ease, there’s nothing wrong in doing so.

No, I’ll be fine. Dallion closed his eyes. I’ll just sing myself to sleep.

A blink of an eye later, morning had arrived.