Chapter 46: Preparations completed

Aurora left the teacher’s lounge after reporting that she had to be absent and would be doing her practice in her own group.

That usually would not be allowed because the students would be in a familiar environment where they would not learn anything new, but Professor Miller allowed it.

Aurora didn’t know if it was because of an order from Director Vincent or it was another reason, but in the end, it was the same thing.

She could return to her mercenary group.

Passing by the different classrooms of the teachers in practice, Aurora hesitated for a moment, but since it was still early, she headed for the dining room.

As it was class time, a few students were reviewing or recovering energy with some excellent meals and snacks.

After looking for a plate of breakfast already prepared, Aurora was about to head to one of the tables when she ran into Vanessa, who seemed to be eating alone.

Seeing that they were both alone, they tacitly made their way to the same table, and after greeting each other, they smiled at each other.

“It’s strange that you’re alone,” Vanessa commented with an amused smile.

Everyone at the hero academy knew that she and her gluttonous friend were inseparable to such an extent that most of the time, they were together, and if one was alone, the other was nearby.

Only today was different.

“My partner didn’t come today,” Aurora explained with a half smile.

She hid the fact that Alice at this moment should be waking up and that the only reason she came was to arrange to be absent for a week and incidentally take care of the registration of students to her group.

Alice would not get up early for such a trifle... Of course, it would have been different if she knew she would be eating breakfast.

Eating her breakfast leisurely, she chatted with Vanessa about various topics.

Aurora had met her during the time she was in charge of guarding the dungeons, but she liked Vanessa, as she was a rather dedicated and skilled healer.

“I hear you guys have a practice of sorts as well,” Aurora commented as she was nearing the end of her breakfast, and looking at Vanessa, she added. “You must be excited.”

Not only did the combat class students have practice, so did the support students of any branch.

Whether they were craftsmen, alchemists, or healers, they had their own practices in different places.

The intended result was the gaining of more experience and an improvement in their skills, being under the instructions of some skilled masters of their respective branches.

It was an excellent opportunity to practice and for a healer like Vanessa to help, but her expression was hard to describe.

“It’s nice, but the places I can attend... They make me feel like I’m not needed,” Vanessa said, and seeing Aurora’s curious expression, she hesitated for a moment and explained. “You know. Guild members, hospitals, and some charities... I’m not saying their work was unnecessary. It’s important, but I’d like to help elsewhere.”

Seeing that Aurora was still looking at him, he added. “They are important jobs, but I wish to help... More directly.”

Aurora nodded, understanding Vanessa’s goal.

Working helping out at a charity or a hospital, even as a member of some guild for missions, was important.

It would save lives and pay well, but there were places where a healer was needed more.

“Well, if you want, I can recommend something in Africa. It’s enabled by the academy and will allow you to be a more hectic area, allowing you to help both combatants and civilians,” Aurora communicated, and finishing her breakfast, she added. “Sure, you can choose to work in dangerous places or just help from somewhere else.”

Seeing Vanessa’s interested look, Aurora added. “It’s a support group for the Church of Time and Space in Zerzura, and although it’s a church-related job, you get paid... However, that’s for you to see. I’ll just introduce you.”

There were quite a few charitable groups and associations in Zerzura, but this group of volunteers was part of the Time and Space church, which was a fundamental force in Zerzura.

They were in charge of helping the citizens of Zerzura and supporting neighboring towns and villages with both magical treatments and medical checks.

“Alright, I’ll see for myself,” Vanessa said, nodding softly.

Aurora couldn’t help but smile.

That she saw it and not accept it outright was the most important thing.

After all, checking out the situation and informing herself wisely was critical before accepting an unfamiliar job that could end up being more dangerous than she had expected.

Aurora and Vanessa exchanged numbers and necessary information, then the two parted ways.

On their way to the exit, Aurora sent a message to Alice to see if she was ready.

“I’m already heading to the Cosmos Portals.” –AliceSacredChips.

“I’m taking the cab, wait for me.” –TheSimplicityOfLife

Sending that message, Aurora hailed a cab and headed for the Cosmos Portals.

When she arrived, they had to go to the airport because the Cosmos Portals were not built in Zerzura yet, but now it was different.

In just an instant, they could travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the center of Africa.

Since the Hero Academy was in the center of the city, and the portals were not far away, she reached her goal in no time.

At the entrance to the Cosmos Portals, Alice was waiting for her with a bag of chips in her hands.

“Is everything ready yet?” Aurora asked from the entrance.

Alice watched her closely for a moment, and her eyes narrowed.

“You owe me breakfast...” she murmured with a unique seriousness.

At a glance, she had noticed that she had eaten breakfast, and Aurora didn’t deny that was a unique talent.

In the end, she nodded with an amused smile, understanding her friend’s seriousness.

Even though that young woman was a glutton and loved to eat, she wasn’t one to prepare her own meals... Even if it was a simple breakfast.

“Well, come on, we need to get ready,” Aurora said and headed for the Cosmos Portals.

She had a long road ahead of her, and all of July was going to be a busy month.

******

Aurora watched the approaching buffalo.

This creature was a Rank B magical beast with great charging strength that made it a creature to be feared, and it was very troublesome.

Its horns were lethal weapons.

“Come.” Aurora urged the buffalo.

The buffalo let out a snort and charged towards her like an enraged bull.

Could she understand it, or was she simply provoked by a fighter’s desire for battle?

She didn’t care about the reason; she just made use of her combat aura to strengthen her body and make it heavier.

So when the buffalo approached to strike her, Aurora grabbed its horns and knocked it to the ground, causing a cloud of dust to rise.

Pinning him to the ground, Aurora pressed him down with her strength so that he could not take any action.

“Stay still,” she muttered to the buffalo, raising its aura to suppress its altered state.

After a long struggle, the buffalo became still, and Aurora quickly took out an anesthetic created by an alchemist from her special ring and injected it into the buffalo.

After waiting a minute and seeing that the buffalo was silent, Aurora sighed in relief.

She didn’t need to kill it, although its value was slightly high, that was because it was a slightly intelligent magical beast, and its species was not only herbivorous, but it was also responsible for eliminating other troublesome predators that could harm people.

It was tough to keep a balance between magical beasts or magical creatures and to designate which ones could be killed and which ones could be hunted.

However, this area was near a section of the magical forest controlled by an S-Rank magical beast, which was not only intelligent, but was a buffalo.

Killing one of its kind would undoubtedly lead to diplomatic problems with a magical beast that could not only communicate, but with which Zerzura City had a diplomatic agreement of non-aggression and mutual support.

In this designated area, certain magical beasts were not hunted, and they were in charge of keeping dangerous and aggressive predators in check.

What about the food chain?

That was lost when the magical beasts could talk and were strong enough to stand up to humans and intelligent enough to have their own chain of command and organization, creating their own tribes and societies.

This particular situation was quite problematic for Aurora.

Giving a sigh to herself, she could notice an old man approaching.

“Village chief, I’m going to ask you to send this buffalo near the magical forest and leave it in the safe zone,” Aurora ordered with a serious tone, and after seeing that this creature was unconscious, she asked. “Has there been any damage from the village?”

“No, just some injuries caused by the wolves, but nothing we can’t fix,” replied the old man with a grateful smile.

This was one of the many villages that were around Zerzura City and which provided support in problematic cases like this.

As Aurora watched the village chief ask some C-Rank fighters to load the buffalo onto the truck, she shifted her gaze to her approaching friend.

“I’m done with the wolves,” Alice reported in a calm tone.

A group of wild wolves attacked the buffalo and its young, and that was the reason why it went mad and approached a human village, fleeing in desperation.

The village chief asked for help not because of the buffalo that the villagers could take care of, but because of the wolves that followed the buffalo that they could control.

The magical beasts had their own conflicts between different species... Although it was the most normal thing for the wolves to hunt their own food without caring about their prey.

“This is too much trouble,” Aurora muttered, rubbing her temple.

The Magical Forest that occupied a large part of the African continent was a troubled place, just like the human societies.

The magical beasts and different races were not as peaceful as some people believed... And the Magical Forest they inhabited was a place where intelligent magical beasts, savage predators, aggressive creatures, and monsters corrupted by chaos lived.

With their own society and their own problems, it was stressful to deal with these jobs.

“Just ignore them; as long as they don’t intervene with the villages under our protection, there won’t be too much trouble,” Alice commented without giving it too much thought.

Aurora nodded in agreement.

It was too troublesome to know what or who was an enemy once near the magical forest, but a tacit sign of enemies for both sides was simple... Whoever attacked first was an enemy, and it didn’t matter if they were killed.

That tacit rule guided intelligent magical beasts and humans.

So as long as they didn’t attack a village under their protection, everything was simpler.

Of course, there was also a list of creatures that were generally peaceful, but just as not all humans were friendly, in this case, magical beasts were the same.

“Village chief, take care of the wolf materials, and I spoke to the administration for the other details,” Aurora said in a serious tone.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry. I will personally see to it that everything goes smoothly and nothing is missing,” declared the old man, beating his chest with enthusiasm.

Aurora only gave a smile.

Her group was in charge of eliminating creatures, but they didn’t ask for the money for the materials and left it to the administration of Zerzura City.

Although Zerzura was not a large nation, it was an official city-state in which the villages and towns were under its protection, so the administration was in charge of selling the creature materials, and then they were divided to support and improve the quality of life of the villagers and the maintenance of the protection system.

As that person who was in charge of the work, Aurora, as a mercenary, could ask for a part of the money from the materials of the creatures she subjugated, but she, as well as many others, supported the people in this way.

In this way, it was that Zerzura City and its surroundings grew, bringing a ruined continent and its people into a new period of life.

Aurora looked at the village with well-built, heat-resistant houses, then looked at the wall that was a basic defense against outside creatures and sighed.

The African continent and its countries fell a long time ago, and millions of people died, but from its ashes, people rose and improved by supporting each other.

It was tough to think that this place twenty years ago was considered one of the poorest places in the world, and it was even harder to relate it to Zerzura City, considered the jewel of Africa, with a high standard of living like ‘first world’ cities despite the constant danger.

Watching the drones hovering in the sky, Aurora went back.

She had already taken care of all the preparations she could during the previous week.

She helped Vanessa and put her in contact with the people she required for her practice, then prepared the missions she was looking to do and all the other preparations for the entire month.

All that was left was for Clémentine and the others to arrive, but that was not too far away.

Aurora couldn’t help but feel excited about what was to come.