The day passed slowly as Owari and Noel lazed around on the couch chatting. They talked about random things from memories of home to feelings on certain subjects such as their views on modern hunters' attitudes. Like this they spent the day enjoying one another’s company, this time with Owari participating much more actively much to Noel’s delight. When lunch rolled around she made them some soup, and when dinner came she made steak. Of course she made her own rare and Owari got his well done. Eventually the time came that it was starting to get late, well past the sun setting. Owari unwillingly left, as Noel watched him go equally unwillingly.

The days passed by quickly after that, Owari tended not to notice the time as he studied. Before he knew it the 17th rolled around, and as always he checked his mail to find a letter from Tristain much to his relief. He was afraid it wouldn’t arrive on time. There were actually two letters, one addressed to him and the other for his recommendation. The letter to him was relatively tense and serious. Apparently the ore vein he found was no joke, though the treant farm was on the smaller side it was still one of only a few currently under human control so it would sell well. Especially since earth type treants have the most uses.

Owari didn’t open the recommendation letter for the obvious reason of making it more authentic when he turned it over. He went back to studying right after. Even if he was more social than he had been in the past he was still the same as ever in his habits. He enjoyed his alone time as much as he enjoyed time with his friends. In a way they were all busy with their own lives, such was the life of an adult. You can’t always just hang out with your friends whenever you want.

The next day came and Rebecca showed up at his house with a knock at the door. “I was barely able to get them to fit you in.” She said just as he was about to greet her.

“They already had a cue?” Owari was surprised.

“Some people with connections were able to get in early. A lot like you really, but they had queued up before a date was set. If I had known about that I would have just gone and done it early.” Rebecca seemed a bit bitter.

“Well at least I got in.” Owari liked dealing with things quickly and never left things to the last moment.

“That’s true. It’ll be at seven o’clock. Just go to the appointment desk of the Sapphire Agency and give your name and ID.” Rebecca seemed to be in a bit of a rush, she probably had work to do.

“You guys always seem so busy. I wonder if you even have days off.” Owari couldn’t help but note.

“One day a week, but honestly I usually spend it napping or watching those kids. Luckily they’ve been taken off my hands for the most part.” She sighed in relief.

“That’s good, one you can actually rest on your days off. I’ll let you go now, I’ll make sure to show up at the agency later for my appointment.” Owari didn’t hold her any longer seeing as how she was so rushed.

“I’d hope you would show up. It was a lot of trouble to get that spot for you, and it wasn’t even a good one.” She laughed as she turned and left.

Owari just shook his head and went back into his room with a light chuckle. He spent the entire day researching affinities and looking through mystic arts manuals. He finally had a general outline for his own mystic art, and now that he was healed he started to work on identifying the movements that stimulated his mana and affinity. He found the movements for his moth wing strike did so for both, but the blade swarm stream didn’t stimulate the metal affinity enough to be used.

In the end he had to quit early as it was approaching the time of his appointment. He left the books out as always making his room look untidy as always as he made his way out the door. His room these days was stuffed with books and most of them were lying on the floor open here or there. It was a mess, very unlike Owari who had kept a clean room back home. He really needed a bigger place, but that would cost more. He shrugged these thoughts off as he made his way to the Sapphire Agency.

When he arrived he was impressed with the building as usual in the city. It was made of brick and was four stories tall and twice as wide as the amber agency. It also had blue-tinted windows that when he went inside were perfectly clear and could see out without any effort. It was quite neat and tidy inside as well. There were four desks and a number of people shuffling around, likely people signing up for appointments or here for their own. Owari was about ten minutes early though so he thought about it before shrugging and going over to the desk to let them know he was here.

“Greetings, how may I help you?” The woman behind the counter gave a professional smile as she saw Owari, ignoring his patchwork coat and sickly appearance.

“I’m here for an appointment, it’s for seven o’clock but I figured it was best to let you know I was here early. My name is Owari.” He showed his ID to confirm.

“Yes, it does seem you are here early. Just go wait in a seat and we will call for you when we’re ready to receive you.” She spoke with the same professional smile as before.

Owari went over and sat down in place and waited for his name to be called as he thought of various things. He probably should have had his rank updated. Every hunter ID had a border to show the rank of the hunter. His was currently iron because he had yet to update his rank. To do so you just have to go to the hunter outpost in the city and give proof of your rank through the remains of a magical beast of sufficient rank. For Owari it would be easy since all he has to do is get a note from the Orion Trandecenter who he was partnered with. After ten minutes passed and right on time his name was called and he went over to the desk.

“Follow her up to the meeting room.” The woman behind the desk gestured to a young lady not much older than Owari as she spoke.

Owari nodded and silently followed the girl up to the second floor where he was brought to one of the eight rooms on the floor. Inside was a blue world, everything was either blue or white save for the dark wood furniture. Owari felt it was a bit much to be so blue, but he didn’t say anything as he walked over and sat across from the man and woman sitting there. The man was in his early thirties at most and looked healthy and handsome. The woman was similar and based on their closeness they were probably together.

“So you are Owari?” The man said with a smile. “Rebecca has good things to say about you.”

“I hope she didn’t exaggerate.” Owari sighed.

“I hope so as well. So I hear you wish to join her team as a cartographer. Given your age I can’t help but be skeptical.” The man didn’t hide his skepticism at all as he looked at Owari dubiously.

Owari pulled out the letter and placed it on the table. “This is a letter from Tristain Hilton of the Orion Tradecenter. I recently did some cartography work for them and this letter details how they feel about my skills.”

“I see.” The man nodded and picked up the letter. He seemed a bit impressed that it was still closed proving Owari was at least somewhat professional.

“Other than your work as a cartographer I hope you know how to fight.” The woman took over as the man read the letter.

“I should be around mid silver rank, though I forgot to update my hunter license. I do have a high silver rank treant in case you doubt my skill. I tamed it myself of course.” Owari made sure to add the bit at the end just in case.

“A mid silver taming a high silver beast?” The woman raised an eyebrow.

“I had to fight hard to get close enough, but convincing it was easy once I got close. It was relatively naive and curious about the world. It was easy to convince it to join me to see more of the world.” Owari explained calmly.

“That makes sense. Though I fear the treant can’t help you on this mission, after all it is in a cavern so it won’t have access to sunlight.” The woman felt it was a pity, having a high silver rank magical beast would have been helpful.

“I am aware.” Owari nodded in affirmation.

“Quite impressive.” The man suddenly said from the side. “If you really are as good as this says then I’d even think of hiring you on as a full-time cartographer. How does one become so skilled at such an age?”

“I just practiced a lot on the forests near my hometown until it was good enough to satisfy me. I’m very good with my hands.” Owari spoke humbly.

“As for your rank even if you’re low silver I’d still hire you on, let’s talk price.” Soon enough they got down to business.

Given his skill as a cartographer and his ability to fight as a mid silver rank hunter they were willing to concede a decent amount to him. However they were good hagglers and kept pushing the price down. They were aware he was doing this mostly as a favor for Rebecca. Much to their shock however he didn’t take it lying down and seriously negotiated his price back up. This impressed the two of them as it showed he was serious about his work. It was impressive enough for them to give him a bit more leeway than normal and soon they came up with a workable contract. After checking it over Owari signed it. His pay was to be 1200 credits, half now and half after completion.

“With that done I’d like to ask if you are willing to become a cartographer for our agency full time.” The man suddenly brought this up as Owari was about to leave.

“I’m not interested in joining any organization. However if you ever want to hire me for my skills for a job I’d be willing to do so depending on the danger. If you need to get in contact me I’ll give you my address. You can also contact me through Rebecca.” Owari took over a pen and notepaper and wrote his current address down.

“I see, such a shame. But as long as you aren’t against working with us again I suppose it isn’t all bad.” The man seemed to be very open-minded as he didn’t try to rope in Owari.

“Of course I’d work with you. After all I still have to thank your agency for rescuing everyone back then.” Owari was of course referring to the train car incident.

“Ah, no wonder you know Rebecca.” The man seemed to understand something in that moment.

Owari nodded. “I fought alongside her and the other’s to protect the train car.” He confirmed.

“Impressive for someone your age.” The woman chirped in.

“Noel also did it.” Owari shrugged.

“Are you referring to Noel Silverblood?” The woman seemed surprised by Owari’s casual use of her name.

“I am, why?” Owari wondered what about it was strange.

“You sure have some connections.” She didn’t say more on the matter and merely smiled.

Owari shook his head and stood up to leave. “I’m not interested in all that stuff. I prefer to look at people as individuals and not as whatever group is at their back.” He then walked over to the door and left, leaving the two slightly surprised.

After leaving, Owari made his way out of the building and towards Mirra, he got himself another two fruits and ate one. He fed the core to his moth who entered a state of torpor to get ready to evolve. With this it should finally get it’s phantom affinity to a workable level. He just hoped it worked out well, he had a feeling it would be quite useful.

He made his way back home and went straight back to studying. Soon time slipped by once again and by the next day his moth showed signs of waking up. It was finally strong enough that he could feel the phantom affinity more clearly. He spent the entire day contemplating this affinity. It was much more exoteric than the straightforward metal affinity which was easy to grab the basics of. When he opened his eyes he was quite pleasantly surprised. The phantom affinity seemed to be related to the dark affinity. It was in fact a mutant affinity that was even better at obscuring than the dark affinity. On top of that it had an effect of unnerving those who sensed it, even Owari felt apprehensive and it was his affinity. The downside of this affinity was that it wasn’t as stealthy as shadows. It was more about obscuring and speed and less about hiding and ambushing.

Owari felt this was fine as stealth wasn’t his style to begin with. He also had an idea of what to do with this affinity. He quickly started moving according to his footwork technique, making light jumps and twists here and there as he made his way around his room carefully. He made sure to dodge through the books, and as he did he felt the affinity and his mana respond. This meant he could incorporate it into his footwork technique one day.

For now though he stretched and made his way out of his house. He planned to spend the next day with Noel, but he decided to go see her today. There wasn’t a reason for it, he just felt like seeing her. It had been days since he had done so. When he arrived he did his usual and leaned against the wall as he thought about his two affinities. He wondered if his phantom affinity could be used with the blade swarm stream, and if it was would it be any good? Just because something was possible didn’t mean it was good.

“You seem to be a day early.” Noel said as she approached much to his surprise. He was so caught up in his thoughts he missed her approach.

“Maybe I just missed you?” Owari turned toward her with a smile.

“Well I certainly know I missed you.” She answered back as calmly as she could, though she clearly showed some embarrassment.

“I just felt like seeing you so I came.” Owari shrugged. Not everything needed to be calculated, sometimes it was fine to just do whatever you felt like even if it wasn’t the most optimal choice.

“Maybe I should have come to visit you if you were so lonely.” She smiled mischievously.

“You’re busier than me.” Owari shrugged.

“Not these days. I mostly just go in just in case they need me for some emergency. I only really go anymore because I get stir crazy otherwise.” Owari could see her fidgeting a bit, clearly she wasn’t lying. She was really itching to get out and do something.

“How about a walk around town then?” Owari suggested.

“Morgana, do I have any meetings today?” Noel turned to her ever-present maid.

“Your schedule is free young miss.” She answered back dutifully.

“Then I’d love to.” Noel smiled happily. “Let me get changed first. I’ll be right back.” She made her way back inside and soon came back out in her usual sundress.

The two began walking around town soon after she returned. Owari looked into the sky as they walked. “It’s pretty cloudy today.” He noted.

“Supposedly it will rain sometime tonight.” Noel responded back.

“We could use the rain, the summer is always so dry.” Owari enjoyed storms, it was unfortunate that the summer was always full of warm sunny weather.

“It’s quite nice to walk around in the shade.” Noel took a deep breath as she smelled the scent of rain clouds.

“I bet my treant will be glad to get some rain.”

“Probably.” Noel felt it was quite likely. “How strong is it by the way?”

“High silver rank. Unfortunately it’s still stronger than me, but hopefully not for long.” Owari was sure he could overtake it soon.

“Even I am only high silver rank.” Noel was a bit shocked that Owari could fight in the silver rank without a mystic art. “Perhaps I really do need to work on my basics.”

“I’ve been practicing the basics since I was too young to even spell my own name.” Owari laughed as he tried to think of a time when he hadn’t been swinging a sword and failed.

“I’ve also been doing the same, though once I heard about mystic arts I began to neglect my martial arts. I never thought they could take me so far.” She felt regretful at her negligence.

“Well everyone always says it’s impossible so it makes sense. I only did what I did out of necessity after all.” Owari tried his best to console her.

“I’ll just have to work extra hard from now on. No more excuses.” Noel’s competitive side erupted as she motivated herself. She wouldn’t be satisfied until she could kill silver ranked beasts without mystic arts.

“Just don’t overdo it.” Owari smiled when he saw her suddenly get motivated.

“I probably will.” She admitted. “Luckily I get paid a decent amount so if I strain myself I can get a checkup.”

“Soon enough I’ll probably be in the same boat. My contract has been fulfilled so I can finally talk about what’s up with that mine. The Orion Agency already bought the land for it. Apparently the treant farm is the smallest one under human control. But the mine so far shows amazing promise. At least top ten biggest on the continent.” Owari felt good not to be forced to hide stuff anymore.

“So big?” Noel was shocked.

“Yeah, according to the letter I got and my contract I’ll be owning 30% of the mine’s shares and pulling in a decent amount of the profits.” Owari felt like he had made a good deal back then.

“Wouldn’t that make you quite rich?” Noel couldn’t help but wonder.

“Probably? I mean the mine is magical metals so it will pull in a lot of money. But it will take a lot of time before they can start processing the materials and get everything set up. At least a few months. Until then I have to secure my own livelihood. Even after they get everything set up I only get paid in lump sums at the end of each fiscal year so there’s that.” Owari didn’t put much stock in the financial viability of relying on the mine. He had bigger things to worry about, like how to get stronger.

“Still the same as ever.” Noel shook her head. She had done some calculations and even if he only gets a few percentages of the profits from a mine so big he would be making tens of thousands of credits a year.

“Of course, if I cared about money I would have probably taken the money straight up instead of investing.” Owari knew many hunters usually just sold out right away and took the money only to blow it all and regret not taking shares.

“Wouldn’t you be a major shareholder in this mine? Doesn’t that give you a lot of authority?” Noel was quite curious about this, because if so he could control where the materials were sold which would give him a lot of political sway.

“Tristain owns the same percentage as me according to the contract, that was one reason I could get such a high percentage. You can think of it as mutual benefits. This way together we have majority control of the mine so even if the Orion Tradecenter technically owns more than either of us do, we can come together and overthrow their decisions.” Owari and Tristain had worked out a contract that made everyone happy. After all the tradecenter still makes a massive profit since even if Owari owns a large stock he doesn’t actually get a huge amount of the total profits.

“You’re surprisingly knowledgeable about these things.” Noel was surprised given his proclivity to politicking.

“Business and politics are different things. Most of the time. Politics are all about manipulation and being the ‘better person’, meanwhile business is about the profits and mutual benefits of both sides. Of course in business you should aim to be the winner, but as long as you hold all the cards like I did you’ll always win if you aren’t stupid.” Owari was surprisingly talkative about this subject.

“Interesting. Did you always plan for this to be your main income source?” Noel chuckled as she imagined Owari sitting over books reading about business tips and tricks.

“That was the hope. After all I can’t rely on hunting my whole life, eventually I need to retire. Why not retire in comfort?” Owari smiled. This was only possible since this region was fairly unexplored. Gold or higher experts don’t risk themselves on the fringes unless they grew up there. It’s easier to do things in the safer zones.

“Maybe I should go with you on your next excursion.” Noel had a thoughtful expression on her face.

“If you were with me during negotiations they wouldn’t dare undercut us.” Owari smiled calmly. He was far more calculating when he wanted to be than one might imagine. He might prefer to be simple, but as he once said that wasn’t the person he really was. It was only the person he wanted to be.

“How calculating.” Noel laughed, she wouldn’t mind helping him out.

Morgana listened from the side with no small amount of shock. Even she couldn’t help but sweat at the talks going on currently. The mine was one thing, but from the way Owari talked he had more in store in the future. Considering this was only his first of many attempts, if even one out of ten of his excursions worked out he would still be quite rich one day. Even though Morgana had felt Owari was impressive and would accomplish great things, this surpassed her imagination. In the end she did her best to reign herself in and went about her duties as usual.