"Nghn, not again. This is the fifth time this has happened. Settle down, will you?"

His face contorted, saying the same meaning for constipation, but that was not the case with him.

He tried to mask the pain he felt on his stomach that still lingered after being neglected for quite a while. Yet it has reached a peak where neglecting it is nigh impossible.

Nevertheless, he kept walking, guiding himself with a wooden stick that acted as his cane, making him look like a poor old hermit as he crept through the streets with his dusty and ragged cloak on.

"I can do odd jobs here and there, so if you ever need someone, go to the guild at the north district and ask for Laruse! Please, I need something to eat..."

His stomach once again groaned while he was walking, stopping his sentence as he curled up, clutching his stomach as his cane dropped to the ground, leaving him with nothing but a nearby wall to support him.

At this moment, prior to him collapsing on the ground with his backs to the wall, he was advertising himself as a freelance who can do any type of work as long as the pay is right, and can keep him up and running.

Recently, there hasn't been much offers up, making him rather desperate to take on anything as long as he makes it to dinner, or maybe his last dinner, as he calls it.

It led to him taking miscellaneous tasks, those of which he had no right to complain on.

For example, walking and taking care of pets, washing the latrines, cleaning up tables at the local bars and inns, it goes on.

One would think that many jobs would suffice, but of course not all miracles happen to every unfortunate person.

They pay five bronze pieces at best, where one would need ten bronze pieces to buy a readily made meal, or an average of six bronze pieces to have ingredients to make a meal that will hopefully fill your belly.

"Is this the end?"

He looked up at the blue sky with the sun covered behind the clouds; the strength in his arms had already left him, and so did his legs, leaving him with no motivation, rather than the feeling of dying out.

"... This is bad, I can't go out here. I have so much to live for, still. I haven't even met the girl of my dreams. What a cruel fate."

Just as he was about to resign himself to his ill fate, he heard a familiar voice of which he recognized right away.

"Laruse, hey! Wake up, will you?! Why are you sleeping and slacking around over there while I do all the work?"

She quickly came up to him and knelt as to see his face, slowly showing signs of him turning pale, his eyes looking as empty as their coffers.

A girl at the age of nineteen came, her long golden hair made her look like a benevolent mistress as the light shone from behind her.

He tried to talk, but the words didn't come out, so he instead tried to reach out in order to deliver his last words.

Optimistically, the girl took the dying man's hand and clasped it with hers, looking at him with a radiating smile, one that seemed to ignore the plea of her companion, who was currently passing away before her.

"Stop playing around, Laruse! Listen, the guild gave us a job!"

At the flip of a switch, all his energy came back as if it had never left him, returning the vigor that his complexion had lost.

He rose to his two feet, ditching the cloak as he threw it in the air, rejoicing at what he had heard.

"Really?! Don't tell me you're kidding. I don't think my fragile heart could take it."

"It is real! We can finally eat! But wait, don't throw that cloak! It's something we bought with our last paycheck!"

She seemed to tear up after saying the latter part of her sentence, then immediately shifted into a state of panic, as if she had lost an heirloom that her family passed on the next generation.

Laruse's' eyes opened wide as he realized what he had done during that burst of joy, sending him a rush of adrenaline to his head, which gave him the edge to leap into the air at a superhuman height, grabbing the cloak before the air could snatch it away.

Both of them sighed in relief as everything calmed down.

"So, what's this job the guild asked you about?"

Laruse asked, ditching the playful attitude he had as this job was a matter of life and death for him.

"I met Bernard, the guild master's assistant near the apothecary while I was trying to find us some work, and he came up to me and told me that they would like to have you and I join them. He also said to go to the guild if you're interested."

"I don't think there's any need to wait. Let's go to the guild, then."

"Yes, let us go."

Laruse pumped his fist into the air, leaving with his companion in tow with high spirits.

"So, you're here about the request, yes?"

A fairly pale man wearing regal clothing, with dark hair sat behind a wooden desk, with the face that could only be described as deathly handsome by those that know him, seeing as how he had that unflinching smile, and that always calm and collected state.

The office of the guild master was made with sturdy stone, seeing as they are a well-known establishment throughout the City-states of Independence, where only a few guilds are present, and have decent people who can tackle on most of the requests the populace throws at them.

"Yeah. Listen, I'm on death's door, so this job is what I'm leaning on. I just want to thank you."

"I'll accept your thanks. Well, I could give you a lot more, but that would mean that you need to join my guild. Won't you consider it?"

Laruse's' face became sullen as he heard that, having heard it countless of times, and had declined it again and again.

"With your skills, you'll be at the very top in the blink of an eye. But I wonder why you're holding back, taking jobs as a freelance. Is there a reason to that?"

"I told you, I don't want anything to do with a guild again. You of all people should know why."

He kept the tone of his voice at a minimal, looking directly at this man's eyes as he voiced his mind.

"I do, and I understand. After all, we were in the same guild. But you yourself should know that you can atone by helping so much more people. And with the amazing skill you possess, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Please, just give me the request, Marco. I just don't want to talk about that anymore. What I do with the rest of my life will be up to me."

"Very well. If that is what you desire."

The man named Marco gave the papers that he was holding, and handed them to Laruse, going over the details of the request, dismissing the awkward atmosphere that enveloped the room with their previous topic.

Marco spoke as Laruse examined every word on the paper.

"The neighboring City-State wants us to intercept and take down a band of slave traders that have made a notorious reputation. They're not your run of the mill bandits, but a bit more experienced. Can't let your guard down around them at least, but you can't be too sure about anything these days."

The guild master spoke with a commanding tone, as if speaking with a guild member under him, except he was a freelance in this case.

"So what made them notorious? I don't see anything special here?"

"Yes, that should be the case. It is truly unusual. It may have something to do with how proficiently they've done their work, and that no one's been able to catch them, or maybe don't have the time to do so. Who knows if the story's been embellished this skillfully."

Laruse stood up, taking the papers with him.

"When will it be?"

"So you're up to the task? Good. It'll be the day after tomorrow. Come to the guild at the break of dawn, and on time, please?"

"Got it."

Without words of farewell, he left, leaving the guild master alone in the room to his own thoughts.

Marco heaved a long sigh, flopping on the desk before him.

"Still as stubborn as ever, eh Laruse?"

Before he could reminisce, a knock followed the door.

"Uhm, boss, I want to talk about the team that took the request."

"Oh, it just you, Bernard. Come in. I'd like to talk to you about that as well."

A bald, large, bulky man wearing leather armor came in, wearing a timid expression that ruins his image of a feared warrior at first glance.

"I guess Laruse declined again, didn't he?"

"Unfortunately, you're right. But, I don't plan on giving up. Talent like his can't be met anywhere else. Plus, he'll be a great asset when it comes to the harder requests that come in. After all, we only have a handful of individuals that are barely capable of handling those, right?"

Marco smiled like a fox at his guild assistant, beckoning the man to sit on the chair before him, in which the man did so.

"True enough that you can't come across a man with many different names because of his exploits. You are also correct with the case of having only few top tier groups and individuals that can handle S to Z class requests."

"I don't like it at all, Bernard. More so now that monsters are growing more and more fierce over the months that pass. Soon it won't just be us that will be needing him. Maye even the continent... But that's just me babbling on. Let's get back on topic shall we?"

"Yes, it's the newcomer's group of five, excluding Laruse, who will be assisting them. Are you sure that it is a good idea to send newcomers off to such a dangerous first mission?"

Bernard fidgeted as he asked the question, feeling that the sadistic and cunning stares of his guild master made him rather uncomfortable, and so did others who knew what kind of person he was.

"Don't worry. They were reluctant to take the request. After all, I don't have to worry as long as Laruse is with them. I mean, I could have just sent for him alone, and he could have done the job just as efficiently, maybe more."

"Well, if that's what you say, then I have no objections. I shall inform the group about the schedule. Now if you'll excuse me."

The man stood up from his seat, excusing himself in order to settle the groups' request, finalizing it.

"Good work. Keep it up, Bernard."

Walking in a spacious street in the town of Zeal were Laruse and his companion, better known to him as Cecil, an oddly cheerful and mentally unpredictable person, as Laruse says it.

"Guessing from your expression, Marco asked you to join him again, right?"

He didn't respond, thinking that it wasn't necessary since it was always the case whenever he goes to the guild.

Before they were left, a small advance payment had been given to them in order to eat, seeing as they have been short for a while, and requests have been becoming scarce.

"But still, that was a great meal! I forgot how some of them tasted until now."

Cecil smiled to her side, looking at a disheartened Laruse.

"What's wrong? Does it bother you that much?"

His eyes twitch, indicating that he heard what his companion had said.

"Uh-oh, no it's not because of that."

"Then what is it? Partners shouldn't keep secrets from each other."

He sighed, knowing that she made sense, but seeing her smile made him all the guiltier of saying what he thought.

"It just, you know, I'm sorry."

He said with a downcast expression, slowing down the pace that they were walking with.

"Sorry about what? This isn't like you at all."

"Because of me, you have to experience this when you could have just lived your life without worry. But here you are, hungry, and with someone like me who's not even competent enough to stand up to his past-"

Before he could finish, she embraced Laruse, calming him with her serene voice.

"I'd still choose to be with you even after all this. After all, you saved me, and that means so much to me. Now, enough sulking, we have to prepare for the mission, right?"

After she separated from him, he looked at the girl in front of him, brimming with optimism that it might have been a sin.

It was ironic as well, seeing as how it was the reverse back then, where he was the cheerful one, and Cecil was a timid girl who couldn't move by herself.

"You're right. Thank you Cecil."

He fixed his expression, displaying his usual face of optimism, which had rubbed off on Cecil, and now back to him.

"Now, let's give it our all and get rich! I swear I’ll get us out of this situation, I promise!"

He looked to the sky, raising his fist into the air, in which Cecil smiled at him, just as she always had.

But before they could fully celebrate, a high-pitch shriek resonated through the streets, coming from a woman who wore noble clothing, assisted by a frail old man wearing a servant's black suit.

"Thief! A thief stole my purse!"

At an amazing speed, the man who wore a tattered peasant's clothing and was being yelled at, had passed Laruse and Cecil, making off with the elegant looking, golden-laced purse as his frame was slowly disappeared in the horizon.

"My gut's telling me that I'll get a reward for this! Wait right here, Cecil."

"Wait! but he's already out of sight."

Without replying to Cecil's remark, Laruse followed the man, running at an inhuman speed, catching up to him with a few strides, overtaking the agile thief, who stared in bewilderment at the man who ran faster than him.

"Sorry. If you just ran faster, then I would have let you go. After all, everything's fair game here, so don't think too badly of me."

He smiled, easily running side by side with the man, who's starting to run out of breath.

Laruse tackled the man, forcing both of them to tumble on the stone pavement numerous times.

Shaking his head, he took back the purse from the unconscious thief, leaving as if the pain never affected him despite the various bruises he had accumulated from hitting the stone pavement with his body.

"Try to get better next time, alright?"

He sprinted back to Cecil and the woman who had purse stolen, huffing a bit, but brimming with energy.

"Here you go, miss."

"Oh my, you're hurt. Are you alright my dear?"

The noblewoman looked Laruse over, examining him from the looks his constitution, which was average looking, but carried a mysterious aura within it, as if what was on the outside was a ruse.

He had a fairly great build, but it could not explain how he ran so fast, covering half a kilometer in such a short amount of time.

He wore casual clothes which didn't really stand out at all, other than it being what he liked, and what he had which was a short sleeved, white, v-neck shirt, paired with a leather torso armor and a few around his lower body, where he wore dark grey trousers and boots.

His brown eyes and messy, short hair were nothing out of the ordinary.

The woman then rummaged through her bag, taking out two gold pieces, those of which Laruse and Cecil had only seen a few times in their life together as partners.

"Here, a sign of thanks. Well then. I should be leaving. Thank you, young man."

The woman bowed her head slightly and left with the servant.

Left by themselves, they blankly stared at the two gold pieces on their hands.

"Is this what I think it really is?"

Cecil asked, unable to believe what their reward is.

"I-it is!"

They resumed their celebration, basking the gold coins as they left for their home, grinning from ear to ear over the fraction of a fortune that a gold piece possessed.

"Now we'll be even more prepared for that request! Let's do everything we can!"

"Yeah!"

They cheerfully yelled aloud in unison as the sun began to set, both smiling at each other contently.