Not much else happened after that.

The next day, Symantha and Keen left for Hannem. Nobody spoke about what Julius had said, and although we had sort-of failed, Reco made sure we knew it wasn’t really our fault.

That wasn’t true.

Our Trek back to the Preclaimed City wasn’t too exciting, either. Dota, despite how cheery the clay-bird could be, clearly was on edge after what had happened. I’d heard about long-lived races being very cautious before, and given how much danger we had been put through, it made sense that he’d act that way.

Julius didn’t act up, thankfully, but even though he’d work with me begrudgingly to fetch firewood during our break, he didn’t seem interested in conversing or acting friendly. Like I’d want to deal with his sorry ass in a conversation, anyway.

Reco actually seemed more talkative and dished out compliments to us all on our autonomy in the dungeon, seemingly thrilled by the whole experience. And, fair enough! It was exciting, and I wouldn’t pretend I didn’t enjoy rising the ranks.

Though, I just had too much to think about to really bask in my gains.

What made me most nervous was why Maophas had made the dungeon in the first place. It had caused the deaths of quite a few people, and while halting the production of blackstone would save lives...was it really worth it? The mine could easily reopen, at most in a few years, and that just didn’t seem worth it.

I sighed, sitting on a log bench in a worn clearing not far from a small village. Cobaltio rested his long neck over my lap, laying on the ground.

What was I doing, questioning a god?

“What’s up?” Thraisly said, holding a steaming hot bowl of soup as she sat beside me, blowing on it as she glanced sideways.

{Just thinking,} I wrote.

“Bout’ what?”

{The mine.} I paused before pulling my slate back and writing, {I wanted a monster-slaying ore that’s found in the dungeon’s ‘reproduction champer’.}

“Oh, I think I know about that,” Thraisly said. “Purite, right?”

I shugged. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

“Umm...” she began, picking up on my curiosity. “My father used to have a purite glaive. He lost it in a duel when we had to leave the village.”

{What was your village like?} I asked.

“Oh, no, we’re nomads. It’s...a family thing,” she said.

Something seemed strange about the way she said that.

“Anyway, the villages back home are super competitive when it comes to monster hunting. We usually had to prove ourselves whenever we took residence in one. People..didn’t trust us much. It’s a lot different in the Preclaimed Lands. The guilds, the villages, the army- I don’t know which, but for some reason, it’s really safe here. Traveling three days through paths could get you killed in the Dread Lands.”

{Sounds exciting,} I wrote with a smug smile.

“Of course you would say that,” she said with a smile. “But yeah, you could call it that. It’s the reason I’m as strong as I am.”

{I was level 3 a few weeks ago.} I wrote.

“Seriously?” she asked, blinking with narrowed eyebrows. “Just what happened to you for that to happen?”

{I had to save a seasoned adventurer from really strong [cobold]s, then I beat a [boss] monster.}

“That...just how strong were those [cobold]s?!”

{One was master class. Most of them I decapitated on my own.} I scribbled.

“Wow...” she said breathily. “So you decided to become an adventurer after that?”

I nodded. {Before that.}

“But if you wanted to be a fighter...” She trailed off. “why...”

I quickly wrote, {My parents didn’t want me to be one, since I’m a Silent Angel.}

“I see...” she said with a frown. “You’re plenty strong now, so I’m sure that wouldn’t be a problem at your level. Plus, you even have your own class, too.”

I glanced to the side, shrugging.

“And what about him? What’s his name again?” she asked. The name didn’t come up all that often.

I glanced at Cobaltio, the young [drake] looking up at me from my lap. I put a finger to my mouth in thought. Then, I made a sign. My forefingers and thumbs made circles, then I let my other fingers outstretched as I put the two circles beside each other. It made a...very vaguely dragon-like figure. Then, I wrote. {Cobaltio. And that’s his sign.}

“Sign?” she said confusedly.

{Cobaltio’s name in sign language.} I leaned the board against my belly as I made the sign.

“Sign language? So, like, how you’ve been talking to your [drake]?”

Yes, like this. I signed before writing, {Yes. I think there used to be a civilization who spoke with sign language.}

“Interesting,” she said. “Not that I’m a history fanatic or something.” She stared at him nervously. “C-can I touch Cobaltio?”

I nodded, and she put a hand on his head, giving him a nice pat.

As a group, we made it back to the illusory gates of the city and began our trek back through the paved streets.

“Okay, everybody,” Reco said as we approached the guild hall. “Remember, it isn’t our fault that the entire mine collapsed, and definitely not my fault that you all nearly died. Cool? I don’t want to be the second person to almost lead the whole junior squad to their deaths.”

“Too soon,” Julius said with a glare.

“Err...sorry...” she said apologetically as she neared the door with the rest of us trailing behind. “Anyway, I don’t wanna be stuck with grunt work my whole life so...don’t make me seem irresponsible, kay’?”

Nobody responded, most of us just wanting to get on with it.

“Sounds good,” she muttered sardonically to herself before walking inside.

As we walked inside, Herbert was cleaning off the tables, an annoyed expression on his face. It quickly melted away as he saw us walk in.

“Oh, you’re back!” he said with a big smile. As Ritta came in behind me, he practically tackled his cousin with a big hug. taking him by surprise. “And you’re alright,” he said affectionately as Ritta pushed against the hug, flustered. He quickly let go, though, glancing between each of us. “All of you are, thank the gods.”

“Barely,” Reco said, glancing to the hall. “Is the guildmaster in?”

Herbert nodded. “Yes, he’s got a lot on his plate as usual.”

She squinted at Herbert. “And why are you wiping the tables?”

“Tiffany is out. One of her family members got sick, so she left the rest to me yesterday.”

“How long will she be gone? Is anybody manning the guild besides you two?”

“Nope,” Herbert said, shaking his head. “Kosi may still be in the dorms, actually. She was assigned another job the moment she got back.”

“Will we really be able to take down The Mudmule like this?” Reco mumbled.

“Only time will tell.”

“Hmm...well, I’ll give my report to Guran. You can catch up with your trainees.”

As Reco walked toward the hall, Herbert asked, “What about Saya? Will she be joining the squad?”

She sent him a strange expression. “Huh? Yeah, of course she will,” she responded like it was beyond obvious before walking toward the guildmaster’s office.

I felt a surge of pride as she said that.

“So...” He continued. “Is anyone injured? Do you need help with anything?”

Ritta shook his head. “No, we are all fine. I’m actually going to be leaving about now.”

“Already?” his far older cousin said, disappointed.

“Asher wants to get back to the manor, and I can’t keep my fiance waiting.”

“Oh, understandable...”

Once Ritta walked out, Thraisly nodded, putting a hand on the doorframe. “I don’t know about him, but my legs are aching, so I’d love to get in a catnap before we train or something.”

“We won’t...” Herbert began, but she was already gone.

“Same for me,” Julius said, walking out with her.

“Sorry, Herbert, but I must rest too. I also need to take care of hygene...” He walked out behind them, leaving just me and the instructor.

I shrugged, then walked to the door.

“Saya,” Herbert said, stopping me as I passed through the doorway. “I actually need to speak with you for a moment.”

I grumbled as I walked up to him, crossing my arms.

“I don’t need that kind of attitude,” he said lightly, “Or do you not want to know how the guild plans on handling you?”

I raised an eyebrow. Cobaltio poked his head from behind me, his head reaching significantly past my abdomen as he craned it.

“Erm...did your [drake] age up?”

I nodded.

“Congratulations. Anyhow, I just wanted to discuss the matter of your tutor.”

{My tutor?} I wrote, acting as though I didn’t remember what he’d said earlier, annoyed.

“Yes, your magic tutor, remember? As it turns out, a prestigious magic tutor just showed up in Keolos, looking for work. Apparently, they weren’t asking for much, because Gruan hired them on the spot.”

I narrowed my eyes. That was suspicious.

“Look, you have an affinity for magic, right?” Herbert said, noticing my glare. “Everybody knows just know important magic is in warfare, and I’m sure you know just as well. I understand it’s a very tedious learning curve, but once you get a hang of it, you’ll be on better missions than adventurers with twice your prestige get.”

I shook my head, annoyed he’d misunderstood me. In truth, I’d expected to end up learning magic again, even once I’d left town, but...Ugh. At least I had a lot of runes down.

“I think you’re scheduled to meet with your tutor after training tomorrow,” he continued. “So prepare your...” he paused, averting his eyes awkwardly. “Well, you already keep chalk around on you, so...take your components. And if you have an old spellbook, bring that, too.”

I averted my eyes. I’d left it at home. The spellbook wasn’t for casting spells, so it wasn’t a problem that I didn’t have it under normal circumstances...but a lot of spells were unique to the tutors who taught them, making my old spellbook fairly valuable.

Which was actually why I had left it behind. I had enough respect for my old teacher not to just sell it under-the-table...

And also, he would literally track me down and kill me if I had.

I nodded. {I’ll be ready...} I presented to him.

“Good. I’m expecting the best out of you. From what I hear, you’ve got...what did Reco say...spunk, you’ve got spunk.” He leaned to pat Cobaltio’s head, and after my friend nervously regarded him, he reluctantly let him do it. “So don’t drag yourself down because of a principle,” he continued, staring at the [drake] with an absent expression. “That sort of stubbornness destroys people...” he glanced back at me. “Kay?”

I didn’t even think as I nodded, my new teacher’s wisdom embedding in my head.

Reco met me back in her dorm about half an hour later while I gave my Seraph’s robe a look-down. It could’ve been less dirty, but...

[boss] slober.

Ugh.

It also took some discipline for me not to open her closet and mess around with her relics, the very thought of wielding them being quite enticing, but I obviously didn’t actually touch them.

{How did it go?} I asked as she walked in, the message already written.

“Ehh,” she said with a shrug. “Gruan said it was alright. It might make our raid on The Mudmule...” She sighed. “difficult, if Luxo takes back his deal. We destroyed the dungeon, so he better not...” She grimaced. “Not that the guild could do much about it if he shortchanged us. Oh, but I doubt you care. What matters is that he said you’re an official member. Umm...he also said that you need to meet with him in his office after your training. Maybe to sign you in.”

I slowly nodded. I would probably meet my new teacher there, then.

“Anyway, are you too tired to say hi to the armory? The sun is still high~!”

Obviously, I wasn’t. Both Reco and I enjoyed browsing the shop the first time, and while I was tired, I did feel like metaphorically singing Houndcleaver’s praises.

Parla was busy for a few minutes once we got there, but she eventually returned.

“So?” she said, leaning against a rack filled with bags. They were named things like’caltrops’ and ‘ball bearings’. “How did you like it?” she asked. “Did you find any problems with Houndcleaver?”

I shook my head. {I really liked it. It cuts super well.}

“Good,” she said happily, nodding. “What about the shield?”

I nodded.

She shrugged. “Good enough.” She glanced between me and Reco. “If you’re alive, I take it that you all at least have a bit more gold to spend. Did you want to buy something or...”

Reco was just looking about, not paying attention to our conversation as she tested different weapons.

“What’s this weapon called?” she asked, raising some strange, two-sided sword with curved blades and spinning it around in her hand.

“It’s a Haldie. I think it comes from the Whispering Lands, some new weapon that’s making its rounds after an uprising or something. I dunno.”

Reco gave it one look, then shrugged, took another, and spun them both in her hands. “How much?”

Parla paused, her face almost inscrutable. “Ninety each,” she quickly said.

“Okay,” Reco said without a moment of thought, so casually that I felt I’d missed something. Before I could even come to grips with the situation, she had already finessed two sacks of coins from her large sack and had already sorted ten gold pieces out of each, handing them to Parla, who didn’t bother counting the coins as Reco clipped her new weapons onto her pack.

Parla turned to me, moneybags in hand. “So, did you need anything else?”

{What was that?} I wrote, confused.

“She likes weapons,” Parla said with a shrug. “So I give them to her.”

“Plus, I can just sell them back when I get bored of them,” Reco responded, as though spending a year’s salary’s worth of gold on weapons was normal.

I just looked away. Whaaatever. Reco doing Reco things.

{Do I get gold for the mission?} I asked Reco, looking back out of necessity.

“Nah, that goes to your training. And lodging. And food.”

Of course it does.

“Maybe you don’t have gold for it now, but you should work toward getting a set of armor if you’re a melee fighter,” Parla said. “Gauntlets are a must. But...if you can’t buy anything, I can get you your scabbard real quick.”

I nodded, and she walked away.

She returned not too long later with a scabbard that fit my sword, a nice, light leather place bound by neat stitches.

{Thank you,} I wrote.

“No prob.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t buy a gauntlet for my sword hand. Reco insisted that I needed to make my own money, and I was basically broke, so I left without buying anything.

As I walked back, I thought about the future. I would be living in this city for the coming years while I trained as an adventurer. It was enormous enough as is, to the point that exploring it all would be a years-spanning adventure all its own. A lot different from my hometown.

I was excited to explore it to my heart’s content one day.

The next day, I woke up when I supposedly needed to, along with Cobaltio, and we made our way to the training ground.

“Oh, Saya,” Thraisly said, eating food on a nice plate as she sat on a wood and steel bench, which looked like it’d been repaired more than its fair share of times. “You’re up pretty late. You should get your breakfast before...” she trailed off. “I guess nobody is scrounging up Herbert’s cooking, but, you know, breakfast is important and all.”

I nodded, then dashed to the kitchen.

I had only been about ten minutes late, so I still had time to eat up the soup Herbert had made in place of Tiffany.

It was...okay. Better than I’d expected, at least.

Eventually, though, I rushed to meet with everybody in the training grounds. Herbert arrived right after me, quickly throwing an apron he’d been wearing onto the bench Thraisly had been on.

Everyone gathered around him, each of us awaiting our instruction. July was with us this time, though.

“Okay, so...” he began, regaining his composure. “I know there is a lot for us to catch up on since your excursion, but before we handle any of that, I want us to put in the effort like it’s any other day, and even before that, we should welcome Saya in as a new member of the Junior squad.”

He placed a fist on his chest, turning to me, and as he did, the rest of the members made the same motion, except a grumpy Julius, who stubbornly looked away as the others bowed their heads to me in respect.

“Welcome to the adventurer’s guild, Saya,” Herbert said before glancing perceptively to Julius, hiding far to his left. “I expect us all to treat her with respect. She will be a valuable part of our team from here on out, and I’m sure Cobaltio will be, too.”

He began sorting each person to different activities.

Julius and Dota would work on their aim, Ritta would teach me the basics of swordplay, and Thraisly and June would practice magic against each other.

“Just show me some practice swings, will you?” Ritta said, motioning to the air in front of us, not far from the fence.

I nodded, then began swinging my sword the way I’d learned it from the village guard.

“Hmm...” the noble emoted, critically staring at me as I did. “You lack elegance, for one.”

I glared.

“Seriously, hear me out here,” he said, raising his hands. “You may be formidable for your age, but your technique needs work, for sure,” he explained. Ritta unsheathed his own sword, a shining and well-kept straight sword. “First off, you need to adapt your slashes to a curved sword better. Though that skill only comes with time. Second, watch me.”

Ritta held his hand-and-a-half sword in one hand, angling it differently than I’d learned to, then he swung. Beyond his clearly superior fitness, his attacks were a lot different from my own, coming out in rapid, practiced succession. “You don’t want to reel back at all,” he said, “You swing your sword, and once you do, you should stop at the minimum distance from your target.” He paused. “Swing your sword like normal for me.”

I readied myself, then swung down, my cut requiring a change in my wrist to utilize the curved blade, ending with the blade to the left of my legs.

“That’s exactly the problem,” Ritta said, placing a finger on the back of my falchion. “You winded back, then you pulled back too late. Your cuts need more discipline than that. May I wield your falchion for a moment?”

I handed him it, and after testing its wheight, Ritta nodded, then swung it a few times. His strikes were lightning-quick, and I could hardly keep up with the details of each swipe. More importantly, not only did he show how his attacks each fell into another, he didn’t reel back at all, something, I reluctantly admitted, I had been doing in my practice. Similarly, he pulled the sword to rest before I did, the two differences increasing his speed significantly. He even seemed familiar with using the curved edge.

Once he’d shown off, Ritta handed it back. “That’s what you should work on, first. Any fancy techniques or combos or skills can be ignored for us to focus on the essentials, namely efficient strikes.”

I slowly nodded. “Mhm...”

“So both of us will practice our swings today. You also seem somewhat unfamiliar with your weapon, so I’ll instruct you on how to use that.”

And that was what we did for the next hour. I swung my sword along with Ritta, and he would correct me to improve my efficency. It was tedious, but by the end, I’d improved enough. Ritta and I then began sparring without skills using wooden blades from storage, and that was a lot more interesting. He won almost every time, despite that I was using my shield. Ritta’s speed was blinding when paired with his incredible dueling tactics, and I only managed to win a few times because I’d picked up on some of his habits and countered them. I smugly notified him to them, but Ritta obviously found the habits difficult to break.

By the time the second hour had begun, though, I was exhausted.

“Okay,” Herbert said as Ritta, and I leaned against the fence, taking a short rest. “I think that’s enough for now. Some of you have tutors to get to, and the rest of you will be helping me with some grunt work to earn your keep here. Thraisly, Dota, Julius, can you help me clean this up while the lovebirds and Saya leave?”

Ritta rolled his eyes, then locked his with June’s, who chuckled, and they quickly powerwalked off. I slowly made my way into the guild hall, then to the entrance to Gruan’s office, where I stopped.

The office door was imposing, was all.

I opened it, and began to walk in.

I froze the instant I saw what was inside.

Gruan sat at his desk, but standing in front of it, glancing back at me with a stern expression, was an oldish man with whitening hair, wearing brown robes outlined in blue, and with a pack full of gear I recognized, including two spellbooks.

My old tutor stared down at me. “Hello again, Saya.”