Categorized as Rank C, the mission Rin was contemplating taking was simple in nature. A team of ten Rank D or C adventurers would take on an orc-held fortress located southeast of the city. The goal was, of course, to exterminate them. Rin's eyes skimmed over that statement and then quickly landed on the slightly more interesting part of the mission's description.

The pay.

"1.5 plats per adventurer," Rin noted quietly. "Holy crap."

Completing this task would give Rin half of the money she needed to pay for the next term. That fact alone made it tempting.

Despite that, however, a memory went through Rin's mind that made her hesitate.

She recalled what she'd seen and took her hands off the paper. The image of Silvy, the upbeat adventurer she'd met when she'd spectated that raid sometime ago, getting shot in the head with an arrow flashed before Rin's eyes.

"Ohhh, and you only need 3!" Xhez declared as she looked at the same paper. The lady behind the desk briefly glanced at them with some mild annoyance at how loud they were being. "That is good!"

"Yeah..."

"I... Am I missing something?" Xhez asked, tilting her head, confused by Rin's reaction. "Is the mission too difficult?"

"Could be..." Rin trailed off as her eyes went back to the page.

Despite the small moment of hesitation, Rin quickly reminded herself of her teacher's suggestion. Doing so made this choice easier to make.

[No, wait. Maria said I should challenge myself. Plus... I don't really have that much time to get the money, right? I should just take it.]

"Uh, so I just rip this off the board, right?" She suddenly asked the lady to her left.

"Yes," she replied. "That's the raid you were looking at, right?" She asked, holding her hand out. Rin tore the paper off and placed it in her hand, allowing her to confirm that. "Will you both be taking this mission?"

"Um, she isn't an adventurer," Rin said, pointing at Xhez. "Can I still bring her with me, though?"

"Yes, but she will not be getting paid for her contributions."

Xhez stepped forward.

"... Hold on," the sprite suddenly interjected, "if I become an adventurer, would we each get these 'plats'?" She asked.

Rin's eyes widened, waiting to hear the woman's response. She hadn't thought to ask that, but Xhez did.

"Of course... Provided you both make it out alive."

As soon as she heard that, she replied:

"Can we register Xhez, my sister, right now?"

"Sure, but without a proper assessment at Cradle, she will have to register as a simple Rank D adventurer. Though, from the looks of it," her eyes scanned Xhez's body, "that does appear to be her level unless she has some hidden talents I can't see."

She quite literally did, but Rin set that aside.

"What do you think?" Rin asked Xhez.

"Does this mean that I would become an adventurer?" Rin nodded. "The thought of that does seem strange, but, if this is what is required, I am willing to do it."

"... Uh... Hey, far be it from me to give too much of a fuck about every single person who walks in here, but your sister can fight, right?" The lady asked, with one immaculately raised brow.

"Ehm, yeah, don't worry," Rin replied, waving a hand in the air carelessly.

The lady just sighed.

"Just hold on a moment. We can't assess all of her skills, but we can at least do an Essence test with her adventurer's token. I'll be back in a second." She stood up and walked up the nearby staircase. Rin and Xhez waited patiently and the woman came back with the item she needed. She held it in front of Xhez. "First things first, can I see your security token?"

Rin quickly said:

"S-She left it at home... Sorry."

"Oh. Well, if you want you can just go and get it. It's fine."

"A-Are you sure? We live pretty far and it would suck to have to walk all the way... you know?" Rin asked with a nervous laugh.

"Hm..." The woman glanced over at Xhez briefly before shrugging. "Eh, whatever. Name and date of birth, please."

"Thank you! Uh, her name's Xhez and she was born in 1227 A.S."

"Okay..." The woman wrote the information down. "Give me a moment, once again."

She held the token with one hand and drew a spellsign in the air with the other. Suddenly, the words began inscribing themselves into the metal token. Xhez flinched as it happened.

"Done. Now, poke your thumb with that pointy part over there."

"Uhm, alright. This is the same as..."

"Y-Yeah!" Rin responded. "It's... yeah."

If she let Xhez ask that question, she may have given too much away, but yes. She let the sprite know that this was the same thing they'd done shortly after they'd made it back to Libera the first time.

Xhez was still somewhat hesitant but did as the lady instructed, flinching as she felt the tip prick her.

[Green, white, blue, and black are the colors you can get, right?] Rin recalled. [Have things changed since she did this last time? What did she get again? It was a while ago... White and blue are bad, green and black are good. So, she'll probably get-]

Before Rin could even finish that thought, the blue mist swirling around the adventurer's token turned black.

In addition, Xhez's body flashed dimly for a moment. Rin noticed, but the lady appeared to be distracted by the coin.

"U-Um..." Xhez looked over at Rin nervously. "My... You know."

"Is it alright?"

"A large portion of my Spirit was just pulled away... We may need to head back to your room faster than I thought."

As she whispered this, the lady, who was still looking down at the coin, muttered:

"Holy sh... I see. So, she's a natural mage then."

"Is that good?" Xhez asked the lady.

"Much more than good, this means your potential is incredible. I can see why you're taking her with you now. As soon as you finish this mission, based on her performance, she may immediately become Rank C."

"Is *that* good?" Xhez asked again.

"Could be," Rin shrugged. "Depending on what you want to do. Anyway, uh, is that all?"

"Yes," the lady replied after she scribbled some notes down. "A few adventurers have already accepted the mission. Head over to the fortress and you may find them there. Once all ten adventurers needed are present, the raid will begin. Bring back as many of the monsters' remains as you can," she added. "We will pay you for them."

"What kind of remains?"

"Well, they're orcs, so their ears, claws, and tusks are enough. We'll buy them from you and sell them to merchants and collectors. I'm sure I don't need to say this since you want to get paid and all, but remember that if you take too long to come back, we will assume things did not go well, so make sure to visit us quickly once the mission is over. Good luck."

The two of them walked out of the office and Rin just now internalized that Xhez had become an official adventurer.

It was weird to think about. Additionally, it was strange to consider that she'd be taking part in something as big as a monster raid in the near future. She would be one of those heroic adventurers she'd seen before.

It almost didn't feel real.

"I do not believe I have much time left," Xhez told her. "We should walk quickly."

"Right."

---

The lady organized the papers she'd just written on as she watched the two black-haired sisters walk out of her office.

She paused for a moment and rested her head on her chin.

"A mage with a black Essence rating," she murmured to herself. "There hasn't been one of those in years. The guild will definitely want to know about her. I should send them a letter."

She smiled, appreciating that she was able to get a glimpse of someone who might just become famous in the future. Little moments like that made this job slightly more tolerable.

"Maybe I can nudge them to give her some special treatment. I'll have to choose my words carefully."