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–––Luvias’ viewpoint

A while after I started attending the training school as per my master’s suggestion, she recommended me as an adventurer to the guild. After all, I needed to be registered as one to be able to accept requests. I had no reason to refuse that, so I agreed instantly, becoming a new member of the guild.

“So this is proof I’m an adventurer…”

I looked from all sides at the plate indicating I was a bronze rank adventurer. Everyone started like that, and as one completed more and more requests, the rank would also increase. Of course, not all adventurers led the life they dreamt of, a small number of them would perish in battle, while many others would give up halfway through and retire. There were many reasons why that was the case, some would reach the limit of their strength and talent, others would grow tired of such a strenuous lifestyle, or they would get lasting wounds, for example. Adventurers probably encountered many difficult situations that someone who barely registered as one like me could not even imagine.

“With this, you’re a fellow Adventurer, Luvias.”
“Thank you, master. If I hadn’t met you, I would’ve never gotten even close to registering as an adventurer.”
“You’re exaggerating. But forget that, do you want to take a request? To be honest I’ve reserved one since I figured it could help with your training.”

The page she pointed at in the request book had “Thief gang prosecution” written in large and striking letters. A thief gang…or in other words a group of thieves. They would normally wait in corners of streets to ambush a clueless passerby, stealing their valuables or even taking their lives in the worst cases. Most of those gangs would live somewhere outside the city, where they could move more freely and it was easier for them to flee into. Though apparently there were also some that would operate strictly inside the city. The gang of the request was suspected to live outside the city, somewhere in the middle between Surfour and another city.

“Sorry?”
“If you’re serious about being a hero, then sooner or later you’ll have to fight against other people. I doubt they are numerous, but I’d wager there are some humans who also serve the Demon King after all. It would be too dangerous to blindly go against them without any prior experience, so I think it’s best if you start by fighting against thieves and the like. But don’t think I’ll send you alone, the two adventurers living with me are also going with you.”

I had heard before that there were adventurers living with her. Apparently, when those two girls first met my master they were pretty much average adventurers, but now they were strong enough to even defeat Leble’s heroes. Apparently, that was thanks to them being trained daily by my master. In other words, they were my fellow pupils, though much more experienced, so I was happy I’d get to meet them.

“Please let me take it! It would be an honor if my first mission together with my fellow pupils would be that one!”
“…You seem really motivated now. I like that more than you being pessimistic though.”

She was grimacing a bit as she said that. That reminded me again of my bad habit of getting too carried away when I get excited, which ends up causing the people around me to feel bewildered like she was now. I always wanted to fix that, but that was part of my character since I was little so I was barely making any progress.

Afterwards we left the guild and she took me to her house. I wanted to buy her some sort of present since it was my first time there, but we went straight from the guild and I had no opportunity to look for something I could get her. Not to mention that my host was leading the way, so inconveniencing her to buy a gift was too strange.

“We’re here.”
“Welcome back, Lapis.”
“Welcome back!”

Two girls came out to greet her as soon as we arrived. It was a bit hard to tell because of their baggy and casual clothes, but one appeared to have the toned body of a warrior while the other was a magician. Both were older than me, but compared to the average adventurer they were still rather young. If I had to guess, they were around their early twenties. The warrior had an amiable air to her and looked at their sudden guest, me, with much curiosity. The magician girl appeared to be more reserved as she sat on a chair and began reading a book, probably some sort of magic tome. She also barely looked at me, as opposed to the warrior girl who was very interested, only shooting quick glances every now and then.

“I’ll introduce you. This is Luvias, the girl I mentioned yesterday. She might be a princess, but as my pupil she’s your junior, so don’t worry about being over-polite.”
“I’m Luvias! Nice to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you too! I’m Karin, a warrior.”
“I’m Ciel, magician. Nice to meet you.”

They held their hands out and I shook them in order. …they were very strong, I could tell from the grip of their hands alone. They appeared to be on a completely different level compared to me. Probably not to the inhuman extent my master was, but I could tell they were much stronger than any regular adventurer.

“Anyway, it’s a bit sudden but I want you to take a request together with Luvias. This is the request in question.”

Everyone’s eyes focused on the request form placed on the table. They showed no hesitancy seeing what it was about, nor when they saw how many people they might have to fight. Meanwhile, I was feeling a bit nervous since it was my first time fighting seriously. I really had to pull myself together, I could not get like this so soon.

“It’s not too far away from here, huh.”
“They must be close enough to the main roads too, so if I’d say their hideout is…inside this forest maybe?”
“They probably have lookouts ready too, so we’re going to be really careful.”

If we went along the road and took a detour towards the north we should arrive there without problems. We would only need food reserves for two weeks and- My thoughts were cut off when Ciel said something strange.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I fly somewhere nearby and begin searching from there?”

Fly there? Could it be that Ciel can also use Flight Magic like my master? I had assumed she was strong, but I was not expecting her to be able to use such advanced magic even. But that much was to be expected from my fellow pupil.

“No, let’s not do that. I want Luvias to experience the life of an adventurer, so it’s best if you go on foot as any other adventurer would. You’ll have to camp in the open and take turns keeping watch. After all, if she doesn’t know how to do that inside the Haunted Lands, she won’t get far alive.”
“I see~ Luvias, you don’t mind that?”
“Of course! I’ll do everything so I can become a fully-fledged adventurer that can stand her own!”
“Oh, she’s raring to go! That’s how you gotta live!”

Saying that, Karin patted my nervous shoulder. …She is really a good person. On her own, she did not look very mature, but she had this charm that made me feel safer just by being at her side. I have actual blood-related sisters, but for some reason, I felt like these two were my true sisters the moment I met them.