Next morning. 5:00 a.m.
Washing his face, Rewen got out of his room and walked to Michi's door.
*Knock*
"Are you up yet?" He asked.
Footsteps were heard and the door was opened revealing a young girl wearing a loose white T-Shirt and a comfortable shorts. Her face had a healthy blush befitting of soone her age. "Co in." She said with a sweet smile.
As Rewen was close to her, he noticed her hair was wet and fragrant."I could never shower this early." He said, before following her into the room and took a seat on a chair.
"It's a habit." Michi skipped over to the kitchen.
Rewen tilted his head and saw her arranging the plates. "Did you already make breakfast? How early did you start?"
"It's a habit." Michi turned around smiling. "Let's eat."
***
An hour later.
Rewen and Michi were out in the streets. The streets were fairly crowded, although not as much as Rover City which was one of the biggest trade markets in the nation. One visible difference between both cities is the technological advancent. Besides that, Rover City had a much greater economy, living conditions, and employnt rate.
The weather was mild today and it was early morning. It was interesting to note that even in the early morning, there is a crowd. This is not a specific trait in just Jackport Town. Rewen noted that this was a sort of a "culture" in this world.
Rewen enjoyed taking a walk in the weather. Walking side by side with him was Michi who was continuously looking out for sothing. Why are they walking down the streets?
Short answer - Job hunting.
Even though they have enough to live off comfortably for a few months with the money they currently have and they would likely be working in the guild by the next month, is it productive to laze around doing nothing for an entire month?
The job they were searching for is becoming a Guild Associate. Not a guild mber.
The best way to describe the difference between them would be that a Guild Associate isn't an actual mber of the guild and doesn't work for the Guild directly. He/she is not employed by the Guild itself but rather the people in the Guild.
Maintaining a position in the Guild, usually high-ranking, is not an easy job to do. That's why most high-ranking mbers of a Guild build an unofficially subsidiary branch of the main Guild. That subsidiary Guild employs people just like the main Guild and works the exact sa way as the main Guild.
People hired in that subsidiary Guild are called Guild Associates.
Currently, because of the recent attack on Rover City by the infamous terrorist group, WestLane, thousands of people have migrated over to Jackport Town. This disrupted the natural selection process that a Guild mber Candidate has to go through making it difficult for the main guild to imdiately take in Guild mbers without proper checks. This is also the reason why people currently are temporarily looking for the subsidiary guilds controlled by the high-ranking Guild mbers.
As they were walking, Michi suddenly stopped. "There!"
Rewen followed her line of sight and saw a group of young people chatting among themselves.
"Are they mbers or associates?" He asked while walking towards them.
"They are associates." Michi imdiately said. Last night, she contacted them online to see if they have so spots left to take in employees. They responded in an affirmative manner and told her to et them today.
anwhile, the group of young people also noticed two people approaching them. One of them stepped forward and stretched his hand towards Rewen. "I suppose both of you are interested in becoming associates in our branch."
Rewen shook his hand with his. "Well, that's the plan."
The guy lightly laughed, then shook his hands with Michi.
***
On a three-storey building. Second floor.
Rewen and Michi sat in front of a table on a comfortable chair. In front of them was a man wearing a business suit and a sharp sunglasses. With his dirty blonde hair perfectly trimd back, he was pleasant to look at.
'Kinoshita Sora.' Rewen muttered the na of the man. Aside from pleasant-looking, he also found that the man was soone he was familiar with.
"T-t-the Envoy?" Michi had seen the Envoy that ca to Rover City a few weeks ago and had rembered his face. 'Could it be that he is also the high-ranking Guild mber to whom this subsidiary guild belongs?' She couldn't believe such a coincidence.
The Envoy, Kinoshita Sora, looked towards Rewen with a small smile. "I see that you have quite changed from how you used to be. It's almost, no, it's as if you are an entirely different person."
"Hope you have been in good health. Also, thank you for the quota." Although Rewen had a lot of questions, he responded accordingly.
"You're welco. Well, I don't have much ti so I'll cut to the chase. I know about the condition you are in. I also know what happened with Hase and Reza. I'm also aware of many things you yourself are not aware of. So, take this as so sort of advice from a senior. You are standing on a thin rope. Below you is the lava. One single mistake can lead to your demise. I can guarantee that."
"What?" Rewen hated the style of 'telling sothing while not telling anything at the sa ti'. "What do you an by that? Please explain it step by step."
Kinoshita Sora got up from his chair. "That's all you need to know. Co again tomorrow." Saying that odorless smoke began to leak from his body. When the body was enveloped in smoke, the smoke imdiately vanished along with the man himself.
"What!? Where did he go?" Anxious and confused, Michi proceeded to call the security.
Rewen remained seated on the chair. 'Standing on a thin rope and under is lava? I guess wanting a rest in this world was a little too much.'
***
Rover City's City Lord's Mansion.
The City Lord was calming down his wife who was still grieving about the death of their son. Just then, he heard a knock coming from the door.
"Sir, Madam Death Knight wants to talk to you." A servant said from the other side of the door.
"Wait here. Don't do anything crazy." The City Lord patted his wife's back a few tis before leaving the room.
After a few seconds, he saw the red-haired Death Knight sitting on the sofa.
"What's the matter? Did you find them?"
"Don't jest. It's going to take so ti to find them." The red-haired Death Knight nonchalantly said.
"Then why did you co here?"
"I'm sure that by now, you have heard of the recent conflict between the two terrorist groups."
The City Lord nodded. "I heard about it briefly."
"Shouldn't you be doing sothing then?"
"Do what? My son just died---"
The red-haired Death Knight interrupted him. "You are a City Lord. The affairs of the city should co first to you. Anyways, forget that. Did your son participate in the competition hosted by the Exquisite Immorial Palace?"
"No. Why?"
"No? Who participated in that case?" The red-haired Death Knight had a perplexed look on her face. According to her, there are not many talented mbers of the younger generations in Rover City. Together with his background, Mitsuo should have been the one to get a quota.
The City Lord's face turned grim at this question. Without any intentions of pushing the topic forward, he directly said. "Because that kid Rewen or sothing got the letter from the Envoy."
The red-haired Death Knight was quiet for a long ti, then opened her mouth. "Tell about him."
***
In the inn,
Rewen sat on the balcony of Michi's room and absent-mindedly stared at the people. So were families taking an evening walk. So were couples holding hands on an outing. So going to certain destinations using vehicles and others were locals talking among themselves.
"Here." A cup filled with coffee appeared in front of his eyes.
Rewen took the cup, then raised his head.
Michi stood there smiling like an angel who descended onto the mortal world. At least that's how Rewen viewed her.
Sighing, he said. "At this point, you are just spoiling m- argh..." All of a sudden, his body went weak and he fell on the floor.
Michi panicked. "What's wrong, Rewen?"
Rewen identified the source of his current condition. It was the sa headache he occasionally experienced on Earth. Looking at the young girl shaking his shoulder, he could barely make out what she was saying. His five senses were slowly getting numb.
'L..ten car..f..lly es not com... For your sake persevere'
Just when his consciousness was about to fade away, he heard an unfamiliar voice speaking to him in an incoherent manner.
His senses slowly regained clarity. He had a single thought. 'I want to return.'
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