1

  Every adventurer was frantically gathering all the supplies they needed for a rescue mission and bringing it all out to various horse-drawn carts. Medicine, food and spare weapons were the main items they needed. Mages who knew the fundamentals of levitation magic were using it to speed up everything they could.

  Inside the main building of the guild, Jolene was informing everyone else about the details of the quest. They were all going to meet with two other guild members who had been searching for Masahiro. They all hope that along with him, they'll also find two other missing guild members and hopefully get some answers.

  The adventurers were all eager to embark on this quest but first they had to deal with the Suzue Kobayashi issue. They looked over and many scowled at the sight of the boyish woman with the strange weapon finally emerging from her room. The only person that welcomed her presence with a smile was Lily, who walked right up to her.

  “It feels like it's been ages since I last saw you, Suzue! How are you feeling?”

  Suzue looked into the deep red eyes of the girl in front of her. There was a noticeable spark in her eyes that could only be described as magical. Her large ears were wiggling with happiness and her skin was undeniably perfect.

  Suzue privately confessed to herself that the elf standing in front of her was by far the cutest girl she had ever seen.

  “Who are you?”

  It was like a thousand needles had pierced Lily’s heart at that moment. A single tear fell from her eye.

  “My name is Lily! Lily Valentina! Don’t you remember that we joined the guild at the same time?”

  “What guild?”

  Lily fell to her knees, dejected at being forgotten so quickly. Everyone in the room froze in shock at just how terrible Suzue’s memory was. They further tried to explain everything that happened before this moment.

  “When you first arrived in Grandoria ten days ago, you joined the Iron Hawk guild with Lily and received your guild identification card and insignia tattoo.”

  “What’s Iron Hawk?”

  “Are you stupid?! Iron Hawk is the name of the guild you joined!”

  “Don’t you remember your first quest where you helped clear out that goblin nest?”

  Suzue scratched the back of her head and tried her best to remember if everything they said actually happened.

  “Sorry, but I don’t remember anything.”

  Nobody had the energy to confront Suzue about her behavior anymore. Except for the Guildmaster, who walked up to her completely undeterred.

  The Guildmaster was a short old man in a grey robe with a cane. He had a remarkable mustache that hid his upper lip. He was the perfect image of a fantasy wizard.

  “You must be Miss Kobayashi. My name is Maximus. Nice to meetcha, young lady! You are a lady, right?”

  “I am a lady! Are you blind?!”

  “I will be blind eventually. My eyes are not what they used to be. Anyway, are you ready to go? We need everyone in good shape if we wanna rescue Mahiro.”

  “I’m ready to go. Just point me in the right direction.”

  Maximus gently stroked his mustache as he looked Suzue up and down. He flinched when he got to her face. While she was certainly in good physical condition with her muscular build, her eyes suggested that she was exhausted.

  “You have such dark circles under your eyes. I think they might even be bloodshot. Did you make sure to get enough sleep?”

  “Yeah, I got plenty of sleep. These dark circles don’t just go away. It takes time. I’ll have beautiful eyes like Lily’s in no time.”

  “Good enough for me! Why don’t you head outside and make yourself comfortable in one of the carts.”

  Suzue walked towards the exit. Jack, who was nearby, voiced his concerns about letting her join them on such an important quest. Maximus brushed him off and asked him to trust his judgement.

  “I would never question your judgement, Master Maximus. It’s just that she hasn’t exactly proved herself to be trustworthy.”

  “Oh? And how exactly are we supposed to know that she can be trusted if we don’t give her a chance? We’ll never know if we just sit around and speculate.”

  Suddenly, everyone was startled by something heavy falling to the ground. They looked over and saw that Suzue had collapsed. Lily was already by her side to see what was wrong and discovered that she had fallen asleep.

  Maximus exhaled out of frustration at how young people always believe they have limitless energy. He ordered Suzue to be carried out to one of the carts and asked Lily to accompany him.

  2

  Lily’s Perspective

  I was riding in one of the horse drawn carriages with the head of the Iron Hawk guild, Maximus Titurnius. Honestly, I was shaking from excitement about the fact that I was sitting right in front of him! He was practically a living legend! One of my favorite stories was how he managed to get an entire army to surrender without fighting at all.

  The details of that story are a bit muddy so I’m not sure if it was his powerful magic or superb negotiation skills. I had so many questions for him but for now my attention was focused on the person sleeping at our feet.

  Suzue was asleep but it would be a stretch to say that she was resting. She had a distressed look on her face as she tossed and turned in her sleep. She was muttering some things that made me more concerned.

  “No… Don’t go in there…!!”

  Maximus gently placed his hand on Suzue’s head and spoke the incantation for the spell Pleasant Dreams, which was commonly used for people that have trouble sleeping. Suzue remained still and her breathing was no longer erratic.

  “Seems the poor girl suffers from nightmares. Hopefully, that spell will help with that.”

  “Thank you very much, Guildmaster. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. My name is Lily Valentina. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

  “No need for introductions, young lady. I already know who you are. What made you want to join our humble guild?”

  “I’ve been invested in the stories of great adventurers since I was a little girl. The heroes that prioritized the safety of others over themselves were ones I have always admired. It’s always been my dream to become an adventurer and help people the best I can. After all, helping others is the main reason why the guilds were originally established!”

  I was startled for a second because Maximus had begun to cry for some reason.

  “Such a noble dream! I am so glad that young people like you still exist in this world!”

  Maximus wiped away his tears and asked me if I was already acquainted with Suzue before I joined the guild.

  “The truth is that I met her just before we arrived in town and she didn’t talk much. I can’t say I know anything about her.”

  “Even if that’s the case, you should still try to be friends with her. Suzue might need someone like you by her side.”

  I looked down at Suzue and thought back to the first quest we went on together.

  I was scared to fight goblins. They were ferocious, cruel and carried many diseases. I tried to learn as much as possible about goblins so that I could have an advantage but actually facing them for real was far from what I expected. The creatures were unpredictable and more intelligent than books would have you believe. It was pretty scary just thinking about it.

  When I compare myself to Suzue, it’s like night and day. She was focused and there was no fear in her eyes. It was like she had fought goblins before. It made sense, given that she used to be a soldier. She also declined to receive the reward money, as if the gratitude of the villagers was enough of a reward.

  I thought Suzue was the perfect image of an adventurer. She was fearless, efficient and generous. Even though I had only known her for a short time, I already began to admire her. I wanted to be like her in any way that I could. Though, when we returned to the guild, Suzue acted less like the ideal hero and more like someone who desperately wanted to disappear. She isolated herself from the world and became a total shut-in.

  What happened to make Suzue act like that? It was not normal for someone to go from a humble hero to a shut-it in such a short span of time unless there was something seriously wrong.

  That was the only explanation for Suzue’s behavior, that there was something wrong. It wasn’t a satisfying answer, in fact, it only made me more worried. I remember when I looked into her eyes back when we were leaving that village, it was like she lost all reason for living.

  Now, Suzue was acting as if nothing happened. Maybe all she needed was a quest? But she could have just gone over to the Quest Board and picked something out, couldn’t she? Were the posted quests not good enough? If so, why even join the Iron Hawk guild in the first place? Was Masahiro Kirishima important to her somehow?

  I had so many questions and no answers. However, I was certain that my main goal was to help Suzue Kobayashi in any way I can. After all, helping others was an adventurer’s duty.

  It took about a day’s journey to arrive at the camp that was located just on the outskirts of the castle Masahiro Kirishima was being held hostage in. Everyone lit campfires, cooked some food and rested for the day to come.

  I asked Jack to help me carry Suzue over to a campfire so that she could stay warm, which he surprisingly agreed to. I had expected Suzue’s reputation to be so bad that Jack wouldn’t trust her even when she was sleeping but that was just me overthinking things.

  The strangest thing was how Suzue slept through everything. I had never seen someone sleep for so long. Just how sleep deprived was she?

  Just before I was about to go to sleep myself, I noticed Suzue reaching for something. I also managed to pick up what she was mumbling.

  “Boobs…”

  “What?”

  She really was a strange person.

  Suzue woke up around the same time as me the next morning and we both helped ourselves to some food. Can’t rescue someone on an empty stomach.

  While we were eating, I decided to talk to her to get to know her a little better.

  “So, Suzue-”

  “Call me Suzi. Everyone calls me Suzi.”

  “Alright then, I'll be sure to call you that from now on! You were a soldier before you became an adventurer, right, Suzi?”

  “That’s right. For eight years.”

  “That’s a really long time! People who serve in the military for that long usually make it a career. What made you want to leave?”

  “Certain circumstances kinda forced me to leave.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Were you able to become a knight?”

  “No.”

  “That’s a shame. I hear it’s very difficult for us commoners to become knights. Noble families usually train their children from a very young age to become knights. Still, that doesn’t make them any less honorable.”

  “Whatever.”

  Suzi had a sour expression. Perhaps she was bitter about not becoming a knight and that was why she left after eight years? I suppose it’s understandable considering noble families with a long history of military service were often the only ones eligible to join the Royal Knights of Waywrest simply based on status alone. As those families are also the only ones able to afford the best trainers in the Empire, talented commoners still have trouble becoming Knights based on skill alone. Commoners were also only recently allowed to become knights so there were very few of them.

  Actually, it was rather common for people to join the military just to gain useful skills for when they became adventurers. As a result, nobles believed commoners only cared about money and status rather than upholding the values of the Empire.

  Once we finished eating, we prepared ourselves for the upcoming castle raid. I had a small pouch of various potions and a small dagger attached to my hip. Suzi put on her strange assortment of gear. The main piece that caught my eye was the chest piece with all the weird boxes that had an unknown purpose. The only thing I was able to recognize was a knife strapped to her right thigh right next to what looked like a smaller version of her main weapon.

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  “Excuse me, Suzi. Could you explain to me how your weapon works? What was it called again? A rifle?”

  “Sure, we have time.”

  I sat down in front of her and she presented her weapons.

  “Now, the general term for weapons like this is ‘gun’ or ‘firearm’ but they can have different names depending on what type of firearm they are. For example, the one you see laid out in front of you is a rifle while the one attached to my hip is a pistol but they’re both still considered firearms. They also come in different models. The rifle is an SCAR-H or Mk 17 and my pistol is an M17. Does that make sense?”

  “I think I understand but would a crossbow be considered a firearm? It has a similar design to the rifle.”

  “No and that’s because of the type of ammunition that it uses.”

  Suzi took out one of the long pointed objects that were in the boxes strapped to her chest.

  “This right here is the ammunition that the rifle uses. The tip is called the bullet and it's the main projectile. The rest is the cartridge and it holds everything together. Inside the cartridge is the propellant which, when ignited, releases the bullet. On the bottom is the primer which ignites the propellant. Basically, it’s a small controlled explosion that sends a chunk of metal flying with enough force to pierce through walls.”

  “That’s so cool! I’ve never seen anything like it before!”

  I’m pretty sure my eyes were sparkling as Suzi’s explanation went on. It was so advanced yet she explained it like it was no big deal.

  I heard someone giggling and looked up to see that it was Suzi. She was actually laughing and smiling! I never thought I would see someone like her smile. She raised her hand and gently patted my head.

  “You’re so cute. Maybe living in this world won’t be so bad after all.”

  Suzi really was a strange person but I was glad to see her smile.

  After that exchange, we finished our preparations and went over to speak to Maximus. He was speaking with the two adventurers that tracked down the bandits.

  Suzi abruptly stopped and pointed to the woman with a body of flame and wearing only a black cuirass for armor.

  “What is that?”

  “Oh! She’s a Feuermann. They’re a race of demons distinguished by their flaming bodies. Instead of regular organs like us, they have a single magma core located in their chest.”

  “She’s a demon? That sounds risky.”

  I see. Suzi was one of those individuals who were distrustful of the various demon races. I suppose it was understandable considering how strange the circumstances of a demon’s birth are.

  The behavior and even appearances of the various demon races can change depending on which god they worship. For example, a demon that worships the God of Destruction will not act the same as a demon that worships the God of Wisdom. The deity that a demon will follow is determined at birth and their faith will never waver throughout their entire lives.

  “It should be fine. Judging by her appearance, she must either worship the Goddess of Love or the Goddess of Life.”

  Suzi furrowed her brow and rubbed her eyes in frustration. I think I was only confusing her.

  “Looks like I have some reading to do once this is all over.”

  Maximus saw us approaching and introduced the two adventurers he was talking to. The first was a thief named Pip-Pip Kipan who was a bunny girl with pink hair. The second was the fire demon I had just described and her name was Francoise.

  “You must be the new guild members that Maximus mentioned. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Hello, I’m Francoise! Hey, Pip-Pip isn’t that guy totally handsome? You should ask him to marry you!”

  “We just met! What makes you think I want to marry him?!”

  “Are you talking about me? My name is Suzi and I am a woman.”

  Pip-Pip and Francoise stared at Suzi blankly for a moment.

  “No you’re not.”

  “Do you want to die?”

  While I was concerned for Pip-Pip and Francoise's safety after they said those things, I couldn't understand why they assumed Suzi was a man. Sure, she had a more boyish face but she still had some feminine charm if she got rid of those dark circles under her eyes.

  She was taller than even some of the men and was fairly muscular, with broad shoulders and large biceps giving her a rather imposing stature. Her vest hid her breasts from view but all one had to do was look down to see her wide hips. I thought it was fairly obvious she was a woman.

  Francoise didn’t seem fazed by Suzi glaring at her with murderous intent and casually asked her next question with stars in her eyes.

  “Lily, are you and Suzi married?”

  “WHAT?! No we’re not! How did you even come to that conclusion?!”

  “I mean, Lily has a really nice ass but I hardly know her.”

  “What are you saying?!”

  Pip-Pip pulled Francoise aside and let out a small sigh.

  “Please forgive her. Francoise is a devout follower of Amouria, the Goddess of Love and Marriage. She’s obsessed with married couples.”

  “Whatever. What’s the current situation?”

  Pip-Pip led us over to a cliff overlooking a large castle and explained the situation.

  “Francoise and I have been looking for Masahiro since he went missing along with two other guild members about a year ago. We managed to track him down to that castle over there which is controlled by a powerful bandit clan.”

  Pip-Pip’s face turned sour and she continued.

  “These bandits… They specialize in human trafficking. I imagine they want to sell him to some corrupt noble or use him for ransom against us. If they hurt him, I swear I will-”

  “Please calm down, Pip-Pip. We won’t be able to save my future husband if we don’t have a clear head.”

  At Francoise’s words, Pip-Pip composed herself and resumed her explanation.

  “Sorry, Francoise. Anyway, we know Masahiro is being held captive. As for the other two missing adventurers, we haven’t seen them.”

  “What can you tell me about Masahiro?” Suzi asked.

  I could see Pip-Pip blushing a little and Francoise had sparks lighting up in her eyes.

  “Masahiro is… a nice boy, I suppose.”

  “He’s just the greatest! He’s so handsome and brave! He’s also a powerful Spellsword who’s a master with the sword and can cast powerful spells! He’s just the coolest! I know that I will marry Masahiro one day!”

  Suzi just looked at the girls blankly.

  “Do either of you know where Masahiro is from?”

  “I think he said he comes from a place called Japan but I’ve never heard of it before.”

  Suzi breathed out and massaged her face as if she was relieved for some reason. I asked her if she knew of this Japan place.

  “Yeah, I have personal ties to Japan. I was born and raised in another country but my parents are from there. I guess I just wanna talk to someone that seems familiar.”

  I see. I had heard from Jolene that Suzi was from a country called the United States and now I’m hearing that her family immigrated from another country called Japan. So not only is Suzi trying to adapt to a different type of work but also a completely different culture.

  Suddenly, Suzi isolating herself from everyone made much more sense. She was probably worried about seeming rude or disrespectful. She was likely struggling to understand even how we greet each other.

  Once again, I made an adventurer’s promise to help Suzi however I could.

  With that out of the way, we all continued with our observation of the castle to come up with some sort of plan.

  “With the entire guild here, we have a good chance of beating the bandits if we were to just fight them outright but they would likely kill Masahiro and any other hostages before we could reach them. So, the best chance of succeeding here is to use stealth,” Pip-Pip said.

  Suzi agreed and pulled out a pair of binoculars to look for any gaps in the bandit’s defenses. After looking over the castle for a few moments and making a few risky suggestions like scaling the walls, she finally laid her eyes on a sewage pipe almost completely submerged by the moat.

  “That could be our way in,” Suzi said. “It’s certainly not a place anyone would expect someone to crawl through so it’ll hopefully be lightly guarded. What do you think?”

  “It looks like the moat is flooded. We’d likely have to hold our breath under water,” Pip-Pip said.

  “And I can’t even go near water!” Francoise exclaimed.

  “Then that means Francoise will have to stay behind. I can go with. I can hold my breath for a good amount of time, no problem.”

  Pip-Pip looked surprised at how nonchalant Suzi spoke about this. Even I was slightly taken aback. Everything she said was clear and professional. It was like she already knew how to do something like this.

  “What exactly did you do before you joined Iron Hawk?” Pip-Pip asked.

  “I was a soldier for about eight years. To be specific, I was a part of the 75th Ranger Regiment. I’m pretty much expected to know how to do this kinda stuff.”

  “I see. Well, I’ll go look for someone to replace Francoise. I trust you and Lily will be ready soon.”

  “Yep. You can count on us.”

  With that, Pip-Pip and Francoise left us to go find someone else to join us. Meanwhile, Maximus looked on at us with great interest. We was stroking his magnificent facial hair and appeared to be impressed.

  “You are full of surprises, Miss Kobayashi,” he said.

  “It’s not that impressive, really. Everyone I knew could do stuff like this. Besides, I’m trained for this stuff.”

  “Even though you say that, I believe our chances of success have risen greatly with you here.”

  “I’m just one person.”

  “One person can make all the difference. This quest is very important, Miss Kobayashi. I hope you understand that.”

  “I understand. Masahiro is a member of your guild. It makes sense that you want to see him brought back safe and sound.”

  “Correct but this quest is also deeply personal for me because one of the missing adventurers is my own grandson. I don’t suppose anyone has told you about why they have gone missing?”

  “No.”

  “Then allow me to explain. Two years ago, a powerful necromancer discovered an ancient spell that could raise an army of the dead. Masahiro, my grandson, and another trusted member of the guild were sent to stop him. Once they succeeded, we sealed the spell away in a place where no one could use it again. Then one year later, the port city of Krundel was attacked by entire generations of warriors raised from the dead. We fought with all our might but when the dust settled, the entire city was destroyed and subsequently abandoned. Given that only I and those other three adventurers knew of the spell’s existence and how to access it, the only natural conclusion we could come to was that we were betrayed.”

  “I see. That explains how coldly everyone treats us. At least you greeted me like a normal person.”

  “Do not get my manners and my true feelings mixed up. If you or Miss Lily even so much as look at any of us the wrong way, you will feel my wrath. Is that understood?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Then consider this quest to be a test for both of you. If you succeed, we’ll gladly welcome you with open arms. I’ll be rooting for you.”

  Needless to say, I did not feel very motivated to prove myself after being threatened like that. In fact, I felt completely dejected. I suppose it can’t be helped.

  The Iron Hawk guild was betrayed by one of their most trusted members. It only makes sense for them to be wary of outsiders. How can one trust an outsider if they were betrayed by their own? I understand the distrust but it makes all the effort I put in trying to get along with everyone feel worthless.

  I was slightly surprised that Suzi did not seem at all fazed by what was just said to us.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked me.

  “I’m a little disappointed. I worked really hard to be a proper adventurer for the guild but they still see me as an outsider. It makes me wonder if they’ll ever accept me.”

  “You’re worrying about what others think of you too much.”

  “Are you not bothered by how everyone treats you, Suzi?”

  “Not really. I don’t need to be liked to do my job. Besides, it’s probably for the best if I don’t get too close to anyone.”

  That was an odd thing for an adventurer to say. The guilds are characterized by the close relationships between members. The best adventurers in legend always had a group of close friends that accompanied them. Without those friends, they would never have reached the heights that they did. Before I could dwell on this more, Pip-Pip returned with Francoise’s replacement.

  The girl replacing Francoise was a young girl, likely only thirteen years old. She had bright blue eyes and a single strand of hair poking out of her habit showed that she had blonde hair. Her clothes were typical of a nun that served the Goddess of Life, Dia, only slightly modified to be more suitable for adventuring. She wielded a beautiful staff that gleamed as bright as the sun.

  With a confident and serious look in her eyes, the nun introduced herself to us.

  “My name is Aurelia Sulka. I am a Cleric specializing in healing and support magic. Consider yourselves fortunate that I will be joining you.”

  Suzi walked right up to Aurelia and looked her straight in the eye. I could feel the tension in the atmosphere rise with every passing second! Were they gonna start fighting?!

  Aurelia shuffled around a bit out of nervousness but did not look away from the towering woman standing before her. She was shorter than me and was only able to reach Suzi’s chest in height. I would have submitted immediately if Suzi stood so close while staring daggers right into me. I commended Aurelia for her bravery for not looking away.

  For what felt like an eternity, Aurelia and Suzi stood like that. Pip-Pip and I looked on with anxiety before Suzi took both of her hands and squished Aurelia’s cheeks.

  “You’re so cute.”

  “Let go of me! I am your senior so show some respect!”

  Suzi responded to this reprimand with a giggle and a pat on the head, which made Aurelia pout. To be honest, I could see why Suzi was acting in such a way. Aurelia was pretty cute.

  Pip-Pip separated the two and gave us a synopsis of the plan to rescue Masahiro.

  “We will enter the castle via a sewer pipe. It’s likely to be flooded, so Aurelia, we’ll need some support magic to help with this. After that, we’ll be in the sewers and we will make our way to the dungeon. There’s likely to be bandits on the way so everyone needs to keep a sharp eye out so that we don’t get spotted. Once we have Masahiro in our custody, we’ll move to a low area where Francoise and Jack will be waiting for us in a boat. If all goes according to plan, we can be in and out of the castle without being seen by anyone.”

  Everyone was silent. It was a pretty decent plan, no doubt thanks to Suzi’s observant eye. However, there was one question on all of our minds.

  “What if we’re spotted?” Suzi asked.

  “I’ve asked everyone to move closer so that in the event that we are discovered, I can set off a signal for the entire guild to come crashing through the walls.”

  With everyone satisfied, we all made the necessary preparations. I made sure to fill my pouch with healing potions. I might not need them with Aurelia handling support but I like to have them with me for insurance.

  Suzi fiddled with her firearms and other items that I didn’t know the names of while Aurelia said a short prayer. Before we left, Pip-Pip had one more thing to say.

  “One last thing before we leave. I want Suzi to lead us.”

  I had no problem with this as I had already seen Suzi in action but Aurelia was quick to protest.

  “Are you out of your mind, Pip-Pip?! Not only is she still a new adventurer, whereas you and I are of a higher rank and thus more qualified, Suzi has clearly shown herself as someone not to be trusted!”

  “Even so, I still want her to lead us. She is a trained soldier with over eight years of experience. I trust her expertise more than her moral character.”

  Aurelia wanted to say something else but stopped herself as if she knew it would be pointless. She also had no chance of someone backing her up as I was in favor of this decision. I knew Suzi was capable of this, probably more than anyone.

  “You don’t have any objection to this, I hope?”

  I looked over to Suzi and saw her pretty much typical blank face. However, I noticed her shaking slightly and saw a bead of sweat run down the side of her face.

  “Yes, it’s fine,” Suzi said.

  With that, we moved out to embark on our mission. As we were walking towards the castle, I heard Suzi mutter something in a language I hadn’t heard before. It sounded something like this:

  “Ah, fuck.”