Fair warning.

This chapter's notes will contain some critical spoilers for the canon storyline of In Another World With My Smartphone.

This is to help explain some changes in context to this chapter and a few other details on my plans to completely change the plot and objective endgame for this storyline.

(Because the canon storyline is honestly so...shit.)

I will split the notes from the general notes versus those containing spoilers. I'm glad that the handful of readers for this tiny fandom seemed to enjoy what I've written so far. I am having quite a bit of fun writing it as it makes for a refreshing pace change from The Untold Universe.

In Another World With My Smartphone: The Lost Hero

Chapter Two: Knowledge from Two Worlds

"Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom."

–Charles Spurgeon

Elze awoke a few hours after dawn. Only to find her ever diligent young sister, Linze, was already awake, studying one of her many tomes. With the rays of the early morning sun peering through the window, Elze rose up with a long yawn. Her thoughts returned towards not only their hopefully first day as official members of the Adventurer's Guild but the strange young man who helped them yesterday.

"I'll never get how you can wake up so early, Linze," Elze commented as she stretched her limbs. "Getting out of bed after such a good night's sleep should be a crime."

"The early bird gets the worm," Linze answered with a slight rhyme. "Besides, I was curious about something Alex said yesterday that's been on my mind."

"What's that?" Elze questioned, while she did find the stranger...well, strange. He didn't seem too off from the typical foreigner who was out of their element.

"He mentioned being illiterate in Common," Linze replied as she flipped through the pages of her tome, which Elze could now see was about different samples of known languages from around the world. "But he mentioned knowing this English language, but I can't seem to find any mention of it."

"Sis, I know that I'm not a bookworm like you," Elze followed up as she began making her bed. "But maybe English is some kind of rare dialect of Common? He does have a bit of an accent...I mean, Rifree has like how many dialects?"

"Too many to list," Linze answered with a nod as she closed the book and admitted that her sister had a point. Rifree was the primary language of the Refreese Imperium. Still, it was also the father of several sister tongues and dialects. It couldn't be beyond the realm of possibility that this English could have just been a variation of Common. "I suppose I could just ask him later once we get to know him better."

Elze hummed as she finished making her bed and began getting dressed for the day.

"Yep, don't stress about it too much! Now come on, let's go get breakfast!"

The twins made their exit and went next door to Alex's room and knocked on it gently.

Alex let out a heavy yawn as he and the twins began making their way to the local Chapter of the Adventurer's Guild. Breakfast, like last night's dinner, was a simple if not filling affair, consisting of porridge with a pinch of nutmeg, small loaves of wild rye brown bread, and black tea. And just like dinner, it left the young American wanting something more filling.

"You sure that you're okay?" Elze asked, concerned. Alex had told them that he couldn't get much sleep last night and had been pretty lethargic during breakfast. "Maybe you should sit this out?"

"Nah," Alex answered after a couple heavy blinks. "This isn't the first time I've had to operate for a whole day with minimal sleep. I just wish I had a better breakfast to help wake me up."

"Did you not like it?" Linze followed up, looking concerned. It may have been a basic meal, but it always reminded them of home, back in the good days when their parents were still alive. When their parents might have earned a little more money to spend on flavorful spices to help enhance their relatively simple meals.

"It was alright," Alex answered honestly, though he kept quiet about his disdain for tea. He had managed to force it down the leaf juice without making a face. "It's still leagues better than when I was on a rather stringent diet a little over a year ago. But I'd be lying if I wish I could have some protein or at least some coffee instead..."

"Protein?" Elze questioned, unfamiliar with the word. "Coffee?"

"Diet? Like what you usually eat?" Linze followed up equally puzzled.

"Oh...umm...When I say protein, I meant to say meat," Alex answered casually, listing off a few of his favorites.

"Eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, and occasionally a good T-bone steak. As for my diet, well...I used to be really fat a few years ago," Alex admitted with an embarrassed laugh and even patted his belly for emphasis. "And my controlled diet was a way to help me slim down."

The twins looked really confused now.

"Wait, did you used to eat meat with your breakfast every time?" Elze was the first to speak, looking at with a suspicious glance.

"Not every time, but it was pretty often now that I think about it," Alex answered, puzzled by the question and a little wary by Elze's stare.

"Meat can get pretty expensive," Linze followed up with an awkward tone as she remembered her childhood. Even the cheapest cuts of meat tended to be food beyond their price range except for special occasions such as festivals or holidays. "Alex, are you of noble lineage?"

Alex paused, still looking confused, and just like yesterday, that confusion turned to pondering and, as if something clicked: revelation.

"I'm not of noble blood," Alex carefully answered, doing his best not to flat out lie but also trying not to out himself as another worldly transplant. After all, who knows what kind of problems that could cause? "However, my family, while not rich...was far from poor. Like, I didn't grow up in a mansion or have servants. But I did live in a large house with a decent amount of land around it."

"Were your family merchants, then?" Elze followed up as she folded her arms. "You mentioned coffee and having a business partner yesterday. The former is quite the commodity, and the latter speaks for itself."

"Umm, no, they were more like civil servants..." Alex managed as he really didn't know to answer this one. Both his parents were engineers; his father was a civil engineer for their State Government, while his mother was an engineer for a support company. However, the more he thought about his family, the more depressed he began to feel. 'How were they taking the news of my death?'

Before either of the girls could ask another question, Alex spoke up as his eyes became downcast.

"Hey...please listen," Alex started up again as look up towards the sky. "My family...is a bit of a sore subject for me. It's too much for me to talk about to relative strangers."

The twins were surprised to see the sudden sadness clear in the young man's bright blue eyes.

"It's not that I don't trust you. The two of you have been so helpful. It's only smart to learn more about someone you'll be working with," Alex continued, doing his best to reassure them that they weren't wrong for asking questions. He was weird by their standards. "But can we save the more personal questions until we know each other better? Please?"

Elze sighed as she unfolded her arms with a guilty expression. "I suppose that's fair. I'm sorry if I overreached. I know there are some things I wouldn't want to say to a stranger."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too."

"It happens; let's just live and let live for now," Alex answered with an understanding smile. "So...how about you tell me more about this Guild?"

There was still an air of awkwardness between the trio, but after another moment, Linze was the first to try and re-break the ice.

"Well, what did you want to know?"

"I mean...I can hazard a few guesses from the name: The Adventurer's Guild. But what exactly do they do there?" Alex started off, considering some of the video games he had played before dying and knowing that Adventurer's Guilds were a common trope in fantasy games. However, since he was now in a living, breathing world and not a video game, there could be differences that he might not have been expecting.

"Don't you have a local guild chapter from where you're from, Alex?" Elze questioned a little more carefully. "The Guild is pretty spread out throughout the continent!"

"Umm...we had similar things in my homeland," Alex retorted, trying to carefully avoid specific terms from his world. "But rather one large guild. We had several smaller guilds that were run by their highest-ranked Adventurer."

"Really? That's so strange!" Linze followed up with a quirked brow. "The Adventurer's Guild is an international organization with a central guild hall in each country's capital city. However, they also keep small chapters like the one we're going to in as many local towns as possible. They tend to be quite popular with everyone to handle the jobs that local governments either couldn't or wouldn't get involved in, while also providing work opportunities."

"They also helped with trade as adventurers often kept the roads clear of bandits and pests," Elze interjected with a wide smile. "So they bring a lot of coin for the local economy via trade or road traffic."

"I mean...maybe for you guys," Alex was quick to defend the Pro-Hero system. He knew having different agencies with a vast range of services and specialties meant that clients always had a more comprehensive range of options and price ranges since agencies had to compete. Even Pro-Heroes like All Might and Endeavor still had to compete in the same sphere as all of the D-List Pro-Heroes. "But I like the flexibly of having multiple guilds since they could also specialize in a particular field without devoting additional resources or training for everyone to be an all-rounder."

"I suppose that could be useful for getting certain jobs done quicker," Elze commented after putting her hand to her chin. "I've heard of some jobs taking forever to get accepted because they required magic that no one had an aptitude for and the ones that did weren't anywhere close by."

"There are also those hunting quests that only skilled rangers could take," Linze added with a nod. "Rangers are pretty common in the rural areas but rare in any of the big cities. So some people have to travel far to post jobs where rangers would frequent."

"Yup," said Alex with a slightly proud smile. He knew it was most likely that the best Adventurers would likely go where the big money is, such as bigger cities like the capital. While local places like this were likely for lower-ranked beginners/ local adventurers and occasionally serve as a rest stop for a higher ranked Adventurer traveling for work.

That's when it clicked.

'It is like an RPG!' Alex realized the more he thought about it. However, he had to consider the sides that video games don't often cover, like the human element. As such, Alex felt suspicious when he was told that the Guild is basically a monopoly. The young American knew that could be a massive problem, in the long run, depending on who was in charge of the whole thing. "So what about a leader? Who's in charge of the Guild?"

"I don't know the Guild Master's name," Linze answered after a moment. "But do know that she's a powerful mage with five aptitudes."

'There's that word again. Aptitudes, it seems to have something to do with someone's magical capabilities,' Alex mentally noted as he was trying to stay on top of new terms to help keep his cover. Magic seemed to be a universal concept here, so not knowing about it would definitely come out as suspicious. "What about a Headquarters? An international organization should have a central location where its leadership would meet up, right?"

"Actually, it's a well-known fact that the location of the Guild's Headquarters is a secret," Elze replied as if it was a completely normal thing. "It's to keep the Guild neutral in case of another war or other international issues that could come up."

'Okay...I call bullshit. No way in hell could they could truly be politically neutral with that much money and influence across the continent,' Alex thought as the guild hall came into view and saw that there was already a small crowd of people there. These details raised some serious red flags between his experiences and the literal years of studying world history. 'Even Pro-Heroes were supposed to be politically neutral, but everyone has an agenda, no matter how minor. The Guild sounds like a very powerful organization that could influence politics if they wanted to, considering their standing and the money it helps generate for several players on the board.'

For now, however. Alex would keep these opinions to himself and at least give the Guild the benefit of the doubt.

"Thanks for the info," said Alex as he opened the door for the twins.

"No problem. It's good to know more about an organization you'll be joining soon, right?" Elze answered with a knowing smirk. Using a similar line as he had done earlier.

"Elze!" Linze followed up, worrying that it could reopen the earlier awkwardness.

"It's fine," Alex replied with a chuckle as he closed the door behind him. "I can respect her feistiness."

"Still..."

"Can I help you?" Asked a young dirty-blond woman in what appeared to be a black and red uniform, sitting at the receptionist's desk.

"Yes, we'd like to register with the Guild, please!" Elze was quick to answer for the three of them.

"Ah, very well," the young woman replied with a nod and pulled out a crystal ball from under the desk. "Just place your hand on this one at a time and allow it a few minutes to create your guild card."

The registration was interesting, to say the least. Considering that all Alex had to do was place his hand on a magical crystal ball that apparently took all of the necessary data. What data and how it was gathered made Alex very curious about this magical device, but he was not in a position to question or study the object without looking, suspect. Either way, the trio had to wait a moment for the crystal to finish registering them, so Linze and Alex began looking over the quest board to see what was available. At the same time, Elze waited for their guild cards.

Unfortunately, Alex still couldn't read a letter of the scribbles posted on the wall. Still, he could at least see some pretty interesting drawings. He simply had to leave it to Linze to pick for them. Finally, after some mental back and forth, Alex saw her choose a yellow paper with a drawing of a creature that appeared to be a wolf with a horn on its head.

"Hey, Alex?"

The young man turned around to see an embarrassed-looking Elze fidgeting on the spot.

"Yes?" Alex responded with a concerned expression. "Is everything okay?"

"Mind if you cover our registration fee? I don't have enough to cover Linze and I..."

"Umm...how much is it?" Alex questioned as he tried to pull back his concerned expression while also pulling out his wallet. Considering he had to pay the fee as well, he wouldn't mind helping...so long as it didn't leave him broke.

"1 Gold and 8 silvers total for the three of us..." Elze answered after clearing her throat. "I haven't sold the antler yet, and while I knew it was going to be pricey. I didn't think it would cost this much as an initial start-up."

"Oh!" Alex breathed a sigh of relief as he looked back at his wallet with 24 gold coins left, taking out 2 of them and handing them to her without complaint. "How about we put this as my first payment for future tutoring since being illiterate in Common is starting to get increasingly annoying for me! Plus, a third of that fee is mine, so it's only right I pay my share."

"Deal!" Elze accepted as she took the coins from Alex's hands before looking at the quest Linze had chosen. "What you got there, sis?"

"It's a basic extermination job," Linze explained, showing Alex and Elze the request.

"So are these creatures being pests?" Alex followed up as he could take a wild guess at the job just from the simple description.

"According to the posting, there's been an increase in Horn Wolf attacks for the last few days," said Linze going into more detail. "The Guild

been tasked to thin the numbers as that tends to help curb the attacks without heavily affecting the life cycle of the forest. The payment is 18 coppers after we deliver 5 Horns as proof of our hunt."

'Interesting, they already understand the idea of not overhunting a species since it could impact the environment,' Alex thought in amazement. However, there were a couple of problems. One, he didn't have any means to hunt the wolves since he didn't have any weapons, and two, he had been trained to fight super villains, not animals! Hunting and fighting crime did share some elements, but they were still completely different trades! 'I guess I'll just have to rely on the girls to cover for my inexperience.'

"We've killed a couple of Horned Wolves before," Elze explained with a casual wave. "Back when we were still free-lancing, we just need to be careful if we're going after a small pack this time."

"Alright, I'm down to try," Alex answered, feeling a little better about the job. "But before we set out, could we go to ...smithy or where ever they sell weapons? I don't have anything on me at the moment."

"Yeah, we could swing by the market district," said Linze with a nod. "There's a decent shop where Elze got her gauntlets."

"Plus, I can sell the antler at one of the alchemy shops there," Elze followed up with an excited smile.

"Alright, so we're good to go!"

The store the girls had taken Alex to was known as the Eight Bears Weapon Shop, owned and operated by a large rotund gentleman with short brown hair and beard named Barral. The twins left Alex with Barral to help select his gear while they left to sell the antler and get some information regarding the Horn Wolf attacks. Thankfully, it seemed like a slow day for the shop, which left plenty of time for Alex to get suggestions from the shopkeeper.

The store was decently sized, with a sizable selection of weaponry. Behind the store was the smithy where most of these weapons were made. While there was nothing too fancy in terms of material, as most weapons were constructed of iron or steel. A few weapons were specially crafted by other smiths; whether they had magical properties or were made of rarer materials, they demanded a much higher price.

However, there were also a handful of imported weapons from other nations, as was the case when Alex spotted a lone Japanese-style Katana mounted on the wall opposite the store's entrance.

"I see ya' been eyein' that Eashen Blade, eh?" Barral said with a friendly laugh as he watched Alex curiously. "Yer interested in buyin' it?

"No..."Alex answered as he looked at the sheathed blade with harrowed expression as memories of the villain who stabbed him flashed before his eyes. The young man had to use every ounce of willpower to steady himself and simply turn away from the offending weapon. "I just didn't expect to find a Katana here...Also, Eashen?"

"Ya' know what a Katana is, but ya' don' know abou' its homeland?" Barrel questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah!" Alex responded, thankfully knowing how to solve this issue by taking a simple guess. "Common isn't my mother tongue; in my homeland, we referred to Eashen as Japan. So I simply forgot the Common word for it and thought of the country in my native language."

"I see...that does make sense," Barrel replied with a simple nod. "Different languages, different words, I suppose. Though I must at admit ya' seem quite fluent in Common."

"I've had a lot of practice," Alex answered before looking at different weapons. Unfortunately, not only did Alex not have any experience with most of not all the weaponry available. It didn't help that Alex seemed to have a newfound aversion to blades, which further limited his options. 'Even the gauntlets like Elze's wouldn't work for me since I tended to use my quirk for hand-to-hand combat...And I don't have my quirk anymore...'

One solid option was available to the young man: a simple wooden quarterstaff. Using a staff was one of the few weapon disciplines that his former Pro-Hero trainer, Gunhead, taught alongside his usual hand-to-hand and grappling martial arts. The only problem was while good for non-lethal self-defense in the right hands, it wouldn't survive long with what he had planned to do with it.

"Damn...if only it was more durable..." Alex sighed as he tested the balance of the simple weapon. It would do for now before he would get trained in something else.

"A staff, huh?" Barrel commented with a concerned expression as Alex brought the weapon to him. "Ain't ya' goin' huntin' Horn Wolves with the twins?"

"Yeah, but this is the only weapon I actually have any training and skill for," Alex answered honestly with a grimace. "At least with this, I could probably keep the wolves at bay while the girls handle the beasts themselves."

"Hmm...Ya' know what? Let me check on somethin' I ordered recently," said Barrel as he motioned Alex to stay put and went to the backroom of his shop. After a minute or two of rummaging, Barrel returned with a new quarterstaff with a much darker colored wood and handed it to the young man. "Here, feel this one out; it's made o' steelwood. A rather rare and tough material. It stings like an iron rod, but still light, easy to balance, and best o' all, it doesn' bend like some metal staffs do after some time."

"Alright," said Alex as he set the first staff aside and picked up the new one. Just like the man said, Alex could feel how light it was. Still, after doing a few test strikes on his arm, he could feel the sting was much harder than any of the wooden or composite staffs he had been hit with during training. The balance was also solid, as Alex could do several spins without much effort, though he was surprised by his new strength as the spins made quite the breeze.

"Boy, remind me not to get on yer bad side," Barrel commented with a laugh as he had to stop a few rouge sheets of paper from flying off his stand. "So ya' interested?"

"How much?" Alex questioned as he stopped testing and found the weapon more than satisfactory.

"Hmm...I wasn' expectin' to sell that piece, but it was expensive...Hows about 3 Gold? It originally cost me 2 Gold an' 8 silvers, so I still need a bit o' profit to make worth my time."

"Sold, and thanks for the help," said Alex as he handed the man the coins.

"Just keep each other safe," Barrel answered as he accepted the money and put it away. "Yer all a little too young to be out adventurin' for my likin', but I can' stop ya'. Only thing I can do and keep ya' well armed to protect yerselves."

"I'll do my best to keep them safe," Alex responded with a confident smile. "Just how I suspect they'll do the same for me."

"Good man, and good luck."

With that, Alex exited with his steelwood staff in hand, only to be surprised by a sudden yet appetizing smell when he found the twins waiting outside with a tasty-looking snack on hand.

"We got you this," Elze said with a grin as she handed Alex a grilled meat and vegetable skewer. "So, what did you end up getting?"

"Found this," Alex answered with a broad smile. He readily accepted the tasty morsel and took a large bite of the grilled meat and onion at the top of the skewer, savoring the mouthwatering pieces with a satisfied groan. All while handing Elze his new weapon for her to inspect. "Dis's de'licous!"

"We thought you might like it," said Elze with a delighted grin as she tested the balance of the staff. "We found a food stall selling it for cheap!"

"Oh, it's a steelwood staff," Linze interjected as she looked over the new weapon in her sister's hands and handed Alex a small canteen of water. "That's a pretty interesting weapon choice."

"I'll say," Elze added, giving the staff an intense whirl. "Oh yeah, this'll sting something fierce. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with it."

"It was the only thing inside that I have any training with," Alex answered after taking a drink from the canteen. "So, you find anything out about the wolves?"

"Indeed!" Linze answered with a nod as she watched the young man continue to tear into his meal. "We spoke to a few merchants whose suppliers were attacked on the way here by the Horned Wolves. They've been consistently spotted around the north road that edges the forest."

"It's pretty much the perfect place for the wolves to set up an ambush," Elze added her own two cents to the conversation. "Open field with plenty of road traffic while using the edge of the forest to remain in cover. The only weird part was that the victims who survived all said they had heard a human voice calling for help before they were attacked themselves."

"Hmm...maybe it could have been other victims?" Alex taking a possible shot in the dark. "So I guess we're going to try to trigger the ambush on purpose, huh?"

"Yep," Elze responded with a prideful grin. "Hopefully, we can get them into the open and out of the woods to keep them from surrounding us, and Linze can take them all out in one magical shot."

'Oh...this is going to be interesting...seeing magic up close,' Alex thought as he looked at the younger twin with a curious expression. "Alright, sounds like a plan."

"Stay close, don't even give them an inch for an opening," Alex called out to the twins as he whirled his staff, forcing the wolves in front of him to keep their distance.

"How did we still end up surrounded?!" Elze complained as the trio found themselves in deeper shit than they had initially expected. The plan had been going well, following the north road and trying to trigger any possible wolves to attack them. Unfortunately, things changed when they heard a man's voice pleading for help within the woods, making the trio rush inside to find nothing but a group of Horned Wolves lying in wait.

"I think one of them might have the magical means to mimic human voices," Linze suggested as she readied her wand. Mentally counting the number of wolves surrounding them. "It would explain what we heard earlier and match with what the previous victims said about hearing voices before being attacked."

"So one of these wolves might be able to use null magic?!" Elze questioned as she remained in a defensive stance with her iron gauntlets.

"It's rare but not unheard of," Linze answered as another two wolves joined the fight. 'That makes nine wolves...'

"Well, what should we do now?!" Elze roared as the wolves began to move closer into their position, a few more howls in the distance informing all of them that further reinforcements were coming.

"I think I have an idea," Alex spoke with a nervous grin as he began jabbing at the wolves that were trying to encircle them. "Can one of you make like a really big flash of light or super loud booming sound with magic?"

"I can make a large ball of very bright light," Linze answered quickly. "Why?"

"Oh! You want to blind them and go on the offensive, huh?" Elze quickly realized where Alex was going with this. "I like the idea; do it, Linze!"

"A-alright, get ready!" Linze called out, raising her wand high. "Come forth, Light! Gather in my hands and shine as bright as the Sun! Sol Flash!"

A massive ball of bright light suddenly materialized above the trio, instantly blinding several of the wolves while forcing several others to flee in fright.

"Now!" Alex called out, striking hard and fast against the two wolves in front of himself with his steelwood staff. He managed to kill the first wolf with a sharp crack to the skull and severely crippled the second with a decisive follow-up strike to its front legs.

"BOOST!" The elder Silhoueska called out, turning into a blur of lavender hair, killing the three blinded wolves with lightning-fast strikes in front of her like it was nothing.

"Come forth, Fire! A hail of pale red stones! Fire of Ignis!" Linze called out, dispelling the ball of light and setting the two wolves in front of her ablaze, burning them into a crisp.

"Yes, that worked perfectly!" Elze bragged with a haughty laugh and an arm pump. "We make a great team together."

"Let's hold off on the celebration until we get back to town," said Alex, still looking on edge as he allowed the crippled wolf to flee. "Gather what we came for and leave as soon as possible."

"He's right, sis," said Linze in agreement, breathing harder than usual. "Let's collect the horns and make our report to the guild. Plus, we still don't know about that voice we heard earlier really was from a Horn Wolf or something else."

"Alright, that's fair," Elze was forced to agree with a sigh and knelt down to begin breaking the horns off the dead wolves. "Well, we managed to bag six of the damn things...so maybe we'll get a bonus for the extra!"

"Even if we don't, we could just sell the extra horn to the alchemist from earlier," Linze suggested as she followed her sister's example.

Alex, however, continued to remain on guard.

While he couldn't see them, the young man almost felt as though dozens of eyes were on him, waiting for another chance to strike, unlike the villain he fought at the USJ. Part of him wanted to flee, but he knew that could trigger a natural instinct found in predators. Instead, he stood firm as he continued slamming his steelwood staff on the ground as a show of strength to any of the pack that may have still been watching.

"We got the horns, Alex," said Elze, as she looked at the stranger with renewed interest. "You ready to head back to town?"

"Yeah...let's just take it slow until we get back to the road," Alex responded, readjusting his stance and slowly taking a step back from where he could still sense those eyes staring at them. "I feel like we're still being watched by the survivors."

"One of the hunters I spoke to said that leaving the bodies could help serve as both a warning to others and let the survivors have an easy meal," said Linze after wiping her brow.

"So, they'll cannibalize their dead, huh?" Alex said with a grimace; hopefully, that is why he felt those eyes on him.

"Eww...that's creepy..." Elze followed up with a disgusted expression. "Yeah, let's get out here and report back to the Guild."

The trio managed to return back to town unharmed to report their findings. Though shaken by the experience, Alex did find the skirmish educational in various ways. Namely, the young man's interest in magic was peaked by the Silhoueska twins' fantastic display during the hunt.

Now, it was only a matter of seeing if they could teach him anything or not.

"Sorry for the wait," the guild receptionist called out to the trio. They had been waiting in the lobby for their reward for a while. "The Chapter Master has reviewed your report and found that the original job has exceeded the parameters of the Black rank quests. Thus the request has been re-categorized as Green Rank. Your reward for the 5 horns has been expanded from 18 copper coins to 3 silver coins. In addition, you should be considered eligible for promotion after completing three more Black Rank quests."

"Nice!" Elze exclaimed as she hopped to her feet, happy for the extra money.

"I suppose we were fortunate to survive a green rank quest unscathed," Linze sighed as she remained seated; compared to the others, she appeared to be the most drained from the quest.

"Are there plans for a follow-up job?" Alex questioned calmly to the receptionist. He also remained seated as he anxiously shook his right leg. "Regarding the potentially magical wolf that could possibly mimic voices?"

"Since we cannot confirm that said wolf wasn't killed during your hunt, the Chapter Master has decided on a wait-and-see approach," she answered him with a reassuring nod. "We will inform the locals and send messages to the neighboring towns regarding the north road. Suppose attacks continue with voices attempting to lure travelers into the forest. In that case, the guild will commission a specialist to solve the issue."

"I suppose that's the best we can hope for without going on a wild goose chase," Alex retorted as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Now, please present your guild cards so we can distribute your reward." The receptionist continued with a bow.

The trio did as ordered and presented their black guild card, allowing the young woman to place a magical stamp on them. Alex watched as his card began to glow, and some of the letters on the card began to change. Once she was finished, the receptionist placed one silver coin with each card. "We thank you for your service."

"Not bad for a day's work," Elze declared as the three stepped outside the Guildhall.

"Yeah..." Linze responded with a tired groan.

"Are you okay, Linze?" Alex asked, concerned about the younger Silhoueska twin's low energy.

"Light magic isn't my strong suit," Linze explained with a yawn. "So I had draw out more mana to produce that ball of light, that and the fire spell combined with all of the walking has really worn me out. I'll be fine after I rest up for a bit."

"We'll head back to the Inn so we can eat and rest up, okay?" said Elze as she gave her twin a half-hug.

"That sounds good," Linze replied with a smile, enjoying her sister's affection.

"Would you like me to carry you on my back, Linze?"

"Huh?" The twins watched as Alex turned around and knelt beside Linze.

"You're the reason we made out without a scratch," Alex explained in a warm tone. "You carried the day for us, so carrying you is the least I can do for you."

"I-I didn't do mu-"

"Oh, Linze," Elze said exhaustively as she nuzzled against her sister's face. "I'd wish you'd have a little more confidence in yourself. Here you have someone else who sees how amazing you are, and you still can't accept it."

"While there is nothing wrong with a little humility," Alex spoke up, looking at Linze over his shoulder. "You should always accept credit where credit is due."

"O-okay, thank you, Alex, Elze," Linze finally answered as she leaned on Alex's back and wrapped her arms over his shoulders. While Alex's hands were cradled behind Linze's knees, Alex quickly rose up with her on his back. Linze quickly found the position she was in more comfortable than expected. "This...is...nice..."

Not a minute later, Linze was fast asleep while Alex and Elze continued walking back to the Silver Moon Inn.

"Damn, she was exhausted, huh?" Alex said with a soft chuckle while enjoying how warm Linze felt.

"Yep," Elze answered equally quietly, though she looked a little guilty. "Linze didn't always have time to practice like she should've when we were free-lancing. Some of those jobs we took ate up a lot of our time, and they often didn't require or need magic to get it done. So it's no wonder she feels so tired after just using two spells. Now I wish we could have joined the guild sooner, and maybe Linze might've gotten more confident by now."

"As the older one, I can't blame you for feeling responsible," Alex observed with an understanding nod.

"Do you have siblings, Alex?"

"No," Alex answered with a sigh. "I always wanted one, but it just never happened. But I did have an older cousin who was a lot like an older sister to me."

"Mind if I ask her name?" Elze followed up cautiously, appearing to have learned her lesson.

"Lucinda," Alex answered with another chuckle. "But she preferred to be called Lucy instead."

"Much like you prefer Alex over Alexander, huh?"

"My whole name is a mouthful."

"At least people can pronounce your names," Elze said with a cheeky laugh. "You should see how many people mispronounce Silhoueska the first time around."

"Ziloeska?"

Elze gave Alex a playful glare, puffing up her cheeks. "Oh, ha, ha."

"Oh, you meant, Seeluesca?"

Elze began to start shadow boxing in Alex's direction. The young man simply laughed, pretending to dodge the Elder twin's punches, all while ensuring Linze remained undisturbed.

"My humble apologies, Oh Lady Silhoueska," Alex said with a flamboyant bow, still keeping his mischievous grin.

"Maybe I should have Linze raise her tutoring fees," Elze responded as she folded her arms and pretended to look away from the young man.

"Ah," Alex scoffed with a false tone of indignation. "And here I have yet to even receive my first lesson!"

"And yet she worth every coin! You couldn't ask for a better tutor than my bookworm sister," Elze finally broke character with a giggle and brushed a few rogue hairs from Linze's sleeping face. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind helping you once she's all rested up."

Alex hummed as their little game was over. "Hey...but for real. I don't mind paying for the lessons. Especially if you could teach me more about magic? I noticed earlier that you used some spell to fight against those wolves."

"Huh? You mean my Boost spell?" Elze followed up with a puzzled expression. "It's my personal Null Magic, not one of the elemental magics, so you won't be able to learn it. But if you have an Aptitude for Light, Water, or Fire, then I'm sure Linze can teach you some of the spells she knows."

'So this Null Magic is something exclusive to individuals? I wonder if it's like Quirks in my world?' Alex surmised as he tried to piece together this new information.

"Actually, I'm sure not which Aptitudes I have," Alex answered. He knew from his conversation with God that he was granted the ability to use magic. Judging from their previous conversations, Alex knew now that Aptitudes seemed vital for magic. He just wasn't sure how to use them or even knew what possible limits he had.

'I wonder if Aptitudes is like a specific magical affinity for a particular element?' Alex continued to mentally review this information and reference some of the RPGs he had played before.

"You never got tested?" Elze questioned, looking more confused than ever. "Man, you're really quite the puzzle, Alex."

"I know from an old sage that I have magical capabilities," Alex quickly replied, trying to throw off Elze's suspicions.

"Well, the good news is that we have spell stones to test which aptitudes you have back at the inn," Elze explained with a smile. "But I'd rather wait until Linze wakes up. I know she'll want to see this too."

"That's fine," Alex responded as he looked at the setting sun.

"I'm pretty tired myself. No point in rushing through things."

"Damn, a hot bath really hits the spot," Alex said to himself as he put on his freshly hand-washed and dry underclothes. At the same time, his pants and jacket remained folded on the small corner table. Sitting on his bed and finally pulling out his smartphone, Alex had made it a point to try to avoid using it in public.

However, things were different when in the privacy of his room, and he could allow himself to indulge himself with the internet. So Alex laid down on his bed and allowed himself to relax.

"Fleur's vegetable soup is good. But I want to see if I can convince her to let me make some French Onion soup instead," Alex muttered to himself as he began looking over different recipes on Youtube. Considering the low-cost nature of the Inn's meals, Alex imagined any new menu items should follow suit. "I wonder what else I could make that would be cheap, tasty, and communal."

Alex continued scrolling through increasingly tasty-looking soups in the video thumbnails when he stumbled across a video with a title that caught his eye. The Final Report of the USJ incident, the thumbnail featured Principal Nezu, All Might and Midnight, seated at a long table looking grim. Alex's thumb shook as he motioned to continue scrolling to keep looking at recipes, but in the end...he just couldn't help it.

Getting his earphones and adjusting the audio so he could still hear if someone began to knock on his door, Alex started the video.

The video was roughly 90 minutes long and started by going over the details of the incident, such as the total number of students and faculty involved. Other details included the number of villains involved, how many escaped, how many were captured, and in a few cases, killed. It seemed pretty straightforward, as Alex learned that Vlad King had lost his right arm, and Eraserhead nearly had his skull crushed.

When it came to student injuries, almost everyone got out relatively unharmed.

Only a handful of students needed to be hospitalized; two ended up in critical condition, and out of those two, only one died. After considering how bad it could've been as more details came forth regarding some of the villains involved. One death was actually kind of a miracle as depressing as the fact was for Alex. Finally, near the end of the meeting came the details that chilled him to the bone and boiled his blood simultaneously as the details of the worse fights were revealed.

Alex couldn't help but be proud as he heard the details and examples of the personal bravery and cleverness of the first-year students. They managed to defeat and or evade several of these deadly villains. To see that not could these inexperienced students work together in a pinch, but they wouldn't allow such a crisis to get to them.

'Looks like Midoriya even managed to beat the worst of the worst, and he didn't even go berserk!' Alex thought with relief.

"We're almost done here, sir," said a reporter with the kind of smug grin on his face that Alex would call punchable with extreme prejudice.

"But I have a few more questions that I'm sure almost everyone has but has been waiting for this moment to ask. The first is regarding the biggest elephant in the room. While the final report did confirm that not only is Draco Knight's son, Izuku Midoriya is, attending UA. But that he could also have the same destructive power as his father. Do you plan to impose any restrictions or consider placing the boy on probation as the Volatile Quark laws prescribe?"

That question trigger's Alex's rage.

'Fucking really?! The kid basically saved everyone from the big bad, and your bitch-ass wants to get him sanctioned?! Oooh, this asshole is lucky I'm fucking dead and not there because I'd be ready to throw hands.'

Thankfully, Nezu's response quickly relieved the young American's wrath.

"First, I must remind you that those kinds of questions could be considered very inappropriate as it violates the privacy of a minor and student. However, for the sake of the public and only due to the fact I was already given permission to answer. No, Mr. Midoriya came to UA following all of the laws regarding this topic to the letter. This can be verified by the police, who had to investigate this issue separately and came up clean. Second, Mr. Midoriya has not met the criteria to be placed on probation. Due to the language, the law was written. Mr. Midoriya still does not meet the criteria used to warrant such a status...but I believe that should be taken up with the law's authors rather than UA."

However, the Pièce de réstistance came from All Might interjecting on Izuku's behalf.

"Izuku Midoriya has been an excellent, hard-working student. He's a polite young man who, thus far, is excelling in grades, work ethic, and leadership. The boy was even elected as president of his homeroom class and will even be the first-year representative at the Sports Festival."

Now, this got the whole room's attention. Everyone listened in when the World's Symbol of Peace came to your defense.

"If you want to judge the lad, then judge him by his own actions, not by his family legacy. Let the Sports Festival be his chance to show you what he could do with his power."

Alex saw the reporter's grin disappear and reappear on his own face. 'Yeah! GET FUCKED, ASSHOLE!'

Unfortunately, the reporter seemed to have the last laugh as he spoke up with his second question.

"In what in regards to Representative Kimura's call for a vote to formally condemn Alexander Springfield for the use of excessive force that led to the only villain death caused by an unlicensed student?"

Alex froze as he had to stop playing the video before he went insane by the words he had just heard.

'Condemn me? Condemn me for using excessive force?'

Alex was at a complete loss for words. His provisional license had been suspended thanks to a new xenophobic law that Representative Kimura had managed to get passed through the Japanese Diet a week before the USJ incident. The law had targeted all foreign-born Pro-Heroes and Pro-Hero students with licenses. If Alex was formally condemned, then his family wouldn't get his life insurance benefits, and he would be stripped of all honors earned during his time in the Hero Course.

Essentially, it would render all of his hard work before and after getting into UA completely moot.

'I FUCKING DIED!'

Alex had to bite his hand hard to stop himself from screaming, from going into an unstoppable rage, to curse the assholes who were playing these bullshit political games with the deceased. Even worse when they were using him as the example!

'I FUCKING DIED PROTECTING MY JUNIORS! AND THIS IS THE THANKS I FUCKING GET?! THE CHANCE THAT MY NAME COULD GET DRAGGED THROUGH THE MUD?! BUNCH OF PUNK ASS BITCHES WHO DIDN'T HAVE THE BALLS TO COME AT ME WHEN I WAS ALIVE, SO THEY GO AFTER ME WHEN I'M DEAD, EH?!'

Alex's newfound manic energy forced him up from his bed and made him pace around the room, still gnawing at his hand.

'YEAH, I KILLED THAT VILLAIN! SO WHAT?! SHOULD I FEEL BAD THAT I ENDED THAT FUCKER THAT WAS HUNTING KIDS?! I'D FUCKING DO IT AGAIN IF I HAD TO! I DID MY JOB! I PROTECTED MY JUNIORS WITH MY LIFE! With my life...'

Alex started to tear up as his breath came ragged. Finally, he forced his body to sit back down and saw the damage he had unintentionally done to his hand. It was bleeding from where his teeth had sunken deep into his knuckle.

'I gave up everything to save them. So why couldn't they just leave me alone? I've already lost everything... so couldn't they just let me have this? Couldn't they just leave my legacy alone and let me rest in peace as a Hero? It's not like I wanted a state funeral or anything! Just let me keep my goddamn dignity! Haven't I earned that? I...I..."

Alex looked at his hands as the tears continued to run down his face.

He had never felt so lost as there was nothing he could do to combat this injustice.

The boy was in another world, with his smartphone being his only link back home.

A link that seemed to contain nothing but pain.

Author's Commentary

Yeah, anyone who has read My Hero Academia Untold: The Fafnir Knight knows that I have repeatedly screwed over Alex as something similar happened in the version of the universe in which he survived his brush with death. While Alex did not have to die in that version of events. I still had to write him out of the storyline and use the current political climate established in the main line story of the Untold Universe.

However, going forward, for readers of both series. This is where we will start to see some heavy deviations from the In Another World With My Smartphone universe and the Mainline Untold Universe.

You may have noticed that I've split up the first episode into the Prologue, Chapter 1, and this chapter, and we will have additional elements of the first episode in the next chapter.

The pacing of the anime was fucking terrible since the story is just a pointless power fantasy for Touya and fast-forwards the shit out of everything. Here, I wanted to take my time and fill in some gaps in Patora's shitty world-building.

(And yes, I stand by that statement 100% World-Building is the one writing skill I have in spades, and I can say without question that Patora's sucks ass at it.)

I also wanted to introduce the concept of Alex being a more dynamic character than Touya. Observing and dismantling all information he gets and tries to come to his own conclusions.

Okay, the following section covers some significant spoilers, so this is your last chance.

Spoiler section.

You might have noticed that God has made no effort to contact Alex compared to Touya. Yeah, that's because I'm not going to do that stupid god/ lower ranked godchild bullshit. Seriously, when I began reading some of the shit that happens in the later chapters, I wanted to laugh because it was so...dumb and lazy. So yeah, God isn't going to call Alex and vice versa as Alex does not have God's number.

As I established in the Prologue for this story, Alex isn't unique. He's not the only isekai'd protagonist even in the general multiverse. So aside from the general boost, he's not getting any special treatment as that would defeat the purpose of living his new life on his own.

There is power fantasy, and then there is this hot mess of a story.

(This is not meant to condemn people who actually like this series. I'm just pointing out its massive flaws. If you like it, then you do you, buddy, no harm, no foul.)

I have already worked on a general plot that will begin to deviate hard. However, we will still have beats of the following canon with heavy modifications. For example, I can confirm that we will have a completely different antagonistic force, so no Phrase will be used.

As a matter of fact, this chapter should have hinted at some of the new features that should make future encounters more engaging and challenging for our heroes.

I can also confirm this, Sushie and Leen with be excluded from the Harem. The former because...No, she's too young, and aging her up too much causes too many possible issues. (Also, it proved that Touya was a complete hypocrite regarding the Yumina marriage/age argument.)

Seriously, she's TEN during her debut and has a kid with Touya by the age of TWELVE! -I have no fucking words for this except...What The Fuck, Patora?!

As for Leen, let's just say, given Alex's personality, it simply wouldn't work out. I'm not about to modify either character to try and make it fit.

I might let other characters take their spots. (My friend who dared me to start this project suggested the maids Lapis and Cecile.) I'm not against the idea, but I wanted to hear your thoughts about that. I personally was thinking more along the lines of Tsubaki and Olga.

However, the latter is not likely as I would like to re-use the Olga x Lyon subplot for something else I have cooking up.

However, I am also not opposed to using characters from other fantasy/isekai series. I can simply re-purpose them for this series. Again, I am open to suggestions (primarily if you can also provide a reason why they could be fun to write and introduce them into the story). I am looking for girls with vastly different personalities than most of the canonical girls.

That should cover it for now. I'll probably have more to say in the next chapter's notes after getting feedback on this chapter.

Until next time,

ZX