Chapter 23

Eris birthday part 1

Just as I thought last week, I made my way toward the Adventurer guild in Roa. Today is Saturday my weekly day off. I wear a hood today to hide my Hair. I tied it into a bun. And I got to say, having long hair kinda sucks. Not only is it hard to wash and dry, but It also makes me super uncomfortable in this hood. All my hair wiggling around in my hoodie, and the sweat is making me feel so bad!

But can't complain, can I? If I don't want to gather attention then it is the only way. Walking for a few minutes I finally arrive at the guild. The adventure guild of this town is very clean.

Well, It was to be expected of one of the biggest cities in Asura. Even the guild looks good. But…it looks kind of empty? Maybe they normally work today too? As I walk inside What I see is the typical adventure guild.

Bar, counter, a lot of tables for the adventurer, and then the notice board. Walking to the counter I saw a pretty lady manning the counter. When she saw me, She offered a pretty service smile.

"Welcome to the adventurer guild, young Lady. Are you lost? Or do you want to put in Request?"

"Um, I would like to register as an adventurer."

"Oya? Then please wait for a bit." She walks away without asking a question. Well, That's normal. they don't even bat an eye when a 2-year-old is fighting against an adult who stole her food. Which is me fighting with Paul.

After waiting for a bit she came back with a stone tablet, a pen, and paper. Wow, do they really use paper for this? though it looks like it is a low-quality one.

"Please fill in this form. Oh, do you know how to write?" I nod at her and take the pen. Inside the form is just a normal question. I take my time filling in the form.

Questions about my past or anything else can be left unanswered. Finally finished filling them I handed her back the paper.

She took it and then picked up one metal plate. She placed them on the stone tablet and it began to grow.

"Please stab your finger with this needle. Then place a drop of blood on the plate." I did as she asked and dropped my blood in.

The metal grows and slowly words appear by themselves. It was a fascinating process, but the word I saw is not like anything I've seen.

"My my! Are you a demon race? You look completely human!" The lady said, surprise. She then does something with the stone tablet again and then the iron card word changes to that of the Human language.

"Here you go, now the little lady is an adventurer." She handed me the adventurer card.

looking at the card it has my information.

Name Lucelia, Age 10, Race Half-Demon, Job Magic-Knight. Rank F.

Wow...So this is how it feels to have my own card? I always look at Paul's card but to see it on my own...having my name on it. Feel...Amazing.

The lady giggled as she watched my reaction. "Now that you are a full-fledged adventurer, you can take requests at the Notice Board or come to the receptionist to assign you an appropriate request."

I thank her and walk toward the Notice board. Each one is written on low-quality paper you can find everywhere. Right now I'm Rank F, So the only request I can take is that of Rank F or E.

So two of the requests are Gathering Herb for F rank and hunting Lone Assault dog for E rank.

Naturally, I picked up the hunt. What? I'm not going to waste my time looking for a herb! I take the paper and then hand it to the receptionist Lady.

"Eh? Are you going to take this job? But it's an E rank, you know?" She said, her face is full of worry.

"It's ok. I can do it by myself just fine. I even hunt terminator boar back at home." I said to reassure her.

She sighs. Putting the paper away and writing stuff down on her boom.

"The request is to Hunt down One Assault dog. The time limit is before evening. The reward is 1 copper coin and depends on the condition of the skin as well as the magic stone." She closed her book and then looked at me while smiling.

"Well, then adventurer. I hope you will have a good hunt."

"Thank you," I said, bidding her farewell. Walking out of the building I look at the sun. It was around afternoon huh? I had plenty of time.

Hmm...Now then Where should I go? The south gate? Yeah, it's got a forest nearby. I make my way to the south gate leisurely as if going on a picnic. Arriving at the gate, I walk out of it. The guard saw me and gave me a wave. Oh, he's the one that I saw a lot at the mansion! So they got a shift like this too? Guarding the gate.

I wave back at him and make my way toward the forest.

The forest was just a bit away so I arrived quite fast. Entering the forest I start to be more careful. Keeping myself low and listening to anything I can hear. Eyes on the front.

I need to be careful. I don't want another incident where I get jumped from behind again. First is the Terminator Boar second was the assassin...oh speaking of them I didn't actually know what happened after I passed out. I kind of just gloss over it because everyone is safe.

Huh...I really don't care about what happened enough to ask.

Rattle…

My body moved swiftly, turning around and my right arm went and grabbed whatever was making the sound.

"Uwo!" A whimper came out of it. Yup...I got sneak attack on again. While getting distracted by my thoughts again!

Crack!

An unholy cracking sound came out of it. With my bare hand, I crack the neck of an Assault dog. They really are weak…

Ha...I need to work on this man! I keep getting distracted when I think of something like this! Shit! There it is again!

"Whatever... let's just skin this and go back."

Conjuring a knife from my magic I start to skin the dog. I have done this many times in Buena village. Paul is the one teaching me.

After around 20 minutes I finished Skinning the dog. I then cut open its stomach. And this is the part I hate the most. Using my hand I reach inside the monster searching for a magic stone.

Luckily I found it pretty quick. Taking a good look at it, I found that it was in good condition.

Tying everything up with an earth loop I create, I make my journey back to the guild. It only took around 10 minutes And I already arrived at the guild.

Walking to the same receptionist who is reading right now I place down the Assault dog Hides and magic stone.

"Eh? You're already back!? And what more you got the requested Item already?"

I nod at her. She placed the book down and began to check the item's quality.

"Everything is in good condition. Congratulations! You finish your first quest!" She said as she clapped her hand. "May I have your Card, please?"

I handed her the card."Would you like to take the money right away or do you want to store it with the Guild?"

"I will take it right away please." She nodded her head. After a few minutes, she handed me my card back, and in her hand were 2 copper coins and 5 small copper coins.

"This is the promised reward of 1 assault dog. The rest is for the good condition of the goods."

Holding the money in my hand I bit her goodbye. Wait...I didn't know her name! Ah, whatever I will just learn it the next time I come.

…

2 months pass by in the blink of an eye. Wanna know what Rank I am? It's D rank! And on my way to C rank. Though there is not much to do in Roa at all. The monster is basically the same as in Buena village. Some flying rats here and there and mostly Terminator Boar and assault dogs.

Oh oh! And some treat too. Though it was mostly the lower class one. How much money do I make? Well, in these two months, I made…3 gold coins total! Yay! With this, I could buy that sword in just around 6 months!

And that is me not doing my doctor gig too. Why? Because this region has nothing to it. No strong monster, no deadly disease, no anything. It is an ideal starter town for adventurers. But it's not Ideal for me.

I can't do escort requests As I only have one day off. The strongest monster around here is just a pack of Terminator boar. Or you occasionally find a herd of Red buffalo. Seriously, their fur is fucking annoying to dismantle! I mean I need to do it like 10 more times too! What more I've got to burn the rest. Only take a bit of meat with me.

Ah…but the money is good too. I got 8 silver for all 10 hides. man…The rib is good too…Nope, Not gonna think about it! Btw today I'm not coming out to do requests or anything. I'm coming out here to get a gift for Eris. Her 10th birthday is 2 months.

While Rudeus has a lot of free time, I on the other hand. have to start practicing more etiquette. How to serve noble and much more. Basically, I'm preparing for her birthday too. But on the real day, I'm going to get a place near Eris to be her guard. \

They can't be too careful. After all, The one who sent the assassin is coming to the Event too. I think his name is…Da…De? Darius! Yup, Darius something. I heard that he had a thing for a young girl. By that I mean those my age…Shit just think about it give me the creep! Yeah, I'm going to stay near Eris and If that bastard dares touch her then his hand is going to come off.

Lord Sauros doesn't have evidence of him pulling any string, but from rumor and everything He deduces that it can only be this guy. Plus the fact that one other house daughter got kidnapped on the same day. And it was a success too.

Shit. I really need to be careful around that guy.

Now then. What Am I going to give her? Do we get close to each other? Well, we do fight against each other every time we train. She has been pushing her limit every day. And I approve of her growth. Even Ghislaine says that she will likely reach saint rank in a few years if she keeps this up. But she is still closer to Rudy.

Maybe it was me putting up a wall unconsciously. But I've been dispelling that wall lately so we've been getting along well.

Speaking of training, I've been improving every day too. I've changed one thing about how I train. I've been using a longsword and it fits me well. Not only is it a versatile weapon, but its range advantage gives me some nice scratch on Ghislaine.

But suddenly changing weapons of choice is hard. I still have a lot of habits from the normal sword but I've been dealing with it.

This not only fits well with my Water-god style but also fits well with the adaptive nature of North-god school.

For the past 6 months since I started to become an adventurer, I have been constantly using Touki to get used to it. But I can't seem to make it…What ya call it? thicker? yeah, that. I can't seem to increase the thickness of the mana covering me. No, that's wrong. I can do it. It just did not improve my physics at all.

Maybe it's my way of thinking that is wrong. Let's go back to experiment on it when I have time.

Walking further in the market I saw one familiar-looking shop with a nice nice-looking weapon on display. Yup, the name of the shop is Arsen's Blacksmith.

Without a second thought, I walked into the shop. Inside is what I remember from the last time I was here. And that was just 3 months ago when I bought a little knife. I used it to dismantle stuff because I was too lazy to create one every time.

"Oh? Lucy! welcome! What do you need today? or did your knife break?" Lyne spoke to me. She waved her hand behind the counter.

"I came to buy a sword today." Her eyes light up.

"Did you finally decide to buy it!? The Black Heart has been accumulating dust just for you!"

"Ah, Sorry. I didn't come to buy a sword for myself. I came to buy it as a gift for the Young lady I serve."

"Young lady? Ah! You mean Lady Eris right? So It is for her Birthday!"

"Oh? you know?"

"Of course, Silly. She is the Lord's granddaughter. Of course, I will know!" She said, "So, What kind of sword are you looking for?"

Hm…What should I give her? Considering her height and body mass, Then 90 cm is good. But with her growth in mind, It should've been around 110 cm.

As for what kind, I think the curved blade is the standard of the Sword-God school. So I will go with that.

"I want a curved blade around 110 cm. The weight should be a bit on the heavy side as well."

She gave me an OK and then walked toward one of the swords hanging on the wall. "How about this one? It was Father's newly forged sword and it fits your description too."

The blade is curved and is around 105 cm. The weight is around 800 grams to a kilo. This is good.

"May I try it?" She nodded, handing me the sword. I walk away from her into an area with more space and start the test swing. It was good in my hand, but it will be perfect for Eris when she grows up a bit.

I give it two years max.

"Yosh, how much is this?"

"Hehe, seeing as it is a gift for the Lord's granddaughter I will give you a special discount! 2 gold and 5 silver. How does it sound?" Hmm...that is not a bad deal. Considering the quality and time he spends on it.

"How much is it before the discount?"

"2 gold and 6 silver!"

yup, yup. I knew it. Trying to keep the smile on my face I pick up the money pouch I have on me and pick up 2 gold and 5 silver and with reluctance but she just grabs it out of my hand.

"thank you for your patronage!."

You can't Lucy. you can't make a bloodbath inside…That going to be a lot of trouble…

Calming myself down with a deep breath I take the sword from her hand.

"Where is the sheath?"

"The sheath is going to cost you 1 silver coin."

"Hm? What did you say? I can't quite hear you." I said, a little bit of ice from around my hand and creating a cracking sound.

"My, my! I didn't know that your ear had already gone bad! Then let me repeat it again. The sheath will cost you 1 silver coin."

We stare at each other for a few seconds before I finally give in and pick up one more silver coin. I throw it to her and she catches it with ease.

"Thank you!" She then walks back to the counter and comes back with A sheath for the sword.

I take it away from her with a huff and then walk out of the shop.

"Come back again when you ready to buy the Black Heart!"

sighing lightly, I wave my hand goodbye and walk toward the Mansion. Now then…how can I hide it from Eris? She normally barges into my room when I am not there and likes to search my room as a plaything too. hm…then the only option is to hide it in Ghislaine's room. She won't come in there.

Yup, that's a good way to hide it. Deciding on that I walk toward the mansion with a satisfied heart.

…

Thud!

Each clash results in dust rising up from the ground. Two figures can be seen clashing against each other. One was a beast woman with tan skin. Her body is full of small scratch, but still have a steady breathing. On the other hand, Her opponent is ridden with wounds, rag breathing and barely standing on with her sword as a standing stick.

Her eyes still show that she has no will to back down only to continue. With her hand touching her body a slight glow of green rise up and the wound slowly go away.

Holding her sword up in her preferred stance, She was ready to face her opponent again. Her feat planted firmly on the ground waiting for her opponent to move. The beast woman smiles and disappears from her view.

This only increases the smile on her face, With a light breathing in. She turns around and slashes behind her. The two swords clash.

"So you finally learn?" Ghislaine, The beast woman said mockingly.

"Getting hit in the back is not the best feeling, Why not try it?" Lucelia said. Return with what she thinks is snarky. But deep down she knew that it was not.

Ghislaine only smiled and put more force on her sword. Lucy struggles under her pressure but she quickly creates ice lance around them pulling them apart from each other.

But not wasting her time Ghislaine rushed in again. This time She moved so fast that not even Lucy's eye could keep track. So she relied on her instinct and Swing upward, pulling the dirt with her.

it covers the entire area, making her see what happened. Ghislaine's vanishing figure can be tracked by the dust and dirt she pulls up. Without a second thought, she fired too many ice Bullets to count toward the place she predicted Ghislaine would move.

Clang!

She deflects it with her sword. But that was in the plan. With the sound as her indicator she stomps on the ground breaking it, and from the creak Ice spread so quickly it covered the whole area.

The ice is nothing but a thin spreading, But the durability is something that even Ghislaine needs to use a bit of strength to destroy it. Not giving her that chance Lucy rush in and strike toward Ghislaine's defenseless neck.

Her strike hit. But unfortunately, her strike was too weak for a strong Touki like Ghislaine's. So she quickly got a counter punch to her stomach and was sent flying away. Destroying everything in her path, which fortunately just some forest and trees, not any building this time.

"Cough-cough! God damn it, That was HURT! Couldn't you go a bit easy on the last hit!?" Lucy cries out. But even if she was hurt, She going to heal them back anyway.

"You aim for my neck and still demand me to go easy on you?" Ghislaine only chuckles lightly," But I have to admit, Only one year of training with me and you're already on your way to becoming a Sword saint in terms of speed."

"Really? I feel like I only increase for a bit."

"Of course, You only need to master the Longsword of Light and you can call yourself a Sword saint. But you can probably call yourself a Water saint now. You have already mastered Flow after all."

"Really?! I can call myself that?! Even though I don't have a proper Water god training?"

"You already better than most water got school practitioner anyway. I don't see any problem with calling yourself one." Ghislaine said. "But this is a nice spot you found here. Not only is it not far from the mansion but it is also away enough so that we don't break anything."

"Right? I was really good at finding something like this!" Lucy said excitedly but her smile quickly turned to a bit of gloomy expression.

Seeing something wrong Ghislaine approach her. "What's wrong? You don't look so good."

"Nah, it's nothing. Just remember some bad memories." Lucy lied as naturally as she could. Ghislaine could see that but she decided not to pull that pin and left it as it is.

"Anyway, Eris's birthday is next week. Did you prepare your gift?" Lucy ask

"Eh? What gift? Do I need to prepare one?"

"...Oh! Right, you don't have the culture of giving gifts on a birthday." Lucy sighs lightly before pulling out the necklace she has been wearing ever since the Fang of the Black Wofe disbandment. She throws it toward Ghislaine.

"Hm…This is the ring I gave you before. I see that you taking good care of it. But why give it back to me?"

"Think of it as me achieving my dream, though not really. I still need to meet with Talhand, gesse, and Elinalise after all."

"Hm? Ah, that time huh. you really grew up from that small girl back then."

"Hehe, Did I make you proud?"

"Of course." Ghislaine ruffles her hair lightly. "But I still don't understand why you giving this back to me."

"Oh, It was a gift. Think of it as from you to me then to Eris. She will definitely be happy about this."

"Oh" With that as her reply they were left in silence.

The two of them were enjoying the night starting off into the vast darkness of the sky. Everything feels peaceful and calm. Bask in the night Lucy lay down on the ground not caring whether she would get dirty, She already was anyway.

"Hey, Ghislaine?" She spoke up.

"Hm?"

"I have a bad feeling about next week."

"And why is that? Is it because of Darius?"

"Yeah, The fact that he pulled that stun and still dared to come is giving me a bad feeling about this. Lord Phillip even altered some stories to make you appear more heroic and spread your name but he still came here. it's like…he was not scared of you."

"You don't have to worry, I will be with you and Eris so He can't pull anything."

"I hope so…" Lucy ends their conversation like that. And both of them continue to bask in the moonlight in silence.