The two of us left and headed back towards the Office. We got him promoted to Red ranked, and we decided to go for a mission.
"Oh yeah, I don't have a weapon yet."
I also can't help but notice. If we are going to fight some monsters on a mission, we will have to get him weapons.
We ended up leaving the office to go to the old dwarf's shop. I had to show him my identity so he can give me some discounts on the weapons, because I will need them considering what things I wanted to buy.
I know that Ren lives very far in the west, away from all the battles and stuff. And I know that he is probably an abnormal, like me.
He is a pretty eager person to become stronger, so I guess what he needs the most is support. But in Naverne, that kind of support rarely comes.
I'm not exactly sure if there's a weapon seller in Naverne, so I ended up buying him a ton of sharp stuff. He was quite confused as to why I bought him all these weapons, like multiple blades, axes, and even tons of throwing knives. I just want to turn him into a fully fledged adventurer as quickly as possible, and for adventurers, gears and preparation are always the most important.
Aside from buying weaponry, we also went to an adventurers shop to buy him some other stuff, like a space ring to store all those weapons or other required items for adventuring.
They didn't cost much to me, considering how rich I am. But for Ren--
"That amount can feed my entire village for a week!!"
I was quite surprised by that, not gonna lie.
I ignored his overly surprised and speechlessness and we returned to the Office to grab a mission.
I searched the list, and my eyes dropped at the Blue ranked adventurers list. I picked it from the board and showed him, and he read the content carefully.
"Hey, isn't this a Blue ranked mission…?"
"I'm a White ranked. I can take on any mission."
"Damn… you really are a big shot, huh?"
"And I am guessing you will too. Just need some training, dude."
I smacked his shoulder and went to the receptionist. He nodded and followed me to the receptionist desk, where a line could be seen.
I didn't realize the eyes glaring at me until I started to move towards the receptionist desk. They definitely recognized the skeleton-like mask, while some others who didn't know simply believed that this is the mask owned by the masked devil/man.
After arriving at the front of the line, I gave the paper mission to Keila who was at the desk, and she took it from my hands.
"This mission is for Green ranked adventurers or higher!"
I showed her my second adventurer card that is made for the masked man, and she quickly turned shocked.
"Hey, relax, it's just me."
I whispered using my real voice to Keila. She tried to recognize it, but she couldn't. I let out a sigh and simply let her give me the mission scroll.
I can't put off my mask in front of her, so I will just tell her some other time.
"Got the mission. Let's go."
"Oh yeah. Let's hunt some demon beasts… whatever the fuck those are."
I explained to him what they were as we left the door, leaving everyone confused as to why the Masked Devil is here. They had no idea that the masked man was a White ranked adventurer.
The two of us flew towards the location, fought some demon beasts, Ren got bitten on the leg by a demon wolf, and I had to kill all of them while healing his leg.
"Wow, you really are strong! Is that why you are the top ranked adventurer?"
"Kind of. Also, I am technically still a Blue ranked. You see, I have two identities."
"Oh… so you're like batman?"
"Precisely like batman."
After killing the demon beasts, I decided to have a magic lesson with Ren. We checked his magic using my magic tool, and…
"2983 magic points. You really are insane."
I said to him, and he seemed confused. I explained to him about magic energy and magic points. For people from another world like us, our magic points tend to be extremely large. I have no idea why that is, but he seemed to understand.
"Ah, I get it. That's why I was pretty strong, back there."
"Yep, though you're just lacking in experience. That was your first sword fight, wasn't it?"
"Yeah… And what's the rest of these?"
The two of us turned towards the extra texts written under the magic energy and points. It's his magic element aptitudes.
"Let's see… Light magic, that's cool. Wind magic, at least now we know you can fly… And ice magic! That one is pretty rare."
I explained to him, and he began asking questions.
"Is ice magic good?"
"You can freeze your enemies with a snap of your fingers."
"That's cool… like, literally."
"… You're so cringe."
"It's a waste not to say that. Shut up."
We tried to practice right after. I gave him some rundown on how to use the magic he owns, and he managed to do them pretty well. Just like me, he had a great talent with magic control and insane growth speed.
I'm not sure if it's just the two of us or it's because we are from another world. Either way, we are really good at this.
After a slight training, the sun went down but it didn't stop us. We kept on training until quite late, and we decided to go back around 8-9pm.
We flew back, and landed on a tight dark alley by the South-eastern Main Road. During the walk to the Office, we are figuring out where Ren will sleep. I told him he can't stay in my house because there might be people there, because I did ask my friends to guard my house while I was gone. So we had no choice but to let him stay in an inn.
After receiving the payment of the mission, I split it in half with Ren, and he immediately turned shocked from how much payment we got.
Adventurers do get a ton of payment, after all. Get used to it.
We entered an inn that was previously my favorite, and we bought two rooms. While Ren entered his room and slept, I sneaked out and headed back to my house.
I landed on the backyard, and I glanced inside through the glass wall of the kitchen. I can see that only one person is staying here, chilling on the sofa.
It's… Lescia.
Why is she here? Doesn't her parents worry for her? How can a princess be doing this?
She seemed to be enjoying the cup of tea while glaring at the fireplace, all by herself. It was very silent, and I bet the only sound came from the crackling of the burning wood.
I knocked the glass, and she quickly turned to see me in the glass wall.
I took out my mask while she rushed to the back. She exited the house and continued running to me, and finally kissed me.
It didn't last long, because she pulled her face almost immediately because she wanted to ask.
"So? How did it go?"
"I found some… things. Some stuff that I am rather interested in."
"Oh…? And?"
"Well… I still didn't find much about a way back to the other world, but at least… Now I know that I didn't come here alone."
"Huh?"
I tilted my head towards the glass, and Lescia understood. The two of us went inside and I began telling her everything, starting from how I met my best friend from another world, and what we've been doing the entire day. She quickly got confused when she heard that there is another hero that the goddess brought, but then she realized that there could be more.
"Do you think… there's more?"
"There might be, but I don't think they are the same as me."
"Huh? Why?"
"You know. Switched bodies and all... Ren didn't lose his body."
"Ohh… then you are quite unlucky."
"… You can say that again."
She laughed really loudly. I guess she missed me.
I then asked her about what she's doing all alone in the house. She could have called maybe Fran or Emily to hang out with her since she knows them quite well from the Veldonia trip, but she didn't.
"Why, you may ask? Because I had a feeling that you… might return very quickly."
She said that while wrapping her hands around my neck. The two of us were sitting on the same sofa, and she leaned towards me to get closer.
Oh… this atmosphere…
"And what will you do…? Now that I am here?"
"Well, what I've always wanted to do again."
She moved forward, and began pushing me even more aggressively.
The two of us then cuddled for the rest of the night. After so long, we finally had a chance to spend time together. It was a blessing that I've craved for a very long time, an emotion that can heal even the most cursed wound.
Love. I never guessed that I would get this lucky with it, and yet here I am.
It was a beautiful evening, but unfortunately, I couldn't stay for long. The next day, I will have to leave again.
In the morning, I bade farewell with Lescia and went back to the inn to look for Ren. As expected, he is already awake.
Surprisingly, he is already eating breakfast at the diner under the inn. He lifted his hand when I entered the inn, and I made my way towards him before sitting down at his table.
"So what's for today? Do you want to go back on missions or…"
I asked him, but he shook his head. He then stared at me with an emotionless expression.
"I think… I'll go back home."
For some reason, he looked really down. Something seemed wrong with him today, and I wondered what it was.
I don't have the eyes of truth like Lescia, so I couldn't really tell what's on his mind. He didn't even say much as well, so it was difficult for me to work out his reasoning.
I can only follow, I guess.
"Okay, then."
I recalled that I also haven't made breakfast, which made me feel bad for leaving Lescia without making one. I then ordered a simple breakfast menu that the diner is serving, and Ren continued his breakfast with me on his table doing the same thing.