At long last, they would be arriving at Zubura today; not in the capital, but a town near the border. They didnât need to go to the capital to get to the ruins. Hikaru felt like sightseeing, but Katyâs domineering attitude made it hard to bring it up.
ăIâm so excited, Hikaru! Iâve seen ruins in the past, about twice, but they only showed me the highlights. Iâve been to a museum to where they displayed artifacts.ă
ăWait, are there restrictions to viewing?ă
ăOf course. The ruins are one of the only few things that Zubura has to raise their standing. I asked the principal to issue free passes for us, though.ă
TOP ARTICLES1/5Mercenaries in Apocalypse Volume 1Chapter 29
ăReally? When did you do that?ă
Hikaru didnât know about the restrictions. He was impressed by Katyâs proactiveness.
ăShe dragged me along to the principalâs office to beg for it.ăMille said.ăI didnât even know what was going on.ă
So Mille went with her. The principal is from Zubura. She probably has some power there. But I must sayâŠ
ăIâm surprised you got approval. Youâre from Kotobi.ăHikaru said.
ăYeah. I told her you were coming and she agreed.ă
ăMe?ă
ăThe principal seems to have taken a liking to you.ă
Hikaru went out to gather Dragon Kidney Flower to save the principalâs nephew. Thatâs when he met Silvester, a member of the former royal family of Zubura. The principal was aware of this.
But she also knew about all the trouble he had caused so far. The admins, especially, detested Hikaru. Who knew what they told the principal? Perhaps the principal herself thought Hikaru was troublesome to deal with.
ăI hear you talking about the ruins!ă
Selica, who was having a light meal with her party members on another table, approached them.
ăQuit eavesdropping.ăHikaru said.
ăLies! I wasnât eavesdropping. I can help with examining the ruins too, you know!ă
ăRight. Youâre familiar with it as well, not just Hikaru.ăKaty said.ăAh, I canât wait to get there.ă
ăYou can count on me!ă
ăThatâs good to hear!ă
Maybe I should just leave it to Selica and go sightseeing instead, Hikaru thought. But he couldnât do that. Itâs human nature to want to see an incredible discovery.
Of course, theyâd be visiting ruins that were already explored before. But people tend to think âMaybe if I go there, Iâll find something newââperhaps decipher ancient documents, or dig up treasure chests.
I also love these kind of treasure-hunting activitiesâŠ
It was only natural for a man to feel excited about using information as clues to discover treasures before anyone else could.
As soon as the carriage started moving, Selica and Katy started talking in one box seat, where the rest of the Four Stars were seated. Lavia began to doze on the other seat, exhausted from the long trip. Mille and Paula were already fast asleep. Hikaru put a blanket over Lavia and made her lie down so she could sleep more comfortably. He gave up the seat, though now he had limited options as to where to go.
ăAh, Hikaru. Would you like to sit here?ă
Selyse smiled, offering him a seat. Beside her, Sophie stared at Hikaru with a frown. Sheâs doing this knowing Sophie and I donât get along. Hikaru had recently gotten a better look at the darkness the Sun Maiden hid inside her. No way Iâm sitting there.
ăOh? If it isnât Hikaru.ă
ăI had no other choice. At least this spot is better than the other option.ă
The driverâs seat was wide, so Hikaru sat beside Sarah. After having enough rest, the six horsesâ gait seemed to have gotten lighter. Soon the carriage entered the coniferous forest.
ăIâm working hard out here, you know. Itâs cold so I have to be dressed heavily too.ă
ăYou didnât have to come if you were gonna complain anyway.ă
ăYeesh! Youâll never be popular with the girls with a mouth like that.ă
ăIâm good as long as I have Lavia.ă
ăReally? Can I have Paula then?ă
ăNo, you canât.ă
A bit of opening and she tries to take Paula away. Gotta watch out for this one too.
ăNot this, not that. You sure are stingy.ă
ăFine. Thank you for driving us in this cold weather. You are a great help. There. How about that?ă
ăSounds good. I like that. Now I have to keep at it! A youngster is thanking me for my efforts, after all.ă
ăYoungster, huh? I suppose I am younger by about three years.ă
ăHuh? Youâre around 12 or 13, right?ă
ăNo! Iâm 15!ă
ăWhat?!ă
Sarah was surprised. Her Soul Board indicated she was 18, three years older than him.
ăSo youâre a full-grown boy. That was unexpected.ă
ăWhat do you mean by that? Iâm an actual adventurer.ăHikaru showed his guild card.
ăRank E and a Civilian. Come on. You have a rare job class, donât you? Tell me about it.ă
ăI only have Civilian.ă
A barefaced lie. Sarah didnât believe him either.
ăIâm guessing that immense fire magic used to kill the Earth Dragon was from the blessing of a job class.ă
That had nothing to do with classes. It was all the power of the revolver. On a side note, Hikaru received spare bullets from Katy and some more for this trip. Every last one was packed with Laviaâs Flame Gospel. All ten of them. He could destroy a small fortress with his weapon now.
ăI didnât kill an Earth Dragon.ă
ăWhy donât we tell each other about our job classes?ă
ăWhatâs the point of that? Thereâs no benefit to it. All you do is reveal your secret. Besides, you can just lie about your class.ă
ăSatisfying your curiosity is one benefit.ă
ăMan, youâre hopeless.ă
ăRude! Iâm older than you, you know!ă
ăOlder? Show some more dignity first, then Iâll believe you.ă
ăAll right! How about this? We show each otherâs guild cards.ă
Sarah took out her card and showed it to Hikaru.
ăAdventurers Guild Cardă
ăNameăSarah
ăRegistrationăPongee Elka Adventurers Guild, Kingdom of Ponsonia
ăRankăB
ăJob ClassăCity, Town, and Village People Rescue God: Civilian
ăPartyăFour Stars of the East (B)
It was the first time Hikaru saw the guild card of an adventurer in a party. Apparently the individual and party ranks were separated.
ăWould you look at that? Youâre a Civilian just like me.ăHikaru said.
ăHow about we show our classes one at a time? Then youâll get to see the rare classes later on. We stop when we run out of job classes to show.ă
I see. Quite interesting. Hikaru checked his list of job classes.
Assassination God: Night Stalker2
Stealth God: Darkness Wanderer2
Throwing God: Dead Shot2
Chaos God: Eye of the Storm3
Wide Area Detection God: Grand Sonar4
Woods Strolling God: Forest Walker4
Labyrinth Exploring God: Dungeon Walker4
Heaven Searching God: Sinner4
Lower Class Heavenâs Messenger: Lesser Angel5
Common Town Night Burglar God: Town Thief6
City, Town, and Village People Rescue God: Civilian10
He had eleven in total, which was apparently quite a lot.
Should I keep the Town Thief one from her? Hikaru was having trouble since he didnât know much about job classes in the first place. He considered showing Lesser Angel to her. Maybe she knew something about it, like its effects and why it appeared, since he was completely clueless. I think it showed up right after I killed the Earth Dragon.
It should be safe to show her Forest Walker and Dungeon Walker. Hikaru heard from the guild that if one had a four-character job class, theyâd be a high-level adventurer. Sarah should have one too.
Hikaru was a bit curious about Sarahâs job classes as well, since they had similar fighting styles. If the need arose, he could just tell her he had nothing more to show. Sarah herself could do the same too.
ăAll right. Letâs do it.ăHikaru said.
ăReally? Are you sure?ă
ăYouâre the one who suggested it.ă
ăWell, youâre awfully secretive. I didnât expect you to agree. Okay, letâs do this!ă
Hikaru set his job class to Lower Class Heavenâs Messenger: Lesser Angel.
ăYou go first since this was your idea.ă
ăOkay!ă
Sarah changed her class and showed her card to Hikaru.
Common Town Night Burglar God: Town Thief
Hikaru stared at the card with a blank expression.
ăI-Itâs not what it looks like! I didnât actually steal anything. This job class usually appears to those who sneak into peopleâs houses.ă
ăYouâre saying you didnât commit any crime?ă
ăOf course!ă
ăIâm pretty sure entering someoneâs home without permission is a crime.ă
ăWhat?! Well, what can I do?! Most of the requests that asked for me involved sneaking around!ă
Gathering information and scouting, I guess? So the Adventurers Guild deals with those kinds of requests too, huh? Hikaru was impressed.
ăI figured that was the case. Here.ă
ăWhat? You have it too?! You criminal!ă
ăReally, now?ă
Hikaru managed to safely get Town Thief out of the way. Sarah sighed.
ăI didnât expect you to have it too. You do look like an expert in covert operations.ă
ăAll thanks to my gear. Oh, and for the record, I didnât steal anything.ă
ăYeah, yeah, sure. I get it. I believe you.ă
ăâŠâŠâŠă
ăOw, ow, ow! Stop pinching my ears! You lack respect towards your elders!ă
ăJust show me the next one.ă
ăThis kid needs to learn respect!ăSarah yelled as she showed her next job class.