This is a dream.

  The swordsman had been traveling across the nd for many years now.

  Despite his desire for death, he had not let any monster take his life; to die in the hands of monsters was something he would not let happen.

  “As a member of the Albert the Great’s mercenary band, being killed by lowly monsters is unforgivable.”

  As such, he had sin many monsters in his path with no mercy; no matter how big or small they were, how little or numerous of them were, how weak or strong they were, they all fell to his sword.

  Because of this, he had unwittingly saved several vilges from the rampaging beasts in his journey, and defeated many men of ill-intent that attempted to stand in his path.

  His many feats of unintentional heroism had managed to spread all over the world, turning him a folk hero of sorts.

  A wandering hero, they had begun to call him; a hero that saved the innocent and punished the wicked wherever he goes.

  He would always hear his name being sung by the many bards in every town he stopped by in his travels.

  And yet…

  “I am no hero. Such praise is wasted on a man like me.”

  “The one whom you should be praising isn’t me.”

  Those were his responses to the countless praises he had received; his guilt overwhelmed any sense of accomplishment they would give him.

  Soon enough, the people started referring to him by a different title, one not as fttering as a hero.

  He became known as the phantom, the one that had lost his chance to die.

  Several days had passed since our battle with the horde of Killer Ants; thankfully, the Dungeon had been pretty calm since then.

  After we had returned, Tetra unwittingly bbbered what happened to Drake; and he was not happy with my actions and lectured me into the night.

  My ears were ringing like crazy for hours afterwards.

  Though it was not all bad; our parameters each raised quite a lot from it, mine especially on account of my skill. Tetra’s magic parameters in particur had managed to break into a new rank from the excelia we gained from it.

  Tris herself even got a new skill; she had squealed so loud when Hecate handed back her Status sheet; it actually caused the windows to shake.

  Still, the incident had made me realize how reckless I was; I would have been swarmed and killed by them if Tris hadn’t come charging in when she did. My Level Up had made me arrogant, and my hubris nearly cost me my life.

  Thinking back, it was a real miracle that none of us had died back then; those numbers should have been a death sentence for any Adventurers.

  I needed to reflect on this behaviour; for the sake of fulfilling Leos’s dreams, and the people of my Familia.

  And speaking of my Familia…

  “The goddess’s te.” I noted.

  It had been raining heavily into the evening as we had our dinner, and our goddess had yet to be back from her evening stroll; this was a first since I first joined the Familia.

  “…10 valis she is bringing us a new Familia member.”

  “That’s a loser’s bet.”

  “Another 10 that it is a woman this time.”

  “…Deal.”

  “10 valis that we get a man!”

  “I sure hope so! We need more guys!”

  Within minutes, every Familia member was in the entrance lobby with a pile of money in a hat on the coffee table as well as a sheet of paper with everyone’s bet written on it; Garos had also, for some odd reason, retrieved a couple of towels from the bathroom.

  “Uh, what’s going on?” I asked in confusion.

  “Ah, right, this is your first time. Well, every time it is raining and the goddess is still out this te, it usually means that she has picked up a new member for the Familia.” Garos expined.

  “R-Really…?”

  “Yeah, the same thing happened to me.”

  “Same.”

  “It was like she knew I’ll be there.”

  “Huh…”

  Looking at how almost everyone was nodding in agreement, and how Hecate had encountered me in a simir circumstance, I had to agree.

  Wait, then if it hadn’t rained that day, I most likely wouldn’t get scouted by her?

  Food for thought…

  “Seriously, you guys shouldn’t keep doing this every time.” Jeanne sighed.

  “Are you pcing a bet too, Jeanne?”

  “…10 valis Lady Hecate had to force them to join.”

  “Got it!” With a smug grin, Jirou took the bill from the elf and wrote her bet down; he then turned to me, “Want to take a bet, Dae? The minimum is 10 valis.”

  “Sure, why not. 10 valis that she’s younger than Tris.” I handed the bill to him as he wrote down my bet.

  Moments ter, the door swung wide open, and Hecate walked in with an unknown girl in tow.

  “Say hello to our newest Familia member!!” She announced.

  The new member was a pink haired teenage girl in a red and pink top as well as a red skirt along with a pair of matching red shoes; she and the goddess were both soaked from top to bottom, their clothes clung to their bodies in a rather lewd manner.

  Guess that’s why Garos brought out the towels.

  “Lady Hecate, please put it back where you found it.” Was Jeanne’s immediate response.

  “She’s not some stray cat that I picked up on a whim!”

  Funnily enough, that was the same response she had when the goddess first brought me into the Familia; guess it was an automatic response at this point.

  “Hmph! It doesn’t matter what you guys think!” The goddess huffed, “I have already given her my grace, so there!”

  “““Yeah, we know.”””

  “At least try to act surprised!!”

  “It’s hard to be surprised if you have a pattern to your recruitment process.” Garos pointed out as he handed the goddess and the new Familia member the towels, “Seriously, do you really have to recruit people this way?”

  “Naturally! It would break my character if I don’t!!”

  “Of course, that would be the reason…”

  “So, who won the bet?” Tetra asked.

  “Let’s see; a girl who is…” Drake turned to the new girl, “Sorry, but how old are you?”

  “Me? Um, 15.”

  “She’s younger.” Tris stated, “I’m 16.”

  “Wait, you’re 16!? You looked like you should be older than that!”

  “I was often told that I looked mature for my age.”

  “Huh. Who knew? But if that’s the case, it means Dae won the bet.”

  “Oh. Y-Yay…?”

  “…That’s the most ckluster and least enthusiastic cheer I had ever heard in my life, period.”

  “Sorry.”

  “There’s no need to apologise for that.”

  As I was given my winnings, Jeanne walked up to the girl; the elf let out a small chuckle at the way she looked completely lost in our interaction.

  It kind of reminded me of myself when I had first come here as well.

  “Sorry for all of this.” She told her, “Welcome to the Hecate Familia. I’m the captain, Jeanne. May I have your name?”

  “Ah, yes! I’m Emma Flores.” She greeted her with a bow, “Please take care of me from now on!”

  “There’s no need for such formalities.” Our captain told her, “You are one of us now; even if our goddess forcefully took you in.”

  “I did not!!” Hecate shouted in indignation, “I convinced her with a good argument!”

  “You probably just pleaded with her until she gave in.” Lisa noted.

  “That’s not true!”

  “Uh…”

  The goddess turned to the new girl with a betrayed expression, “Emma, how could you…”

  After a quick round of introductions, she was assigned to one of the many spare bedrooms we have avaible in the second floor, specifically the one that used to be Leos’s room.

  While I wasn’t exactly comfortable with her taking his former room, leaving it as a memento to him wouldn’t be of use to the Familia going forward; the dead had no use for material goods and all that.

  Although, I was not sure what need we have for so many spare rooms; I guess Hecate had wanted that many members in our Familia when they first got the pce.

  Although we had been using a few of them as storage units; Jirou even hid his secret stash of alcoholic beverages in one of them, though it was an open secret to everyone except Jeanne.

  Lisa then gave Emma a quick tour of the Arcane Manor and its facilities, while the rest of us turned in for the night after the little debacle; the exceptions were me and Tris as Jeanne held us back to speak to us.

  “You two, bring Emma to the Guild tomorrow to get her registered and geared up.” Our captain told us, “I’ll give you the money for it in the morning; and try not to go over the budget.”

  “Got it.” Tris nodded.

  “Wait, why am I going as well?” I asked.

  “As a senior member, it is only right that you helped out your juniors; Leos and Tris did the same to you, did they not?”

  “Ah…I understand.”

  She had a point; they did help me accumute into the life of an Adventurer when I first joined the Familia. It was only fair that I helped the new girl in the same way.

  “So, the goddess found you almost going into Daedalus?” Tris asked Emma as the three of us walked down the main road towards the Guild the following morning.

  “Yeah, that’s right.” She nodded, “She stopped me before I could enter.”

  “It’s a good thing she did; that pce is a byrinth.” I noted, “Once you get it, you can never get out.”

  It was a wonder how Hecate was able to navigate through it so easily when we first met.

  “But why were you heading there in the first pce?” Tris asked.

  “W-Well… I was actually trying to find my way back to my inn…”

  “But… all the inns are on the other end of Orario. They are nowhere near where Daedalus is located.”

  “I’ve always had a bad sense of direction…”

  “But it can’t be that bad, can it?”

  “Ahaha… b-but don’t worry! I can remember the way after going there ten more times!”

  “…you should probably never head out on your own. Like, ever.”

  “I understand…”

  We both looked at each other with worry in our eyes, her words were not sparking any sense of confidence for her wellbeing; getting lost in the city was one thing, but in the Dungeon? For newbie Adventurers like her, it was a death sentence.

  “Ah, then she should join our party for the Dungeon dives.” I stated.

  “Are you sure?” Emma asked, “I don’t want to be a bother.”

  “Not at all. As seniors, we are obligated to help my juniors; right, Tris?”

  While it would mean that I likely have to remain up on the Upper Floors for a while, it was better than letting her die from losing her way; and the extra hands would help us handle more monsters while allowing us to get more stones per dive.

  “If that’s the case, we would need to change up our party’s formation a little…” Tris noted, “But let’s focus on registering Emma at the Guild first.”

  “Are all Adventurers registered at the Guild?” Emma asked.

  “Yeah; you can’t exchange magic stones for cash otherwise. I don’t think there’s an Adventurer in Orario not registered at the Guild.”

  “Then maybe she would be…”

  “Hm?”

  When we made it to the Guild, we immediately made our way to the first empty counter we could see, where Misha was busy manning.

  “Misha, I like to—Whoa!?!?”

  “Huh? Oh, hey Dae!”

  My advisor greeted me with her usual bright professional smile, though her bloodshot eyes tell a completely different story.

  “A-Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine!” She assured me, “I just… have a lot of work I have to take care of recently.”

  How tough was her work that it would cause her to look like she hadn’t slept in days!?

  “B-But don’t worry; if you are in need of my services, I will be happy to provide it to you!”

  “Uh-huh…”

  “A-Anyway!” Tris quickly changed the subject, “We’re here to register our new Familia member.”

  “Oh, really? She must have quite the guts to join up…”

  “Eh?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing! Just give me a sec here.” Misha ducked under the counter and handed Emma the application form, “Please fill up this form and return here for a quick orientation.”

  After a few minutes of writing down her particurs which was followed by a general orientation on being an Adventurer in Orario from Misha, Emma was officially an Adventurer recognized by the Guild.

  “Right, next let’s head for the—”

  “Miss Misha, does the Guild have the names of every Adventurer in the city?” Emma suddenly asked Guild advisor.

  “Uh, yes, I believe so.” Misha nodded.

  “Can you see if there is one named Sophia Flores among them?”

  “Sure, let me check.” Misha ducked under the counter and took out a rge book which she proceeded to flip through, “Sophia Flores… Sophia Flores… no sorry, I don’t see that name in the registry.”

  “Are you absolutely sure?”

  “Yes, it’s not in here.”

  “C-Can’t you check with another registry—”

  “Emma, we should go.”

  When she turned around with a confused look, Tris pointed to the line of Adventurers forming behind us; many of which were giving us the stink eye, no doubt for making them wait this long.

  “R-Right… I’m sorry.”

  We left the Guild building immediately, Emma not daring to look at any of the Adventurers as we made our way to the exit.

  “Alright, next pce on the agenda is the Tower of Babel.” Tris stated.

  “That’s the enormous tower in the center of the city, right?” Emma noted, “The one that reaches past the clouds? Why are we heading there?”

  “To get you some proper gear; while the Guild provides starting gear to new Adventurers, they aren’t exactly the greatest in terms of quality. There are shops on the tower’s fourth floor that sell decent quality gear to rookie Adventurers like us.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “Also, the tower is where the entrance to the Dungeon is located, so it would be in your best interest if you try to remember the path there to the best of your abilities.”

  “Got it! I’ll try my best!”

  As we headed towards the tower, what just transpired back at the Pantheon was stuck in my mind; especially the look on Emma’s face when Misha told her that the person’s name wasn’t in the book.

  That was the look of someone’s hopes being dashed; something I was all too familiar with.

  Sophia Flores… judging by the name, she was most likely Emma’s family, her sister or mother; did she come to Orario to look for her?

  We ended up spending the rest of our morning in the Tower of Babel, scouring through the armor and weapon shops on its fourth floors for Emma’s equipment; and we got a taste of her terrible sense of direction when she somehow kept disappearing the moment we turned our eyes away from her.

  We definitely couldn’t let her head anywhere alone, especially in the Dungeon.

  Eventually, after hours of trying out different weapons and armor sets, she settled for a pair of twin short swords and a small metal breastpte, a pretty decent loadout for a newbie in general and her overall build.

  Seeing that we still have some time left for the day, Tris and I decided to give her a quick tour around the city, specifically all the pces our Familia members would frequent.

  “There are so many kinds of people in this city.” Emma noted in awe; her eyes lingering on a cat person that passed us by as we walked through the marketpce.

  “Orario is considered the center of the world, after all.” Tris expined, “You can find almost every race in the world here.”

  “Amazing… oh…?”

  “Hm? Emma?”

  She suddenly slowed to a stop in the middle of the street; we also stopped and turned to see her looking at something with a somewhat lonely expression as she clutched something in her hand.

  Following her gaze, it turned out to be a pair of kids holding hands as they walked down the streets; a girl with her younger sister.

  “Emma?” I waved my hand in her face, snapping her out of whatever trance she was in, “Is there something wrong?”

  “N-No, no, it’s… it’s nothing.” She assured me.

  “…is this about that Sophia person you were asking about back at the Guild?”

  “Ahaha, w-was I that obvious?”

  “Transparently; it was all over your face.”

  “D-Dae! Have some tact!” Tris cried, “Emma, you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.”

  “…No, it’s alright; we are a Familia now.” Emma stated, “I trust you all.”

  “Emma…”

  “Sophia… is my older sister.”

  “Oh, so you have a sister. Is she currently in Orario?”

  “That’s what I’ve heard, yes.”

  “Eh? Do you not know if she is in the city?”

  Emma shook her head, “I have not heard from her for years; I don’t even know if she’s dead or alive.”

  “But you know that she’s here in Orario?” I asked.

  “Yes; at least, from when I st heard from her. That’s why I came to Orario to begin with.” She pulled out a pendant from under her shirt, a simple piece of jewelry in the same shade as her hair. “But no matter who I asked, no one had even seen her; that was when I encountered Lady Hecate; she offered me a way to find my sister by joining the Familia.”

  “Don’t you mean ‘in exchange’?” I asked.

  “No; her idea was to get pile up achievements under my name out there, for it act as a beacon for my sister to find.” Emma expined, “Being an Adventurer is the fastest way to accomplish that.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  In Orario, the titles and names of High-Css Adventurers were widely known among the popuce, especially from the high ranking Famis; any news, rumors, and gossip about them easily spread across the city like a wildfire.

  In this way, she could get her sister to come to her.

  “Not a bad idea; our Familia is already quite well-known, for better and for worse.” Tris stated with a grimace.

  “I remember hearing Miss Misha said something about that.” Emma noted, “Is our Familia that off-putting?”

  “I wouldn’t exactly say that, just… people don’t really like us that much.”

  “Hahaha…”

  All I could do was ugh at that; I had also been getting looks since my Level Up, though it had somewhat lessened in the months since.

  “Hm? What’s that?”

  Emma suddenly pointed at the Jagamaru stall at the corner of the road; this one appeared to be manned by a kind looking elderly dy.

  “That’s a Jagamaru stand.” Tris told her, “Jagamaru are fried potato fritters; they are quite a popur snack in Orario, with plenty of different toppings and fvors.”

  “Ooh… that sounds quite tasty.”

  *Growl~*

  “Ah.”

  Her face turned beet red in embarrassment as she clutched her growling stomach in a futile attempt to quiet it down.

  Come to think of it, we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast this morning; and it was only a small meal of pancakes and juice. It was no wonder she would be hungry now.

  “You want to buy some?”

  “…yes, please.”

  With our lunch somewhat decided, we approached the snack stand; the old dy greeted us with a professional smile.

  “What can I get you girls?”

  “Hm…” Tris looked through the menu, “We’ll have one cheese, one regur, and… oh, the matcha azuki looks nice; we’ll take one of that too.”

  “Good choice, and lucky too; this is the st one we have.”

  “Ah; I was too te…”

  Just as the old dy handed us the pack of fritters, a heavy sigh could be heard from behind us; a sigh that spoke of great disappointment.

  Turning around, we were greeted with a downtrodden look on one of the most beautiful faces I had ever seen; and one that was instantly recognizable to any Adventurers in Orario.

  Long golden hair that reaches down her back and matching golden eyes, a slim well-toned figure with a face akin to a doll; those were the descriptions for one of the most, if not THE most famous First-Css Adventurers of the current generation.

  The Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein was standing behind us with a look of a disappointed child.

  “…Eh…?”

  While I had heard of her, I should have never seen the Sword Princess in person before.

  And yet, there was a familiar air about her.

  And the more I’d looked at her, her image started to be overyed with someone else; a woman who looked like an older version of her with longer hair, and more ethereal than the Adventurer in front of me.

  It stirred up an assortment of emotions from within my heart; among them, the feelings of guilt and sorrow were the most intense.

  “Dae?”

  Tris snapped me out of my trance, and I felt the wetness in my cheeks.

  Was I crying? Why was I…?

  “Grgk!!

  “D-Dae!? What’s wrong!?”

  “My… My head…!!”

  A sudden sharp pain erupted from within my brain and my ears began to ring, forcing me to my knees as I clutched my head in a futile attempt to dull it; it was like someone was attempting to drive a rge nail through my skull.

  Through the pain, several blurry images pyed through my mind in rapid succession.

  A man reaching his hand to a young orphan boy.

  That young boy getting trained in the ways of the sword by the man.

  The boy, now a young man, defeating monsters with his sword alongside many other armed individuals.

  Those armed individuals ughing and cheering while sharing a meal over a campfire with that young man.

  Then, just as my vision turned to bck, a single image showed up with great crity that sparked a dread and fear like never before, and a great sorrow.

  The visage of an enormous bck dragon looking down on above the clouds.

  …To be continued…

  This chapter, for how short it is, it sure took some time to roll out its kinks; I wasn't sure how I wanted to end this but barely managed to figure it out.

  So yeah, Emma Flores is in this fic; and for a good reason too, so just wait and see.

  With that, I thank you all for reading this!