[Hrozun 08, 0100 A.R]
[Atherion, Deiiji Port]

Current in-game time 11:29 AM

"Onee-chan what's that book you're always reading?" A little girl asked with curious eyes.

"This, Lisa, is big sister's journal, it is very important to her," Yuna replied as the child furrowed her eyebrows.

"Why is it important?" She asked, tilting her little head.

"You see, big sister is a Marked One, and Marked Ones grow faster than normal people. And because we grow so fast, we need a way to monitor our growth so we don't get too carried away," Yuna explained as a matter of fact.

The little girl beside her placed a hand on her chin while in deep thought. She hardly understood anything Yuna told her and it was adorable to see how hard she was trying to comprehend everything. Yuna smiled at this.

"Uoohhh...there are too many adult people words...Lisa can't understand," the young girl puffed her cheeks in surrender. Seeing how cute she was, Yuna petted her on the head.

"Don't worry, someday you'll also become an adult and then you'll finally understand adult words," Yuna tried to mimic Lisa's vocabulary so it was easier.

"Eh but I want to know, I also want to have a journal like Onee-chan and Muzui-nii," the girl pouted even more as she turned to the blue ocean in front of them. "I wanna be strong like Onee-chan so I could fight monsters." She said.

It was fine to dream big as a child since it helps motivate them. But as Lisa's temporary guardian, their responsibility is to make sure she doesn't get hurt, "Is that so?" The little girl nodded her head, "Then if Lisa wants to fight monsters can you tell me how you're supposed to do it?"

When she asked that question, the little girl paused and started thinking to herself. However, it did not take long for Lisa to come up with a straight answer, "With swords and weapons!" She answered as a matter of fact.

"Do you know how to use a sword though?" Instantly, Yuna countered Lisa's response. She made a complicated expression as she thought about the swordswoman's question, it was true that swinging your sword wasn't the only way to go because once and a while there will be monsters who know how to dodge.

"I don't..." She said.

"How about magic? Don't you think being able to use fireballs is cool?" Yuna tapped her lips as she asked.

"Eh but magic is boring and I don't like reading books, they make my head dizzy...besides! I only want to be like Onee-chan and use a sword! Swords are way cooler!" She declared with utmost confidence while beaming.

'Books and reading are important too, you know,' Yuna wanted to say out loud what she thought but decided not to. A child would not understand the importance of education, not until they realize it themselves. In the end, the two of them exchanged questions and answers while watching the bustling seaport full of ships.

Deiiji port was a busy place with many different races. Ships of vastly different sizes and intricate designs, dock in this area to trade their goods. This port is considered to be one of the most important trading hubs since goods from Throndrheim, Luxenheim, and Shivangard are carried and dropped here through water routes. Most of the influential merchants come to trade here.

Currently, Yuna and Lisa were waiting for Muzui who had gone out to gather some information and most preferably, a job. As they were right now, the three of them were broke after spending all of their expenses on travel. Journeying from Cesro to Deiiji port took about a week on foot but with a carriage, they were able to save up some time and shorten a week to six days.

They also need to land a job to feed Lisa because, unlike Yuna and Muzui who are both Marked Ones, Lisa was an inhabitant. Inhabitants get hungry and tired in contrast to Marked Ones who can level up their stats and never get tired or hungry for long periods. At first, it was arguably a difficult decision for them to keep Lisa around as she required a lot of care.

Personally, Yuna would take care of the little girl regardless. Plus seeing the girl watching the ships with innocent eyes reminded her of someone she knows. 'I wonder what Fuji's doing right now,' she thought.

Her thoughts came to a stop as she heard Muzui's voice calling from behind them, "Enjoying the view?" The swordsman asked while walking towards them.

"Muzui-nii!" The little girl hugged Muzui's legs as he let out a smile and pat her head.

"How're things?" Yuna questioned as she looked Muzui in the face. He shrugged and stood beside her, facing the ocean.

"No luck, most of the decent-paying jobs were already pulled." Disappointment colored Muzui's face as he slowly shook his head. Yuna sighed at the disappointing news.

Due to the destruction of Cesro, many of the adventurers migrated to Deiiji and other areas causing a sudden influx of adventurers. The Adventurers Guild as of now was facing chaos as they try to give out jobs left and right inducing a shortage of work for Marked Ones and Inhabitants alike. There is a shortage of E-ranked to A-ranked quests due to the sudden shift.

"What are we supposed to do now? We can't pay to even travel to another city," With a complicated expression Yuna crossed her arms above her chest.

"You think I don't know that?" Muzui furrowed his brows and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. Yuna stared at the paper for a moment then back at him, 'What's this?' Said her expression, "Just read it." Muzui rolled his eyes impatiently.

Yuna began reading the piece paper and realized it was a notice regarding a certain quest. Recruits were written on the bottom of the paper which was the first thing that came to Yuna's line of sight, right next to that was a reward of three hundred gold coins, which was a lot, "Is this for real!?" She blurted in surprise after seeing the hefty reward.

"Heh, I told you I'd land us a job," Muzui began cockily smirking. Meanwhile, Yuna read through the job designated in the notice. It said something about an exploration effort at a place called Glacier Falls. Reading further, however, she took note of the number of people able to join and the ranks required for this quest.

D to A ranked adventurers were allowed to participate in the quest which was odd given the large gap in skill and rank. But then again there was a large influx of adventurers so it would be a waste not to take advantage of the excessive amounts of manpower.

Excited by the good news, she turned to her partner, "When is this?" She enthusiastically asked.

Muzui raised five fingers in front of her, they had five whole days to prepare, Yuna thought. Looking down at their worn-out gear, the girl has been wearing the same hide armor she bought way back, small holes were opening up and a few tears here there could be seen as a few stitches kept it together.

Her weapon of choice, a slightly large dagger she got from Muzui when they were still at the camp, hangs around her waist.

While she looked like a roadside bandit, her partner wasn't any better, Muzui who is now a former samurai, now only wields a dagger that he found back in Cesro.

Forget the exploration and the reward, they would be just a hindrance if they were called in to fight or caught in some trouble considering the equipment and state they were in. "Five days...how are we supposed to last five days?"

There was also the topic about necessities such as shelter and food. Although a Marked One can survive without food for prolonged periods, they do still get hungry and their bodies also slow down as an effect.

Yuna felt a tug on the hem of her skirt as she calmed down, "Onee-chan what's wrong?" The little girl's innocent wide eyes stared directly at them looking worriedly. All of the talk they were doing made them forget about the little girl.

Lisa was still young and innocent. She is also an Inhabitant which makes things a lot more complicated.

Mustering a gentle smile as Yuna bent a knee to pat the girl's head, she faced the child. She told Lisa, "You see, big sister and big brother were just talking about...uhhh," she awkwardly glanced at Muzui for help.

Muzui's shoulders relaxed as he sighed and forced a smile, "We were talking about what food we should eat since we skipped breakfast." Lisa's eyes widened and sparkled at the sound of food while her stomach let out a rumble.

The little girl was flustered and shyly looked at her feet while the two of them shared a knowing look.

"Someone's hungry," Yuna teased the little girl.

•∆•

They decided on buying some grilled skewered meat which cost them their remaining copper coins.

"Damn it's empty," a deflated sigh left Muzui as he stared at his empty pouch. He had sold his knife as well just to squeeze what little money they could get.

However, there was no point in moping. The reason was because of the smiling child in front of him who held a couple of meat sticks while munching on one, stuffing her cheeks full of food as she possessed a satisfied expression.

"Don't wander off too far," Yuna called out beside him, towards the girl in front.

"Geez, you sound like the kid's mom," he joked at her.

"Thanks for the compliment," Yuna rolled her eyes but she wasn't displeased by it. She shot a glance at the young man beside her as Yuna started a conversation, "Can't we just do gathering quests for the time being?" She crossed her arms.

"No, we can't. Us with higher ranks can't do lower-ranked jobs since that would cause an imbalance." Muzui replied. He turned to her with a face marked with an idea in mind, "We could just sell all of our equipment for now and just work our way up from there," he suggested.

The girl had a conflicted look on her face as she weighed the pros and cons of his idea. Finding no fault in his proposal, she told him, "Yeah let's do that."

Muzui nodded his head as they both agreed on his plan. Following Muzui's idea, they sold their armor and weapons, receiving a small pouch of twenty copper and five silvers. It wasn't much, but it would last them for a while until they at least find a part-time job.

Now only left with their clothes, the two of them made an effort of asking for some jobs, it didn't matter how menial they were as long as they got money out of it, they'll do it.

[To be continued]