LEVEL 1: A Whisper, an Aria, a Prayer, an Awakening

Chapter 6: +1/-1 Warrior

For the time being, they had no choice but to make do with the way things had turned out. Haruhiro considered leaving the Thieves Guild to join the Warriors Guild, but it wasn’t practical. He couldn’t keep everyone waiting another seven days while he went through the training course. Then there was the matter of money.

They had received a total of ten silvers for becoming Crimson Moon trainees, but eight of those were spent upon joining their respective guilds. That left only two silvers they could use freely. And even that wasn’t entirely true. Though room and board had been provided during their crash courses with their guilds, after that, they were on their own for food and housing.

If they didn’t splurge on food, then ten capas a day were enough to get by. Housing, unless they wanted to sleep on the streets, was another matter. He hadn’t done the proper research yet, but it seemed that renting a room averaged around forty to fifty capas per person per day. In order to save money, they could skip housing, but they had to eat. That meant a minimum of ten capas per day.

Two silvers. Two hundred capas. Twenty days of food.

They had a to find a way to earn money. Before they could even think about buying their Crimson Moon service contracts from Bri, they had to figure out a way to live from day to day. How could they make money?

By working, of course.

So Haruhiro and the others had left Altana through the northern gate to begin working as Crimson Moon trainees. They hadn’t gone far when they encountered a large man, dressed in rather shabby, dirty chainmail armor sitting in the gra.s.s by the side of the road.

“…Mogzo?” Haruhiro asked.

The big man looked up slowly and blinked. He opened and shut his mouth several times, but no words came out. Haruhiro and Manato exchanged glances.

“Huh…” Yume shifted her gaze to the fluffy clouds in the sky above. “Mogzo, weren’t you dragged off by Ragmound to join his party?”

“Not Ragmound, Raghill,” Haruhiro corrected mildly then approached Mogzo. “Is something wrong? Are you here all alone?”

Mogzo knitted his eyebrows together and gave a slow nod.

“I got it!” Ranta said, making a snapping motion with his fingers, though no sound came out. “They threw you out, didn’t they? Raghill asked you to join, but when he found out how useless and dim-witted you are, he changed his mind and kicked you out!”

“Ranta…” Haruhiro began to warn, but cut himself off. It was pointless; the kid was beyond help.

“My money,” Mogzo groaned. “He took it all. He told me to hand it all over, said he would show me the ropes…”

“That’s horrible,” Shihoru whispered.

“I told you so,” Ranta bragged huffishly. “That’s why I told you not to go. I told you Raghill couldn’t be trusted. I knew all along he was a heap of rags, a hill of trash.”

“You’re one to talk,” Haruhiro replied.

“Shut up, Haruhiro! How am I trash?! List the reasons! I dare you to list them!”

“Really? Fine then. First of all—”

“Quit it! You actually keep a numbered list of a person’s bad points? That’s a trashy thing to do! You’re the one who’s trash!”

“Wow. Being called trash by trash, that’s super insulting…”

“Mogzo.” Manato squatted down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “You joined the Warriors Guild, right?”

Mogzo was dressed in chainmail armor, was wearing leather gloves and boots, and had a sheathed b.a.s.t.a.r.d sword strapped diagonally to his back. All of the equipment looked like it was secondhand, but by appearances, Mogzo was none other than the Warrior cla.s.s. Due to his large size, the new look was rather befitting.

“Yeah,” Mogzo replied, briefly glancing at Manato. “I joined the Warriors Guild.”

“That’s right!” Haruhiro clapped his hands together. “Even if it’s that Trashhill’s fault, our party’s missing a Warrior…”

“Haruhiro, when you say Trashhill, you’re talking ’bout yourself, right?”

Haruhiro ignored Ranta’s comment and instead turned to Yume and Shihoru. “What do you two think?”

“I think that would be great,” Shihoru readily approved.

“What would be great?” Yume asked, clearly not understanding.

“Well, you see, our party’s missing a Warrior and Mogzo happens to be one without a party at the moment. I mean, it’s perfect, don’t you think?”

“Ohh…” Yume replied solemnly, then focused her gaze on Mogzo. “Mogzo, would you like to join Yume’s party?”

“…Is that… would it really be okay for me to join?”

“I, for one, would like that,” Manato grinned broadly at Mogzo. “If that’s okay with you, that is.”

Haruhiro suspiciously glanced at Ranta sidelong. If anyone were to object, it would be that kid. But contrary to expectations…

Ranta cantered over behind Mogzo and playfully headlocked him. “I guess there’s no choice then! I’ll take good care of you, so become a good shield for me! Be prepared to die for me, Mogzo!”

“Oh. So that was your intention,” Haruhiro said.

“What? Did I say something weird? Nope. Not at all. It’s a Warrior’s job to stand in the front lines and tank, right? They’re the ones that are supposed to take the brunt of the enemies’ attacks. That’s why their entire body’s covered in chainmail armor—high defensive potential.”

“Ranta’s absolutely right,” Manato said, expression grave as he gazed at Mogzo. “I’m not saying this to frighten you, but Warriors have it tougher than anyone else. But you can count on all of us to support you and if anything happens, I’ll use my Light Magic to heal you. So rest a.s.sured.”

Mogzo nodded. “I’ll do the best I can. But…” Mogzo rubbed his stomach. “I have no money…”

“I’ll lend you some. I’ll find a way to make do for now and once we start earning money, we don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Ranta grinned from ear to ear, patting Mogzo on the head. “I’m not lending you a single cent. I don’t return any money I borrow, so I don’t lend my money out either. That’s my policy!”

“Is that so?” Haruhiro shot back immediately. “You’re a natural lowlife.”

Ranta stuck his tongue out at him then raised his index finger. “Haruhiro.”

“What?”

“What do you get when you multiply a negative number with a negative number? A positive number, right?”

“So what?”

“That’s what I am.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Slow, aren’t you? I became Dread Knight, not a Warrior, right? Then we found Mogzo, who’s a Warrior and without a party. It worked out perfectly and it’s ALL THANKS TO ME.”

“I’m actually pretty jealous,” Manato said with a smile. “You always have a way of looking at the bright side of everything. It’s not something you can just want to do and then do it. It’s a real ability.”

“That’s right! Unlike that r.e.t.a.r.d Haruhiro, I knew you’d understand!”

“Whatever.” Answering him back would just tire him out. Instead, Haruhiro turned towards Mogzo and stretched out his hand. “Let’s get to work, Mogzo!”

Mogzo took Haruhiro’s hand and Haruhiro attempted to pull him up to his feet. “Mogzo,” Haruhiro grunted. “You need to help me out, I can’t pull you up by myself…”

“Ah, sorry,” Mogzo replied, standing.

Maybe, they were going to be okay after all, Haruhiro thought.