"Hahaha. I'm feeling lucky today! Can you imagine?! Easy money from just finding a pet?" Rever couldn't stop the grin on his face as he searched for the lost pet in the garden.
The moment they arrived at the garden, they wasted no time searching every nook and cranny.
"Why are you so excited about the money? Didn't you still have that Rank-A beast with you from yesterday's loot? From those alone, they could already fetch for more than a gold bar," Rain said as he searched for any signs of the pet.
"Heh! Rich-born kids wouldn't understand lil' 'ol me's plight from poverty. Alas, I'm just a punk from a rag-tag town with nothing on my name. They don't understand that poor 'ol me has to save every penny for the future," Rever dramatically narrated while Rain huffed a chuckle in amusement.
After an hour of searching the whole garden, they gave up and regrouped.
"Geez . . . I guess the little booger already fled this place." Rever felt resigned and crossed his arms, thinking of what to do next.
"Maybe we could ask around. Someone might have spotted it," Rain suggested, and they began to gather information about the pet from every student present in the garden.
"Eh? A black feather beast with gold patches? I do remember seeing one," said one of the cute girls who were chatting on the bench.
Rever's eyes shone with delight. "Really? Quick! Tell me where it is."
"If I remembered correctly, I spotted it in the Library a while ago," the cute girl said while tilting her head to the side and placing a finger on her chin. Then she beamed, "Anyway, this information isn't cheap. But since you're just cute little first years, I'll just ask for your communication number–"
The girl didn't finish her sentence when Rever zoomed to Rain and dragged him towards the library.
----
Meanwhile, inside the library, a staggering fifty-meter-high building with nothing but shelves of books lined its walls. Its center was hallowed, and the only thing that prevented the students from falling to their death were metal railings and the constant presence of mind.
Pamela was seated on the fourth floor, concentrating on books about different stones. All sorts of old books to new ones piled at her side while her familiar Morpheus was sleeping on her head.
There weren't many students at this building as everyone was busy outside, recruiting and joining some clubs.
"Hm . . . this book doesn't have one in it either." Pamela sighed inwardly as she grabbed for another book.
At this moment, the door of the library opened and came in Rain and Rever. Pamela overlooked the newcomers as she was wholeheartedly focused on the books about stones. It was only when Rever spoke that Pamela finally raised her head and looked over the ground floor.
Upon spotting Rain and Rever, she hid just in time that the two looked over and marveled at the library's interior.
"Whoa, look at this place. Falling from that height would be ugly." Rever shuddered while Rain looked around.
"Let's spread and search for the creature. Don't forget to ask around anyone to if they saw it," Rain reminded.
"Right."
"Why are you hiding? It's not strange for you to be in the library, and besides, they're your classmates," Morpheus said mentally to Pamela as it yawned and stretched. It was woken by the familiar voice of Rain and Rever.
"It's not strange for me to be here, but it's strange if they find out that I'm only reading books about stones. We are on a secret mission, after all. I don't want to compromise ourselves because of my carelessness," Pamela replied in her mind.
At first, she was curious about what Rain and Rever were doing as they seemed to be finding something, but her curiosity turned to panic when she saw them climbing the stairs.
"Oh no! oh no! They're coming here! W-what should I do?!" Pamela panicked in her mind while Morpheus rolled her eyes.
"Gezzz . . . Haven't you learned anything at all. Just teleport yourself out."
Pamela knocked her head with her fist and stuck out her tongue. "Ehehehe. You're right. I somewhat forgot what I am from just days of being in the outside world."
POOF!
And with a poofing sound, the two of them were gone like there was no one there, to begin with. The few students didn't even notice anything weird.
Rain and Rever climbed to the fourth level just in time that Pamela teleported herself out of the building.
"*sigh . . . How much further are we going to climb this thing?" Rever grumbled, too tired and lazy to take a step further up the stairs.
Rain glanced left and right. He saw piles of books about ores at one table, one book was open and half-finished, but the reader was nowhere. Rain didn't give it much thought and walked towards some students who were concentrating on their books.
"Excuse me. Sorry to bother you," Rain said, all polite on a youth wearing spectacles. "Have you seen this creature by any chance?"
Rain grabbed the folded picture of Popo from his pocket and showed it to the youth.
The boy glanced over at Rain with a raised eyebrow before looking at the picture. He arranged his glasses and, with an overconfident voice, said, "This is a beast from the bird family, but it actually has four paws, so I assume it's a half breed of some sort. Elemental affinity is darkness and lighting from the color of feathers and the patches of golden spots. And judging from the size, it's just but a babe."
Rain was speechless for a second. "So err . . . have you seen it?"
The youth nudged his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "I have. You just showed me a picture of it just now."
". . ."
Rain was amicable, patient, and kind, but he just wanted to punch the kid right now.
"Rain! Come here! Quick!" Rever shouted, which garnered frowns and hushes from the students. But he didn't mind it as he was busy following the floating creature with his eyes.
Rain glanced over to where Rever was looking and found a black fatherly creature twirling around and around at the ceiling.
"Popo!"
"Potpourri!"
Rain and Rever said at the same time. The creature was startled and flew into the ground and out from the opened window.
"After it!" Rever roared, and without a second thought, he and Rain jumped from the twenty-meter-high floor and landed on the ground with their feet with just the faint sound of a thud and zoomed out of the library to chase after Popo.