"What a coincidence!"
I gave Nicola a wry smile. To be honest, I was a bit swayed by what this girl said. But without her help, I didn't have much confidence in doing this alone.
"If you want to help, it's up to you..."
Considering the enchanted arrows on the phoenix in Makalan City were likely related to this girl's trapped companion, Nicola thought about it and didn't stop me. But she confirmed with the other party, "However, let me make it clear - we can't set off for at least three days! And we'll only escort you to Dona Mountain Range to check on your companion's situation along the way. After that, we'll keep heading south and won't return to this city, so you'll have to come back alone."
Since we should be able to meet the Pope tomorrow, the investigation hopefully wouldn't take too long if all went well, so three days should be enough time.
"Well, I've already waited this long. As long as it's not more than a week, it's fine!" The girl responded readily. Since she finally found an angel willing to help, she naturally didn't want to miss this chance.
Because Nicola didn't have enough credits to take this quest, I had to do it instead. Plus, I'm a high-rank adventurer, so I only need half the credit requirement for high-level quests. Although my credits were running low, I had just completed the quest to escort Selene, along with some small low-level quest rewards, so I barely had enough.
However, when I took the quest, the guild staff was stunned to see my angelic identity again, not knowing why there were so many angels appearing today. Fortunately, with Cyra as a precedent, he was slightly prepared mentally, so there wasn't too much of a commotion. This guy even took out a pen and paper to secretly ask me for an autograph...
It seems the residents of the holy capital really don't see angels very often. This was quite an interesting little episode...
"Let's regroup here in three days. We can discuss the details then!"
We agreed on the next meetup time. Since the quest issuer had some important matters to handle, she hurriedly parted ways and left the guild. We learned from her that her name is Yulanda Debra, coincidentally also an adventurer party from the Astralrealm Kingdom.
"How did your test go?" Nicola immediately asked Cyra, who had just finished her test and walked out.
"Fourth rank!"Cyra readily showed her ID card.
"Don't underestimate this place just because the facilities look shabby. The test proctor was quite formidable! Caught me off guard, I couldn't even cast most of my spells that required incantations..."
"Not bad at least, you reached the average level, only one rank lower than Nicola back then!"
I casually glanced at the card she handed over and felt a bit relieved. It's a good thing I thought to update my rank beforehand. Otherwise, if I showed a mere third rank, I'd probably be the weakest of the three and get mocked for sure.
"What about that girl earlier?"
Seeing only the two of us standing there, Cyra asked in puzzlement, "Did you guys also refuse her request?"
"What? Think she's not bad looking, caught your interest?" Nicola's expression soured, recalling how this guy had previously sold out his teammates.
Fortunately, Yulanda herself was also aware that she needed our help, so it wasn't appropriate to make too big of a fuss. So when talking to us, she deliberately chose a secluded corner with no one around, avoiding causing too much commotion. Otherwise, the few of us would probably become famous in this city.
"No, no! I just really admire her. The rest of her party gave up, but she's the only one staying behind to find help. Not many people can do that..."
Cyra scratched her head, seemingly a bit envious as she explained.
Seeing her reaction, I suddenly realized - Cyra was also afraid we might abandon her in times of crisis! After all, her strength couldn't match Nicola's and mine. Since traversing to this world, she had experienced two crises - first when Edenmere was invaded, and then this recent assassination attempt by Carl. Though she made it through safely each time, it was mainly thanks to others' help.
No one can avoid getting their feet wet if they keep walking by the riverside. What's more, we've now left Edenmere for the main world filled with all sorts of dangers. No matter how powerful Nicola and I are, there will always be situations beyond our capabilities. It's understandable for Cyra to have such insecurities.
"Don't worry! We'll never abandon you. After all, we're all classmates who came through together. We can only make it to the end by helping each other."
I gently reassured her. Perhaps I wouldn't have dared to say such nice words when we first traversed here. But after we've all been through so much together and rebuilt our bonds, it's only natural.
"Is that so? Nicola!" I nudged the person beside me with my elbow, indicating for her to quickly express her stance too. But to my surprise, after a moment's hesitation, she just turned and walked away, leaving only a few words behind.
"Instead of relying on others, you'd be better off putting in that effort to improve your own strength. That's the way to survive."
"Tch! This guy's strength comes from cheating, I've never seen her put in any real effort before. How dare she say that!"
Cyra scoffed at Nicola's back and snuck in a rude hand gesture. Of course, she didn't dare say these words out loud and could only grumble to me privately.
"Well..."
My mouth couldn't help but twitch. It seemed the situation had exceeded my expectations, with an invisible rift gradually expanding between us.
...
Late at night, in a room at the Arcania Hot Spring Hotel.
Lying on the bed in a completely awry sleeping position, Cyra's body suddenly jolted as she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the ornately decorated ceiling.
"Strange, am I still in this hotel? But it seems like I've changed rooms..."
She spaced out for a while, rubbing her eyes and feeling her chest and lower body before muttering to herself, "What should I do next? If I stay in one place, it'll be so boring. I wonder if I can leave this city? But I also feel so tired, I don't really want to move! Why is it always like this?"
"Hi there!"
Seeing "Cyra" finally turn her body toward me, I squatted down and waved with a smile, greeting her.
"So it seems you really aren't the real person! A separate personality then?"
"You again!" "Cyra" shouted in shock as if she had seen a ghost, sitting up abruptly while pointing at me. But her eyes clearly showed a hint of fear.
"And me too!" Nicola spoke up from the other side of the bed with a solemn expression. Now surrounded from both sides, there was no way for her to escape.
"I remember you!" "Cyra" turned and rudely scolded Nicola, pointing at her. "You're the one who randomly stopped me yesterday and asked what I was going to do!"
"Which one? Why don't you say my name!" Nicola's face darkened further from being yelled at, nodding at me meaningfully.
Sensing something was off, "Cyra" leapt off the bed and charged towards me, clearly intending to flee through the window behind me. To my surprise, she didn't use any magic and just tried to physically force her way out. Although Cyra's magical abilities weren't great, she could still cast some basic light spells without incantations, though they wouldn't have any effect on me...
"Doesn't seem like she'll be much trouble. This one feels quite weak, nothing like what you guessed!"
As she tried to escape, she didn't even manifest her wings? I clicked my tongue and spread my own wings, grabbing the back of "Cyra's" clothes and flying out with her dangling behind me. Nicola followed closely without a word.
Actually, we didn't originally expect the other personality to appear tonight. We just had her stay in the same room with us to keep an eye on her, just in case.
Unexpectedly, our hunch was right - after Cyra fell asleep first, before Nicola and I could even lie down, a phenomenon occurred. A flash of white light imbued with light elemental aura flickered around Cyra's body, followed by the situation we just witnessed.
"Let me go! You're actually angels! You haven't given up hunting me after all? No, wait..."
Dangling in mid-air by her clothes, "Cyra" still wouldn't keep still, constantly struggling. Fortunately, with my six-wings' greater strength, I didn't let her fall from the sky.
"Keep it down! If you alert the other people down there, it won't just be violating and killing you!" Nicola mockingly warned from behind.
Rattled by her threat, "Cyra" immediately shut her mouth and stayed quiet.
After flying for a while to the outskirts of the city, we finally found a secluded spot to land.
"Um...I don't know how women do it, but can you just kill and not violate me?"
The moment her feet touched the ground, "Cyra" clutched her arms shyly, actually trying to negotiate a compromise with us.