" How to put it.. Do you remember the ranks of the adventurer's guild ? "
Seeing her nodding to his words, even if she guessed where it was going, he still kept his explanations going.
" Then, you can compare a white card, which contains one, two and three stars personalities as recruits, their experiences are not much, and their strenghts will fall compared to skilled adventurers, but they're still far stronger than the normal human. "
" A golden card, which is a four star personality, would be like the son or daughter of an experimented hunter, grew up with experience in their hands and know a lot more things and how to reacts properly, along with few skills to demonstrate in specifics situations, and I believe they could reach the silver, golden or even diamond rank for a few of them. "
" Finally, the rainbow cards, represented by five star personalities, could be compared as geniuses able to rise from nothing to the top just based on their skills alone, they are far more valuables and could be known in the whole country as a legendary adventurer if the conditions permit it. "
Maybe he was lightly exaggerating things as he didn't possessed much knowledge about this world, but knowing that the same woman that was next to him could actually kill a level 80 dragon just by herself with a few hits once she reached her max potential, it didn't seemed that far from his ideas.
" Well, those are just a few exemples that I gave, you can treat them as nonsense if it seems too far fetched for you, and I didn't took into account the whole leveling process, evolution and more.. "
Drawing against the ground a few doodles with his stick, he ignored that she was actually thinking deeply about something, but as he thought that she wouldn't give him an answer, she proved him wrong one again.
" ... I'll do anything to reach the expectations master have for me. "
Smiling at her words, he then tried to relax the tension for a bit.
" It'll take a lot of time for the both of us to reach that point, so don't worry too much about it for now. "
" ... "
Because she just gave him a nod as an answer, the conversation quickly came to a halt, and since he didn't felt like asking her directly if there was anything else that she desired to know after his explanations, they just stood in silent, watching over the fire and eventually going back to their tents, resting for good once they were done with their duties.
_________________________________________
The next morning, he was waking up early thanks to Mariane's help.
It wasn't his fault that he lacked sleep, or maybe it would be since he was the one that wanted to play with her as well and didn't used the first period to rest before his turn to guard the camp.
But besides being slightly weary the moment he opened his eyes and the first few minutes, he was pretty much alright, showing already a different state from his usual lazy self.
Though most of it was forced, as he couldn't show such a bad side of him during his first request from the adventurer's guild, and in front of the beastfolk woman, it wasn't as if he was completly useless either.
And unfortunately so, he couldn't really sleep with Mariane in his arms, as they just held hands because of the sleeping bags that could only allow one person at a time.
" .. Master, are you alright ? "
With that lovely girl inquiring about his state, the frustration of being forced to get up without having a single moment to rest vasined as if it never existed and a small smile appeared on his lips.
" Yeah, I'm alright, what about you Mariane ? "
" I'm always in perfect condition.. "
Receiving a report about her state in a small voice, he admitted that she was cute, but how come he got annoyed by the fact that she didn't needed to sleep while he did ?
Having no answer to such a question, he just let out a small sigh as he exited the tent provided by the merchants, seeing a few men waking up slowly as well.
' They're still avoiding me.. '
Staring at three of the mercenaries that he got to meet the day before and that were waiting at the campfire, they quickly turned their heads and began to speak lowly between the three of them, trying to not grab his attention.
' ... Is a mage that scary ? '
Asking himself, he knew that he wouldn't get an answer from such a thought, and if he were to ask directly, it would create more misunderstandings, so he purposefully didn't said anything and just walked towards the center of the camp.
Surely, the mercenaries weren't the only ones avoiding his few glances, as most guys were doing so, or maybe they were avoiding to stare at Mariane which was behind him, but he couldn't know about that, as he just waited while keeping himself warm thanks to the fire.
" Shouldn't we wake up everyone.. ? "
" Y-yeah, you're right. "
" Alright, let's do that instead !.. "
He didn't knew if it was silent in respect to those who were still sleeping, or because of his arrival, but he got to hear something interesting as most followed the thoughts of the first person who spoke and then got up.
' What's the deal, being so terrified about me ? '
Sending a curious glance to Mariane, she nodded to him with a face that was saying ' As expected of Master. ' , but why did everyone seemed to avoid him ?
As much as he wanted to grab the woman next to him by the arm and pull her out of the camp to ask what was the meaning of this, if he were to disappear for a few minutes with his maid, won't people get the wrong idea as well ?
Though he wouldn't mind if it was the truth, he wasn't especially a liar, and didn't wanted to be bothered by explaining himself later to somewhat clear his reputation, so only letting out a sigh from this absurd situation, he would swear that the people around him started moving faster once they heard it.
Fortunately, someone finally approached him after a few minutes, and it was the same guy responsible for the whole transport mission.
Wearing his glasses, he still had some dishevelled hair here and there, showing how quickly he had to prepare himself, but his clothes were at least worn properly so he didn't minded anything other than that, except for the words that came out of his mouth.
" Sir Arthurion, you sure woke up early, very different from most of the ruthless men here haha.. "
Forcing a laugh as if trying to crack a joke or make his words looks better to him, he wanted to ask if he was one of the ' ruthless ' ones himself since he clearly didn't had the time to prepare himself, but once again, he kept his words as he asked something else.
" What's the commotion about ? "
" It's nothing really.. ! I just want to apologize for not recognizing such an esteemed guest in the first place, and we can't keep you waiting either so I'll get everyone ready to depart right away ! "
Was it really because he got out of his tents early that people were reacting in such a way ?
What was it ?
Because he showed the ' grimoire ' to others and made himself look like a mage ? Or did they thought he was a noble because of the company of Mariane ?
Either way, it appeared to be slightly annoying for him to receive such a treatment suddendly.
Surely, he was good with people having misunderstandings and not asking many questions, but in the end, he was still a human and didn't wanted people to clearly avoid him or try to please him in such a disgusting way.
" Calm down, what is there to recognize about me ? Right now, I'm just an adventurer, tell other to rest if they want, we'll depart in due time. "
Without having to reveal the whole truth about his abilities or his past, he chose to play his role as an adventurer to the heart.
" Are you sure.. ? But.... Alright, I understand. "
With his unwavering stare, he didn't properly answered the words of the man wearing glasses, yet, the response of his was clearly understood as the man seemed to relax.
" Then we'll depart in an hour at most, if you'll excuse me.. "
Finally, the man who had the highest position and the bigger part of the misunderstanding walked away from their positions, leaving them alone again in the middle of the camp, but at least, instead of the sense of urgency that could be felt earlier, people with weary expression relaxed themselves and some even went back to sleep.
' I swear, how did that kind of misunderstandings even happened in the first place ? '