The sun was long gone, but the city was lit up by the full moon above, outshining the stars that littered the sky. The walk from the hospital to the northern gate wasn't too long, as the hospital itself was in the center.
On their way to the gate, one of the first things the trio did was stop at a pet shop to buy a cat backpack for Fluffy to sit in while on Mana's back. She saw it as a way to get stronger on the way there; part of her self-training.
Though, despite everything going right finally, Mana's voice was lost again. I really have to start controlling myself, Mana thought to herself, rolling her eyes at her own stupidity. You have only yourself to be mad at. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, before turning to look at Viktor, who was still a little red from the ordeal.
Luckily, after a doctor's close inspection, Mana was able to be discharged from the hospital, and the trio had begun their trek towards Midflora.
With Viktor being of a higher rank in the civilian guild, he guaranteed Mana that she wouldn't need travel paperwork since he would be guiding her to the destination himself. He not only wanted to protect and make sure she got there safely, but he wanted to guarantee she succeeded in her overall mission. He had lost one too many of those he cared about to the disease as well.
Viktor's steel boots clicked against the sidewalk loudly while Mana's boots were more of a pat. "It's going to be a very long journey," he informed her, breaking the silence between them, though his voice was still a bit shaky. She only nodded and smiled at him, refusing to open her mouth to talk because she knew she sounded like a demon. He turned to Fluffy, "can't you heal her already?"
"Of course I can, but I'm not," he snapped. "My ears hurt, but I can endure that long enough to let her suffer for causing my pain." He gave Viktor a toothy grin, before Mana suddenly halted.
She removed the backpack from her back then set it down upon the ground with Fluffy still in it. Without a word she then continued on, leaving him behind.
Viktor stood there for a moment, looking at Fluffy who sat cozily in the backpack, then at Mana who was walking with a purpose, getting further away. "I'd heal her if I were you," he whispered to him, squatting down to get to eye level with Fluffy. "She thinks she's being smart about this decision, but she's not. But that won't stop her from just putting herself in the hospital again instead of coming back to get you."
"You carry me then."
Viktor pointed to the long shield mounted on his back, "are you going to be my meat shield to replace it? I'm a tank; a flail doesn't do the job by itself," he patted the curled flail hanging at his hip, "no offense, Slithers."
Fluffynutts shook his head, taken aback. "Fine, I'll heal her. Can you at least carry me to her?" Viktor gave him a wink, then picked the backpack up before beginning to carry the feline back to Mana, sprinting to catch up to her.
In the middle of the mini dash, Fluffy let out one of his low, odd meows, his aura changing to a calming, healing one that could only be felt by Viktor and Mana.
Mana instantly felt her throat get better, so she stopped walking to turn and wait for the men to catch up. She had a snarky smile on her face as she made eye contact with Fluffy. "Thank you," she said as they finally caught up to her.
Viktor handed the backpack to her, and she quickly mounted him back into place with a loud grunt as the weight of the cat put intense pressure onto her shoulders. He wiggled himself around getting himself snug once more.
Once the three were together again, her future personal guide informed Mana that, while she was passed out, the higher ups that were out on missions, from all guilds, were ordered to return. Those that were already in the city began repairs first, while the higher ups jumped in when they were available. Rebuilding the damage was the top priority.
By the time Mana was released from her hospital stay, the work was already done.
The state of emergency had gone into overdrive with the infiltration, but at last, it was over for the city for the time being.
As they approached the northern guardsmen's building, a young man with a giant smile quickly approached them when he realized Viktor and Mana were heading his way.
"Sir Klora!" The young man shouted as he switched to standing at attention when he was within ear shot of them.
"At ease, Danji," Viktor said, "what do you need to report?"
"There's a letter that arrived for you, they said it was urgent," he said, handing a sealed envelope over to Viktor. As he took it from him, he nodded in thanks, dismissing Danji.
He opened the envelope hastily before taking the letter out and unfolding it to read. After a few seconds, he placed it back into its original packaging, and motioned for Mana to follow him for a moment. When they reached just outside the building, he asked her to wait outside, in which she agreed to, while he went into the building to talk to his men.
"What do you think that letter was?" She asked the backpack cat as they waited in the moonlight together.
"I don't care," he replied, slouching down into the bag as he closed his eyes to rest. "But if I had to guess..." he paused for a moment as he rolled around to get comfier, "...no idea."
"So helpful, aren't you."
"Why yes, yes I am, actually."
A few moments later, Viktor walked out of the building, a smile plastered over his face. "You ready?" He asked them.
"What happened in there?" Mana asked with a half-smile back.
"I got approved to be your guide," he gleamed. He had known Mana was not going to let up on trying to leave, so while she was unconscious, he had applied to be a personal guide for Mana on her mission. He had to make it convincing, as cleansing the world of Rot is a very ambitious goal.
It had been a long while since Viktor was able to go on an actual adventure. He had once been in the fighter's guild when he was younger, but he didn't like the constant danger, so he changed to the civilian guild. It wasn't too long after switching to the guild did he realize it was too boring, but by then it was too late to switch, and he was stuck for 5 years; The minimum amount of time to serve a guild before leaving it. Though each guild comes with a 5-month trial period to see if the life is right for the applicant, which is why he was able to leave originally.
Being stuck, however, didn't stop him from trying his hardest. Viktor quickly rose through the ranks, reaching level 75 by the time the 5th year came, making him the youngest level 75 that Koro had seen before.
The 15 minutes of fame had gotten to his head unfortunately, and he stopped trying to achieve more, feeling settled at his current rank.
He never regretted his decision to stop improving though. He enjoyed the break. But now?
He found a reason to get stronger.