(500 Powerstones is this week's goal, so give it to me now~)
Time--?, Place--??, POV--??
I don't remember the exact date when this happened, but I remember the incident vividly.
It was a sunny day with almost no clouds present.
I remember a girl in my team complaining about the heat and how her stock of sunscreen that she keeps in her spatial storage was finished.
The other team member - a male - was placating the girl by saying that a bit of tan wouldn't really affect her beauty.
However that itself led to an argument between them which continued until we reached our target location for our mission.
I don't exactly know the details of the relationship between my two teammates, as it hadn't been too long since I joined the team with them. I instinctively got a feeling that I was being a third wheel whenever I was around them.
It was a bit awkward, but I got used to it soon.
We had taken a few missions together, but two of them had been life-and-death scenarios, such that my relationship with both of them was intimate enough to call them comrades I could trust my back with.
What happened during that specific mission is something that I can't forget. Even now, I have nightmares of that day.
Our mission was pretty simple: we just had to take care of some bandits who were harassing villagers by not letting them go up the mountain to get medicinal herbs and other materials.
However, that whole description was a lie.
We were baited by a member of some cult. I don't remember exactly, as the girl who was our enemy never gave any information about her organization even after she was captured.
I heard from a colleague that her body blew up before anybody could interrogate her, and it led to one senior member even losing his leg during that incident.
Anyway, that girl's magic was pretty demonic, to say the least.
Her powers could be considered to be around Fourth to Fifth Class Intermediate level, which, considering my current strength, is laughable. However, at that time, for me who was Peak Junior Level, it was like having a mountain to climb.
Though, even if she had similar strength as me, I don't think it would have made any difference.
She could control people fully if she had their blood.
The entire village was under her control.
I came to know the specifics of her magic much later after my female teammate went under her control.
Though I don't exactly know how that happened, I only know that among my teammates, we had separated two times, so I suspect it was during those times.
After my female teammate was under her control, with us none the wiser, she killed my other teammate in a sneak attack as we were walking up the mountain.
I was barely able to dodge as she threw a fireball at me point-blank.
I was slightly stronger than my female teammate, so I tried to knock her out with some mana reinforcement, as I was still in denial that my other teammate's head was detached from his body.
However, that was a naive idea in itself, as I almost got myself burned due to it.
I had multiple chances to kill her, but due to not understanding the scenario fully, I didn't.
I don't regret that a bit, as I would still be in the same boat if that happened again.
Due to my emotional state and how close the battle would have been if I fought, I had only one option - I ran away.
---
After resting in the inn for the night, the quartet decided to gather information from locals and other people about what they didn't get from that Ruffian group and to make sure that the information they received was correct.
Though they didn't really believe that group would lie, especially after how Erza traumatized them, caution wasn't really a bad thing to have.
Akeru had also shown the portraits of both Takuma and Miko to the team, as just having the name isn't much information since their targets wouldn't dare to wear Purple Orca robes in a foreign country.
"Should we go individually or should we form two groups with two people each?" Ren asked everybody during breakfast the next day.
"Let's go with two groups, as it would be troublesome if you guys encounter somebody strong alone," Akeru suggested, and the rest agreed.
"I will go along with Kaiser to gather information in the east part of the city while you guys go to the west," he said to the other two while pointing his finger at the map.
After breakfast, both duos went on their own paths with the same objective.
"Boss, are kind actions always rewarded?" Kaiser suddenly asked Akeru while they were walking.
Both of them were still wearing cloaks which hid their figures and bodies.
Normally, this would have been counterproductive as wearing a robe that hid yourself would attract more attention, but in a lawless city like Dustspire, it was pretty effective.
"I didn't expect you to be the type of person who believes in god," Akeru chuckled.
"Well, I don't really, but I have heard that 'Karma' exists from a co-worker and actually ponder whether that saying is true or not," Kaiser said nonchalantly like he was walking in a park.
Which actually they were.
Akeru glanced at Kaiser for a second.
"Well, I don't know whether 'karma' exists or not, though my opinion on the matter is that not always are they rewarded."
"Then, why do you think such a saying is spread and taught to people from a young age?"
"Why indeed, huh?" Akeru thought about this and subconsciously activated 'Still Spectator'.
A moment later, he replied.
"Well, humans are social creatures, which means that they couldn't make much progress without working together from the stone age. Also, our primal instincts are geared towards that fact too. So what do you think is the best way to form bonds with other people?"
"By giving a good front, that is by doing kind actions as one party is benefiting from it, so they would naturally have a favourable impression of another," Kaiser said after a moment of thought.
"Which would lead to the other party doing the same for the former normally, as a sign of gratitude."
"I see. This could also lead to other people doing kind actions, though, wouldn't that mean that we are expecting something when doing kind actions? Doesn't that go against the same norms?"
"Yeah, but humans are greedy by nature. I think that saying is probably said so that you don't feel disappointed if such actions are not repaid," Akeru shrugged.
"That's one way to see things, though I like this perspective," Kaiser grinned.
"Well, I just thought about it on the spot, so you might find some faults. Do let me know when you find them."
"Sure."
"Then again, I think there must be some things done without any specific purpose," Akeru muttered a moment later.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing, let's find some people to interrogate," Akeru shook his head and increased his pace, making Kaiser do the same.
---
"So, did you find some information?" Akeru asked the other two.
Currently, it was noon, and they had decided to have lunch in this restaurant beforehand, so now they were exchanging information.
"Ren and I found an ex-magic knight of Diamond Kingdom, and I got tons of information," Erza said with a grin while passing them a small notebook.
Akeru scanned through all the pages quickly and then gave it to Kaiser.
"Good job. I think it's time for us to change cities. I don't think we will find Takuma and Miko in this city, and the search till now was enough to give us an idea. What do you think?"
The other three agreed with him, and they left the city after lunch.
Their next destination was Topaz Gorge -- a major place from where mage stones are supplied to the entire kingdom.
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Author's Note: Ahem, sorry for the flashbacks being more frequent in these chapters. I should have added them during the time when Akeru took the mission. I could have fleshed it out even more, but I guess, with the situation at hand, this is also fine, as people do like a bit of fast pace.
What do you think?
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