New Friends

Vier's stack of Paintball Guns has been confiscated by Mifumi and Rozze.

Felin wanted to keep at least one Paintball Gun for herself, but the look that Mifumi and Rozze saw in Felin's eyes made them deny Felin's request. After all, just like Felin and Vier, Mifumi and Rozze know how fun it is to play with Paintball Guns or, more accurately, how fun it is to shoot others using Paintball Guns.

Seeing that same look in Nerna's eyes as she held the Paintball Gun that she purchased at the Black Ops stall, Acier confiscated it as well, making Nerna cry in regret as the Aurikal Sword said goodbye to the Black Ops.

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The Black Ops continued selling their loot and items until another familiar group of Adventurers arrived at their stall just before noon.

"So you're group is actually here at the Open Market."

"We asked about your group at the Adventurers Guild and they told us that you're here."

Their new customers, or rather guests, are Slain and Karna of the Adventurers Party Neo Heroes.

"Are you looking for us Ms. Karna, Mr. Slain?"

Since the Neo Heroes are a little bit older than the members of the Dwarf Cat-eared Elf, along with the aura of nobility that can be observed from the way they speak and act, Vier decided to treat them with a bit of respect.

"There's something I would like to talk to you, Ms. Vier. But first of all, do you think we can stop using proper honorifics while talking with each other? We may not be that acquainted yet but with all the fights we've been through together, I think we can call each other just by our name."

What Karna said came as quite a surprise to the Dwarf Cat-eared Elf. After all, Karna is practically asking them to become their friends.

Vier, Felin, and Mifumi look at each other and after understanding what they're thinking, they both nod at each other and speak to Karna and Slain.

...Okay, Karna, Slain...

Karna and Slain gave a smile showing that they were happy because the Dwarf Cat-eared Elf decided to accept their friendship.

After their discussion, Karna invited Vier to talk in private leaving Mifumi, Felin, and Rozze together with Slain to manage the Black Ops stall.

Karna decided that the matter they would talk about should only be between her and Vier. After all, when Karna tries asking Slain and Renxa about seeing a certain Phantom in their unusual dreams, both of her friends are unaware of what she's talking about.

That's why Karna thought that the Phantom had only shown itself to her and that it was keeping its existence a secret. At that matter, Karna is indeed right. After all, Vier hasn't told anyone, not to her family or closest friends, about her Onee-chan in her dreams.

It's not because Vier doesn't trust her family and closest friends. Her Onee-chan requests that Vier should not tell anyone about her for the reason that her Onee-chan doesn't want Vier to look weird to other people. After all, there is no way to prove to other people that her Onee-chan is real.

Not until now that Karna has met the Phantom, the Soul Ember, who calls herself Vier's Onee-chan.

"So you really did meet Onee-chan back then, Karna?"

"That's right, Vier. I met her in my dream, at the place where there's nothing but a white void, a place where the Soul Ember of my reincarnation rests."

It was a surprise for Vier to hear Karna speak about the place where there's nothing but a white void. The place where she and her Onee-chan would always see each other in her dreams.

However, that's not the only thing that surprised Vier.

"Reincarnation?... What is that, Karna?"

"Ehh?... Aren't you also a Reincarnator like us, Vier?"

"Reincarnator?..."

"Ehh?..."

Karna was surprised and confused about Vier's ignorance about Reincarnation and being a Reincarnator.

Of course, Vier is a Reincarnator like Karna, Slain, and Renxa. However, Vier's Reincarnation is unique compared to other Reincarnators like the Neo Heroes.

Karna, Slain, and Renxa see the unfamiliar Memories of their past life in their dreams, understand the unusual Knowledge, and feel the unfelt Emotions. But their Soul Ember doesn't have a personality or more accurately to say, their Soul Ember doesn't have a Phantom like Vier's Onee-chan.

On the other hand, Vier's Soul Ember has a Phantom, but Vier can only see the Memories and understand the Knowledge if her Onee-chan allows it. Until this point, her Onee-chan has never allowed Vier to see the Memories of her past life, understand the Knowledge, and feel the Emotions of the person her Onee-chan was once before.

It was all for one reason. Because the Phantom that calls herself Vier's Onee-chan believed that Vier should live a life of her own unaffected by who she was once before.

That's why Vier never learned the word Reincarnation from her Onee-chan.

Hearing what Vier has experienced together with her Onee-chan, Karna can only put a heavy sigh of disbelief upon learning a unique Reincarnator.

"So did your Onee-chan tell you anything about how she was able to appear in my dream?"

"Nope!... Onee-chan didn't say anything about it."

Unknown to Vier and her Onee-chan as well, with Vier's encounter with other Reincarnators, which are Karna, Slain, and Renxa, her Onee-chan has gained the ability to connect and interact with the Soul Ember of other Reincarnators.

"Is there a way for you to ask her, Vier?"

"I don't always see Onee-chan in my dreams. But I will talk to her about it next time. I let you know once I talk to her, Karna."

"Well, that would be quite a problem, Vier. After all, Slain, Renxa, and I won't be going to the Adventurers Academy anymore."

"Ehh?... Why?!"

The Neo Heroes face so much danger just so they can pass the Adventurers Academy Admission Exam. They fought Rank 4 monsters and even the Rank 6 Black Weretiger Monster. That's why Vier can't understand why their group won't be attending the Adventurers Academy even though they managed to pass.

Karna explains to Vier that what Misaki told them about the monsters they fought inside the Forest Valley Dungeon being much weaker than their actual rank was supposed to be, make them realize that they're not as strong as they think of themselves, especially Renxa.

"You see, Vier... Slain, Renxa, and I wanted to live the life that our past life always dreamed of. Maybe we have been influenced so much by the Emotions we felt in our dreams, but it is still our choice to follow that dream...

...Before we leave our Noble House, our Mentors told us that we are not strong yet to become a proper Adventurer and that we will meet our end if we encounter a monster stronger than the three of us combined...

...The three of us thought that we could be stronger on our own just because we were at the top of our class. So we decided to follow our dream of becoming an Adventurer without our Mentors' approval...

...But now, we see that we're not strong enough to live the life we choose for ourselves."

"Are you saying that your group will go back to your Noble House and complete the training of your Mentors? Then you're going to attend the Adventurers Academy after your training?"

Upon hearing Vier's questions, Karna stayed silent for a bit before giving her answer.

"You're right that we're going back to our Kingdom tomorrow morning. However, we're not going back to train but to contact our Mentors. We're also not going to attend the Adventurers Academy after our training, Vier."

"Ehh?!... What do you mean, Karna?"

"Slain and Renxa's Mentor are currently at the Knights Academy in the Floating Islands of Liber. So they need to enroll there if they want to continue their training. My Mentor is currently at the Academy of Magic, so I'm going to enroll there too."

"So you're not going to be Adventurers anymore?"

"Of course, we're still Adventures. We're just going to complete our training for a while. Besides we can still see each other on the floating island of Liber. But we can't travel with you since we need to go back to our Kingdom first."

"Then we will wait for you at the floating island of Liber, Karna."

"Mhm!... We'll see each other within four months."

With the promise to see each other again, the Neo Heroes said their goodbye to the Dwarf Cat-eared Elf.

However, before Karna and Slain left. Both of them give a warning to their fellow Reincarnator.

"Vier, be careful when you're meeting other Reincarnators."

"Most of the other ones we meet so far are kinda annoying. At worst, most of them will try to invite you to join their group or force themselves to join yours."

"What's more troublesome is that you can't hide yourself from them."

"After all, we all feel this odd feeling when we meet each other."

With those words, Vier remember the odd feeling that she felt when she first met the Neo Heroes and the feeling that she's still sensing all this time together with Karna and Slain.

...So that is what that odd feeling is...