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The two men, wearing ridiculous smiles, waved at the nun and the little girl as they crossed the road. Little by little, the distance increased, and as soon as the carriage was no longer visible, the nun groaned.

"Why accompany us? You think you can protect anyone with a fork? Why not a stick? Please, we are emissaries and you are a common peasant, learn your place."

Next to her, Lilith gave her a curious look then shook her head.

"Sana, you always say I'm too harsh but you talk like that when we're alone. You're a real monster."

"Please, I've been in this horrible vehicle for hours, give me a break."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, anyway, I can't wait to start raiding! Did you hear what they said? There's so much rifts here, I'm sure no one will reject us here!"

A smile appeared on Sana's face.

"Yeah, I can't wait to meet that boy who clear the rifts all by himself. If that's not an exaggeration."

"Yeah...I hope he doesn't think he doesn't need us."

"Do not worry about that." The nun stopped, glancing at the foliage crossed by rays of sunlight. "There's no boy who wouldn't like a girl near him. You just have to know how to talk to them."

A little later, in the village, Hope and Leon were consulting the announcement on Leon's phone, proposed by the scouts.

They were able to see a very small number of D-rank rifts, and many E-rank all around, all with less than 2 days of evaluation.

"What's about this one, bro?"

"It's a D-rank rift, Hope, we're only E-rank, stop overestimating yourself... Maybe this one? It's the closest to the village."

Hope briefly analyzed the map, then gave him a puzzled look.

"Closer? You said this guy was focusing on them, I bet he has already finished them!"

"No, look at this."

Leon displayed his message, and within the final messages, one stood out. Dora's message, which was concise and straightforward.

'I'll be back. With weapons'

Hope gulped.

"This guy is a real monster, I made the right decision to avoid him."

"Yeah, but the good thing is that he only sends this kind of message when he leaves the village, so for now, all these E-rank rifts should be free. Let's do this one, It's not that far and it was rated E 2 days ago."

The two nodded and left the house in a hurry. At the same time, not far away, Sana and Lilith were chatting with a fish seller at the public market.

The woman scratched her massive chin, rolling her eyes.

"I know this story, last Tuesday there were these women who envied this redhead because her son was something special, but I don't remember the child's name."

"I see, I see, but are you sure it was a boy then? And he was an emissary?" Sana leaned forward.

The woman stepped back a little, she made another attempt to remember.

"There are no girl emissaries these days, except that one, but for what you're asking, I only heard of two boys. They were raiding every day or something, but ask the hunters around the village entrance, They should know more."

The two young ladies departed from the market and proceeded towards the destination pointed out by the seller.

Meanwhile, Hope and Leon were also moving in the same direction, seeking someone to guide them and, more significantly, to spread the word about their expedition. These incidents coincided with another extraordinary event.

Near a lake, in a rift, three emissaries observed a remarkable scene where a boy unleashed a powerful explosion, obliterating a pack of boars and the boss, all in one strike.

Dora, wearing a hood and a black mask, waved his stick.

"Is it done? Is everyone behind me? I can sense living beings but I kind of forgot where you are..."

He waited a few seconds, but no one responded, the 3 frozen by this instantaneous raid.

Dora lowered his stick, he focused for a moment on his surroundings then the sound of a gulp escaped the mask.

"Did I... I didn't kill a human, did I???... If you're a monster, make some noise, and if you're human, stop to breathe."

He pointed the stick at the 3 emissaries who almost screamed at the same time but put their hands over their faces.

No one dared to breathe, seconds passed, then a whole minute, and little by little their faces turned blue.

Dora stood still, the tip of his stick glowing.

"...But maybe a monster that speaks human?"

A little later, he joined Eryl outside, the servant was checking her phone when she noticed him.

"Minus 15 seconds."

"Come on, I can't even see anything with this mask on... but these people are so easy to anger, really bad education."

The maid helped him find his way to the car, and once inside he took off his mask.

"Congratulations, you managed to do both rifts, but what's the point of using this disguise if you continue to make your raids a sprint?"

Dora picked up his phone to check his notifications, and when he saw the confirmation of a bank transfer of 10,000 Lyres, a smile appeared on his face.

"It's simple, who do you think knows the most about me? It's just the people I raid with."

He started to write a message.

"I will ask the guild leader not to release my information to the other guilds, so that only the people I raid with know me, but since most of them join better guilds a few days after a raid, they won't care as much and no one will remember me! Especially since these are only rank E rifts."

"I see, and what about the mask? You wanted it so bad but apparently you can't see anything. Is this some kind of training?"

Dora gave her a teasing smile, then looked at the landscape.

"No, it's just a handicap...to make it a little challenging."

Eryl's eyes widened for a few seconds but when she glanced at Dora and they faced each other, the boy with his mask back on, she couldn't hold back a small laugh.

They returned to Floriosa, and meanwhile, in the small village, Sana and Lilith were having a hard time with the hunters.

"I'm really grateful for your attention, sir, but my friend and I are too busy right now. It's okay if you don't have their names, we'll just ask someone else."

"Wait, little miss, I told you I know everyone in the village, why are you in such a hurry?"

The man crossed his arms and, though for a moment, Sana forced a smile, her narrowed eyes casting a death glare at the hunter.

Lilith in the back was busy lifting a large piece of meat, the nun finally sighed and stepped back.

"Really sorry, sir, but I just remembered we have something to do, so..."

"Wow, I told you..."

"Hey, boss!"

A loud noise made the 3 people jump. They turned to the left, where two boys had crashed into the desk of a dozing hunter.

Hope, with a bright smile, struck a victory pose.

"Stop sleeping, the greatest duo in this village are looking for a guide to show them the way to the rift."

Beside him, Leon let out a sigh, yet his smile indicated his acceptance of the situation. As he opened his eyes, he caught sight of the two girls gazing in their direction.

Hope was on the verge of initiating a high five, but upon recognizing his companion's expression, he refrained from the gesture, and followed his gaze, and thus, for a brief moment, all four individuals exchanged glances.