Chapter 12: Two Weeks, Part One

Two weeks. Two weeks was all Rin had before she had to go on her first mission. A real, adventuring, monster-slaying mission.

As she woke up the next morning, her eyes slowly blinking open as the sun poured in from the nearby windows, it was all she could think about.

[Holy shit,] Rin thought. [Holy shit. I'm really doing this.]

Stretching, Rin got off her bed and rolled her shoulders, before preparing for the day.

She needed to get a few things done. Luckily, since Maria was going to teach her hand-to-hand combat, she wouldn't need to buy any weaponry but she still figured she needed to buy armor. The problem, of course, was that she was completely broke.

On the spot, she came up with a quick plan. She decided to head into the city and see if she could find a part-time job of some sort.

[Anything will do,] she thought. [As long as I can get a little bit of coin on the side, I'll do whatever. Can't be too hard to find a job, or, can't be harder than it was at Dren, anyway.]

Once she was done, she walked out into the halls.

And immediately, she ran into someone.

"W-WHOA!" She fell on top of them, stumbling as she lost her balance, but a pair of gentle hands kept her from hitting the ground.

"Hehe," she heard a woman chuckle. "Eager to start the day, are we?"

[Huh?]

Rin looked up and saw Maria's brown eyes looking back at her. The cinnamon-haired woman was standing there dressed in a simple white robe.

"Miss Camille, uh, w-what are you doing here?" Rin asked as she regained her balance.

She chuckled again, putting a small, elegant hand up to her lips that one would never expect to be able to strike through solid metal.

"I'm here to take you out for breakfast," Maria told her. "If you'd like that, of course."

"... Really?" Rin looked up at her, surprised.

"Of course," Maria nodded, and then smiled. "If I'm to be your personal teacher, I'd like to learn a little more about you, after all. So, what do you say?"

Rin's stomach then growled, as if to respond for her, and Maria chuckled as Rin nodded.

"Wonderful. Let's go, then."

That was how Rin's day began. As she exited the academy, she did see a few of the other students, but most of them were too distracted to notice her. Trailing just a little bit behind her teacher, the two walked out onto the streets of Libera.

There were a few things that immediately caught Rin's eye. She had seen them before, when she took her trip with Eve but seeing them now, they were still shocking. The street lights, turned off at this moment, looked so clean and well-kept. The mold-less metal architecture, the spotless streets. It was nothing like Dren.

"So, Rin," Maria said, "where are you from?"

"H-Huh? Uh, I'm Liberan," she answered awkwardly.

She figured she may as well keep as much from her old life private as she could. Or, at least, she wanted to try.

"No, seriously," Maria replied. "Where are you from?"

"What?" Rin asked, feeling nervous all of a sudden. But, as Maria looked back at her with an amused expression, it became painfully clear that she wasn't fooling anyone. "How do you know?" She asked, dejected.

Maria chuckled and turned towards, her, her hands behind her back as she spoke.

"You keep looking at everything around you as though it's the first time you've seen it," Maria responded. "It's cute, but it gives you away pretty easily."

"Oh..." Rin sighed. "Well, I'm from-"

However, Maria before Rin could say the name of her hometown, Maria put her index finger on Rin's lips, stopping her.

She winked.

"On second thought, it's okay, I apologize. If you're that desperate to hide it, you don't have to tell me."

"Oh. Uh, thanks," Rin replied, bowing a little.

"No problem. I was just trying to get to know you a little, is all. We're going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next year or so, Rin. We may as well get comfortable from the start."

Rin could at least appreciate the effort Maria was putting forward. She was just trying to ease Rin's nerves, and the raven-haired girl understood that. Knowing this, she felt her respect for the Rank S adventurer go up just a little.

"What kind of food do you like?"

"Uh, we didn't have much variety back where I'm from," Rin responded.

"Hm... Do you mind if I pick something for us then?"

"Not at all," Rin said with a smile.

"Then, in that case, follow me."

Maria took her to the north side of Libera, where most of the businesses were found. She explained on the way that at the center Rin could find different dedicated establishments, banks, art centers, gardens, etc. And that the south was mostly just comprised of low-cost housing. As for the wealthier members of Libera's population, they lived in the eastern and northeastern parts of the city. Near the Academy, actually.

She took Rin to a small establishment that had big, wide-open white doors and plenty of people walking in and out of it. Outside, Rin saw a sign that read "curry, noodles, sandwiches" and a few other types of food, listed at various low prices. Even Rin could afford to buy something here.

Rin also noticed how everyone around them would occasionally pause and stare at Maria.

One poor guy was so busy staring at her in awe that he nearly got run over by a slowly-moving carriage.

"Uh... Is there something that I'm not seeing?" Rin asked.

"Why's that?" Maria asked as she waved at the small restaurant's owner.

"Everyone keeps looking at you."

"Oh, well," Maria giggled. "They know me, I suppose."

"Really? Are you that famous?"

Back at Dren, the only "celebrities" were people who could sing or act. [Is she like, a secret painter or something?]

"Yes, think about it, Rin," Maria told her, with some pride in her tone. "Not only am I a Rank S adventurer, but I'm also the only one in Libera. By all accounts, I may be the only one these people ever see. If such a person passed you by, wouldn't you look at them for a few seconds, at least?"

"... Guess so," Rin responded.

"Exactly," Maria replied. "It was... A little troubling, at first, but I've grown accustomed to this."

The two of them ordered some food and sat down by a table outside. Maria ordered some simple chicken soup and Rin got herself the same thing.

"So, what did you do where you're from?"

And instantly, Rin nearly choked.

"I, eh, sang," Rin improvised. [Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.]

"Oh!" Maria made an impressed expression. "You do seem like the type. I suppose I should have expected it."

"Really? What do you mean?" Rin asked.

"Well, you're gorgeous," Maria chuckled. "Isn't it a requirement that artists need to be beautiful?"

"I... Uh, maybe," Rin replied with a nervous laugh.

"Hmph," Maria looked down at her food. "I suppose that's what separates those who work with brushes and voices as opposed to those who work with swords," Maria noted lightheartedly.

"I wouldn't say that..." Rin muttered.

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"Hm?"

"I mean, you're really beautiful too," Rin noted. Maria raised a brow at that. "I-I mean, in a respectful way! You know?"

Maria snorted, laughing at that.

"Is that so? Thank you for the kind words, then."

[... I swear, between her and Elisa, I've been paired up with two people who just can't resist making me feel embarrassed.]

All in all, this was slightly less awkward than Rin had expected. She thought the two of them would simply sit in silence until eventually, Maria got tired of her, but the Rank S adventurer appeared to be so genuinely glad to be sitting here, with Rin, that any time the conversation died down she would always say something random.

"Really!?" Rin asked as Maria was currently telling her a story.

"Yes," she laughed. "I once had to drag a giant's body through these very streets. It was bothersome, but Harriton wanted to run some experiments on its skin, with his Essence magic, so I did it."

"How big are they?"

"Hm... Maybe the size of this building?" Maria gestured around them.

"Whoa..."

"Hehe, indeed!" Maria giggled softly. It was something that made Rin realize just how young this woman actually was.

The way she carried herself, she came across as far older than she was, but looking at her now, Rin figured she must have been in her late 20s. Back at the Silver Rose, Rin had coworkers who looked older than her.

"The only reason I even managed it was because of..." Maria said, and then, her smile faded.

"Because what?" Rin asked politely, as Maria didn't finish.

Instead, an annoyed look flashed over Maria as she looked away.

"Nothing," she sighed and Rin was a little confused at this. "But, yes, it was quite the struggle, dragging that giant through here. Well," Maria suddenly said. "I'm full!"

"So am I."

"Come, let's walk it off while we head back to the academy. That is if you don't have anything to do out here."

"Uh, no," Rin shook her head. "I'll just head back too."

"I would recommend though," Maria added, "that you take the time to get to know the city. After all, this is to be your new home for a long time, Rin. If you'll stay with us, of course. You can drop out at any moment if you feel the job is too much for you."

"Yeah... I understand. But, what about training?" Rin asked. "Are you going to help me with that today?"

"No," she shook her head. "For today, I want you to relax and get your bearings. Tomorrow, I will begin to guide you down the path of the martial artist. And," she leaned in conspiratorially, "I'll buy you some new clothes, and some armor, too."

"W-What? Why? You don't need to..." She was waving her hands back and forth.

"Consider it a gift," Maria said, lifting a hand. "As I said, I haven't had a student like you in some time. I'm allowed to spoil you a little, aren't I?" She chuckled and Rin did the same.

"Uh, in that case, thank you..."

"Don't mention it."

And, with that, the pair walked back to the academy.

By the time they arrived, older students who Rin did not know were walking in and out of the academy. Following behind Maria, Rin simply looked away from all of them, however, there was one person she saw who made her freeze on the spot.

"Yeah," a man was bragging to some of his friends, leaning against a wall. "It was easy as shit taking down that charger, I thought those things were supposed to be dangerous!"

"They are, don't let your guard down," another adventurer reminded him.

"Pfft. It was nothing. Even if they are, that just makes it all the more fun."

"Rin?" Maria suddenly asked and Rin snapped out of it. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah," Rin took a deep breath. "Sorry."

The reason Rin had frozen up like that was simple.

That man had been the adventurer she'd worked for, just before she left Dren. She walked away from that spot as quickly as she could, without passing Maria by, but her heart was racing.

[Holy shit...] She tried to calm herself down. [What if... No, no. He didn't see me. Let it go,] she told herself. [No one here knows you, it's okay, no one...]

"Agh!"

Rin bumped into someone.

"S-Sorry," she said as she looked up.

It was Cara. The grey-haired woman was standing in front of Rin, wearing her black armor, with a hand on her hip, looking down at her.

Rin hadn't felt as small in her life as she did at that moment.

"Cara," Maria crossed her arms and an expression came over her that Rin hadn't seen before. Her brows were pulled tightly, her eyes narrowed and that smile that had been stuck to her face throughout the entire day was gone. "Are you trying to mess with my student?"

"Our student," Cara said, not taking her eyes off of Rin. "And, no, I just wanted to tell her something."

"... Fine. Rin," Maria called out, "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

With that, she stomped away.

[Uh, am I in trouble?] Rin wondered as Cara gestured for Rin to follow her. They walked for a while, heading to an eastern part of the building, beside a set of stairs, that was currently empty. Here, Cara turned and faced Rin, crossing her arms.

"So, you actually came all this way for the academy?" Cara said.

And, at that moment, Cara confirmed that she remembered exactly who Rin was.

"H-How do you know it's me?" Rin asked, not even bothering to pretend anymore. "I... I was wearing a disguise when you came to the brothel."

"An illusion, I know. But, that disguise doesn't hide everything about you. Your eyes are still yellow and your body is still the same. Plus, come on, some random adventurer signs up at the last minute just a couple of days after we talked? It wasn't that hard to put two and two together."

Feeling so scared for her future, Rin bit the insides of her cheeks. She wondered if Cara was about to threaten her. Maybe blackmail her into doing whatever she wanted.

"A-Are you going to tell everyone?" Rin asked, looking away, feeling like she wanted to cry."

Cara scoffed.

"No, I'm not."

Hearing that, Rin looked up at her.

"Why the hell would I do that?" She asked. "The guild needs whoever it can get. I pulled you aside because I wanted to let you know," Cara said, before walking up and putting a hand on Rin's shoulder. "I'm going to try my absolute hardest to make a fighter out of you, okay? You have my word on that," Cara told her.

The relief Rin felt made her knees weak.

"But," Cara quickly added, "I want you to know that if at any point you feel like this isn't working out, you can just quit. There's no shame in it. I know what you were doing before wasn't the most honorable stuff, but it sure beats getting mauled to death by a bloodthirsty monster. I just wanted to make sure you understood that. Are we clear?" Cara concluded.

Rin nodded.

"... Yes," she replied meekly.

"Good."

With that, Cara turned around and walked away, leaving Rin standing there, alone.

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