Instinctive Reaction

A powerful swordsman?

Holy crap, I'm not even a swordsman! What are you talking about being powerful?

"Actually, I gave this sword away as a gift," Chiba said solemnly.

The old man stroked his beard and chuckled, "You don't need to lie to me. When the young girl commissioned us to make the sword, she already said it was a gift for her, and the person she brought today is you."

"Or perhaps you intend to give away the gift the young girl gave you?" the old man said with a half-smile.

Chiba looked completely bewildered.

Mira looked at him with her bright eyes, but Chiba saw a deep sense of danger in them.

It's as if it's saying, "Speak up! Why aren't you saying anything?"

He coughed to cover his embarrassment, then a thought suddenly struck him, and he said, "My master said I would become a powerful swordsman in three years. Does that count?"

The old man and the shopkeeper exchanged a glance, then burst into laughter.

"Young man, don't be nervous, I was just asking. If you're not a powerful swordsman, just be careful not to inject too much magic power into using the Heaven's Blazing Sun," Kreis said with a teasing smile.

Chiba: "..."

I thought you were going to give me a test, and I couldn't take the sword if I didn't pass.

Mira, standing beside her, was desperately trying to suppress her laughter.

"My master said I would become a powerful swordsman in three years... How could you say something like that?" There was a clear smile in her eyes.

Chiba blushed slightly. This was a stroke of genius! Otherwise, who would have said something so ridiculous?

"After deducting the cost of materials and the value of excess materials, I'll give you 2 million J," Kreis said.

Mira was stunned. "This... is it that expensive? I thought it would only cost 1 million at most. Erza Flame Emperor's Sword and Flame Emperor's Armor, including the material costs, only cost 3 million..."

"That's different. This sword is a level above the Flame Emperor's Sword, so the manufacturing cost is naturally much higher," Chris said.

"But I only have 1.5 million. Otherwise... should I go and borrow some from Erza?" Mira asked tentatively.

Chiba rubbed his nose. He really wanted to offer to cover all the expenses himself, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough money. Even if he took out all his savings, it wouldn't be enough.

Just as he was pondering whether or not to look for Erza, two familiar figures walked into the shop.

"Boss, do you have any whetstones here?" A clear, cool voice rang out, followed by a slender young woman.

Behind the girl was another girl who looked very similar to her. The two stood one behind the other, looking a bit like two different sizes of dolls.

The shop owner immediately turned his attention to the young woman who had entered and smiled, "Yes, yes, yes, what price range are you looking for?"

"Give me the best ones, two pieces," the girl said.

The shop owner went inside, searched for a long time, and then brought out two rectangular whetstones.

"That'll be 2800J in total," the shopkeeper said.

The girl took out a wad of banknotes from her pocket, counted out a few and handed them to the shopkeeper. Then she took the whetstone and was about to leave when the girl behind her suddenly spoke.

"Sister, isn't this the disciple that the teacher took in? The one named Chiba..." the girl whispered in the young woman's ear.

The girl is naturally Haiweier, while the young woman is Nuolin.

"They seem to have encountered some difficulties..." Haiweier added.

Ignoring Chiba and Mira, Nuolin asked the shopkeeper, "Not enough money?"

The clever girl immediately realized that the two probably wanted to buy things here, but didn't have enough money. She knew this just from the way Chiba held the crimson longsword.

The shop owner struggled to understand Nuolin's words, then nodded.

How much more is needed?

The shop owner hesitated for a moment, then said, "It should be 500,000..."

He had just heard Mira's complaint, so he remembered it clearly.

Nuolin pulled out a wad of banknotes, handed it to the shopkeeper, and said, "This is 1 million; I'm paying for them."

After saying that, she walked away, as if she had just done something casually and efficiently.

Haiweier ran over without saying a word, simply following quietly behind.

"Sigh... Nuolin... Senior Sister..."

Chiba called out to them.

Nuolin stopped and said calmly, "No need to pay it back."

Her tone was calm, and her words were concise and to the point. She wasn't being aloof, nor was it that she didn't want to say a word more to Chiba; she simply felt that this was the easiest way to answer.

Chiba was stunned. He scratched his head, somewhat confused about his senior's thoughts. Although they shared the same teacher, he wasn't familiar with her at all, and her younger sister had a lot of grudges against him. Why would she help him?

"Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, at the guild entrance, I have a raid quest for one person," Nuolin said again.

Don't overthink it.

After saying that, she walked into the bustling crowd.

The girl's voice still lingered in Chiba's ears; her words, which sounded like a command yet weren't quite, left him completely bewildered.

Was she... inviting me to do a raid?

Perhaps she was trying to dispel her wild thoughts, and inviting him to join the mission was just a side effect.

But it's fine, since he was planning to pay her back anyway, he'll just give it to her as payment for this raid.

"Did you agree?"

The girl beside her said softly.

Chiba was startled and turned his gaze to the girl's face beside him. The girl's pretty face clearly showed a resentful expression, and her beautiful eyes were looking at him with a deep look.

"Well... she already said that, it might not be good to refuse... besides, she even paid for our bill..." Chiba racked his brains to explain.

However, he felt a little strange as soon as he said it. They weren't in a romantic relationship, so why was he explaining so much? Besides, it was just a subjugation quest with her; doing a quest with his senior sister shouldn't be considered inappropriate, right? In the original story, Natsu, Gray, and Erza did quite a few quests together, and they never ended up in a love triangle. What was he afraid of?

Instinctive reaction?

"Alright, alright, I'm beholden to your kindness... um... I won't bother you tomorrow." Mira hesitated for a moment, then tiptoed and whispered in his ear, "But... you're mine!"

After saying that, she giggled, like a proud princess raising her delicate chin. She turned around, paid the shopkeeper the remaining amount, and then disappeared into the crowd like a forest sprite.

Chiba touched his slightly flushed cheeks. For someone like him, a guardian angel who had never been in a relationship, this was the first time a girl had indirectly confessed her feelings to him in a certain sense.

"Ah, what an innocent young man..."

Suddenly, a familiar girl's sigh sounded behind me.

Chiba suddenly turned around and saw a little girl with pigtails standing in front of her, holding a steaming cup of milk tea, shaking her head and clicking her tongue in admiration. However, a mocking expression appeared on her exquisitely beautiful face, clearly indicating that she had seen everything that had just happened. She was holding the hand of Seele, who was at least half a head taller than her, but judging from their demeanor, if you ignored her height, it looked more like an older sister holding her younger sister's hand.