Bringing in Outside Help

It had been two weeks since enrollment. Because his life was on the line, Pei Renli worked especially hard at everything he studied, and he improved quickly as a result.

"But I still can't beat you at all..."

Watching Kaya run off to retrieve her longsword, Pei Renli could not help but sigh.

That was only natural. As mentioned before, many students who came to the Adventurers' School already had training under their belts. Even those with a weaker foundation had undergone militia training since childhood.

Others had put in ten years of unbroken effort. There was no way Pei Renli could surpass them in just two weeks, even if he were a once-in-a-century martial arts prodigy—let alone when he was no genius in that regard.

"There's nothing to regret. You can use spells, so you don't need to pour too much effort into martial arts. As long as you can protect yourself when facing danger, that's enough."

Even so, Pei Renli still felt a little unwilling to accept it. After all, he had been beaten so badly by a girl two years younger than himself that he could barely lift his head.

"Besides, you weren't even going all out."

Kaya shrugged.

"Weren't you the same?"

That was true enough. It was only training, after all; there was no need to see red. Pei Renli had never used overly lethal spells such as Burning Hands.

As they spoke, the two headed toward the weapon rack where the practice weapons were stored. Kaya said, "Actually, I'd really like to see you go all out. At least then I'd know where my limits are."

"Am I just a touchstone to you? That's a little hurtful."

Kaya smiled openly, clearly having no intention of denying it as if it were a joke.

This girl actually looked quite pretty when she smiled. Too bad she usually kept such a stiff face.

In truth, Kaya did not usually look so stern because she was arrogant. She was simply nervous around strangers and terribly bad at socializing.

After putting their weapons back on the rack, Pei Renli suggested, "Want to go to the cafeteria?"

"Yeah, but I'd better go ahead. If you're with me, you'll get into trouble."

Two weeks had passed since enrollment, yet most people still treated Kaya with distant respect. Very few were willing to talk or chat with her.

Everyone was rather afraid of the so-called curse on her. Only Pei Renli knew that the supposed curse was complete nonsense, so he did not care in the slightest.

Because of that, Kaya could never find anyone else to pair up with during practical combat classes, and every time, it ended up with Pei Renli sparring against her.

"Eating together once in a while is no big deal."

"Forget it. I'll go by myself."

With that, Kaya strode away quickly, not giving Pei Renli any chance to persuade her further.

Normally, if a man took the initiative to get close to a woman, he must have feelings for her. But Pei Renli really was not like that. He wanted to get along well with Kaya because she was very strong. From what he had observed, even holding back as she did, she still ranked among the best of them all.

Sparring with an expert was naturally far more beneficial than sparring with weaklings.

But from Kaya's perspective, she probably did not want to drag down Pei Renli, the one person who did not care about the curse, which was why she tried to avoid any contact outside of class.

Glancing back at Gary, who was once again being scolded, Pei Renli figured he would not be leaving anytime soon. So instead of waiting for him, he followed the other students toward the cafeteria.

There were no classes that afternoon. Pei Renli planned to take a bath after eating, then return to the dormitory and keep grinding away. There was simply too much to learn and no time to mull over random nonsense.

As for why there were no afternoon classes, of course it was because Teacher Grace had skipped class again...

Usually, it was the students who skipped class. A teacher skipping class was truly a rare sight.

Today's cafeteria menu was creamy corn soup and grilled fish, along with the usual all-you-can-eat bread to satisfy the appetites of these students who burned through so much energy.

Although Pei Renli, who had no money in his pockets, had no business being picky, to be honest, he dearly missed Chinese food.

Stew every day—I'm sick of it.

Holding his tray, he found an empty seat and sat down.

He had intended to sit beside Kaya, but her gaze forced him to retreat...

Pei Renli had just picked up a piece of bread when a boisterous voice sounded beside him.

"So this is where you were hiding. I've been looking for you forever."

Turning his head, the first thing that entered his sight was a pair of rabbit ears.

The beastkin Koura sat beside Pei Renli, wearing a soft, charming smile...

But the moment he saw that, Pei Renli immediately became alert.

Koura's personality was like that of those aunties who loved prying into the gossip of every household in the neighborhood, except she also had a huge mouth.

Everyone knew that when this little gossip hound suddenly came over, she definitely had an ulterior motive.

"What do you want?"

"Just having a meal together, that's all."

"Tell me the truth, or I'm leaving."

"Uh... there is something, actually. It's just a little hard to bring up, heh heh."

"And there's something you find hard to bring up?"

Koura was outgoing and graceful, able to chat with anyone. Before long, she had gotten acquainted with nearly everyone.

So when she said that, even Pei Renli grew curious.

But before Koura could answer, someone sat down across from Pei Renli. Looking up, he saw that it was Eve.

"You actually came to find me on your own? That's really unusual."

Out of the class of over sixty students, only a few possessed spellcasting talent. Excluding those who did not want to study magic and natural spellcasters like Moen, only Pei Renli and Eve remained.

Whenever he saw her, she was usually in the library, and everything they discussed was related to magic. Other than that, they barely had any connection. Eve also seemed reluctant to interact with people; most of the time, she kept to herself and never approached others on her own.

If Kaya was passively isolated, then Eve had deliberately isolated herself.

Pei Renli had never met Eve anywhere outside the library, which was why he found this so unusual.

As always, Eve was like a robot that had never learned how to smile, her expression utterly unchanged as she said:

"I need your help with something."

"You need something too? What is it? As long as it's within my abilities, it should be fine."

Eve had helped Pei Renli quite a lot with learning spells. Only when a problem arose that even she could not solve did they have no choice but to seek out Teacher Grace, since that teacher really was unreliable.

Helping each other out—that was how relationships worked.

Seeing Pei Renli agree so readily, Eve actually showed a hint of surprise.

"It would be nice if you were this easy to talk to when we discuss problems. I thought it would be difficult to persuade you."

"Discussing problems and this are two different things. Besides, I'm not that hard to talk to, am I?"

No matter who he was with, he had always been perfectly approachable. He should not have given anyone the impression that he was difficult to get along with.

Pei Renli was still wondering whether he had done something wrong and left a bad impression when Eve said:

"I heard that you prefer men to women, so I thought it would not be easy to ask you."

"Wait! Who did you hear that from?!"

"Koura."

When he turned around, Koura, who had been beside Pei Renli just moments ago, was already gone. At some point, she had run off to a table far away and was chatting and laughing with someone.

He really wanted to tie the rabbit ears on her head into a dead knot...

With a headache coming on, he rubbed his temple.

"I don't have that kind of fetish. My sexual orientation is perfectly normal, so please don't spread false rumors."

He felt like he ought to say that to Koura instead. That paparazzi little gossip was practically a human rumor mill. By comparison, Pei Renli had never even seen Eve talk to anyone else.

"Koura said she needed something from me too. Is it the same matter as yours?"

"Yes."

"Forget it. I'll settle accounts with her when I have time."

Pei Renli picked up a piece of bread and spoke as he ate.

"So what exactly is it? You have to tell me before I can decide whether to help."

"It's about an assignment."

Students at the Adventurer School often took on assignments as part of their practical training. But while that was true, commissions were not available all the time, and it was naturally impossible for all sixty-plus students to head out on the same day. The school could only ensure that every student had a chance to go out roughly once a month.

It had been Pei Renli's turn last week. This week, it was Koura and Eve's.

"The assignment we were given is to capture someone."

Eve picked up some bread as well.

"People have been disappearing frequently in Curtain Star City lately, mainly in the lower district."

It had been mentioned before that about half a day's journey from Naspar stood a true metropolis: Curtain Star City.

"The missing are primarily women and children, though there have also been reports of a very small number of elderly people disappearing."

"Human traffickers?"

"Yes. I also think it is very likely that someone is running that kind of business."

Even on twenty-first-century Earth, human trafficking had never been eradicated, much less in a world of magic.

It had to be said, that was truly a sin black enough to lack all virtue.

But then again, this was not the work of one or two people. There was likely some organization behind it, like a gang. And they were just a few students still in school...

It felt like they would be delivering themselves to the criminals as easy performance targets.

"Isn't this assignment a little too dangerous?"

"Our assignment isn't to destroy the human trafficking den. We're going to capture someone who can talk."

In other words, they were going to capture one of the low-level lackeys who did the actual work. What happened after that would no longer be their concern; the guards of Curtain Star City should have plenty of ways to make that lackey cough up the intelligence they needed.

So at most, they would be dealing with the dregs who loitered around the streets. If they could not even beat people like that, they might as well drop out of school, go home, and farm—there would be a brighter future in that.

Pei Renli said he understood, but this seemed to have little to do with asking him for help.

"There are only three of us, and the situation in Curtain Star City's lower district is rather complicated. We're worried they'll get away."

"Who are the three?"

"Me, Koura, and Kaya."

Including Pei Renli, the three of them were among the few at school who dared to interact with Kaya. The teachers had probably put Eve, Koura, and Kaya on the same team for that very reason.

Still, sending three young girls to catch human traffickers—what were the teachers thinking...

Finding extra hands was common enough. When students felt that they and the teammates assigned by the school could not complete a mission, they could ask classmates with nothing else to do for help, though it required teacher approval. Usually, the maximum size of an entire team did not exceed six people.

And no matter how many people joined, the reward would not increase by even a copper.

Incidentally, the halfling Alton had been away recently precisely because he had gone to help someone.

As far as Pei Renli was concerned, helping out was no problem. He truly needed practical combat experience, which was completely different from ordinary training.

What was more, Eve had said the reward would be split equally among the four of them. Pei Renli was already so poor he could not afford ink; whether out of friendship or practical necessity, he had no reason to refuse.

So he agreed without hesitation.

"I don't mind helping, but what exactly are we doing? Do you have a plan?"

At that, Eve gave Pei Renli a thorough once-over from head to toe with an appraising gaze, making his skin crawl a little.

"Very simple. Take off your clothes first."

"...?"

A question mark slowly rose in Pei Renli's mind.