Invitation! Tch... So It Was a Mission

Early the next morning, Ed opened his eyes. "Ah~ Sleeping in my own room really is the most comfortable~"

After stretching and washing up, Ed headed straight to Townsmith's shop.

"Boss, I'm back~ I need you to make those dart-like things again~"

"Leave it to me! I'm the best blacksmith in town!" As if some passive skill had been triggered, Townsmith replied without even looking up.

Townsmith raised his head and spotted Ed. "Oh~ It's you, kid. How were that last batch? Easy to use? Anything that needs improving?"

"They were great, nothing needs changing. But this time, I need more. Let's start with a simple three hundred."

"Hmph, I'm the best in town... Wait? How many?" Townsmith's passive was just about to trigger when he heard the number Ed wanted. "Three hundred? Are you planning to eat them? Carrying all of those would weigh nearly two hundred pounds!"

"Can't I just be naturally strong!?" Townsmith had hit Ed's blind spot, leaving him a little embarrassed and irritated. "Anyway, don't worry about that. Can you make them? How long will it take? How much?"

"Hmm... If I bring in a few apprentices... three days. Come pick them up three mornings from now. Since you're a regular, I won't ask for a deposit. Cash and goods exchanged on delivery. Same price as before: 1,000J each, 300,000J total." As soon as Townsmith finished speaking, he gathered his apprentices and began preparing.

"Alright, I'll come back in three days~ Bye, then." Ed waved, then decided to visit the guild first.

Back at the guild, Ed had barely reached the job board before a hand grabbed and pulled him away. "Found you!" He turned his head and saw Mira staring at him excitedly.

"What is it, Mira? Are you finally going to accept my pursuit?" Ed looked at Mira with a grin. "Quit fooling around! I need you for something serious!" Mira shot him an annoyed look.

"Hm? I'm listening." Ed gestured for Mira to continue.

"I wanted to invite you to..." Before Mira could finish, Ed cut in excitedly. "A date! I'm free! Today? I'm ready!"

"I really don't understand what's inside your head... It's a mission, a mission!" Mira looked utterly Zero.

"Tch... I just got back. I wanted to rest for a while..." Ed looked somewhat disappointed.

"We barely know each other, right? It would be weirder to invite you on a date. What the heck are you disappointed about?" Mira delivered a perfectly timed jab. Then she continued, "This is a mission I'm planning to take. I was going to do it alone, but Lisanna and Elfman want to come with me too. I was hesitating, since an S-Class Mission might still be a little dangerous for them."

"And inviting me makes it less dangerous? Get this straight, it's an S-Class Mission." Ed replied with Zero strength.

"Oh, come on~ Your magic can teleport, right? Once the fight starts, just teleport those two somewhere safe. After I finish, you can come back. This is an S-Class Mission~ The reward is huge~ A full 6 million J! I can give you a third of it. So? Will you consider it?" Mira even acted a little coquettish in order to recruit Ed.

"That's cheating, Mira!" Ed could barely handle it.

"Please~" Mira fixed him with sparkling eyes.

"..." Ed took critical damage—it was super effective! "Before I agree, shouldn't you at least give me a brief introduction to the mission... If possible, please explain it in under thirty words." Ed had absolutely no resistance to Mira like this and could only accept her invitation.

"A noble has been targeted by the Assassins' Guild. We need to protect him for a period of time." Mira explained the mission concisely.

"Alright, but I need to prepare some tools. I'll need three days. How about we leave three days from now?" Ed remembered that his custom kunai would not be ready until the day after tomorrow. Without enough kunai, he just did not feel at ease.

"Sure. Then shall we meet at the station at ten in the morning three days from now?" Mira thought it over and agreed.

"Well then..." Ed checked the time. It was nearly noon, so he directly invited Mira. "Since I agreed to do this mission with you, would you honor me by having a meal with me?"

"Ha... You really know how to take an inch when given a mile. Fine, fine, but it's only a meal." Mira was somewhat wary. After all, Ed was the dangerous sort who dared to confess publicly the first time he met someone.

"Just a meal, and we can discuss the mission details while we're at it." Ed wore a look of perfect sincerity.

"It better be!" Mira's expression was complicated.

"Basically, that noble offended a duke from a neighboring country, and the duke put out a bounty on him. But to preserve relations between the two countries, he said there would only be one bounty, and it would only last a week. Is that right?" Ed confirmed the mission details with Mira.

"Mm-hmm, that's right. You're really good at summarizing!" Mira nodded, indicating that Ed had it right.

"Alright, then that's settled. We'll meet at the station at ten in the morning three days from now." Ed stood up. "By the way, Mira, do you know where I can buy storage-type magic tools?"

"Storage-type magic tools? What do you need those for? They're really expensive, you know~" Mira looked puzzled.

Ed directly took out a Flying Thunder God Kunai and handed it to Mira. "Look, my magic is a spatial magic called Flying Thunder God. Simply put, I can teleport to wherever this mark is." Ed pointed at the Flying Thunder God Mark on the kunai's handle.

"Mm... And?" Mira did not quite understand what Ed meant. "The problem is, if I don't have enough of them, my teleportation destinations can be easily predicted. But if I have too many, carrying them becomes the problem," Ed explained.

"Mm... I know a shop. They should have what you need. Since I have nothing to do this afternoon, I'll take you there." Mira thought for a moment, recalled the shop's location, and prepared to lead Ed there.

"Does this count as a date?" Ed suddenly became interested.

"Get lost!" Mira felt that this man was truly unbearable.

The two headed toward the magic tool shop. It was a bright, sunny afternoon, and as Ed and Mira walked down the street together, the handsome man and beautiful woman attracted plenty of attention.

"Hm? Is that... Mira?" Lisanna had gone out to look for her sister after Mira had not come home at noon. She suddenly discovered that her sister was actually strolling around with a man. Unable to believe it, she hurriedly hid to the side and secretly followed them.