Her first mission

Mo Si stepped out of the bathtub and put on her scratched-up Angewomon outfit. Following Angewomon's instructions, she fed data into it. The damaged areas repaired themselves before her eyes, and in moments, the outfit looked brand-new.

Early the next morning, she performed her "card-drawing" ritual.

Unfortunately, her luck was poor. All ten draws yielded Sukamon or Scumon.

Luckily, she had decisively taken over Myotismon yesterday. Otherwise, who knew when she would draw a useful Digimon?

She entered the guild and headed over to the request board.

While soaking in the bath last night, she had considered taking jobs to earn money for custom-made clothes. Although she had later learned that data could repair her outfit, she still needed money for rent and meals at the guild.

She could put off paying for rent and meals, but Mo Si disliked being in debt.

So she came to the request board to take a job.

"Oh, are you taking a job, Mo Si?" Makarov came up beside her. "You can take any request on the first floor. You'll need to become an S-Class Mage before you can go upstairs. If one catches your eye, bring me the request sheet."

"Master, are there any modeling jobs?" Mo Si asked.

Makarov was momentarily speechless. "Why would a job like that be on the request board?"

"No? I was hoping to make some easy money." Mo Si sounded a little disappointed.

With the looks of Angewomon, the goddess of the Digital World-tall, slender, and graceful-she could earn money quickly as a model without much effort.

It would be much easier than an ordinary job, with no fighting involved at all.

Makarov rolled his eyes. "Once you've made a name for yourself, those photo magazines will come looking for you... Until then, you need to work hard and build your reputation."

"That's true. Without a reputation, modeling wouldn't pay much either."

Mo Si nodded, scanned the request board, and took down a sheet. "How about this one?"

[Request: Drive away monsters]

[Details: Drive away the ape monsters causing trouble on Huckabay Iceberg-Vulcans]

[Reward: 100,000 J]

Makarov took a look. "Vulcans, huh? These monsters stir up trouble every so often. They usually appear in groups, and they can use Take Over Magic to possess humans."

"Take Over Magic can do that?" Mo Si looked thoughtful.

The Vulcans' Take Over Magic was the exact opposite of the version she had learned. Possession magic would have been a better name for it.

"Actually, in your case, they might not possess you," Makarov added.

"Why?" Mo Si asked, puzzled.

Makarov smiled. "Vulcans are lecherous creatures. They love beautiful women. If they catch you, you can imagine what happens next."

What happens next?

A creampie?

Mo Si clenched her fists and smiled. "I see. Then I'll have to teach them a lesson!"

The corner of Makarov's eye twitched. "I was trying to persuade you to choose a different job."

If a male mage had taken this request, he would not have needed to worry so much.

Even if the mage was accidentally possessed by a Vulcan, rescuing him afterward would not be much of a problem.

But Mo Si was a woman, and a gorgeous one at that.

Even if they rescued her afterward, she could be left with lifelong psychological scars. Makarov did not want to see that happen.

"I'll be fine," Mo Si said.

She could fly, after all. At worst, she could take to the air and use hit-and-run tactics, keeping those ape monsters from even touching her.

"I'd better find someone to go with you. They can serve as your guide, too." After a moment's thought, Makarov called over a boy with short blond hair who was listening to music through headphones. "Laxus, you'll take Mo Si to complete this request."

Laxus curled his lip. "Tch. You're making me go out for a boring job like this?"

As Makarov's grandson, he had been born with tremendous magic power. At just seventeen, he had already reached the level of an S-Class Mage, an achievement countless mages could never attain in their entire lives.

However, since he had not yet passed the exam, he had not received the title of S-Class Mage.

Makarov smiled. "If you go, I'll put you on the list for this year's S-Class Exam."

In truth, Makarov would have added Laxus to this year's S-Class Exam list whether he went or not. Both his strength and his record of completed requests already met the requirements.

But Laxus did not know that, and he genuinely worried that he might not make the list.

After all, the decision rested with Makarov.

"Yeah, fine." Laxus reluctantly agreed.

At this point, he was only a little rebellious, not yet the arrogant man he would become early in the main storyline.

Mo Si clapped her hands. "Great! In that case, I can use a different strategy."

Laxus glanced at her and ignored her.

Mo Si grabbed his hand. "Let's go!"

"Let go. I can walk on my own." Looking a little awkward, Laxus pulled his hand free and walked ahead by himself.

Not only had his personality yet to turn nasty, he was even rather innocent.

A barely perceptible, mischievous smile flickered across Mo Si's lips. Then she calmly waved goodbye to Makarov and followed Laxus out of the guild.

Watching their retreating backs, Makarov thought, Laxus, take this chance to win Mo Si over!

Plenty of people could have served as her guide, including Macao and Wakaba. They would certainly have been delighted to guide Mo Si and might even have been better suited to the job. But out of a grandfather's selfish wish, Makarov had given Laxus the opportunity.

Mo Si and Laxus went to a rental shop and rented a magic-powered car to travel to Huckabay Iceberg.

The car ran on magic power. Not only was Laxus serving as a guide and bodyguard on this trip, he was now the driver as well. He was practically a servant, and he increasingly felt that his grandfather had tricked him.

As those thoughts ran through his mind, he drove faster and faster.

Laxus only wanted to finish the job and get back as quickly as possible.

Two hours later, they reached their destination.

At the foot of Huckabay Iceberg, the road ahead was blanketed in snow. The car could go no farther, so they would have to continue on foot.

Mo Si stepped out of the car and shivered in the icy chill. "It's so cold!"

She hugged her arms and found that goosebumps had already risen on her skin.

Although she was a Digimon, she was just like a human in every respect, right down to structures such as pores.

"Hmph. That's what you get for wearing so little," Laxus scoffed.

Mo Si turned to him and smiled. "Oh, come on. You're shivering too."

Laxus snorted. "That's only because I used too much magic power. Once I recover, this little bit of cold won't bother me at all!"

Mages adapted to their surroundings better than ordinary people, and Laxus was no exception. He had simply depleted too much magic power racing here in the car, which had lowered his resistance.

"Healing Light!"

A rainbow-colored light shone from Mo Si's palm and enveloped Laxus.

"What are you doing?" Laxus froze.

Mo Si smiled. "This will help you recover quickly."

"..." Feeling his stamina and magic power rapidly replenishing, Laxus was secretly astonished. He had not expected this newcomer to possess such a rare healing ability.

If I put together a team someday, I'll definitely need someone with healing abilities like hers.

That was what Laxus thought.

Mo Si withdrew her Healing Light and turned toward Huckabay Iceberg. "Let's go into the mountain and find the Vulcans. With you backing me up, Laxus, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Let me make this clear," Laxus stressed. "I won't help until you've been beaten so badly you can't move."

Mo Si smiled. "That's fine. Your presence means a lot to me."

With that, she lifted her long legs and strode onto the icy mountain.

"...Weird woman." Laxus curled his lip and followed with his hands in his pockets.