“Hm? What’s this?” I drowsily uttered as I felt something soft near my face.

I touched it more without looking, it was fluffy. I liked how it felt so I rubbed it further and even snuggled my face on it.

“Ngh! What are you doing Bro?” 

The soft thing that I was touching suddenly went away from me. I opened my eyes to see a boy with squirrel features. He looked embarrassed.

“Hm? What happened?” I yawned.

“You were touching my tail!”

“That’s your tail? Oh sorry, I actually forgot you’re here now.”

“Don’t tell me that the reason you insisted I sleep on your room instead of sis Ovis’ was because you like my tail so much!”

“I won’t deny that I really like how soft your fur is.”

“Creep!” Scurus stepped away while hugging his tail tightly.

“But the reason I had you sleep with me is because Ovis is a girl.”

“And so what?”

“It is a rule here. Men and women cannot sleep in a single room, understand?”

“If you say so.”

“And I’m sorry for touching your tail. I’ll try to hold myself back if you are that uncomfortable about it.” I sluggishly said while I rubbed my eyes.

“It looked like you did not mean that at all!” 

I was still a bit sleepy so I stretched my neck left and right so I could get my consciousness straight.

“I-if you two are awake, c-come eat breakfast.” Ovis peeked from the door.

“Yey! Food!” Scurus cheered as he went out.

I completely forgot that there were already three of us. Since I only had two rooms, Scurus and I were sharing one. Ovis insisted that Scurus should sleep in her room. I understood her reasoning since I was the tamer and all. I did not agree though because there was no way that I could just allow that. I knew that Scurus would not do anything weird to Ovis but I still believed that it was an unethical thing to do. I guess I could consider having more rooms constructed in the future. It would be best if everyone could enjoy a little privacy for themselves.

We ate the breakfast Ovis prepared. Due to the presence of a new addition, everything became a little livelier. We then did our daily morning training after. I had Ovis practice her magic again since her capacity was still too weak to support her high magical affinity. On the other hand, I had Scurus spar with me.

Although he was already a really skilled marksman, he was still a newbie when it came to melee combat. He was fast which made him hard to hit but he jumped around too much. It would easily tire him out if the battle dragged on. I just dodged his attacks without retaliating. After a while, his movements slowed down which presented an opportunity for a finishing strike. I did a sweeping low kick which made him fall to the ground.

“You should learn how to pace yourself.” I pointed my sword at the boy.

Scurus just got up then went back to his fighting stance. We did a few more rounds and all of them were his loss.

I enjoyed fighting with him though since his movements were harder to predict compared to Ovis’. Although that was a fact, it was also not as lethal as Ovis’ blows. That gave my team a good variety in strengths which should prove to be advantageous. After a while, we ended our training and went to the town to do some quests. They followed closely behind me. Scurus still looked excited as he gazed upon every single thing we passed upon. I could not blame him though since he was cooped up for too long.

 

We were already near the guild when I saw a face that I knew. It was the earth mage with a Boarkin as a familiar. He was one of the tamers who attacked us during the exam. If I remembered correctly, Kai said his name was Beru.

“Hello Mest, how are you doing?” He casually approached me.

“I’m alright, I guess?” I awkwardly responded.

“Is that your new familiar? It is a Rodkin, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I just had him yesterday, his name is Scurus.”

“I see, you really have an unusual taste in familiars.”

“I don’t think so, it is just a coincidence.”

The way the guy acted all friendly got me confused. I became wary that he might have been plotting something against me just like Dusty.

“I know it is a bit too late but I want to apologize for my actions during the exam.” Beru bowed down.

“Don’t mind it. It was an exam so it was not entirely your fault.”

My suspicions were wrong. He was actually thinking hard about what he did. The damage he dealt to me was not that much though, it was Erik who actually hurt me badly.

“So how is it going for you?” I inquired.

“Glad you asked, I just got promoted to E rank as well.” He showed me his badge.

“That’s great! But how? Was another exam held?”

“No. Apparently, seeing how we act after failing was still part of the exam.”

“I see, so by accepting your mistakes and respecting the guild’s decision, you got qualified as an E rank tamer. Is that it?”

“That’s almost the same as what the Guild Master said.” He giggled.

“If you got promoted, does that mean the other guy was also promoted to E rank too?”

Beru’s enthusiasm suddenly disappeared.

“Haven’t you heard?” He asked.

“Heard about what?”

“He got upset with the exam results. He started challenging other higher ranked tamers to a duel to prove that the Guild Master was wrong for failing him.”

I actually witnessed one of those duels.

“And? It was not like he broke any rules, right?”

“Right, there was nothing wrong with it. It was until he challenged Lavinia.”

“He did?”

“Yes, and it was an all versus all type of duel. I think he did that so he could prove that he was way better than you.”

“I see but what’s the problem with that?”

“He lost and he did not even land a scratch against Lavinia’s familiars. After that, he disappeared and no one from the guild saw him starting then.”

He was an idiot to try and wage war against that girl. I did win back then but it was totally only because of a lucky shot. If I were to fight that woman again, I would surely taste defeat.

“That’s unfortunate,” I uttered.

“It is. I suspect he might have a grudge against you so you better be careful. But considering how strong you are, I doubt you need to worry.”

“You give me too much credit but thanks for the heads up.” I smiled.

“We’ll be going now then, we still have a quest to finish, see you around!” Beru waved goodbye.

I guess he really was an earnest guy. I was at least glad that he was not one of those who wanted to settle a score with me.

I went inside the guild to take up a quest. It was packed with tamers like usual.

“Hi Scurus! Hello to you too, Mest!” Miss Mathi greeted.

If I was not mistaken, she greeted Scurus first before me when she just met the boy yesterday. I was getting bad vibes about it. It was evident that she liked Scurus. I was just unsure if it was because he had rodent features or because he was a young boy. Nevertheless, even Scurus got cautious as he hid behind me. I just feigned ignorance and greeted back.

I made my way to the bulletin board to check some quests. Unlike before, I became more confident in our fighting strength since we actually were able to beat a bunch of D to C ranked beasts by ourselves. I scanned the quests with the target of taking one that looked like it was not too easy but at the same time, had good rewards. I decided to get the one which involved hunting a Bohorn that inhabited the forest nearby. 

A Bohorn was simply a large boar but with a huge horn up on its snout. According to the quest, the beast was not present in the forest before. Although no one was harmed yet, just knowing that a beast was in the forest caused unrest to the citizens nearby. The reward was two silvers for hunting a single beast. With the three of us, I’m sure we could do it without any trouble. With that in mind, I took the quest.

 

We went to the client first who was living near the forest to inform him that we arrived there to take on the job. After that, we went straight to the forest where the beast was spotted. We traversed the woods as quietly as we could as to not alert the target. We did not travel that long until we saw the beast from afar.

It really just looked like a boar but it was huge! Its fur was not that thick but had a dark brown color. Even though it was on all fours, its height was almost the same as mine. The single horn above its snout was also humungous, just a blow from that could warrant me my death.

I had Scurus position himself above a tree so he could snipe away from danger. On the other hand, Ovis and I readied our weapons. Upon my signal, Scurus shot an arrow to the Bohorn from afar. Its left eye was hit but it was not fatal. Due to the pain, it flailed wildly that its horn collided with a nearby tree. The sheer force that came from it knocked the tree down.

Scurus shot another arrow with the right eye as the target. But because the boar did not stop swinging his head repeatedly, the projectile landed on its cheek instead. After that, the beast set its eyes towards me and Ovis.

It ran at us with the attempt to ram us with its horn. When it was near enough, we stepped aside to avoid taking the hit from its head. After dodging, I slashed its flank with my sword. 

Blood gushed out from its flesh but I was not able to cut it that deeply. Its muscles were hard that it prevented me from hitting any vital organs.

The boar stopped to turn around so it could rush at us once more. Taking advantage of that time where it slowed down, Ovis ran towards it and smashed its face just after it turned. Thanks to her attack, a few teeth as well as clumps of blood flew from its mouth as it squealed.

The boar used its head to slam against Ovis while she used her shield to block it. Although she did not look hurt, the overwhelming strength of the Bohorn knocked her back. I then ran towards it then aimed at its face.

I sliced at the opening of its mouth until across its cheeks. The damage made its teeth and tongue visible from the side. Even though it was already badly hurt, it did not show any hints of going down. Scurus shot multiple arrows at its body which did hit but did not look like it bothered the beast at all.

The Bohorn ran at us again with its large horn pointed at Ovis. Instead of just dodging, she also landed a heavy blow with her mace while they parted. The beast released loud shrieking sounds as it fell down to the ground.

I went closer to the bloody mess of a beast but it was still breathing. I stuck my sword to its head which put it down to sleep completely.

“Good job guys.” I told the two who met me with their smiles.

We could not drag the huge beast with us to show the client that we completed the job. I just decided to gouge out the eyeball where Scurus’ arrow was stuck. 

It was slimy and wet but I thought that it was the easiest part that I could use as proof. Ovis and Scurus did not hide their disgust as they gazed upon the severed eyeball.

I presented the trophy to the client. He did look a bit sickened upon the sight but he still gave us both his thanks and the reward money.

If things were always this smooth, I could actually get used to it.

We then went to the guild to report the completion of the job before we went home.

Although I thought that everything was actually going well, I kind of got the feeling like I was being watched.

I looked behind me every now and then but I was not able to catch anyone. I just wished that it was just my slight case of paranoia kicking in again and not anything else.