Professor Beavle, upon seeing Yi-Han break another bracelet, asked with a curious tone, "Can I just break them from now on without releasing the curse? Wouldn't that be faster?"

"No, you can't," Yi-Han replied firmly while cleaning up the debris.

'I need to save them for when it really matters.'

Yi-Han carefully put away the remaining two bracelets. He planned to use them when there were important exams or when Professor Boladi threatened him with a knife, saying, "If you don't master the spin attribute perfectly by today, I'll kill you."

Baishada, a hunter from the <Shadow Patrol>, waited for Nillia in front of the Maykin family's residence after making an appointment. As a fellow <Shadow Patrol> hunter, he wanted to support the student who had enrolled in Einroguard and deliver the gifts his colleagues had asked him to bring. And...

'Can I ask how she got into the Maykin family's residence???'

Baishada looked up at the Maykin family's residence with a perplexed expression. He had no idea what trick she had used to stay inside. Did she threaten them with arrows??

"How the hell is she staying in there?" Baishada muttered.

Ghetse, a hunter from the <Wasteland Stargazers>, replied matter-of-factly, "Doesn't she have a friend from the Maykin family?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Why would those arrogant nobles be friendly with the likes of us?"

"Sometimes there are nobles with the soul of a hunter, you know."

"What? Is there such a thing? I've never seen one."

"Excuse me...!" Some passing children shyly spoke to them.

The two hunters looked at them, wondering what was going on.

"Are you... are you perhaps from the Wasteland Stargazers??"

"That's right," Ghetse nodded. Baishada felt a deep envy at the sight.

Apart from the reputation of the Wasteland Stargazers, Ghetse always had a strangely profound and melancholic aura about him, no matter what he did.

'Is it a matter of angle?'

While Baishada was confused and checking his own angle, the children asked Ghetse for an autograph.

"Please write 'Wasteland Stargazers' here!"

"Here too! Please do it here too!"

"Now, now, calm down. I'm not going anywhere."

"..."

Baishada glanced at the children. However, the children didn't seem to recognize anything from Baishada's attire.

'Sob.'

"Thank you!"

After the children left, Ghetse said with a slightly tired tone, "I'm grateful that they recognize the name of the Wasteland Stargazers, but it feels heavy when they have such high expectations for me, who still has many shortcomings."

"That must be damn tiring," Baishada muttered. Ghetse was puzzled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Just that I envy the Wasteland Stargazers."

"Really? I envy the Shadow Patrol more."

"..."

For a moment, Baishada considered grabbing him by the collar. Is this bastard mocking me...

"The Shadow Patrol silently guards the northern mountain ranges without caring about false reputations. Compared to that, we... I understand the higher-ups' policy, but there are too many unnecessary visits from unrelated people."

"I... I see."

Baishada was happy to receive the compliment but also envious. Can't we just switch?

"Moreover, the Shadow Patrol even produced a student who enrolled in Einroguard. There must be many young hunters with outstanding talent."

"Ahem, ahem."

Baishada tried to manage his expression. Still, it didn't feel bad to hear him say that.

"Sorry for the long wait!" Nillia came running out from inside the main gate. As they were both from the Shadow Patrol, they could recognize each other at a glance. Baishada shook his head.

"We didn't wait long. You're Nillia, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Here, take this first. This is a gift from Pullam, who asked me to give it to you. This one is from Banda, who asked me to deliver it to you. And this... was it from Aial?"

"Th-thank you."

Nillia was deeply moved by the hometown gifts sent by her fellow Shadow Patrol members.

"And who is this person?"

"His name is Ghetse, from the Wasteland Stargazers."

"What???"

Nillia gave a look that said, 'Why are you hanging out with someone like that?' Baishada hastily explained.

"He's a kind and excellent person. We worked together on a job recently."

"Ah, I see..."

Nillia nodded in understanding but still had a slightly doubtful look. Baishada decided to change the subject.

"By the way, how are you staying here?"

"A friend offered to let me stay with them."

"From the Maykin family?!"

"Yes."

'Oh my god!'

Baishada was surprised. He had no idea there was a hunter from the Shadow Patrol with such skills.

He had always thought that the Shadow Patrol was just a bunch of guys who lacked social skills and couldn't adapt to imperial society!

"That's... amazing!"

'Is the era changing?'

Baishada hoped that one day, when the era of young hunters arrived, the Shadow Patrol might become as famous as the Wasteland Stargazers.

Frankly, what could they possibly lack compared to the Wasteland Stargazers!

"Anyway, did you receive all the gifts here? Did you check? Then we should get going."

"Ah, please wait a moment. Are you leaving right away...?"

"We don't really fit in with the city."

Ghetse nodded at Baishada's words.

This city, where there was no open space, people appeared at every turn, and spires pierced the sky, was a bit too much for hunters.

Every time someone popped out from the side, their hands immediately reached for their bows.

"Still, if there's anything..."

"I appreciate your consideration. But it's really fine. There's nothing we particularly want to do here."

"Ah, wait a moment. If you're lucky, there's a place where you can get useful artifacts."

Nillia recalled the event at the Presinga Order that Yi-Han had told her about.

She was planning to go there today anyway, and seeing the two hunters, she thought it was perfect.

Even if the hunters had little interest in the city, if they could obtain useful artifacts, the story would be different.

In fact, the two immediately showed interest.

"Really? Is there such a place?"

"The Presinga Order..."

"Aha. They release cursed artifacts, right?"

"Sounds like a good idea."

"But basically, those artifacts would belong to the priests of that order, right? Is it okay if you don't know anyone...?"

"I know someone there!"

Nillia shouted, hoping that Yi-Han was still there.

"You try releasing this one now."

"No..."

Yi-Han was at a loss for words when he saw Professor Beavle throw it to him to try after showing him once.

If it weren't for the person waiting in front, he might have grabbed him by the collar.

'Endure it. I can't appear in the Granden City newspaper as <Einroguard Professor and Student in a Collar-Grabbing Incident>.'

Just as Professor Beavle had done earlier, Yi-Han carefully erased the lines starting from the outer part of the curse magic circle, approaching it step by step.

As he gradually released the magic circle without disturbing the accumulated mana, he could feel the power of the curse weakening.

"I did it."

"Thank you so much!!"

"Well done. Now do this one. I'll go eat something and come back."

"..."

While he was seriously considering grabbing him by the collar, a familiar face visited.

"Nillia! No, Mr. Baishada?"

"Wardanaz!?"

Baishada was also surprised to see Yi-Han.

Isn't he the student who showed monstrous performance among the White Tiger Tower students last time (although he wasn't sure why he was there)?

"What are you doing here?"

"I was helping the Presinga Order."

"Ah, so you know each other..."

Baishada looked at Yi-Han, then at Nillia, and then back at Yi-Han before being shocked.

'How the hell does she get along with nobles with his skills???'

Even the Shadow Patrol member with the quickest feet, the one who could shoot arrows the farthest, and the one who caught the most prey would seem insignificant compared to the young patrol member here.

He couldn't even imagine how she managed to be so friendly with the nobles.

Is it magic?

"How did you become friends?" Baishada whispered to Nillia. Nillia replied in confusion.

"Just, just like that?"

"Just like that...!"

Baishada was thrilled by the answer that seemed profound.

He had once asked an outstanding archer, "How do you shoot so well?"

Come to think of it, that archer had also replied, "Just like that."

'She's really not an ordinary socialite. Amazing. Truly amazing.'

Baishada looked at Nillia with eyes filled with respect. Ghetse also looked at Nillia with interest.

"Being so friendly with nobles like that. Impressive."

"Someone from the Wasteland Stargazers shouldn't say that."

"There seems to be a misunderstanding. It's not like we get along particularly well with nobles. Nobles are always difficult to deal with."

Although the Wasteland Stargazers were widely known in the empire, they were still hunters in the end.

Naturally, they couldn't be accustomed to mingling with nobles.

At those words, Baishada suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

"But that social skill is interesting... If it's okay, I'd like to hear some advice. So that I can deal with them well in the future."

"Ah, no."

Nillia was flustered.

Why did the topic suddenly shift to 'learning Nillia's excellent social skills'?

And there was no such thing.

"There's nothing like that. I just put my heart into it..."

"Ooh...!"

"Ooh!"

While the three were chatting, Yi-Han, who had successfully released another artifact, looked up.

'Was Nillia a socially outstanding person?'

Yi-Han was puzzled but said nothing for the sake of his friend's honor.

"Oh, right. Nillia. Did you come to get useful artifacts?"

It was a casual remark, but Nillia perked up her ears and was grateful. She was so grateful that tears could be seen in the corners of her eyes.

Yi-Han was rather embarrassed.

'Did she need artifacts that badly?'

It's not like she's going to use them for business or anything, so why?

"Is it possible to get something that these hunter gentlemen can use?"

"Aha. So that's why... It shouldn't be difficult. Wait a moment. Let's go find some."

Yi-Han got up from his seat.

And he headed to where Tijiling and Priest Mehrid were.

"Useful artifacts, you say?"

Normally, they wouldn't allow them to be taken outside, but Priest Mehrid wasn't the type of person to flatly refuse a student who was as dedicated as Yi-Han.

And the order placed importance on cursed artifacts, not the ones that had been released from curses.

"You can pick a few from these and take them with you."

"Thank you!"

Although the two hunters behind her were having conversations like "What kind of connections does she have?" and "Isn't she a genius of eloquence?", which bothered her, Nillia tried hard to concentrate.

"Nillia. How about this one?"

Yi-Han held up a leather water bottle. He turned it upside down to empty the water inside, then set it upright and waited. The water slowly rose, sloshing.

It wasn't incredibly fast, but it wasn't unusable in real combat either.

Moreover, such water bottles were quite useful for hunters. When traversing mountain ranges, it was often difficult to find water.

Nillia asked in amazement, "It's good, isn't it? What kind of cursed water bottle is it?"

"I made it."

"..."

While others were struggling to turn a single page of a magic book, her friend was defeating a basilisk, the King of Ghouls, an undead chimera, and even creating artifacts.

Seeing this, Nillia reflected on herself.

'I need to live more diligently starting tomorrow...'