Chapter 1:
Yoizuki and the Strongest
A GIRL WITH SUNLIGHT AND WIND tangled in her silver hair approached me in front of the Remote Magic Tower and spoke to me. Afterward, she watched me with deep blue eyes that rendered me speechless.
“Amane-san?” she asked, tilting her head at me. “Is something wrong?”
“N-no. Who are you, exactly…?”
“Please call me Claire. We’re the same age, so you don’t need to speak so formally to me.”
“Uh, Claire then.”
“Yes, Amane-san.”
I might start sweating soon. What was going on here? This conversation was moving too fast and too slow at the same time. Why would she tell me to drop the formalities only to be formal with my name? How did she even know my name and age when we’d never met before, anyway? Unless she told me why she came to meet me, this conversation would go nowhere—and I mean nowhere fast.
“Do you want something from me…?” I asked, not bothering to hide my wariness. “It sounds like you did a lot of digging to figure out where to meet me.”
Her expression scrunched up a little with awkwardness. “I’m sorry. There are reasons for this, I assure you, but I’m sure it’s uncomfortable to be investigated in such a way. I understand your displeasure.”
“Table the apology for later, okay? What business do you have with me?”
“Thank you for hearing me out. I will respect your time,” she said. “I came here today to recruit you into my guild.”
“You’re a recruiter?”
“Yes. My guild master has spoken to you about joining once before, but you declined. I’m here to renegotiate the terms.”
Those were the last words I expected. I looked at her askance. Why would someone go out of their way to scout me now? It made sense when I first obtained my unique skill, but once word spread that it was totally useless, the recruiters dried up. I hadn’t received a single invite since then.
“Oh, I forgot the most important detail—our guild name,” Claire continued, misinterpreting my reservations. “I’m from Yoizuki Guild. Our headquarters is located in this city. Do you know of it?”
“Yoizuki…?”
“Correct.”
I rattled the name around in my head until it rang a bell. Over the last few years, it had risen in rank to become the top guild in Japan. It was one of the few Japanese guilds with some real clout behind it. Wasn’t it the guild that Yui had joined? If a prestigious guild like that wanted me, the situation would make even less sense.
“Amane-san, I’d like to personally escort you to headquarters to speak with the guild master,” Claire said, filling the silence. “Is that acceptable?”
Uncertain, I paused and quickly shuffled the mental card deck options I had at hand. I’d thought about entering a guild—in exchange for the right support—plenty of times. Yoizuki’s strength could be worth the tradeoffs. That said, I didn’t want to join a guild at this point. I’d have to accept a smorgasbord of limitations and monitoring that I wasn’t used to. It was better to focus on leveling up on my own.
Hold on. Saying no is too easy. Something’s off about her even asking me about this.
I’d hidden my skills and stats from almost everyone around me (even Hana, until recently). People should see me as a less-than-average adventurer. A top guild like Yoizuki scouting me was even stranger than a small guild…wasn’t it? One year was plenty of time for the rumors about my uselessness to reach them. Did they still have hope for my future prospects, even though I turned them down and turned out to be weak?
There was too much left unsaid. It might be a good idea to go with her and find out for certain what they knew.
I pulled myself away from the options spread wide in my mind and studied Claire. Something about her nagged at me. From the moment I saw her, it felt as if something was squirming in my chest—something I couldn’t name, though I couldn’t bring myself to let go of it.
What an odd feeling. Why? Why did I want to chase that feeling?
“Okay,” I replied, playing my card of choice. “If you’re fine with just a conversation, bring me to your guild.”
“Thank you, Amane-san.” Claire smiled as she replied. We headed together toward the Yoizuki Guild.