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Time passed without anything eventful really happening.

It was near the end of the third month of the year, and Anlesa paused her work to enjoy lunch.

However, as she went to grab the wooden fork provided with the plate, there was a momentary pause as she realised this wasn’t what she ordered.

Eva called to the waiter who was walking off, “Sorry, this isn’t what I ordered.” What she received was close enough to what she paid for–a hefty portion of venison with a small side of local potatoes. The difference was the extra side of the carrot and the two pieces of toasted bread seasoned with garlic. The latter was getting expensive due to a poor harvest.

The young body in his mid-teens paused and turned around. "Oh, sorry Miss.”

Before the body could take a step towards the table, an elderly gentleman stopped him. “Don’t worry, there is no problem here.”

John Carlman, the owner of the Carlman Tavern they were currently eating at. He was an elderly man whose age wasn’t exactly known, but he had been running the business for at least forty years and possessed a well-kept grey beard and hair to match the tidy aesthetic his restaurant had.

Anlesa asked, “You sure?”

“Yes. I’ve been getting quality deer carcasses for a little while now. I knew they were coming from the Brown Oak Guild, so I just asked around.” The man twirled his beard. “Got to reward those customers that help the business thrive.”

Syrus returned a small chuckle. “Thank you, but are you sure you are not just doing this, so I buy these extras next time?”

The elderly gentleman laughed. “Haha, maybe. Well, I’ll stop bothering you. Enjoy your meal.”

Syrus nodded. “I will, thank you.”

[This garlic bread is good…] (Eva)

[Don’t fall too in love with it.] (Syrus)

[I mean, I could probably make it with your help for cheaper if I really wanted to eat it again.] (Eva)

[It tastes better with cheese added.] (Luna)

[Oh really?] (Eva)

[Don’t give Eva ideas… Cheese is expensive at the moment.] (Syrus)

Once they were done eating, they began walking down the street. They didn’t have an exact plan, but for the time being, Syrus was just going to head to the guild to see if there was any quick or easy request available. If there was one available, they would quickly do it and pick some personal ingredients from the forest, and then Eva would go back to potion making. If there were no worthwhile requests, then they would likely just go back home immediately.

They did have a quick look at the local news board on their way.

[Nothing chaotic around town.] (Eva)

[But wow, stealing from a museum—huh, someone’s got balls.] (Syrus)

[What wait, where’s that?] (Eva)

[I’ll just focus on it now.] (Syrus)

[Oh, in the Jenate Republic…] (Eva)

[Northwest of Cancole. It would’ve been two months ago based on the information spreading. Albaalturn Museum… The criminal who did it was the Blinker…] (Luna)

[Oh, it just said a ‘Blinker’, so I assumed that was just what they called thieves.] (Syrus)

[When I was active, there was someone called the Blinker who was a known thief. Not sure if they have decided if they're multiple or not, or just didn’t want to pin it on the same person, either way, it would be something interesting for the chatterboxes to gossip about for a few days.] (Eva)

[Blinker… So could they be a Space attribute user like you?] (Eva)

[Unlikely, apparently they could vanish and reappear multiple times without issue. Even teleporting a few times drains my mana supply, so there is a higher chance they just have an attribute that allows them to go invisible.] (Luna)

After the tangent aside, they continued their journey.

On the walk to the guild, they noticed an unfamiliar person uncomfortably strolling through the street.

[Is that another Aurora Church priest?] (Eva)

The young man in his late teens or early twenties was wearing a standard white cloak with the church’s golden stars symbol stitched into the collar. Underneath were ordinary travel clothes, it was a common get-up for priests travelling alone.

[Appears so…] (Luna)

[Not sure why they are here on their own. They don’t look particularly comfortable here.] (Syrus)

Syrus' observation was based on the fact that the young man's clear dislike of a certain part of the populace was clearly noticeable. As he kept glaring at multiple different groups of them, his eyes darted around every person who had an exotic attribute, to the extent that he wasn’t even paying attention to anything else.

[...] Luna quieted herself to calm down.

[Should we be worried?] (Eva)

[About what?] (Syrus)

[About the priest doing something bad…] (Eva)

[Even if they were stupid, they were probably told numerous times to not cause a scene in this city.] (Syrus)

However, Syrus was quickly proven wrong.

The priest cornered a small girl with bright blue hands and sparkling scales covering her cheeks who happened to be near. He jumped towards her in a moment and blocked her escape with the wall of a building.

Anlesa didn't even listen to the verbal abuse he started spewing, Luna and Eva wanted to act immediately.

[Stop.] Before either could do anything, Syrus asked them to stop.

[We need to go help!] Eva cried internally, worried for the girl’s safety.

[Don’t worry.] Syrus, who had already noticed someone approaching early, made sure not to move. [Maca is here.]

Before the priest could do anything. An individual suddenly appeared behind him, and their bony hands tightly grabbed the priest’s raised hand.

The priest screeched, “What do you think you are doing?!”

Maca calmly stated. “Taking you off the street.”

Maca Appel was the exotic attribute person who had met with Luna a while ago. He was a tall man with a blueish, bony-like exoskeleton that covered a large amount of his upper body and arms. Anlesa found out about his name after asking around.

The priest continued to complain, “Do you think you can get away with this?!”

The priest's eyes dashed around the street, finally looking at everyone else, looking for people to help him out. But he found no sympathy in anyone’s eyes. Attacking a child got him a look of disgust from most people. Even those who had no care in the treatment of those with exotic attributes, wanted this bug removed, anyone causing a scene in the business street needed to be removed after all.

Before long, they couldn’t even hear the priest’s screams.

[Looks like it was appropriately dealt with.] (Syrus)

[Do you think he will be back to cause more trouble?] (Eva)

[Maybe? But Maca probably broke a few of his bones at the very least.] (Syrus)

The town continued to be peaceful for another day.