The A-rank Adventurers

I wake up on the cold stone floor of the church. Elizabeth and Vol are next to me, steadily getting into more upright positions.

"That was..." Vol starts, but then quickly trails off.

"I think we owe you an apology," Elizabeth says.

As we left the church, Vol still holding me up, I felt a sense of relief. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that they believe my story following an experience like that.

"Man, Seb- I mean, Shawl- I can barely believe you're older than  me," Vol tells me on the way out.

"Sebastian is fine. How old are you, anyway?"

"Hm, 1432 years."

God damn you're old.

Wait, I'm 1600. Shit.

"You look good for 1400," Elizabeth says to Vol in what I assume is a joking manner.

"Ha! I look good? Look at Seb!"

"It's kind of surprising how relaxed you are about all this," I tell them.

"Well, we thought - you know - that you hurt your head. It's just kind of a relief to know that you were okay all along," Vol explains.

But just as Vol begins to suggest that I go back to the hospital to heal up, we turn a corner and are faced with a strange sight.

There's a large crowd of people gathered all along the main street. Not the "I'm just going shopping" kind of crowd, but the "look, there's a show" kind of crowd. I don't usually mind those crowds, but the "show" here is one that I wasn't expecting to see again.

"Woah, sis!"

A man with blonde hair tied in a ponytail waves brightly to us from the middle of the crowd, the sunlight glistening off his golden armor. I'm surprised the people around him aren't being blinded.

The man is Jonas, Elizabeth's practically-a-twin brother.

"It's been a while!" he exclaims, hurrying over to us.

Indeed it has. Last time I saw him must have been way back in Elsvaert. I got him and his party to hunt down a greater monster with me and then had them take the credit. I haven't heard anything about them in a while.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him.

"Sebsastian?? Is that you?"

"Yes. What are you doing here? Where's your group?"

They always struck me as a little more competent than him, so it's a bit concerning to see him without them.

"Oh, they're out celebrating. I was just on my way there, but I couldn't help but greet a few fans on the way!"

He turns and waves at a couple of women, a broad smile on his face. They giggle and wave shily back at him before heading off. Their clothes are suspiciously, shall we say, "brothel-like." I'll do him the favor of not mentioning that.

"So," I say, getting tired of repeating myself, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Why not come drink with us?" he asks, grinning at the three of us.

This dude needs some medication. Come on. Focus.

"Jonas, what are you doing in Tayde?" Elizabeth asks.

Somehow, that got his attention.

"Right, I haven't said yet, have I?"

"No," we say as one.

"We just received our A-rank adventurer cards!!"

Huh, would you look at that.

"Actually," he says, leaning in, "I guess we've got you to thank for that."

He winks at me.

"Sure."

"So come join us for a drink!" he exclaims, leaning back out.

"I'm sorry," Vol cuts in, "but he really isn't in a fit state right now."

It's only then that Jonas seems to actually take in my appearance properly. He glances over at Elizabeth. I wonder how this must look to the people on the street. A half burnt teenager being dragged around by an elf in researcher robes and bodyguarded by identical twins. Sounds like a tourist attraction.

"Greater monster," she says, simply.

"Ah," Jonas says, probably thinking that my injuries were the monster's fault.

Nice partial truth, Elizabeth.

"Well," he says, "Kyrah - that's our mage - just learned a high-level healing spell. She's so good, I bet she could cast it drunk."

"I'm sure your mage is great, but a healing spell won't do any good here," Vol tells him.

"Huh? Why not? They're burns, right?"

"They're mana burns. Healing spells will just make them flare up again."

I guess it's good that I have Vol here because I wasn't aware of that. I suppose there's a reason why they call him the greatest magical researcher.

Once we manage to pry ourselves away from Jonas, we return to the hospital. I don't like hospitals much, but as Vol says, "Magic can't heal mana burns."

He tells me that I need to rest, at minimum, until I can walk without using him as a support.

"Fine. If I can't move, then I need you to do me a favor."

"Alright?"

"I had an idea for some changes to the manacaster."

"Seb, didn't I tell you that the manacaster melted?"

"No problem. It needed a complete revamp anyway."