"Hey… are you really okay? You can't even control your expression right now."
Paimon waved her hand in front of Elric's eyes, unable to hide the worry in her voice.
From their perspective, Elric looked like he'd suddenly gone a little crazy—standing there grinning out of nowhere.
That completely threw them off. Had something really gone wrong in his head?
After all, he'd just gone through a massive misunderstanding, so much resentment that it practically forced the gods to grant him a Vision.
And now he was laughing instead?
Paimon had to admire him at this point. At least when it came to optimism, Elric was truly unmatched.
Or was this the legendary toughness unique to Cryo users?
Even Layla was afraid something might be wrong with him. She tugged gently at Elric's sleeve, looking up at him with concern.
"Ahem. I just suddenly thought of something happy, that's all."
Elric coughed lightly, reining in his expression as he spoke.
He patted Layla's small hand to signal that he was fine.
…Then, without thinking, he gave it a couple extra squeezes. Soft. Cool to the touch.
Layla's face instantly flushed red. She hurriedly pulled her hand back, lowering her head as her cheeks burned.
Senior Brother is really bad…
"Well… we're really sorry. Earlier, we thought you were running some kind of scam operation, so we chased after you."
Seeing Elric return to normal, both Lumine and Paimon finally let out a sigh of relief.
If he'd really ended up mentally unstable, they wouldn't even know how to compensate him.
But the moment Paimon finished speaking, Lumine rolled her eyes.
You don't say something like that so bluntly, at least dress it up with a reason.
Like claiming they were on a mission to arrest this type of criminal, and it just happened to—
Well… since it was already said, might as well let Paimon freestyle.
"Uh… did I really look that much like a scammer?"
Elric scratched his head, genuinely puzzled.
He'd honestly been trying to help those scholars with free guidance.
How did that suddenly turn into a pyramid scheme?!
Hearing that, both girls nodded in unison, clearly agreeing there wasn't much difference.
"I already told Senior Brother not to do things that could be misunderstood like this," Layla quietly added another stab.
"…Alright, alright. But from the original intention, I really was doing it for their good."
Elric spread his hands helplessly. People here were really strange—clearly different from modern thinking.
In his opinion, if someone in Sumeru actually opened a professional consultation agency like that, they'd be swimming in Mora.
Wouldn't that be ten thousand times better than some university career guidance class?
"Anyway, I'm fine now."
Elric stretched lazily, feeling sore all over.
Damn it—Lumine's strength was seriously ridiculous. His hand still hurt.
So this was the Traveler who could freely switch between multiple elements at will, the ultimate state version…
Not the version in cutscenes that always seemed to go fifty-fifty against everyone.
"No. This was our mistake. We still haven't compensated you yet."
Lumine shook her head firmly, insisting on making it up to Elric. Paimon quickly chimed in as well.
"Yeah, yeah! Just tell us what you want. Lumine and I are the legendary Travelers, you know. We've got tons of Mora and treasures on us."
Paimon puffed up her chest proudly, looking like a rich big shot.
"..."
Lumine's expression stiffened slightly, but she didn't stop Paimon.
Worst case, I'll just take more commissions later.
Lumine sighed inwardly. It wasn't that she was rich—Paimon simply didn't understand the value of money when you weren't the one managing it.
Just Paimon's daily food expenses alone cost a ridiculous amount.
Then there was weapon maintenance, daily living costs, gifts during festivals—all of it burned Mora.
Even traveling required social etiquette, you know…
And Lumine didn't even take commissions every day. Usually she only went to the Adventurers' Guild when she was short on money or happened to have free time.
Otherwise, why would she bother coming all the way to Port Ormos to participate in this competition?
The top prizes awarded a huge amount of Mora. Once she finished this run, she was heading straight to Fontaine.
Before setting off on a long journey, Lumine always liked to stockpile some Mora first.
She also strongly suspected that Paimon had her own secret stash—but had no proof.
"So you're really the legendary Traveler who saved Sumeru!"
Elric first put on a shocked expression, then hurriedly waved his hands.
"No, no, you're Sumeru's great benefactors. How could I possibly ask you for compensation?"
"Hehe, it's fine! If you need anything at all, just tell us," Paimon beamed, her eyes narrowing into happy crescents.
"Hmm… alright then. Well… you see, I also use a one-handed sword, but I still don't have a weapon that really suits me."
Elric scratched his head a little awkwardly.
"I heard about your deeds a long time ago, so you must have that legendary sword — Lion's Roar, right?"
He leaned in with his crimson, starry eyes shining brightly, staring at them eagerly.
The passion in those sparkling eyes practically overflowed.
Jokes aside, he really did want a proper weapon.
A weapon formed purely from elemental energy was just too fragile.
At this point in the journey, Lumine had already traveled through four nations. There was no way she didn't have at least a small stash of equipment.
"Uh… we don't have that."
Paimon froze for a moment, her face full of disbelief, as if saying, You really dared to ask that?
Seriously—if they actually had that weapon, would Lumine still be using the Dull Blade?
"Then… Amenoma Kageuchi?"
Elric tried again cautiously.
"Uh..."
Paimon laughed awkwardly, already regretting how boldly she'd bragged earlier.
"No, wait. You're also a sword user—how come you don't have any weapons at all?"
Elric turned to Lumine, who had somehow started gazing up at the sky, and complained.
He hadn't paid much attention to weapons in this world before.
After all, without a Vision, his understanding of weapons was still stuck at the "game" level.
And in the game? Play long enough and even a dog gets a four-star weapon.
Well—aside from a few extremely niche three-star weapons that fit certain characters perfectly.
"Only this. Take it or leave it."
Lumine puffed out her cheeks slightly, pulled out the sword she'd been using from her elemental space, and handed it to him.
She didn't have the money to buy weapons anyway. And these days, weapons were often priceless even if you had Mora.
The Harbinger of Dawn, Festering Desire, Skyward Blade… none of those could be given away.
They were gifts from friends and carried sentimental value.
"Huh? You're giving me your Dull Blade? Then what are you going to use?"
Elric subconsciously accepted it, looking completely confused.
"Me? I'll use this."
Lumine smiled faintly, then drew out a Skyward Blade from her elemental space, gracefully tracing several elegant arcs through the air with a few beautiful sword flourishes.
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