"Hello, Lady, I want to join this guild."

I stood in front of the guild receptionist's tall desk and inquired at the Lady busy doing her paperwork.

"Did I just hear something?"

"Yes, you did."

"Huh?"

"Look here, Lady, look below!"

The Lady, with a skeptical expression, followed my instruction lowering her head.

"My, how adorable! What's a baby doing here?"

"I want to join this guild."

I looked directly into her eyes with a determined look, showing my sincerity since I didn't want to repeat the same mistake I made back at the trading guild. But of course, with this baby voice and soft, tender skin, even I wouldn't be able to control this kind of reaction.

"Kya!"

The Lady quickly abandoned her post and snuggled me.

"Of course, you want to join, come here, you adorable sweetie cutie pie. How about we play—uh, we go hunt monsters?"

My head throbbed, perceiving that I would've to deal with this for a few more years.

"C'mon Mia, don't hug that adorable baby adventurer by yourself."

Another lady from the receptionist intervened.

"Let me join to play—I mean, hunt too."

"No, Kathy, he's mine, all mine!"

Mia hugged me more tightly, almost to the point where I couldn't breathe.

"Don't be greedy, Mia. You're hurting him!"

This wasn't very comfortable! I knew I'm older than these guys, well, not physically, but the fact that I'm enjoying this a little was quite...

Sigh...

I gave up.

"Heyo pwettie lady."

If talking seriously wouldn't work, then how about my baby talk!

Ba-dump!

"Oh my goodness!"

"No way!"

It seems I found a temporary killer skill against ladies that could make my way out whenever I got in trouble.

Not wasting a moment, I followed up by pointing my little finger at my auntie, who was grabbing the door while trembling.

"Awntie. Jwoin. Gwild."

Mia, who was beside me, glanced at Sara.

"I see. It was your auntie who wanted to join?"

When I saw my auntie, who was prepared to decline, I immediately shouted.

"Awntie! Stwong!"

"What, what are y-you saying, Ryu!"

The reaction of my auntie never ceased to amaze me. If we ever count the time she almost passed out because of me, then we would be here until the next morning.

"Auntie! Stwong!"

"Auntie! Jwoin!"

I repeated numerous times so there would be no time for them to think. And it was successful since Mia went back to her desk and took an application form.

"Haha. Hehe. Since you are too cute, I'll help little auntie, alright?"

She laughed like some creep, but I completely understood since there were times when I also did that in the past while fanboying... in moderation, probably.

"Hehe, fill this form and pay 1 gold coin, then we can proceed with her test."

As I thought, they still half-heartedly believed us. She thought that a gold coin would make kids like us back out, but I already knew that my auntie could at least afford it since there was a time when I saw her secret stash with all her savings. She had a different opinion about this, though.

Sara's face turned purple in shock when she heard the price of the application fee.

"Gold?! That, that was already equivalent to my annual income!"

I took the form and handed it to my auntie before she could even think rationally.

"Don't worry, auntie, we will earn more after you sign this."

"But what if I fail the test? I've been saving this money for a new dress."

Her eyes became watery to the point that tears would fall down the next time she blinked.

"It'll be fine, auntie, please... just... trust... me..."

I stared at her while imitating puppy eyes.

"...But."

"Then how about this."

With no other choice, I pulled her arms to lean her head towards me and whispered.

"I might accidentally burn your favorite dress with a fireball."

"What?!"

***

"R-Ryu, w-what am I doing here?"

Sara, with her shivering voice, carried a round wooden shield bigger than herself.

A moment ago, I realized that people wouldn't take me seriously with my current age, so I decided to let my auntie be my substitute. Luckily, she was a late bloomer, so I could still coax her with words. I felt guilty, though.

For now, our problem was to pass this test with a mock battle against an instructor. Auntie needed to show that she had the ability to defeat the weakest monster by showing her strength.

We were now located at the training yard behind the guild building with other people present.

Earlier, I already discussed the strategy with my auntie, so she used a shield instead of a weapon, which provoked her opponent more.

"Are you mocking me?! Why the hell are you only using a shield?!"

"No, no, no, I'm not mocking you, Sir Instructor."

He was fuming, but this was good to our advantage.

"Then let's start!"

He launched an attack as quickly as he could. He might have thought doing this assessment was pointless, so he wanted to end it as soon as possible.

Our plan was straightforward.

First, we already achieved it by ruining our enemy's ability to think by taunting him, and it was more effective since my auntie looked like a total amateur. He might have thought she was playing around when she applied.

Second, we let his guard down. Who would think of defending when fighting against an unarmed enemy, plus against a young lady?

Third, they didn't know we're cheating... Yes, I know it's unfair, but I didn't have time to play like an angel with this life. I've got a life to save!

"Afiste ton anemo na reei."

Without anyone hearing, I chanted to cast magic, creating a large wind.

I used the shield to be used as a kite to fly by applying the wind force. But, instead of making it fly upward, I changed the trajectory of the wind so my auntie would plummet forward toward the Instructor.

Using your enemy's strength against him was what I learned back on earth. When the instructor jumped towards my auntie at full speed, it gave us a perfect chance for a counterattack.

The impact would be stronger when punching someone running towards oneself than punching someone who was standing. The same could be applied to this scenario.

'Hold on tight, auntie.'

Whooosh!

"Kya!"

She was blown away by the wind like an arrow, and her shield struck the Instructor directly to his face. Apparently, he was not prepared for this.

BANG!

"Bueh!"

He shrieked once and was thrown off a large distance from the impact.

"What happened?"

Everyone who saw what happened was stunned, and those who didn't witness asked.

"Isn't he a 2-Star Swordsman?"

"I think so. Did he just fainted?"

"From that young girl? Isn't that ridiculous?"

We were lucky enough that magic users were uncommon. If at least a magic expert was present, we could've been caught and apprehended by cheating on the examination.

"Ryu..."

Sara looked at me with tears dropping from her eyes like it was saying, 'Please save me.'

Again, I'm sorry dear auntie, but I would need you to do more than this in the future as well, so I hoped you would understand.

"Awntie! Stwong!"

"Yes, baby, your auntie is indeed strong."

Mia clapped as she walked towards Sara.

"Congratulations, Sara, for becoming F-Rank adventurer."

"What?"

"You just passed the test."

"Sorry!"

"Why are you apologizing? It's not like you did something wrong, right?"

"Haha... Yes, I d-did n-nothing wrong. Haha. Hahaha."

Mia patted her shoulder. Sara's tears continued to flow while laughing.

"Must be tears of joy. Let's go get your guild card."

It was already two years since I came to this world, and my goal just reached one step forward. My first goal was to have the strength to protect myself, and I achieved that by completing the beginner magic book. I might've failed to cooperate with the Pseudo Trading Guild, but I've said there would be other opportunities in the future. I skipped the trading guild and achieved a connection with the adventurer's guild instead, which was not a bad start.

Now, we need to earn money.

Sara received her guild card.

Guild: Rook

Name: Sara Astalle

Class: Warrior

Rank: F

"Is this true? Is this really true? I'm an adventurer?!"

"Yes. Again, congratulations."

Mia explained with a smile that guild members could take quests on the quest board. Each quest had a rank requirement, so we could only take F-Rank quests until she gets promoted.

An F-Rank adventurer was required to complete one quest per 30 days, so we've no choice but to select one for now.

"My cute nephew, how about this herb gathering quest?"

My auntie happily took a quest. Like she forgot the things that made her worried earlier. Then I remembered that she was just 12 years old.

When I read the novel in the past, I knew that even this herb gathering had a high chance of encountering monsters. So I'll keep it a secret for now.

"I need to prepare my auntie."

"Mmm?"

"It's nothing auntie, let's go home."

"Okay! Hehe!"

She cheerfully responded like someone who just removed a fishbone from her throat.

It felt weird, but seeing my auntie happy, made my heart tingled. Was this the feeling of having a family? Now that I thought about it, I wondered how I would feel when I meet Yume. I didn't even know how she looked like.

Thinking of her reminded me of what would happen in the future.

'Your storm will start in four years. Please hang in there, Princess.'