"Are we going to work with them?" Kurono asked as they walked towards the house of Village Chief. On the way they could see humble house made of bricks and such that gave off a warm feeling.

Everywhere they could see non-human species and all of them greeted Lily respectfully, calling her Miss Lilly.

It showed the duo how respected Lily actually was around here. She was loved and respected even though her demeanor was that of a child.

"Most likely, we have similar goals and I can't allow for an innocent life to suffer. They are not suited for the battlefield either, so they need help before something bad happens to them." Shirou replied calmly while taking in his surroundings, he had not let down his defense even though they were in a safe zone.

The group led by Rias had powers but from one look anyone skilled could see they were amateurs. They had too many openings and if he had been an enemy, they would have been dead.

The leader also seemed reckless and emotional from the first impression. He could leave them be but it was highly likely they would get involved in the fights and get killed without supervision.

Now that he was aware of their existence, Shirou couldn't just abandon them. It was trouble but it was his nature.

He won't babysit them but he will guide them so they don't jump into trouble and get killed.

Their objective wasn't too difficult to achieve as Issei would most likely arrive in Pandora. They could take him out and free him.

"You are a great guy, Shirou. Thank you for helping us." Kurono felt happy that he was saved by Shirou and that his savior was such a nice guy. He also felt the desire to communicate with his countryman.

They were from his world and knew his language so it didn't matter if they looked foreign or not.

With them in this village, Kurono felt finally had bigger net of safety as he also felt their magic prowess. After the experiments where his body was pumped with magical blood, his body was filled mana, his mind was forcefully given knowledge, and where he could have died at any moment Kurono had gained sensitivity to mana.

He had been forced to fight over and over against monsters, golems and other subjects before being fed some disgusting food that was supposed to make them stronger while degrading their life force and sanity.

Most of the subjects had gone insane but the mind control ring cancelled out this affect so the only side affect that was important was the loss of life force.

With how cruel the scientist had been, all subjects had lost between 10 to 20 years of their lives to gain such a power up.

"You are welcome." Shirou smiled at his words and also felt better as he could see that Kurono was doing better now.

His rage and depression seemed to have been locked away for now.

The village chief's office wasn't that far so the trio arrived soon enough and entered with permission. There they met an Old Elf woman with white hair, meaning she was probably centuries old.

The chief greeted them with gentleness showing no suspicion or hostility.

"Welcome to Irz Village, please take a seat." The Chief said calmly and allowed them take a seat in front of the desk.

"Thank you for having us, my name is Shirou and this is my friend Kurono. We have come from a far away land and were hoping for a place to stay for awhile." Shirou took a seat as it would seem rude to decline and directly went to the subject.

They were outsiders and it might irritate the host to extend the talk.

He didn't mention anything about the invasion as that would most likely put them in great trouble. He needed a reputation and needed to meet someone of importance for this issue.

His tone was formal and respectful showing that he was a learned person that the chief actually didn't like because it made her feel that Shirou was being calculative and crafty instead of being genuine.

"Please allow us to stay within the village, we won't be a burden and play our part." Kurono also chimed in and made the chief smile at his innocent tone.

He was also using formal language but there was a clear difference between both of them. Shirou also noticed the change in expression and realized that his tone might have been too much for this setting.

He was in a village not in front of some nobles.

"I see…You have travelled here from another country. It must be tough having no home at such an age. So you can stay here, if you like as we accept humans in this village." The Chief said with a gentle smile as she trusted them because of Lilly.

"Thank you and if we can do anything for you, please ask." Shirou relaxed himself and said with a friendly expression.

"No, No. As Miss Lily's acquaintance, I am assured of you."

Just like Shirou had expected, this was going too easily because of Lily. But this was a lot better than he had expected.

Lily was getting respect from everyone in the village and the chief's trust. She was not some normal fairy. She was definitely special.

'She might really be a big deal. I should be careful not to get on her bad side.' Shirou concluded that she was an exceptionally powerful protector of the region, which was believable as fairies were magical creatures born from the earth so they had very high affinity to mana.

"Are there any jobs for us?" Shirou asked

"You can find tasks at the Adventurer guild."

"Thank you, and have a good day." Kurono and Shirou said as they left the office while the old elf looked at their backs.

Just like Rias and her group, these two intrigued her. She was the Village Chief under the authority of the Black Dragon King Garwinare.

The King was someone that loved combat and luxury. He let his servants handle the ruling of the Kingdom while enjoying life.

But the King disliked weakness and he disliked weaklings worming their way up the ladder. He was a man that respected strength and if you were weak, then you were unworthy.

In simple terms, he would never allow anyone under his employ to be weak. The Old Chief had served the Dragon King for decades as one of his archers and retired after her children had moved on to live their lives while her husband had died in the conflict with Sparda.

She was an experienced ranger and archer with grasp on magic. She wasn't an expert as she wasn't talented but she had three rings.

'Lily liked them so they are good kids. But, why are they here?' The Old Chief called Liz thought as she could see that all of them were stronger than her in pure power.

She had immense experience so her eyes never failed her in judging the strength of a target.

'Something is amiss. I will need to have a talk with them, especially Shirou.' Liz had locked on to Shirou as he locked the most in control among the kids she had seen.

She didn't think about forcing them as it went against her peaceful nature, and she didn't want her peaceful village to get destroyed in a battle.

---------------------------

"Kurono, will you stay here?" Lily asked as they left the Chief's office

"Yes, we will stay for awhile. And it is all thanks to you. Thank you, Lily." Kurono expressed his gratitude and hugged the adorable fairy.

Lily allowed it and giggled at his actions.

"Thank you Lily." Shirou also said so with an open attitude unlike before. He had realized that he had been too guarded since coming here and it was creating problems.

"You are welcome." Lily smiled and looked back at Kurono again. It seems she liked the big teddy bear.

"Don't worry Lily, I will come visit you every day and bring you sweets. Do you like sweets?"

"I like strawberries and honey."

"I will give you something different and on the same level."

"What is it?"

"It's a surprise."

"Muu, I want to know."

"Does Lily not like surprises?"

"No, I do not like surprises. Surprises are scary."

"Oh, sorry. I was thinking of making some apple candy or ice pops."

"Apple candy? Ice pop?" Lily tilted her head curiously as she had never heard those words.

"It is something from my hometown, you will love it."

"They look like this." Shirou decided to help out and created the image of the two items, it was just an illusion.

Looking at them Lily felt happier as they looked appealing to her childish eyes and she gave a smile to Shirou that was too cute to ignore.

Her expression even made Shirou feel lighter.

Before the conversation could go further they had arrived at their destination, which wasn't really far from them.

It was simple double story building without any decorations and the board with the name on it. Irz Village wasn't really big so it was understandable that the guild building won't be fancy and entering the premises, they could see that it was also practically empty.

There were some tables and chairs to sit for people where they found a group sitting while the rest was empty. The reception was in front of them where the receptionist was dozing off while a fat cat sat on the counter.

There were shields and swords hanging on the walls along with monster posters or heads.

There was stairs leading upstairs, most likely the guild head of this branch and the main protector of the Village beside Lily.

Leaving the group consisting of a harpy, lamia, lizardman and Catman aside, the trio went for the counter.

"Excuse me" Kurono called out to the cat girl. She wasn't like Kuroneko who was very much human with barely any beast features.

She was completely covered in a calico cat like fur, the face was also similar to an actual cat, however she was walking on two legs and the body structure was also similar to a human. Basically, she was a member of the so called beastman race. But she had hair like an actual human so her face, even though that of a cat, looked a bit human-like. That's what it felt like when seeing her shoulder length light brown hair.

"Welcome to the Irz Village Adventurer's guild, are you looking for a request?"

"No, I'm here to register as an adventurer."

"I see, so you were a newcomer!"

"Yes, I'm just a novice who doesn't know anything so I'll be counting on you to guide me."

"...….You are too polite."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. The only one who talks so politely with an underling like me is just the village's head only. Most of the others are rude adventurers after all."

'Now that I think about it, the village head was kind enough towards a suspicious youngster like me too. Is she like that with everyone?'

"So, ah, I haven't asked for your name yet. I am Nyarko."

"Nyanko?"

"It's Nyarko! You are also rude it seems!"

"Eh, sorry, um, Nyan…..no, Miss Nyarko, my name is Kurono."

"Yes yes, so Mr. Kurono, ah, there is no need to be so formal with me. You'll get tired, right?"

"Ah, you realized?"

"Yes it shows. Still, to use formal speech with other people, it seems Kurono has received some proper education. Which school did you go to?"

"Ahahaha, I'll be glad if you didn't ask too much about my circumstances. I came here because I heard that anyone could become an adventurer without any identity proof."

"I see, so you have some special circumstances."

"That's right."

"Understood. Then neither I nor this guild will ask any further. Now then, please enter the details in the application form."

Nyarko presented a paper and pen.

"Ah, if you can't write then I can write for you for 20 silver."

'I see. Since education and schools are not prevalent, the literacy rate would also be low. So it's normal to also provide such support services.

Fortunately, it's not necessary for me.'

"No, it's fine."

'I have never written these alphabets like characters that are used in this world but the knowledge already exists within my head. So writing is also possible.

Although, I can't write very smoothly or fast. I need to think and write at my own pace.

Thinking that I need practice, I fill up the details in the form.

Well the only things I have to write is name, age and sex but——'

"What is this 'class'?"

"That is where you write whether you are swordsman or a magic warrior, basically you mention your fighting style. This will be one of the criteria while making a party, also your elemental compatibility against monsters etc. will be required for making other important decisions as well. Of course, adventurers are not like an army so they are not separated by proper classes. So everyone writes whatever they feel like. The class name should be as close as possible to their fighting style. If you can't think of something, just use your specialty weapon as a class."

"I see, so it is self-styled names, then—–"

"Black Magician and Mage, is it? It's quite rare to see two mages together especially in this place. Though, I haven't seen anyone with dark magic ever."

"Yeah, are black magical energy users rare?"

"Yes they are. Black magic has too many old secrets. So there is no user who would become an adventurer."

"Magicians, or rather, are most of the magic warriors users of primary colour magical energy like fire, ice etc.?"

"Rather than saying most, pretty much everyone who uses magic is like that. Even users of Summon magic and Healing magic possess at least one primary colour magic."

"I see. I can't use primary colour magic; in the first place I'm not well-acquainted with magic itself."

"If you were to go to towns you could attend lectures on magic, but here we only do the basic explanation for adventurers."

Kurono looked at Shirou who gave him a nod as this was an opportunity for both of them to learn something about this world.

"Will you give the basic explanations for adventurers now?"

"Yes, only the simple rules have to be explained right now. If there is anything else, you can file a form to listen to it."

"I see, ah, my other companion is waiting so if it's going to take some time, can I have her listen together with me?"

"By companion, you mean Miss Lily?"

"You know her? Lily really is famous."

"There is no one who doesn't know. After all she has been selling the miracle medicine of fairies super cheap for the past 30 years."

"Ooh, Lily's medicines are that amazing——–wait, did you just say 30 years?!"

"That's right. Lily-san will be 32 this year if I'm correct."

"eh....eeeeeeh!?"

"32 years old!? Seriously!?"

"I'm serious."

'Up till now, I had thought that she was only 10-12 years old. No, normally my thinking wasn't wrong.

What the hell, 32 years old, that means, I mean, what the actual hell....'

"No need to be that surprised. Fairies live very long after all. And their appearance doesn't change either. Age doesn't hold the same meaning as us for them." Shirou was surprised at his reaction. It seems Kurono had relaxed since coming into contact with Lily and was showing more emotions now.

"I, I see…..basically she has been of the same mental age from the time she was born?"

"Exactly, but they have good memory so they know a lot of things. Especially Miss Lily, who came to human habitation from the fountain of light, knows a lot about this area. She is also familiar with the head of the Kuar village as well."

"Is, is that so….?"

Kurono turned around and saw Lily sitting in the lobby.

Realizing that he was looking, she waved towards them.

"Well, whatever the age, it doesn't change the fact that she is Lily."

"ah, so you two will be taking the elementary level lecture with Lily-san? By the way the price is 100 silver coins. I'll not take Lily-san's share of price."

"Please."

Kurono took out a large silver coin from his shadow where he could store items and gave it to Nyarko.

"Well then I'll do some preparations, so please wait in the lobby with Lily-san."

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A.N Hope you enjoyed and comment