The Author's POV

Inside of a large skyscraper made out of glass, multiple large portals that emanated strong magical power shone brightly.

-Vuam! -Vuam!

Soon after, as the light died down, a group of people emerged from the portal. They each wore different styled combat suits ranging from thin clothes to large bulky metallic ones. Each of them carried different weapons, with some holding onto massive swords whilst others holding onto long magic staff.

"Goodbye squad captain"

"Thank you very much for today"

"Hope you guide us again squad captain"

Waving goodbye towards the last person that came out, all of the individuals inside the group smiled brightly.

...it looked like they were all in a good mood.

"Heee...don't mention it, just doing my job"

Waving goodbye to multiple people wearing different-colored combat suits, a middle-aged man with a lazy smile on his face and a large cigar in his mouth stood within the lobby of the building.

He had Black hair, an unkempt beard, and a wild yet commanding aura around him that made everyone near him look at him in respect.

Leopold Ray.

That was the name of the middle-aged man standing in the lobby.

He was a ranked hero, and a squad captain working for the Moonlight mercenary group, a [IV] graded mercenary group.

His job was fairly easy.

All he had to do from day in and day out was train the new recruits that the mercenary group was seeking to recruit.

...In terms of ranking within the group, he was at the bottom of the mercenary corporation. However, despite being at the bottom of the hierarchy, he was a highly respected individual by all of the new recruits.

...and that's because he was extremely capable.

During dungeon raids, he was meticulous, efficient, and safe.

As long as he was in command, the raids would always be successful with the rookies barely sustaining any injury. Moreover, each recruit managed to learn a lot from Leopold as he would always calmly instruct them when the situation called for it.

...However, despite such accomplishments, the higher-ups of his mercenary group didn't bother to promote him nor give him a raise. To them, a ranked hero in his late thirties was not worth their notice.

Waiting for Leopold at the reception of the establishment, a young girl with custard brown hair and a neat grey uniform greeted Leopold with a professional smile on her face. Taking a stack of bills from the register, with both hands, the young girl handed it to Leopold

"Welcome back Leopold, here's your payment"

"Ah, thank you, Natasha"

Thanking the receptionist named Natasha, Leopold took the stack of bills and slowly counted each and every one of them. Not missing a single bill

"100U...500U...2800U...5000U...this should do for now"

Nodding his head, Leopold put the stack of money in his pocket and waved goodbye towards Natasha.

"Aight, cya around Natasha"

"Have a safe day Leopold"

With her usually business-like smile, Natasha waved goodbye to Leopold.

Not so far from Leopold, arriving at the lobby of the building, wearing a neat black suit and sunglasses, a young man spotted Leopold in the distance and headed in his direction.

Arriving a few meters away from Leopold, the young man said

"Excuse me?"

Having just received his payment, hearing someone calling out from him, Leopold glanced at the young man before him and asked

"Yes?"

Smiling brightly, the young man extended his hand towards Leopold

"Hello, Mr. Leopold, let me introduce myself, I'm Smallsnake"

...

On the same day, not so far from where Smallsnake was, Epsilon cafe

Sitting in the corner of the establishment, in a more secluded area of the cafe', I merrily sipped on my latte'.

sorted out the stuff with regards to the company, it was time for me to finish my

recruiting Ava, but after looking through the files Smallsnake sent me, I

to skip that directly and decided to jump straight

Kevin into

knew of a way to

currently sitting inside of a

me a

thoughts, was Kevin's figure. Currently, he was wearing a black hoodie

and taking off his hoodie, Kevin's deep-red eyes were revealed. Holding onto a cup of coffee, Kevin glanced at me and

why did you call me

tell you before I had a deal to make

"A deal?"

was, he was

"Yeah..."

"Alright let's hear it"

open-palm position. Noticing my

"High five?"

head, I

"No, Five"

"...Five?"

at Kevin straight in the

"Five-star sword manual"

came out of my mouth, the atmosphere

Yeah.

was giving him something

Five-star manual [Levisha style]

of the three five-star swords art

I had to cross-reference back to the novel, in terms of the timeline he should've gotten the sword art,

itself, why not just use it as bait

he would accept,

"Huuuuuu..."

tried his best to retain his

manual... its value was immeasurable. Even with the system, he doubted he would ever

could he possibly have

find him more and more mysterious the more he

to accept the offer like that. He knew that he wouldn't have proposed such a deal unless he wanted something from him. Therefore, taking a couple of seconds

"The catch?"

I

I have an ability that lets me

"Huh?"

Kevin looked at me with a skeptical

foresee the future, those people

how sought-after

with even more

he reveal to me such important

internal

"You don't believe me?

at Kevin in the eyes

ability allowed me to

at

"...what?"

the ability to travel through different

"..."

words reached Kevin's ears, almost as if time had frozen, he

impressed by the

foresee the future. After all, I did have a book that allowed me to see 10 minutes

in the way I was describing it

remain composed, Kevin lowered his

how much do

I shook

much, just about

was no need for him to become warier of me. I think

help. I didn't need for him to start becoming

me some time to think

slumped back on the chair

'...A five-star manual"

had to admit, the offer was

Problem was...

drinking his coffee, Kevin

'Should I trust him?'

in the past, they never actually talked for long. At most 10 minutes. To

knew him, the thicker the veil of

he was a being that wasn't supposed to belong

*Sigh*