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'.

the

looking through the files Smallsnake sent me, I realized that recruiting her wasn't

and decided to jump straight into the hardest

Kevin into bringing me

I already knew of a way to convince

was currently sitting inside of a

are, took me a while to

out of my thoughts, was Kevin's figure. Currently, he was wearing a black hoodie that hid his facial

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

you call me

tell you before I had a deal

"A deal?"

he didn't know what the deal was, he was curious as

"Yeah..."

"Alright let's hear it"

open-palm position.

"High five?"

my head,

"No, Five"

"...Five?"

straight in the

"Five-star sword manual"

those words came out of my mouth, the atmosphere around us

Yeah.

precise, I was giving him

Five-star manual [Levisha style]

the three five-star swords art that I had created

timeline he should've gotten the sword art, it should be in about two months'

opportunity presented itself, why not just use it as bait for enticing Kevin into bringing me

wasn't sure that he would accept,

"Huuuuuu..."

breath, Kevin tried his best

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

could he possibly have a

but find him more and more mysterious

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?"

head, I didn't

I have an ability that lets me foresee bits

"Huh?"

with a skeptical

it wasn't unheard of in this day and age for someone to have the ability to foresee the future,

sought-after

with even more

he reveal to me such

Kevin's internal conflict, I

"You don't believe me?

slightly...I glanced at Kevin in

ability allowed

at

"...what?"

you have the ability to travel through

"..."

almost as if time had frozen, he stared at

I couldn't help but be impressed by the

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

it to Kevin...but still, he didn't need to

to remain composed, Kevin lowered his head and in a low voice he

how much

I shook my

much, just about this

but there was no need for him

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

some time to think about

on

'...A five-star manual"

to admit,

Problem was...

Ren who was leisurely drinking his coffee, Kevin couldn't help

'Should I trust him?'

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

him, the thicker the veil of

being that wasn't supposed to

*Sigh*