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'.

regards to the

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

directly and decided to

convince Kevin into bringing

I already knew of a way

was currently sitting

you are, took me a

he was wearing a

Kevin's deep-red eyes were revealed. Holding onto a cup

did you call

Didn't I tell you before I had a deal to make

"A deal?"

what the deal was, he was curious as to why he asked for him to meet him all

"Yeah..."

"Alright let's hear it"

raised my hand in an open-palm position.

"High five?"

head, I

"No, Five"

"...Five?"

straight in the eyes,

"Five-star sword manual"

my mouth, the

Yeah.

be more precise, I was giving him something that would've already

Five-star manual [Levisha style]

five-star swords art that I

timeline he should've gotten the sword art, it

the opportunity presented itself, why not just use it as bait for enticing

sure that he would accept, I at

"Huuuuuu..."

tried his best to retain

the system, he doubted he

in the world could he possibly

at Ren, Kevin couldn't help but find him more and more mysterious the more he got to know

knew that he wouldn't have proposed such a deal unless he wanted something from him. Therefore, taking

"The catch?"

head, I didn't

I have an ability that lets me foresee

"Huh?"

with a skeptical face.

have the ability to foresee the future, those people were a

how sought-after they

at me with even

would he reveal to

Kevin's internal conflict, I

"You don't believe me?

slightly...I glanced at Kevin in the eyes

ability allowed me to foresee

glancing at me, Kevin

"...what?"

have the ability

"..."

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

the level of bullshit that

future. After all, I did have

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

his head and in a low voice he

how much do

shook my

much, just about this

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

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

me some time to think about

slumped back on the chair

'...A five-star manual"

to admit,

Problem was...

Ren who was leisurely drinking his coffee,

'Should I trust him?'

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

knew him, the thicker the

of felt like he was a being that wasn't supposed to belong to

*Sigh*