The Author's POV

After calling Ava and setting up an appointment with her, I asked Smallsnake to send me an official contract.

Today I was planning on recruiting Ava.

The location of our meetup was the same cafe' Amanda had brought me a couple of months back.

It was fairly secluded and was ideal for these kinds of deals.

"Over here, Ava"

Not long after I entered the cafe and sat down, I spotted Ava's figure entering the place. Standing up, I called out for her.

Spotting me, Ava headed in my direction.

"Thank you for coming"

"Ah-h, no problem Ren"

Lowering her head, Ava shyly sat down on the seat opposite of me.

"Would you like to order anything? It's on me"

I offered as I handed her the menu.

"No, thank you" Ava shook her head, "So...what did you want to talk about?"

'Straight to the point, I see...'

Well, it was understandable.

The relationship between Ava and I could only be considered to be as 'close acquaintances'

We weren't really friends, and given Ava's shy nature, I more or less understood why she wanted to get this over with quickly.

"Here"

Taking out a stack of papers from my dimensional space, I slid them over to Ava.

In it were the details of the contract that Smallsnake had sent me.

It had all the information regarding the salary, working hours, benefits, and other things that she would get if she worked for me.

"What's this?"

Looking at the papers, Ava tilted her head to the side.

"Just read it"

"Okay..."

Taking the papers, Ava started to read them.

After a couple of minutes, I watched as Ava's brows knit together tightly.

Lifting her head up, she asked in a soft voice,"Y-You're trying to recruit me?"

"Indeed" I smiled, "I want to recruit you to my mercenary group. Are you willing?"

"..."

Ava didn't respond immediately. She proceeded to flip through the papers one more time.

"...Sorry"

After a short pause, Ava closed the papers and pushed them back in my direction. Putting my hand on the papers, I raised my other hand.

"Before you refuse, listen to what I have to say"

Watching her push the papers back, I wasn't disheartened one bit.

From the very beginning, I was prepared to be rejected.

A 16-year old boy recruiting you to a newly established mercenary group that barely had any members.

No matter how you look at it, this deal looked shady.

I understood that.

That was why negotiations existed.

"Ava, you're talented. No, to call you talented would be an understatement. You are extremely talented"

Smiling, pushed the papers back, and started praising her. In response to the praise, Ava's face turned red.

"M-me?"

"Yes, just the fact that you can contract with two beasts at once is proof enough"

Typically monster tamers could only tame one beast at a time. This applied to even the strongest monster tamers on earth.

However, Ava could tame two at the same time.

This alone proved that she was extremely talented in the art of monster taming. She needed to understand this.

"B-but, they won't listen to my orders"

"You're too hasty Ava"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't compare yourself to the others. Just the fact that you're rank is enough proof that you're talented. If you compare yourself to other people then, of course, you will look a lot less talented compared to them. However, keep in mind that you're a monster tamer"

Monster tamers tend to develop at a much slower pace than the others.

This was because they mainly focused on training their pets rather than themselves. Their slow progress was in every right, understandable.

to such an amazing class filled with prodigies like Kevin and the others, she had started to subconsciously think that she was not

This was not correct.

in terms of ranking, she

whilst being a monster tamer. A profession that grew much

others did not notice, she was in fact a

needed to

for your kind words, but I'm still not

"Don't reject me jus—"

had to say, Ava lowered her head and

Tiiriing— Tiiriing—

to respond, my phone suddenly rang. My brows

'What now…'

for

take

my already furrowed brows tightened. Checking the foremost

What gift should I buy for Kevin's birthday?

"…"

head, I

for me to deal with this. Turning my attention back to Ava, I

forgot

"What is it?"

join, this

flute from my dimensional space, I gently placed it on the

"A flute?"

Ava as she looked

not just any regular

handed

"T-this..."

I watched as Ava's eyes opened

This is your ticket to

edged of

should be enough to entice her

with the opportunity to change her fate, Ava wouldn't reject

her position, I would join without even flinching. Looking at Ava whose eyes did not leave the flute once,

do you still wish

***

At the same time.

still going

she looked

ago, she had sent Ren a text. It was regarding Kevin's gift. Despite agonizing over this issue for a whole week, she still couldn't figure out what gift to buy for

of desperation, she decided to

had yet to reply to her

definitely

put her phone away. There was no way Ren

her

back, Emma had no idea how to proceed

Maybe Amanda can help

Emma's eyes lit up.

out of her room, she decided to ask

she did text Amanda today, she had still not gotten a response from

Emma decided to directly

didn't take long

—Knock! —Knock!

door that lead to

"Hm, no response?"

after knocking, Emma got

—Knock!

perhaps not hear

Plausible. Emma knocked again.

no

muttered as she shook

front of Amanda's room for a solid minute, Emma

to give up and return to

***

9:48 P.M.

saying that she rejected

"Yeah"

on my ear, I responded. On the other side of the phone was

you showed her the artifact and

the offer wasn't tempting

flute of Artemis as well

caught me off

as I was confident in what I had

now, I couldn't wrap my head around

were to have been in her position, I would've

Artemis. A cheat like item that would make

plans now

Smallsnake asked.

to think things through. What

going well. Though he still hasn't signed the contract yet, Leopold and I have

"Haaa...That's great"

a piece of good

failing to recruit Ava this morning, my mood had soured quite a

take this

there are times when things just don't work

how life went. Nothing was

just loved to throw curveballs

go. Call me if you

"Alright"

I hung up

—Tak!

of my dimensional space, I proceeded to

led to the training grounds, I looked at Angelica who

"Angelica"

"What is it human?"

opened her eyes

I ask