The next morning, after classes ended, Kazuto stretched his arms wide and yawned.
A guy beside him turned to him and asked Kazuto.
"Hey Kazuto, I heard some noise in your room last night. What happened?" he asked.
"Ahh.. that? It's not a big deal... yesterday night, I was coming back from the library. But guess what! When I was almost got my room, the light went out. As a mage who can't use magic to create fire or light, I was touching wall to walk in the dark. Finally, I reached back to my room and opened the door. And then, Hanamori striked me with the water sphere. She thought I was a ghost or something... Either she thought or not it was hurt as hell... "
The guy looked shocked.
"Woh..oh.. That must be really hurt.. By the way, you must be really good at defense since you didn't get any harm from that."
Kazuto stunned and looked like he understand it or not. He didn't know why but..
"I guess so.."
Then he glanced at Hanamori, who was busy packing her books into her bag. An idea appeared in his mind.
"Hey, Hanamori. Is there… like, a guild in this town? You know...?"
Hanamori paused, blinking at him.
"Yes, there is. It's one of the biggest ones nearby… but why are you asking?"
"Don't tell me —."
Kazuto slapped his fist into his palm.
"Let's go! Since I can't really use magic, I will train by doing guild quests! That way, I'll be rising my rank and gain experience from them. This can be also help for the dungeon clearing as a training, right?!"
Arisa frowned, her brows knitting in concern.
"That's reckless, Kazuto. You're already registered on the dungeon clearing tournament. If you also join dangerous quests, You will be tired when the tournament day reached. Think what if something happens to you?"
Kazuto crossed his arms, puffing out his chest dramatically.
"Heh. Danger is nothing just a word! Fear is only stronger if you scared it. Besides, this is my chance to level up and catch up to everyone. I mean, come on, Hanamori, what's the worst that could happen?"
Then Kazuto was going to stepped out and went to guild. Hanamori sighed, clearly not convinced. She stepped closer and, before Kazuto could react, she gently took his hand.
He froze. Didn't expect her to react like this.
"Umm… Hanamori …?"
He turned back to Hanamori. Her face was red. Looks like she tried to say me not to go but her words didn't come out so she had to do her own.
"Kazuto. If you're going to join the guild… then I'll join too." she said shyly, her face was pale red and pink.
Kazuto blinked at her, his face turning red.
"W-wait, hold up. You're saying… you're going to become an adventurer too?
She nodded but shyly. Then Hanamori smiled softly.
"Yes. If you're reckless enough to do this, then I have no choice but to make sure to protect— umm... I mean make sure if you're okay."
Kazuto nearly got heart attack from her words.
"Okay.. okay.. Calm down...Kazuto.."
Hanamori tilted her head, confused at his muttering. Kazuto quickly coughed and tried to look cool.
"Alright then. Let's go register together!"
The town was alive with citizians as usual. Hanamori and Kazuto walked side by side until a massive stone building came into view. A giant sign hung above the doorway, reading Adventurer's Guild.
Kazuto's eyes sparkled.
"This is bigger than and popular than I thought!" he said.
"I told you. This is the biggest one nearby." Hanamori replied.
"But I didn't think that would be this big."
Arisa rolled her eyes with a small smile.
"You looked excited for everything Hoshin..."
"Well this world is full of surprise and excite everywhere. How can I not be excite about it." Kazuto replied.
They stepped inside, and Kazuto's jaw dropped. The place was filled with armored warriors, robed mages, and hunters polishing their bows. Full of adventures' parties.
"Yessss. This is exactly how every anime guild looks. They really nailed the atmosphere here."
Hanamori tugged him toward the counter, where a receptionist in uniform greeted them.
"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild. How can I help you?"
"We want to register as an adventure." Kazuto said.
"Sure! you can." the receptionist said.
The receptionist placed a glowing crystal ball on the counter.
"Please place your hand on the crystal. It will measure your abilities, rank, and potential, and mana."
Hanamori went first. She placed her hand on the crystal, and it glowed faintly blue. Numbers appeared on a floating screen:
Magic Power: B
Swordsmanship: E
Mana Pool: 350
Rank: D
The receptionist nodded approvingly.
"A good result. D-rank is respectable for a first-timer."
Hanamori let out a small relieved breath.
"That's… not bad. I'll work hard from here."
Kazuto clapped for her like an overexcited cheerleader.
"Woo! That's great Hanamori! My partner is now a D-rank adventurer!" he said.
He slapped his hand dramatically on the crystal. The orb glowed faintly… then sputtered like a dying candle.
On the screen:
Magic Power: B
Swordsmanship: B
Mana Pool: 0
Rank: F
The guild hall went quiet for a second—then erupted in laughter.
"Pfft! F-rank?! Even his girl is higher than him!"
"A mage without mana? That would be useless."
"A newbie huh?! Looks like he will be beaten by the goblins later."
There was a man watching it from near. He thought for a while. Then he frozed.
"A boy with zero mana.. but why does he has magic power rank B?" the man thought.
"Don't tell me— is he related to that old man?" the man frozed.
"I have to report this to the Kingdom." and then the man walked out the guild.
Back to Kazuto, he looked like his heart cracked like glass.
"… …"
He forced a smile.
"Yup. After all these days, I haven't improve just a bit. Then why am I stay at academy? Am I wasting my time? On this nothing magic?."
Far above, the God who reincarnated Kazuto was watching the scene unfold.
"Oh no… they're laughing at him… this is painful to watch."
He facepalmed.
"I can't believe what I actually did. I have to save this boy one day."
"But is his mental strong enough to hold till that day? "
Kazuto sighed.
"Well… the more harder the life the more experience I get. So, all I do is to face everything I meet."
The god surprised at Kazuto.
"Well Kazuto doesn't weak as I thought.."
"He will be stronger than anyone one day."
"To reach his goal, I have responsible to guide him."
Back at guide, Hanamori quickly grabbed Kazuto's arm, glaring at the laughing adventurers.
"Don't listen to them. F-rank or not, you're still my Hoshin."
Kazuto blinked at her words, his chest tightening a little.
"Hanamori… I'm seriously going to cry right now. But thanks for standing for me." he looked happy while saying it and his hand accidently pet Hanamori hair. Then his mind come back and apologize to her.
"Ahh..umm.. sorry, Hanamori. I got carry away."
Hanamori looked shy. Also her face is turning red. But still looking toward Kazuto.
"No.. no need to apologize... I forgive you just for this time... It's not like I like being pet by you... I'm just... feel safe.." she said.
The receptionist looking them smiling and handed them both shiny bronze guild tags.
"Registration complete. You are now officially adventurers. You can check the quest on that board for available jobs."
Kazuto held up his tag dramatically.
"At last! My bronze guild tag! With this, I've unlocked side quests, complete missions and rising up my rank till I get a place."
Hanamori tugged him along toward the quest board.
"You're way too happy about registering."
The quest board was filled with papers: monster clearing, herb gathering, and delivery requests. Kazuto checked those papers one by one.
"Alright, Hanamori. Let's find something suitable for beginners."
Hanamori scanned the board, then pointed to one.
"How about this one?. Goblin clearing. Low risk and suitable for beginners."
Kazuto's eyes lit up.
"Goblins, huh? And it wasn't far from our academy. This is literally perfect for our first quest!"
He took the paper from Hanamori and checked details about it.
"Goblins, maybe F or E-rank. This is not something I could not fight. And the award is enough for us... Also it was near from our academy, So, we can complete the quest and also exploring."
Hanamori smiled.
"What do you think Hoshin?"
Kazuto turned at Hanamori.
"You're quite good at choosing quest, Hanamori."
Hanamori chuckled softly, shaking her head.
"It must be your imagination, Hoshin.. Forget about it, let's take this quest."
Kazuto grinned at her.
"Right! Let's do this. We have to try our best at our first quest!"
As they walked to the counter together, Kazuto thinking about the quest and already excited.
"Yeah, I'm already excited for this. Next time you will see my sword skills from an otaku who is always watching isekai anime. OH! By the way, there was comedy in Chapter-6! Hope it meets your taste!"