A little while after Stephen left,
Mark looked toward the place where Stephen had disappeared, and some worry appeared on his face.
'Will he be alright?'
'My brother seemed very tired and absent-minded today.'
'Sigh… I hope he returns safely.'
Mark returned to the house Stephen had bought for a very cheap price because it was located on the outskirts of the city of Aurore.
When it had first been purchased, the house was dilapidated, but thanks to Stephen, it had been transformed from a wreck into a beautiful and peaceful home.
Mark quietly entered the house and went to his room. He tried studying some of the programming books he had, but he felt worried about Stephen, so he continued waiting for him.
The time was approaching midnight because he had returned home at eight in the evening, and his anxiety gradually increased.
.
.
Mark looked at his watch and found that it pointed to three o'clock.
'He's late… Was he assigned a sudden mission? He's very late.'
Mark began feeling sleepy when he heard the front door open, and he immediately stood up to welcome Stephen.
He felt shocked when he saw blood staining Stephen.
He had to keep himself composed because this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but he still hadn't gotten used to it and continued worrying about him.
Stephen noticed that Mark was shocked by his appearance.
Stephen looked extremely exhausted, and his shoulder was covered in blood.
Mark quickly approached Stephen.
He asked,
"What happened to you? Why are you covered in blood like this?"
Stephen smiled and calmly said,
"Mark, why are you still awake?"
Mark became angry at Stephen's calmness and shouted furiously,
"Sleep?.. How can I sleep when ever since you woke up after the test you've seemed exhausted and distracted!!"
"And then you left in such a hurry, and now you return with blood on your shoulder!"
Stephen was surprised by Mark's outburst and asked him in confusion,
"What's so strange about it? It's not the first time I've gone on an urgent mission!"
Mark calmed himself down.
'Yeah… what's strange today?.. Is it because he seemed distracted today?'
Mark said to Stephen sadly,
"I just don't want my only family to get hurt."
Stephen smiled and patted Mark's hair.
"It's not a serious wound, and I didn't even use all my skills during the fight. If I had used them, I would've ended things quickly, but I wanted to increase my strength without relying on my skills."
"And this wound will heal with a medium healing potion."
Mark frowned.
'What important thing is making you risk your life like this just to increase your strength?'
Mark said to Stephen,
"You should rest now and change your clothes. Should I prepare something for you?"
Stephen sighed.
"Just bring me some warm water to drink."
Mark replied,
"Yes."
Then he hurried away.
Stephen laughed.
'What?.. Is he treating me kindly now after shouting at me!'
He shrugged.
'Well, it's my fault. I should've changed my clothes before returning. The blood makes my injury look serious to Mark… it'll only leave a small scar.'
...
The next day,
Stephen slept for a long and comfortable time, and after waking up, he ate quietly with Mark.
Mark looked at Stephen for a second before smiling mischievously.
Mark said to Stephen while eating,
"It seems your reputation as Black Crow has increased. A woman posted an article saying that while she was returning home, a very powerful monster attacked her and her children, and she almost died, but the angel with white hair shining beneath the hood, with a black crow embroidered on his back, appeared and saved her and her children from the disgusting monster. She also said that even though he was covered in robes and the place was dark, it still couldn't hide his incredibly amazing beauty…"
Mark kept talking to the point that Stephen's face turned slightly red.
Stephen interrupted Mark.
"That's enough. They're exaggerating this."
Mark smiled slyly.
"What? But I haven't told you about the other article written by the second group… O angel."
Stephen said awkwardly,
"Alright, that's enough, Mark. It's embarrassing."
Mark spoke teasingly,
"What? But the title 'angel' suits you. Should I call you that?"
Stephen said with fake anger,
"Mark, stop."
Mark quickly finished breakfast.
"Goodbye, O angel. I'm going to train, and after training, I might remember all the articles published previously."
'Hehehe, this is your punishment.'
Then he quickly ran away.
Stephen sighed.
'Damn it, I'll deal with him later.'
Then he quietly continued eating his food.
After finishing,
He sat in front of the cat Byron and stared at him.
Byron felt nervous and looked away from Stephen's eyes.
[It seems interrogation time has come.]
Without Stephen saying a single word, Byron transformed himself into his humanoid-like form and looked at Stephen with some guilt.
Stephen was surprised by Byron's transformation because only powerful monsters could transform into humanoid forms.
Stephen asked first,
"Why did you form a contract with me?"
Byron sat on the ground.
"I don't know… I just felt drawn toward you."
Byron had prepared his answers a long time ago.
Stephen frowned and spoke again,
"Do you know why I feel that you're familiar?"
Stephen looked at Byron while waiting for his answer and observing his expressions.
Byron looked at Stephen and tilted his head.
"Really?.. But I don't remember ever meeting you."
'Hahaha, does he think that by focusing on my expressions he'll find something suspicious? I am Byron, the King of Deception.'
Stephen frowned and began thinking.
'That's impossible… I feel like he's familiar.'
'I'll keep watching him for a while. I still feel like he's deceiving me about something.'
Stephen looked at the innocent face before him.
'He looks innocent…'
"Alright, that's enough for now."
Byron was shocked.
'What!! Just these questions!... Then what about all the many questions I prepared answers for?'
Stephen stood up and headed toward the door leading outside the house. He put on his shoes, and before opening the door, he turned toward Byron and asked,
"Why didn't you transform into this form during the past period?"
Byron replied,
"Because it wasn't necessary. Also, my original form is more comfortable."
Stephen said,
"Alright. Tell Mark that I'm going to the guild."
Byron nodded.
Stephen left. He had drunk the potion yesterday and bandaged his wound because the potion needed one day to heal it completely.
Stephen didn't give much importance to investigating his contracted beast.
One of the contract's features was that if the contracted beast attacked him or tried to harm him, the beast's soul would disappear from existence.
'I haven't studied contracted beasts much because it's very rare for someone to have a contract with a monster.'
'Well, I'll research contracted beasts later. For now, I'll go search for the dungeon.'
Half an hour later, Stephen arrived at the guild.
He had taken a taxi to reach the guild.
When he arrived, he looked at the large guild building. It had become much bigger since he joined the guild. In the beginning, it was famous because of the guild leader and his deputy, Jens, but after the appearance of Black Crow, the rapid increase in his strength, his constant activity over the past years, his fame, and especially the mystery of his identity, the guild's reputation had greatly increased.
Stephen had already put on his robe before entering the guild and headed toward the receptionist.
The receptionist greeted him with a smile and slightly rosy cheeks.
"Welcome, Mr. Black Crow. Do you need help with something?"
Stephen calmly replied,
"Is the vice president here?"
The receptionist answered,
"Yes, he's in his office."
Stephen headed toward the elevator and entered it.
He placed his guild card on the elevator's small screen.
A mechanical voice sounded.
[Welcome, Mr. Black Crow. Which floor would you like to go to?]
This elevator was highly advanced and only operated for people registered within the guild. Each registered person had permission to access only the floors authorized to them according to their importance, while unauthorized floors were inaccessible.
Stephen answered,
"H floor."
The guild contained twelve floors, beginning from floor zero, which was the ground floor, and ending with the ninth floor, which was for high-ranking staff and awakened individuals. The other two floors were the H floor, where Vice President Jens's office was located, and the final floor, the X floor, which contained the president's office.
Stephen was authorized to access both Vice President Jens's floor and the president's floor as well, so he faced no problems at all.
The elevator began moving.
The elevator doors opened, and Stephen stepped out before heading toward the door on the right.
He knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Stephen entered and headed toward one of the chairs.
Jens raised his head from his papers, smiled, and said,
"Oh, hello Blackie."
Stephen slightly lowered his head as a greeting.
Then he sat on the chair because he knew this conversation would take longer this time.
Jens was accustomed to Stephen's behavior, so he didn't take it negatively.
Jens looked at Stephen with obvious concern.
Jens asked,
"Has your wound healed?"
Stephen replied,
"Only a little remains."
Jens was somewhat worried about Stephen because he considered him like a son, even though he wasn't married. Stephen's behavior and constant injuries always made him worry about him.
"I hope you recover quickly."
Jens finished speaking to reassure himself about Stephen.
Then he began speaking now in his capacity as vice president.
"Thanks to you, we obtained two good dungeons, you protected the residential area from being destroyed by powerful monsters, and you eliminated demon contractors. You contributed greatly, so the guild will transfer 900 million rubles to you."
"Although the reward is too little compared to your worth, you may enter those dungeons freely, and you may ask me for two favors. I'll try to fulfill them for you."
Stephen thought,
'Great, this is a good opportunity.'
Stephen calmly said,
"Alright, I want to request the two favors now."
Jens became curious about what Stephen would ask.
"What is the request?"
Stephen said,
"I want to enter a dungeon that contains a Light Eagle monster."
Jens thought for a moment before saying,
"Do you want to enter it alone?"
Stephen nodded.
Jens said,
"It's dangerous. Are you sure? You still haven't fully healed."
Stephen nodded again.
Jens sighed.
"Fine. I can't stop you, but I'll give you a map of the dungeon."
"And you must bring your camping equipment because once you enter, you won't leave until you kill the boss."
Stephen replied,
"I always carry it."
Jens sighed.
"That's good."
He wrote on one of the papers in front of him, stamped it, and handed it to Stephen.
"Just show this, and they'll guide you to the dungeon you want."
Stephen took the paper and placed it inside his storage ring.
Then Jens asked,
"Alright then, what's the second request?"
Stephen thought for a moment before saying,
"I want a full one-year vacation starting next month."
'Even though the academy begins after three months, I don't want them connecting my vacation with the academy's beginning.'
Jens was shocked and exclaimed loudly,
"What?! A vacation!!"
"Really?! Why? You haven't taken a single vacation since joining the guild."
Stephen calmly answered,
"It's nothing. I just want a vacation."
Jens sighed.
"This news will throw everyone into chaos."
Stephen spoke,
"No one needs to know about my vacation. Just announce that I'm on secret missions."
Jens looked at Stephen with concern.
"Alright, but… did something happen to you? Do you need my help with something?"
Stephen calmly denied it.
"No, nothing happened."
Jens sighed in relief, then suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. The guild leader will return in four days."
Stephen frowned.
"What's the reason?"
The guild leader had been in the country of Mira, where some strange monsters had appeared. He had been investigating there for a while without discovering the cause of their appearance.
Jens replied with a sigh,
"I don't know. He didn't tell me."
Stephen remained silent for a second before standing up and saying,
"Alright, I'm done here. I'm leaving."
Jens also stood from his seat and frowned at Stephen.
He said in annoyance,
"You make me work too much… A whole year is long… What are we supposed to do about them while you're gone?"
Stephen stopped walking, turned toward Jens, and calmly said,
"Deal with them yourselves. I'll be on vacation. I might come sometimes, but not often."
Then he opened the exit door and left the vice president's office.
Jens stood staring at the closed door with a blank face before beginning to laugh.
"Pffft hahaha, he truly is unique."