"..."
The brown-haired man, who was Mariposa's boss, stared closely at Arvani. The tense atmosphere in the room was filled only with the sound of the television.
Arvani regretted speaking. She had intended to keep pretending to be mute. Meanwhile, the man regretted letting her discover his identity as the Red Rabbit, the one who had killed a member of a Great Noble family.
"You can call me Daniel… and about what just happened, please keep it a secret from everyone. Except Mariposa and Ardi."
Arvani nodded. "Likewise, please keep it a secret that I can speak."
Daniel gave her a short nod. "Alright."
'Just kill him. He's not even that strong.'
Arvani frowned slightly at Kensei's voice. After all this time of being silent, that's what he had to say? Only a mad woman would follow that advice.
The silence returned. Arvani focused on the television, completely ignoring Kensei's talk of murder.
Daniel went back to reading his comic, occasionally checking his phone to play online games.
Bang!
The door burst open, revealing Ardi and Mariposa, who yawned widely. Arvani felt someone really needed to fix the doctor's outfit, three buttons of her shirt were undone. Three!
"Mariposa, fix your clothes," Daniel said, clearly uncomfortable.
"Okayyy~"
After fixing her shirt, Mariposa pulled out a pair of round glasses from her pocket and put them on. The maroon-haired doctor was surprised to see Arvani.
"Eh? Arvani? Why are you here? Did the boss ask you to join the guild too?"
""You're the one who sent her in here!!""
Ardi and Daniel shouted in unison.
The bespectacled doctor laughed nervously. "Oh, my bad. Well, since you're already here, Arvani, how about joining our guild?"
"I already asked her, and she said no," Daniel replied flatly.
Mariposa glanced briefly at her boss and gave a sly smile. "That's probably because you didn't offer properly, boss. We're kinda running low on jobs lately. Hey Arvani, did you know that if you work here, you can live in the staff dorms near the office? Rent free for the first three months! That's tempting, right?"
Arvani tilted her head in response.
The main reason she had refused earlier was because she didn't know Daniel that well. For all she knew, he could use her as disposable bait, just like her previous group did.
Mariposa then explained the kind of work Arvani would be doing if she joined.
She wouldn't be doing clean up. Instead, she would help Ardi tally up monster parts. Ardi had unique powers but he didn't care about keeping track of his hunts.
The more work Arvani could take on, the higher her pay would be.
"You don't need an ID or anything, as long as you're willing to become the Red Rabbit," Daniel added casually.
"What do you mean by that, boss?! You told her about your identity?" Ardi snapped. More than angry, he seemed frustrated that Daniel didn't seem to care that his fugitive identity as Red Rabbit was now exposed.
Daniel frowned slightly and sighed.
"First of all, you all should be calling me Guildmaster now. Second, I can't be Guildmaster and Red Rabbit at the same time. Third, Arvani will just be a fake Red Rabbit to lure out enemies. In return, I'll guarantee her safety."
The three of them looked at Arvani, waiting for her decision.
Arvani nodded. "Fine… I agree, as long as you don't ask me to show any identification. I don't have one."
Daniel and Mariposa smiled, pleased that the guild had gained a new member.
"Don't worry. As a Guildmaster, I'll ensure your complete safety."
"Wait a minute! You can talk?!" Ardi exclaimed, glancing at Daniel and Mariposa who were already in the know.
Mariposa chuckled. "I've known for a while. I examined her during a check up once."
Daniel rose from his seat and slowly approached Arvani. "Thank you for trusting us, Arvani. Let's work well together from now on."
The black-haired girl couldn't hold back a smile. This was the first time she had entered a mutually beneficial agreement.
"Yes. Let's do our best," Arvani replied, shaking Daniel's hand.
.
.
.
Moving to the dorm went quickly thanks to Mariposa, whose Miracle allowed her to teleport items to marked locations. As for paperwork, Ardi and Mariposa decided to stage a little drama.
"Oh my~ We're her long-lost cousins! Just look at her condition. It's been years since we last saw you, and now you look like you've been starving. Poor thing~"
"That's right! Officer, we'll take responsibility for this child from now on!"
"Forgive us, dear Arvani~ for leaving you to suffer like this, sob sob."
"..."
Arvani didn't know what to say, she just stood silently watching her two "family members" put on their impromptu performance. Somehow, it worked. The apartment official quickly approved her release.
Is this part of their Miracle powers too? Arvani wondered.
The dorm facilities were more than enough for her: hot water, air conditioner, a small kitchen, and a spot to hang laundry.
That evening, Arvani started her first job—accompanying Ardi on a monster hunting mission outside the walls. She was slightly panicked by how fast Ardi drove. The roads outside the wall were mostly damaged, after all.
"So… what kind of monster are we hunting?" Arvani asked.
The wind from the open jeep window blew her hair into a mess.
Ardi, still wearing his black sunglasses, simply smiled. "Well, that depends on which monster's dumb enough to stand in our way. Oh, by the way, I'm headed to Gotan City to meet someone. You good with that?"
Hearing the name of her former city made Arvani think of the old man who raised her.
"No problem. I want to check on someone there too."
"Perfect."
Along the way, Ardi had to stop the jeep a few times to deal with monsters. Arvani, who had initially panicked, now felt calm. She watches how easily Ardi eliminated the beasts.
From rabid dogs and bloodsucking bats to a lion that was on the verge of evolving into a chimera, all of them were taken down with Ardi's bare hands.
The man turned to Arvani, who was still in the jeep.
"Hey Arvani, which of these monsters has the highest bounty?"
Arvani stepped out and examined the pile of monster corpses, pointing at the chimera lion.
The creature still mostly resembled a lion but had a snake tail. If left alone, it would eventually evolve, its hind legs becoming eagle talons, growing wings, and developing an eagle's head.
"The lion's definitely the most valuable. If I remember correctly, it's worth it to buy a luxury car."
Ardi laughed. "I don't need another car. Alright, let's take the lion and leave the rest."
Arvani didn't mind. Someone as weak as her could never understand the thoughts of people far above her, and vice versa.