بعد أن غادر ستيفن بعد فترة وجيزة
نظر مارك نحو المكان الذي اختفى فيه ستيفن، وظهرت بعض علامات القلق على وجهه.
هل سيكون بخير؟
بدا أخي متعباً جداً وشرود الذهن اليوم.
تنهد قائلاً: "أتمنى أن يعود سالماً".
عاد مارك إلى المنزل الذي اشتراه ستيفن بسعر زهيد للغاية لأنه يقع على مشارف مدينة أوور.
كان المنزل، عندما اشتراه، متهالكًا، ولكن بفضل ستيفن حوّله من منزل مهترئ إلى منزل جميل وهادئ.
دخل مارك المنزل بهدوء وتوجه إلى غرفته. حاول دراسة بعض كتب البرمجة التي كانت لديه، لكنه شعر بالقلق على ستيفن، فظل ينتظره.
كان الوقت يقترب من منتصف الليل لأنه عاد في الساعة الثامنة مساءً، وبدأ قلقه يتزايد
.
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نظر مارك إلى ساعته ووجد أنها تشير إلى الساعة الثالثة
لقد تأخر... هل كُلِّف بمهمة مفاجئة؟ لقد تأخر كثيراً.
بدأ مارك يشعر بالنعاس عندما سمع باب المنزل يُفتح، ونهض على الفور من مكانه ليقابل ستيفن
شعر بالصدمة عندما وجد بقع دماء على جسد ستيفن.
كان عليه أن يتماسك، فهذه ليست المرة الأولى التي يحدث فيها هذا، لكنه لم يعتد على الأمر بعد، ويشعر بالقلق عليه.
لاحظ ستيفن أن مارك كان مصدومًا من مظهره.
بدا ستيفن منهكًا للغاية وكان كتفه مغطى بالدماء.
تحرك مارك بسرعة نحو ستيفن
وسألته: "ماذا حدث لك؟ لماذا أنت مغطى بالدماء هكذا؟"
ابتسم ستيفن وقال بهدوء
"مارك، لماذا ما زلت مستيقظاً؟"
غضب مارك من هدوء ستيفن وصرخ بغضب.
"النوم؟.. كيف لي أن أنام وأنت تبدو مرهقاً ومشتت الذهن منذ أن استيقظت بعد الاختبار!!"
"ثم غادرت على عجل، والآن عدت والدماء على كتفك!"
فوجئ ستيفن بنوبة غضب مارك وقال له في دهشة
"ما الغريب في الأمر؟ إنها ليست المرة الأولى التي أذهب فيها في مهمة عاجلة!"
هدأ مارك نفسه
نعم.. ما الغريب اليوم؟.. هل لأنه بدا مشتت الذهن اليوم؟
قال مارك لستيفن بحزن:
"لا أريد أن يتعرض أفراد عائلتي الوحيدون للأذى"
ابتسم ستيفن وربت على شعر مارك
"إنها ليست إصابة خطيرة، ولم أستخدم كل مهاراتي في القتال. لو كنت استخدمتها، لكنت أنهيت الأمر بسرعة، لكنني أردت زيادة قوتي دون استخدام مهاراتي".
"وسيلتئم هذا الجرح بجرعة علاج متوسطة."
عبس مارك قائلاً: "ما هو الشيء المهم الذي يدفعك للمخاطرة بحياتك لزيادة قوتك بهذه الطريقة؟"
قال مارك لستيفن
"يجب أن تستريح الآن وتغير ملابسك، هل أحضر لك شيئًا؟"
قال ستيفن وهو يتنهد
"أحضر لي ماءً دافئاً لأشربه"
قال مارك "نعم" وذهب بسرعة
Stephen laughed 'What?.. is he treating me kindly now after he shouted at me!'
He shrugged 'Well it's my fault, I should have changed my clothes before I came back, the blood makes my injury seem serious to Mark.. it will only leave a small scar'
...
The next day
Stephen slept for a long and comfortable period, and after waking up he ate with Mark calmly
Mark looked at Stephen for a second before smiling cunningly
Mark said to Stephen while eating
"It seems your reputation as Black Crow has increased, a woman published an article in which she wrote that while returning home, a very strong monster attacked her, she almost died along with her children, but the angel with white hair that shines under the cloak with a black crow engraved on its back appeared and saved her and her children from the disgusting monster, and she also said that despite being covered with a cloak and the place being dark, it could not hide his very wonderful beauty..."
Mark kept talking to the point that Stephen's face turned slightly red
Stephen interrupted Mark "That's enough, they are 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 embarrassed "Okay that's enough Mark, it's embarrassing"
Mark said playfully "What, but the title 'angel' suits you, should I call you that?"
Stephen said with fake anger "Mark, stop"
Mark finished his breakfast quickly "Goodbye O angel, I will train, and after training I might remember all the articles that were published before"
'Hehehe this is your punishment' and he ran away quickly
Stephen sighed 'Damn, I will deal with him later' and continued eating his food calmly
And after finishing
He sat in front of the cat Byron and looked at him
Byron felt nervous and looked away from Stephen's eyes
[It seems it's interrogation time]
Without Stephen saying a word, Byron transformed himself into his human-like form and looked at Stephen with some guilt
Stephen was surprised by Byron's transformation because only stronger monsters can transform into a human-like form
Stephen asked first "Why did you make a contract with me?"
Byron sat on the ground
"I don't know.. I just felt attracted to you"
Byron had prepared his answers long ago
Stephen frowned and spoke again "Do you know why I feel that you are familiar?"
Stephen looked at Byron 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 will find something suspicious? I am Byron, the king of deception'
Stephen frowned and began to think 'This is impossible.. I feel he is familiar'
'I will monitor him for a while, I still feel that he is deceiving me about something'
Stephen looked at the innocent face in front of him
'He looks innocent...'
"Alright, that's enough for now"
Byron was surprised 'What!! just these questions!... then what about the many questions I prepared to answer?'
Stephen stood up from his place and headed toward the door leading outside the house and put on his shoes, and before opening the door he turned and said to Byron
"Why didn't you transform into this form during the past period?"
Byron said
"Because it wasn't necessary? And also my original form is more comfortable"
Stephen said "Alright, tell Mark that I am going to the guild"
Byron nodded
Stephen went out. Stephen had drunk the potion yesterday and bandaged his wound because the potion needs a day to heal it completely
Stephen did not give much importance to checking his contracted monster
Because one of the advantages of the contract is that if the contracted monster attacks him or tries to harm him, the monster's soul will disappear from existence
'I did not go deep into contracted monsters because it is very rare for someone to have a contract with a monster'
'Well, I will search about contracted monsters later, now I will go to search for the dungeon'
And after half an hour Stephen arrived at the guild
He had taken a taxi to reach the guild
When he arrived, he looked at the large building of the guild, it has now become larger in size since he joined the guild. At the beginning it was famous because of the guild leader and his deputy Jens, but with the appearance of Black Crow and the rapid increase of his strength and his continuous activity over the past years and his fame, especially the mystery of his identity, it increased the reputation of the guild
Stephen had worn his cloak before entering the guild and went to the receptionist
The employee welcomed him with a smile and slightly rosy cheeks
"Hello Mr. Black Crow, do you need help with something?"
Stephen said calmly
"Is the vice president present?"
The employee said "Yes, he is in his office"
Stephen went toward the elevator and entered it
Stephen placed his guild card on the small screen of the elevator
A mechanical automated voice appeared
[Welcome Mr. Black Crow, to which floor do you want to go]
This elevator is very advanced, it only works for people registered within the guild, and each registered person has permission to go up to the floors they are authorized to access according to their importance, as for unauthorized floors, they cannot reach them
Stephen replied "Floor H"
The guild contains 12 floors starting from floor zero which is the ground floor and ending at the ninth floor which is for high-ranking employees and awakened ones, and the other two floors are floor H which is where the office of the vice president Jens is, and the last floor is floor X which contains the president's office
Stephen is authorized to go up to the vice president Jens's floor and the president's floor as well, so he did not face any problem at all
The elevator began to move
The elevator door opened and Stephen exited and headed toward the door on the right
He knocked on the door
"Come in"
Stephen entered and went toward one of the seats
Jens raised his head from his papers, smiled and said "Oh, hello Blacky"
Stephen slightly bowed his head as a sign of greeting
And sat on the chair because he knew that it would take longer this time to talk
Jens was used to Stephen's behavior, so he did not take the matter negatively
Jens looked at Stephen with clear concern
Jens asked "Has your wound healed?"
Stephen said "A little remains"
Jens was a little worried about Stephen because he considers him like his son, even though he is not married, but Stephen's behavior and his constant injuries made him worry about him
"I hope you recover quickly"
Jens finished his words to check on Stephen
Then he began speaking now in his capacity as vice president
"Thanks to you, we obtained two good dungeons, and you protected the residential area from being destroyed by strong monsters, and you eliminated demon contractors. You have contributed a lot. The guild will transfer to you 900 million rubles"
"Although the price is low compared to your worth, but you can enter these dungeons freely, and you can request two requests, I will try to fulfill them for you"
Stephen thought 'Great, it's a good opportunity'
Stephen said calmly "Alright, I want to request the two requests now"
Jens felt curious about what Stephen would request "What is the request?"
Stephen said "I want to enter a dungeon that contains a Light Eagle monster"
Jens thought then said "Do you want to enter it alone?"
Stephen nodded
Jens said "It is dangerous, are you sure? And you have not fully recovered yet"
Stephen nodded
Jens sighed "Alright, I can't stop you, but I will give you a map of the dungeon"
"And you must bring your camping equipment, because once you enter, you will not leave unless you kill the boss"
Stephen said "I always carry it"
Jens sighed "That's good" He wrote on one of the papers in front of him, then stamped it and handed it to Stephen
"Just show this and they will guide you to the dungeon you want"
Stephen took the paper and then placed it in his storage ring
ثم قال ينس: "حسنًا، ما هو الطلب الثاني؟"
فكر ستيفن قليلاً ثم قال: "أريد إجازة لمدة عام كامل تبدأ من الشهر المقبل".
"على الرغم من أن الأكاديمية تبدأ بعد ثلاثة أشهر، إلا أنني لا أريدهم أن يربطوا إجازتي ببداية الأكاديمية".
تفاجأ ينس وقال بصوت عالٍ: "ماذا، إجازة!!"
"حقا! لماذا؟ لم تأخذ أي إجازة منذ انضمامك إلى النقابة."
قال ستيفن بهدوء: "لا شيء، أريد فقط إجازة".
تنهد ينس قائلاً: "هذا الخبر سيُحدث فوضى".
قال ستيفن:
"لا ينبغي لأحد أن يعلم بإجازتي، فقط أعلنوا أنني في مهمة سرية".
نظر ينس إلى ستيفن وقال بقلق
: "حسنًا، ولكن... هل حدث لك مكروه؟ هل تحتاج مساعدتي في شيء ما؟"
نفى ستيفن بهدوء قائلاً: "لا، لم يحدث شيء".
تنهد ينس بارتياح ثم تذكر شيئًا ما
: "آه، نسيت أن أخبرك، سيعود قائد النقابة بعد أربعة أيام".
عبس ستيفن وسأل:
"ما السبب؟".
كان قائد النقابة في مملكة ميرا حيث ظهرت بعض الوحوش الغريبة، وكان يُجري تحقيقًا هناك لفترة ولم يتوصل إلى نتيجة بشأن سبب ظهورها.
أجاب ينس متنهدًا:
"لا أعرف، لم يخبرني".
صمت ستيفن للحظة، ثم نهض وقال
"حسنًا، لقد انتهيت مما لدي، سأرحل."
نهض ينس أيضاً من مقعده وعقد حاجبيه في وجه ستيفن
وقال بانزعاج: "أنت تجعلني أعمل كثيراً.. سنة كاملة مدة طويلة.. وماذا سنفعل بهم عندما تغادر؟"
توقف ستيفن عن المشي والتفت إلى ينس وقال بهدوء: "تعاملوا معهم بأنفسكم، سأكون في إجازة. قد آتي أحياناً، ولكن ليس كثيراً".
ثم فتح باب الخروج وغادر مكتب نائب الرئيس
وقف ينس ينظر إلى الباب المغلق بوجه خالٍ من التعابير، ثم انفجر ضاحكاً: "هههههه، إنه مميز حقاً".