Noa leaned over a small counter, her face resting atop the palm of her hand, and a bored expression was on her face.

She stared at the hung clothing in front of her as if it were a void.

People came in and out at random intervals, the bell beside the door ringing each time.

Chatter, slight laughter, and scarce yet urgent demands resounded through the shop.

However, Noa was too much involved in her own mind to hear all of that.

‘It’s been three and a half weeks since I’ve been working here…’ She looked at the clock, ‘It’s almost time to clock out…’ She began to make her way toward the clock out booth.

‘I could have stopped working, but it took one week to get the details of my gun just right…’ She mused as he put in her number to clock out for the day.

‘And now…’ A smile appeared on her face as she turned toward the door, ‘Betsy should be all finished up.’

Noa’s time in this town was over in her eyes, as all she had to do was retrieve her finished gun. After that, she could find out how to reach Hanzo and Malon again.

***

Hanzo walked onto a hardwood floor completely butt naked with a proud smile on his face.

“Each time I take a shower after that dirty dump, it feels like heaven. Even though its been 4 days since I was last there…” He exclaimed with joy, quickly putting his clothes back on.

Hanzo had finished his time exactly 4 days ago at the farmhouse, and had already traveled across the empire to get to a city named Kastel.

Thankfully, he and the other’s were given details of where they were all transferred.

‘Its a bit annoying that only I was thrown thousands of miles away, but its no big deal…’ He grumbled inwardly before making his way out the motel that he was staying in for the night.

After searching around for a short while, he found the Thors Hunter’s Guild.

‘Good thing he works at such a well known establishment… it would have been impossible to find him otherwise in this crowded metropolis.’ Hanzo mused to himself as he made his way into the guild.

As he was making his way toward the back of the building near the booths, he bumped into a rather tall fellow.

Looking up, he instantly recognized that mooshroomy face.

“Hanzo!?” Malon exclaimed with delight quickly spreading across his expression.

Hanzo smirked, “You tall shroom! We finally meet again, hahaha!”

Malon picked Hanzo up out of nowhere and spun him around like a child.

He didn’t see any fault in it since he was happy, but Hanzo’s face immediately went pale.

“W-what the fuck are you doing!?” He slammed the moosh’s shroomtop with the bottom of his fist.

*Moments later…*

“Anyways,” Hanzo fixed his coat, “Lets get out of here and find Noa. Hopefully she stayed close to this city.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

With that, the two began their search for the clothing store that Noa worked at.

They didn’t have a name for it, so it took a damn long while.

While they searched for stores, the two talked about what happened during their stay at the stables.

“Actually, I’ve gotten quite a bit stronger.” Malon said, a hint of pride in his tone. “Still, Im probably weaker than Tyr is. But atleast I made some progress, right?”

Hanzo was slightly taken aback by this, “How did you get stronger?” He emphasized the ‘you,’ “Weren’t you working in Thors Guild the entire time?”

Malon slightly chuckled on hearing this, “Haha… well, about that… I decided to ask the Vice Guildmaster to help train me.”

“What!?”

“At the start he was of course hesitant, but I decided to keep pestering him until I either was kicked out or he agreed to my demands. In the end, knowing that I was working to serve time, he decided to train me. While consuming various pills that I bought using some money, I began to cultivate and also train with him every day for two hours.

My cultivation technique is still quite trash, but in terms of combat training I have upgraded by leaps and bounds. Atleast, thats what he tells me.”

Hanzo paused for a moment before replying: “Well, lets hope he didn’t just say that to get you off his back. But, you do seem a lot stronger, I will say that.”

He looked at his own hands, “I on the other hand barely gained strength. I tried to cultivate, but at my strength, basic techniques don’t really work.”

‘Tsk…’ Hanzo exclaimed inwardly, ‘But its not just that. Maybe if I had the work ethic of Tyr, or even Malon I could have gotten a lot stronger. When it comes to most things, I do… but when it comes to gaining power, even though I want to become stronger for Tyr’s goal… I can’t seem to be able to bring myself to agree with it fully.’

He thought about it for a moment.

‘I know what I need… a goal of my own. A dream of my own, as Noa spoke about. Doing something for someone else is one thing, but Malon and Tyr are determined to get stronger for their own wants and purposes. That is why they are succeeding so greatly… yet, I am here trying to do it for someone else.

Its wrong, I need to want it for myself. Only then can I truly boost my power… I need a dream.’

*

After a while, The two were led to a black smithery by a clothing store, since, apparently, Noa had gone there after her shift.

Upon reaching the smithery, a giant pink cannonball fired out of the entrance out of nowhere.

Hanzo and Malon were speaking, so they were totally caught off guard by the projectile.

“Heeeeelllll yeahh!” A female voice sounded from inside, as the pink cannon ball expanded into a web and wrapped Malon and Hanzo tightly into a seal.

“Whooohoo!” The voice seemed familar.

“Noa?” Both Hanzo and Malon exclaimed at once.

At that moment, Noa stepped out of the blacksmithery with a smile on her face and a giant gun in her hand: “Im back! And so is Ol’ Betsy!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep