I turned my head back slowly to see Mob A and gang standing there, grins plastered on their faces.
"What a coincidence to meet you here! Now let's go and have a drink together," he said with a smug grin.
"Fuck you! Go alone, you bad-luck magnet!"
He made a mock-hurt expression. "Oh, you wound me, Arin! Aren't we buddies?" he said, lowering his head like a rejected maiden.
I immediately backed away in disgust. "Yeah, no. Cut that act out before I lose my breakfast."
The Mob gang let out a hearty laugh at my words, clearly enjoying themselves at my expense, before Mob A spoke up again. "Man, it's so easy to rile you up. Don't worry, we ain't dragging you along with us. We were just escorting the missy here."
"Missy?" I questioned the Mob gang, who stepped aside like Moses parting the Red Sea, and behind them stood Eina in her guild uniform, her expression slightly awkward.
"Hello, Arin." She waved in greeting.
"Well, looks like you found what you were searching for, Miss. We will take our leave now, Arin. You are always welcome to join us at the usual place if you change your mind later! See ya!"
Xandor patted my shoulder as he and the others passed by.
"Arin, are you okay?" Eina spoke up, tilting her head slightly at my silence.
"Ah, I am. I was just surprised to see you with them."
She nodded, "I was looking for you when I encountered them. And since I have seen you hang around with them a few times, I asked if they knew where you were. When they found out I was someone you knew, they insisted on escorting me the whole way… I think half the street assumed I was being kidnapped."
"I can imagine." The whole Mob gang is built like tanks, with tall height and a wide stretcher, and with their scary faces, anyone would think….anyone who doesn't know Eina being Level 3 anyways.
"They kept telling me you might try to run away if you saw them first."
"Ugh…I can't be blamed for that." I sighed, "Why were you looking for me anyway?" I asked curiously.
Eina nodded, "I just wanted to talk about something…Can we sit somewhere first?"
"Of course, there is a cafe nearby, let's go there," I suggested, remembering the cafe near the central park fountain.
Eina and I made our way toward the cafe, a cozy little establishment with both indoor and outdoor seating. I led Eina inside the cafe, as cold winds had started to blow recently.
"Welcome! Table for two? Please follow me!" The door chime rang, and a wolf-kin girl greeted us and led us to a table with an outdoor view. I pulled the chair for Eina first, as she smiled and sat down, and I sat across from her. The waitress took our order and left.
Before I could ask her what she wanted to talk about, I noticed her staring at me intently, making me tilt my head. "Is there something wrong, Eina?"
She shook her head, "No, it's just you have grown tremendously since the first time we met." She continued, "It hasn't even been a whole year, yet you have become a Level 5 adventurer. A record holder."
My weakness for compliments kicked in, and I could only give a half-hearted smile. "Well, a lot of people, including you, helped me to get where I am today. And I am not saying it for the sake of it." I stressed that thought, "All your advice has helped me a lot, saving my life more times than I could count. So thank you for that."
Eina smiled gently, "I am glad if that is the case, which also makes me a little sad."
I frowned, "Sad? Why?"
"Actually, I was thinking that you no longer have any need for an adviser anymore. I have already taught you everything I could. Now there is no point in me being your adviser."
I didn't argue—or rather, I couldn't argue against her point. It was true that I was more likely to learn through practical experience than through theory. So I couldn't do anything except accept her decision with a smile.
An adventurer must not risk an adventure, huh?
When I thought all this, Eina waited patiently with that same gentle smile on her face. I closed my eyes for a moment, then looked up to meet hers and answered.
"I understand. If that's what you really think, then I will accept your decision. Thank you for being patient with me till now. I am and always will be grateful for all your help." I said, and with a hint of playfulness added, "Though I hope we can still remain friends, and when I am in trouble, I could ask you for help again."
Eina laughed lightly and nodded softly; the solemn mood that had settled over the table melted away into something lighter.
After our order had arrived, we continued talking about mundane stuff. When—
"!"
"Arin, what happened?"
My gaze immediately turned to the window when I heard a certain sound.
"...A whistle?" I commented, and noticed a lot of people rushing through the streets, and Eina's own Level 3 senses kicked in as she cleared my confusion.
"Ahh, the School District has come back."
My eyes widened, "Oh, it was the sound of the School District, huh? Shall we have a look as well? The top of the city wall must be open to the public right about now."
"Yes, let's, I also need to go there to give a proper welcome." Eina agreed, though her smile was slightly awkward.
And so after I had paid the bill, we both left the cafe behind and walked toward the city's big wall on the southwest side, which was also the section of the city wall that the guild had opened up for the public.
"I can see it! It's coming into view!"
"It's been three years!"
Eina and I walked south together before climbing the long stairs up to the top of the giant wall. As we ascended, we heard a chorus of shouts coming from above.
All sorts of people lined the wall's walkway, including regular townsfolk, adventurers, guild staff, merchants, and even travelers. I led Eina through the dense crowd, and we somehow managed to make it to the outer edge.
"There it is…!"
In front of us, dozens of people were pointing farther to the southwest. Beyond the harbor and a giant brackish lake lies the big, wide ocean that goes on and on to the horizon. And on that horizon sits an enormous silhouette, big enough that anyone can spot it clearly from this distance.
"... It's huge…" Thanks to my enhanced vision, as a first-class adventurer, I can make out some details. The gleam of metal in the sunlight. A grand, imposing form consisting of three stacked discs. And atop those discs sits a dense collection of what are unmistakably buildings, plus a giant tower. And extending out from the inorganic structure are what look like wings, which almost gave the impression as if a town was built on the back of a dragon.
"That ship is called the Hringhorni. It is by far and away the largest ship in the world." Eina gazed at it warmly like a second home.
Hringhorni, right, that was the name of this flying city.
As for it being the largest, after seeing it first hand, I don't doubt that. The biggest carriers on Earth could barely house five thousand crew. That monster out there looked like it could hold an entire town.
Another sound similar to what I had heard in the cafe resounded again, and that was when I realized the sound wasn't that of a whistle. It was a ship foghorn. A giant, magic-stone foghorn.
"The official name is the Maritime Academy for Scholarship Special Administrative District, right?" I replied, still looking at the ship. "Commonly shortened to the School District." At the same time as I said that, the excitement on the wall boils over.
"The school District is baaaaack!!!"
The labyrinth City Orario welcomed the gargantuan ship home with thundering cheers.