With a bloody sack slung over his shoulder, Rayne tossed a smile to the gate guard as they entered Torid. Today’s mission had been to clear out an infestation of three-foot-long rats from a grain storehouse, and they had done it with aplomb, killing all the rats and saving what remained of the grain.

  In exchange for their services, he, Syra, and the two bronze-ranks they had recruited for today’s mission were all set to earn eight silver apiece, plus the bounty for each of the nineteen giant rat tails currently stored in his sack. All told, he was probably going to earn a good nine silver for the day’s work. Not bad for a bronze-ranked adventurer.

  The streets were busy, with people moving to and fro as they sought to finish up this last hour of work so that they might get home. Rayne was no different, and he quickened his pace, wending through the teeming masses with a quickness he had not possessed a month ago.

  Weeks of adventuring and training had toughened him up, developing his muscles and trimming what little fat he’d possessed. Thanks to Syra’s instruction, his movements had become much more practiced, and the mana from the monsters they slew had increased his stats considerably. Though he was still nowhere near Syra’s level, all of his attributes save the still-locked Magic Power were now E-rank, and it showed in his movements.

  “What’s the rush?” one of the bronze-ranks they had adventured with today asked.

  Rayne was spared the trouble of answering by Syra, who was now used to her partner’s hurried nature around this time.

  “He has to get home to his sister,” she informed the man. “She gets off school at six bells, and they live in the Dregs. So he needs to be there to escort her home.”

  The man gave a knowing nod at this, clearly familiar with the dangers an unescorted woman might face in the Dregs.

  All too soon, the guildhall came into sight, its sturdy construction towering over the nearby buildings, and the party exchanged tired grins. Just a little further, and they would be rewarded for the day’s work. Then they could relax, putting the toil and hardship of adventuring behind them having survived another day.

  For Rayne, that meant heading to the Noble District to pick up Issa, and perhaps a quick diversion through the market to pick up some ingredients for dinner on the way. Though before all that, he would need to take a quick shower. There was no way he could go pick up Issa like this, covered in blood and stinking of death. He nodded to himself. Yeah, that sounds good. Hand in the commission. Get the money, take a shower, then pick up dinner and Issa. Just another day in the life.

  “Brother.”

  The words cut through the crowd like a blade, icy and cold as Rayne’s body went still upon hearing it. Looking forward, his eyes met an identical pair, gazing icily at him from the steps of the Adventurer’s Guild.

  Rayne’s heart sank into his chest, his mind running a million miles an hour as he did his best to parse the situation. Issa was here. That wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to be in class right now. Why was she here? How had she found him? Unable to figure it out, Rayne fell silent, staring blankly at his sister as she gazed down furiously upon him.

  Beside him, Syra looked curiously between them, evidently doing her best to piece together what was happening. Of course, given that she had even less information than Rayne himself, that was never going to happen. But she glanced back and forth between the two, before looking back to him and mouthing the word ‘Sister?’ as she pointed at Issa.

  Unconcerned by Syra’s presence, Issa glowered at her brother. “I went to the Registrar's Office, they told me you haven’t shown up for work in weeks.” Her tone was accusatory, with a streak of anger beneath that made Rayne want to shrivel up and die. Her hands were balled up into fists, and they trembled as she spoke, the hurt voice of a woman betrayed. “One of your old coworkers told me that I might find you here. I thought he was lying. So why is it that you’re here, wearing armor and drenched in blood?”

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  With a sigh, Rayne ran his free hand through his hair. “I was hoping you wouldn’t find out this way,” he began, only to be immediately cut off.

  “That I wouldn’t find out?” Issa’s voice was shrill. “Find out what? That you’ve been moonlighting as an adventurer? That you lied to me? Betrayed our parents’ memory? What was it that you hoped I wouldn’t find out, brother.”

  There was some real venom in her pronunciation of brother, and Rayne found himself taking a step back unconsciously. Taking note of all the eyes on them, he winced. It was evening, and half the guild had to be out here, with more arriving every second to see what all the commotion was about.

  “Can we do this somewhere else?” he suggested, but Issa wasn’t having it.

  “How could you choose to do this? After what happened to our parents?” Her entire body was shaking now, but she somehow managed to keep her voice under control. “Answer me, brother.”

  Left with no other recourse but to respond, Rayne did just that, doing his best to keep his voice level as he did. “We needed the money. They’re raising tuition at the Academy, but they’re not planning to raise the scholarships to match. With rent and food prices rising, there was no way we could have paid it all with my salary as a clerk. I had to become an adventurer. It was the only way.”

  “You had to?” Issa looked disgusted. “That’s a lie and you know it. There’s always another way, Rayne. You could have asked for a raise. Begged Professor Iain for a job. I could have dropped out and found a job. We’d have made it work. But instead you chose to do the one thing you promised me you’d never do.”

  “I did what I had to do,” Rayne maintained.

  Issa shook her head, hair flying wildly from the force of her action. “No. You did what you wanted to do. You told me that you wouldn’t and then went behind my back and did it anyway. You lied to me.”

  “It was the only way.” Rayne maintained. “Our parents wouldn’t hav—”

  Issa went deadly still. “Don’t you dare bring up our parents,” she ordered, one finger pointed threateningly towards him. “They died to monsters, and now you’re trying to do the same?”

  “I’m trying to support us!” Rayne shouted. “I’m doing this for you! Why don’t you understand that!?”

  “Did you ever ask me what I want?” With wild eyes, Issa spread her hands wide. “I told you, I don’t need all this. I don’t need to graduate the Academy, or a big house in the Old Quarter. I don’t need expensive food and nice things. All I need is you. Why don’t you understand that!?”

  Rayne threw his hands up in frustration. “You’re just a kid. You don’t know what you need!”

  Without another word, Issa turned and fled. There were tears in her eyes, and Rayne made to go after her, but a hand on his elbow stopped him, pulling him forcefully back and away from his sister.

  A loud growl burst from his throat and Rayne whirled, arm raised to strike whoever it was that was stopping him from going after his sister, but he stopped when he came face-to-face with Syra.

  Shaking her head slowly, Syra gave him a sad look. “Don’t. What she needs right now isn’t you.”

  “What do you know?” Rayne retorted, his tongue sharp. “She’s my sister. Not yours.”

  Syra looked upset, but she did not bite back. Instead, she let his arm fall, and gave him an inscrutable look. “Just… Give her some time, okay? She’s hurt. I know you had your reasons, but those aren’t going to matter right now. She needs time to sort out her feelings. Time away from you.”

  Much as he wanted to argue, Rayne could not afford to get into a second shouting match in front of the guild right now. There were too many eyes, and his reputation had already taken too big a hit.

  More importantly, Syra was right. Much as he hated to admit it, he was in the wrong here. Going to comfort Issa right now would only make things worse, and so all he could do was heave his shoulders, fix a smile to his face, and resettle the sack of severed rat tails over his shoulder as he headed inside. Issa might wait, but his party could not. There would be time enough to set this right after the profits had been split.