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nA blue fireball slammed into my face. Remarkably, it was quite cool to the touch. Actually, it felt somewhat good. Text suddenly popped up in front of my vision.

n{An ally has used a skill on you. Would you like to create a combined skill?}

n“Uh… yes?” I spoke out loud.

nNothing happened. Well, this world never told me what worked anyway. I never ever would have known about combining if it hadn’t just mentioned it. In that case, my mind shot through my skills. I had equipped white mage as soon as the ghosts attacked so I had the bonus there. I also kept hero so I had a connection with my party. Then, one seemed to pop into my mind, and it seemed absolutely right.

n“Holy Circle!” I cried out, throwing my hand down at the ground drastically.

nThe blue flame followed, and a second later…

n{You have created the team skill Holy Circle of Fire.}

nAn explosion of light burst out from the ground in a massive sphere. It shot out with a blue flame trailing the wave of light. There were screams as suddenly visible ghosts were struck with the shockwaves and flung away. The flame seemed to pass harmlessly through the people and objects, but the ghosts were instantly expelled.

n“Master is amazing…” Lydia spoke in wonder while Miki looked around with her mouth open.

nIn an instant, half of the city had been cleansed by poltergeists. More than that, the remaining ghosts stopped causing trouble, likely fleeing for their lives.

n{Hero has increased to level 8.}

n{Protect has been unlocked.}

nI apparently leveled, and checking quickly so did Miki, but just in alchemy. I should have turned her job to spiritualist sooner, but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. Right now, her strongest job was alchemy. I’m not sure what status benefits it gave her, but if switching to a level 2 job even weakened her a little bit, it could be bad.

nAt the very least, I wanted to get another status up on her and give her a little bit more time to recover from her death before we started worrying about leveling her ability. There was only a month of time left, but it had only been a few days. I wasn’t hard pressed for time at the moment.

nWith things settling down, people started coming back out and picking up after the mess that was made. I grabbed the two girls and turned to head back to the inn. However, I was stopped by a large crowd of people. Most of them were animalkin.

n“This is her fault!” One of them shouted.

n“The second a foxkin came into the city, and now we’re attacked!”

nThe truth was that I had brought the ghosts into the city. Perhaps her presence had riled them up from their docile state, but she certainly didn’t have all of the blame.

nMiki didn’t know this, and she had her head lowered, a sad expression on her face.

n“if it wasn’t for her spirit fire, we wouldn’t have been able to get rid of the spirits so easily,” I said.

n“We wouldn’t have needed it if she didn’t bring the spirits on us in the first place! This city has been spirit free for 15 years! The first time a foxkin is allowed to sleep here, and now we’re under siege!”

nSeveral people shouted in agreement. More and more people were joining, and I was meeting a lot of angry glares. Miki was sinking into herself too.

n“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” I heard her squeak quietly.

n“What would it take for you people to change your mind about Miki?” I asked. “I have a feeling that even if she saved this city single-handedly, you’d still throw her under the bus.”

n“Deek…” The Guild Master came up with the Mayor in tow. “We can work something out.”

n“I think I’ve heard enough from this city,” I said, my mood completely soured. “Let’s go, ladies.”

nI grabbed the two girls and turn around, walking away.

n“Where are you going?” The Guild Master asked.

n“Old Chalm,” I responded. “I think I like the company better there.”

nA lot of people had bitter expressions on their faces from those words.

n“Deek…”

n“I assume Chalm will at least honor the mansion as my property?” I asked.

nThe Guild Master nodded. “We will honor all of our debts, I swear it.”

n“In that case… listen up!” I shouted out. “I’m clear out the city of Old Chalm and reclaiming it as my own. It’ll be my city, with my rules. I don’t do charity cases. I reckon it’ll take me a week to clear out the outside of the village. At that point, you can come and help reclaim Old Chalm, or you cannot. Those that don’t help… have no right to set foot in my city. You will be banished for life.

n“You can’t do that!” Someone from the crowd shouted.

n“Don’t be unreasonable!”

n“Unreasonable?” I sneered, “Unreasonable was asking a man and his one slave to reclaim a city on their own, and then expecting to reap all the rewards. Your city has been the unreasonable one!”

nI pulled out the gold hero coin, and then I tossed it at the mayor’s feet. “Find another hero for your town.”

n“Deek… wait!” The Guild Master looked somewhat flustered.

nI opened a portal just outside Old Chalm. I knew I had been saving it for a reason. The three of us stepped through, and I shut the portal, and the city of Chalm, behind me. Now there was only one path to move. Forward.

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