I rang the doorbell to my own dorm room, which must've looked weird to anyone around. Luckily, no one was. I could've just unlocked the door on my own, but I was too lazy to do so. Since Mei Gui was in the room, there was no point in wasting some of my limited amount of mana on this.

Come to think of it...I'm running kind of low on my mana reserves. During the fight with Plague, I barely used the power of Chaos to absorb any of his magic at all. Since he mainly used the poisonous gas which wasn't magic, I couldn't absorb it...and even if I could, it would only be bringing toxins into my body.

With this in mind, I decided to ask Mei Gui to cast some spells so I could increase my mana reserve once more.

Soon enough, Mei Gui came to open the door, and bowed.

"Welcome home, Master.

"

I sighed, and entered the room.

"Didn't I say you shouldn't bow every time you see me?

"

"Apologies, Master. Habits,

" she replied bluntly before shutting the door, locking it, and coming over to me.

"That was a fairly quick excursion. Was Master able to complete a quest?

"

I shook my head.

"Nah...while I was trying to get a quest, I ran into...well, nevermind that. Mei Gui, I need a favor.

"

She tilted her head.

"A favor?

"

"Yeah...I'm kinda running low on mana. How about you?

"

Mei Gui closed her eyes, then opened them again after a short while.

"I still have approximately 39.47% of my mana reserve left.

"

I sighed.

"Well, it seems you're pretty low as well. I was originally going to ask you to transfer some of your mana to me, but guess not. We'll just stock up again in the Magic Training Room once school starts up again. We'll sneak in there sometime.

"

"Understood, Master,

" Mei Gui said with a bow.

"However, if you truly wish it, I can give you all of my remaining mana right now-

"

"Nah, I'm not going to do that,

" I quickly cut her off. It was then that I realized something, and sniffed the air.

"Hm...the air smells good for some reason...wait, Mei Gui, did you take a bath or something?

"

She nodded, then averted her gaze, somewhat embarrassed.

"Y-Yes, Master...

"

No wonder...ever since I taught her about baths, she's been enjoying them quite a lot, taking one whenever she has a chance to. Well, not that I'm complaining.

"You really like bathing, huh?

"

"Yes...it is warm and relaxing.

"

I looked at her pleased expression, then thought of something.

"Hey, Mei Gui.

"

"What is it, Master?

"

"Do you want to go see some fireworks?

"

"...Fireworks?

" Mei Gui echoed in confusion.

Huh...looks like she doesn't know what fireworks are.

"Yeah. They're these huge, pretty explosions in the sky,

" I explained.

"They are really beautiful at night, trust me.

"

Mei Gui's eyes began to sparkle as soon as I said that, and she quickly clutched my arm.

"Master, where can I see these 'fire-works'?

"

I chuckled.

"It's not fire-works, Mei Gui. It's one word - fireworks. And today is New Year's Eve...so we can almost certainly see them tonight. Want to go?

"

"Yes, Master!

" she let out an cry of excitement, which was extremely rare for her.

I laughed, and patted her head.

"Well then...let's make some money and grab lunch first, yeah?

"

*****

- The Hunters' Guild, 11 AM -

Mei Gui and I had came back to the Hunters' Guild 3 hours after I had ran into the four girls at this same exact spot. They would definitely be gone by now, so it would be safe for us to pick out an easy quest and complete it to get money for lunch before 12 PM.

I was wearing my Kai Xuan getup, while Mei Gui was wearing a similar black mask and cloak, though hers was a lot more feminine and cute. Still, anyone could tell the two of us were companions, given how close we looked. It was almost as if we were twins, especially since our hair and eye colors were merely reversed.

However, since there were many people with far more eye-catching costumes in here - cough cowboy cough - we didn't attract too much attention, which I was grateful for. Mei Gui received some stares since her proportions were really nice, but unlike the veiled receptionist, her mask was completely opaque, so it was hard for outsiders to discern that she was really a divine beauty.

Looks like wearing a mask was the correct choice, huh?

There were considerably less people in here than earlier, and we were able to find a vacant quest terminal in no time.

"Mei Gui, I'm just going to do the same quest I did last time,

" I said, turning around slightly.

"Just to save time.

"

"Mm. I will as well,

" she replied calmly.

"Oh? What quest did you do for your first one, anyway?

" I asked, curious.

"...A resource excavation quest. I had to collect some herbs in the Forest of Fae, west of the Avast Mountains,

" she answered casually.

Hm...so it was similar to mine.

"I see...

" Then, turning back to the quest terminal screen, I quickly brought up the Cave Exploration quest once more, and accepted it, scanning my guild card on the scanner beside the main screen. Most resource excavation quests were repeating, so one could take them as many times as they wanted. There was never 'too much' gold or useful herbs, after all.

After I was done, I stuffed my guild card back in my wallet, and pocketed the entire thing.

"Alright, I'm done. I'm going to head off first, let's meet back here at 12 sharp. You have your phone, right?

"

Mei Gui nodded.

"Yes, Master.

"

Heh...funny how we only got our phones recently, yet it's already become an indispensable part of our lives.

"Then, peace for now,

" I said, waved her goodbye, and left the guild building.

Mei Gui bowed, which attracted quite a few curious gazes.

"Stay safe, Master.

"

*****

- Hunters' Guild, 12 PM -

Whew...that was easy. I had just completed my quest - it was fairly simple, especially since it was just an exact repetition of something I had already accomplished before, and I mean literally the exact same thing. The same cave, the same excavation target, everything...though this time, I didn't end up running into a dragon, which was good. I looked at my phone. Exactly 12 PM. Scanning my surroundings, I noticed Mei Gui hadn't returned yet. I decided to just claim my reward first.

Since I wasn't in too much of a hurry, I decided to just be nice and pick one of the longer lines to wait in. I knew very well how annoying long lines were for someone in a rush, after all. And as usual, the longest line of all was the one on the far right of the room - the one belonging to the veiled receptionist. Damn it...I still don't know her name. I keep forgetting.

After around twenty minutes or so, it was my turn. Upon seeing me, the veiled receptionist's name immediately lit up, and she quickly fumbled to pull up a mirror in front of herself, checking if she looked okay. I sighed, seeing her unnecessary actions. You don't have to be so nervous, I'm not going to eat you...

"W-Welcome to the Shenzhen Branch of the Hunters' Guild! W-W-What can I help you with?!

" she yelped, eyes darting all over the place, flustered.

"Er...I just came to collect my reward for completing a quest,

" I said truthfully.

"How are you doing?

"

"F-Fwah?! I-I, um, am doing fine! Yes!

" her cheeks flushed red and she began fidgeting with her fingers nervously. In fact, she was causing so much of a ruckus that the mature receptionist sitting next to her looked over and covered her mouth in laughter, as if saying 'ah...youth'. The veiled receptionist then finally came back to her senses and pulled a lever, raising the glass pane that had separated us moments earlier.

"I see...well then,

" I continued, pulling out my Space Locket and taking the gold pieces I had excavated out of it.

"Here are the gold pieces.

"

"A-Ah, right!

" the receptionist nervously took the 10 gold pieces over, and placed them in several different baskets, around two to three chunks in each one. She then positioned all the baskets on a conveyor belt behind her, where they would then be transferred into the guild storehouse (that's what I assumed, anyway).

After she was done, she turned back to me and clapped her hands together.

"O-Okay! Next, c-can I have your guild card? I-I know it's you, but this is just procedure...

"

I nodded.

"I understand. Here,

" I said, taking out my Hunters' Guild card from my wallet. The veiled receptionist took it, muttered 'Kai Xuan' under her breath, scanned it on some machine that was similar to the one by the quest terminals, and finally gave it back to me.

She giggled cutely and made a peace sign gesture with her hands.

"Hehe~all done! I-I've added the 5 bounty points reward to your profile in the database! And as for the ¥500 cash...here you go...

"

She took out a bundle of bills and placed them on the countertop. I took them gratefully and chuckled.

"Thanks,

" I said.

"N-No problem! This is my job as a receptionist!

" she quickly replied.

I smiled underneath my mask, and remembered to do a certain thing.

"By the way, what's your name?

" I asked, as casually as possible.

"E-Eh?! M-My name?! Y-You want to know my name?!

"

I nodded.

"Sure...of course, if you don't feel comfortable telling me, then I apologize.

"

The receptionist quickly shook her head vigorously.

"N-No! Not at all! It's just...would you mind keeping it a secret?

"

"Of course, if that is what you wish,

" I replied.

Then, after a few deep breaths, her eyes began brimming with determination, and she looked directly at me, dropping her tone a little to prevent anyone else from hearing.

"My name is Lan Xiao Su. You can just call me Xiao Su.

"

Lan Xiao Su...could she be related to Lan Gui Ying, and the Lan family somehow...? Well, it wouldn't be good to pry here. Maybe I'll have a chance to ask sometime in the future.

"Xiao Su, huh...

" I murmured quietly.

"It's a pretty name.

"

"F-Fwah?! U-Um, t-thank you!

" she clutched her cheeks, blushing furiously.

I smiled - though she couldn't see it through my mask - and held out my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Xiao Su. You've helped me out quite a bit so far, and I'm grateful for that. Let me know if you need a favor or anything from me, I'd be glad to return my debt.

"

"N-No worries! I was just d-doing what a-any receptionist would do...

" she trailed off.

"That may be so, but that doesn't change the fact that you've helped me a lot. I still owe you one, no matter what you say.

"

"U-Um...

" Lan Xiao Su appeared troubled.

I sighed.

"Well, just keep that in mind. You don't have to use the favor, but if the time ever comes...you know what to do, yeah?

"

She considered my proposal for a moment, then nodded her head and beamed brightly.

"Yes!

"