"Hello, Lady, I want to join this guild."

Ryu stood in front of the guild receptionist's tall desk and inquired at the Lady busy doing her paperwork.

"Did I just hear something?"

"Yes, you did."

"Huh?"

"Look here, Lady, look below!"

The Lady followed his instruction with a skeptical expression, lowering her head.

"My, how adorable! What's a baby doing here?"

"I want to join this guild."

Looking directly into her eyes. Ryu showed his absolute sincerity with a determined look, not repeating the same mistake he made at the trading guild.

But of course, with this baby voice and soft, tender skin, most people wouldn't be able to control this kind of reaction.

"Kya!"

The Lady quickly abandoned her post and snuggled Ryu.

"Of course, you want to join. Come here, you adorable sweetie cutie pie. How about we play—uh, we go hunt monsters?"

Ryu's head throbbed, sensing that he would have to deal with this for a few more years.

"C'mon, Mia, don't hug that adorable baby adventurer yourself."

Another lady from the receptionist intervened.

"Let me join to play—I mean, hunt too."

"No, Kathy, he's mine, all mine!"

Mia hugged Ryu more tightly, almost to the point where he couldn't breathe.

"Don't be greedy, Mia. You're hurting him!"

'This was exceptionally uncomfortable!'

Ryu was older than these guys, well, not physically, but the fact that he was enjoying this was quite...

Sigh...

'I give up.'

"Heyo pwettie lady."

'If talking seriously wouldn't work, how about my baby talk!'

Ba-dump!

Both ladies' hearts jumped.

"Oh my goodness!"

"No way!"

It seems Ryu found a temporary killer skill against adults that could make his way out whenever he got in trouble.

Not wasting a moment, Ryu followed up by pointing his little finger at Sara, who was grabbing the door, trembling.

"Awntie. Jwoin. Gwild."

Mia, who was beside Ryu, glanced at Sara.

"I see. It was your aunt who wanted to join."

When Ryu saw Sara preparing to decline, he shouted immediately, cutting her speech off.

"Awntie! Stwong!"

"What, w-what are y-you saying, Ryu!"

Sara's reactions never ceased to amaze Ryu.

If Ryu counted the time Sara almost passed out because of him, he would be here until the next day.

"Auntie! Stwong!"

"Auntie! Jwoin!"

Ryu repeated numerous times so there would be no time for them to think. And it was successful since Mia returned to her desk and took an application form.

"Haha. Hehe. Since you are too cute, I'll help little aunt, alright?"

Mia couldn't stop laughing like some creepy old witch.

"Hehe, fill this form and pay one gold coin. Then we can proceed with aunt's test."

As Ryu thought, they still half-heartedly believed them.

Mia thought that a gold coin would make kids like them back out.

'Sorry, but I already knew that Auntie could at least afford it.'

There was a time when Ryu saw Sara's secret stash with all her savings.

However, someone had a different opinion about this. Sara's face turned purple when she heard the price of the application fee. It was approximately around $1,000 in earth currency.

"Gold?! That, that was already equivalent to my annual income!"

Ryu took the form and handed it to Sara before she could even reason.

"Don't worry, auntie, we will earn more after you sign this."

"But what if I fail the test? I've been saving this money for a new dress."

Her eyes became watery to the point that tears would fall down the next time she blinked.

"It'll be fine, auntie, please... trust... me..."

He stared at her while imitating puppy eyes.

"...But."

"Then how about this."

Ryu pulled her arms to lean her head towards him and whispered.

"I might accidentally burn your favorite dress with a fireball."

"What?!"

***

Rook Adventurer Guild Training Yard.

"R-Ryu, w-what am I doing here?"

With her shivering voice, Sara carried a round wooden shield bigger than herself.

A moment ago, Ryu realized that people wouldn't take him seriously with his current age, so he decided to let Sara as a substitute.

Luckily, she was a late bloomer, so he could still coax her with words.

For now, their problem was to pass this test. A mock battle against an instructor. Sara needed to show her capabilities in fighting.

The training yard was behind the guild building, with other people present having their own assessments.

Earlier, Ryu discussed the strategy with Sara, using a shield instead of a sharp weapon, which provoked the Instructor.

"Are you mocking me?! Why the hell are you only using a shield?!"

"No, no, no, I'm not mocking you, Sir Instructor."

He was fuming, but Ryu thought it was good to their advantage.

"Then let's start!"

The Instructor launched an attack as quickly as he could. He might have thought doing this assessment was pointless, so he wanted to end it as soon as possible.

The Aunt and Nephew's plan was straightforward.

First, they already achieved it by ruining the enemy's ability to think by taunting him. It was more effective since Sara looked like a total amateur.

The Instructor would have thought Sara was only playing around.

Second, to let his guard down. Who would think of defending when fighting against an unarmed enemy, plus against a young lady?

Third, they didn't know Ryu and Sara were cheating... Ryu knew it was unfair, but he didn't have time to play like an angel in this life. He has a life to save in the future!

"Afiste ton anemo na reei."

Ryu chanted to cast magic without anyone noticing, creating an enormous wind.

Utilizing the shield as a kite to fly by applying a wind force. But, instead of making it fly upward, he changed the trajectory of the wind so Sara would plummet forward toward the Instructor.

Using your opponent's strength against him was what Ryu learned. When the Instructor jumped toward Sara at full speed, it gave them a perfect chance for a counterattack.

The impact would be more substantial when punching someone running towards oneself than hitting someone standing.

The same applied to this scenario.

'Hold on tight, auntie.'

Whooosh!

"Kya!"

Sara was blown away by the wind like an arrow, and her shield struck the Instructor directly to his face. Apparently, he was not prepared for this.

BANG!

"Bueh!"

He shrieked once and was thrown off a significant distance from the impact.

"What happened?"

Everyone who witnessed was stunned.

"Isn't the Instructor a 2-Star Swordsman?"

"I think so. Did the Instructor faint?"

"From that young girl? Isn't that ridiculous?"

Ryu was lucky enough that magic users were uncommon. If at least a Magic Expert was present, he could've been caught and apprehended for cheating on the examination.

"Ryu..."

Sara looked at Ryu with tears uncontrollably dropping from her eyes like it was saying, 'Please save me.'

'Again, I'm sorry dear auntie, but I would need you to do more than this in the future. Hoping you will understand.'

"Awntie! Stwong!"

"Yes, baby, your auntie is indeed strong."

Mia repeatedly clapped as she walked toward Sara.

"Congratulations, Sara, for becoming an F-Rank adventurer."

"What?"

"You just passed the test."

"Sorry!"

"Why are you apologizing? It's not like you did something wrong, right?"

"Haha... Yes, I d-did n-nothing wrong. Haha. Hahaha."

Mia patted her shoulder. Sara's tears continued to flow while laughing.

"Must be tears of joy. Let's go get your guild card."

It was already two years since Ryu came to this world, and his goal had just reached one step forward.

His first goal was to have the strength to protect himself, and he achieved that by completing the beginner magic book.

He might've failed to cooperate with the Pseudo Trading Guild, but acquiring a connection with the adventurer's guild instead was not a bad start.

Now, Ryu thought they needed to earn money.

Sara received her guild card.

Guild: Rook

Name: Sara Astalle

Class: Warrior

Rank: F

"Is this true? Is this really true? I'm an adventurer?!"

"Yes. Again, congratulations."

Mia, with a smile, explained that guild members could take requests on the quest board.

Each quest had a rank requirement, so they could only take F-Rank quests until Sara got promoted.

An F-Rank adventurer was required to complete one quest per 30 days, so they have no choice but to select one for now.

"My cute nephew, how about this herb gathering quest?"

Sara merrily took a quest. Like she forgot the things that made her stressed earlier. Her cute gestures made Ryu remember that she was just 12 years old.

Sara might not know, but Ryu knew that even this herb gathering had a high chance of encountering monsters.

So, for now, he decided to keep it a secret from her.

'I need to prepare my auntie.'

"Mmm?"

"It's nothing, auntie. Let's go home."

"Okay! Hehe!"

She cheerfully responded like someone who had just removed a fishbone inside a throat.

Ryu felt weird seeing his aunt happy, making his heart tingle.

'Was this the feeling of being with family?'

Now that Ryu thought about it, he wondered what Yume was doing right now. He didn't even know what she looked like.

Thinking of her reminded Ryu of things that would happen in the future.

'Your storm will start in four years. Please hang in there, Princess.'