I open the door to my room. Shiro is still in bed. His eyes are open. He looks at me.

"Well? What did Father say?" he asks me.

I hesitate for a moment and then shake my head. "It's not that important"

I answer, trying to hide the fear in my voice. 

"Shiro, do you feel like going on a trip?"

Shiro sits up and looks at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Let's go to the Guild." I say suddenly, without hesitation. "We'll sign up as adventurers."

Shiro stares at me in disbelief. "You really want to go to the Guild? So, you asked Father for permission?"

I look at him worriedly. "Father doesn't know about it."

Shiro looks at me, shocked. "What? You, who always follows the rules, really want to sign up as an adventurer without permission?"

I reply. "I'm serious, Shiro. We can get real training by taking quests."

He looks even more surprised. "You don't just want to sign up as an adventurer, you also want to take on Quests?!"

I nod. "Yes. We need this experience."

"And you think Father will let us get away with this?" Shiro asks skeptically. "Will he even notice that we're gone?"

"No idea." I say, shrugging. "But it's the only way."

Shiro stays silent and stares at me. 

Eventually, he sighs and briefly falls back onto the bed before sitting up again. "You're really crazy, Sota. But... I'm in!"

I look at him with joy. "Good. Let's get ready and head to the Guild quickly. No one can see us."

Shiro is shocked. "WAIT? YOU WANT TO LEAVE NOW?!"

I look at him confused. "Uh... yeah?"

Shiro sighs. "I take it back. You're far worse than crazy."

Shiro and I get ready and sneak down the hallway. We leave the house through the back door since we'd have to pass by the living room where Father is.

We step through the door and slowly close it behind us. 

We've already made the first step. Now we just need to leave the property unnoticed. 

We run to the gate, open it slightly, squeeze through, and then close it again.

"Hurry. The village is this way." I whisper.

We follow the path until we eventually reach the village.

Luckily, the Guild isn't far, and soon we stand before the building. 

It's still early, but there are already a few people there to take on quests.

"Ready?" I ask Shiro.

He nods hesitantly. "Alright, Sota. You've convinced me."

We enter the Guild. The room is filled with voices and conversations. 

The same man from two years ago is still at the reception desk.

Shiro and I take a registration form and fill it out. Once we're both done, we walk to the reception.

"Sota. Shiro. What are you doing here so early?" He asks gruffly when he notices us.

"We want to register as adventurers." I say calmly, as we hand him our registration forms.

"Is your father okay with this?" He looks at us skeptically.

I glance at him nervously. "Uh... yes, of course!"

"Alright!" He says, taking the forms.

It only took about 10 minutes before he placed two guild cards on the table.

He sighs and hands us the guild passes, which are marked with an F. "You'll start at the F rank, even though you're Daigo's sons."

"That's fine with us." I answer.

We take the guild passes and walk to the board where all the Quests are posted. 

"Shiro, what do you think we should take?"

Shiro points to one called Wild Boar Hunt. "This one!"

I think for a moment. "A wild boar causing trouble in the forest next to the village. We'll take it!"

The man at the reception removes the Quest from the board and hands it to us. 

"Good luck." 

"Thanks!" I reply and leave the Guild with Shiro.

We walk through the village until we finally reach the forest.

"Apparently, it's supposed to be in the southwest part of the forest." I say as I start walking in that direction.

"Sota. I feel like we're going too far. Father will be disappointed if he finds out." Shiro says, looking at me with guilt.

"Don't worry. If we're back early enough, he won't notice." I say to reassure Shiro.

"Okay. I trust you." Says Shiro as he draws his sword.

Shiro and I sneak cautiously through the forest.

"Sota, are you sure it's here?" Shiro whispers, glancing around skeptically.

I nod. "Yes. The Quest info says it's in this part of the forest. For sure. Stay alert."

Suddenly, a branch cracks not far from us. We freeze.

Something moves between the bushes. 

Then, a deep, menacing snort.

"There it is!" Shiro hisses, raising his sword.

The wild boar emerges from the underbrush. 

It's larger than I expected, with a massive body, thick tusks, and scruffy fur. Its dark eyes gleam with anger as it spots us. It lowers its head and paws at the ground.

"Watch out, it's going to charge!" I shout.

I jump to the side and place my hands on the ground. "Shiro! I'll use earth magic to trip it. You finish it off!"

Shiro responds. "Okay!" He gets ready.

I channel my mana into the earth and raise the ground before the boar's legs, creating a sort of trip hazard.

It works. The wild boar falls onto its belly and slides a bit further until it finally stops.

Shiro is already rushing towards the wild boar, jumping into the air. He spins in the air, and with a smooth strike, he cuts through the boar's neck. It's the Whirlcut the adventurers demonstrated two years ago.

"Wow! That was awesome!" I admire Shiro.

Shiro cuts off its ear. "We can take this as proof."

"Good. Let's quickly head back to the Guild." I reply.

We know the way already, so we get out of the forest much faster this time. We walk through the streets of the village until we arrive at the Guild.

"We're here!" I say, relieved. "See, Father didn't notice anything."

We enter the Guild and freeze.

Father realized that we sneaked out of the house and then learned from the guild receptionist that we were on a quest. Thus, he is standing in front of us.

Father looks at us with an angry glare. "You two have some explaining to do!"