Asher stood momentarily dumbfounded as he stared at the retreating figure of Thalric. He had, of course, already guessed that Thalric intended to transfer points to him, Thalric's request to see his card made it painfully obvious, but he had never once imagined the amount that would follow.

---

Name: Asher Wargrave

Class: ★

Rank: Rank 1

Point Balance: 30,700

---

Thalric had transferred a staggering sum of twenty thousand points as though it were hardly significant at all. Asher felt his mind buzz for a moment, unable to decide what reaction was appropriate. Astonishment? Gratitude? Suspicion? He simply remained rooted where he stood, staring at the numbers on his card as though they might vanish if he blinked too quickly.

His thoughts drifted, unbidden, to Thalric's final word to him, 'Ash.' Thalric had shortened his name. Did Asher have a problem with it? Not exactly… but it was strange. Unexpected. Uncharacteristic.

Asher exhaled slowly, a faint sigh escaping him as he admitted inwardly that he simply could not understand what went on inside Thalric's head. Throughout all of Asher's memories, from past interactions to their brief cooperation during the Apocalypse, Thalric had always taken the opportunity to belittle him, mock him, or speak with an aloof superiority that bordered on obsession.

But now, suddenly, he was acting with an odd sort of kindness. It was contradictory. Weirdly so.

Asher shook his head, deciding to push the entire matter aside. There was no benefit in overthinking something he couldn't interpret. As for accepting Thalric's earlier offer of joining him on a mission, Asher had no intention of refusing outright, but neither did he plan to accept immediately.

His decision would depend entirely on the circumstances he found himself in when the time came. Just because Thalric had handed him twenty thousand points did not mean Asher would begin relying on him. Nor was he naive enough to assume Thalric would continue handing out points so generously.

Thalric Wargrave was many things, generous was rarely one of them.

"The Ninth Sun is kind of… intense," Finch whispered, his voice lowered to an almost imperceptible level, as though even speaking too loudly would draw Thalric's attention. The man still stood only a few meters away, and Finch clearly had no intention of testing whether Thalric was listening. Whether Thalric simply ignored him or genuinely didn't hear remained a mystery, as he gave no reaction whatsoever.

"How many points did he give you?" William asked, finally tearing his gaze away from the Ninth Sun. His voice snapped Asher out of his drifting thoughts.

"Twenty thousand," Asher answered plainly. There was no reason to hide it, it wasn't as if anyone could bully him for his points, nobody was strong enough for that. His response silenced both William and Finch instantly. They stared at him with identical expressions, blank, stunned, and undeniably envious. They had been ecstatic over receiving five thousand points as their first mission reward.

Now someone had casually transferred four times that amount as if it meant nothing.

"When they say the Wargraves look after one another, it turns out it wasn't just a rumor…" William muttered, still processing the reality of it.

"Is it too late to become a Wargrave? Is your family accepting adoption applications?" Finch asked with complete seriousness. He knew for a fact that there was no one in his life whom he could ask for twenty thousand points and receive them without hesitation.

'Is he the one with the Good Luck ability… or is it me?' Finch joked inwardly.

"No need to overthink it. We Wargraves are simply like this," Asher said with a small shake of his head.

"Now you're just showing off," William replied.

"Let's move." Asher's eyes flicked toward Thalric one last time before he turned around. 'I guess the last-borns in every family are always treated differently,' he mused silently as he walked.

When the three of them reached the facilitator's desk, the man raised an eyebrow the moment he saw them. His bored expression remained the same and everlasting, as though boredom itself was his natural state of being.

"Why are the three of you back here?" he asked, sounding as though the question exhausted him. He closed the book he was reading and set it aside with exaggerated reluctance.

"We're here to take another mission," Asher replied, his tone flat.

"I know the three of you might have already rested at the Rivelle Barony, but shouldn't you take the next mission at a later date? Perhaps… three days from now?" the facilitator suggested, his voice carrying the tone of someone who very much wished they would. But Asher, William, and Finch simply shook their heads in refusal.

The facilitator didn't need further explanation. He arrived at the same conclusion Vaelra and Thalric had, Asher's team was clearly attempting to complete their first three missions as quickly as possible so that Asher could move on to solo missions.

The man's gaze shifted toward Asher. "So, are you still buying the breastplate, greaves, vambraces, and gloves?"

"I already bought them on the way here," Asher replied. William and Finch glanced at him in surprise, wondering how he purchased all of that without them noticing, but chose not to comment. It wasn't their business.

The facilitator shook his head slowly, then said, "I can't show you the mission list at the moment."

"Why?" William asked, genuinely confused.

"Because after every mission, students are required to wait twenty four hours before taking another one. This is to prevent students from exhausting themselves by taking missions back to back and potentially endangering their own lives," the facilitator explained.

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Asher asked.

"I only say this when students rush back for another mission immediately," the man replied with an unapologetic shrug. "Just come back nineteen hours from now, since your last mission check in was six hours ago." With that, the facilitator smiled, picked up his book again, and resumed reading as though relieved to be rid of them.

'Why didn't Thalric say anything?' Asher wondered. 'Maybe because he wanted me to hear it myself,' he concluded.

"Let's go. We'll come back tomorrow to take the mission and start immediately," Asher said with a quiet sigh.

William and Finch nodded, and the three walked out of the building together.

"So… since Asher got such a huge number of points, let's do the celebration," Finch suggested hopefully... again.

Asher shook his head. "Go prepare what you need for the mission tomorrow. That's the first thing we're doing in the morning."

With that, he vanished in a blur of silver, activating Position Marker as he teleported straight to his room. William and Finch exchanged a mutual sigh. If they would begin the mission early tomorrow, they might as well put the rest of the day to good use and train a bit.

______

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