Under the cover of night, the Blue Fist sailed across the ocean. Not far away lay a small island, the very island where Ed had previously performed the Touching ceremony. The ship entered the harbor slowly, cloaked in darkness.

The islanders on guard duty grew alert at the sight of the vessel, but relaxed as they recognized it in the moonlight.

A farewell ceremony was being held on deck.

"Bobby, this is as far as I can take you. We'll come to see you again before long," Andre said, an uncharacteristic hint of longing on his usually stoic face. After all, he had worked with Bobby for a very long time, and watching him leave was difficult.

"Don't forget your promise," Old Bobby replied with a smile and a nod.

He then looked at the rest of the crew and embraced them one by one. "I'll be going now. May the Holy Mother bless you!"

With that, Old Bobby disembarked with his two apprentices. The already sparsely populated ship felt even more desolate and empty after their departure. Everyone watched him go as the Blue Fist slowly pulled away from the berth, heading for the open sea beyond the island.

"Alright, it's late. Let's calm down and get some rest. Parting is just part of life," Andre said with a tired smile to the younger crew members around him.

As the ship melted into the darkness, the distant sea suddenly churned as if boiling. A small blue bird alighted near Andre's ear.

"Stop!"

At Andre's command, the ship slowed and drifted to a halt. The shadow ship they had seen before materialized from the gloom.

Andre retrieved the magic storage pouch he had borrowed, along with an ordinary bag.

He turned to the group. "Does anyone want to make a deposit?"

Ed was momentarily confused, but every present crew member except him and Elena took out a substantial portion of their gold, earned through recent finds or with sacrifices of their bodies, and placed it into the ordinary bag before handing it to Andre.

This time, the shadow ship did not keep its distance. It glided silently alongside the Blue Fist.

Seeing this, Andre slapped his forehead in exasperation.

"Haha, Andre! Haven't you been busy with something big next door these past few days?" A tall, black-haired man in light chainmail approached and gave Andre a wordless, tight hug.

"Uncle William."

"Ah, Elena! You've grown even more beautiful, dear, just like your mother. It's hard to believe you're this ugly bastard's daughter," William said with a booming laugh, giving her a light hug.

"Hehehe, thank you, Uncle. You've gotten more handsome and muscular yourself."

After the brief exchange, the burly man named William glanced at the magic pouch in Andre's hand and the bag of coins at his feet.

"Looks like you've had a big haul this time."

Andre waved a hand helplessly. "You didn't come to my ship for small talk. Spit it out."

William's face showed no embarrassment at the bluntness. Instead, he grew serious. "We've found a clue to the Holy Relic of the Virgin Mary."

Andre's demeanor shifted instantly to match William's gravity. William produced a thick file wrapped in parchment and shoved it into Andre's arms. He then took back his loaned storage pouch and hefted the bag of gold coins.

"Alright, time to reclaim my storage bag. I'll keep your gold safe, too. No need to thank me. Goodbye, everyone! Hopefully, you succeed in this mission as well!"

Without further ceremony, the burly man returned to his shadow ship. Even while docked beside the Blue Fist, the vessel remained shrouded in indistinct shadow. As it vanished, Andre retreated alone to his captain's cabin.

Ed turned to Elena beside him with a questioning look.

Facing his gaze, she smiled and explained, "Keeping so much physical coin on the ship is unwise. There's always a risk of an accident where you could lose everything. We have him store it in the cathedral vaults; it's absolutely safe there."

"And there's no need to worry about embezzlement. The Shadows are the blade in the hand of the Virgin Mary. This amount of money means nothing to them."

Ed nodded in understanding. Not everyone had a cheat like his inventory. Losing a fortune to bad luck would be devastating, so securing it before a mission was smart. Furthermore, gold sails were heavy and impractical to carry in bulk, unlike him, others couldn't ignore weight and quantity unless they owned rare space-type magic items like rings or bags.

"Why didn't you deposit yours? Didn't you get a large share too?" Ed asked Elena, curious why she seemed unconcerned about loss. Maybe her money is with her father? The captain must have a storage ring, he thought, awaiting her reply.

"Didn't I tell you? I want to buy a pocket ring, and that requires funds. If I stored all my money, where would the ring money come from?"

Ed nodded, remembering her mention of it.

"That situation just now... does it mean we have a mission?"

Elena nodded seriously. "That's right. We're members of the Church. It's only natural they would call on us, just as we use their resources and connections."

Standing nearby and listening in, Jason couldn't help but ask, "I've never done a mission before. Will it be difficult?" After all, he had only joined the treasure-hunting team two years ago, spending the first two as a trainee. During that time, they hadn't received any assignments.

Unexpectedly, Elena shook her head. "Actually, I've only been on the team for less than three years myself, only about half a year longer than Jason. Before that, I was training at the cathedral. I don't really know how the Church's mission system works or how difficult they might be."

"So you became a Toucher first and then joined the team?" Ed asked, a hint of envy in his voice. He couldn't help but curse his own bad luck for starting from zero, unlike Elena, who was born with a silver spoon, her start was practically legendary.

Elena nodded with a smile.

At that moment, Vanessa, who had overheard their conversation, walked over, swaying her slim waist. Her ample breasts shifted visibly beneath her thin dress, and the outline of her nipples was apparent since she wasn't wearing a bra. She stopped before the trio.

"Would you like your big sister to explain how the mission system works?"

Hearing this, Elena smiled and walked up to Vanessa, taking her arm and hugging it tightly. Sadly for Vanessa, being a woman herself, she couldn't appreciate the sensation of her arm pressed between another woman's breasts.

Jason sidled up and seized her other arm, hugging it with a puppy-dog expression that looked rather comical, and ugly. "Sister Vanessa, please tell us!" he implored.

Ed watched the two drama queens, shook his head, and rubbed his forehead in mock despair for their future. However, he wasn't about to pass up a prime opportunity for revenge on Vanessa, who always found lame excuses to tease him intimately before leaving him with a hard little brother, forcing him to go to the bathroom, and use his hand to calm it down.

He hurried over, shamelessly buried his face in her breasts, and spoke while enjoying the softness. "My beautiful Sister Vanessa, please tell us."

"You all really know how to be annoying," Vanessa said, looking at the shameless trio with a helpless expression. In truth, she enjoyed the attention.

Instead of shoving them away in embarrassment, she let out a light giggle. She freed the arm Elena held and wrapped it tightly behind Ed's neck, pushing his face deeper into her cleavage as if to suffocate him. While doing this, she began her explanation.

"The Church rarely assigns us tasks. Usually, we discover information or something amiss and report it. In other words, although we're Church members, we operate with a lot of freedom."

"While it's rare for them to give us direct orders, it's not unheard of. There was one about four years ago. It took us a full year, and one of our full members was so seriously injured he had to retire from treasure hunting before we finished."

Hearing this, Ed, whose mind had begun to wander to heavenly places, even entertaining the fantasy of cuckolding his cheap captain and stealing this attractive big sister for himself, snapped back to seriousness, as did the others.

In other words, Church missions were either non-existent or came with significant difficulty and danger.

"So, you all need to be prepared. Especially you two," Vanessa said seriously, glancing at Ed, who was still enjoying her breasts, and Jason, who had become quite the pervert after spending too much time with Ed and was now "accidentally" brushing against her buttock.

After all, they had only been Touchers for a very short time. Their magical circuit training and spell proficiency lagged behind the others.

The two boys, however, didn't seem overly concerned, continuing their antics. Their training is Elena's problem; what does this have to do with them? They just do what she told them. Why waste brain cells worrying about unnecessarythings?

After chatting a while longer, Vanessa finally pushed both perverts away, and everyone returned to their cabins.

Ed lay down on his bed. He closed his eyes, focused on the magical circuits within his body, and began to train. He might not be overly worried about the coming mission, but it was always better to be prepared.

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