I opened my eyes in a haze, my vision illuminated by the dim yellow firelight. Before me was a large bonfire surrounded by stacked stones. Pieces of meat were skewered around the bonfire, enticing my appetite with their fragrance. I felt an itch at my waist, instinctively reaching out my left hand to scratch. The sensation that made me feel itchy was... furry... slightly rough... and just a bit lower was something soft...

"Ah! You're awake! Ahhh ❤! Stop, your hand... it's inside..." With a seductive moan, my consciousness instantly cleared. I realized that beneath the white cloth covering me, a pair of hands had looped around my shoulders and rested on my chest, with something soft cushioning the back of my neck. So the touch from my left hand was...

"Milia-waah! It hurts, it hurts..." I quickly withdrew my left hand, struggling to sit up and experiencing a sharp pain in my right hand. My right arm was wrapped in bandages, and my beloved sword was still tightly gripped in my right hand, but it had been sheathed.

"If you're blushing like that, it means you're fine..." Milia said calmly, her gaze occasionally glancing at my lower body... because I had stood up, the white cloth that covered me had fallen to the ground. Milia's naked body was fully revealed. Her silver hair, originally tied up in a ponytail, was now flowing freely without any stains, and her enticing curves captivated me...

Noticing my gaze, Milia instinctively closed her legs, which had been open in a V shape. However, it was already too late.

Her lower half was also silver-colored—no, wait! This isn't the time to be thinking about such things...

"Milia, your clothes, and my pants?!" I quickly picked up the fallen white cloth from the ground and handed it to Milia.

Continuing to look was not a good idea. Well, it was already not good...

"I'm already fine... hah, this is the MAX state." Lucia walked over from the side, calmly handing me my pants.

"Whoa!" Silena also walked in from outside the cave and, upon seeing me, screamed and covered her eyes with both hands, with her fingers spread wide. I couldn't help but wonder, was it necessary to cover them?

"Don't stare like that, show some shame." It felt like the roles were reversed. Are all the women in this world so bold?

Looking away, I used one hand to put on my pants, which was more troublesome than I had expected.

"When you fainted, we washed your body for you. We've already seen each other frankly, so what's the problem now?" Milia covered herself with the white cloth and walked past me.

"Well, can you help tighten my belt? It's inconvenient with only one hand." Since I had already been seen, there was no use being ashamed anymore. What resistance could I offer besides accepting?

"Leave it to me." Silena ran over and crouched in front of me... From the angle, her face was in a rather awkward position.

After tightening the belt, I quickly distanced myself.

"By the way, Lucia, aren't you a magician? Can you use some healing magic? My hand really hurts... it hurts." With my left hand, numbness spread to my right hand. Trying to move my fingers on my right hand caused a sharp pain as if being pricked by needles. This also meant that I could still move, it wasn't completely disabled—lucky.

"Stopping the bleeding is already the limit. Anything beyond that has no effect. By the way, I'm not a magician, I'm a 'magic tutor,' so please don't confuse the two. The difference is quite significant."

"Whatever it is, why doesn't it work?"

"Literally, it means that it works at first and then stops working. At least intermediate healing has no effect, and I haven't learned advanced healing yet."

"Oh, I see. It seems I can't use my right hand for now."

"You accepted it so quickly!"

"That's one of my virtues... Oh wait, has the color of your badges on your chests changed?" I remembered that they were initially Lan color, but now they were flashing orange.

"Did you notice? Silena and I have both become B-rank explorers."

"Hmm~" The two of them looked smug.

"Thanks to Lan defeating the Fighting Bear, we both got promoted and became stronger."

(Note: This is a translation of fiction and may not accurately reflect real-life professions or situations.)Milia stood up, holding a white cloth. As she spoke, she prepared to cut the fabric with a broad-bladed sword.

"Right, isn't Ya already an A-rank?"

"Have you decided to quit dangerous exploration work?"

"No, not now—"

...

When I mentioned the bear, I immediately remembered the situation back then.

At that time, it seemed like I completely lost myself, though I still vaguely remember that they were all fine. That meant I lost consciousness in the end.

Sigh... I feel relieved, the last memory was swinging my sword at Milia... It's good that she is alright, I should apologize later.

Now I can say with one hundred percent certainty.

The sword in my hand, collectively known as the Tang Sword, has a wide blade, a black handle, and scabbard. It is 130 cm long in total, 128 cm without the scabbard, with a blade thickness of 1 cm and width of 3.5 cm. Because the blade has a mist pattern, I named it "Lady Mist."

It is a family heirloom, but I don't know from which era it came to our family. It was neglected in a corner of the warehouse until I found it.

Maybe it was because I was playful that I took it out. I was only six back then, and I can't remember now.

Since then, I have been very willful in carrying it with me. Eating, going to the bathroom, going to school, bathing, sleeping—never apart.

Now, it seems that as long as I unsheathe it, it can unleash unimaginable power, but it can also consume me with a strange pleasure...

Did I not have this feeling when I unsheathed it before?

Right, when I think about it, in the seventeen years, it has saved me from three potentially fatal bullets. Even my parents have started to believe in it.

But to force me to give it to my younger brother and the rest, they might as well die.

Tch, why am I thinking about those dirty things? Lady Mist is more like my family than they are. At least it's by my side when I'm lonely or scared. The question is, why did it lose control...

"What's wrong? You're staring at your weapon with a worried expression. Also, you must be hungry. Here," Lucia interrupted my thoughts, holding barbecue meat.

"Thanks, I was just thinking about something."

I sheathed Lady Mist diagonally into the belt on my lower back, freeing up my left hand to take the barbecue that Lucia handed over.

There's no use thinking too much. It's a fact that Lady Mist saved me, but until I can control it, I should avoid using it as much as possible.

The smell of the meat stimulated my sense of smell, even though it didn't look very appetizing.

I blew on it and took a big bite.

(chewing, swallowing) "Delicious!"

It looks like ordinary unprocessed barbecue, but it is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. There is a slight saltiness and sourness that makes it even more appetizing.

Maybe I was just too hungry, but it exceeded my expectations in terms of taste.

"Satisfied. It's purified water—please use it," Lucia conjured water out of thin air and handed me a floating water sphere.

"Thanks. By the way, why are you all so respectful and formal? I'm not used to it."

Besides Milia, who was busy at the entrance of the cave, both Lucia and Silena gave me a sense of decorum.

"You saved our lives and killed the leader of the forest, the Martial Bear. It's only natural to show respect," Silena said, pulling out a black ball from her gold coin bag and showing it to me. It was a glass bead about the size of a soccer ball.

"I see, so it's very valuable?"

"Valuable? In terms of currency? Well, not only can we sell it for a lot of gold coins, but we can also report it to the guild and receive a substantial bounty," Lucia added awkwardly, "Of course, you'll get half of it in full, and the remaining seventy percent... "

So, they wanted to talk to me about this.

"Do I look that greedy? Let's split it evenly among the four of us. Or rather, I should thank you all for not abandoning me..."

"Really!?"

"Really."

"You're so cool... Please marry me!"

"That's a pass. I'm not into lolis," I said without hesitation, pushing away Silena, who was holding onto my thigh and saying, "Loli?" in my mouth.

"It's just my belief that I've benefited unilaterally. Is there anything I can do for you? But I can't offer my body, I already have someone I'm engaged to..."Lucia had a sorrowful expression on her face, as if she was whispering something like "dirty" under her breath. But let's not discuss that for now.

"You're about to get married and you're still out here wasting your life. Really daring, huh? By the way, can you teach me magic?"

It's rare to come to a different world and not be able to use a flashy explosive spell.

"Um, sorry, I mentioned before that I'm a mage, not a magician, so I can't teach others."

"Huh? Is there a difference between a mage and a magician?"

While munching on grilled meat, I sat down on a rock.

"You really don't know? Well... a magician, roughly speaking, gathers elemental power through incantation to cast various types of magic. Do you understand?"

It's similar to what I know about magicians, of course, based on knowledge from games and novels.

"Uh huh, got it. So, what about a mage?"

"A mage can be considered a special type of magician, someone who uses magical devices to unleash magic. My medium is this bracelet, and I can use water, fire, and light magic with it. I can't use other types."

"Oh, I see. So if you also use a long sword, you'll be a magic swordsman! Using magic with one hand and a sword with the other... you can fight and heal yourself at the same time, almost invincible, able to take on enemies near and far!"

"Huh?!"

Lucia looked enlightened.

"Don't tell me you've never thought about it?"

"Not really... Thank you for enlightening me. Truly, as a man who could defeat a martial bear, your ideas are beyond the ordinary. I will strive to try it."

Her intelligence is questionable...

"By the way, how does a mage learn magic? You mentioned something about intermediate and advanced levels. Is it instinctive?"

"Well, as a mage, we basically automatically learn magic as our level increases. Look at this... I'm already level 21, pretty impressive. When you defeated the martial bear, we even leveled up five times just by standing far away! It's unprecedented... cough cough, sorry, got a bit excited. All I have to do is bring the pre-set magic into this frame and just say the name of the magic to activate it."

Lucia sat down on my left side and used her left finger to swipe the bracelet on her right hand, projecting a small screen.

It displayed: Level: 21

Magic Power: 1672/1820

Health Status - obscured by Lucia's hand pulling the screen.

Below were water, fire, and light, displaying various magic spells.

She tapped the skill names on the screen with her finger, dragging them to another area that looked like a skill bar, just like in a game...

But I was more interested in the health status. It seems to have something parasitic?

"Please tell me where I can buy these magical devices!"

"You can't, that's why it's a special ability."

I quickly finished the last piece of meat and threw the skewer into the fire.

"Let me play with it."

I grabbed Lucia's right hand with my left wrist and pulled on the bracelet.

It's inconvenient not being able to use my right hand.

"Don't snatch it, it won't have any effect on others. It's just an ordinary bracelet in their hands. Don't snatch it, this is a token given to me by my fiancé. Even if it's a lifesaver, I can't give it to you."

"Tch, something given by a man."

I instantly let go, and Lucia fell backward.

"That's so mean... I told you it's just an ordinary bracelet. I use it as a medium to channel my ability, it's not that important, and I can't use magic without it."

"Okay, sorry about that~. Let me ask another question. Level represents your strength, right? What about Silena and Milia, do they have these bracelets too?"

"...zZ"

I shifted my gaze to the petite dual-blade warrior, Silena.

She was already sleeping with the magic core in her arms.

Milia was still tearing apart some materials.

"Lan doesn't have one? But... this..."

Lucia took off the necklace from her neck and showed it to me. The pendant was a square crystal block, shimmering with a faint orange glow.

"Isn't this the explorer's badge? Why would I have one?"

"It's not just the explorer's badge, it's also an identification card."

Lucia pressed on the crystal, and just like the bracelet, a screen popped up.

The contents were slightly different from before.Lucia

Race: Human

Level: 21

Affiliation: "Citizen of Sidonia"

Honorable Crimes: None

Guild Rank: "B"

Health Status: Covered up.

"Well, how advanced! My small country doesn't have this at all."

I'm not kidding, my country really doesn't have this.

"Welcome to Sidonia, Lucia. If Lan becomes a pioneer, she can easily reach A-level, or maybe even S-level..."

"You're overestimating me. Let's talk about it later..."

I lifted my body and handed a skewer of grilled meat to Lucia: "Do you want to eat?"

"No, I want to rest. I'll leave the night watch to you guys."

Lucia said as she walked to the corner of the wall and leaned against it. Without any cushion, she slept directly on the ground, as if she was very uncomfortable...

In an instant, there was a feeling of lying in Milia's arms, very comfortable.

I chewed on the grilled meat and walked towards the entrance of the cave.