Rean looked at the hand gripping the other corner of the request slip with his own, and couldn't help sighing at how strangely fate worked.

The woman in white who had been sitting at the next table in the restaurant was now eyeing the exact same request as him. It really did make him feel like maybe some things were arranged by destiny.

But still...

What was with this development? Like some romantic library meet-cute? Not everyone was going to feel their heart race just because they reached for the same thing at the same time, okay?

"Please, you take it." Rean let go of the request first and made a polite gesture. "I saw you quietly helping someone in the restaurant earlier, miss. You must be quite capable. I'll gladly yield this request to you."

Anyway, the second-highest bounty request, "Collect 5 kilograms of Dragon Vein Lichen Crystal," still paid 1.85 million Sam. It was a little easier, but the reward scaled with the actual amount collected. A difference of 150,000 wasn't much to Rean. He might as well go with the flow and do her a favor. Maybe he'd even get to know her.

"No, you grabbed it first, so if anyone should yield, it should be me." The woman shook her head, pulled the request down, and placed it in Rean's hand. "I'll take another one. Don't worry, just go."

At first, Rean had thought she was the hard-to-talk-to type. Turns out she simply didn't pay attention to people who didn't matter.

Looking at her straightforward yet stubborn gaze, Rean understood that even if he kept refusing, she'd just repeat the same thing a few more times.

After a brief thought, his brow lifted. An idea came to him.

"In that case, why don't we just work together?" Rean said with a smile as he took down the second-highest bounty request. "It's more reassuring with a companion. Once it's done, we split the reward evenly. How about that?"

The woman hesitated. Her eyes moved back and forth between Rean's smile and the two request slips in his hand. After a moment of uncertainty, she slowly reached out and accepted the request he handed back.

"Then I'll be in your care."

Rean couldn't help applauding his own wit. Sure, he was giving up a tiny bit of negligible bounty, but moving together with this woman was clearly better than just using the request to earn goodwill. He'd get to see her strength, and more importantly, maybe he'd get a closer look at that sword of hers engraved with spells.

Though honestly, her guard around strangers felt a little too low...

"It's fine. For me, having one more person also means one more layer of safety."

Rean lied without the slightest blush or change in expression. Calmly, he took down the third bounty request as well, worth 1.8 million: "Destroy the Mammon soldiers' stronghold outside the south gate."

"I've got another companion waiting over there, so we can take one more request."

"Are you two short on money right now?"

The woman followed Rean as he headed toward Olga, then looked curiously at the two request slips clenched tightly in his hand.

"Well, not exactly broke," Rean said with a wry smile. "But I'm planning to buy a bigger house here, so that makes things a bit tight. What about you? You went straight for the top request, so I assume you need money too."

"Yes... I'm traveling alone, and the money I brought with me is running low. So I planned to take a few requests here and earn some more..." She paused. "Is that your companion?"

From a distance, she had spotted Olga's sharp eyes. Her expression turned a little awkward. Rean could tell she was hoping he'd say no.

Which was fair. If anyone suddenly saw a woman with a pale face and a fierce glare staring at them, they wouldn't want to get involved with her either.

But unfortunately, if possible, Rean wouldn't want a companion like that either.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Rien Schumel. Just call me Rean. This is my companion, Olga Angelo—"

"Get over here!"

Before Rean could finish, Olga grabbed his sleeve and yanked him aside. In a fierce tone, she demanded,

"You kept staring at her in the restaurant, and now you've brought her over too. Don't tell me you've got a thing for her!"

Rean thought, Is this girl's brain pink or something? How does everything circle back to that with her? Did Gabriel send her to marry me not because she's strong, but because her head is full of this stuff? And besides, what the hell does it have to do with her whether I like someone or not?

Though on second thought, marrying a human really did sound easier to accept than marrying an angel...

"Don't overthink it. I'm just curious about the sword she's carrying."

Rean rubbed his swelling forehead as he explained.

Ever since he started moving together with Olga, he'd felt like his head was getting bigger by the minute. She hadn't actually caused any trouble so far, but just being around her was exhausting.

"Are there really only objects in your alchemist-man eyes and no love at all!?"

"I do have angry feelings. If you want to fight, I'm happy to oblige."

She was the one who suspected him over a woman, and after he explained himself, she was the one mocking him too. What exactly did Olga want from him? Rean could feel his adrenaline pumping faster than ever before. If there weren't so many people around, he really would have started a fight with her right there. He'd been putting up with her for a long time already.

"Fine, fine, I apologize." Olga waved her hand impatiently. "Last question. What's with that surname, Angelo?"

"If you're going to move around here as an angel, you need to disguise yourself as a human, right? From now on, Angelo is your surname. Use that whenever you need to give your identity. Okay? Done."

Sometimes Rean wondered if he was actually the Demon King of lies. Otherwise, how could he casually slap a fake surname onto someone like that? Though this time, he had at least spent one second thinking about it. He'd almost used "Angel" directly as her fake surname. Otherwise, he might've just called her Olga Izka or something.

"Sorry to keep you waiting~" Ignoring Olga's expression that clearly said she still wanted to argue, Rean forcibly turned back around and put on a flattering smile. "I completely forgot to ask earlier. How should I address you?"

"Just call me Cang Lin... By the way, are you two perhaps lovers?"

As she gave her name, the woman carefully observed Rean and Olga. Then her face suddenly reddened, and she asked the question with cautious sincerity, only to be met with immediate, firm denial from both of them.

"No chance."

"W-with someone like him? Absolutely impossible!"

"I see, so you're not." Cang Lin gave an awkward but polite smile after being denied. "You two looked very well matched, and I heard Rean say he was planning to buy a house, so I thought you must be lovers preparing to get married."

"Very well matched!?"

"Not matched at all."

Rean shot Olga a disgusted look when she got excited over being called compatible. Other than denying it again, he didn't bother saying anything extra. He simply took the requests and went straight to the receptionist to register them.

"Sorry to trouble you again. I'm taking this request."

"Of course, Mr. Schumel. I'll register it right away..."

The receptionist took the request slip from Rean's hand. She was just about to write down his name in the records when she realized this was currently the second-highest bounty on the board, and naturally, the difficulty matched the price.

Dragon Vein Lichen Crystal was indeed a rare ore used in forging, but there was no way it was worth 1.85 million Sam for 5 kilograms on its own. The real reason was that the mine outside the city where it could be collected was guarded by elite Mammon troops, making extraction difficult for the time being. The kingdom army couldn't repair or reforge its weapons, so they had no choice but to post the request at a high price.

"Mr. Schumel, this request isn't just about mining ore. It's very likely that—"

Thunk.

Rean pulled something else out of subspace and casually dropped it onto the counter. The irregular, translucent blue crystal, patterned like dragon scales, scraped a shallow mark across the tabletop. The receptionist's bewildered face was faintly reflected on its surface.

"You were saying it was very likely what?"

"Nothing. I'll have it weighed and prepare the payment immediately."

The receptionist cut herself off at once. She picked up the Dragon Vein Lichen Crystal Rean had dropped on the table, then turned around and called someone over to appraise it and weigh it.

A moment later, the result came back.

"This Dragon Vein Lichen Crystal weighs 8.5 kilograms, so we will pay you 3,145,000 Sam."

"Leave it here for now. We'll settle everything together when we get back."

Rean turned and waved at Olga and Cang Lin behind him, signaling for them to hurry up and register too.

"Understood... Miss Olga Angelo has accepted the request to eliminate the Stardust Lizard, and Miss Cang Lin has accepted the request to destroy the Mammon soldiers' stronghold. May all of you return safely."

The receptionist finished writing in the records with a rather unnatural expression. The way she looked at the three of them was like she was staring at some unbelievable lunatics.

The capable kind, though.

Rean turned away from the counter and headed out of the guild together with Olga and the others.

A three-person team...

According to the map he'd bought on the way, the location of the Stardust Lizard from Cang Lin's request, the crystal mine, was quite close to the Mammon soldiers' stronghold outside the east gate. So the group headed straight for the eastern gate.

"Is Rean a mage?"

After they passed through the east gate, Cang Lin seemed to remember something and asked him,

"You seemed to pull things out of thin air just now. That should be fairly advanced spatial magic, right?"

A mage... Rean didn't think that title suited him very well. Sure, he used all kinds of magic as his core offense, but his hand-to-hand combat and weapon skills were also excellent. He could even make all sorts of little tools with alchemy. For someone like him, there really wasn't any fitting title besides all-around genius.

"I can be just about any profession, you know. If needed, I can even make medicine." Rean smiled and raised his hand, showing her the ring-shaped magic device on it. "I made this too. It can store quite a lot of things."

"Says the guy who can make medicine, but when he reaches in, he casually pulls out high-damage alchemical weapons."

"..."

Rean shot Olga a cold look for tearing him down without the slightest mercy, but Olga didn't care at all. She planted her hands on her hips with complete confidence.

"Don't argue. We're already at the first location, so let's go in."

Cang Lin stopped in front of a cave. A faint glow seeped out from deep inside, adding a little more mystery to the already dim cavern.