“What? You serious?” yelled Diego. 

He rose up from the chair and almost stood on his toes while Bold coughed all the food in his mouth and stared at Mikhail with bewilderment.

“Yeah. I agreed to help you. It would be pretty selfish of me to not meet my words while knowing that you have someone to rescue”.     

“Man, enough of your trespassing. Not only did I stick with this asshole but I have to literally risk my life for his sister too?” said Bold.

“Diego’s our teammate now. And teammates help each other out”

“He tried to kill us!”

“The past is the past. Let it go” said Mikhail casually and threw his arms to his side.  

“Past is the past, my ass. That so-called past happened an hour ago” cried Bold with gritted teeth.

“An hour ago is still the past. The antagonistic Diego is no more. You need to learn a bit of kindness. If you give the gold to Diego, it just means that he’ll owe you one”.         

Bold glared at Mikhail’s contented face with burning rage. Diego slowly sat down and looked directly at Mikhail’s eyes as if trying to decipher the enigma that is his thought process.

“I already told you that Gabi and I were orphans, right?”

“Yeah” said Mikhail.  

“The family that took care of us when we were babies threw us out when I was only twelve and she was nine. The orphanages all had their hands full so they wouldn’t accept us and I had spent all day doing work such as cleaning and carrying cargos to get food. People only gave us a few reais out of pity but I don’t remember them giving truckloads of them on the basis that we are becoming friends”.

“It’s cause I’m different. Friends, comrades, family. They mean a lot to me”

Mikhail turned to Diego and looked at him with pride in the eye.

“If I manage to help you save your sister I want you and your sister to share the same fate as me. In this world, if you’re alone you will die. There is nothing more valuable than having comrades that you can rely on, even with your life”.

Both Diego and Bold’s eyes widened.

“W-why me? I tried to kill you two. Why do you want to become a family with someone like me?”

“If you haven’t heard, I am a man of faith”.

“Then why not just have faith in someone else. I’m just a troubled orphan. Why choose me?”

“Oh man, Notto this shitu again”

Mikhail massaged his eyes as if to signify how he is tired of his nonsense.

“I want to recruit you because I want to. I don’t think you’re a bad person and I don’t think you’re lying. I don’t need people who are full of themselves, people who think that they can take on this game alone. I want trustworthy good people who are willing to fight and grow with me. Do you understand?”

Mikhail said his words clearly and slowly so that it would hit his heart and not just his mind. Diego looked at him with bafflement but soon bowed down towards him.

“If you’re telling the truth and if you do help me save my sister. Then, I will gladly become your friend, your comrade” said Diego.

Bold was utterly surprised by the events that were unfolding before him. He wanted to get rid of Diego but the way he was acting now seem genuine.

“I feel the same way about you too, Bold. I don’t know what will happen in the future. But today’s experience is telling me that you and I will become a great team”

“…Just so you know. If we ever take on the dungeon, I am not going to give my share to Diego” said Bold coldly and puffed his cheeks 

Mikhail smiled at his selfish comment and scratched his head.

“Alright alright. My bad. I totally forced you on that one. But let’s hope for the best and work together now, okay? The cash split will be discussed in due time”.   

Diego, as if to be satisfied with his questions, started to eat his meal followed by Mikhail. Bold had already eaten all of the food that belonged to him so he only watched while lazily slumping on his chair.      

                 When Bold opened his eyes he realized that Diego and Mikhail were nowhere to be seen.

“Goddamn, did they just ditch me?”

Bold quickly got up and headed for the door. The noon breeze awaited him outside as he got out of the inn. He examined his surroundings to realize that there were two people discussing something with one another at the nearby training ground.

And when he approached the ground he identified those two as Mikhail and Diego. Diego was punching a sandbag that was hung from a tree while Mikhail observed him from a distance. After arriving close to them, Bold could hear their conversation.

“You have to breathe out when you deliver your blow. And place your left foot in front of yourself”.

Diego did as he was told and continued to punch the sandbag.

“Yeah, that’s better”

Hearing his footsteps Mikhail turned around to see Bold.

“Ah, you’re awake. Was just teaching Diego a few moves”.

Bold looked at Diego and looked back at Mikhail.

“You know boxing?”

“Yeah. The bro in my gang taught me how to fight. Honestly, was better than any teacher” said Mikhail.

Diego was still punching the bag during their conversation but now he stopped.

“Thanks for helping me out but I don’t think punching a sandbag for a few hours is gonna make a better fighter in a few days”

“Yeah, that’s true. But I never said I was preparing you for something that’s gonna happen in a few days. And besides. A drop in the ocean is still something” said Mikhail.               

Diego looked at him and nodded. 

“Diego, by the way. What spells do you have? I think you haven’t shown us all of your cards. Oh, and we two should show our moves to you too” said Mikhail.

Diego pulled away a few meters from the sandbag and typed on his wristboard. A soccer ball appeared in front of his feet and he kicked it with full force. The ball plummeted towards the center of the sandbag and exploded upon contact. The shockwave was enough to make the sandbag burst open and lose all the contents it had stored.

“Not bad” said Mikhail.

“It’s called soccer jet. Would have fired this at the bastards who took her away if I had the chance”

Diego turned around to look at both Bold and Mikhail.

“The other move. You guys saw. And what about you two? Maybe something that can combo with one of my moves?”

“The one you must have seen from me was the summoning of the water gentleman. Four comrades appear and help me in various activities. Their HP is extremely low though. And the other spell I have is-”.

Mikhail typed on his wristboard and aimed his right palm at Diego. A cyan snake surged out of his palm and dived into Diego’s body with its fangs.

“What the- I’m frozen” said Diego.  

“It’s called paralyzing snake. Completely immobilizes the enemy. Unfortunately, I can’t move while the snake is linked to its target. So, if it’s a solo match I have to get support from the water gentleman”.

“Okay. Guess that’s pretty useful for team play. What about you?” said Diego while eyeing Bold.

He explained the full capacity of his shagai shoot and how he did not master his second spell which is supposed to summon a horse. And with nothing else noteworthy to show to one another, they headed downtown to buy a few clothes. However, a search for other people willing to take on a dungeon was agreed by all three.