(Veronica's perspective)

'This is quite frustrating and awkward'

It was what I thought after what happened a while ago

I had spent enough time trying to convince my dad to let me go clean dungeons with my friends for this situation to happen, when he mentioned his condition to me, I thought he would choose a knight from our house, he would at least be able to fight, and I was sure that over time I would show dad that it was unnecessary, but everything turned around when he introduced that guy as the person to accompany me...

The main idea of cleaning the dungeons was to get merits to be able to enter the Armadeus academy as someone competent and not as a well-to-do who entered through the connections of her house, in addition, she could get experience, there were also the treasures inside them, although I didn't need them, living in the house of a duke I have a lot of money, I would only have to ask my dad if he wanted to buy a weapon, item or a skill book.

Of course, there were other reasons, like being with my cousin María who was also my friend, and well, there were also Nick and Robert.

I have to give you the news about all this, I hope you don't get upset, the fact that this guy is with us means that our merits will be lower for being a large group and that he will also gain merits, so he is bad in many ways, and Well, he won't even help...

We had already arrived at the guild and my father went with the boy to an office, if I remember correctly his name was Rafael, he has been carrying that big sinister-looking sword since we left. Why do I think I already saw it somewhere?

Well, it doesn't matter, my friends should be here soon, two days ago I told them that my father had agreed and that today would be the day of my registration so we thought we would go celebrate it in a cafeteria in the city, I hope it doesn't go bankrupt. At that moment I heard a voice.

“Very, here!”

A girl as tall as me, with long wavy orange hair and beautiful emerald green eyes like mine, catches my attention and approaches me, it was my cousin Maria.

"Vero, I've been looking for you since you sent a message that you had arrived, the boys are waiting for us in the cafeteria, shall we go?"

I was happy that it was she alone who was looking for me, I trusted that she wouldn't blame me for anything, I gave her a bitter smile and answered her.

"I still can't leave, my dad said he had to wait for me and Rafael to finish searching, it seems he had to tell me something."

Maria's eyes widened and she asked me in surprise.

“Raphael? Who is Raphael?

I could only give a huge sigh.

"Do you remember the condition that my father gave me so that I could go with you to clean dungeons? About someone who has to come with me. Well, my father has already chosen the person and his name is Rafael".

"Oh, of course, I remember, you told us that it was very likely that my uncle would choose one of the gentlemen who serve the family, Nick and Robert had said that they would have no problem with that, although you sent me a message saying that there was a problem, what is the problem?"

I could feel her enthusiasm, she has always been a cheerful girl, it would be best if she was honest and explained the situation to him. However, I listened to my dad's voice.

“Veronica, my girl, I have already made the records. Oh, I didn't know you'd be here Maria, good to see you, send my regards to my sister and your father.

"I'm also glad to see you uncle, I'll send my regards to mom and dad, also send my regards to Vero's mom, and thanks for agreeing that she can go dungeon-cleaning with me and our friends."

Just when my cousin tells him that is when Rafael arrives and stands next to my dad, he seemed pretty sure of himself.

When my dad realized this he looked at him briefly before turning back to my cousin.

"Little Maria, since you will also accompany my daughter I will introduce him to you, this boy here is Rafael, I am one of his 2 legal guardians and also the one who has been training him, the boy like my daughter does not know anything about the actual combat experience, despite his low rank, I guarantee you he is quite skilled, he will accompany my daughter to clear the dungeons.”

My cousin who was in a quite cheerful mood was replaced by one of complete confusion, then her gaze turned to Rafael and her eyes widened making Rafael look back at her, they both looked at each other for a long time, when my dad He noticed that Maria seemed hypnotized and it didn't take him long to interrupt her.

"Maria? Is there a problem?

She immediately startled slightly blushing and turned to look at me and then at my dad with an embarrassed and apologetic attitude. Well, she was just as surprised as I was.

"Oh, yes! I'm sorry Uncle, I was just a little surprised, that's fine, I don't have any problem with it, this... Rafael, I'm Maria, Veronica's cousin, nice to meet you, I hope we can work together" 

After responding to my dad by bowing as a sign of apology, she introduced herself to Rafael with a kind smile.

'What the hell just happened?'

It was what I thought, however, Rafael remained calm, he looked at me briefly before looking back at Maria and returning the greeting.

"Thank you, Maria, the pleasure is mine."

He nodded to Maria's words and responded with a smile, then my dad spoke once more.

"Guys, you will have time to talk later, I have to take Rafael to the apartment that was rented for him and explain a few things about the city. Daughter, come back to the house before 5:00, and niece, I'm so glad to see you again. Raphael, come on."

After that, my dad left the guild building and Rafael followed him after waving goodbye. It didn't take long for my cousin to talk to me.

“So that was the problem, huh? To think that your father would choose someone our age as your traveling companion, even more so, being weaker than the two of us together, did you feel his mana? It seems to be a G rank, he must have just woken up.”

Wait, that's right, she couldn't tell that she didn't even have any mana since that Raphael was wearing that ring that disguises his rank, although my dad said that his rank might even be 3 times higher than that, I'm skeptical. I've attended high school classes and I know exactly how mana works in a person's body, it's hard for me for someone without the mana to even be able to fight.

"Yes, I don't know what my dad saw in him, but he has a lot of confidence in him, everything about that guy is strange."

“Hey, now that you mention it, you're right Vero, it's the first time I've seen someone with black hair like that, I've only seen a couple of people like that on the internet, they're very rare, even more so with their eye color reds that combine very well, all people with black hair have black eyes, is he wearing contact lenses? Well, the fact is, he is incredibly handsome.”

What? He is handsome? Oh right, with the whole sudden situation I didn't have the head to notice those details, and now that I think about it, yes... he's quite handsome, he has quite an exotic appearance.

But there are still unexplained things, like the fact that he has no mana, it should be impossible, he's practically a cripple, where did someone like that come from?

Well, let's not get sidetracked, by the way...

"Robert will be sad if you start looking at another boy, haven't you thought about it?"

As I said those words, Maria's face turned all red and, shaking her head a little, she answered me.

"Hey, I-I was just a little surprised by his appearance, I only have eyes for Robert, besides, I think Nick will be the one who will be unhappy when he finds out that handsome boy will accompany you."

"That again, Maria, I've already told you, Nick has been a good friend, but nothing more will come of it than that."

Maria and Robert have been friends since childhood and she has always been in love with him and maybe Robert feels the same way, they haven't entered into a dating relationship yet, but they are getting closer to it, I think by the time the tests open of admission to the academy in 3 months they should be officially dating, personally I feel good for her, on the other hand...

Nick has been very good to me, but I don't think I can see him more than as a friend, at some point I'll have to tell him, I just hope it doesn't damage our friendship.

My words would have helped Maria regain her composure and she looks at me with an incredulous look.

"Are you sure? I always thought that one day they would become close, or is it because of that new guy?"

"No, I'm just not attracted to him in that way, and about that guy, there's no way I'd be attracted to someone weaker than me."

My cousin who was looking at me nodded in understanding and smiled.

"You're right, I also wonder what the guy saw in him, being a G rank he's going to have a hard time, although if I'm honest, he seemed like a guy who doesn't fear anything and never gives up, maybe he just. Are we judging ahead of time?

I turned to look at her with my eyebrow raised in confusion.

"What? What are you talking about, moreover… How could you know?”

She shook her head briefly, slightly flushed.

"That's what I thought when I saw his eyes, but well, it doesn't matter, by the way, we should go with the boys, they're waiting for us and we have to explain that to them, can you think of something?"

Right, we got lost talking about this and forgot that they were waiting for us. Well, I don't really think they'd bother about this, but it's okay to be cautious.

We started to head out to the cafeteria where they waited for us while we talked about how we will explain this detail to Nick and Robert.

Besides, that guy is only going to be an extra in the group, it's not like that guy is going to change our lives... right?