Nero, the Legendary Hunter

- Back in the Nan Empire, Cassias City -

"Err. Nero, Choko, where should we go first? I already think it would be a good idea to go in front of a dungeon and see if anyone is willing to form a group to explore, gozaru," Jingu suggested.

"Fine by me, and you Nero?" Choko wanted to ask her opinion.

Nero nodded. "I'm okay with that too."

After they left the outskirts of the city, Jingu noticed the effect the walk had on Nero's side of the road. It was amazing how everyone nearly broke their necks looking in her direction with longing and awe.

"Hahaha. Nero is very popular, gozaru~" Jingu didn't bother to draw attention. She even laughed in an imposing way that was even cute.

"A little too much..." Choko grumbled.

"Mm?" Jingu looked at her.

"Nothing, just talking to myself." Choko looked away and hooked her arm through Nero's and began to glare at the people as they passed.

"The day is so beautiful...."

"Look, a bird~"

Having been caught looking, some were embarrassed and disguised their intentions.

"Haha, Choko is very jealous of Nero. This is the friendship between girls, gozaru?" Jingu laughed and asked.

"No! Only I can do this with Nero!" Thinking Jingu also wanted to walk holding Nero's arm, Choko became defensive.

"I meant protective with friends, but well, I even wanted to hold Nero's arm. It looks incredibly smooth and soft, gozaru~" Jingu seemed to have understood something and teased.

"What? No you can't! Right Nero?" Choko looked at Nero with puppy dog eyes.

"Hey, don't push the responsibility for this on me." Nero sighed and noticed that Jingu was only teasing Choko. She looked at Jingu and asked, "Is it fun?"

"Yes, her expression is very cute, gozaru," Jingu laughed.

"But she's mine, so don't tease her too much, okay?" Nero said.

"Oh, okay." Jingu nodded without blinking.

'I'm hers...' Choko's heart threatened to stop beating. Soon the tips of her ears turned red and spread to her face and neck, "Gehehehe~"

With a strange giggle, Choko seemed to be on cloud nine as she walked holding Nero's arm. She even forgot that she has been very agitated before because of Jingu.

'She is so happy that I said she is my 'friend'. Mm, yes she is very cute.' Nero smiled.

Upon reaching the front of the dungeon, Nero, Choko, and Jingu noticed that the entrance was guarded by 4 guards wearing silver armor.

'Tsk, as expected, sneaking in seems impossible,' Jingu thought.

"Look, there's someone with a sign saying they want to form a group to explore the dungeon." Choko pointed to a short-built kid in a leather outfit.

"Mm, but he seems to be weak, and that girl next to him, her leather clothes a little tattered. Is she also in his group, gozaru?" Jingu muttered.

"Anyway, we just want people to fill the group. Just the three of us is enough," Nero said casually.

"Yes, Nero is right," Choko nodded.

"True," Jingu nodded.

And so they approached the two people.

"Hey, what are the requirements to form a group with you two?" Nero asked.

The boy was surprised, and almost jumped in fright. Choko and Jingu were beautiful, but when he looked at Nero who had spoken to him, the boy was almost hypnotized and forgot how to talk and walk, almost falling to the ground.

"Hey, Nero here is talking to you. Can you stop standing there like a fool looking at her?" Choko showed her fiercely aligned perfectly white teeth.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry." The boy apologized and said, "I, we're siblings, and we want to get a chance to join a party like the three of yours and just get a share of the commission, plus we can be...bait." In the end, he said something very scary.

'To serve as bait?' Nero arched her brow.

"Err... Since we are weak, we can only help like this - attract the attention of monsters as bait, and we only ask for a part of the commission," said the boy awkwardly. The girl had disheveled hair and looked like she hadn't showered in days. She was in an even worse state than the boy.

Noticing the glances from the women in front of him, the boy said, "D-Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to get my sister hurt, but... If she doesn't work like this, she could be at risk in several ways..."

They weren't completely naive; hearing that was enough to understand the boy's fear. He must have been honest with them because they're girls. If they hadn't been, he probably wouldn't have told them that.

"Nero, what should we do?" Choko asked.

"I still think it's fine. And you, Jingu?" Nero looked at her.

Jingu seemed to wipe her eyes for some reason and said in her voice a little strangely, "Yes, I also agree, let's go together, gozaru."

"Since we are in agreement, let's introduce ourselves first. I'm Nero, a summoner and also good at melee and long-distance," Nero said.

'Long-distance, gozaru?' Jingu was surprised, as she hadn't seen her use any long-range attacks.

"Choko, Warrior Class," she said.

"Jingu, Samurai, gozaru," she also responded.

"I'm Alex, my class is Warrior Apprentice, and this is my sister Maura, Mage Apprentice…" he said.

Now that they had introduced themselves, besides the low level, their class was just an apprentice. It would be really hard to survive in the dungeons without depending on someone.

"Hey, do you two know where we can use a public restroom? I want to wear my battle gear before entering the dungeon," Choko asked them.

"Yes, there is a public facility there in the public square." Alex pointed.

"Come on," Nero said.

Their group went to the public square and Nero and Choko wasted no time and went over to change.

Minutes later, they returned wearing leather armor, but it didn't look as simple as Alex and Maura's; it looked more durable and very beautiful.

"All set, let's go." Nero took the lead.

If Nero had already attracted attention before, with her current clothes, she attracted even more.

'We should have bought different armor...' Choko complained in her mind but didn't say it out loud.