Emil didn’t overreact; he simply stood there with his arms crossed and kept listening to her words without coming to any conclusion.
"My senior would be worried sick for me because this work shouldn’t take more than two days, and I’ve been here for almost a whole week."
Emil raised a brow as a thought lingered inside his mind. ’Is she her? The one Sara told me to locate?’
Instead of wasting time by imagining things, he straight away asked her. "Are you an apprentice of Sara?"
The moment that name rang inside her ears, her eyes widened slightly, making her look astonished. She dozed off for a second; her mind went completely blank, wondering how he knew about her. But she slowly composed herself and replied. "Y-yes, I’m... but how do you know about her?"
A faint smirk appeared on his face; he patted her shoulder lightly. "I just joined the summoner’s tower, and she gave me a task to escort you back to the tower," Emil said.
"But when I came here, I didn’t expect you to be here getting beaten up because of the discrimination."
Her cheeks flushed with a bright red color, and her face started burning with embarrassment. "W-what can I do? It’s universal against all of us." She said.
A flicker of confusion flushed over Emil’s face, making him stroke his chin politely. ’Universal? Aren’t the tower masters strong enough to stand up for their people?’ Emil said inwardly.
"Then what do our tower masters do?" Emil asked, curiosity reflected through his tone.
"Yes, they’re outwardly strong. But the summoners are weak; only a handful of them stand out and make their presence known in this world."
"On the other hand, there are knights, mages, and many more who’re absurdly strong, and way too many of them are out there." She said as her face darkened.
Her hands clenched over the bottle’s shaft; her fingers shivered a bit. Her behaviour was enough for Emil to take notice that all the summoners who weren’t prodigies or strong were suffering from discrimination.
Emil let a sigh leave through his mouth; he gently caressed his temple. From the side of his eye, he looked at Atlas as a thought appeared in his mind. ’If Atlas hadn’t been by my side, I would’ve suffered the same discrimination.’ No matter the world, it’s always the same... the strong trample the weak. Nothing ever changes.’
Emil quickly shifted the conversation to a different topic. "Let’s purchase the materials and go back to the tower. Sara was worried for you, and if she gets to know what happened here, she’ll get even more worried." He said.
She nodded politely and travelled deeper inside the shop. Emil followed behind her trail; he noticed that the wooden shelves in this area were bigger than before. Potions, monster scraps, and equipment for experiments were placed on them.
Soon they reached the place where other customers were; they gave unsettling gazes to Emil and her, but they both eventually ignored them. She was feeling slightly unsettled, but the presence of Emil made her certain that nothing would happen again.
They both reached the spot where the receptionist sat on a huge table; on the table, documents were kept. The woman who sat there wore specs and had a pen resting in her grip.
Sara’s apprentice slid her hand in her pocket and pulled a sheet of paper out. She unfolded it and placed it over the table and said. "Can I please get these materials?"
═══════════════════
◇ MATERIALS ◇
═══════════════════
[Required Materials]
└ Moondew Herb ×12
(Common medicinal herb used in recovery potions.)
└ Crimson Fungus ×8
(Primary catalyst for low-grade healing elixirs.)
└ Ironbark Resin ×5
(Used to stabilize potion mixtures.)
└ Crystal Water × 3 Bottles
(Purified water required for advanced brewing.)
└ Glow Moss ×10
(Absorbs excess mana during alchemical reactions.)
└ Mana Petals × 6
(Common reagent used in mana restoration potions.)
═══════════════════
The receptionist read them thoroughly and then called out for a boy worker who was cleaning the shelves. "Max, bring these materials for this young lady."
Max didn’t waste any time; he quickly grabbed the paper and read through it once. Quickly, he moved to the shelves, grabbed some materials from there, and then kept switching places because all the materials weren’t located in one place.
A couple of minutes passed, and he finally returned with a bag that carried all the desired materials. He kept the bag on the table and said it. "All the listed items are in this."
Emil looked at Sara’s apprentice once and leaned next to her ear and whispered. "You have the money to pay, right?"
’I hope that I don’t have to contribute to this.’ Emil pleaded inwardly.
A blue light flickered over her palm; soon after, a leather pouch materialized there. She opened the top and pulled two silver leaves out and placed them over the counter. "Yes, Sara handed me enough to purchase all these materials."
The payout went through, and Emil and the woman both made their way outside the guild. Standing in the hub, they noticed a group coming towards them.
There were four people; all four of them wore a long black robe with a symbol of fire embroidered at the front of their robe.
Emil’s eyes narrowed a bit as he watched the expression on their faces; they carried disgust, the kind that one shows to lower people.
Atlas, who was standing beside Emil, stepped forward, raised his gray axe, and gently rested it over his shoulder. His gaze remained fixed on the group, scanning the surroundings to know when he should step in.
Their march came to a halt a few meters away from Emil. The one standing at the front stepped forward; his brown hair gently swayed with the cold breeze. A stubble beard was on his face, which made him look funny, and his mustache was slightly curled.
"Are you the one who tormented someone from the fire tower?" The man asked.
Emil crossed his arms, scanning the man’s body language. ’By the way he acts, he’s not someone important.’ Maybe another egoistic bastard like the one before.’
A sigh left his mouth as he waved his hand. "Yes, I’m the one."