All My Summons Become Divine Girls
Chapter 195: More Allies?
Hajin stood up from the sofa and headed toward the doors, ’that was actually a decent talk,’ he thought, pulling the door open.
Allen did not try to stop him, his gaze staying locked on the screen where the rank number continued to glow.
He walked out onto the balcony, looking down at the guild hall where Juna and the others were waiting. The crowd of adventurers had mostly dispersed, but the remaining mercenaries still gave the girls a wide berth.
Hajin descended the staircase, keeping his eyes on the main lobby while he headed toward the entrance.
Juna fell in step beside him immediately, crossing her arms while she watched the remaining adventurers. Vella and Loccy followed closely behind them, the former yawning while the latter bounced with restless energy.
Before they could reach the exit, two familiar figures stepped into their path, blocking the doorway entirely.
"Oh, it’s you guys," he muttered, stopping his advance while he looked at their determined faces.
Elise stared at him with her mouth slightly open, her rapier swaying at her hip as she took in his new look.
"What happened to you?" She gasped, pointing a finger at his white and gold streaks, "your hair and eyes are entirely different!"
Sable crossed her arms, her eyes scanning him from head to toe before she let out a quiet sigh. "It is not just his hair," she said, her voice tight, "his mana is practically overflowing compared to before."
Hajin shrugged, keeping his hands in his pockets while he leaned against the doorframe, "had a bit of a core reconstruction, but it is fine now."
Elise stepped closer, her eyes bright as she focused on the ranker badge. "We saw the registry update," she whispered, "you are rank 210 now, which is insane for a new ranker."
Sable shook her head, her hand resting on her sword hilt while she watched him. "The whole guild is talking about it, and they say you cleared a beast-king-level anomaly gate."
Hajin activated his Divine Eye, scanning the faint aura circulating around their bodies to check their mana pathways. The thin lines of energy were significantly steadier than before, though small leaks still flickered around their shoulders.
He deactivated the skill and met their expectant gazes, his expression remaining neutral.
"We have been practicing," Elise said, raising her hand to gather a small ball of light, "see? The leakage is almost gone."
"I can hold the frequency for ten minutes now," Sable added, drawing her sword halfway to show the steady mana coating it.
He reached out and tapped Elise’s wrist, causing the ball of light to disperse instantly, "it’s still leaking at the joints," he said, "you are wasting energy when you try to compress it too quickly."
He turned to Sable, his finger brushing the flat of her blade to disrupt the mana flow, "and your frequency is fluctuating," he added, "so you need to stabilize the core before you coat the weapon."
Elise sighed, her shoulders dropping as she looked down at her hands, "we have been practicing every single day," she muttered, "but it is still not enough."
Sable sheathed her sword with a sharp click, her expression stubborn despite the criticism, "it is better than before," she insisted, "we are closer to the standard you set."
He walked past them toward the open street, the girls following closely behind him. The busy market square was crowded, filled with the usual noise of carriage traffic and shouting merchants.
Elise and Sable hurried after them, falling into step on either side of the group while they navigated the crowd. Elise glanced at the two new teammates, her eyes showing her confusion as she looked at Vella.
"Who are they?" Elise asked, pointing at the beastkin and the woman with the dark violet hair.
"New teammates," he muttered, not slowing his pace, "Loccy and Vella."
Elise glanced at Loccy and Juna before turning her smirk toward Hajin, "another beastkin?" she teased, "you really have a preference for them, don’t you?"
He opened his mouth to answer, but his words died as Vella suddenly locked her arm with his.
"He belongs to me," she declared, her face flushing red as she leaned close to his shoulder.
Juna’s expression darkened instantly, her arms crossing tighter as she glared at them, "back off, Vella," she snapped, "he does not belong to anyone."
Loccy hopped in place right beside them, her ears twitching while she enjoyed the sudden drama, "I am just happy to be included!" She giggled, waving her hands in the air.
Elise watched the three of them with wide eyes, a faint grin appearing on her face. "Well, this is quite the love triangle," she whispered to Sable, "I didn’t expect that."
Sable ignored the bickering girls, her focus shifting back to the dark violet strands of Vella’s hair, "her hair is violet," she noted, "and her mana feels strange."
Vella smirked, her eyes shifting toward Elise and Sable with a dark gleam, "maybe I am a demon who came to steal him away," she teased.
Elise and Sable tensed instantly, their hands moving toward their weapons as they stared at her in silence.
Hajin let out a low chuckle, shaking his head at their serious expressions, "she is just joking," he said, "her mana is just a bit corrupted from the gate."
He looked back at the two girls over his shoulder, his expression returning to its usual indifference, "so," he asked, "do you still want to join my team?"
"Of course we do," Elise replied immediately, "that is why we have been working so hard on your mana assignments."
"We did not put in all this practice to back down now," Sable added, her expression resolute.
He looked at them for a long moment, a faint hum escaping his lips. "Hmm," he murmured, "I am not sure if you heard yet, but I was recently given a region to rule by the king."
Elise stopped walking entirely, staring at him while the rest of the group also halted. "Hold up," she gasped, "you got a region? Not just land, but a whole region? Like the great families?"
Sable stood beside her, her expression turning dead serious as she processed the news. "Ruling a region means you are essentially a high noble now," she whispered, "that is completely different from just owning estate land."
He shrugged, starting to walk again while he pulled his hands from his pockets, "yeah, some stuff happened and I got a region."
"Anyways, I heard some serious stuff about that region, and I am going to need all the help I can get," he added, looking back at them, "so if you are still interested in joining, now would be the time."
They answered in unison without showing even a single second of hesitation, "we are in."
Hajin nodded, keeping his eyes on the path ahead while they continued walking, "good, now I need to go to the palace to get things sorted."