"Are you sure this is okay? I really don't mind doing all this, you know."

"Look, just take them, alright brother?" Lyle insisted. "Compared to what you did, I feel like this is not enough to thank you."

"Zeke, just take them," Mikella said, clear greed in her eyes. "It's rude to not accept the gifts."

"Alright, alright," Zeke let out an exasperated breath. "We'll take it."

Lyle smiled as he handed off a basket filled with all sorts of potions that adventurers would kill for–top grade health, mana, and stamina potions for the long treks, regenerative potions to slowly recover resources while fighting, and all sorts of status ailment cure-alls there. Each one was packed to the brim within the wooden basket Lyle bought several of a long time ago when he first started.

To make a decent start, Lyle gave out plenty of free potions for his customers. Because of how good they were, they came back as regulars, starting his business with a boom and continuing at a steady pace.

The earlier battle would've definitely taken a hit to his revenue, having to close it down and spend who knows how much gold for the costs of repairing his store. However, Zeke helped prevent all that with his super handy and completely cheating Legendary rarity skill.

Just like that, with each swipe of his hand, his store was repaired as though it was healed over. The wood put themselves back together and the stone healed all the broken bits and cracks. Zeke had to make an effort to collect all the debris he could to keep up with the recovery process, but he did it all with a smile on his face.

Thanks to that, Lyle didn't have to worry about being in the red for the month, so he was more than glad to give away the potions for free–they were literally nothing compared to having to shut down the store.

On the other hand, Zeke thought he was taking advantage of the situation, considering that it was his partner's doing that turned his store into a construction site. Lyle had a feeling that Zeke is the sort to give than take, and he can understand why Mikella is the type to get aggressive in situations like this.

They make a good team, each one covering for the other. It's no wonder they got as strong as they did. Though Lyle wouldn't think he and Janet were doing too bad.

Especially after hearing about the different otherworlders during the time of healing the store. Hearing their fates was enlightening, and the fact that they're going to other towers to save the otherworlders trapped there was, in his opinion, too damn high a hurdle.

He had enough of just one tower the first time he's been there, and Janet wouldn't even consider talking about them if the topic arose. It was daunting for them both.

But Zeke and Mikella not only had a job straight from the Master-stage Lord himself to clear the towers according to a deal they made, but also try to save the otherworlders and connect with them if possible. Even with the rewards they received for clearing the towers, they admitted that it takes a lot of power to clear it.

So the least he could do, as a fellow otherworlder, is to help them when he can. He could've just given them health and mana potions, but he felt that wasn't enough. The assassin pair wasn't strong enough to join them on their tower clearing, but they promised to train each other so that they could keep up later on.

Whether Lyle himself was ready to tackle another tower or not, the least he could do is help someone from his own world to survive. He certainly would've liked the help back then, back when he and Janet were just lowly level 5 in a tower meant to kill them at every turn.

But knowing that these two were out there doing the hard work pushed him to train harder himself. Now that he learned specifically what to look out for when advancing to Journeyman, rather than relying on shady advice and getting stomped on by those higher than him, they have a shot of reaching Journeymen soon.

Not just that, the Journeymen duo even offered to train them whenever they got free time, and were flexible enough to do it when Lyle would close his store. In this country where dog-eat-dog is the norm, this was considered a huge blessing.

Zeke and Mikella offered their goodbyes, the basket in hand, before returning home to where they lived. Their sister would be downright worried as the day already turned to night during the entire event, and quite frankly Lyle was ready to hit the bed as soon as he found it.

He turned around, finding Janet still looking over at them. Her eyes were focused on the two, and her crossed arms had a hand gripping on her sleeve hard enough to crush a normal guy's arm to bits.

"You good?" Lyle asked. He can probably tell what's on her mind, but he figured asking would be better than guessing.

"Yeah," Janet immediately said, but then she paused for a little while before continuing. "Maybe not. Not really. I'm so jealous of them. They got everything working out for them, and even reached Journeymen so fast. It's so unfair."

Janet said with a frown, thinning her brows. Though Lyle can tell that even she thought it was a bit cruel to say it like that.

Hearing their story, their battles and their experiences, it wasn't hard to tell that they went through a lot. Sure, they definitely got lucky–they even admitted as such, but he could see the look in their eyes.

Their exhausted eyes, the way their faces looked gaunt as though they were relieving each moment, good or bad. Lyle and Janet had their own troubles, but he found that reaching Journeyman that fast meant that they were just in so much danger that the risk was too much for normal folks.

Lyle offered a hand to her shoulder, making her shudder a little. Eventually, knowing full well it was pointless to argue, her shoulders slumped.

"I know. I'm just being petty. If anything, I think I wasn't motivated enough."

"We were all motivated to survive," Lyle said, a smile forming on his face. "We just had different opportunities. I'd say let them carry us for a while 'till we can take care of ourselves and help them out when they need us."

"Ugh, I hate being carried…" Janet grumbled. "I feel like such a leech."

Lyle chuckled at the words. He wasn't much into games, but apparently gamers got their own pride to protect.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

He can't help but consider both her and Zeke somewhat equals. Apparently he was pretty knowledgeable about games too. Lyle played his own games, but he mostly watched movies and TV shows rather than playing games. It can get pretty boring when compounding medicine on your own.

"Yeah, I getcha," Lyle said. "But think about it this way–if you were in their shoes, wouldn't you want to help too?"

"...I'm a little ashamed to say that I'd just say 'get good, scrub', then kill them and steal their stuff."

Lyle's eyes widened at that. He did hear that gamers can get pretty damn competitive and toxic, but hearing that from his own partner was a little unsettling.

"...Though, if we're talking about real life, I wouldn't ever dare do that. I mean, it's real life."

He would've said 'says the assassin', but that was tactless even for him. Instead, he brushed the top of her dark hair, getting her to groan and slap it away.

"Stop that! I'm not some damn kid!"

"But you're short like one, so yeah," Lyle teased with a cocky grin.

"Fuck you!"

Lyle quickly backstepped away from Janet's rage-infused jab, then ran away from her fury as he laughed out loud.

It's one of those days where he can forget about the harsh reality and just enjoy being alive.

…..

When they returned home, Clara was ecstatic and upset at the same time to see them finally arrive. Normally, Zeke would've just gotten his medicine back and Mikella would be done with whatever it was she went out for.

Which, on the way back, revealed that she actually went to try out what the skill fusion was all about at the Skill Repository. He was saddened to hear just how massively expensive it was, and strangely how valuable the Common rarity Meditation skill was to try fusing. So he totally understood why Mikella put it aside for later to talk to him. Which unfortunately turned into a huge fiasco with Lyle and Janet.

He always wanted to check that place, but considering the timing and all, it was impossible.

Now that he thought about it, he wondered why she hadn't told him about it in the morning. But then quickly remembered his pain from his hangover, and instantly put it aside.

Of course Alissa also made a fuss, mostly because it was her job to know about their whereabouts. So suddenly losing her people and not knowing where they were all day put a real strain to her patience.

That's when it was decided to tell what they learned so far. Right now, Alissa stared at them with a sense of awe and disbelief.

"You two met with different otherworlders?"

They were all sitting at the table, where they were all eagerly eating Mikella's cooking. It was during the process that they explained everything that occured, mostly to satisfy Clara's constant need to know where they were. They did feel bad for leaving her out of most of the fun, particularly since it only got a bit dangerous for about a percent of the time.

Clara beamed so much, Zeke thought her cheeks would burst. "I'm so happy we got to find more of our people! And they're cool, right?"

"Totally cool," Zeke said with an eager reply.

He really was hoping that things would go well between them and the other pair. They did leave on good terms, though it was still up in the air whether the guild would be okay with this. His hand still felt a bit tingly and numb, but that was the only thing he didn't bother telling both Clara and Alissa.

Finally, Zoan was at her place, being as passive as always. However, she was listening with rapt attention to the story of the different otherworlders, staying silent on the matter. Zeke planned on asking her about whether or not there was another angel, but the look on her face (however indifferent it was) made him think that the time was not good right now.

"And one of them was an alchemist I actually met before," Alissa said, shaking her head. "Cronus would have my head if he realized there was an otherworlder right under my nose this whole time."

"Can you blame Lyle, though?" Mikella asked. She pointed a fork over at Alissa. "Otherworlders aren't exactly everyone's idea of normal visitors. Before we met Cloud and Val, we considered keeping our situation a secret."

"But they made us feel so safe that we ended up telling the truth," Zeke answered in her stead, and Mikella nodded. "Plus, they were willing to put up with us that whole time too. On their end, they had nobody to look out for them."

"Mmh…" Ali laid back on her chair, crossing her arms. Despite her seriousness, she have already eaten her plate's worth of the food, and was now waiting for Mikella to make some seconds on her side. "You have a point."

"You think Cronus will force Lyle and Janet to work with us too?" Zeke asked what was the most prominent question to worry about.

"Not likely," Ali shook her head. "If what you said is true, grabbing Experts into the towers might be a bad idea. Not unless they're combat-efficient. Though, I'm guessing they didn't have as many benefits as you two did back in Eve Glade, so I doubt they would prove me wrong."

"Well, we plan on helping them level up anyways," Mikella said. She turned to Ali with a somber stare. "I really hope that's possible. We don't plan on abandoning the tower mission, but it's also for our own sake that we help them get stronger too."

"I completely agree," Ali said immediately. "It's better to have more capable otherworlders for that very purpose. I believe Cronus would like that idea too, especially after hearing that there were more capable and, more importantly, amicable otherworlders in his midst. If you ever needed something to help them get stronger, let me know. I might be able to shift things around in their favor. Just like I did with a certain dragon girl who decided to use my name without telling me."

Mikella winced at that, recalling having to use her identity to get into the security-driven Skill Repository basically for free. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Ali shrugged.

"And that won't cause any issues with them, right?" Mikella placed the contents of her cooking onto the plate to hand out. "I mean, I'm not really expecting Cronus would act for them just because of good will."

"Of course it won't be for free," Ali shook her head. "We expect them to work for us and for our own benefit. Though we want to ensure that they have the same treatment as you two do. Considering that they have been living in the city for the past few months, they must have made false identities to keep living here. I'm guessing this has something to do with the Assassin's guild helping them."

"Yeah, about that…" Zeke paused, turning to Ali while Mikella gave her seconds along towards Clara, Zoan, and Brucey the bat. "You don't have any issues with one of them being part of the guild, right?"

"Not at all," Alissa answered. "Though I still have to check her background, this Janet seemed like a stable sort of girl. If she were out of her mind, that would be a cause for problems to arise. Still, it looks like we can expect great things from them."

"That's what I'm hoping for too," Zeke said, taking a grateful bite of the meal in front of him. "By the way, is there any news about the next tower to face?"

"That's what I've been planning on telling you before you saddled me with more otherworlders to take care of," Ali let out a tired breath, as though they were responsible for overworking her. "Unfortunately, the noble houses are causing more trouble for Cronus than he expected. It would've been fine if you had just gotten rid of the tower. But the after effects of that explosion stirred them up too much. Now they not only expect compensation for not telling them the information beforehand, but also expect the ones responsible for the tower to show themselves before them."

"What?" Mikella said, her brows raised to her scalp. "How is any of that our fault? It's not like we wanted it to happen. Besides, we already told Cronus what would happen when we met him. It's mostly his fault for keeping it underwraps anyways!"

"I don't blame you for that," Ali agreed, to which Zeke was thankful for. No matter how loyal she was to Cronus, she would also call him out for his behavior. "But keeping it a secret from the nobles was the reason why we never bothered introducing them to otherworlders. Cronus was afraid that the nobles might start causing trouble the moment otherworlders came to be, but now that seems like it's more than possible."

Zeke dreaded what to think what might happen after this. Forget about reaching the next tower. It looks like their next opponent is something worse than all the towers combined.

"Politics," Zeke grumbled to himself.

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