I feigned ignorance and lied that I fell asleep behind the wheel and have no clue on how the bus ended up covered in poo and a wreck in the jungle. Luckily Giana had my back and didn’t call out my bullshit.

  “Are you sure he isn’t deceiving us, lil’ sis? How could a sleeping fox cause this much damage to my bus?”

  “I’m curious too, but I didn’t sense any deception,” Giana said as she gave me a subtle wink.

  So I’m not the only one that breaks things!

  You do that while conscious. Agnis seemed to have fallen asleep.

  As usual, we had to do a small puzzle with seating. Noelle was driving and Yv was sitting in front with her. Raishin and Greg in the middle and Giana and me in the back. None of the idols wanted to sit next to Greg, although Noelle might tolerate it and Giana always wanted to sit next to me, so there were very few seating arrangements.

  I hope that our team doesn’t get another internal conflict, as it might make seating arrangements impossible.

  We got stopped at the border but got let through easily after confirming our identities. Noelle disassembled the bus so we could walk into Hiena.

  You could have just put Agnis in front of the wheel to disassemble that bus!

  Do I need to kick your ass?

  This is my first time in this city!

  The border police here is lazy, nothing much interesting here. Let's get this teleport done to get that curse off you.

  I feel fine…

  That’s a part of the problem! Also! Look at how popular we are! I’m sure they’re all here to see me!

  Raishin started to wave at the crowd.

  Crazy fan or cultist in 3…2…1…

  “Noelle! Please stomp on us!”

  A group of crazy fans said something preposterous but… I walked over to them.

  “Lil’ bro?”

  I leaned in and whispered.

  Hey guys, Noelle sees me as her little brother, give me your address and I’ll see what I can do for you. Don’t make a ruckus and leave after this.

  The excited fans wrote something down on a paper and handed it over to me. I created a very fake image of Noelle munching on a rock and handed it over to them as a ‘reward’ just to make sure I could find them later on.

  The Noelle fans happily ran off with their prize.

  “Deca, what did you do?” Giana asked as she locked arms with me.

  Just some insurance for the future. Let’s see, their fanclub is based in Saluk? Ugh, why in the sand city but… the city matches Noelle’s theme, how thoughtful of them.

  I warded Giana from creeps, and Giana warded me from assholes trying to touch my tail.

  I think we should walk around with disguises the next time. This tires fast…

  “What did you tell my fans, lil’ bro?”

  I gave them fake information and told them to scram also…

  I gave her the note.

  This is their base. We might have to raid it someday to collect your divine energy.

  “Looking after us must be rough, right? Thank you. I will do my best to increase my fans. No matter how disturbing they are…” Noelle said, as she played the crowd, blew some kisses and handed out signatures.

  It was funny because Raishin was the only one whose name wasn’t getting called, but he was playing the crowd the most.

  I dropped an illusion on us the moment we stepped into the AA to make us unrecognizable. I will take some time in Gittrian to hand out this [Hide in Plain Sight] passives and weave some simple cosmetic illusions. Noelle is the only one who’s tricky, as she needs more followers. I might even have to get crazy and start a religion. The crazy shit I’m willing to do to keep my party safe…

  Noelle and I had a fight later on. I wanted to foot the teleport bill, but her pride as a sister wouldn’t allow me to pay, so she would pay.

  “Just be an obedient little brother and let me pay!”

  You're broke compared to me! I can perfectly foot this bill!

  Raishin walked past us and dropped a heap of gold on the counter.

  I will pay!

  “Thank you! Here are your teleport tokens. Move over here!” The clerk pointed us to the stairs going to the teleport terminals.

  Raishin… just a question… how much gold do you have left after this?

  Oh, this was quite expensive actually haha! I have 28 gold left!

  Didn’t that genie give you 10k gold?

  Yes? So?

  How is this possible… what have you all been buying?

  Everything! I don’t know how rich people act, so I copied Agnis and bought everything I could!

  Agnis has a limitless amount of gold, and he has income… something you don’t have… you can’t copy him because you’re also rich…

  Its fine! I have 28 gold left!

  Greg and I facepalmed. Some people are just meant to stay poor. We stepped through the teleport gate that made Raishin 9 gold poorer, and I was the first one to arrive. Giana came out seconds later and Yv arrived 3 minutes after. We would have to wait for a while till the heavies come out.

  “This is the first time I’m not the first one to leave a teleport gate! You’re such a lightweight!”

  Is it ‘make fun of Agnis day’? I’ve only ever treated you well, I don’t deserve this!

  The heavies came out of the teleport gate and we moved to the lobby. Healerguy was being consistent and instantly spotted us. “Well, well. It’s team Hourai, one of the most popular and troublesome adventurer teams. It’s a shame I can’t check up on you.”

  Giana hesitated first and then stepped forward. “Actually, Rubert, I need your help with something. Can we speak in your private medical room?”

  Healerguy took out his tablet and nodded. “Move this, cancel this. Cancel this too, we’ve had this meeting countless times. Sure! My agenda is open for the whole day!”

  Hey Healerguy did you just clear out your agenda for the day? It’s not that big of a deal.

  Healerguy squinted his eyes and looked at me. “Is that so, let me be the judge of that. Come on up!”

  How did he even find us so fast? Here I was wondering if he was even in Gittrian?

  At least he’s consistent in being nosy, even in times when we need him.

  I recognized where he was bringing us. Not by choice, but I knew the whole sickbay like the back of my hand.

  Oh no not this room.

  “Haha, yes this is a room you know very well Agnis.” Healerguy led us to one of the most secure rooms in what I dub Healerjail.

  “Sit down, every word spoken in this room will stay confidential.”

  Greg is cursed! Again!

  “I tried removing [Superbia] off him but it kept returning,” Giana reported.

  Healerguy looked at me and Raishin. “Wait, so these two are clean?”

  I refreshed myself before coming here, not sure about Raishin, though.

  “Yes, Agnis and Raishin had their curses removed. Here is a paper on how it was done.” Giana said and handed over the paper to Healerguy.

  “Oh, you’ve become a scholar! Or not…Agnis, you wrote this? You’re full of surprises. I will give it a read later on.”

  Oh, Giana, is a scholar she has the skills now to write any paper that can make you nosier I guess.

  “Let’s see what this curse is about.”

  Healerguy did Healerguy stuff and Giana gave some pointers, and he managed to lift the curse.

  “Hmm, there is some lingering intent. This method of yours Giana…or well Agnis is quite effective but doesn’t seem to work well for this one specifically. I’m sorry, I can’t help at the moment. I might get a better idea after fully reading this. I hope that you can be patient.”

  That’s fine. If you and Giana can't figure it out, it must be a pain in the ass.

  No need to make haste. I feel fine.

  And that’s the problem!

  Giana, Healerguy and Greg started to talk nerd stuff and Yv, Raishin, Noelle and I left healerjail.

  This is like the last time. They will just talk forever.

  “Is this a good idea Agnis? Lil’ sis might freak out when she notices that you’re gone.”

  “I will stay with him. Go have a nice date with Raishin, Noelle! Maybe show him Aurum!” Yv said as she made shoo gestures.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Oh right! You love gold right Raishin? Let’s go have a date in Aurum. Don’t forget that you owe me a dinner!”

  Yes hottie!

  “You will find us in Aurum, bye!” Noelle waved and went off to have a date with Raishin.

  I sat next to Yv in the waiting room across the room, Giana, Healerguy and Greg were talking.

  “So what adventures will we have now, you think?”

  I hope the adventure of boredom. I don’t know how long Healerguy needs to read that paper. I wrote it from a technical and Misha perspective, not a medical one. Giana might need to translate it a bit for him. He also is busy, it seems we might be stuck here for a while.

  “So what did happen to that bus? I talked to some nearby trees, and they told me something else.”

  Is this fate? I get partners I can’t hide shit from? I will show you and Giana an illusion of it later.

  “I’m curious! The story the trees told me was unique and funny.”

  Trees with a sense of humor… now I’ve heard it all.

  Yv’s ears perked. “Oh, they’re done.”

  Giana and Greg left the room.

  Thank you for your insight! Oh… where are Raishin and Noelle?

  “They went on a date to Aurum.”

  I see… I will read up in the library. I had no idea what you all wrote in your paper…I can't get left behind!

  Greg opened his book and walked off edge style.

  Be careful you don’t cut patients with your edge!

  You’re not funny!

  Giana and Yv seemed to disagree.

  “Shall we go too?” Giana offered her hand. “Rubert said that he might be done by tomorrow or the day after. So far it seems that Greg has an attachment to the curse and that’s why it keeps returning.”

  “An attachment to a curse? Why?”

  “I don’t know, and he doesn’t know either. Maybe his pride doesn’t allow someone other than him to remove the curse. He did try to understand the paper but failed.”

  So in the worst case, we have to wait till he figures how to lift it himself?

  “I’m afraid so…”

  So we’re gonna be here forever? He neither has a medical background nor is as well versed in mana runes as you and me…

  “Can’t you tutor him like you did with Giana?” Yv inquired.

  This tutoring… is very personal. Injecting my life experiences directly into Giana when I do that it's similar as…pouring pure mana into her. I just realized… that’s why your charm goes nuts!

  Yv covered her mouth with her hands. “So it’s naughty tutoring?!”

  Well no! but… maybe…I just never knew that sharing mana like that was that intimate… either way, I’m not gonna do that to Greg.

  “What about me?” Yv stared at me with puppy eyes.

  Eh?

  “Oh! Giana the charm has completely run out!”

  “Ah… Deca, can you wait in the AA lobby for us? We will be back in a bit.” Giana and Yv gave me a wave and walked off.

  I guess…

  I took the stairs down and sat down on a café table in the AA lobby. Only when alone did my passive work. My friends stick out too much, especially the idols.

  A song played from them. I could clearly identify each and every voice of them. I was never able to do that before, as their talking voice is different from their singing voice.

  A song played that I had heard Giana sing before. I think it was called Ayla Aurelia. It was their top song and apparently one of the few songs where only Giana sings. It’s somehow still the number 1 song. The other idols stand no chance against this. Even while retired, they’re still in the top. I would hate to be an idol right now.

  I got carried away listening to it that I didn’t notice the presences behind me.

  “Look, Deca is mesmerized by my song!”

  I turned around and noticed that idols had changed, and Yv looked different.

  Whoa that’s a lot of charm magic coming off you…

  “Yv, let’s kidnap him!”

  I got lifted by giggling idols and carried off to the park, where I got wall slammed by a rabbit. Well, it wasn’t a wall but a big tree.

  Getting aggressive now, eh.

  “It’s time for your dose of charm magic!”

  I hate how they keep putting me on the defensive. I pulled Yv in and took her lips before she could do anything.

  The brainwash magic was pouring in and doing its work as my feelings for Yv changed again. It was similar to the first time. I went from. ‘She’s a hot friend’ to ‘sexually and romantically attracted’.

  All the charm got dumped into me, and I let her go.

  I don’t think I can get used to this feeling.

  “I don’t want you to. Tasty as always.” Yv said and licked her lips.

  I’m not sure if I want to know the answer to how I taste.

  With that out of the way, they wanted to do a picnic. How lame. They just talked, and I was bored out of my mind. I got dragged into their conversation every time I tried to tune out.

  I sneakily forced the [Hide in Plain Sight] passive on them so we wouldn’t get interrupted, although… maybe someone should interrupt it.

  Some guy was walking his dog, and I was gesturing for him to save me, but he didn’t get it.

  A small family came to feed the ducks, normal ducks, and I only caught the attention of the small kid. He just smiled and waved. This kid needs to pay more attention in class.

  A group of young women passed, and I let them be as they might cause more trouble, as my tail is a certified chick magnet. I also ignored a group of rough looking dudes as they would certainly hit on my partners. Are there no normal people in this park?!

  A group of 3 centaurs caught my attention. I could hear them talk, and they were talking about team Hourai. Each of them had notably bright hair. One had bright red hair, another one bright green and the last one bright blue. I will dub them the RGB centaurs.

  “I think team Hourai is one of the strongest adventurer teams in recent history.” Said Blue.

  I like Blue, he knows what he’s talking about.

  “They are strong, but I’m not sure about them being the strongest team in recent history. They are certainly up there.” Said Red.

  “Only because they have 3 mythical beasts in their team. Their teamwork is probably terrible, as you can’t just throw 3 idols together with 3 unrelated guys.”

  Green had a point, but he was so off.

  “Oh, so how would you balance team Hourai? I’ve heard they’re in Gittrian by the way. The Crazy Firecracker and Noelle have been spotted.” Blue asked Green.

  “Well, the idols are too glamorous for the rest. Only the Silver Torrent seems to be a match, but there are rumors that he prefers to move solo.”

  “Then why would he be the leader of team Hourai?” Red asked.

  “Isn’t that logical?” Green said as he maintained his bow. “He got forced into it. There have been more sightings of him solo than with his team. He either can’t work together or… he can’t show his true power in a party.” Green pulled the bowstring and shot an arrow into a tree.

  “But isn’t the Silver Torrent a role that shines in a team? Look at team Moch.” Red pointed out.

  “You must be forgetting that they seem to have studied under the Silver Torrent. They are pupils imitating their teacher. The Silver Torrent has a track record of protecting and bringing ships from the treacherous ocean. I have a merman friend. He thinks what the Silver Torrent did was impressive. The rest of his team doesn’t have many achievements or at all.”

  Is this how the public sees us? They’re not wrong, but I don’t want them to think that I'm carrying my team. I have to do nothing and let my team shine but… how? We can't go on a rampage in the city…

  “If I were to make the strongest team I would put Silver Torrent, Inquiring Anesthetist, Toxic Donkey, Crimson Eagle, Leefa Seorwynn and Mountain Axe together.” Green said proudly.

  “That’s one monster team. Will any opponents even be able to move with the Silver Torrent and the Inquiring Anesthetist? Between getting chain cc’ed and continuously getting put to sleep, is it necessary to have other members with such insane damage output?” Red asked.

  “The best defense is offence!” Green said, as he released countless arrows and turned the tree into a porcupine.

  This guy is only correct when fighting common foes. No amount of cc or offense is going to drop a god or demon before it drops you. The team Green suggested had only 1 name I didn’t recognize. Inquiring Anesthetist is Healerguy right? This can’t be right! People should know about Giana and Yv at least!

  But they’re lacking adventurers’ names. Do we have to take a difficult quest together? Getting all 3 of them to get adventurers' names in one go will be rough. One by one would be the best. Also, the role name Golden Angel is too old, it’s time that Giana changes that one. It’s the only role name of a deceased adventurer that has never changed. Giana needs to hurry up before Healerguy takes that one, being fast isn’t her strong point though…

  “Deca, are you thinking about something rude?”

  Nope! Hey… if you two could choose your adventurer's name, what would it be?

  The question caught them by surprise, and it didn’t seem they had an answer.

  “As long as it sounds good, then it’s fine by me.”

  “Same here, you sure you don’t want Rabbit Kick or Flower Cannon as an adventurer’s name? Hehe.” Giana teased.

  “That sounds so uninspired! Be careful, they’re not going to name you Regenerate!”

  “Hey! It’s an efficient skill!”

  The idols started to bicker and chat again.

  “What names would you give us, Deca?”

  And there come the heavy-hitter questions. How am I supposed to know?

  Brainwash and Aura. And together you’re Brainwash Aura!

  I got hit by a headlock and Yv pouted.

  Well do you guys have ultimate skills?

  “I have [Ayla Aurelia]!”

  Oh like the song, well there is yours, just use it often enough. How about you, Yv?

  “My [Flower Cannon]…”

  Well, might be time to learn a new one.

  “Can you make me one? Please? And with a pretty name!” Yv seemed desperate. Flower Cannon isn’t a super cool name, so I agree.

  Put in a request and I will reply in 5 working days.

  “Please!” Yv shook me, and I was starting to see stars.

  Ok ok!

  Giana released me from the headlock and gave me a hopeful look.

  Ugh, fine!

  “You’re the best!”

  By now, we had drawn attention, and I was getting envious stares. The idols went shopping, and I was on my own.

  I wandered around with Nilah, who successfully stole mana of passerby’s who wanted to pet her. Nilah is a genius! She had seen this situation coming years prior.

  I went over to the docks after some successful mana theft, as I had decided to help Girai out and move some boats around.

  Let’s set sail Nilah!