The Scavenger Disciple Chapter 2

Theron, the Fifth Disciple, stared at his empty palm, his neck stiff. "This fat chick is ugly anyway. Who cares about looking at it?"

Kaelen, the First Blade, spoke with firm conviction: "All Inner Circle Disciples from every Order are required to participate in the Mystic Realm."

I calmly continued dividing the earthworms. "No one will notice my absence."

"Third Disciple, how can you be so devoid of loyalty to the Order? And to claim no one will notice is simply absurd…"

I listened to his passionate lecture, then murmured drily, "First Blade, I'm right behind you."

In the end, I went.

The Mystic Realm, it turned out, required the presence of every Order’s Inner Circle Disciple to activate. Unless a Soul-Fire was extinguished – a literal death – the portal wouldn't open if even one was missing. My condition for going? They had to gather a full bucket of live earthworms. My chicks needed their rations, after all.

Kaelen reluctantly agreed. The sheer quantity of live worms needed meant even Rosalyn, the Junior Disciple, was dragged along to help.

After an entire day.

Rosalyn returned clinging to Kaelen's arm, her face streaked with snot and tears, completely devoid of her usual delicate image. Lyra, the Second Star, narrowed her cold eyes, a rare hint of satisfaction in them. With the tip of her blade, she nudged the wooden bucket forward. A few worms wriggled onto the ground. Her tone, usually detached, held a surprising note of camaraderie as she spoke to me: "Third Disciple, is this enough?"

Rosalyn’s face went white. "First Blade, does the Second Star dislike me? I'm so scared~"

Kaelen frowned in displeasure, scolding Lyra: "Must you always be so difficult with the Junior Disciple?"

Lyra flinched visibly at his words, then turned and strode away.

I'd heard this same charade had been playing out for five years, always the same tired script. I didn't bother to watch, simply picked up the bucket and headed towards the chicken coop. There, I saw Alaric, the Fourth Disciple, bending over a pile of plump, fluffy chicks, sighing. "Third Disciple, you really are… unique."

Most people raise magical beasts or spirit familiars. Half my courtyard is for vegetables, the other half for chickens… Could he recognize me without hearing my voice?

I asked curiously, "Fourth Disciple, has your… condition improved?"

Alaric's smile stiffened. He turned and drifted away with his usual elegant stride.

Guess not… Even Kaelen, the First Blade, didn’t know that Alaric was face-blind. The reason he constantly flashed that dazzling, almost blinding smile at everyone he met was simply because he couldn't tell anyone apart.

We were to depart in three days. I busied myself with my courtyard, watering, fertilizing, and pulling weeds.

On the journey.

Unlike the others, who were arrayed in their finest ceremonial robes, I had simply changed into a disciple's tunic that wasn't covered in mud.

Theron, the Fifth Disciple, ever the caustic wit, sneered. "You'd grow two extra biscuits by your side if you slept at the foot of the mountain. Don't tell anyone you're my Senior Disciple out there, alright?"

Kaelen uttered a low reprimand, but it couldn't stop Theron's sharp tongue.

"You're carrying a mere Satchel of Holding? That's so shabby! Aren't you using a larger Dimensional Pouch for the Mystic Realm?"

My voice was earnest. "I don't have a Dimensional Pouch."

Theron nearly bit his tongue. The Inner Circle Adepts around him looked at him with clear disapproval. Kaelen, feeling a surge of responsibility, offered me a high-grade Rune-Carved Pendant, a charm of storing.

Rosalyn, unaware of the conversation, rushed to Kaelen, her eyes brimming with feigned tears. "I can't believe the Second Star cares so little. It pains me to see First Blade's kindness wasted like this." Everyone looked up at Lyra, who had just arrived, holding a Rune-Carved Pendant identical to the one Kaelen had offered me. Then they glanced at the somewhat awkward Kaelen.

Kaelen, it turned out, had given one storage pendant to Lyra and one to me. Rosalyn, the Junior Disciple, clearly wanted one too. I held it out to her, offering it. She scrutinized me from head to toe.

"Third Disciple… you should keep it for yourself."

Even though the pendants were identical, even a manipulative charmer like Rosalyn felt too awkward to outright snatch mine. Compared to them, I was just… too obviously poor.

They didn't understand, and I didn't understand them. Why would you wear new clothes to an adventurous, dangerous expedition?

I held out the pendant, offering it to each of them. Seeing their collective shakes of the head, I calmly put it away. When I returned and sold it at the Shadow Market, it should fetch a decent sum, shouldn't it?