S-Rank Heart

Chapter 8 - Trial

Noemi met up with Maria outside of the guild's office early in the morning. She wore black track pants, a loose white t-shirt, and sneakers. Maria wore pretty much the same thing with the addition of a baggy black hoodie, more sensitive to the cold than Noemi. They'd been meeting every morning since Noemi joined the guild.

"Since you're raiding later today, we'll only do light exercise," Maria said, stretching her shoulders.

"Well, the Gate is only C," Noemi replied, copying Maria.

"So are your breasts, but they could still take a lot out of me."

"Wha—?!" Noemi's eyes widened at the unexpected flirt. Come to think of it, Maria had asked Noemi out a while ago. Had that, maybe, not been a joke? Noemi stared at Maria with unveiled suspicion.

"Don't think about it too much," Maria said with a disarming smile, patting Noemi's shoulder. "Come on, let's start running."

Noemi let out a relieved sigh. So, it had been a joke after all. That was good. That meant she didn't have to think about it. She ran after Maria, her steps carefree.

After finishing the exercise, Noemi showered and changed to prepare for the raid. The outfit she wore when working with the retrieval team worked well enough last time, so she changed into something nearly identical and headed out.

The raid location was close enough to walk to. Compared to the B-Rank Gate, there were drastically fewer people around. C-Rank Gates didn't require a mining or retrieval team, after all. The assault team had sixteen people, including Noemi. More than usual for a C-Rank Gate, but since it was a training exercise that made sense.

Violet had set up her little mobile cafe nearby. Noemi went over to say hi. Just as she arrived, Violet placed a mug on the counter.

"Here's your café au lait," Violet chimed.

"Huh, you remembered after only one time?" Noemi took the coffee and sipped slowly.

"You stand out, and you're worth remembering," Violet said with a smile.

"I suppose."

"So, I want your opinion on some things," Violet said. She reached down and retrieved a coil-bound sketchbook. She flipped it open to a certain page and turned it towards Noemi.

Noemi's eyes sparkled. Three drawings were on the page, sketched with pencil and coloured sparsely with coloured pencils. Each one showed Noemi in a different set of equipment. The proportions looked eerily correct. Violet must have used the measurements she'd taken to ensure the drawings were accurate.

"You're a mix between Fighter and Healer, so I tried to design things that fit that theme," Violet explained, pointing to the drawing on the far left. "This one is sort of a classic paladin. The armour's a bit heavier. Then, this one I went with a valkyrie route, so you can probably see the Norse influence in the design. More chain and animal skins than plate. Then, here I tried to go in an angelic direction, so there's a lot of cloth. White and gold, mainly."

"These are all incredible," Noemi breathed. "Did you draw these?"

"Of course."

"Can you, like, send me this when you're done with it? I feel like I should frame it or something."

"What?" Violet shook her head. "No way, I don't want you to frame this rough sketch, I'd be way too embarrassed."

"Well, I want it either way," Noemi stated.

"That aside, what do you think of the designs?"

Noemi thought intently. "I like the simplicity of the armour on the paladin one, but overall I think the angel style is my favourite. I like the armour sets you make where they feel fashionable, like they could kinda sorta pass as clothes."