My Guardian System: The Trader

Before he decided to leave, Jem remembered something. He looked at Tom and asked, "where can I possibly buy Water of Identification?"

The trader once told him that monster cores could give him random items such as ascendance points, abilities, and etcetera. But first, it needed the water known as Water of Identification.

Hope stopped on her feet when Jem suddenly asked a question. But the next second, she repeated his words with a confused face, "Water of identification?" 

On the other hand, Tom had a surprised face.

"Did you mean water of identification?" Tom questioned.

Jem nodded without saying anything.

"Uh, sorry, boy, I don't know what it is." 

This reply surprised Jem. He glanced at Hope, but he saw her shrugged her shoulders, seemingly to imply that she didn't know as well. 

"I see." Jem didn't say more. He bid farewell by promptly bowing his head to Tom's direction. Then, he walked towards the exit.

Seeing it, Hope hastily followed after him.

Jem secretly asked his invisible partner, 'Trader, are you sure about that item?'

<Yes, host.>

'I see. Perhaps not everyone knew about it.'

<By the way, host. What is the current yea-->

"Right, kid! If you're looking for a mysterious item, try your luck in the Western District! There's a shop there known as Sage Tower. You can find many kinds of mysterious items there."

When he heard it, Jem glanced at him and nodded slightly.

'Sage Tower? It's the first time I heard of it,' he thought.

"Okay."

After his short response, he went out of the shop along with Hope, but: "Right! You two, be careful on your way. There have been many gossips of crimes proliferating lately, " they suddenly heard Tom say. Jem and Hope stopped on their feet and nodded at Tom: "Okay, Uncle Tom! Thanks for the reminder!" Hope said. 

After coming outside, he looked around, seemingly wondering where to go next.

"West District. Isn't that far?"

He heard a question from the girl beside him.

Jem did not answer right away. He glanced at her and said: "I don't know. I have never been there."

"I see. Uhm, right. What is--" she paused for a moment and peeked at his face, then, she continued saying: "... water Of Identification?" 

She asked.

Jem turned away his gaze before he answered: "I have no idea. Someone just told me about it," he replied with an uninterested look.

Hope stared at him. She was curious about it, but. The person beside her had a face that he wouldn't tell her anything. She wondered about him. Jem seemed to be the type of person who wasn't fond of conversation.

She was curious about his personality. She thought Jem was a type of person who was out of the norm.

"I see," she said in resignation of asking further.

Jem was about to walk away, but then. He remembered something: "Right." He looked at her again.

Hope blinked her eyes in wonder after hearing his seeming call: "What is it?" There was excitement in her voice when she questioned it.

"Year. Do---" Jem paused for a moment and marveled if it was okay to ask her about it. There's a possibility that she would think that he's weird or even think he's crazy.

Although Jem didn't care about other people's opinions of him, it wasn't good if they thought he was crazy. After all, it wasn't normal to ask about the current year. Time, Days, and months might be fine, but about the year? That's out of the ordinary.

"Ah, never mind."

He said and started walking away.

She frowned.

"Wait! It's 251 NE!"

'What--!'

Although he wasn't showing it outwardly, Jem was surprised inwardly upon hearing it.

Jem stared at Hope, but he noticed she was serious.

"How did you know I was about to ask about it?" He asked.

"Hehe. It's easy to guess, you know. Remember you asked me about the current date a while ago? And, you mentioned 'year' before turning away."

"I see. Thank you, then."

"Eehk!"

Hope was taken aback after hearing his thank you. She wasn't expecting it from him.

"Mhm!" There was a bright smile on her face when she nodded. "Don't mind about it."

Jem continued walking away. The real reason for his surprise was not because Hope comprehended his question.

It was: 'Year 251? Unbelievable. If my memory serves me right, we went to the frontline in the 11th month of year 250. Since in the Federation Calendar there are 13 months in a year, does it mean I was in the labyrinth for only four months?'

When he was inside the labyrinth, he felt that 3-5 years had passed already. It was also the reason he breakthrough to level 3. For someone like him who merely has 4 Exo points till now, it was already a great achievement to level up to 3 in 3-5 years.

However, in truth, it was only four months that had passed since then: In that case, he leveled up from zero to three in mere four months.

Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. Even the always calm Jem Hansen could not help but be surprised after knowing it. Perhaps the time inside the labyrinth has a different flow than the real world.

However, it was not only Jem who was surprised after hearing the current year.

<Year 251?>

He heard the trader whispering it.

'What's the problem, trader?'

<I have a memory of my previous host. Although that memory is only limited to the last moment of the previous host's life, I clearly remembered that the current year is 3055 CE.>

"....."

It made him confused even more. Just what is a guardian system? Jem thought.

Regardless, 3055 CE? He never heard of it. Both of them were confused.

Jem tried to ask the trader more about the memory the trader mentioned. But aside from that last moment of the previous host's life, the trader could not remember anything else.

It seemed like the trader's previous host sacrificed the previous host's life to save what the previous host was trying to protect.

Jem sighed inwardly and decided to keep it for now at the back of his mind. They could not find the answers to their questions with the current informations they have. If he wanted to know about it, he needed great knowledge about the world.

Hope was looking at Jem's figure going farther and farther.