Chapter 9: The First Real Delivery
Morning came like it always did.
With a thud.
"Ow—!"
Xavier groaned as he rolled off the couch and hit the floor face-first. He lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling of his tiny apartment.
"…I really need a bed."
From the bedroom, there was no response.
Serena had claimed the bed again sometime during the night. Not that Xavier expected anything different anymore.
He pushed himself up, stretched, and went through the motions—wash up, change, grab a quick bite. Serena emerged shortly after, already dressed and perfectly composed, as if sleeping on his bed was the most natural thing in the world.
Their morning routine had become oddly… normal.
Too normal, maybe.
They locked the apartment and headed toward Magical Delivery LLC, unaware that, far away, things were going very wrong.
Steel clashed against steel.
Spells detonated, lighting up the cavernous halls of the dungeon with flashes of fire and earth magic. Shouts echoed, followed by screams of pain.
Silas gritted his teeth.
Five hours…
Guild Iron Will had entered the A-ranked dungeon Shadows Deep five hours ago. At first, everything had gone smoothly. The outer floors had been manageable. Clean formations. No casualties.
But deeper in—
Mistakes piled up.
Injuries followed.
Now, the air itself felt heavy, saturated with mana and blood.
Silas snapped out of his thoughts just as a massive shadow surged forward.
"Incoming!" someone shouted.
A giant monster burst from the darkness, dragging a colossal war hammer behind it. Each step shook the ground.
Silas cursed.
He was a support-class Druid, already running dangerously low on mana.
"Pull back!" Silas shouted. "Support units—fallback!"
He and the other support-class members dove behind a massive stone pillar as the front-line fighters engaged the monster.
The clash was brutal.
Even from cover, Silas could tell—they were losing.
Then—
BOOM!
A massive explosion rocked the dungeon.
Silas turned just in time to see their guild leader flying through the air like a broken doll.
"Guild Leader!"
The man crashed into the wall near Silas, armor cracked, sword shattered on impact. He slumped to the ground, unmoving.
Everyone froze.
Everyone except Silas.
Silas sprinted forward, dragging the guild leader back behind cover. Ignoring the pain in his own body, he slammed his hands onto the man's chest and poured the last of his mana into a healing spell.
Green light flared weakly.
The guild leader coughed, eyes fluttering open.
"Silas…" he rasped, trying to rise.
"Don't move," Silas said urgently.
The guild leader grimaced and collapsed again. "Damn it… I can't feel my legs."
Silas swallowed. "Paralysis. That monster has a paralysis ability."
The guild leader slammed his fist into the stone floor. "We're finished."
Silas reached into his bag, searching for water—anything useful.
Something slipped out.
A small black card hit the ground.
The guild leader's eyes locked onto it.
"Magical… Delivery LLC?" he read aloud. "What's that?"
Silas froze.
He remembered.
The man from yesterday. The delivery driver. The card pressed into his hand as it mattered.
Silas picked it up, heart pounding.
"Guild Leader," he said carefully. "Do you still have your phone?"
"Yes," the man replied weakly. "Why?"
"The guy who gave me this card…" Silas said, gripping it tightly. "He told me to call if I ever needed anything."
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Xavier glanced at the company phone just as it lit up.
"Magical Delivery LLC," he answered. "What can I do for you?"
"Hi—uh—it's the kid from yesterday," a nervous voice said. "The one that ran into you."
Xavier smiled faintly. "Yeah, I remember you. What's up?"
"You're a delivery service, right?" Silas asked. "I need you to deliver something."
"Sure," Xavier replied. "What do you need delivered?"
"Give me just one moment."
The line went quiet.
Silas looked at his injured guild leader. "What… what does this delivery service deliver?"
The guild leader stared at him for a second, then said hoarsely, "Anything that keeps us alive."
Silas brought the phone back up. "What do you deliver?"
"Currently," Xavier said, "we deliver food of all kinds and types."
"Wait—" Silas covered the phone. "He delivers food."
The guild leader's eyes sharpened. "Ask if he can deliver food with magical properties."
Silas nodded quickly. "Can you deliver food with magic properties?"
"Yes," Xavier replied without hesitation. "What type do you want?"
Silas felt a spark of hope.
"I'd like a bulk order," he said. "Food with healing properties—and food that strengthens the body."
"Understood," Xavier said. "What's your current location?"
Silas swallowed.
"Inside the A-ranked dungeon… Shadows Deep."
There was a brief pause.
Xavier looked up slowly.
Across the counter, Serena had stopped cooking.
She was already watching him.
"Okay," Xavier said finally. "The food will be ready and delivered within thirty minutes. Since you're in a dungeon, I'll collect payment upon arrival."
He ended the call.
Silence filled the kitchen.
Serena set the finished food down and looked at him. "Stop daydreaming," she said calmly. "We're on the clock."
Xavier exhaled. "You're coming with me for this one."
Serena nodded without hesitation.
They exited the building together.
Outside, Xavier placed his hand on the hood of his car.
"Engine Sync."
The skill is activated.
Power surged through his body as he allocated the boost—10 points to Speed. 10 points to Dexterity.
His muscles tightened. His senses sharpened. The world slowed.
"Serena," Xavier said, eyes forward, "this job—we're going on foot."
He stepped away from the car.
And ran.
With Serena matching him stride for stride, Xavier tore through the city, wind screaming past his ears, heart pounding with a single thought:
Please… let us be on time.
Because this—
This was his first real delivery.