Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

When Ethan returned home, he thought he would have to spend quite a bit of time to explain things to his parents. However, they weren't at home, but they had left a note for him. Apparently, Hannah had already explained things to them.

"Ethan, to think that you were already this old… I think I missed the opportunity to teach how to grab a girl's heart. Still, you are my son, so you probably can do that without my lessons. Go get her, tiger."

"Don't overdo it trying to show off in the front of the girl you like, Ethan. Women like men who have heart, but they don't like idiots who can only show off and are all talk."

As expected, Ethan facepalmed. The number of misunderstandings was pilling up faster than the speed of light. In any case, Ethan wasn't inexperienced enough to let such an event make him feel embarrassed. Instead of that, Ethan was wondering how he was going to explain his absence at school again… hopefully, Hannah prepared something to solve that.

Regardless, after packing some clothes and putting his luggage in his inventory, Ethan cooked something for him to eat, and just when he started to relax thanks to his full belly, which was full, Hannah teleported him to the place she worked. There he found some familiar faces, like John. Fortunately, Ian also appeared alongside him. So, before anything, Ethan kicked his leg.

You obtained 7.550 points of experience.

"Ouch, dude!" Ian protested. "What was that for?"

"You even have the nerve to ask?" Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. "You are lucky that I will make you useful on this job, otherwise, I would have broken all of your limbs."

"Now, now. This isn't the place to fight. You can solve your issues outside," John said. "Regardless, we should start this mission as fast as possible. The name will be: helping a young man with his love."

A vein popped into Ethan's forehead, and when everyone saw that, they started to laugh. Something was off… even Hannah was laughing as if everything had been just a joke. However, only something like that wouldn't improve Ethan's mood.

"Sorry, Ethan," Hannah said. "I felt like pranking you a little bit. Ian here explained the situation of your friend. The truth is we are planning to help the situation in those five countries, but we can't do that so openly. So, after hearing Ian's suggestion, we decided to rely on you three to help and collect intel."

"… So, even you can crack jokes, huh," Ethan frowned while looking at John.

"That kind of technique is often necessary for the diplomacy work," John said.

"Yeah, right," Ethan sighed.

"Anyway, let's talk seriously now," Hannah said.

"How can you say that after making me witness all this?" Ethan asked.

"Well, I did it for your sake since I know that you are a bit on edge and you fear that Earth might become like one of those lost planets," Hannah said. "I feel that way too, and that is why I decided to make you relax a little bit. Putting that aside… diplomacy work has many sub-types, as you probably already know. Surveillance and information gathering are just a few of them."

"Not espionage?" Ethan asked.

"I can only speak for my coworkers and me," Hannah shook her head. "Although we collect intel using indirect means, we don't use spies per se. If those are found, it may cause more problems than we already have. So, we only use such roundabout ways in specific situations such as this. Where unknown elements are present and when American lives are on the line. Many Americans are in that region, and we can't risk their security. Still, we can't also show that so clearly."

"Your work seems that type that causes a lot of headaches, huh," Ethan frowned.

"You said it," Hannah forced a smile. "Anyway, challenging the sovereignty of another nation isn't good, but risking their forces and even losing some heroes on our side isn't acceptable either. So, we will give you three the means to help them while keeping your identities hidden."

"While I am fine with that, this type of job doesn't suit me, and I am sure there are more appropriate individuals that can do this job better than rank E students," Ethan said.

"One can say that, but you three already succeeded in another troublesome mission, so on our end, there is nothing to complain about," Hannah explained. "Besides, since you three are students, your skills aren't well-known yet. So, the chances of you three being identified as Americans won't be high."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to teleport all the Americans back to their homes?" Ethan asked.

"Again, that would cause some issues, and besides, some Americans live there," Hannah explained. "Just don't think about our side, Ethan. You three are going to help with the damage control on the American side and on Ghana's side."

Although Ethan had decided to fight for his world in order to prevent it from becoming a lawless land that belongs to monsters, he couldn't help but think he shouldn't try so hard and do all the work alone. Ethan will do it if there is no one else to do it. However, that isn't the case in that situation. He wasn't on Hedo any longer… just like his parents said, he didn't have to carry all the weight of the world on his back.

Still, in the end, Ethan decided to stop thinking about it. There was nothing wrong in helping others or decreasing the number of threats on Earth. If anything, it was better than going to school just because he had an obligation to do it.

"Plus, we will make sure that Emily won't mess up, and she won't have to be punished for it," Ian said.

"You are not completely wrong, but you are entirely right, either," Hannah said. "Considering her age, the government can ignore such attitudes, even more so when her relatives are part of the equation. Still, she will have to be punished for the sake of appearances."

Ethan couldn't say otherwise. Despite their age, the heroes of the school were pretty much like soldiers of the country. A soldier can't do anything that they want without suffering the consequences. That being said, Ethan was probably the least-suited person to say that since he couldn't even remember the last time he received an order on the battlefield.

"Anyway, we are going to do something to fake your absence at school, so don't worry," Hannah said. "Now, to keep your identities hidden, you guys will have to wear these."

Hannah gave some rings to Ethan and Ian, and both of them couldn't help but frown when they saw the description of those.