In the bustling city of Newyark, situated between the dissolved borders of the Unique and Elemental Magistry, there was a market that thrived in selling technology and goods alike.

“Can I buy this... part for sixty CCs? It looks like it was passed down for centuries now!”

Offering to buy a part that had looked like junk on a nearby stall, the presumptuous red-haired man passed by with bags on hand.

It was Cian who was wandering around the said market.

“——What do you mean by that?! We've been only able to get that because we had a direct source! If you're not going to buy it for 180 CCs, then get outta here!”

Yet, that offer was far beyond acceptable by the vendor, pushing him away as the vendor tried to call customers in.

“Che! You won't last long in this market if you keep that attitude!”

Cian walked away from the vendor while harboring a grudge, verbally retaliating.

The paper bags that he was carrying was filled with food and vegetables that he had picked and bought in the market.

“Hehe. There's no one other than me with a good eye for these things.”

Perhaps he was proud of having a good eye, but he wanted to save himself from the embarrassment that he could mostly do this for food only.

“We're selling Mana Stones! Digitalizer Parts! For around 150 CCs!”

The vendors around the market were shouting and hollering at customers that would pass by, offering them items in exchange for a currency that they call CCs.

“150 huh...”

It was an abbreviation for Copper Coins, but as technology advanced, the idea of abbreviations became a fad.

The Digitalizer and Mana Stones became common technology and goods to be sold among the common folk.

The Digitalizer was a technology that served as a storage device that was mainly used for weapons and junk and other stuff that are mainly made out of conductive material.

Although it can store other things except for living beings, digitalizing objects has limits such as the number of items stored, the weight, and size.

One cannot store objects that are far larger than the average human body.

For 100 CCs, one can buy a Mana Stone to power up that piece of technology for weeks as it became an essential part of everyday life.

It was the technology that the Technological Magistry left before retreating to the skies, after all.

“...Ngah. AH—?! I got distracted!”

From his deep thought, Cian snapped out of his fleeting state of mind before noticing the dusk.

He had set out in the afternoon only to buy food but he had taken too much time that the sun was beginning to fall.

So, he decided to digitalize the objects he was carrying before beginning to dash home.

**

“So, you're late. You do know that our house is several kilometers away from the market and you have to be early to get there and come home before dusk.”

Inside the bark of a large and greater tree, there was a house that was well-lit and decorated.

The walls were white, and the furniture was just the right size as their ceiling was almost non-existent due to the stairs that only swirled to the top.

However, in the middle of it all was Magi who held a knife, skillfully skinning a potato as he stood to greet the exhausted Cian.

“G-Give me a break! I did my best to pick these vegetables out!”

Garnering his cold look, Magi stood straight which was opposite Cian who slouched.

It could be because of his exhaustion, but it was because their height was already considered to be tall.

They were both slender, and for Cian who had a lazy personality, slouching was a mannerism for him.

The two looked alike in almost every aspect except for the wide variety of expressions Cian had made in just two minutes.

The only difference was the color of their eyes and hair, with Cian harboring flaming crimson, Magi had the cold blue set of eyes and hair.

It was like God created identical humans and shifted their feature's hue. Or at least it was how Cian would always describe themselves.

“Hmm. It does look good, however, it's been three hours since you went out. It should have only taken you an hour or so.”

“A-Ah, hehe. I just REALLY did my best to pick out good vegetables so...”

With a nervous chuckle, Cian tried to fool Magi with such an obvious lie.

The only thing that would come to Magi's mind was Cian fooling around in the red-light district near the market.

He was worried that Cian was wasting his money on such useless stuff instead of saving it or increasing the quality of their armory.

But then again, Cian was his person, and if he needed to learn his mistakes all by himself.

They were both 19 years old by now, and Magi had decided to have Cian decide on his own and only provide advice.

They were twins after all, and whether it matters or not, Magi felt like he had the responsibility to be the eldest.

“Just don't go fooling around too much.”

Magi said with a soft voice, taking the vegetables that Cian had taken out of his digitalizer.

“Ahaha...”

Cian only chuckled at it away but little did they know that they had a bit of misunderstanding.

**

After eating dinner, Magi would usually begin maintaining their weapons on the topmost floor where their workshop was built.

The Light Stones were hung around on the branches of trees, providing a decent light source in all the directions while Magi worked.

“Hand me the Processor.”

“...Here.”

On the table where Magi had worked, he had dismantled and opened Cian's dual pistols.

They were made by Magi as he was capable of creating weapons from scraps.

Weapons that are powered by magic are called Grants, and depending on the magic of the user, their guns can inherit the effects of that magic.

Grants are weapons that are usually made by blacksmiths and inventors that descend from the Technological Magistry to assist the people of the surface.

However, only a select few can be given such weapons due to their nature which gave their users overwhelming power.

They are called the Heroes in this era.

They are selected to fight against the new impending danger that made the nations allied to one another.

They were called Demi-Beasts.

They were animals that would randomly turn into Demi-Beasts and attack any living beings they see.

It was theorized before that these beasts are animals that would accidentally come in contact with a Mana Stone and absorb its power.

However, after an experiment that the Dark Magistry conducted, it was disproved that animals could turn into Demi-Beasts randomly because of the magic around them.

They concluded that it was someone who was turning the animals into Demi-Beasts and constantly attacking the nations.

It was the current affairs of the world, but the twins had more further important things to think about.

**

“I finished your weapon, but...”

“...But what?”

Facing each other at the table, Magi and Cia were casually eating their breakfast of bread and soup.

“We're running out of money. We'll have to go out for a mission again.”

“...”

Cian couldn't bother asking how Magi could declare that they're broke while maintaining a straight face.

It was just almost three days since their last job but their money had already quickly run out.

“H-How much did we even get from the last job?”

“120,000 CCs.”

“——Where is it?”

“The repairs and modules took around 90,000 CCs. The rest of the money was used to buy food.”

Sometimes, Cian is surprised by how careless Magi could also be at using money.

Although the repairs were justified as it was for their weapon's maintenance, using the rest to buy food and stock up on it was something he should have expected Magi to do.

“Y-You do know that we need some pocket money, right?”

“What are you going to use them for even?”

“...”

Cian tried to convince Magi of the idea of holding money, but there was no stopping Magi.

Cian was always visiting the orphanage that had taken care of them before, and so the extra money that he would manage to get is always sent there.

It was the only reason why he wanted to have pocket money, but Magi had mistaken Cian for just fooling around with it considering his personality to do so.

But right now, their main problem was that they'd realized that they were broke without money in hand.

And just at the right time, the phone rang.

“——?”

Magi would pick it up and answer, and in just a short moment, he ends the call.

“Who was that?”

Cian asked, but to their convenience, it was something that they'd been waiting for.

“We have a job to do.”

Magi said with a determined look in his eyes.