Chapter 1: What? Returned Right at the Start?

“Number thirty-four, step forward.”

In a large assembly hall, lined up in neat ranks, trainees wearing identical uniforms were undergoing inspection, waiting for the person on stage to announce the results they held dear in their hearts.

“Number thirty-four.

Passed Item 1 on the second attempt, failed Item 2, passed Item 3 on the first attempt.

Overall evaluation: Pass.”

After reading the results, the old man on stage looked up and smiled with appreciation and relief at the chest-puffing, confident young girl who strode up to the stage.

“Congratulations on passing the final assessment.

All your efforts up to this point have been worthwhile.

Starting today, you are no longer a Grim Reaper apprentice, but an official Grim Reaper.”

The old man pinned a badge onto the trainee in front of him.

Under the envious or expectant gazes of the audience below, the young girl who had just become an official Grim Reaper accepted her certificate and held it high.

Her mouth opened wide, but no words came out for a long time; the girl simply turned to display her official Grim Reaper certificate to the audience below, venting and sharing the joy in her heart at this moment in her own way.

As the girl’s partner, the raven standing on her shoulder spread its wings and cawed loudly, feeling just as excited in its heart as its companion.

“Alright, next up, Number thirty-five!”

[Relax, it’s a guaranteed pass with me here.]

Not every trainee in the audience was as confident as the girl before.

They were all more or less nervous.

Take the young boy currently being comforted by his partner with light pats from its small wings, for instance…

However, the reason this young boy stood out among the crowd of trainees was not because of his nervous behavior, but because of the little partner standing on his shoulder, which was noticeably different from the others.

Ravens are indispensable partners for every Grim Reaper.

But unlike the ravens of other Grim Reaper trainees, which were typically Spirit Ravens, the little fellow standing on the boy’s shoulder—about four or five sizes smaller—seemed…

No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t resemble a Spirit Raven with the appearance of a mortal world crow.

In terms of size and appearance, in the mortal world, it was… barely resembling a small sparrow, perhaps?

“Honestly, I really can’t understand what you’re saying… I don’t get it, why can you guys understand our speech, but we can’t understand yours?”

Although he couldn’t understand what the little sparrow on his shoulder was chirping about, through the temporary contract connection established between them, the boy could still feel the little fellow’s intent to comfort him.

“Number thirty-five! Among the three assessment items, only Item 2 was passed.

Fail!”

The old man on stage gave a stern announcement laced with anger, causing the hearts of many trainees below—including the boy—who had just relaxed slightly, to instantly jump right back into their throats.

“Now, return to your instructor and let him inform you of the next steps to await the arrangements for the next assessment! I don’t want to see you end up with the same result next time!”

After the Grim Reaper trainee left dejectedly, the old man on stage shouted a stern warning to the audience below, his residual anger stemming from a sense of disappointment over their failure.

“Remember this, everyone! You only get two chances for the apprentice-to-official Grim Reaper assessment! None of you want all the effort, painstaking work, and time you put into school to turn out to be completely meaningless in the end, do you?!”

“Number thirty-six! Bring your partner forward!”

After a round of scolding, the ceremony had to continue.

The old man didn’t delay any further and proceeded with the next steps.

“Number thirty-six! Number thirty-six!”

After calling out two or three times in a row, no one stepped forward.

Reasoning that no one would miss such an event, the old man picked up the roster in confusion while scanning the apprentice Grim Reapers below to find the person.

[Hey, he’s calling you, kid! Stop spacing out, we are number thirty-six!]

Unlike its dazed partner, the little sparrow standing on the boy’s shoulder immediately poked his neck with its wing.

Prompted by the reminder, the boy quickly snapped back to reality.

“Coming, coming! Sorry, I just zoned out for a moment!”

Taking two steps at a time as he ran onto the stage, the boy’s appearance instantly caused a minor commotion in the audience.

The reason for the commotion was naturally not because he was late to appear, but because of the unique little fellow on his shoulder, which was quite famous among the Grim Reapers.

“Number thirty-six, passed all three assessment items on the first attempt!”

Reading out the result with a tone slightly tinged with pleasant surprise, the old man looked up at the little sparrow on the boy’s shoulder, suddenly understood something, and the surprise in his eyes diminished by a bit.

[Well, of course! Who do you think I am? I’m a veteran! Not a single one of the kids I’ve brought along has ever failed!]

The triumphant little sparrow raised its tiny head high.

The information about its partner beside it naturally ignited a sense of pride in its heart, though this moment of joy wouldn’t last very long.

“Then congratulations on passing the assessment.

Next, please follow your mentor to the side hall on the right…”

Standing on its partner’s shoulder and arriving at the side hall together according to the instructions, the little sparrow, which had been acting calm and composed all along, suddenly grew nervous at this moment.

Reaching this step, the assessment for the newly minted Grim Reaper had indeed concluded, but for their raven partners, there was still one final hurdle left.

Calling it a hurdle wasn’t entirely accurate, because for those Spirit Ravens, this final step was as good as non-existent.

But for the little sparrow currently at the center of everyone’s attention, this barrier…

“Congratulations on becoming an official Grim Reaper.

Next, there is one final step… As you should have learned in school, after passing the assessment, you still have one opportunity to choose your partner.”

Apprentice Grim Reapers were apprentices after all.

Before passing the official assessment, their raven partners were merely temporary.

Considering that a Grim Reaper and a Raven are lifelong companions, and Spirit Ravens are a species of bird with high intelligence and emotion, if there were any personality clashes or incompatibilities with their partner…

“Unlike the temporary partner chosen during your apprenticeship, once you make your choice this time, it cannot be changed unless under special circumstances.”

“So, would you like to continue maintaining your existing partnership, or go to the Spirit Raven Outpost to choose a companion you prefer?”

Generally speaking, after passing multiple assessments together, the apprentice Grim Reaper and their temporary partner would usually have bonded and familiarized themselves with each other to a considerable degree, sharing a strong bond.

Therefore, Spirit Ravens generally didn’t worry about being eliminated during this phase.

Unfortunately, a certain little sparrow was not a Spirit Raven at all.

“I choose to go to the Spirit Raven Outpost.”

Unsurprisingly, the little sparrow heard the answer it had already heard countless times…

[Well, I knew it would be like this.]

Honestly, after so many years, it seemed to have gotten used to it? The sense of disappointment it had at the very beginning was completely gone; perhaps it had simply gone numb?

“Then this Ra… err, little Bone Sparrow, please…”

Before the staff member could finish speaking, the little sparrow had already jumped down from the boy’s shoulder.

Familiar with the procedure, it directly picked up the stamped form booklet on the table with its beak and lightly hopped toward the exit to leave.

Until the moment it stepped outside, the little sparrow never looked back at the boy behind it even once.

After all, the partnership had already come to an end…

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