Chapter 75

Chapter 75: You Can’t Fool Me!

Translator: “Kell” Editor: ”Weasalopes”

I shot a cursory glance at the three of them, my sword still on my hand . Emma and Amr-san were still out cold and Phan was completely worn out . Well, she did take a powerful punch head on so we should be good for a while .

「Incredible fists as always . 」

「You did a great job backing me up, too, Noir-kun . Thanks! How’d that bird fall anyway?」

「I increased its weight using my skill . 」

「You can do that, too? Are you superhuman or something?」

I could tell from her gentle tone that it was a compliment . But Layla-san, that’s my line . If I get hit by your【Magic Fist】, I’m sure my insides will burst .

「If you don’t mind, can you tell me how your skill wor— I guess not . We’re from rival guilds after all . 」

「It’s okay . I trust you . I’ll explain about my LP . 」

And so I explained it to her concisely . Even how I could gain LP by kissing and cuddling with girls . It was a bit embarrassing to I tried to brush it aside, but Layla-san took interest .

「Cuddle with girls? Any girl will do?」

「Attractive girls will be more effective . 」

「………What about me? Will it work?」

She turned her gaze away and started fidgeting . I felt my heart skipped a beat .

「O-Of course . I do think you’re attractive . And beautiful as well . 」

「Will a hug do? I have to thank you for helping me with the Phoenix, plus we might have to fight some more so there’s no harm in replenishing your LP . 」

I gotta say, replenishing would be great . But I’m kinda nervous even though it’s just a hug . It must be because it’s with someone who I recently just got acquainted with . We both wrapped our arms around each other . I did so just lightly .

「Are you sure this is enough? Wouldn’t it be better if we did it more properly?」

「You might… be right . 」

「Let’s cast aside our embarrassment for now and just do it . 」

「Okay . 」

We hugged tightly . Her hair smells good…

「I’m sorry, Noir-kun . I reek of sweat, don’t I?」

「You smell like flowers . 」

「You’re lying~」

Layla-san chuckled, thinking it was just a joke . But she really did smell like flowers .

「If you need cuddling, you can stroke my head down to my back…」

「All right, then . Just a bit, then . 」

I pet her head and rubbed her back gently . Her hair was smooth and silky, it slipped right through my fingers . I checked and got 800 LP out of it . I must have been quite aroused . After the hug, I felt refreshed . We then talked about our next move .

「I’m curious about what happened to the other guy . 」

「I don’t think our leader would lose to him, but…」

Phan was quite formidable . It wasn’t hard to imagine that the other guy isn’t a pushover either .

「How about this? One stays here, and the other checks out the situation at the hall . 」Layla said .

「Sounds good . We can’t really carry all three of them . 」

「I’ll go and check then . Sorry, but can you stay and watch them?」

「Okay . 」

To protect Emma . That’s my duty . Layla-san turned her heels, took one step, then stopped .

「Leader?」

「Oh, there you are!」

The Ramuh team’s leader was running over to us .

「Leader, what happened to Phantom?」

「We got him . But the rest were injured so I came here alone to back you up . 」

「Fufu… there’s no need for that . Me and Noir-kun took care of it . 」

「Tada! 」Layla-san exclaimed jokingly as she presented Phan .

He squinted his eyes, examining her . For a split second, his face stiffened .

Hmm? Something’s off .

Was he surprised at Layla-san’s power? He should be aware of her strength already . There seems to be more to it . One more thing: did he wear earrings before? There was a stone tied to the earring’s chains that swayed slightly when he moved . Just in case, I examined him with my【Appraisal】 .

Name: Tom Berthold


Age: 28
Species: Human
Level: 154
Occupation: Salesperson Thief
Skills: Gravity Manipulation C

I tried desperately not to let the surprise show on my face . He had the same family name as Phan and they were the same age . From his occupation I know now that he’s the other thief . Phan and Tom… Phantom… . Maybe they’re twins . It never really crossed my mind .

His skill was【Gravity Manipulation C】 . It might only be rank C, but my senses told me it was extremely dangerous . He was high-levelled too .

Wait a sec . How is he disguising himself as the leader? He didn’t have skills like【Transform】or【Disguise】 . Did he have something powerful enough that he could fool even Layla-san? His voice sounds the same too . Just maybe… I appraised his earrings and bingo .

It was called Earrings of Deception with the skills【Disguise】and【Voice Mimicry】imbued on it . He apparently could imitate a person with it . As for his clothes, he probably took them from the guy after taking him down .

「Are all three of them unconscious?」

「Yeah . 」

He moved closer to them and I stood watch to make sure he doesn’t release Phan . We were behind him so I took the opportunity to whisper into Layla-san’s ear .

「Please stay quiet . He’s an impostor . If we destroy or take his earrings away, his true identity should be exposed . 」

「…… . He looks like the real one to me . 」

「It’s a disguise . 」

Layla-san was at a loss for words . That proved just how good his disguise was . If I didn’t have my【Appraisal】, I would’ve been completely deceived .

「Is this girl your friend?」

「She’s my childhood friend . 」

「Why’d she take her?」

「Apparently the guy fell in love with her . What a sicko . 」

I tried to taunt him . He simply laughed, but his eyes were raging . This guy has his hearts on his sleeve . So easy to read . That’s surprising . The problem now was how to land a surprise attack… whaaaaat?

「Hyaa!」

「Huh? Wai— What are you doing?!」

Layla-san rushed at him all of a sudden . Tom crouched down to avoid a huge right hook . But it was a feint . The real attack was a body blow from her left fist . He managed to dodge it adroitly, but he’s lost his balance .

「Go, Noir-kun!」

「You can’t fool me, Tom the thief!」

I brandished my sword, going straight for the earring’s chain hanging from his ears . All right! I sliced it off! His clothes stayed the same, but his appearance changed into a good-looking young man .

「…I see . You saw through my disguise . 」

He unsheathed the sword from his waist to strike back . Layla-san and I moved back almost simultaneously .

「How’d you know it was a disguise?」

「Take a guess . 」

「…No way . Appraisal? That’s unusual . 」

「I won’t let you take Emma . I swear . 」

「I’m sorry, but Emma-san will be my wife . I always get what I want, no matter what . It’s just my nature . The same goes for Phan . 」

Then all of a sudden, I felt my weight suddenly increase, like I was being pinned down by something unseen . My body was extremely heavy . It was the same for Layla-san . This is bad .

「Since you’ve seen my skill with Appraisal, there’s no need to hide it . I’m using Gravity Manipulation . With it, I can add weight over a particular area . 」

「What the… heck is this…?」

Layla-san put her strength into her legs to try to get out of the skill’s area of effect, but she couldn’t . Because he increased the gravity even more . So it wasn’t a hundred percent power before? It’s really hard to move . This is not matter we can solve by just getting the hang of it .

「Haa… Haa… It’s a rare skill, but it’s not all-powerful . It takes quite a toll on me as well . 」

Yeah, his skill has this much power . He should be expending a lot of magic for it . I think it’s safe to assume that rank C【Gravity Manipulation】is not enough to completely crush us . I guess it comes down to a battle of endurance . No, wait…

「Exactly . It won’t be a battle of endurance . Not when I have this . 」

「If you want to kill someone, then kill me . 」

「Hmm… What to do…?」

Tom was planning to throw his sword above us . With the increased gravity, we might get fatally wounded .

「I just… have… one question…」

「Sure, but make it quick . 」

「Even if you take Emma, do you think she’d want to be your wife? She’s not a thing . She’s human and that means she has feelings . 」 I said, eyeing Emma behind him .

Tom laughed scornfully .

「That won’t be a problem . I excel at seizing the hearts of men . If it doesn’t work, I’ll just use magical tools to achieve that . I have a lot of stolen goods, after all . Okay, that’s it for our little talk . As you wish, I’ll get rid of you first . 」

「One last… thing . Why don’t you ask her yourself if you can seize her heart?」

He looked perplexed, but as soon as he saw my smirk, he immediately turned around . Too late, bud . Emma was awake for a while now . And now he was well within her range .

「Don’t you lay a hand on Noir!」

Tom was hit square on his back by Emma’s specialty:【Wind Mass】 . He could not mount any resistance from a close-range wind magic and was sent flying . He rolled over to my side . At the same time, his Gravity Manipulation skill was dispelled, freeing me and Layla-san .

「Haa… agghh… 」

I felt just a bit of pity at Tom who was gasping for air with his tongue sticking out . But I wasn’t going to let him off easy . Layla-san picked him up, binding his arms behind his back . I clenched my fist .

「I’m… I’m the phantom thief…」

「Good night . Ha!」

With all my strength poured into my fist, I landed a blow right at his solar plexus . I just copied Layla-san, to be honest, but it felt like it was a much more powerful punch than usual . I guess learning by watching others is also important .

Tom was knocked out cold easily and I was about to head over to Emma but saw she was already rushing over to me . I caught her as she jumped into my arms .

「Noir…」

「Emma, are you all right?」

「Yeah . I can move just fine . What about you?」

「Not so good, actually . 」

「Lie down and rest!」

I went through a number of fights, summoned beasts included . The exhaustion I felt was nothing to sneeze at so I lied down . Emma let me use her lap as a pillow, soothing me .

「I was kidnapped, wasn’t I? I knew someone attacked me, but I lost consciousness . 」

「It was dark so can’t really blame yourself if you were caught off guard . 」

「You came after me… I’m happy you saved me . 」

「I’m not cold-hearted, after all . I can’t let a sick thief take my childhood friend . 」

「Mufufu… Then as thanks for saving me…」

*smooch*
Emma brushed my forelocks aside, and lightly kissed my forehead . Ahh, the trouble was worth it .

「You must be exhausted . Just rest for a while . 」

「I’ll take you up on that . Oh, right . I only managed to save you thanks to Layla-san’s help . You should thank her . 」

「Okay . You just rest . 」

With Layla-san and Emma’s conversation serving as a lullaby to my ears, I let sleep overcome me . Wait, Layla-san is carrying the tied-up Tom on her shoulders . She apparently still had enough strength left . Impressive .

Ah, my eyes are getting heavy… Unable to defy my body, I closed my eyes and rested for a bit .