It was the Fighter, Logan, leader of Fist King. He wore a leather jacket over bare skin and had gauntlets equipped on his thick, log-like arms.
Logan was also one of the promising Seekers in the Orc’s Club. However, there were problems with his conduct, and he often got into fights.
「Hah, stop talking nonsense. Those lies may work in the red-light district but they won’t work here」
Logan looked down and twisted his thick lips sadistically.
「Hey, it’s none of your business. Back off」
Wolf walked up to Logan and glared at him. Logan was about two heads taller than Wolf. Even though Wolf was a tall man, Logan made him look like a child. However, rather than diminishing, Wolf’s fighting spirit swelled.
The two of them had been on bad terms for some time. This was because their personalities were utterly incompatible. Although their fights had not yet resulted in blood being drawn, they seemed to always be looking for opportunities for it. But Logan’s purpose this time was Alma, not Wolf.
「Aren’t you also an outsider? Who should be telling who to back off?」
「Ugh… N, no, that’s…」
Unable to offer a counter argument, Wolf looked flustered while pushing his fingers together.
「Well, I’m an outsider too. To tell the truth, I don’t like to do stuff like interfering with other party’s interviews. Unlike this idiot wolf」
「Grrrr…」
「But according to what I’ve heard so far, it seems like this sow doesn’t have the qualifications to be a customer of the Orc’s Club. What’s more, she said such a huge lie. In that case, I can’t leave it alone, can I? Noel, am I wrong?」
I smiled lightly at Logan’s question.
「Leaving aside the part about the lie, you are indeed right about her lack of qualifications as a customer」
With that said, Alma probably didn’t understand what was going on. I needed to explain the situation.
「It looks like Alma doesn’t know about this but Seeker bars have entry restrictions based on the Seeker’s standing. If anyone were to break those restrictions, it’s customary for the regulars to gang up and beat the offender」
「That’s the first I’ve heard of it」
「It’s an unofficial rule. However, this is a rule that applies to everyone, and there is no exception even if you’re an applicant for an interview」
「But I was able to sit on this seat」
「That’s because Lightning Bite and me didn’t reprimand you. Normally, something like what Logan did was the correct response」
At my explanation, Alma nodded with great interest.
「I see. I got it」
「In that case, hurry up and get out. Out of respect for Noel, I’ll let it slide this time. But if you do it again, I’ll show no mercy, you sow」
Logan snorted derisively and indicated to the exit with his chin.
Ignoring him, Alma raised her right hand straight up.
「Noel, I have a question」
「What is it?」
「How is a Seeker’s standing determined?」
「First is the Rank of your Job. Second is your achievements. In other words, it’s determined by your ability to make your name as a Seeker」
「I see, achievements. I got it. In that case——」
Alma jumped up from her chair, faced Logan and raised her fists.
「It’ll be fine if I beat up this self-important monkey」
That was the correct answer.
It had come later because of the presence of Lightning Bite, but if I had given Alma tacit approval to be here, I knew that the other Seekers would have come to reprimand her. In order to silence them, she had to prove her mettle.
And fortunately for me, her opponent was Logan, the best anti-person Seeker in the Orc’s Club. He would be a great guinea pig to test if she was really Alcor’s granddaughter.
「Who’s a monkey, huhhh!」
Logan, who had fallen for Alma’s provocations, blew his top.
「Hey, Noel! I’m confirming with you, just in case! You won’t have any complaints if I kill this sow, right!? That’s because it’s impossible for me to beat her up without killing her!」
Both sides had already agreed to fight. In other words, it was a duel. As a result, no one would be held responsible if either one died. It would be a fair and noble result.
「I don’t mind. That person isn’t a party member yet. Do what you like」
When I gave my consent, the customers in the bar stood up and crowded round to spectate the duel.
「Good, do it!」
「Logan, show her the strength of a senior Seeker!」
「Don’t lose too easily, tiny girl!」
「Hey, who are you going to bet on? I’m going to bet 10,000 Fil on Logan!」
「Idiot! It’s not going to be a bet if everyone bets on the same side!」
The spectators seemed to believe that Logan would win an overwhelming victory. The difference in physique, the difference in anti-person fighting ability between a Fighter and a Scout, and above all, Logan’s past achievements. All of them guaranteed Logan’s victory.
But the person in question, Logan, showed no carelessness on his face. On the contrary, sweat was beading on his forehead. He seemed perplexed by Alma’s real ability, which he had realized once they had faced off against one another.
On the other hand, Alma was expressionless like a piece of ice and maintained her stance calmly.
「……It’s Alma’s win, isn’t it?」
Leisha whispered softly beside me.
「UUOOOOOO!」
The first to move was Logan. A surge of fighting spirit. An ear-splitting war cry and a sharp right straight was fired at Alma’s face. If that scored a direct hit, it was a blow that would send Alma’s head flying.
But——
「Too slow」
The fist passed through Alma’s after-image. Alma, who had dodged the attack at a speed faster than the eye could see, dived into Logan’s chest, jumped up and swung a knife-hand at his throat.
「Guho!」
Having received a strong knife-hand to a vital spot, Logan collapsed, coughing blood. He fell onto his knees with his head leaning forward, his posture almost like a prisoner waiting for an executioner to chop his head off.
「Alright, it’s the end」
What swung down on Logan’s head, was not a guillotine, but Alma’s axe kick. The strong impact sent damage into Logan’s brain stem and cut his consciousness.
The duel was settled in less than three seconds.
She was strong. For a Scout to defeat that Logan so easily…
From my point of view as a person who had the understanding of fighting techniques drilled into me by Grandfather, Alma still had much further heights in her fighting ability that she hadn’t showed. On top of that, she had clearly pulled her punches. If she had wanted to kill, that first knife-hand would have done the deed.
She had emphatically won in a flash.
While the spectators were still in an uproar over the result of the duel, I jumped off my chair and shouted at Alma.
「Your application is accepted!」
†
†
After the duel, all of us customers got yelled at by the boss of the Orc’s Club.
「Heyyy! Don’t go on a rampage in my store!!!」
It was the type of furious yell that told us that we were going to be in for a long lecture if we were caught.
It would be fine if it was only that, but depending on the boss’ mood, we might even get a penalty. It was entirely possible to be forced to pay other people’s tabs. In other words, a reverse jackpot.
That was why each and every one of us ran for it, scuttling away like roaches.
「Scatter, don’t stay together! It’s the end if you get caught!」
There was only one exit, but these were Seekers who had experienced battles where their lives were on the line. Without any signals or planning with each other, they fled out the exit with perfect timing without causing a jam at the door.
As I left, I looked back to check and saw the members of Fist King desperately pulling the unconscious Logan. I could only pray for their safe escape.
As I left the Orc’s Club behind me, an expressionless Alma was walking beside me as if nothing had happened.
「It was an amazing fight. Looks like you weren’t lying about being Alcor’s granddaughter」
「Noel, you also didn’t believe me?」
Alma seemed a little dissatisfied as she puffed out her cheeks.
「You said out of the blue that you’re the granddaughter of the legendary assassin after all. No one believed me at first too when I said that I’m the grandson of Over Death」
「But I believed you straight away」
「Oh, why was that?」
「You have eyes unlike the others. Eyes that say that you will do anything to win. Grandpa told me to never fight Over Death. He said that because that man always did things that were tangent to what was expected, it was impossible to win against him in a proper fight. Noel’s eyes were eyes that reminded me of that teaching」
There was nothing I could do other than to smile wryly.
It didn’t feel bad having eyes that were reminiscent of Grandfather. But to sum up what Alma had described, that would mean that I’m a weirdo who didn’t follow common sense.
Well, Seeker is a profession that couldn’t be done by people without a few screws loose in the head, so I’ll take it as praise.
「Like I said earlier, I want to make Alma a member of Blue Beyond. But you said that you had no interest in being a Seeker, right? Do you have any objections to becoming a party member like this?」
「Nope. I’m free anyway」
「Free, huh. I acknowledge your strength, Alma. But you’re gonna find yourself dead before you know it if you underestimate being a Seeker. Beasts won’t take it easy on you. It’s fine if it’s just you, but I’ll be troubled if you exposed our future allies to danger」
「What’s necessary for battle, is not having the proper mentality, but true ability. I don’t have much motivation, but I’m sure that I’ll produce results, so don’t worry. Strength is absolute justice. It should be the same even for Seekers」
She said it.
I could feel the arrogance in her words, but it’s probably not due to her being an ignorant frog in a well. After all, she had received guidance from that Alcor. What’s more, they even had the same Job. There is no reason for her to not be strong.
From the point of view of someone who hadn’t become a Warrior despite being the grandson of Over Death, there is nothing more enviable than that.
「Noel」
When I looked back after being suddenly called out to, I found Alma holding her stomach.
「I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten anything since morning」
「Then let’s go grab a bite」
Now that she mentioned it, I’m also feeling hungry. I’ve had breakfast but it was already noon. My hunger, which I hadn’t noticed because of the many things that had happened, had been awakened by Alma’s words.
As we walked around trying to decide what to eat, we saw that the highly-rated eateries were unfortunately already very crowded. There were so many people that we would need to wait in a long line in order to enter the store.
「That’s a bit troubling. Looks like we’ll have to line up, is that okay with you?」
「Long lines are troublesome. Let’s go for that——」
Alma pointed to a fried bun stall. There were plenty of people there, but the turnover was fast, so it looked like we could buy it without needing to wait for a long time in line.
Ten minutes later, we were holding hot fried buns in our hands. Mine was filled with meat, Alma’s was filled with custard cream and both were big and looked appetizing.
「Wow!? This is delicious!」
When she bit into her fried bun, Alma’s expression lit up like a blooming flower.
I tried my fried bun too. Oh, it’s certainly delicious. Meat juices spilled out from inside the perfectly fried, crisp and crusted skin. There were a lot of vegetables, and their sweetness further enhanced the taste of the meat.
「Noel, give me a bite of yours」
「Then, me too」
We shared our fried buns. Yup, this is delicious too. The thick sweetness of the custard cream really matched well with the fried skin of the bun.
It brought my stomach a sense of satisfaction that made me regret not knowing about this store all this time.
「This is the first time in my life that I’ve eaten something so delicious」
Alma cupped her cheeks and closed her eyes in a blissful expression.
I thought that that was too much of an exaggeration but then I remembered that she had been secluded in the mountains. If that was true, I could see how she would see this fried bun as the ultimate delicacy.
「Is this the first time you’ve come down from the mountains?」
「First time」
「You seem pretty settled in, despite that」
「It’s because Grandpa had taught me how to blend in with my surroundings」
「I see. ——Hey, there’s one thing that was on my mind」
As an extension to the small talk, I thought that I might as well continue to ask her questions.
「Was the training in the mountains to make you become an Assassin after all?」
「Yup. It was training to rank up from Scout to Assassin. I haven’t done the rank up yet, but I’ve cleared all the requirements for B Rank during the training」
「Yeah, that’s what I thought」
I had thought that she was too strong for a C Rank, but if she had already cleared the rank up conditions, then it was understandable. You would need an Appraiser’s help to rank up, so as long as you didn’t do that, As she would need an Appraiser’s help again in order to rank up, she probably meant that she hadn’t done that and was in a pending state.
「In spite of that, you didn’t join the Assassin Order, huh? Wasn’t your Grandfather’s training for that purpose?」
「That’s right. I also had that intention. But I couldn’t join the Order. I was turned away after being told that I wasn’t suitable for the Assassin Order」
「You were turned away? I don’t think that you lack the strength though……」
「They acknowledged my strength. But I lacked aptitude, was what I was told」
「What did they mean by that?」
When I continued to question her further, Alma slowly shook her head.
「I’m sorry, I can’t say any more than this」
「……Is that so? I’m the one who is sorry. Thank you for telling me so much」
Everyone has a secret or two that they can’t talk about. If she doesn’t want to talk about it, then I’m not going to push her. We could be allies even with secrets between us.
「It seems like the Order went through a reformation, so they said that they don’t need the old types of Assassins」
「You’re gonna blab anyway!?」
She sure changed her tune in an instant. What’s this idiot woman thinking?
「The Order Leader said that the Assassin Order used to be an independent secret organization, but they’re going to reform the organization and go under the Empire’s umbrella soon」
「What? In other words, does this means they’ll work directly under the Emperor in future?」
「Seems like it. They said that they’ll focus on espionage rather than assassinations. Well, it appears that they’ll still do assassinations though. But the way the organization does things will undergo a big change」
「You…… Isn’t this extremely important information…… It’s not a topic that should be discussed while munching on fried buns! Or rather, don’t discuss it in the first place!」
「Haaa, now that you mentioned it, I was told to never divulge this secret. ……What should I do?」
「What do you mean, 『What should I do?』……」
Is this going to be okay? I’m not going to have hordes of Assassins sent after me because I know this information, right? My life, it isn’t going end here, right?
「Noel, don’t worry」
「……What?」
「In case something happens, big sister will protect you. So, it’s okay」
「Who’s my big sister, huh!?」
Don’t conveniently act the elder now. In the first place, who’s the one who burdened me with such dangerous information?
In case something happens, I’m going to use this idiot woman as a decoy and run away.
I’m not sure how I feel about death-defying Seekers using their talents just to escape a bar… it was funny how the author made a big deal out of it though.
Overall a funny chapter, but Alma takes the cake, or fried bun, or whatever. Looks like Noel’s going to have his hands full with this one. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
FYI, it’s not a super important point because as far as I can remember, it doesn’t play a part, but I thought I’ll just mention that the Assassin Order is actually more like the Assassin Religious Order… Yeah it’ll look silly with it being so long. But wanted to highlight that they were a religion-based organization, sorta like the Templar Knights, just assassins instead.
Next chapter sneak peek: More Alma, well it’s obviously her arc but there’s 4 entire paragraphs describing how Alma looks… I’m not kidding (O_O)
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