Note: I’m pretty sure most of you know what a tsundere is but I’ll give a definition just in case there is someone who doesn’t.Tsundere is a portmanteau of two Japanese slang words: tsuntsun, which means “aloof, prickly” and deredere, which means “lovestruck” and refers to someone who often switches between the two modes. Typically, they start tsun, being harsh and short-tempered to most people. They open up their hearts and show their dere side only when you get close with them. Then they might pretend to be tsun, to hide their embarrassment that they are actually dere.
†
「HYAAAAAA!!!」
「Hahaha, what a dreadful scream. It's not every day that you get to experience a man so much younger than you, thrusted so deep inside you. Why don't you try making much better sounds?」
「IT HURTSSSSS!!! MY EYEEEEE!!!」
The village chief continued to scream, but he couldn't even move a finger. It was because my thumb was pressing down on the back of the eye socket where his right eye used to be.
When humans experience intense pain, their bodies stiffen up and become unable to move. Anti-person martial arts have a technique of controlling the opponent's movements by grasping the opponent's ear, but the technique taught by Grandfather was to control the opponent's movements by hooking a finger into the eye socket.
At the sight of the village chief's right eye being crushed, his wife's knees gave out and she lost control of her bladder, and his daughter was petrified like a statue. The village chief finally lost the strength to scream and was gasping feebly.
I whispered into his ear.
「Don't think that this ends with just your right eye. Your left eye is next. Then I'll cut off your nose and ears. Finally, I'll break all your teeth and pull out your tongue. I'll make sure you look just like the garbage that you are」
「P, p, please forgive me! I, I'll pay imme, immediately! I'll pay the 300,000 Fil immediately!」
「300,000 Fil? Don't make me laugh. Do you think that would be enough, now that things have gone this far? If you want to be saved, bring out all the money in your house」
「You, you're kidding! That's impossible! Please spare me that!」
「Negotiations have failed then」
I cracked the knuckles of my free hand and put that hand on the village chief's left cheek. I slid my thumb towards his left eye. He shut his eye but something like that won't hinder me from crushing it.
「This is the last thing you'll ever see. Burn it into your memory」
「N, no! Please, forgive me! The money is owed to the Gambino Family! They'll kill us if we can't pay them back!」
「I don't give a damn about that」
Did he think that bringing out the Yakuza would scare me? How stupid. As if a weak person that would get scared by something like the Yakuza could survive as a Seeker.
Just when I was putting strength into my thumb to crush his left eye--
「Please wait!!!」
The owner of that voice was the village chief's daughter, who had been petrified by shock earlier. She stood in front of me with tears welling up in her big eyes and her teeth chattering in fear.
And then, she thrust the leather bag in her hands at me.
「This is all we have! It's 820,000 Fil in total! We don't even have a copper coin more! I'll give this to you so please spare my dad!」
Apparently, the daughter knew where the money was hidden. She had taken it at her own judgment before it was too late for her father. However, the village chief screamed with rage at his daughter's decision.
「You fool! What have you done!? If you hand that money over, it'll be the end of me!」
「But if I don't give him the money now, not only will both your eyes be crushed, Seekers will never accept our requests ever again! What will we do if there are bandits or Monsters again!?」
「Th, that's... but... Uuu...」
I was impressed by the daughter's words. She hadn't acted only to save her father, but had considered the future of the village in her decision.
Although it wasn't something that was written in black and white, all Seekers had an obligation to share information. In a case like this where the client deceived, and even tried to kill you, Seekers had an obligation to inform their peers, so that similar victims would not appear.
The ones who would then spread that information were the bosses of the Seeker bars. They were responsible for listing malicious clients, and informing their regulars as well as other Seeker bars.
In other words, just like the village chief's daughter had said, once the word had been spread, no one would accept a request from Mintz Village ever again. Even if they were beset by bandits or Monsters, they could do nothing but wait to be destroyed.
I didn't know how the village chief's daughter could have known about this. In all probability, she had used her common sense and had correctly deduced the worst-case scenario, rather than having any definitive knowledge on the matter.
Whatever the case might have been, even though she was trembling with fear, she had made the smart decision in order to protect the village's future. As expected from someone aspiring to be a Seeker, she had guts.
I released the village chief, received the leather bag from the daughter and checked its contents.
「There is indeed 820,000 Fil. Is this really all the money in this house?」
「It's the truth! I'm not lying!」
「I see. Then I'll believe those words. I'll forget all about today in exchange for this money. --Village chief, are you also okay with that?」
Holding his crushed right eye, the village chief reluctantly nodded.
「Yes... I'm okay with it...」
「If you ever deceive a Seeker again, be prepared for what will happen. Even if the request has nothing to do with me, I'll come for everything you own then」
When I glared at the village chief while exuding murderous intent, he nodded repeatedly while the contents of his bladder pooled beneath him.
「Okay. --Alma, let's go」
「Understood」
As I stepped out of the village chief's house, a young, heart-rending voice pierced me from behind.
「Seekers...... I hate all Seekers!!!」
†
†
「A Seeker's life is unexpectedly tough」
While we were walking through the night on the moon-lit road, I smiled bitterly when Alma remarked sagely.
「What? Have you come to hate it already?」
「I haven't come to hate it. But I've come to realize that it's not just a job that receives money for killing Beasts」
「That's good then. I've let you have some good-for-nothing experiences on your first job. I'm sorry I wasn't more considerate on that」
「No need to apologize. Rather than that――」
Alma walked out in front of me and tilted her head.
「Noel, are you okay?」
「I'm perfectly fine. Because it's a waste of time to worry about trivial things that are in the past」
「Yup. But no matter the circumstances, I think it's still tough when you disappoint a girl that had looked up to you」
「If I feared disappointing others, I would coop myself up on a deserted island or something」
「It's okay to not overdo things and rely on big sister when things are tough, you know? I'll embrace you tightly」
Alma said, in a weirdly sexy voice as she spread her arms wide. At that, I snorted with laughter.
「Go embrace a cactus or something, you useless-boobies-idiot-woman」
「Again with that! Stop calling me that!」
「In that case, stop treating me like a kid too」
「Urg...... That's difficult...... It's all Noel's cute face's fault」
「Just what kind of reasoning is that......」
It might be fine when it was just the two of us, but my dignity as a leader would be affected if she still acted this way after new allies had joined. Absolutely no one would put their life on the line for a leader that wasn't dependable.
I could still take it as a joke because we had just gotten to know one another but it looked like I would need to give her a stern warning if this seemed like it would continue.
But it was also the truth that she had been concerned about me. I should thank her honestly for that.
「......Well, thank you for worrying about me」
「Noel is a tsundere?」
「Drop dead」
「So cute~. Makes me want to give you a tight~ hug」
「If you touch even a hair on my body, I'll use my authority as the leader to dispense with your share in the next job」
「That's too cruel!」
We continued our night walk, cracking jokes like that with each other.
We couldn't use the stagecoach because of the timing issues so we had no choice but to walk all the way back to Yudra. Thanks to my daily training, I was confident in my stamina, but I was getting sick of walking ceaselessly on these night roads with poor visibility.
On the other hand, camping till morning was also a pain. Then in that case, it might be better to just walk through the night to Yudra and take a stagecoach back to the imperial capital first thing in the morning.
「Alma, are you not going to become an Assassin after all?」
She had already told me about the fact that she had failed to join the Assassin Order, but I was talking about the Job in this case. Since Alma had already fulfilled all the requirements, she could rank up to Assassin whenever she felt like it.
「I haven't decided. ――Would you be happier if I became an Assassin?」
「Hmm, I wonder. Your fighting ability would definitely increase, but when considering how to balance the Jobs of our future allies, it would be a great help to me if you kept it pending for now」
Assassin was the most attack-orientated Job among all the B Rank Jobs that a Scout could rank up to. It was a superb vanguard attacker.
But demographically, there were much more vanguards than rearguards and unless rearguards were purposely prioritized, parties would end up becoming vanguard-only parties before anyone realized.
Under such circumstances, if we wanted more freedom in the party's composition in future, it would be more convenient if Alma ranked up into a rearguard attacker Job, instead of the vanguard attacker Job of Assassin.
For Scouts, they could rank up into either Chaser or Bandit, which were both rearguard attacker Jobs.
Of course, there was no way to know what the future might bring. For all I knew, there was a possibility that we would have more rearguards than vanguards. For that very reason, it was best to keep it pending for now.
「Got it. Then I'll stay as a Scout for a little longer」
「I'm counting on you. We'll talk again when the time comes. It's also almost time for me to be able to rank up」
「I'm looking forward to that. By the way, do you know how to tell when you're able to rank up?」
「I do. A pattern will appear somewhere on my body, right?」
「Right. Just like this」
Alma put her hands into her cleavage and spread her large breasts. In the middle of her exposed chest, a dagger-shaped pattern could be seen.
「Once you're able to rank up, a pattern like this appears. It's said to mostly show up on the chest or on fingernails. But, I want it to show up on Noel's butt. I think it'll definitely be cute」
「Please spare me......」
It would be far too uncool for it to show up on my butt. I would never be able to live it down no matter how many great achievements I accomplished. My stomach hurt just from imagining it.
「Noel」
「Hmm?」
Alma called my name in a slightly formal voice.
「A lot happened, but I had fun today」
「Is that so? I don't feel anything other than tiredness though」
「The whole time I was training with Grandpa in the mountains, I always thought that it wouldn't be bad if there was someone I could fight together with. Especially since Noel's strategies are interesting」
「I'm glad if you gained something out of it. It's great that we earned well this time. Money opens your heart. I can understand how that feels」
「No, I'm not talking about money......」
Alma knitted her eyebrows as if troubled, then smiled.
「I'm gradually getting to know Noel's personality」
「What? ......That was out of the blue. What do you mean?」
「It means you're extremely cute. That's why――」
Alma snuggled up against my chest and showed me a beaming smile from below.
「I'll fight together with you forever」
I mean, really Noel? You’re making sexual innuendos when you’ve got a thumb in someone’s eye? (*´-`)
Noel trying to deflect again when sentimental topics come up, just like he did with Walter, but Alma sees through him. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
Shortest chapter so far, but don’t worry, the slight lack of content will be made up for by the next chapter, the last chapter of Alma’s arc, which will also be the first time we get Alma’s POV. (ᵔᴥᵔ)
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