CH 4.1

CHAPTER 4

Reito went back to the Black Tiger’s Adventurer Guild.

He found a large number of adventurers assembled there. Some had come to the city from far away. They had heard about the rotten dragon and looked worried. They were gathered in the tavern on the first floor.

Gonzo and Dain were there as well. They appeared to have stayed up all night.

“Hey, Reito!! We were looking all over for you!! You said you’d be right back.”

“I’m glad to see you’re safe. Last night, there was an incident related to the elf boy. You heard about that?”

Erina answered Gonzo’s question.

“What, really? This is quite the town…”

“Why are you surprised?” Reito made fun of her before Dain asked, “Who the hell is this? I met the blue-haired girl yesterday. Who is this elf?”

“Is she your friend? She doesn’t look like an adventurer.”

Dain and Gonzo looked at Erina. She introduced herself to everyone.

“What’s up? I’m a member of Princess Tina’s Parental Envoy. My name is Erina. Despite my looks, I’m actually an expert archer!!”

“Parental Envoy…?”

Dain and Gonzo were puzzled.

“And don’t worry about this one too much. It’s a bit of a hassle to explain. She’s my friend, or should I say pet?” said Reito about Kotomin.

“Pet? I’m a pet?”

“Friends… Let’s be friends,” Erina said to Kotomin.

“I thought we were friends!!” replied Kotomin.

Erina felt strange about being treated as if they were the same race.

“You’re really high energy. Whatever, let’s all sit down,” Dain encouraged the three of them to all sit down. Dain and Gonzo explained what had happened since Reito left.

It seemed that nothing in particular had happened at the Adventurer Guild. They were just sitting there waiting.

“Gon-chan, will you be okay if you don’t go back to your guild? Aren’t they worried?”

“No, in fact, there are tons of members from other guilds gathered here today. There is a guildmaster meeting.”

“Okay. But, there’s no way they will hold the Hunting Festival under these conditions,” Dain said.

“You know, the Zombie Dragon is back! There’s no time to even be thinking about the Hunting Festival!” replied Reito.

“I know, I know! That said, Dain is a Dark Magician, right? It’s the first time I’ve heard of that profession. What kind of magic can you use?” asked Gonzo.

“Oh, you want to know more about me? I guess I’ll tell you… I can use Shadow Magic.”

“Shadow Magic?” Gonzo was interested.

“You mean that treacherous stuff?” chimed in Erina.

“It’s not treacherous. It may be considered boring compared to other magic, but it comes in handy.”

According to Airis’s report, he was quite the skilled magician and a high-ranking adventurer. He would have access to magic only allowed by Dark Magicians.

“What kind of magic is Shadow Magic?”

“You use your own shadow and your opponent’s shadow to move objects. In my case, I move objects like this,” he explained as he reached his hand out over the table in front of everyone. His shadow began moving like a snake.

“This shadow can touch other people’s bodies…”

“Wah!?”

Dain’s shadow coiled around Reito’s arm on the table like a snake.

Reito pulled his hand away, but he couldn’t move. It seemed like it was tied down by rope.

“How about it? Pretty awesome, right!? I always use this magic to stop my opponents from moving before running away.”

“Wait, you are the one that ends up running away!?”

“When I use this magic, I also can’t move. Look, when I use the shadow from my right arm, my right arm itself can’t move. Anyway, it’s really cool, right?”

“It’s cool magic, but wouldn’t it be weak to any old strong light? Even a “Photosphere” would do the trick. Anybody chump could counter that magic. It’s a joke.”

“It’s not a joke!!”

Dain flatly refused Erina’s brutal critique. But, it was true that Shadow Magic had a glaring weakness to light.

Suddenly, somebody shouted, “Will you shut up, you brat!! I’m gonna slap you if you don’t shut up!!”

Reito turned around and apologized, “Ah, my bad… Is that Ms. Daia?”

“Huh? Oh… Is that you, Reito?” she looked at him before Gonzo asked:

“Is this your acquaintance?”

“She’s a former ace from our guild. She recently transferred to the Hailstorm guild, though…”

Daia was another giant adventurer a little over thirty years old. She used to be a B-rank adventurer in the Black Tiger guild. But, at about the time Reito joined the guilt, she switched to the Hailstorm guild.

From the rumors Reito had heard, she hadn’t gotten along well with the other guild members and had seen one failure after the other. At present, she spends her time bar hopping.

“It’s been a while, Daia. How have you been?”

“Not bad, you don’t look bad yourself. I heard you did something about those goblins, right?”

“We put them down for the time being. I wanted to ask you something, what kind of people are the members  of the Hailstorm guild? I have never seen them for myself…”

“… They’re all good for nothing. They are talented, but unlike the Black Tigers, they don’t accept commissions from ordinary people and are only interested in high-price requests. They will drop less talented members in a heartbeat and have no desire to foster the talents of new members — there are no trainers. It’s brutal.”

“Damn…”

“Like, of course, the adventurer profession isn’t a profession where untalented people will last. But I feel like it’s too competitive. I have gotten significantly greater compensation since I’ve been in Hailstorm, but… There’s no such thing as team spirit there. Everyone is using each other for their own good… I’ve heard Maria asked you to come, but I don’t recommend it. It’s no place for kids like yourself.”

Daia said, downing her drink.

Reito was surprised at her reaction before someone came over.

“If it isn’t that knucklehead, Daia!”

“Ah, it’s you, Garura.”

A man clad in all Mithril armor with a giant sword on his back stumbled over to Daia’s table.

He appeared to be in his late twenties, but he had no respect for Daia even though she was his senior. He sat down facing Daia.

“Why are you here? You get homesick?”

“Shut up… What are you doing here?”

“I’m just looking for someone. Otherwise, I would never come to this pigpen.”

The adventures were stirred up by Garura’s provocative words.

“What did you say, punk?”

“You tryna fight!?”

“Cut it out. He’s not worth the trouble!!”

Garura laughed at Daia’s self-restraint.

Dain and Gonzo stood up, unable to hold back any further.

“I don’t know who you are, but you went too far. Apologize!!”

“Yeah, you went too far this time.”

“Huh? Who are you! Ah, wait, I know you. You’re the Dragon Fang’s Gonzo. And, this is, no, I don’t know you. Who are you?”

“HEY!? What a rude bastard!! I’m Golem Town’s…”

“Meh, I don’t care. I don’t have time to talk to insects like you. I came here to find some saber-wielding young guy that Maria has had her eye on. Where is he?”

Everyone turned to look at Reito.

Garura looked puzzled at everyone’s reaction. He realized that the person he had been looking for was the young boy standing next to Daia.

“Hey, hey… What do we have here? You’ve gotta be kidding me!? This little boy is the person Maria wants on her team!? I must be out of my mind…”

“Um, do you have some business with me?”

“Hah, really… I can’t believe it really is this shrimp… What happened to your saber?”

“I’m storing it in another dimension…”

“Storage magic? Are you by chance a Support Magician!? Well, this is quite the surprise. The Black Tigers must have lost their touch if they’re letting in people with that loser job.”

“What? Reito is a support magician? I thought he was joking.”

“Damn. And yet, he’s so strong…”

“Support magician…?”

“Now that you mention it, he did say he was a support magician. But given his arm strength, he must be half-giant or something.”

“No way!”

Everyone was just now showing their surprise at the fact he is a support magician.

Reito was irritated at Garura’s arrogant attitude.

“So, you’re Reito, right? Maria wants a word with you. Chop, chop, let’s go.”

“I’m sorry? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hah!”

Garura squinted and tried to grab Reito, but he dodged just in time. Garura was feeling more and more irritated. He reached for his blade even though they were indoors.

“Hey! Don’t make me mad. Maria is looking for you. You have no right to refuse!”

“I don’t understand. I am a Black Tiger adventurer. I don’t have any responsibility to respond to the order of the guildmaster of other guilds.”

“Reito, cut it out!! Don’t talk back to—”

“Too late!!” Reito said, drawing his sword.

The moment he drew his sword, everyone in the building scrambled to distance themselves.

Garura gripped his Mithril sword and pointed the blade at Reito’s throat. He had a smile on his face, showing how easily he could beat Reito in a real fight.

“I’ll give you another chance. Come along with me.”

“The bystanders in the room moved to try and stop the sword at Reito’s throat.

But, Reito moved for himself first. He grabbed the sword’s blade and used “Matter Transmutation” along with “High-Speed Shape Change.”

“What kind of attitude is that!?”

“One, two!” He turned the Mithril blade into a copper one and turned the once sharp blade into some kind of dull instrument.

Garura realized his weapon had been transformed.

The moment he noticed the change, Reito used “Body Reinforcement” and kicked Garura in the stomach.

“Ahh!?”

Garura was off guard and went flying back, letting go of his sword.

Reito immediately picked up the sword and turned it back to its original Mithril form. Before Garura could get back up, Reito put the sword at his neck.

“Here, take this back.”

“Ghau… Shit!!”

Garura picked up the giant sword that was flung right next to him. He looked at it a few times, cautiously.

“Y-you!! What did you just… I don’t care. You’re the one who started this fight. I hope you don’t regret that fact later!!”

He grabbed the sword and was about to behead him.

But, compared to the Vampire Gain, his sword skills were no more than apprentice level. Reito made the minimum movements possible to avoid the blade.

“Shit!! Why can’t I hit you!?”

Garura continued to try to hit him while Reito coolly dodged him. He set a trap in the ground to make Garura fall over. The other adventurers in the guild started to laugh at him.

Garura was scowling and blushing because an adventurer of lower rank than him made him fall over.

“You little!! I’m gonna kill you!! ‘Spin Strike’!!”

“A battle skill!?”

“Oh, shit!! Run away, Reito!?”

“It’s fine.”

Garura began spinning like a Bayblade as he drew by. He had no concern for the bystanders.

Reito used his storage magic to pull out his Extermination Blade. He used Stark Blade to hit him with a counter strike.

“Helmet Smasher!!”

“Wha!?”

“Woh!!”

Every time he spun, Reito struck him with greater speed and force than before.

Garura’s Mithril sword was destroyed by Reito’s extermination sword, which had been transmuted into the most robust metal from his former world.

The bystanders in the bar raised their voices in surprise and praise. On the other hand, Garura stood there, dumbfounded at his broken sword.

“Y, you!! What did you do!! My sword-!!”

“Next time, you oughta prepare a proper weapon.”

“W, wait!! Stop messing around!! You broke my sword… Ahh!?”

“You shameless little!!

Garura was in a half-crazed state over the sword he had just lost. Daia slapped him on the head to knock him out.

Daia put him on her shoulders and picked up the Mithril sword before leaving the bar. She passed by Reito.

“You really messed up… They’re going to come after you.”

“What?”

“Ms. Maria always gets her prize. Watch out!” Daia left that as a warning before walking away. Reito watched as they disappeared off into the distance.

Airis communicated with him, 『 You’re quite the hero. You almost fell for Daia’s trap, Reito.』

『Daia was aware from the get-go that she wouldn’t be able to get Reito out of there. She feigned ignorance and invited Garura here to start a fight with you. Daia knew that you would stir up trouble and fight back. And that you did. No matter what the other side did, breaking his sword is going to create some controversy. It’s evidence of a fight.』

『But, I didn’t do anything wrong, right?』

『The only people in this bar are Black Tiger guild members. The problem is that she left with the only proof of the harm you received. Hailstorm is the largest guild in this city. Daia is likely to use this incident to wipe out the guild.』

『Why didn’t you say so in the first place!?』

Reito was freaking out about what he did on account of Airis’ story. But, Airis was confident this incident wouldn’t be of great importance.

『But, I don’t think there will be any problems. Those two are under the wrong impression. Maria wasn’t calling you to offer a proposal. She is likely to punish both Daia and Garura.』

『What…?』