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The clash of two great men
I arrived in front of a three-story mansion.
A small young man with short cut black hair was dauntingly standing in front of the mansion.
His well-developed physique, which could be seen even through his clothes, his intimidating presence, and his flawless pose were the real thing, not something like Munch’s shrewd imitation, which didn’t even come close to it.
If I had to guess, he was the S-Rank Adventurer, Aku, whom I had heard from rumors. His eyes weren’t rotten. This kind of fool, even if he were to be killed, would not be capable of committing atrocities. Then I had no use for this guy.
That’s why, I gave a warning, “Unrelated members, draw back.”
If he didn’t obey, I would just eliminate him.
“

.”
Aku silently drew his greatsword from its scabbard on his back and held it high.
So, he desired mortal combat? My bad, but right now, I was in a bad mood. If you bared fangs on me, even if it was a harmless puppy, I would crush everything.
“Gray, don’t kill him. The guild needs him.”
Looking back over my shoulder, I saw that Willy, Gaius, and the rest of the executives, as well as several armed adventurers, surrounded the mansion.
The majority of them were probably my watchdogs. Hoping I didn’t overdo and kill everyone.
“Hahaha, hahahahaha!!!”
Beginning with Willy, everyone standing here looked at Aku, who laughed like a broken radio while looking at us.
But I knew exactly how Aku felt. Because the look in his eyes as he stared at all of us held the same thing as I had for them right now. Most likely, the boy sold to [Laguna] had been killed? It was really a revolting action.
“


”
Aku stopped his broken laughter and gripped his long sword tightly. The hilt of his sword made a creaking noise due to its extraordinary strength.
And then, a shout like a war cry echoed in the night sky.
“You bastards, as expected, you are all colluding together!!”
The female receptionist, who was holding a weapon, fell on her butt from the loud shout that shook the atmosphere.
Why the hell does Willy bring out such an amateur to this place? I couldn’t understand what he was thinking at all.
“I-it’s a misunderstanding, Aku-san. We are—” the female receptionist desperately shouted out to pacify Aku.
“Stop it. It’s useless. He’s not the type of person who will be influenced by the words of an amateur like you!” I shouted to stop her and shut her mouth.
In addition, in his current situation, if it was as I predicted, he wouldn’t even listen to anyone unless you crushed him completely.
“It seems like you understand! I will definitely not forgive you!!!”
“Humph, there’s no meaning behind a powerless person’s shout, no matter how much he does it. If you want to, show it with your power,” I held my left palm and beckoned him.
He bent down while glaring at me with his bloodshot eyes.
It seemed like it was the beginning of the farce.
“Come on, young man. I will teach you how cruel this world can be.”
“Kill you! I’m going to kill you—!!” Aku howled and dashed towards me. I lowered my centre of gravity as I put the strength into my hand.
The next moment, we both collided.
◇◆◇◆◇◆
I stepped back and dodged the large sword, which was as wide as my torso, as it sliced through the air in an overzealous manner.
Aku, who swung down his sword with blade, then did a reverse side sweep.
With my right hand, I fended off the large sword that approached to cut me in half, and slammed it upward.
“What

” Aku’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“Are you an idiot?”
I stomped my right foot on the ground, jumped over his chest, and slammed my right fist into his abdomen.
*Boom!!*
Together with the feeling of something snapping, Aku was blown off to the side and rolled on the ground.
“Stand up!”
If he didn’t, Aku’s desire would not be fulfilled, and he wouldn’t be able to take the next step. He staggered to his feet and held up his greatsword. Aku’s both legs were slowly but gradually convulsing. The blow he had just received had left him dizzy.
Naturally. Aku’s status was D+. He was on the same low level as Caesar, whom I had just met recently. Originally, there was a gap between me and Aku that was bigger than the Mariana Trench.
While that might be true, it didn’t mean I could relax.
“Gahhhhhhh!!” roaring like a beast, Aku dashed towards me at once, brandishing his greatsword.
I grabbed the incoming overhead slash, which was swung down as if to cleave my skull apart, with my right hand and struck his chest, this time with the base of my palm.
As he crashed into the mansion with the force of a cannonball, it also broke through the wall and disappeared into the building.
“Monster

..”
I heard an Adventurer whisper behind my back.
“Division Head, what the hell was that!?”
Just then, the female receptionist pointed at me with the index finger on her right hand and asked a rude question.
“I told you, didn’t I? It wasn’t a contest at all.”
“B-but, isn’t Aku-san an S-Rank Adventurer!?”
The other Adventurers also nodded exaggeratedly in agreement as the receptionist approached and continued to rattle.
“Even Caesar, who was now an inhuman, said he wouldn’t be able to win against him. But then, against an inexperienced and still developing adventurer, someone like Aku can’t even resist!”
“That red hero, Caesar

..”
Willy looked pitifully at the receptionist, who squatted down and groaned.
I didn’t care, but what did that guy Willy think of me?
Well, whatever. More than that—
“Stand up. I’m still unharmed, you see?” I said cruelly to Aku.
Aku staggered out of the rubble of the building. He had deep cuts all over his body and surely had broken a bone or two.
“Dammmmmmit!!!!!!”
Even in that tattered state, he charged towards me.
This continued for around twenty minutes. Aku was now so tattered, he just looked like a ragged dust cloth, and without the strength to hold his greatsword, he came at me.
I swatted his legs away, and Aku’s body spun several times in the air before crashing to the ground.
“It’s over! You win!”
A girl with green hair and long ears stood in front of me, arms outstretched, trying to protect Aku.
“Move away. It’s not over yet.”
“Please stop there, Gray-san! This game is long over! This is nothing more than mob violence now! This can’t be allowed any—” the black-haired receptionist screams.
“Stop, Shelly!”
At Gaius’s sharp voice, the black-haired receptionist, Shelly’s, body trembled.
“Why is it, Guild Leader!?”
“Because it’s necessary.”
“Why is there such a need for torment!?”
It wasn’t only Gaius. Willy and the other adventurers in the field could only watch with closed mouths.
“Everyone, all of you are strange!!” Sherry shouted with teary eyes as she looked at the situation.
“Go away! You’re in the way!”
Akuu pushed the green-haired girl away, spat the blood in his mouth onto the ground with a puff, swung his right arm, and started walking towards me with an unsteady gait.
He then stood in front of me, closed both eyes tightly, caught his breath, and took a stance.
“Haaa!”
Akuu snapped his eyes open and brought out his right fist to strike at me.
Oh



His right fist was approaching me with an unusual speed.
Did he break through his limit?
The right fist struck my right cheek, and a dull sound reverberated around me.
“Hmph, it’s your win, Aku.”
Hearing this, Aku’s corner of mouth raised in satisfaction as he collapsed facing upward.
“You really are

.” Aku mumbled.
It seemed like his hotheadedness had calmed down, and he had regained his composure a bit.
“I tell you, I never hurted the young boy named Badrak or sold him to the slavers. To begin with, none of you understand a bit about merchants. Hurting and then selling the members of our company? Don’t be ridiculous! No decent merchant will do such an unproductive thing.”
At my mocking words, Aku only tilted his head to look at the green-haired girl.
“He’s not lying,” the green-haired girl declared strangely decisively.
“By the way, this is a list of your family’s misdeeds that my men have investigated. Here, take it.”
They had forcibly recruited new adventurers and given them a quota of quests and demon slaying. Then, they would proceed to give those who couldn’t protect their quota a beating in the name of education. The same went for those who tried to leave.
In addition, they had extorted the general population of Straheim, and rampaged through certain business associations to get money from them. It was a disgusting list of inept and vulgar details that made me wonder how they could come up with such trivial things.
“Misdeeds?”
Instead of Aku, who couldn’t move, the green-haired girl flipped through the documents with a frown, but her face suddenly turned bright red. Of course, it was because of the violent fury that churned in her gut.
“Is this true?” she asked, barely squeezing out her voice.
“It’s all true. All of it has been verified,” instead of me, Willy replied immediately.
I see, that’s how you are going to protect Gill’s honor, huh? Certainly, if it had been verified by  the other party, there was no need to testify to them here at this place. In short, it was necessary to prove in front of the guild leaders that Gill had a compelling reason to tell a lie.
“Give it to me!!”
Aku got up, squirming, snatched it from the green-haired girl, and started reading the information.
As he continued to read, Aku’s hands holding the report shivered, and his face became as angry as a demon’s.
“Satori, is this information true?” he muttered his doubts.
“That’s what Willy thinks, at least,” Satori nodded, jerking her chin.
“Munchhhhhhh!!!” Aku shouted in anger, like a raging thunderbolt.
I also surveyed the surroundings and shouted, “Come out already, you peeping bastards! I know you are here!”
Suddenly, a myriad of presence surrounded us all.
“It looks like we have been exposed.”
The front door of the mansion opened, and a purple-haired man, Munch, appeared, accompanied by his adventurer-like subordinates.