Another Group Approaches
「Fermus. Thanks.」
「It’s no problem. I only decided to help because I just so happened to have something similar happen to me in the past.」
「Similar? Also almost tricked by Magician’s Guild?」
「Not exactly, but I did have my fair share of unpleasant experiences because I garnered too much attention.」
Apparently Fermus, like us, had stood out ever since he was young. Namely, he’d managed to win one of Ulmutt’s tournaments in his youth.
As a result, he was approached by magicians, mercenaries, nobles, merchants, and underground organisations. The individuals and groups that tried to solicit him would often refuse to back off even if he denied them, and sometimes even attempt to resort to force.
「I’m sure the same will happen to you.」
「How to deal with?」
「My approach was just to flee. I wandered from place to place in order to keep them from somehow making me go along with their demands.」
The dragon hunter’s coping method was honestly a pretty good one. There was no way the people that wanted to solicit him would be able to keep up, especially if he was careful about covering his tracks.
「Though, I ultimately ended up having Dias solve my problems for me.」
「Dias?」
「Yeah. The two of us had always gotten along, in part because we’re in the same age range. He’d already become guildmaster back then, so I just had him agree to call me his aide so I could use his name and reputation to deny the people that approached me.」
Dias’ position as Guildmaster made it so the very mention of his name was enough to cause most lesser nobles to back off. Having Dias’ support made Fermus’ life much easier.
「It seems to me that you’ve drawn even more attention than I had, so you may end up having to deal with some really difficult people. I’m confident you’ll be able to crush all the greedy criminal syndicates that come after you, but, the same can’t be said for the nobility. Dealing with them the wrong way could potentially lead to something that ultimately devolves into an international dispute.」
The last little bit Fermus tagged on came off as personal, and as a result, was highly convincing.
「First hand experience?」
「Hahaha. Yeah, I happened to get into a little bit of a fight with a noble from another country and ultimately ended up leaving my name in their records.」
「Just because refusal?」
「Well… he was acting in a bit too demanding a manner for my taste, so I ended up “interacting” with him and about 50 of his subordinates…」
「Killed?」
「No, no, I just made it so they needed to see a doctor immediately. The issue came from the fact that the person in question happened to be related to royalty.」
Yeah, I could see why that’d end up pissing off an entire country. There was no way they could just just let something like that happen and not react unless they wanted to lose face.
「Dealt with how?」
「Oh, you know, nothing special. All I did was subdue and capture everyone that went after me before finally having a face to face meeting with the country’s king, albeit one scheduled in the middle of the night.」
So I’m guessing that means he threatened him? I mean, I get he’s strong, but like, that doesn’t exactly sound like something he, or anyone for that matter, could get away with.
「Honestly, it was something only made possible because the country was a weak and uninfluential one. Even their most powerful citizens were weaker than me. There’s no way I could possibly pull off a stunt like that if faced with a country like the Kingdom of Kranzel.」
「I see.」
「So the thing I was actually trying to say is that the best thing you could possibly do is fall back on the Adventurer’s Guild and people like Amanda, who you know you can trust, if you happen to run into any trouble.」
「Nn. Why Amanda?」
「Oh, I’m guessing you must not know then. Many of the children that grow up in Amanda’s orphanages end up becoming outstanding adventurers. They say she would be able to amass an army powerful enough to wipe a small country off the map so long as made use of her connections.」
What the hell!?
Amanda’s connections were way more impressive than we’d been expecting them to be.
「Amanda, amazing.」
「She’s got an incredible backing, and is a force to be reckoned with even if she doesn’t bother venturing onto the battlefield herself. She’s the whole reason the Reidosians haven’t picked a fight with Kranzel.」
I had no way of knowing how Amanda ran the orphanages she had set up all over the place, or what she taught those that attended them. However, I was still able to see why it would be reasonable for the children that she raised to look up to her and her choice of career. My assumption was that she probably offered at least a bit of training, because that being true would in turn make everything click. Her instruction likely led the children she supported to develop solid foundations, which in turn ultimately allowed them to grow into outstanding adventurers.
「Though, I think you’ll be fine regardless, especially seeing as how the Beastkin’s Country has your back.」
「Beastkin’s country has back?」
「Wait, you weren’t working for them?」
「No.」
「I noticed that you’d watched the finals together with the Beast Lord, so I’d assumed that you were in his employ… If that’s not the case, then I guess he’s probably just taken a sort of liking to you.」
「Really?」
「Really. I think the reason he was willing to appear in public with you is because he wanted to keep other countries from investing you in their interests.」
Fermus continued after a light nod.
「My beastkin acquaintances have told me that most of the other beastkin have a rather favourable impression of you. They also seem to think that they could potentially deepen their bond with the Beast Lord if they demonstrate that they can get along with you. The way I see it, you’ve more or less already become one of the Beastkin country’s associates.」
He was right. With the way things were going, I wouldn’t actually be too surprised if we ultimately ended up siding with the Beastkin’s Country. We’d basically committed ourselves to visiting because the Beast Lord had made it so he owed Fran a favour. He’d also made himself seem like someone we could interact with going forward.
It was almost like the Beast Lord had orchestrated everything so that Fran would be more inclined to pay his country a visit. That said, I felt like he himself wasn’t actually capable of constructing such a meticulous plan. It was instead likely derived from advice given to him by Royce or Roche.
That said, the relationship we currently shared with the Beast Lord was more so like one that focused around the act of give and take, in which we exchanged mutual benefits.
「Whoops. I got a bit too caught up in conversing with you. I need to go.」
「Thanks.」
「Do stop by my store some time if you ever decide to check in on Barbra. I’ve started doing research on a recipe that involves the use of curry.」
「High expectations.」
「Great. I’ll make sure I fulfill them.」
Fermus gave one last bow before making an exit.
『You know, I’d really rather not keep running into people like the mages we just met.』
「Nn.」
I almost felt like I jinxed it, as someone once again called out us right about where we reached the place we met Grakma and his goons.
「Hey, you, girl. Hold on.」
「Nn?」
「Yes, I’m talking to you.」
A party of four approached us, with a man dressed like a swordsman taking up the lead. His appearance immediately caused all the adventurers around us to react and start muttering to each other.
「Dude, check that out. It’s Celldio.」
「Why’s he here?」
「Tsk. Even just seeing his face pisses me the hell off.」
「Here I was thinking today was going to be a good day. Well, there goes that.」
The mood almost seemed to instantly plummet as he showed his face. It seemed he was the type of guy most other adventurers disliked.
His appearance itself wasn’t what seemed to have repulsed them, as he’d dressed himself up neatly and looked exactly as you’d expect a knight.
_______________________________________________________________
General Information
Name: Celldio Lesspus.
Age: 30
Species: Human
Class: Magic Sword Knight
State: Normal
Status Level: 40/99
HP: 409
MP: 398
STR: 207
VIT: 199
AGI: 167
INT: 201
MGC: 190
DEX: 167
Skills
Intimidation: Lv 3
Chant Shortening: Lv 3
Riding: Lv 7
Fear Resistance: Lv 4
Sword Techniques: Lv 7
Sword Arts: MAX
Divine Sword Arts: Lv 2
Extortion: Lv 6
Command: Lv 4
Purification Magic: Lv 2
Resistance to Mental Abnormalities: Lv 5
Mental Harm Resistance: Lv 5
Elemental Blade: Lv 6
Magic Detection: Lv 3
Connoisseur: Lv 8
Leaves Good Impressions on the Opposite Sex
Opposite Sex Attraction
Orc Killer
Vigour Manipulation
Curse Nullification
Unique Skills
Weapon Control
Titles
Orc Killer
Ladykiller
Viscount
Extortionist
Elixir Addict
A Ranked Adventurer
Equipment
Pegasus Sword
Basilisk Sword
Holy Silver Armour of Light
Hexagonal Deer King’s Mantle
Dimensional Ring
Pendant of Life
_______________________________________________________________
He was decently strong, but not anything too outstanding. His party members were the same. They were all at least level 30, and had fairly decent stats. They had a pretty good balance going too, with a swordsman, a shield-bearer, a mage, and a rogue. That said, Celldio, the guy that seemed like the party’s leader, really didn’t seem worthy of his A ranked title. He was weaker than both Jean and Colbert, who were still both B rankers, so there wasn’t even really any point in comparing him to someone like Amanda. I mean, had a pretty versatile build, but still…
Celldio spoke in a pompous sounding voice as I looked and thought over his stats.
「You.」
His voice was completely devoid of amicability. It really didn’t take him saying more than just a single word for me to understand why none of the other adventurers liked him. Dude was definitely a total douchebag, and the type that looked down on other people to boot.
Both his skills and titles seemed to reference the fact that he was the type you wouldn’t want your daughter to hang around. That, combined with his good looking face, and the fact that he was a viscount, immediately made me not want him associating with Fran in any which way.
『This dude looks like he’s both a noble and a scumbag. It’d probably be best for you to just ignore him and move on.』
（Got it.）
We planned to slip right past him and casually wander off, but we failed.
「Hey! Wait!」
The skirt chaser moved himself in Fran’s way before continuing to call out to her in an arrogant manner. Looking at him up close made me realize he wasn’t just a good looking guy, but rather, an incredibly good looking guy. As a result, I started to hate on him even more.
「You’re Fran, right? The Black Lightning Princess?」
He clearly only called out to her because he knew exactly who she was.
「C ranker. Fran.」
「Good, then I have the right person. I don’t really think I need to bother introducing myself, but I will anyway. I’m Celldio Lesspas, A ranked adventurer.」
「Nn? Never heard of.」
「What? You can’t possibly be serious, can you?」
「Nn.」
「Huh. You really don’t do your research, do you?」
Wow, what a cunt. The dude immediately assumed that we didn’t do enough research just because we didn’t know who he was. His clear overconfidence only made me hate him all the more.
I began wondering what he wanted. There was no way he would go out of his way to call out to Fran and name himself if he didn’t have something in mind.
Chances were, he probably either wanted to invite them to his party or ask her to do something. Either way, I didn’t really feel like what came out of his mouth would end up being anything decent.
「Need what?」
「Give me your magic sword.」