Sword, Magic and Academic Society

"It\'s been a while, Shuri. Let me guess, something happened?"

"Yes. There are rumors that the group that left the umbrella of our Crane-Dragon Union has now taken shelter under the Rose Family but...... You\'re in an awfully good mood, did something happen?"

Shuri was about to report the situation when she saw a huge grin over Gin\'s face and couldn\'t help but ask in curiosity.

"Fufu, did my face give me away?...... Anyway, since they wanted to leave, so be it. The world is already changing after all.

It\'s in human nature to constantly strive for an advantageous position, and if they\'ve found a place they think they can use freely and strike it rich, then anything else is useless. Especially when we\'re talking about those sly foxes with sharp noses. Did you dig something up about the Rose Family?"

"The Rose Firm was a normal general contact based firm in the past that operated on the western front of the Royal Capital. However, now the same company is the patron of many organizations, and we have no clue as to how it managed to reach that phase in the mere span of ten years.

The affiliated corporations and mutual aid societies are using quite reckless ways to amass money, but otherwise they\'re living their lives in luxury. What\'s strange is that they\'re not trying to pool up the money, yet it doesn\'t seem like they\'re going to run out of funds anytime soon either."

Gin squinted his eyes.

"There\'s no smoke without fire...... Remind me again, I believe it was also around ten years ago when the president of the Divine Silver organization, who had been managing the western part of the capital, died in an accident, right?"

"It\'s as you say, Boss. We even ran a search to dig up the past graves, but they\'ve done quite a clean work, making it harder to proceed.

Nevertheless, this just points out that the attack on the Boss and the top echelon of another organization --- the ruler of the Royal Capital\'s underworld --- was truly due to their instigation......"

Shuri muttered her guess with a look of disgust on her face.

"The last thing that should be coming out of one\'s mouth in this line of work is a guess, Shuri, especially from a person of your caliber. Know that even the walls have ears.

You can\'t perform a clean execution when your heart is burdened with something and that gap is fatal when the tables are turned on you."

Shuri pursued her lips with a vexed expression and lowered her head.

"Is the knight order not going to make a move...?"

The young man Ousa, who had been quietly listening to the discussion, interjected.

"Because it\'s not worth it. We\'re mere outcasts, after all. At the very least, they\'re not going to make a move openly in this battle of dominion over the underworld. They hardly even had any free hands with the stuff they need to handle.

And most of all, the day you, a human who makes a living in the shadows, develops a reliance on their hammer of justice means it\'s over for you. Cultivate that heart of yours starting today."

Seeing that Gin had seen through his intention, Ousa felt tongue tied and in the end bowed his head.

"Anyway, even the shadows need the sun to survive. My wounds have healed to a certain extent, so I\'m more or less ready to return to the capital."

Shuri\'s eyes sparkled when she heard Gin\'s words.

"For real? This is surely going to excite everyone! None of them looked calm enough ever since you came here, Boss."

Gin had a bitter smile when he heard Shuri\'s words and then, as if recalling something, he asked.

"Speaking of which, the roughneck that you told me about from Lynd\'s society, what was it, that \'Mad Hound\'--- his name is \'Ren\' right?"

Shuri found it a bit strange when Gin asked this, since the last time she had talked about this topic, Gin had shown no interest. But surprise aside, she answered,

"Yes, the name\'s \'Ren\' indeed. Apple has gained a huge foothold in the capital\'s eastern front recently, but... That boneheaded Lynd just refused to affiliate with us. We even tried to invite him when they were short on helping hands, but he kept abiding to his self-dependency motto..."

"Haha. It\'s fine, I don\'t want to force Apple to join us. Lynd must have his own plan. I have the feeling we\'re going to see a change soon."

Gin said as he broke into a broad smile.

The unusually delighted mood of their leader caught Ousa and Shuri by surprise as they looked at each other in confusion.

◆◆◆

After enjoying the hot spring fully right after dinner --- it was a simple meal made using edible plants --- and before morning, I was now at the entrance of the village at the appointed time.

However, Tonny, who was supposed to guide me to the village while shopping, was nowhere to be found and instead, another carriage and two armed guards, a man and a woman, were waiting.

Apparently they were the personal guards of the two bearded men\'s big brothers and were going to travel with us to Kirika.

It didn\'t take long before small-moustache and goat-beard also arrived. However, there was another man with them flashing a suspicious-as-hell smile and with eyes squinted to the level of being completely closed.

"Hey, sorry to make you wait. I\'m Red, somewhat of a relative to these two dunces behind me. I was really worried when they didn\'t come back on the appointed time. Apparently they dropped their travel expenses which caused you some trouble. Man, you\'re really a lifesaver as they managed to travel safely due to your protection. You have my gratitude, truly."

The person said while kicking the butt of the small-moustached man.

Heh, so that was their excuse, huh? Whatever, not my circus, not my problem.

"Nah, that was hardly a bother. I only accepted the request because I wanted to drop by here for the hot spring."

I shrugged.

Red --- though I bet it was an alias given his red hair --- slightly opened his squinted eyes and asked me in a testing tone. Though that shit-eating grin was still plastered on his face.

"Oh? So just like these two said, you knew the request would go through the Ament Volcano yet still decided to take it on despite the paltry reward of 5,000 rea? And if they\'re right, you\'re a man of a certain caliber too..."

He prefaced with these words and then deepened that shady smile, saying with a threatening tone,

"Whatever, so tell me brat. Whose errand boy are you, and what\'s your goal?"

I sighed. That type of petty villain could only make a baby cry...... What should I say, huh? It would suck to navigate the route to Kirika alone without guidance, but it seemed like that was what I was about to do. Good grief.

An incomplete request also affected an explorer\'s rank, so normally, the procedure would have been to go along with the bullshit even if you want to spit. But being shackled into such a spot just because of some sort of obligation was the last thing I wanted to happen to me.

Besides, my B-rank was becoming a thorn in my path. Honestly, anyone who heard my rank would react with templates \'A brat of your age at B-rank? Don\'t make me laugh,\' \'Kids shouldn\'t lie, go back to your mama,\' \'Who the hell made you the boss, punk,\' or \'Greetings, chief!\' among others.

So I didn\'t really like to do rank dropping.

"Listen here, I\'m Ren from the Apple Familia, and I\'ve been working around the eastern side of the Royal Capital. I already told those two fools my goal. I was just on my way from Solcoast after my vacation trip when I heard about the hot springs and decided to take the request. Nothing more, nothing less. I don\'t care about what shit you\'re on. But---"

I sucked in a deep breath after explaining that and declared.

"Don\'t think I am the type to hide behind my mama\'s skirt while crying, so pick a quarrel at your own risk. There\'s a limit to nuisance I tolerate, for god\'s sake."

The two guards put their hands on the hilt of their swords.

Red, however, wore that shit-eating grin again and kicked that goat-bearded fella this time.

"Oh heavens, so you\'re the \'Mad Hound\' of Apple? My, that was really uncalled-for then. I often move around in the Royal Capital, so I have heard of your exploits.

It\'s just that when I heard that an unknown brat accepted their almost volunteer-like request, I really couldn\'t help but find it suspicious. I even kept a lookout outside Tsukiya from last night but didn\'t see anything suspicious......

I just wanted to see if there\'s something more hidden. Man, I would have already come to greet you if I knew it was the acclaimed Mad Hound... Seriously, such good-for-nothing fellas are an embarrassment. It\'s no surprise you\'re a talent. I\'m also traveling to Kirika, so I would be relying on your good graces."

......Wow, I truly dodged that bullet of \'Greetings, Aniki\' setting, huh? No, it was really great that you have such dumb people under you, cherish them more...

"Well, if you get it then that solves the hassle. But let me be clear first. I only accepted the request to guard those two. I hope you understand that their safety would take precedence in case of an emergency."

Red showed a slightly disappointed expression when I said that but swiftly readjusted.

"Absolutely. The reward is already paltry, so I already expected asking for anything more is impossible. Besides, it\'s their safety that is important to me."

"One more thing. I use detection magic to search for signs of a monster attack, so my ears are quite sharp, you see. Either be careful of what you say or keep a magical tool to prevent me from hearing you guys.

As I said earlier, I don\'t give a shit about what you do, but I would be forced to take action if it meant jeopardizing my peace."

I warned them in a crystal clear tone. Red, who heard that, finally broke that annoying expression and showed a cheerful smile.

"Hahaha. No wonder you\'re a professional. I was really worried for a moment there to be honest after hearing rumors like you being short-tempered or getting into your nerves meant a beating and so on... Now I can truly be worry-free... You\'re interesting, Mad Hound."

Red said and placed his hand over my shoulder in an over familiar manner. I swear he was just a bit short of making those villain-like licking lips gestures.

◆◆◆

After the initial hiccup, we departed for Kirika.

On the way, Red often asked me to enter the carriage for a talk, but I turned them all down in light of any monster attack. Though I didn\'t see any noteworthy monsters, at least for me, crossing our path.

It was around the morning of the next day that we arrived at Kirika safely.

When it was time to split up, Red handed me a business card of sorts where the name of a bar, located in the slum area of the western area of the capital, was written while saying \'Come visit me when you have free time in the capital. Say it\'s an introduction from \'Red\' of the Rose Family\'. 

I immediately crumpled the card and tossed it away once they were out of sight. It was clear that they were doing anything but white business.

I took that day to do some sightseeing around Kirika city and then boarded the train to the capital the next day.

Apparently, the city of Kirika was famous for its masks which were sold in heaps at the street-level stalls. So I purchased plenty of masks from peculiar ones to plain ones. They were just right in case I needed a disguise and some also didn\'t have holes where the eyes should be, so I could also train my mind\'s eye (acute vision) using them.

Well, now that vacation was over, I also need to visit the knight station first thing tomorrow...

There was no obligation to notify the knight order that I would be taking my leave beforehand, but that said, it probably fell into the irresponsible category to not even say a word before quietly slipping out of the Royal Capital.

In fact, I could already envision the Master gritting his teeth in rage......

E/N - You know, I find it ironic that the MC joined Apple for the Yakuza-lile feel, but now the MC is avoiding Yakuza-like templates that he so eagerly did to the members of Apple before.