"Anyway, what kind of Danger beast was that? It was definitely one of those troll types but even if it was alpha of that group, its fur shouldn't have been completely different from them. Alphas are usually just bigger and stronger and at most, their fur has grey hue but that's all. What do you think, Akashi?" Spear asked me with a thoughtful expression when we were walking down the street towards her house.
"In terms of raw strength, Snow trolls are strong enough to be considered Class 1 Danger Beasts but their slow and sluggish movements make them at most Class 2, however, that boss was fast and even stronger than his brethren. I would say that he was a low-tier Special Class Danger Beast just by its agility and raw strength." I replied while looking at the white sky filled with snowflakes.
Even I was slightly surprised by meeting such an interesting specimen.
"S-Special Class?! *sigh* To think that such strong Danger Beast would be so close to the city...Although it was quite strong, I believe that if it didn't make a surprise attack on me, we would be able to take it down just two of us! By the way, you are really proficient in using a spear, why were you so humble before?!" Spear sighed in relief when she heard my words but then she clenched her fist and said with confidence.
"I am quite interested in what kind of fighting style it is, I have never seen the one you are using, Akashi." Spear praised me while looking at me with curious eyes.
Yeah, because it's from my modern days and mixed with my own movements created on run.
"I have always trained alone so I had no teacher, therefore all of my moves are self-created." I replied with a small smile while glancing at her.
"Really?! That's amazing! You must be natural when it comes to using a spear, Akashi!" She praised me with a completely shocked expression.
"Ha-ha, not at all, your style is still better than mine." I replied with an awkward laugh.
"I don't think so but if you are interested in it, I can teach you some moves from my style!" Spear replied with a cheerful tone.
We kept on talking until we reached the shadier side of the town where we walked for a few more minutes before we stopped in front of one house that didn't look any special. The house itself looked like any other house in this location.
"Can you please wait for a bit, Akashi?" Spear who was standing in front of the door suddenly turned at me and asked me with a helpless and pleading smile. I just nodded and leaned my back against the wall next to the door.
"Thank you!" She slightly bowed with a happy expression and rushed inside while leaving me outside.
It looks like this is their real hideout since she wants me to wait outside. Its either to warn Chouri or to tidy up the rooms which I don't think is the real problem here. It is also the location where she went for her weapon.
I thought while looking at the two bodyguards who also remained in front of the door. The one who was acting a bit awkward at first smiled at me like an idiot and the other one tried to start a conversation while we would be waiting.
---Inside the house---
"Father...Can I invite a friend inside?" Spear asked her father, Chouri who was currently sitting at the dining table while reading a book.
"?! Friend? Is it the same person you went with outside hunting? *sigh* You are focusing too much on martial arts instead of trying to find a suitable husband..." Chouri raised his head from the book and asked with a surprised expression before he released a tired sigh with a slightly disappointed expression.
"Aaaaa! That's not important right now, is it?!" Spear instantly started waving with her hands around while blushing.
"...Is she trustable?" Chouri asked with a serious expression.
"Yes, and it's he, not she. He even saved my life while we were hunting outside of the city, I believe that he is a very good person!" Spear said full of confidence with a wide smile and showing her father thumb up.
"?! Bring him in." Chouri almost couldn't believe that her friend was actually male since he thought that she only found a female who was also interested in martial arts so when he even heard that person saved her, he instantly answered after he recovered from his shock.
------
After a few minutes passed by, Spear came back just to invite us inside but her bodyguards refused with a polite smile and slowly left.
"Akashi, please make yourself at home!" Spear said while she was leading me somewhere. The exterior of the house looked much poorer than interior but even then it wasn't anything luxurious like my mansion and it was also a relatively small house with only a few rooms but I didn't mind it since I felt like I was back in my old days back on the Earth.
"Thank you, Spear." I replied with a warm smile while looking around with my hands in pockets.
When we entered what seemed to be a kitchen, I instantly spotted a man sitting at the table while reading a book. It was a bald elderly man with a large mustache and a small beard and a walking stick was leaning against his chair. At first look, he indeed looked like a kind old man and even the air around him was of dignity however I couldn't detect any arrogance neither scorn for those beneath him. It was definitely Chouri I was looking for without any doubt.
"Hm? Oh, You must b-?!...I am sorry, you must be Akashi, right? Thank you for looking out for my daughter." Chouri raised his head when he heard us enter the room and when he saw me, he froze and stopped talking, making me think that he remembers me despite being in exile for some time already, however after a few seconds he recovered and said with a bright smile while extending his hand for a handshake.
This made me slightly confused. Does he remember me or why that freeze?
----Flashback when Spear went to invite Akashi----
'Her friend must be some local hunter or someone of that sort...Although I don't want to force marriage onto my daughter and want her to choose on her own, I still want the one who will marry her to be worthy. Be it military strength or having some kind of achievements...even minimal ones would do. Not to mention locals here in the Northern tribes have rough faces and overly aren't really attractive to people from Empire so I doubt that Spear would like anyone like that. She is after all from the Capital.' Chouri thought to himself while flipping another page of his book.
"Akashi, please make yourself at home!"
"Thank you, Spear."
'They are finally here, huh? Anyway, his voice doesn't sound so rough as I imagined at first.' Chouri thought to himself and before he even realized, they came inside the same room as him which made him look up to check out Spear's friend with a tired expression on his face.
'?!' However the moment he saw Akashi's appearance he was shocked to the core.
'This isn't how locals look! No wonder that Spear seems to be so interested in this man. Anyway, he looks around her age, maybe slightly younger, who knows. However, that isn't important right now!' Chouri thought and instantly stood up from his seat to shake hands with Spear's new friend.
---End of flashback---
"Oto-san!" Spear exclaimed with a little blush while pouting.
"...Yes, my name is Akashi, may I know yours, sir?" I looked at Spear with a little smile after seeing her being so embarrassed by her own parent before I directed my gaze at Chouri standing in front of me.
"Ah! Haha, sorry for impoliteness! You can call this old man Chouri!" He laughed when he realized that he had yet to introduce himself.
He quickly gestured for me to sit down on the chair opposite of him and I accepted and sat down with a small smile.
Now, since it looks like he doesn't know me, should I exploit this advantage even more? He should be aware that I am but a lowly hunter and if not, he will definitely ask me a few questions. Maybe I can see how he truly sees poor people and people without any social status.
I thought while covering my sly smile behind the curtain of my innocent and friendly smile.
"Oto-san, I will be using the kitchen for a while, alright?" Spear informed her father with a cheerful smile.
"Hm? What for? If you are hungry, you can just go buy something in the restaurant." Chouri asked with a surprised expression as if Spear hated cooking which could be the truth but I had no way of knowing.
"It's...I promised Akashi to cook for him..." She answered slowly while a blush crept up her face.
"?! I thought that you hate co-" He was shocked once again and wanted to ask her something but he was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.
"I am going!" She exclaimed aloud with closed eyes and flushed cheeks before she turned around to go prepare food.
"Heh" I chuckled with closed eyes and a genuine smile after seeing the duo. Typical daughter being embarrassed by her own father, although I haven't experienced something like this with my eyes in my past life, I have heard a lot about such situations.
"Say, Akashi, would you mind a little talk with me?" Chouri just looked at his daughter's back before he redirected his gaze at me.
And so our talk began...
We talked the entire time until Spear was done cooking lunch for all of us. I must say that Chouri is quite an interesting person and it is visible that he was Prime Minister while the previous Emperor was still alive. He has a bearing of someone of a high post but he has also kind disposition. We talked about a lot of things that included also the life of poor people "like me" and poverty itself. Slowly after he saw that I had similar ideas as him, he became more passionate about what he was speaking about and he started asking me for some opinions on his theories or goals.
One of his biggest goals was, of course, to establish a safe future for his daughter and secure a capable husband for her but there was something even bigger and it was a desire to unite the entire Empire and make it great once again.