I knocked out the second rate assassin with relative ease and stripped him off his cloak. Then I used a stupid amount of magical tools to mask mine and my partner's presence. Finally, I put on the assassin's cloak before sneaking through the night.
"Alright Megumin, just keep an eye out. Don't be too alerted if the guy defeated me. He's much more than he looks…"
"Got it, I'll cast some explosion as diversion if anything happens,"
After a few minutes of sneaking around, I finally managed to get myself in a very good situation. Dust, all alone, with a spear next to him. This is going to be hell of a prank and he deserve it for being one hell of an asshole.
"Right here is fine, isn't it? I didn't want to wake the rest of them up, so I brought you out here. Come on out," he said while grabbing a spear nearest to him.
I stepped out of the shadows and shrugged. "Oh, so you noticed me. I thought you were just going out to water the grass."
"Anyone would be suspicious when being followed by something that doesn't exist," Dust replied, his voice calm and alert. "I don't know who you are, but you're probably hired by those guys, right? The boss is already chilling in the cells. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"They paid me in advance, I am simply doing my job, to safety deliver the goods."
"You really are inflexible for a guy in this line of work. You're going to waste your life away if you're this hard headed… Just like I did in the past."
"Thank you for your advice. Let's leave the small talk here and get to work."
I took out the dual knives this assassin used and held it threateningly in front of Dust. The guy watches my every moves with calculated precision.
Then, I charged at him.
I'm not that experienced in fighting a spear wielder, but I am experienced in fighting an exploding-in- contact-staff wielder. I kept a close distance, making sure to block the point end of his spear with one knife and attack him with another.
I lunged at him whenever he tried to take create some distance. He even tried to use that against me, but I've seen Yunyun fight with her sword and I can differentiate between a bait for a strike and an actual retreat for using spells.
Really tho, if it wasn't for my skills and my experience in fighting my teammates, I wouldn't be standing right now. I can't even use magic since my unique magic will definitely tell him that I am an adventurer and there's only one guy with the lowest job adventurer in Axel who can fight like I do.
The spar went on for ten minutes. I alternated between attacking and defending. Whenever he thinks I'm stalling, I will deal a sloppy lethal strike. Whenever he thinks I'm holding back, I will increase my breathing.
"Alright, he's a solid twenty when it comes to skill, let's take it up a notch,"
I nodded and started buffing myself with magic. Dust who's extremely skilled in what he does started to get overwhelmed. Numerous cuts appeared on his body and his clothing started to get ripped a little. It went on for five minutes when.
'CLANG'
The shock wave was similar to the ones from Megumin's first encounter with Dust. A full power thrust with a spear met my double knives. The knives shattered in my grip and Dust started to breathe heavily.
"Sorry, it's been a while since I use this… I might not be able to hold back," he said.
Dust was about to deal a finishing blow when I caught his spearhead with my bare hand.
I gripped on it tightly and the spear head shattered in my grip. Then I cracked my knuckles and adopted a basic martial arts stance.
"Too bad, because I've been holding back all this time…" I retorted.
But then, the guy took out another spear. This one looks like something around the same calibre as my winter shogun sword.
"Oi, oi, just how much do they pay you anyway?"
I weighed my options. If I use magic to get an upper hand, he will get suspicious. So, I have to improvise and see if I can beat this guy in his most awakened state with bare hands. Wait, I'm an assassin aren't I? Aren't assassin something like a thief?
I decided to see how tough he is with his spear and oh boy, he is though.
Without my own defensive buff, there is no way I could survive his strikes. My hand felt more and more sore every time I blocked his spear.
"I believe he's around that Mitsurugi guy's level. We can stop now."
"I am still holding back, are you sure you want to go through with this?"
Dust glared at me and charged in with his spear.
"Steal," I said and the spear in his hand went into my grip.
I threw it away to where Megumin's hiding and Dust cursed loudly.
Dust was about to grab something on the ground, but I lunged at him and gripped his neck. I brought his face to mine and let him gaze upon the Darkness that is the magic cloak.
"You told me I was wasting my life for being inflexible,"
I pushed him down to the ground. Dust gritted his teeth in pain as he struggled to go back up.
"Yet you're the one who wasted your life. You laze around everyday, refusing to put an effort into anything. You are a shame to those precious to you, thinking that by simply saving their life, you can redeem yourself."
"I don't want to hear that from you… Just who the hell are you anyway!?"
"They call me Karma, the shadow that hunts those who has a debt unpaid," I stepped on his body, cracking a few ribs in the process. "I am the vengeance that follows every ill will, every curse words, every cries of frustration and anger,"
"Th-then kill me! But leave them alone, please!" Dust exclaimed desperately.
"You just have to do as my client requested…"
"And if I do it, you wouldn't… You wouldn't do anything to Lynn?"
"Of course not,"
Dust took a deep breath, cringing a little at his broken chest. "F-fine… I promise, I would do it…"
"Promise it upon your blade,"
…
"I promise… Now tell me your demands…"
"For you to STOP BEING A USELESS PARASITE YOU LITTLE PIECE OF DRAGON SHIT!!!!" I yelled the last part in frustration while throwing away my cloak. "Goddammit Dust! You've been a huge pain in the ass for everyone around you. You think about money, money, and money but you never put enough effort into anything you do!!!"
Dust's eyes widened a little. "Ka-Kazuma…"
I pulled his sorry ass up and slapped him in the face.
"Stop being an immature bitch and face it! You're not better off than you were years ago! You think by being a lazy bastard who doesn't put an effort into anything you do makes you a better person!? You think you're honoring the promise from the one who gave you that sword of yours?!"
"You are fucking disgusting, using a promise as an excuse to become a lazy troublemaker. That's tarnishing the name of those who has tried to help you, goddammit!" I pushed him back down. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're giving to To Lynn? To Taylor? To Keith? To Luna? To everyone at the adventurer's guild? You fucking ruined everything because of your stupid idea that people who works hard is an asshole."
"Well guess what buttercup!? I'm a hard worker and look where I am right now! I'm a fucking billionaire! I'm living out the best of my life! I have everything that you don't! So don't you dare talk back to me about me wasting my life! The only one here who has wasted their life is you."
"Get up and don't you fucking dare give me that 'you don't know what I've been through', guess what, I know. I've seen everything and more, you're not some big shot with a sad past. You're whiny angsty immature little bitch who thinks too highly of himself!"
Dust slowly stood up, but then I kicked him in the guts and he crumpled on the ground.
"I think that's enough Kazuma sama…"
The Dragon Knight looked up and saw Lynn walking towards him.
"I'm the client he's talking about," Lynn said with a flat look on her face. "Advance payment, fifty thousand Eris," she crouched down in front of him. "Don't let it go to waste, you got that, Mr. Chelka?"
Dust nodded mutely.
"Good," Lynn turned towards me and smiled. "Thanks for your patronage, Kazuma sama,"
"You're welcome Lynn, he's your problem now, take care of him,"