"And just who in the world do you think you are, huh?" Jyrki asked the silver-haired boy.
"I'm Punti. It's not set in stone yet, but I plan on participating in the next Hero Selection Exam. Well, if I do take it, I know that I won't fail it like Marx Redford over there." Punti chuckled merrily.
"Wow, Marx. Even someone like you can fail a test? Actually, this is the first time I even knew that you were a hero candidate."
"Do you seriously think it's that easy to obtain a hero title?"
"I guess not."
Though heroes had special privileges, they also had unique responsibilities. The only people who could earn that title were those who possessed overwhelming combat prowess.
"Anyway, if I can't win against Marx Redford and his funny little friends, then there's no hope for me in the exam. I'm going to have you all serve as my training dummies." With that, Punti slowly raised his sword.
Jyrki clicked his tongue irritably. "Why in the world is someone like you in the monster-tamer platoon?" None of them had foreseen this turn of events.
"Isn't it obvious if you think about it a little?" Punti replied, cocking his head to the side. "Or are you too stupid?"
"Don't make fun of him," Iina said angrily. "Though I admit...Jyr is a little stupid..."
"You're really not helping. Ah, wait, Iina, you seriously think that about me?"
"I suppose you're to serve as insurance on the off chance that the soldiers can't control their monsters," Marx guessed. Even in the face of this unexpected situation, he remained as calm as ever.
"Ahh, right, yeah! That was totally what I was gonna say, you know?"
If that was true though, then it meant that Punti was strong enough to defeat an intermediate-tier monster all by himself. Jyrki wanted to call for a retreat but Punti didn't seem the type who would let them escape.
Then, a messenger arrow flew up into the air a short distance away from them. Punti turned his attention to the arrow, distracted by the sound.
This is the only chance we'll get. Jyrki signaled with his hand.
"Oops." Punti took a step to the side, and where his face was a mere second before, Water Prison manifested in the air. Iina released an arrow enchanted with Accelerate, aimed at where Punti had moved to, but he deflected it with his sword.
Seeing his opening, Jyrki closed the gap between them and slashed out with the dagger in his right hand, but Punti dodged it. At the same time, the effect of Accelerate enveloped Jyrki's left arm. He reversed the dagger in his left hand and brought it down on Punti's neck like a punch. This was Jyrki's true aim. All of the other attacks had been nothing more than feints.
But Punti still evaded it. "That's some nice teamwork. Did you guys spend a lot of time practicing?" It wasn't a clean dodge though, and blood dripped down his neck. Clearly, it wasn't a fatal wound. Jyrki had only sliced through skin.
"Move!" Jyrki yelled as he jumped backwards. He landed on the other side of the street Punti and the other members of the monster-tamer platoon had been on. He saw Iina and Marx leap in opposite directions to each other as well.
They split up, each running in a different direction—east, west, and south. Punti wasn't on Jyrki's tail, and judging by his fixation, he was likely going after Marx.
"Damn, that guy was super strong... Looked like he was better than Marx." But Jyrki wasn't too worried. "We're just a funny little mercenary group who don't mind playing dirty."
Normally, it was better to avoid fighting enemies who were stronger than you. However, retreat was sometimes impossible. On top of that, if the enemy was acting alone, then...
"Iina, Marx, I'm counting on you two."
...Iina would be the one to defeat him.
***
Punti chased after Marx without hesitation. He leaped at him, slashing out with his sword as soon as his feet touched the ground. Marx skillfully deflected the attack with his dagger.
"Nice! I expected nothing less from the man said to be the next commander of the Knights of the Azure Skies!" He continued to strike at him with his sword but, even though he only wielded a dagger, Marx deftly defended himself from the blows.
If I could ask but for one thing, Punti thought, it'd be to fight against Marx armed with a sword.
"You still haven't seen enough of the world," Marx said.
"Huh? Are you calling me inexperienced?" Punti didn't give Marx any time to breathe, continuing his relentless assault. Marx was still blocking every hit but he was slowly backing up, bit by bit.
I can win this. I can win against Marx Redford! Unlike Marx, Punti wasn't famous, so this was the perfect opportunity. He would be able to enter the Hero Selection Exam as the man who defeated Marx Redford.
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Then what were you trying to say?!"
As soon as Punti yelled the words, Marx jumped to the right. An arrow flew at him from Marx's previous direction, completely within Punti's blind spot. Their teamwork was nothing to scoff at, and he couldn't help but wonder if Marx had eyes on the back of his head.
The arrow that flew at him was much faster than an ordinary one. It was probably the work of that flat-chested, black-haired girl with the nasty look in her eyes. He vaguely remembered hearing her name but had already forgotten it.
Punti twisted his body and managed to dodge the arrow. But he was unable to avoid it completely and it scratched his left arm. The pain was brief and inconsequential. Punti was knocked off-balance, and that was when Marx pounced. Punti evaded Marx's dagger and simultaneously leaped backwards to give himself some distance.
"You move fast," Marx said. "I won't be able to catch you by myself."
True to his word, Marx didn't try to chase after Punti. Wary of incoming arrows, Punti adjusted his grip on his sword.
"Ha ha, when you talked about seeing the world, did you mean your teamwork?" Punti asked. "Too bad though, because it won't work on me."
"No," Marx said, shaking his head. "I'm not that strong. So defeating me won't give you much bragging rights."
"Ha! Marx Redford from the Knights of the Azure Skies, 'not that strong'?! Why don't you save your lies for someone else?!"
"I'm Marx from the mercenary group Moon Blossom. They're not here right now, but my boss and vice captain are so strong that I'm practically a child compared to them."
"Hmm. If that's the truth, then I'd love to meet them."
He'd meet them, fight them, and then win. He'd never heard of Moon Blossom before. If it was a mercenary group created by a hero-class person, then he would have heard rumors at least. That meant neither the leader nor the vice captain were heroes. And yet, they were stronger than Marx. In that case, Punti thought, they would be the best candidates for his training partners.
"Meeting the vice captain wouldn't be so bad, but you'd regret meeting the boss. I suggest you avoid her at all costs."
"Well, now you're only making me want to meet her more."
"Let's say that in the future, you have the chance to meet her," Marx said with a serious expression. "If she invites you to join Moon Blossom, turn down her offer. All right? Never, under any circumstances, accept her invitation. Consider yourself warned."
"I wouldn't join anyway. I don't wanna be a mercenary. I just want to meet and defeat her."
"No, that would never happen. The boss is the last person in the world who would fight fair and square. Someone as straightforward as you would never win." Marx huffed out a small laugh. "But you're lucky. At the very least, you might die before you meet our boss. That's completely dependent on her commander, of course."
"What? What are you...saying...?" Huh? My body...feels numb... Using his sword as a makeshift cane, Punti barely managed to avoid collapsing onto the ground. "That arrow earlier...was poisoned, huh...? You cheater..." So that entire conversation just now was to buy time for the poison to spread.
"All of Iina's arrows are tipped with poison. You lost the moment it scratched you. I forgot to mention this, but if our boss uses disgraceful tactics, then it stands to reason that her underlings would too. Now then, what should we do, commander?"
"Hmm? What should we do? There's nothing innit for us if we call him. It'd be pretty interesting to bring him home with us and have him meet with the boss. Iina, whaddaya think?"
Jyrki popped his head out of the window from one of the houses.
Ahh, I see, Punti realized. In their original plan, Jyrki would have launched some sort of attack from that window. However, Marx started buying time for the poison, so Jyrki remained hidden and watched over the proceedings. They were a truly despicable trio.
"Boom."
At the same time that Punti heard the black-haired, flat-chested girl behind him, a sharp and terrible pain erupted from his crotch. He wanted to scream, but only a pathetic squeak sounding like a crushed frog escaped from his throat. Unable to support his own weight, he fell to the ground.
"I'd rather...bully him to death..."
"That ain't really my style. If we're gonna kill him, let's do it in one go, yeah?"
He could hear the flat-chested girl's elated voice, along with Jyrki's pitying one. If, and this is a big if, they decide that they won't kill me...if I survive this ordeal thanks to their fickleness, then I swear that I'll kill that flat-chested girl. I don't care what happens to the others. I just need to see her dead.After he made that oath, Punti fell unconscious.
***
"What a beautiful sight," Asura sighed as she gazed upon the corpses left behind in Divine Retribution's wake. The spell had completely torn them apart, turning the battlefield into a sea of blood littered with the body parts of the angel's victims. "Little boy, do you have anywhere to go?"
The boy didn't reply to Asura's question. He was staring out into space, as if caught in a dream. Asura figured he was reveling in the aftermath of the slaughter.
"It was a wonderfully one-sided massacre, wasn't it?" Asura called out to him. "I love battles like that. How about you?" With her right hand, she patted the boy on his head. Her left hand remained motionless by her side.
"Oh, um... Th-Thank you for helping me get revenge..."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Killing them so happened to be one of our mission objectives anyway. And how about an answer to my question? Do you have anywhere you can stay?"
"My uncle works as a livestock farmer in Tellace Village so I...can probably go there."
"Ha! Livestock, you say?! So you're going to spend the rest of your life raising animals with your uncle?! It's a fine life and you'll never want for employment, but it's not the path that suits you."
"But I don't have anywhere else to go..."
"How about becoming a mercenary?"
The boy's eyes widened at Asura's suggestion. "Huh?"
Lumia's expression mirrored his shock, but Asura didn't pay her any heed as she continued, "You have talent. You showed it by escaping from the monster-tamer platoon all by yourself. Most people would've just frozen and waited for death. But you chose to run. Not only do you have brains, but you've got luck on your side as well. More importantly, you watched without averting your gaze as that angel butchered up those soldiers. It felt good, didn't it?"
Asura smiled at him, and the boy returned it with one of his own as he nodded.
"Heh. The trauma of seeing your family killed before your eyes broke you. You'll never fit in with society again. Raising livestock with your uncle will never lift the darkness from your heart."
The boy nodded, listening intently to Asura's words.
"Like I said earlier, being a farmer is a fine job, but it's no longer something for you. You'll just get frustrated, which will turn into aggression towards your surroundings. You might even end up killing someone... Actually, in your case, you definitely will. If the alternative is becoming a murderer, why don't you join my mercenary group? There, killing your enemies will get you praise and money."
The boy pondered Asura's suggestion.
"Asura, how can you be so sure that he'll end up a murderer?" Lumia asked.
"Oh, come on. He was laughing as he watched you do this, you know?" Asura gestured around them. At the blood and flesh, at the death and despair. The stench of the burning village mingled with the scent of the battlefield. "That's not a normal response. He's the same kind of person we are."
"This isn't a sight I particularly enjoy gazing upon," Lumia retorted.
"But it's not as if you hate it either. You're completely neutral about it, aren't you?"
"I do have my opinions on it, even if it's nothing more than regret that I've done it again."
"And I suppose your excuse is that it only happened because I ordered it?"
"It's not an excuse if it's true."
"All right, if that helps you sleep at night," Asura sighed. "Oh, that reminds me. I won't command you to use Divine Retribution in front of the others, so don't fret over that."
Divine Retribution would reveal Lumia's true identity, but in Asura's opinion, Moon Blossom would still accept her. Lumia simply needed to work up the courage to expose herself, and then her conundrum would be solved. If she could only face her true self, she would enjoy life so much more.
The sound of a messenger arrow whizzed through the air and the three of them looked up.
"It looks like the other team's done with their mission, so there's only one monster left," Asura said.
"Right. What's our next move?"
"Nothing. We'll leave it to Jyrki." With that, Asura turned back to the boy. "Have you made up your mind?"
"Miss, I've decided. I'll become a mercenary."
So the boy ended up choosing the path of violence and battle over a peaceful farmer's life.
"In that case, you'll have to refer to me as 'Boss' from here on out," Asura said. "What's your name and age?"
"I'm Reko, and I'm eleven years old," the boy replied.
"All right. Welcome to Moon Blossom. I'll raise you into a nice and strong soldier-mage." Asura laughed, pleased with herself. "Oh, I can't wait to go back and buy Salume. We'll have to raise her alongside Reko here. Lumia, I'm sure you know this already, but I just love teaching new recruits."
"If that's what you call teaching, then I don't doubt it," Lumia sighed while shaking her head. "Oh, you poor kids..."
"Heh heh heh, what should we do first?" Asura muttered to herself, her expression soft with glee. "I guess it would be a bit too early to start them off with my basic training regime... Should I work on their bodies first? Their magic? Or maybe I should start by beating them into utter submission and compliance? Ahh, what to do, what to do..."
"So you'll be the first person to receive Asura's elite education, huh?" Lumia bundled Reko up into a gentle embrace. When Marx, Iina, and Jyrki joined, they'd already been more than competent in battle and only required Asura's basic training. However, Reko truly needed to start from scratch.
"O Lord, please grant Reko a strong will..."
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