Chapter 87: Talk of The Town: Part Three

About two hours after I arrive at the lobby.

“Well hey there, kinkster. How’s it feel to be the new talk of the town?”

“I know that voice. And that stupid nickname.” Safe to say, it’s Peyton, emerging from behind me while I’m still talking to a few of the Association’s non-Warrior workers. I bid them farewell to then turn to face the insufferable woman behind me, standing by the fountain.

Only, it’s not just her. She’s accompanied by Melissa and Uncle Chadwick. They’re all wearing their usual attire.

“Heh. Jealous?” I taunt to get back at her.

“Why would I be? Very few people know about me being a Warrior, and I prefer to keep it that way.” My taunt falls short, much to my annoyance.

“You on the other hand, might as well be walking around with a big flashy sign on your back written ’watch me’… are you forgetting that members of the Disciplinary Committee should be kept secret from the public?” Uncle Chadwick joins in on the attack.

“It… i-it’s not like I’ve been going around telling people about my specific job at the Association.” I poorly defend myself. To my surprise, it works.

“Hm… fair enough.” Uncle Chadwick shrugs. “I’m just saying, be careful.” He adds with a genuine look of concern on his face.

It throws me off a bit, but I reply accordingly. “I will… you don’t have to worry.”

It strikes me now that Uncle Chadwick might be the spoiling type. Which is a refreshing change of things, I’ll shamelessly admit. Old man-Gam was infuriatingly strict, as much of a goof as he is.

“We saw a small article on your clearing of the B-Rank Dungeon about twenty minutes ago. You were right. You really can take care of yourself. Have you really grown that strong now?” Melissa finally speaks up to ask, her facial expression as nonchalant as ever.

“That news is out already? Those reporters don’t mess around, huh?”

Getting out of my head, I answer Melissa’s question. “As much as I hate to admit, I’m still no where near yours and Peyton’s level. I actually got frustratingly lucky in that Dungeon. I only fought about three hundred B-Rank monsters, then the Boss showed herself on her own, calling all the other monsters off for some reason, therefore, preventing me from being outnumbered. But even then, the Boss monster was no joke, and even almost killed me. I only ’’technically’’ won with… a little help.” I emphasize the irony in the word ’little’ as I finish, and it’s as if I can practically feel Dawn’s smug facial expression all the way through the Item Space.

“Really? The Dungeon Boss was that strong?” Asks Peyton with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

“Terrifyingly so.” I readily answer her with assurance.

“I wonder what this ’’little’’ help, you speak of is, then.” Uncle Chadwick smirks coyly with an eyebrow raise as he adds.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” I assure all three of them. “I still need to check out a few things with it.”

“Or should I say ’with her’.”

“You should.” Dawn interjects internally.

“Quiet you.” I playfully call her off in response.

“Alright, if you say so, then.” Answers Uncle Chadwick. “I take it, you’re not planning on tackling another Dungeon anytime soon, then?” He asks rhetorically with a smug look on his face, as if to say, ’’bitten off more than you can chew, have you?’’.

“Kerk…” A vein visibly pops out of my forehead. While a very obvious forced smile forms on my face. He sees it, my overall expression, and snickers. I want to punch him. I really do, but the man in front of me, this old man, is arguably the strongest man in all of Niger. Or at the very least, one of the strongest. Definitely in the top five, for sure. One wrong move and he’d fold me like a blanket. He knows that. That’s why he’s acting like this. And it really doesn’t sit right with me.

“W-well, I am planning on going to an A-Rank as soon as I’m sure I’m ready.” I say with a broken smile, and my eyes closed, while feeling my vein getting bigger. But then…

~Pat~

-Is the soft sound of an old man’s palm coming in contact with the top part of my head. It’s Uncle Chadwick’s palm.

“Relax kid… Don’t be in such a hurry… you’ll get there.” He starts brushing my head with his hand like I’m some puppy, messing up my beautiful spike. But crazy enough, I don’t hate it.

“Alright, alright, jeez, I get it, okay? Let go of me, already.” I duck my head to evade his hand, failing miserably not to let a childlike smile form on my face, especially with Peyton and Melissa doing the same.

He’s right, though. I’m a little too impatient for someone who’s only been a Warrior for a few days or so. I need to calm down. Take a second to take a little breather.

“Thanks.” I say to Uncle Chadwick. “I won’t let you down. I promise.” I add.

He looks at me with a genuine smile, like a proud dad looking at his own son then speaks. “I know.”

Though I’m a little embarrassed to admit, the words spark a new kind of flame in me I can’t quite explain.

We continue chatting, all four of us, about something or other, but something keeps gnawing at the back of my mind for some reason. Like I’m forgetting something. Something important.

“I wonder what it could be.” I wonder. Then Dawn chimes in telepathically, her voice basically bathed in mental exhaustion.

“Master…” She pauses to sigh. Give me a break, will you? “The… the Shadow.” She says.

“Ohhh!” I genuinely exclaim internally. “Right… that… of course. Man… wait till they get a load of this.”

“Uhm, guys…?” I immediately catch their attention, all three of their heads seemingly instinctively turning to look at me. “Yeah so, by the way, I uh… so here’s the thing, see, at the Dungeon… heh, y’all are gonna laugh… I uh… I actually-”

“Just tell them, already-!”

“I’m getting to it, jeez!”

I’ll have to discipline this Spirit thoroughly when I get the time.

“So I actually ended up crossing paths with number one, you know, the strongest of the Twelve Guardian Shadows, Taipan. And uh… well, you know, we fought. And… a-as I’m sure you can guess, what with my being here… I uhm… I kind of… killed him.” I finally finish.

“I think Jesus is back.”

“I thought you didn’t buy into any of that stuff.” Seriously, I’m really going to have to teach this Spirit a lesson or two.

As for Peyton, Melissa, and Uncle Chadwick. Well, I don’t think the words necessary for explaining their facial expressions right now exist in my vocabulary. Whatever the mixture of awe, disbelief, doubt, fear, worry, confusion, and exhaustion. Yeah, whatever that may be. At best, I’d say it’s close enough to what their faces look like right now.

Breaking the silence, Uncle Chadwick finally speaks. “Kid.” He says with his right hand slowly massaging his forehead. “Let me get this straight. So you’re saying that you… killed Taipan… the strongest of the Twelve Guardian Shadows… is that correct?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” I answer him readily.

He walks towards the fountain and takes a seat on one of the unoccupied sitting spots on the seating arrangements surrounding the said-fountain.

~Sigh~

Then sighs. “Just what the hell kind of headache have you thrown my way, you bastard?” He murmurs to himself with both his hands covering his face.

“Wouldn’t know for sure. But I think that’s directed at old man-Gam.”

“Raid. You realize I’m still trying to wrap my head around what I witnessed at the park this morning, right? And now you’re coming at me with this?” He says as he looks up at me while sitting down.

“Oh, so, you uh… you ended up taking care of that little problem of mine, then, I take it?” I ask him with an awkward laugh.

“’Little problem’, he says. You took out two of the strongest members of the Reinhardt Family, and all you have to say about it is, ’little problem’?” He stares at me like I’m some psycho as he says that.

“In my defense. They attacked me first.” I defend myself, this time very expertly.

“H-hold on, a-are you sure it was Taipan who you fought?” Melissa finally speaks, but it’s clear from her tone alone that even she doesn’t think there’s any substance to her argument.

I don’t speak and only put my right hand out, materializing Taipan’s obsidian daggers out of the Item Space and onto my palm.

That confirms it. Uncle Chadwick just sighs and looks down as he sees them. Melissa and Peyton however, close our gap to get a closer look at the weapons.

“Oh yeah, that’s Taipan’s blades, alright.” Affirms Peyton as she finally speaks herself.

“Speaking of which…” I chime in. “I thought about keeping them and using them to make you those knives I promised you. Thing is, they’re made out of Poison Steel, which I’m sure you know, has poison properties, so I didn’t know if that would work for you or not.” I tell Peyton.

“Oh yeah? Well… I actually don’t like poison. Just not my style. My thing is just cutting things open.” She replies with an innocent smile.

“Ah yes, the words every man wants to hear come out of a beautiful lady’s mouth.” I say with a lazy sigh.

“You think I’m beautiful?”

“That’s what she took from that?”

“Told you she liked you.” Says the troublemaking Spirit.

“I swear to God, Dawn.”

“I guess I’ll make an entirely different weapon then.” I transfer the daggers back into the Item Space, expertly ignoring Peyton’s weird question with shameless abandon. As I do, I catch a glimpse of Melissa’s face turning a bit dim. Or rather dimmer than usual.

“Hold on, you’re not… Are you interested in getting a weapon from me yourself, Melissa?” I ask as I look at her.

She adjusts her expression, as if noticing me noticing her prior slight disappointment. “Wh-what? No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She lies straight to my face. I can easily tell. Why? Cause I’m an expert liar myself. Taught by the very best in the business.

“Are you interested in poisons?” I poke. “You know, you can just tell me to, and I can make you a pretty sturdy longsword out of that Poison Steel.” I add.

“Really?” Hook, line and sinker. I got her.

“Yeah, just say the word.” I punctuate.

“Okay, then… please do.” She says with a thin smile and an almost unnoticeable glimmer in her eyes.

“You got it… then Peyton, you’ll have to wait a bit for your knives since I don’t know what kind of material I’ll be using if not Poison Steel.” I say as I turn to look at Peyton. She pauses for a second before answering.

“Oh… y-yeah, that’s totally fine. I still have my original knives, anyway. Melly on the other hand doesn’t have a specific weapon for herself so it’s better if you start with her.” Peyton nods in approval.

“Really? I didn’t know that. Alright then, longsword for Melissa first it is!” I exclaim with a newfound determination to make my honorary older sister happy.

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