177. Usual business




 After a quick bite to eat and drink.
 I decided to leave early, due to the fact that I was the center of all the commotion and attention.

 As I paid the bill at the register and went outside, the woman I had helped earlier came after me in a hurry.

''Ah, um!''
Yeah?
'Thank you! How can I thank you ...... for helping a complete stranger like me?
Don't worry about it. It just happened.
Coincidence?
Yeah, it's a coincidence. I just happen to be there and I happen to have the means to solve it.

 Yes, it was a total coincidence. I wasn't aiming for it.

"But ......
An acquaintance of mine once told me, 'There was a man in trouble, and he had the power to help. "A friend of mine said this, 'Someone was in trouble and had the power to help. That's all there is to it.
Still, thank you for ......!

 The woman bowed her head.

'I will definitely repay you for this.
So ......
Absolutely!

 The woman looked straight at me with a powerful gaze.
 Her enthusiasm was half-hearted, and I could read her willingness to do whatever it takes.

...... I see. I'm Sato Ryota. I usually live in Cyclo.
What?
'I won't stop you if you say you're going to return the favor, but don't get in over your head. I'm not going to run and hide.
'Yes, yes ......'
If I go to all this trouble to return the favor, some guy with the power to help me again will step in.

 He winked at her and said in a droll manner.
 The woman paused for a moment, then bowed deeply again.

'Yes! Thank you!

 I said.

 I then watched her walk back into the store and then I started walking again.
 Zzzah, zzzah, zzzah.
 Two overlapping footsteps.
 Someone is following me from behind.

 When I stopped, he stopped too.
 The one who followed was ...... needless to say, Nicholas.

You're going to be able to get the most out of it.
You're so cool, mister. I love that exchange.
No, it's not.
She's in love with you, man. If you chase her now, you can get laid.
I don't mean to tell you that.
I'm in love with you again. I'm wet!
It's not more for that!

 I felt a shiver run down my spine.

Hey, hey, hey. Do you want to come over to my place for a drink? We may not fight, but we can at least have a drink.
I don't want to risk my life.
Come on. Don't worry, they won't attack you before you fight. You gotta have a good fight, you gotta have a good physical workout before you can feel good about it.
Don't appeal to me! I don't want to know, so don't!
So I'm gonna have another drink.

 Nicholas squared his shoulders roughly.
 It was rather normal, in the realm of man-to-man skin-to-skin.

 Nicholas pulled me to him.
 He's a pervert and someone you have to be wary of, but he's the kind of guy you can't dislike because he's not backwards.

 Nicholas pulled me to a section of the old city.
 It was an old, rundown area, unlike the brand new, splendid buildings in the downtown area where I was earlier.

"Do we have to go through this place?
No, I live here.
Here?
He pecked away while I was saying. I'm here.

 It was an old building that Nicholas brought me to.
 I heard it's reasonably well maintained, but you can still tell at a glance that it's showing its age.
 It's a building that could be as old as 50 - or even 100 years old if it's not.

Do you live here?
Yeah.
...... Why? You could live in a mansion or something like that, not in this old place, right?

 He's a 7-star guy, the head of a family with (probably) henchmen.
 It's only been a short time since we met, but from what I've seen so far, he's the head of the family in the mafia sense of the word, so he seems like a nice place to live.

 I'm sure you'll be able to find it in the ...... ramshackle house that's 100 years old.

You don't get it, do you? It's the oldest house in Same-Tierne," he said.
"The best?
'Osa. This is one of the houses built when the city was founded. The same one is already here, and it's the oldest one.
The oldest ...... I remember, you ordered some 'old booze' earlier.
Hey. You ...... know what the greatest luxury in the world is? It's time.
Time.

 He mumbles in a flat pronunciation and an obtuse reply.

You can make all the good things you want. The same goes for the best things. Can't you make one good thing after another if you're so inclined?
Yeah. But I just can't take the old ones.
Yeah. You gotta take your time with the old ones. There's no way to get rid of it by human power. That's why it's the ultimate luxury.
I see.

 Old booze, old house.
 I wondered why he was so obsessed with it, but it made sense if you ask me.

'It's a pretty expensive obsession, isn't it?
I've got lots of money. Then you're running a general store in town. I'll do anything and the money will come in.
Aren't you an adventurer?

 I could tell when you squared your shoulders with me earlier.
 Nicholas is strong.
 He's probably the strongest human being I've ever met, even more so than that Neptune.

 I thought he was an adventurer too, since I've always known that the strongest people in this world are adventurers without exception.

That's because he's the F-final!
I didn't know that.

 That's surprising.
 The second page of status, which has nothing to do with strength.
 Drop status, and that's all the lowest ranked F humans are called F-final.
 That's what I call a person who enters a dungeon and rarely drops anything. It's a kind of derogatory term.

''I see.''
Why don't we just go in and have another drink?
'Bo, boss: ......'
What?

 Nicholas was about to take my hand and bring me into the house, but he jumped from the shadows and grimaced when I stopped him.
 The corners of his mouth twitched as he dexterously peeled one eye out.

 A man emerges from the shadows.
 I've never seen him before, but I recognize his mood.
 The same air as the men you just chastised, no doubt Nicholas' henchmen.

 The guy came in front of Nicholas fearlessly.

"What?
Actually ......

 I glanced at me, then softly gave Nicholas an earful.
 At first Nicholas is unhappy about being interrupted, but his face gradually turns into a look of surprise, and eventually a smile twists the corners of his mouth into a grin.

It seems to be a thing.
All right. Come back and get it.
Are you sure about that, boss? You don't want to know what you're getting paid?
Ah-an?
I'll get back to you!

 The man who was staring at him straightened up, saluted, and left the place as if he were running away.
 What the hell? What's going on here?

OMG!

 Quickly, he slumped his upper body. Something sharp and freezing grazed the tip of my nose.
 I kicked the ground and jumped down. Landing on the ground, he assessed the situation.

 Before I knew it, Nicholas, who had drawn his dagger, had swung it right out of the air.
 The blade of the dagger is emitting a red and purple aura, a bad type of weapon no matter how you look at it.
 It was the one that grazed the tip of his nose.

''What are you doing!''
I just got a job.
Work?
Yeah, one of my regular clients asked me to make a guy disappear.

 A man ...... needless to say, that's me.

I do a lot of killing too, so, well, it's just business as usual.
There's no such thing as normal business!

 I plunged in, but Nicholas licked the blade of the dagger with his tongue and looked at me in ecstasy.
 Oh man, I'm so blind.

I'll be able to fight you now ...... after all, I'm a tsujogeum, as usual!
d*mn!

 Nicholas's figure wavered - and then he appeared in front of me.
 A tremendous step in, a speed so super fast that there's definitely an A.

 I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time in the world.

 Gogo Gogo ...... doh!

 A roaring sound came from behind me, what a surprise, the oldest building in this city that I was invited to earlier was slashed in half and the place where it was slashed was shifted (...).

 The power is quite high, or is it the power of the weapon?
 Either way, he's a formidable opponent.

"Oh, ...... it's good, it's good, it's good, it's good! I wanted to have this kind of fight with you guys, man!

 Nicholas rushes in with his eyes wide open.
 Calmly, he avoids a slash and dives into his stomach to unleash a counter punch.

 A punch deep into his gut, repelling Nicholas as he dives in.
 Its momentum is like a super ball. That's how much of a bounce it is.

 Nicholas finally stops after knocking down a few old, unpopular buildings.
 A full blown blow, perfectly in.
 I shouldn't be able to get up in this one!

f*ck, that hurts. Heh-heh-heh.

 Nicholas stood up, writhing in agony, but his mouth was smiling.
 Nicholas continued his rush.
 He was extremely fast. The dagger he was holding was also muddled, and if he was slashed, it looked like it would be bad, except in a physical sense, but he dealt with it calmly and matched the counter.

 He hit the fifth shot and blew it up five times.

''Say, as expected, you can't stand up anymoreーー''

Are you kidding me?

 Nicholas plunged in and jumped up from the rubble of the house he'd ripped down.
 He cheered, as if in triumph.

 I braced myself, bracing myself for the next attack.
 But it didn't come.

 Nicholas jumped up and stopped moving as he landed.

'......'

 Fearfully, I approached and looked at him, braced and alert.
 Nicholas was passed out in a large ball on the rubble.

 His well-tailored clothes are covered in blood from the bloody antithesis of his own, and the area around his body where I countered is a wreck.
 Nicholas, who should have been knocked down and knocked out by the damage beyond his limit, was faintingーー.
 That face was smiling with satisfaction.

It's a good thing that ...... this is already okay. But ......

 I look around.
 Probably because Nicholas bought it all up, this corner of the old buildings that are not popular at all.
 It was destroyed by Nicholas's slash rather than my attack, and was no longer in ruins.

'I'd have won, but if I'd hit one of those shots ......

 I was horrified at the thought.