25 Chapter 25: Tanaka the Wizard…again

I found myself back in our home city before I knew it.

"Well then, Tanaka-san, thank you very much for working with us together this time."

After alighting from the carriage, Alan bowed deeply. I tried not to sneer.

"Working together? I did all the work. You guys did absolutely nothing at all."

"Sorry," Alan apologized. The other two girls lowered their heads in shame. I suddenly felt as if I was being a little too harsh on them.

"That said, I'm not sure if I should be receiving the entire reward for myself."

"Yes," Alan assured me, waving his hands to dismiss my uneasiness. "This time, we mainly watched from the sidelines and did absolutely nothing."

"No doubt because the three of you were too busily fucking around. Like, literally."

Alan flushed in embarrassment, but he good-naturedly offered his hand. "All the villagers agreed to it as well. Since you're the one who saved everybody's lives, this is the least we can do to repay you. Truthfully, you were the one who did all the work."

"I don't need repayment…" I sighed as I accepted his handshake. As much as I felt guilty about accepting this, to be honest, I was in urgent need of cash. "But I understand. Then I'll take you up on your offer."

"That makes me even happier then."

Wow, Alan was really a nice guy. I was so glad I could befriend him. He was definitely someone I could trust, someone who was unlikely to stab in the back and betray me, unlike my former classmates. I wished I had known someone like him back on Earth.

I nodded and took a step back.

"Then I'll excuse myself for today."

Before I could turn and leave, however, Alicia stepped forward.

"Hey, you!" she snapped, folding her arms as she glared at me. "What was with that magic?"

"…"

I stared at her for a few moments. Was she talking about my necromancy? My zombies? Or the final Shadow Lunar Fang?

"I'm a necromancer, if that's what you're asking."

"Don't mess with me!"

For some reason, Alicia was furious. She glared at me before jabbing a finger frantically, jabbering away in rage.

"The healing magic! The destruction magic! What's with all of them? Their levels are all abnormal! Just what the hell is that magic?"

"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to," I returned coldly, not wanting to put up with her bullshit.

Alicia gritted her teeth, evidently refusing to believe me. Well, there was a stigma against necromancy, after all, and it was completely unheard of for someone to so casually declare himself a necromancer. Rather, no necromancer would be walking around in broad daylight and working as a mercenary like me.

"Are you making fun of me?!" she shouted so loudly that even Sophia was taken aback. I took a step back in reflex and shook my head.

"Yes, I am. That's why I'm telling the truth."

As much as I enjoyed teasing Alicia, I began to wonder if she was an idiot. They did see my zombie orcs, right? Why couldn't they believe me? Granted, the zombie orcs got splattered and crushed before my previous party could see much of them, but even then what else did they thought I used? Mind control magic?

"Alicia, stop."

"A…Alan."

Alicia realized that she was kicking up a huge fuss and regained her composure, her reddened face perspiring from the effort. She forced herself to calm down, her expression looking a little guilty when she realized she was out of line.

"He has his own reasons," Alan told her. He stepped in closer to placate her. "It's not good to carelessly intrude his privacy."

"But…" Alicia turned to him, stubbornly refusing to move on. "But he won't tell us anything!"

Hey, I had no obligation to tell you anything.

I so wanted to say that, but Alan seemed to have the matter well in hand, so I decided to leave it to him. There was little point offending the already annoyed Alicia, and if Alan could settle the whole thing amicably, then all the better.

"Even so, there are things that even you wouldn't want others to know, right?" Alan asked in a reasonable tone.

"That…that's…"

Alicia fidgeted as her face turned even redder than before, and she nearly burst into tears, which caused Alan some consternation.

"That might be true, but…"

Alan turned to me hurriedly, trying to shield Alicia from the public eye. He quickly changed the topic. It was obvious he wanted me to leave.

"Ta…Tanaka-san, sorry about this. Ah, about your reward, I've already spoken to Hughes about it, so please head to the guild house ahead of us and receive your credits there."

"You certainly have it tough, having to deal with a bitch like that."

"What did you say?!" Alicia screeched, but I had already quickly fled the scene before she could continue yelling at me. Hasta la vista, bitch.

Poor Alan. He sent me an apologetic look as he held Alicia back, but I was fleet-footed. Even if he didn't restrain Alicia, there was no way she could have caught up with me. She was utterly incompetent, weak and stupid.

Alan had dropped me off a block away from the blue guild house, so it didn't take me long before I found my way inside. As expected, Hughes was already waiting for me. When I entered, he waved for me to see him at the counter.

"Give me your card and I'll update your account," he told me. I obeyed and handed him my guild ID. Glancing at the register, my eyes grew wide when I saw how many gold coins were being transferred into my bank account.

"Holy throne! The high orc is really worth something, eh?"

"Well, yeah." Hughes grunted as he ran a check through the system to make sure he didn't make any mistakes with the transfer. "Since it's normally something that can only be defeated by a party. I doubt even a Bronze-ranked party can pull that off."

"Bronze-ranked?" I blurted out. Even high-ranked mercenaries would have trouble with a buffoon like that? Just how low were the standards of mercenaries?

"I still can't believe you did it by yourself," Hughes growled as he folded his arms. "Well, it's fine. 16 gold coins, transferred into your account."

"Yes, thank you."

I took my card back before staring at it. The numbers glowed on a holographic screen that beamed from the card's arcane surface. 16 gold coins…I had never seen such a huge amount of money before.

"Well done, I guess?" Hughes scratched his head. "I've upgraded you to Iron rank now. Actually, I would bump you up to Bronze or Silver if I could, but the system doesn't allow it. Just keep plugging away and you'll be Silver in no time at all."

"Thank you." I noted the new rank on my card. "But that was just a fluke."

"Ha ha ha, a fluke only happens once. That time with the goblins, and now you took out a high orc on your own? That can't be a fluke. You've done it too many times for it to be good luck. I saw the report from Alan. You were a monster."

"He's just exaggerating."

Hughes snorted, evidently thinking I was being modest. But I knew I had been incredibly lucky.

"One last thing," Hughes called out before I could leave. I turned to him, and he nodded solemnly. "Be careful, though. Don't get robbed. That said…that's the good thing about guild IDs. The money is all in the system, so you won't get robbed unless you stupidly decide to draw all the coins and carry them around with you. And since the ID cards are magically hardwired into your biological system, other people can't use them. So you're actually safe."

In other words, I didn't have to worry about getting robbed unless I drew my money as cash. Hooray for cashless system.

"Okay. I'll keep them in my account."

I saluted the guild receptionist, then spun away sharply to head for the Blue Moon Inn. As I made my way to the inn, I did a mental calculation of the money I had just gotten my hands on. If I remembered correctly, 1 bronze coin was equivalent to 100 yen, 1 silver coin was equivalent to 10,000 yen, and 1 gold coin was equivalent to 1,000,000 yen. So 16 gold coins were essentially 16 million yen.

Holy Terra! 16 million yen?! Wasn't that a hell lot of money, especially when I considered that I had only been here for about two weeks at the longest?

No wonder everyone wants to be mercenaries. It's such a lucrative job.

That said, it was insanely dangerous too. If I hadn't shown up and kicked the high orc's ass, it was likely that every single mercenary, along with the entire village, would have been raped and massacred in a single night.

With so much money, should I go buy a house?

As much as I would love to do so, I had reservations regarding that. For one thing, I didn't intend to stay in this city for long. There was no point having a permanent lodging when I would eventually end up on the run once my former classmates discovered that I was alive. I needed to be nomadic, flexible and mobile.

That means a caravan…right?

I scratched my head as I considered that possibility. A caravan was certainly a lot more mobile and would suit my needs…but there was the problem regarding the lack of a bathroom. Plus the technology in this medieval fantasy world was not exactly confidence-inducing. I was probably better off moving from inn to inn.

"Miranda-chan!"

I put on my best smile as I burst into the Blue Moon Inn, half-expecting to see my favorite waitress in her maid uniform. As I thought, she was serving customers again, ferrying jugs of ale from the counter to the table.

"Oh? Welcome, dear customer."

That same friendly smile again, but I saw in her eyes that she didn't recognize me. It was only natural. I was but one faceless face among the countless customers that streamed into the inn everyday. Why would she remember an insignificant customer like me?

"I'm here to book a room."

"Ah, sure." Miranda flashed me a dazzling smile. "Please proceed to the counter and my boss will deal with you shortly."

"Thank you."

Ah, a pity that I wouldn't get direct treatment from Miranda, but at least I got to see her. I made my way to the counter where the innkeeper was drying a bunch of mugs. He glanced up, and like Miranda, didn't recognize me.

"How can I help you?"

"I would like a room."

I handed him my ID for payment up front, and his reaction when he saw that I was an Iron rank differed greatly from when I was a Porcelain rank.

"What sort of room would you like?"

Not exactly the most courteous tone – I wasn't a Chrome rank, after all – but certainly better than when I was a Porcelain. How attitudes quickly changed when money and status were involved. As a side note, Bronze rank and above most likely could afford houses of their own, and thus didn't need to stay in inns unless they were traveling.

"Just a normal one would do."

I didn't rent the cheapest room like I did for the past week, but I wasn't going to squander my hard-earned gold coins on a luxurious room either. The innkeeper seemed to have expected my reply, because he smiled and immediately recommended a room for me. I had no idea what the difference was, but as long as I had a bed to sleep on, I couldn't care less.

Speaking of beds…

I grimaced when I recalled overhearing the orgy party have a threesome that fateful night when the orcs attacked. It was a pity they didn't invite me to join them, but now that I thought about it, it was a good thing. I would end up being humiliated when compared to Alan's well-toned, muscular and well-endowed body.

Besides, orgies weren't my thing. I didn't even like threesomes. I preferred having just one girl to myself, plain and simple.

"Here's the key to your room."

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I snapped back to attention when the innkeeper's voice broke into my erotic imagination, and nodded dumbly. The innkeeper deducted the appropriate fee, handed my ID back to me, and I went on my way.

Well, I don't have to worry about money for a while, I reckoned to myself as I plopped down on the bed and shut my eyes.

16 gold coins. That would last me for a year if I didn't spend my money crazily. As long as I was prudent and thrifty, I could live off that amount of savings for perhaps even longer than a year. And I wasn't going to slack off on my mercenary job just because I had earned a fortune in my first two weeks. I took a job and I was going to responsibly work dutifully for as long as I could.

It wasn't just for the money. Higher ranks entailed more access to valuable resources such as libraries and education, and better weapons and equipment. I had heard rumors of a VIP underground market for Bronze ranked mercenaries and higher, who served as assassins or hitmen that charged exorbitant fees. However, they got the job done by whatever means necessary, and were usually well worth the price.

If I can get access to that…Continental or whatever it's called, then I can begin my plans to assassinate the heroes.

I couldn't wait to achieve that goal. For now, however, I had to occupy myself with the concerns of the present and slowly work my way up.

*

So what sort of job should I do today?

Now that I had made quite the name for myself, I couldn't go back to collecting herbs. With my new Iron rank, I had more jobs opened up to me, missions that required a bit more skill and effort. Mostly combat and subjugation ones.

After breakfast, which was bacon and egg (as always, I was a carnivore), I headed to the guild house and went straight for the bulletin board where all the requests were pinned. As I did so, Hughes spotted me and called out.

"Oi, Tanaka!"

"Yes, sir?"

I hurried over, wondering if he had some sort of special request. He looked pretty excited, grinning from ear to ear as he watched me jog over.

"What's up, boss?"

"I've great news! The heroes would be visiting soon!"

A chill went down my spine. The heroes, coming so soon? I wasn't ready yet…at least not ready to face a whole group of them. If it was taking them out one by one, I could probably pull it off like I did with Tsukishima and Kijima, but if two or more arrived in a group, then I would be in huge trouble.

I hid my unease and forced a smile.

"That's cool. When are they arriving?"

"This afternoon, I believe. If you're still around, make sure to look smart and sharp! We got to show the heroes just how high quality our mercenaries are!"

"Yes, sir."

Hughes evidently regarded me as one of his most promising mercenaries, a newbie star on the rise after my various exploits with the goblins and the high orc. I hated to disappoint him, but I didn't want to be anywhere near the guild house when the heroes arrived.

If they recognized me, I would be in huge trouble.

"Sure, I'll keep that in mind. But…what about the quests?"

"Oh, working hard as usual, huh? Don't worry. If you're here when the heroes are here, then I'll want you to look smart and fresh. If not, then do your thing." He slapped me on the back with a grin. "I'll be expecting great things from you again."

"What would you recommend?"

"Hmm? Whatever's appropriate for your rank, I guess? Though, knowing you, you'll end up taking a quest that's way over your head, and accomplishing it."

"Yeah…maybe I should take a trip all the way out in the wilderness…"

I was dropping some hint, slowly guiding Hughes toward recommending me a mission that would take me as far away from the city as possible, which also meant I would be spending quite an inordinate amount of time outside.

Perfect for avoiding the heroes.

"Ah, there's a manticore in Millennial Town, about a hundred and twenty kilometers southwest of here."

A manticore…I had heard of that terrifying monster before. Perfect.

"Normally, I wouldn't recommend that job to an Iron ranked mercenary, but you're known to punch above your weight. Besides, none of the mercenaries are available for that job right now…probably because Millennial Town is too far away."

"I don't mind making the trip."

Hughes laughed. "I knew you'll say that."

I took the request from the counter and studied the details for a few moments before nodding.

"All right, I'll get right to it. I'll see you when I'm done."

"Yeah. Good luck. And try not to get yourself killed!"

"You should be more worried about the manticore."

Hughes guffawed. "That's true."

With the request in hand, I proceeded out of the guild house and looked to borrow a horse or carriage. There was no way I could make the journey on foot, and there were no trains or buses in this medieval fantasy world. So a horse was the next best thing.

As I looked for a stable, however, I saw a commotion. Apparently, there was a huge column of soldiers speeding along the roads in the city. A crowd had gathered, the city folk whispering excitedly as they watched the entourage.

"The heroes!"

"The heroes are here!"

"Awesome!"

God-Emperor of Man! I didn't expect the heroes to be here so soon. I gritted my teeth and glanced around for a place to hide. To better camouflage myself, I blended in with the crowd and removed my glasses. It was a long shot, but I hoped my classmates wouldn't recognize me without my glasses. Even if they did, if I blended in with the crowd, I wouldn't stand out without my glasses. They wouldn't be looking at the horde of spectators to find me, and even if they did, they would be picking out people with glasses.

Thanks to my zombification, I could see as clearly without my glasses. I just kept them because they felt part of me.

"They're here! The heroes!"

I held my breath as my former classmates stampeded past on their horses. Leading the way was Minamoto Kureha, dressed in that beautiful red and white knight outfit and an elegant white sword sheathed at her side. Kobayashi Kenji followed closely, flanked by Yamada Yuji and a group of guys and girls.

I studied them, trying to use Absolute Appraisal, but nothing came out. No personal information, no details, nothing.

"…eh?"

I blinked and rubbed my eyes, but nothing happened. As my classmates rode past me, I risked taking my glasses out and putting them on.

Absolute Appraisal worked. Hoshizaki Kozue, the last person in the rearguard, had her personal information revealed before me, her stats and abilities reflected in the lenses of my glasses. The sudden influx of information caused me to suck in a deep breath in surprise.

Name: Hoshizaki Kozue

Species: Human

Job/Rank: Stargazer/Hero

Special Abilities: Shooting Star

I finally understood. Like Machiavellian Charisma or Summon, which I had devoured from the Demon Lord and Kijima, most of my plundered special abilities were incomplete or immature. I could only use Absolute Appraisal when I was wearing my glasses.

It was a good thing I didn't throw them away, or I would have regretted it.

Wow…I wonder why.

I wasn't surprised, though. Despite having Machiavellian Charisma, none of the monsters or demons listened to me. Despite having Summon, the only thing I could summon were weapons and not beasts or monsters.

It was only natural that Absolute Appraisal required something like my glasses to be activated. I guess Devour wasn't omnipotent.

Either that, or I need to level up these special abilities from scratch.

I made a mental note to test them out, especially Summon. If there was a way to strengthen them to the point where I could use their full potential, then I would take it. I needed to perfect Summon, especially, to complement my necromantic abilities.

Giving my disappearing former classmates one last glance, I disappeared into the crowd and headed for the nearest stable to buy a horse.

Now might not be the time…but I'll definitely take my revenge on all of you.

But to fulfil that vow, I had to first attain the resources and strength necessary to become the true antihero.