Chapter 59

Respectfully,

To the great leader of the renowned adventurer party Flamehound, Mr. Bartholomew.

Please forgive me for this sudden and impolite letter.

The reason I have written this letter is that I felt there was a misunderstanding regarding the visit to my boarding house by Mr. Chozari and Mr. Tony.

It seems that I was misunderstood in a simplistic and hasty manner, as if I were attracting a horde of monsters because I control them. However, there is absolutely no such fact.

If I had the power to attract a horde of monsters, I would gather them in a place far from Wolzard and exterminate them.

This is because many people who have been kind to me live in Wolzard, and if something goes wrong, they might be harmed.

I believe that even you can understand that I would not deliberately create such a dangerous situation.

I consider the actions of Mr. Chozari and Mr. Tony to be a result of severe misunderstanding, lack of fact-checking, and a self-centered belief that they are the righteous ones.

However, it would be difficult for the renowned members of the adventurer party to apologize to an unknown and young person like me due to petty pride.

Therefore, tomorrow, on the afternoon of Water Day, I will visit you and arrange for a reconciliation to be initiated by me.

I will also ensure that the residents of Wolzard are informed that I have made peace with you.

At the meeting with you, I will make it easy for you to just nod, so please gather all your members and wait for me, despite the inconvenience.

Sincerely, Kent

‘Well, how does this sound? What do you think?’

After rewriting it several times, I finally completed the letter and showed it to Reinhardt.

‘Hahaha, Mr. Kent, this is quite a polite letter for reconciliation, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah, because it’s a letter to people older than me, I have to be careful with my words.’

‘Hahaha, Mr. Kent, how do you plan to deliver this letter?’

‘Yeah, I’m going to leave it, with a ribbon…’

I showed the red ribbon I received from Amanda, and Reinhardt tilted his head.

Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a skeleton tilt its head; it’s really nice.

‘Mr. Kent, how do you plan to use this ribbon?’

‘That’s a surprise. Oh, right, I almost forgot to write something. Postscript…’

‘Hmm… where are you going to…?’

‘That’s also a surprise.’

After preparing the letter, I moved to where Malt was watching the Flamehound members.

It seems that Bartholomew and the others are staying in a building like an annex of the Orlando store.

At the table in the room where Cesari and Tony were hung up during the day, bottles of alcohol were scattered, and all five of them had a look in their eyes that suggested they were drunk, repeating stories that were hard to believe.

“The most dangerous was when we fought the salamander, right?”

While bringing a cup filled with alcohol to his mouth, the bald giant muttered, and Bartholomew frowned.

“Jarma, that’s something we agreed not to talk about.”

“Come on, Bartholomew, you know how strong you are, and so do Tony and Cesari. But, it’s important to let them know that there are opponents who don’t match well with you.”

“Hmph, you’re just using that as an excuse to talk about your own bravery, aren’t you?”

“Hahaha, you could say that…”

When they met the salamander in the Demon Forest, Jarma, who was carrying a large shield, said that the battle was extremely difficult.

At that time, Bartholomew, Orestes, and Jarma were a party of three, but Bartholomew’s fire-based attacks, which were essential to their combat power, had no effect on the salamander.

“So, how did you defeat the salamander?”

“Calm down, Cesari…”

After calming Cesari and Tony, who wanted to hear more, and boasting about how he protected his companions from the salamander’s attacks, Jarma began to get to the point.

“Tony, what do you do if your power isn’t enough?”

“Well, you have to train and improve your skills, right?”

“Idiot, that’s why you’re always a C-rank.”

“Eh… what do you mean by that…?”

Jarma drained his drink, grinned, and said,

“If your power isn’t enough, you can borrow it from outside.”

“Ah… you mean working together?”

“Yes, some monsters, if left alone, can cause widespread damage. There’s no time to train leisurely.”

“So, you did that with the salamander?”

“Yes, we defeated it by working with a water-element user named Metzer, who was said to be a sure bet for S-rank promotion.”

“Metzer… I haven’t heard that name before. Is he that good?”

“Yes, he was an incredible user… but, unfortunately, he met with an accident after we defeated the salamander…”

When Jarma spoke with a hint of something more, Bartholomew and Orestes also chimed in in agreement.

“Yes, it was a truly unfortunate accident…”

“Indeed, Metzer was a promising man… It was really a shame…”

Seeing the three of them grin, I got goosebumps.

‘Reinhardt, they…’

‘They probably killed that adventurer named Metzer.’

These people are more ruthless than I thought, even though I had planned to use the thousands or tens of thousands of monsters that might appear as a force.

‘Shouldn’t we report this to Mr. Donovan?’

‘Yeah, I plan to make them howl this afternoon, but I’ll report it afterward.’

Bartholomew and the others continued drinking for a while after the three of them were left alone, but they finally got up and returned to their respective rooms.

‘Finally… I was about to fall asleep waiting.’

‘So, Mr. Kent, how do you plan to deliver the letter?’

‘First, I’ll see how Bartholomew is…’

Bartholomew, who returned to his assigned room, didn’t even change into pajamas and collapsed on the bed, snoring immediately.

‘Hmm… I don’t think this is necessary, but just in case…’

I threw a sleeping potion into Bartholomew’s stomach and waited.

When I poked his cheek at the right moment, he showed no signs of waking up.

I thought he might be an A-rank adventurer, but it was a wasted worry.

‘Mr. Kent, is it time for the mug of ale?’

‘No, I’m using a different method today.’

I went out to Bartholomew’s room, approached the bed, and lifted the blanket that was mostly kicked off.

I loosened his belt, unbuttoned his pants, and pulled them down, along with his underwear.

‘Wow! It’s not that big… It’s more of a “nyan” than a “gao”…’

‘Mr. Kent? What are you planning to do… Haha! Hahaha, decorating that place with a ribbon… Hahaha!’

Reinhardt was on the floor, writhing in laughter.

Yeah, it’s a good thing we can only communicate telepathically; if we could speak, the others would have woken up.

I tied a bow with the ribbon around Bartholomew’s crotch and placed the letter prominently on the side table.

In the postscript, I wrote that if they refused to reconcile with me or tried to interfere with my boarding house, I would cut it off next time.

It’s obvious where, right?

I entrusted the surveillance of Bartholomew and the others to Halt, Hilt, Felt, Hert, and Holt, and returned to the boarding house.

Today, or rather, since the date has already changed, the boys are going to the wall construction site for the first time, so I plan to see them off.

I don’t have much time to sleep, so let’s have some fluff time.

“Sorry, the bed is small, so we’ll take turns. Tonight, Milt, please.”

“Wuff, understood, Master.”

Milt wagged his tail happily, while Malt and Murt looked dejected, so I petted them thoroughly before sending them back to the shadow world.

Holding the fluffy Milt, I fell asleep quickly.

And before I knew it, morning came, and Malt and Murt were also on the bed. Yeah, taking turns is impossible.

By the way, I was planning to lend Misa, but if they come back on their own, I might be blamed by Misa. Is there any good solution?

“I’ll settle things with those thugs from yesterday today…”

After breakfast, when I told Amanda, she looked concerned.

“Kent, you’re not planning to do anything dangerous, are you?”

“Of course not, I’m just going to talk, and I’ll report to Mr. Donovan, so it’s fine.”

“Okay, as long as that’s the case, but don’t do anything reckless.”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

Actually, the report to Mr. Donovan will be more of an after-the-fact approval, and the meeting is likely to be a bit dangerous, but I’ll keep that to myself.

“Mom… Kent seems to be hiding something.”

“Huh? What is Misa saying… Oh, no…”

Misa, despite being a child, is surprisingly sharp, which is a problem.

“Hahaha, Misa, boys have secrets they can’t tell others.”

“Muuu… Kent, no naughty or dangerous things, okay?”

“Yes, yes, Reinhardt and the others will be with me, so it’s fine. Misa, if you don’t hurry, you’ll be late for school.”

“Muu, Kent is so cheeky!”

I patted Misa’s pouting face, but it only made her pout more.

Since she’s genuinely worried, I shouldn’t brush her off, but it’s time for me to leave.

I left the boarding house with Misa and headed to the wall construction site where my classmates were working.

My classmates were assigned to a location a block away from the regular wall construction site to work on the foundation, which essentially means digging holes.

Unlike construction sites in Japan, there are no power shovels or bulldozers, so the work is done entirely by human labor.

My classmates were brought from the prison by the guard, but the guard seemed to be there only to supervise, as they were not armed and did not carry whips.

As expected, Klaus was also at the construction site.

“Good morning, Klaus.”

“Hey, Kent, you came.”

“Of course, I was curious, and I thought you might be here too…”

“Well, I’m not participating in the construction today, but as the lord, I need to oversee it.”

“Thank you.”

This morning, Klaus had the usual slightly mischievous air, so the classmates who were a bit away probably didn’t realize he was the lord of Wolzard.

The classmates were divided into two groups; one centered around Kondo, full of enthusiasm, and the other, including Takayama, Yagi, and the old and new pair, with obvious dissatisfaction.

Klaus was looking at the two contrasting groups with a grin.

“Welcome to Wolzard, you brats. I’m Klaus, the lord of Wolzard.”

The classmates were surprised to learn that Klaus was the lord.

“First, I want to make it clear: the wall construction is not a game. Take it seriously! If you don’t, you’ll definitely get hurt. Not only will you suffer, but you might put others’ lives at risk. Never let your guard down and take it seriously.”

Despite Klaus’s important words, Takayama and the others still looked sulky.

Seeing this, Klaus grinned again.

“You’re probably thinking, ‘Why do we have to do this…’ Right, you, Shuichi Takayama!”

Pointed out by Klaus, Takayama looked bitter but didn’t respond.

“Why do you have to endure such treatment… Do you understand the reason?”

Takayama shook his head without a word.

“I’ll tell you… It’s because you have incredible talent.”

“Huh?”

Surprised by Klaus’s unexpected words, Takayama was speechless.

“According to what I heard from Kent, you’ve been in this world for less than two months, right? In Reisenburg, you weren’t taught much about using magic, were you?”

Takayama nodded without a word.

“Yet, you can cast a spell powerful enough to half-burn a shoe store. Your talent is impressive.”

“Ah, thank you…”

Praised, Takayama’s attitude softened, and he thanked Klaus politely.

“But, you’re not mentally mature enough to handle such powerful magic.”

Takayama’s expression hardened again, but Klaus continued.

“To use such powerful magic, you must never, ever involve allies or innocent people. Understand? Never, ever!”

Takayama, who felt guilty about the shoe store burning, started to listen to Klaus.

“But, your magic flew into an innocent shoe store and half-burned it. The townspeople think, ‘He has incredible magical talent… but he’s very dangerous…’”

The other classmates were also listening intently to Klaus.

“You were called a hero in Reisenburg, right? But, were you taught the mindset needed to use magic?”

“No… I wasn’t…”

“Then, remember this: your magic, if misused, can easily become a violent tool that kills people.”

Staring at Klaus, who had lost his usual grin, Takayama nodded awkwardly.

“Shuichi, your country has immigrants and foreigners, right?”

“Yes… they do…”

“What if an immigrant or foreigner, without thinking, used a magic or weapon that could easily kill someone? Would the people in your country welcome them with open arms, or try to drive them out?”

“They would… try to drive them out…”

“It’s the same here in Wolzard. To ordinary citizens who don’t have great power, you appear as a frightening presence.”

Takayama finally started to consider how he was perceived by the people of Wolzard.

“If we let you and the others out into the town without any punishment, there would definitely be a movement to expel you.”

Klaus continued, looking at the others.

“It’s not just Shuichi; the others also have higher magical power compared to Wolzard’s youth. If newcomers with such potential cause trouble, how do you think the townspeople will react?”

The others, who had been sulking, were now listening solemnly.

“That’s why you’re doing this wall construction. You know what the Demon Forest is like outside the walls, right? The wall is crucial for Wolzard’s peaceful life. If you take the construction seriously for the town’s sake, the townspeople’s perception of you will change.”

Embarrassingly, I thought the wall construction was a form of punishment because it was tough, but it has a real purpose.

“Shuichi, the reason I’m keeping you on the construction longer is that you have exceptional talent and are therefore watched more closely by the residents of Wolzard. If you continue to take the construction seriously, you’ll be seen as a valuable and rare talent. To prevent you from relying too much on magic, we’ve forbidden you from using it with that bracelet.”

Takayama looked surprised and glanced at the slave bracelet.

“Shuichi, you have incredible talent. But, relying on it easily is not good. To use powerful magic, you need a high level of ethics. As you are now, you won’t be accepted by those around you. Understand? Try to think like an adult ten years older than you. If you do, you might open the path to becoming a true hero. The same goes for the others; trials are part of being a hero. Don’t run from this trial; face it head-on and overcome it.”

By the time Klaus finished speaking, everyone was brimming with determination.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I couldn’t do what he did.

Maybe in ten or twenty years, I can become an adult who can match Klaus. For now, I’ll focus on what I need to do.

Since I had a meeting with the Flamehound group, I accompanied Klaus, who was returning to the guild, part of the way.

I thanked him for guiding the sulking classmates.

“Thank you. I was really struggling with some of them, so this helped a lot.”

However, his response was a sly smile and an unexpected comment.

“Haha, those kids are easy to handle if you stroke their egos a bit. Donovan is good at intimidating, but he’s not good at flattery.”

“Huh… so, what you said earlier…?”

“No, I didn’t lie about everything, Kent. In Ranzheld, there’s a saying, ‘Flatter a monkey to make it work.’ You get the meaning, right?”

“H-Huh… Wait, does that mean I was…?”

“You work hard on your own, so I don’t need to flatter you. Hahaha.”

I could only watch in shock as Klaus walked away, laughing merrily.

Damn! Adults are really sneaky.

I was almost moved to tears listening to him. Give me back my sense of awe!