The Undetectable Strongest Job: Rule Breaker

Ajillo… Now this one"s good too!」

「You have olive oil all over your mouth. At least wipe it before you come out of the kitchen.」

After serving them Ajillo, a dish fried in garlic oil, the bear-like owner strode back to the kitchen. Hikaru taught him the recipe as well. The man used shrimp and mushroom for this one.

Apparently the owner purchased garlic in bulk from a store in Pond that sold unusual ingredients. He also felt proud since he could now procure stock regularly from Forestia.

「So, Hikaru. About lil Drake…」Lavia said.

Drake, who was blowing on a shrimp, turned to Lavia, puzzled.

「Lil Drake? I don"t think it suits him.」

『Nah, I can understand. I"m just too adorable. So what is it, human girl?』

「Drakons live in heaven, right? Are you friends with G.o.d?」

『Yes, we do live in heaven. But I haven"t met G.o.d.』

Hikaru wondered the same as well, so he asked Drake about it. To put it simply, drakons were G.o.d"s speakers. They were tasked to mediate on earth in G.o.d"s stead. Drakons didn"t give birth to drakons, but rather G.o.d created them whenever he needed one.

As Hikaru had already guessed, G.o.d was a part of this world"s system. Hence, He hadn"t shown Himself to the drakons or other living creatures.

It was said that drakons that worked for G.o.d were holy, while the drakons that wreaked havoc and caused chaos were evil. For a drakon, Drake was young and lacked knowledg —although minus the time he spent trapped in the orb, he was still a hundred years old—so he didn"t have much information. He also didn"t know about Soul Boards.

「So did Drake leave heaven and come here because G.o.d needed him to?」Lavia asked.

「If what he says is true, then yeah. I"d say G.o.d chose the wrong guy, but He doesn"t make mistakes.」

『Hey! I can hear you, you know!』

Then bells clanged as the door opened.

「Every day is so stressful. It"s exhausting!」

「But that"s why we drink to relieve stress, right? Oh, this is quite unusual. People in the booth at this hour—」

A familiar pair. One was a red-haired beauty with short hair and a sharp look on her face. The other was just as pretty, but her face said she was hiding something. Her long, purple hair went straight down, resting on her ample b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Jill and Gloria, Pond"s Adventurers Guild"s receptionists. They froze as soon as they saw Hikaru. Jill"s lips, in particular, were quivering.

「Long time, no see.」Hikaru greeted, raising his hand.

「H-H-Hika…」Jill sounded as though she had a hiccup.「”Long time no see?!” That"s all you have to say?!」

「My, fancy meeting you here in these times, Hikaru.」Gloria approached him from behind slowly, her tone seeming to imply something. Hikaru even felt nostalgic.

「I really don"t have much to say. I"m leaving Pond in ten days anyway.」Hikaru said as he put the Dimension Dragon Box away.

Drake seemed to have read the situation… Or rather, he fell asleep after eating to his heart"s content. He lay on Lavia"s lap, looking just like an ordinary scarf.

「Leave Pond? Where are you going?」

「Scholarzard in Forestia. I rented a place there.」

「What?! That"s so far away!」

「Hey, Jill. You just arrived and you"re already making a racket.」

By the time the owner brought the next dish, Jill had regained her composure a bit, and took a seat at the head of the table. For some reason, Gloria sat next to Hikaru. The pressure (mostly from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s) instilled fear on him. He felt an icy stare coming from Lavia sitting across.

「Ah, we"re actually leaving soon—」

「What are you saying? I prepared lots of new recipes today for you!」the owner said.

Great. I"ll stink of garlic tomorrow for sure, Hikaru thought.

「Hikaru—」

「So, Hikaru. What brings you to Pond this time?」Gloria asked before Jill could finish.

「Buy some equipment. And also teach the owner how to use garlic. That"s all.」

「I"ll get straight to the point. Are you a part of the current dispute?」

I really can"t stand this woman. Gloria hit the mark directly, although Hikaru had no idea how much she knew. Then again, considering it was Gafrasti himself who bore witness to Hikaru clearing the dungeon, one would think that the boy was involved in the current crisis as well.

「The current situation has nothing to do with me. And I have no interest in it either. Whichever side wins, I don"t care.」

「But the Four Stars of the East are going to fight to defend Pond.」

「That"s because they"re rank B adventurers, so they have the duty and responsibility to help. I"m only rank E.」

「Ah, yes. You"re right. Would you mind coming to the guild tomorrow? For the great feat of clearing the dungeon, I"ll talk to the higher-ups and see if we can get you promoted to rank D.」

「What?」

「This lady here and Miss Paula are members of your party, correct? I don"t mean to be rude, but have you formally established a party? If not, then how about registering in Pond? I have a feeling your party will leave a mark in history. It would be an honor if the first step of your story starts at Pond.」

「What are you saying, Gloria? Hikaru is a Civilian.」Jill said.

Gloria snickered. Jill still seemed to think that Hikaru"s job cla.s.s was Civilian.

Upon hearing the word “party”, Lavia"s eyes gleamed.

Now that I think about it, Hikaru thought, we got her a guild card, but we haven"t actually formed an actual party. If we formed one, we"d be able to take requests that could only be a.s.signed to parties. Other than that, there"s really no meaningful benefit. But parties always came up in adventure stories. I can see why she"s excited.

「Okay. We"ll be at the guild tomorrow.」Hikaru said.

Gloria squinted her eyes and clapped her hands together.「That"s great.」she said.「You may also consult the Adventurers Guild for questions regarding job cla.s.ses, so if you have any, don"t hesitate to come to us.」

「O-Okay…」

She still wants to know about my job cla.s.s. Her tenacity was admirable.

「Hikaru.」Jill spoke, her eyes filled with scorn.「Who"s the pretty girl?」

I"ve done nothing but engage in tiresome conversations all day, Hikaru thought.

「Her name"s Lavia, an adventurer.」he replied.

「I see. Lavia. Where did you meet her? Wait a minute… The name sounds familiar…」

「I met her in Forestia. Show her your guild card, Lavia.」

「Oh, I guess it"s true.」Jill said.

Since the card"s registration field showed Forestia, they managed to fool Jill. Gloria, on the other hand, had her eyes opened wide. She probably realized that this was the same Lavia, the daughter of the Count that was killed in Pond some time back—a shocking case—and the suspect for the murder.

But Gloria didn"t say word and simply smiled at Hikaru.

(You owe me one, okay?)

(I have no idea what you mean. She"s just Lavia with no family name.)

(I see. I actually looked into any further news about the case. I thought you might be interested.)

(What do you want to know?)

(Let"s talk about that tomorrow.)

They conversed with their eyes alone. Hikaru could feign complete ignorance, but he was interested as to what happened to the murder case afterwards. It wouldn"t be a bad idea to ask her about it. No one was after Lavia anymore anyway.

(You sure have a twisted personality.)

(I"ll take that as a compliment.)

(You should use your craftiness to get yourself a man and settle down.)

Gloria"s smile froze abruptly. She was already at a marriageable age, and a few years older than Jill.

Ha, I got her good. Hikaru looked satisfied. Lavia and Paula seemed confused, not sure what was going on.