Chapter 204 – Selyse"s Fight?The Four Stars of the East arrived in the evening. Hikaru, who had two pretty girls as company, drew scornful stares from the adventurers, but he remained cool and ignored them.
As soon as Selyse stepped into the guild, Johann of the Polar Tiger—a man who clearly needed to be in Leather Elka—challenged her to a fight.
Johann was an elf with long, blonde hair and a slender body. Pretty sure things won"t settle down until this whole fight thing is over so might as well wait before I talk to her, Hikaru thought.
「Oh, Hikaru. What are you doing here?」
Selyse completely ignored everyone else and approached Hikaru, who was sitting in a corner.
「Oh, come on.」he muttered.
The stares became more intense. Selyse noticed this and smiled. This woman did it on purpose.
「Don"t you have a fight to attend to?」Hikaru said.
「How about you fight in my stead?」
「I don"t want to get in the way of rank A and B adventurers.」
Selyse then realized she was going up against a rank A adventurer today.
「Yup! I"m your opponent today.」Johann said.
He appeared to be just an effeminate man. The fact that he was a tall and good-looking guy annoyed Hikaru just a bit, but that was neither here nor there. Hikaru found it strange how this guy could win in a knockout compet.i.tion where most of the partic.i.p.ants were ruffians. And so he checked the elf"s Soul Board.
【Soul Board】Johann Kostenlos Jaeger
Age: 392 Rank: 68
29
【Vitality】
..【Stamina】4
..【Immunity】
….【Magic Resistance】1
….【Toxic Immunity】2
..【Perception】
….【Hearing】2
….【Touch】1
【Magical Power】
..【Mana】6
..【Spirit Affinity】
….【Air】4
….【Earth】3
……【Magic Principle】1
….【Magic Creation】1
【Physical Strength】
..【Strength】2
..【Weapon Mastery】
….【Bow】5
….【Throwing】2
【Agility】
..【Balance】7
..【Stealth】
….【Life Obfuscation】1
….【Mana Obfuscation】1
….【Imperceptibility】1
【Dexterity】
..【Dexterity】5
..【Tool Mastery】
….【Pottery】3
【Willpower】
..【Mental Strength】2
..【Faith】
….【Evil】4
……【Accursed Magic】2
..【Appeal】1
【Intuition】
..【Instinct】3
Not fair, Hikaru thought. Elves lived long lives. A quick computation revealed that they gained one Skill point every ten years. But if they gained ranks at the same rate as humans, those with longer lifespans would have more time to farm points.
With five points on Bow, four on Air and three on Earth, Hikaru could infer that Johann was the type to use diversions and fight from a distance. Selyse had five points on Sword, but considering Johann could use magic, he was stronger.
What"s more, he had points on Accursed Magic. If he had Holy-related stats, Hikaru woud"ve hated the guy even more. Being on the evil side balanced things out.
Hikaru had checked the other adventurers" stats as well. The best among them only had three points max in either Weapon Mastery or Spirit Magic. Adventurers here were a dime a dozen, but there were only four of them with those stats. To make up for that, in a way, adventurers here had more points on Strength than other places.
Hmm…?
As he studied Johann"s Soul Board, Hikaru felt something strange. He"d seen Soul Boards countless times before, but the way he saw it was a little different somehow.
「Ah, so you"re my opponent today.」Selyse said.「I believe you"re Johann of the Polar Tiger party.」
「Yup! I"m so happy you know me!」
「Of course. You"re higher ranked than me.」Selyse gave a strained laugh.「I can"t actually fight today.」
「…What?」
「We"re in middle of packing up. We"re leaving Einbeast today.」
Johann stared at her blankly. The adventurers stirred, some disappointed, some yelling about Selyse being scared of facing a rank A opponent.
「His Majesty seemed displeased. After seeing us today, he asked us to leave.」
What? Hikaru thought. After inviting them over, he just kicks them out like that? Maybe he wants to start the war sooner.
Selyse glanced at Hikaru.
「So anyway, there you have it. I have to tell the guild about our whereabouts. After this, I"ll head back to the palace and leave with my party members. Sorry to disappoint you, Sir Johann.」
「Unfortunate, yup. Still, if it"s the orders of our beloved king, then nothing much we can do.」Johann looked like he was about to cry, shoulders dropped.
Selyse made her way to the counter to inform the guild of the situation. The receptionist looked a bit relieved.
「Finally, they"ll take requests again.」she muttered.
「Sorry for the trouble.」Selyse said.
Apparently the Four Stars" presence affected the guild"s operations as well. Selyse waved her hand and left the building.
「How about a talk on the way to the palace?」she said to Hikaru who was already outside.
Selyse told Hikaru everything. The king didn"t see them the day they arrived. Instead, they made appearances on parties held by representatives of various clans. They weren"t hostile; they were simply interested in how strong the ladies were.
Asking about others" abilities in the middle of a war was unheard of. But to them, this was extremely natural. In this country, the strong was mighty. They also believed that the strong should help the weak, a sentiment shared by the adventurers as well.
Selyse and her friends kept a watchful eye out, of course. After idling around, they finally met the king today.
「You there. Selica, yes? Are you the Solaris Mage?」the king asked out of nowhere.
「No!」Selica answered immediately.
「What about you, Sarah? Are you the mysterious dragon slayer?」
「I am not. I can"t kill a dragon.」
Gerhardt closed his eyes, arms folded. After a minute of silence, the meeting was suddenly suspended. A big shot from the intel department—a member of a fiend-type race—retreated somewhere with the king and got yelled at. Soon after, Gerhardt returned.
「Four Stars of the East. Thank you for coming.」he said.「You may return to Ponsonia.」
The visit ended right then and there. Hikaru wanted to heave a sigh. The king is looking for me and Lavia!
「So the king thought that the Solaris Mage and the dragon slayers were Selica and Sarah, respectively.」Hikaru said.
「Yeah, surprisingly.」
Hikaru felt sorry for Selica and Sarah, but he was also relieved to find out the king wasn"t onto him.
「All right. The palace is right over there. I can"t really bring outsiders with me.」
Selyse stopped at a path that led straight to the palace gate. A hundred meters ahead was a drawbridge, and beyond it was a huge gate.
「Can I ask you a favor?」Hikaru said.
「You"re asking for a favor? That"s unusual.」
「I have a question for Selica. Can you call her for me?」
「Hmm, okay.」Selyse smiled.「In exchange, you can deal with him.」
「Saw that coming.」
A man had followed them on their way here.
「I just wanted to talk, yup.」Johann said.