“I hereby announce the roll call!”

“Why would we need a roll call? I know…”

“Alan! It might be the only moment in my life to announce the roll call, so don’t steal this precious moment from me”

“I…”

“Akira Maine!”

“Here, boss”

“Alan Muller!”

…

“Alan! Muller!”

“… I am here. It’s better only when I am the one acting stupid”

“I will pretend I never heard the last part”

Oh, I ought to tell what is happening now. You see, after the raid yesterday, the three of us somehow safely made our way to the inn for the night. There, Akira-chan retired as well, leaving our duo to have a good sleep. Rest assured, we were too tired to feel embarrassed about sharing one bed.

And yet, when we finally hit the bed, the sun was already raising on the horizon, and with it, our dreams of relaxation were mercilessly crushed as well. We were tired, a little bit twitchy and had obvious bags under our eyes, which created yet another misunderstanding with the inn owner.

What was even more unexpected is how our “captor” was the one to serve our breakfast in a cute maid dress. Obviously, Alan decided to do what Alan does. “Hey, Marie, this is the guy from yesterday, right? Why is he dressed like this? Is he a pervert?” I decided not to answer him and continue eating in peace.

However, after finishing our breakfast, I ordered Alan to return to our number, somehow shocking the inn owner yet again. Brilliant. I also asked Akira to accompany us as well, at which the inn owner started to bleed from her nose, but not before giving her little sister a big thumbs-up. I didn’t see no evil, nor heard no evil. “Youth!”

Thus, we reached this situation.

“Let the assembly begin! Firstly, we need to discuss the current matters thoroughly”

“I think it’s simple. We are wanted by the group of gangs around the city, so they could grab the reward gramps promised them, which is most likely doesn’t even exist…”

“It’s not that simple! I heard the rumors! You two are not simply wanted by the gangs! Prices for your heads are so big there are really big guns involved! It’s not about small fries and whatnot anymore!”

Hmm, so it’s like this. I think the most rational way to solve this would be leaving the town as fast as we can, right? I mean, we already have a carriage pre-rented by…

“They even accidentally destroyed your carriage! That’s awful, boss!”

… Forget it. I guess it was naïve of me to assume. However, if they are so powerful…

“How come no one tried to harass us directly?”

“E-he-he. It’s because of ­ane-ue and her fearsome reputation. She is Erina of the Molten Steel, after all. Well, it more like “Dented Steel” by now, but you catch my drift”

… Wait.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I think I heard a title like this before from merchants in my hometown. I believe there was an adventurer who once defeated a B-Rank Monster by herself, killing it with her blade destroyed by the flame. A woman that demanded her potential husband to be as strong as herself at least. There was another nickname too…

“Eternal Cake” Erina Maine

“Oh… That explains so much…”

“What explains, Marie? There’s something about the owner lady I should know?”

“Only that you must avoid battling with her at any costs, Alan. I don’t know who would be the winner, but I will lose in both cases, so any time you even think about challenging her…”

With this, I aimed for the kill. Namely, I pinched this lady killer’s cheek as hard as my tiny body could allow me, leaving an angry red mark and making the idiot exclaim a cry of pain.

“Don’t. Ever”

“Hie-e-e!”

“Ouch! Ouch! Marie, you are scaring me!”

It took us some time to settle, but I managed to create something distinctly looking like a plan.

“Akira!”

“What?! I-I mean, ready to serve, b-boss!”

“Good! I need you to take those stupid outfit of yours and pretend to be a noble yet again!”

“O-Okay! Hey, those clothes were cool!”

At this, Alan snickered at the corner.

“He-he. It was the worst cosplay of “the Gallant Thief Marx” I’ve ever seen, dude. Everybody knows his outfit looks different…”

“And how come you know how exactly he looks, huh? There are no illustrations in regular issues!”

“Of course, there are no illustrations. In regular editions, that is. I have this!”

He started to brutally salvage through his belongings, until procuring a tiny and rugged-looking book. His face was incredibly smug.

Urge to pinch – Rising.

“Ta-da! It’s original limited edition gramps ordered for me!”

“Y-You don’t mean… Does it have that?”

“Yep! It has an autograph from the author himself! Here it is!”

He was like a kid with a new toy. At least, his eyes possessed the same twinkle in them.

“Oh! Give me! I want it! I will give you anything!”

“Nu-uh! It’s mine and mine only, you know~”

It was an incredibly comic scene, if not the fact how close those two were right now. It would take about a minute for Akira to realize this. In other words, a minute for me to destroy this flag.

“Oh, how nice, Alan…”

“Marie?” “Boss?”

“Even though I ordered you to bring only essential, you took a trashy book for no reason…”

It’s not the time or place to set flags on anyone, idiot. We still have some work ahead of us!

“… Prepare yourself for divine judgement”