”What do you mean ‘careful consideration’?! You just said this would come to $700! How does it suddenly cost $1400?!”
Archie, who’d been trying his hardest to remain composed, was quickly losing his temper. The man across from him ran a hand through his brown hair while the other adjusted his green and gold robe. Just to make sure the man wasn’t an Honor Guard, Archie decided to scan him while the man responded.
NAME: Fujimoto Shota
AGE: 33
LEVEL: 45
CONTRACT TYPE (if applicable): Myth
CLASS: A
HEIGHT: 175cm
APPROX. WEIGHT: 74kg
EYE COLOR: Green
SKIN COLOR: Pale Peach
ETHNICITY: Saikyojin
BLOOD TYPE: AB+
NOTABLE FACT: At age 18, Shota started his first business named “Shota’s Good Grass”. He was forced to change the name to “Fujimoto Botanicals” due to the Mamoru Clan’s strict anti-marijuana policy in Minashire. According to his Clan Appeal Form 13B-XP33, he declared that his store did not sell marijuana. Clan investigations confirmed this to be true, though enough people assumed that he did that a name change was still required.
“I-I didn’t mince my words!” The man, Shota, stammered. “Th-this may be hard for someone like you to understand, but here in the Azuma Saikyo region, we cultivate high-quality botanicals. Unlike B-burnchester… What do you drunks specialize in? Hops?”
“You wanna repeat that, mate?!” Archie snapped, his Burnish accent slipping. He patted his chest. “My family’s worst performing shop makes enough money to put this gas station to shame you bloody donkey!”
“Gas station?! You take that back!”
Archie looked around the shop. He wasn’t joking about that gas station comment. The items were unorganized and packed like sardines. Herbs and spices were stored in open mason jars on these rickety wooden shelves in one corner of the room, leaving a massive wide-open corner with nothing to occupy the space. The “good” herbs were behind a glass display case that also worked as the counter like some mid-tier watch store.
He said all of this to Shota, who he’d been going back and forth with comparing their respective shops. It was a waste of time, but defending the Burnchester Bakers was a matter of pride! So what if this was a waste of–
“I’ve had it with you!” Shota suddenly snapped. Aura gathered around the man as he stepped from behind the glass counter. “I don’t care about my indentureship. I won’t let anyone talk down on my shop!”
Indentureship?
Shota coated his hand in green aura and roared, launching a fist at Archie in the most telegraphed punch he’d ever seen. Archie sidestepped it and punched him in the face. A health bar appeared over the man and ticked down significantly.
HIT FOR 12% DAMAGE!
Archie looked at those words over the man’s head as Shota charged up a second strike. Once again, he screamed and let out the weakest, flimsiest punch Archie’d ever seen. And once again, Archie sidestepped it and clocked the man in his face. Honestly, he was starting to feel bad for the guy. How did someone like him get to Level 45?
This guy fights like me when I first trained with Yugo. Actually, I don’t think I was that bad. Hey Lochness, was I this bad?
Lochness played back the memory of him getting toyed with by a half-awake Yugo. Yes, he was this bad when he first trained with Yugo. We all started somewhere, didn’t we? If anything, seeing that memory was a testament to how much he’d grown! Archie thought about his training sessions and missions with Yugo while the man tied him with vines and shot him with a literal peashooter. Well, maybe not a literal peashooter – it was an actual pistol like one of Somnia’s at the HQ –, but the bullets stung rather than pierced and Archie didn’t feel any immediate danger. It wasn’t like fighting Somnia either, where she’d very suddenly go from calm to absolutely manic when things weren’t going her way. No, this was Shota at his best. Once again, Archie started to feel bad for the guy. At this rate, he’d run out of energy before Archie used a single Wraith Strike. There had to be a reason beyond pride that he was fighting this hard.
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“Hey,” Archie said through the vine grip. “What are you doing?”
Shota frowned. “I’m about to kill you for talking down on my shop!”
“No, man. What are you doing?”
“I’m… doing my job…!”
“We both know you’re not a fighter. You’re a businessman, and you have been for 15 years. Remember Shota’s Good Grass? I bet you had so much fun making that cheeky little name with your mates. Now look at you. What are you doing?”
Wordlessly, Shota released Archie from his vine grip. The man stared down at the glossy stone floor, deep into his own reflection. Shota analyzed himself as if for the first time in years before burying his head in his hands and sobbing.
“I don’t have a choice!” Shota blubbered. “I came to the city one day to unwind and the Shogun stopped me and said I had to either set up shop here and run this scam on wealthy clients or she’d kill me! She was over Level 300 and I’d just watched her melt a man for refusing… What was I supposed to do?!”
“So that’s what you meant by indenturship… You’re stuck running this shop here.”
Shota nodded. “I didn’t mind the idea at first. But then they shoved me into a cheap apartment and forced me to make these prices outrageously high. I never wanted this! I just wanted to be a traveling salesman with my friends! All of them moved out of Minashire to more profitable countries like Ptitsa Strana and Tesoro Gardens. My oldest friend even managed to get set up in Paradiso Kizushi!” New tears formed in the man’s eyes. “And here I am…”
”Is there a reason you don’t stop? What’s preventing you from just leaving?”
Archie knew the answer already; the man’s level, poor fighting ability, and the risk of Futakuchi-Onna being anywhere due to her Shapeshifting ability made the threat of escape impossible. Still, what if the man had valuable insights? It didn’t hurt to prod.
“She’ll melt me! She spits poison out of the mouth she has on the back of her head. It’s so gross!”
I… guess that counts as a new insight. Never knew she had a head-mouth.
At the end of the day, people like this man were the very reason he sought out Yugo to begin with. People like Shota who needed someone to fight for them needed people like the Seekers to do it for them. The man continued to stare into his reflection, crying each time he did. Archie felt it slightly inappropriate, but looking at the defeated man filled him with new energy.
“You don’t have to keep fighting, Shota. We’ll take care of the Shogun for you. Just give us a few days.” Archie gave him a reassuring smile. “You’ll be on your friends’ level in no time. I might even be in a position to give you a head start–”
“We?” Shota questioned, grief suddenly turning to confusion. “What do you mean we? Are you an Honor Guard?! This was all a test, wasn’t it?! You’re gonna kill me for speaking against the Shogun!” Shota stood to his feet and shoved his palms at Archie. “I won’t let you! You shouldn’t have renewed my fire, Honor Guard scum! Die!”
Shota conjured more vines, but Archie didn’t have time to deal with this. He summoned Lochness in her serpentine form and had her shoot him with a [HIGH PRESSURE BLAST].
HIT FOR 11% DAMAGE!
The water-hose-like attack sent the man flying into his glass counter, which surprisingly didn’t break with his impact. Sure the man was a Level 45, but he didn’t act like it.
”You can stop now,” Archie sighed, unsummoning Lochness. “I’m not an Honor Guard.”
“...I see. My apologies.” Shota let Archie help him up. He squeezed water out of his robe. “I’ve been pretty on edge if you couldn’t tell. Between you and me, I’ve been planning an escape for weeks. I assumed it would kill me, but I was ready to accept that.”
“Can’t have you dying on us,” Archie smiled. “I need you to hold out just a little bit longer. Think you can do that for me?”
“Easily,” Shota nodded. “Now, what was that you said about helping my business out?”
“Oh, right! You see, my family is trying to ramp up our international business efforts. Some recipes call for herbs baked into the dough, and if we’re going to feed the planet we’re of course going to need suppliers to help us–”
LEVEL UP!
No, no, no! Not now you son of a–
“Help you what?” Shota asked, but Archie never got a chance to answer.
YOUR OVERALL LEVEL HAS INCREASED FROM 53 TO 55!
WALKING SPEED HAS INCREASED BY 1.1%
ARM MOBILITY HAS IMPROVED BY 2.67%
SPEECH CONFIDENCE HAS IMPROVED BY 4.8%
That doesn’t even mean anything! Why is this getting tracked?!
LOCHNESS SMILES UPON YOU. YOUR [HIGH PRESSURE BLAST] IS NOW SILVER II!
LOCHNESS SMILES UPON YOU. ALL ATTACKS AGAINST [FRIGHTENED] OPPONENTS WILL DEAL 4X DAMAGE FOR THE NEXT HOUR.
NEW ACHIEVEMENT: BAR BRAWLER! YOU WON A FIGHT IN A PUBLIC SETTING. YOU HAVE RECEIVED A “BERSERKER” TOKEN. UPON ACTIVATION, ALL PHYSICAL DAMAGE IS DOUBLED IN PUBLIC SETTINGS.
Please make it stop… Mum, I love you but I wish you never bought me this bloody Mamoru System…!
“Is everything alright, Archie?” Shota asked. “What’s wrong?”
NEW ACHIEVEMENT: SILVER TONGUE VIII! YOU HAVE USED SPEECH TO MITIGATE CONFLICT A TOTAL OF 350 TIMES! ALL SPEECH-RELATED SKILLS WILL COST 10% LESS MP TO CAST.
YOUR [SILVER TONGUE] SKILL HAS LEVELED UP! IT IS NOW RUBY III! WORDS WILL NOW COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH 2X SMOOTHER.
YOUR [MOBILITY] SKILL HAS LEVELED UP! IT IS NOW SAPPHIRE IV! YOU CAN MOVE YOUR ARMS 1.22x FASTER.
YOUR [HERB INVESTIGATION] SKILL HAS LEVELED UP! IT IS NOW DIAMOND I. YOU CAN NOW SCAN HERBS WITH 80% ACCURACY.
YOUR–