[10 minutes after the first-year students of Rezen Academy left the E-ranked dungeon, Golem’s Nest]

[Location: Kingdom of Elondale]

In the capital city of Elondale, the streets were never empty. Day and night, people were always hard at work. Businesses operated 24/7, catering mostly to individuals from outside the kingdom pursuing various business ventures. There was even a saying that closing shop for even an hour could result in your competitors gaining a tenfold advantage in earnings. In such a place, working became more of a duty than a choice.

In the middle of the city stood the tallest skyscraper, known simply as the main office building for a massive conglomerate that owned numerous businesses across the kingdom - a fairly accurate description.

This morning, as the sun rose on the horizon, the building was the first to be bathed in sunlight.

On one of the top floors, already receiving this light, two individuals loitered in an office room. The room was neither big nor small and followed a typical office design, with a single table facing away from the window. Multiple chairs scattered across the light brown carpet, giving the space a peculiar vibe since it looked like it could only house one worker.

“I told you, I don’t drink this stuff,” an agitated voice reverberated through the quiet room as one of the individuals, seated behind the desk, folded his arms and glared at the steaming cup of tea placed before him. The young man had short black hair and wore an expensive-looking suit, but despite being indoors, he also wore large, dark sunglasses that hid his eyes.

“It’s still morning. I don’t think it’s good for your health to drink alcohol so early,” a soft voice replied from his side.

A young girl wearing a school uniform stood there, holding a tray, having just delivered the tea. She had pink-colored hair, tied into two long ponytails, and wore a pink apron over her school uniform. Despite the cute combination, her expressionless face gave her a dull appearance.

“How many times do I have to tell you, I didn’t bring you here to be my personal maid?” the man sighed, sounding exasperated as if he had given this lecture countless times before. The girl merely stared at him, showing no sign of emotion.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but can you go back to school and not come back unless I call for you? Please?” the man pleaded, clasping his hands together like he was praying, but the girl’s expression remained unchanged as she nodded.

“I see. So you want me to kill myself?” she muttered.

“When did I ever say that!?” the man shot back, losing his composure.

“So, I can stay?” she said, tilting her head slightly, as if trying to appear confused, but her expression remained blank.

“How haven’t they expelled you from the academy? You barely attend any classes,” he asked curiously. With how often she traveled between here and the academy, she should've been in trouble by now, yet here she stood, perfectly calm.

“One of the profes—” the girl began, but suddenly cut herself off, her attention snapping to the opposite side of the room. Without warning, she dashed forward, pulling a piece of paper from her pocket and holding it up above her head with both hands. She swung it down like a sword.

Whoosh~!

As her hands descended, the paper transformed into a massive scythe, its blade gleaming as it slashed down before smashing into the floor.

Bang~!

The scythe dug deep into the magic-reinforced floor, and though the carpet prevented debris from scattering, bloodstains marred the area around the impact.

“Looks like you missed,” the man behind the desk commented calmly, pointing a finger behind her. The girl turned, her expression unchanging.

“It’s you,” she stated simply, despite nearly killing the said person. However, the man didn’t seem bothered.

“Enough with that bullshit. You knew it was me when you dashed forward. Try to make it look more convincing next time,” the man advised, completely calm.

She simply stared back at him, her blank face betraying none of the frustration she felt at having her intentions so easily read.

“Eva, be a good girl and call the doctor for our guest. And try not to attack him like that again. I doubt you want to inherit this man's title,” the man in sunglasses said, and pink haired girl nodded obediently.

As she left the room, the man finally turned his attention to the guest. The new arrival was shirtless, a large burn mark covering his chest. He wore only brown trousers, and his whole body was riddled with injuries. Blood poured from his stomach as he held it with one hand, yet he walked steadily to a chair, pulled it up to the desk, and collapsed into it.

"Looks like your hunch was right," he muttered, his breathing oddly normal for someone in his condition. Seeing this, the man in sunglasses smiled.

“That breathing technique... I didn’t think it was possible for humans to do that. I’m honestly surprised you’re still alive,” he said, his voice sounding genuinely surprised. The injured man, however, didn’t take the comment lightly.

“You act like it matters, but you would’ve benefited whether I lived or died. You had everyone dancing in the palm of your hand, didn’t you?” he shot back, his expression turning serious, but the man behind the desk remained unfazed.

"What do you mean? I thought you enjoyed this kind of challenge. Or are a bunch of kids too much for Elondale’s Giant Killer?" the man teased with a smirk.

The Giant Killer scowled, recalling something. "The fight wasn’t the issue. I would’ve accepted it even if I’d known I’d end up like this. My problem is that people might start thinking I’m one of your henchmen." He said, glaring at him.

The man sitting behind the table was the one who had convinced him to join the mission with the promise of a good fight. However, after completing the mission, the Giant Killer began to connect the dots. In the first place, the Giant Killer wasn’t associated with any organizations and could take on any job he wanted. But because the man sitting across from him was actively trying to recruit him, the Giant Killer avoided accepting any requests from him.

'[Ten Tedious] over at the Empire has a job, and they’re looking for someone to fill a spot…'

That was what this man had said. Since the two organizations were unrelated, the Giant Killer had ended up accepting the job as a hired hand for [Ten Tedious], not for this man. But to his unfortunate despair, it seemed everything was going according to the man’s plan.

“Oh, c’mon, you know [False Peace] had nothing to do with this operation. All we did was recommend a good fighter—nothing else. Besides, you can just join us, and it wouldn’t really matter, right? You can still move freely and do whatever you want.” The man in sunglasses launched into a sales pitch, sounding like he was about to list working hours and pay, too.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

If one didn’t know about the man’s position, they would've thought he was desperate to add the Giant Killer to their ranks. But the Giant Killer wasn’t that naïve. Suddenly recalling something, the Giant Killer smiled.

“How’s the war going in Eza? I didn’t think you would show any interest in this year's crop of students, considering how busy you are.” His casual tone heightened the tension in the room as the two men stared each other down.

“Excuse us.”

Another voice abruptly broke the silence, and the pink-haired girl, known as Eva, entered the room with a middle-aged man by her side. The man had light green hair and wore a long, white coat over his casual clothes. Upon entering, he walked straight to the Giant Killer, placing a hand behind his back as he spoke.

“Doesn’t seem like you value your life,” he said. At the same time, a greenish aura wrapped around the Giant Killer's body, stopping his bleeding and instantly healing some of his minor wounds. As the Giant Killer looked down at his body, he couldn’t help but ask,

“How long have you been in Elondale?” He directed the question at the man who was healing him, but the doctor fell silent, glancing at the man in sunglasses as if seeking permission. After receiving a small nod of confirmation, he replied,

“I’ve been here since Friday. Three days before the operation began…”

“That Ian kid must be dangerous if you’re going this far to hide your involvement in this,” the Giant Killer commented, keeping his words vague to avoid revealing that, back at [Golem's Nest], Ian had indirectly asked him about his connections with [False Peace].

The Giant Killer had already heard from one of their members that Ian was wary of Dr. Telu, and although there was no concrete evidence that Ian knew about Dr. Telu’s ties to [False Peace], they had decided to assume the worst-case scenario, which is that he somehow knew. Using that logic, if Ian suspected [False Peace] was involved in this incident, it would make sense that they would be obligated to treat their employees if they returned with injuries as severe as the Giant Killer’s. Thus, if Ian wanted to confirm whether or not [False Peace] was involved, he would simply need to check the infirmary immediately after the incident to verify if Dr. Telu was still present on campus. If not, his suspicions would be confirmed.

Of course, this plan only worked if the doctor was on campus to begin with. If they told Ian that Dr. Telu hadn’t been around since three days ago, then his absence today wouldn’t prove anything. This was exactly why the doctor had been called a few days prior.

Executing such a maneuver required the assumption that the Giant Killer, who had yet to lose to anyone, would somehow return heavily injured after facing a kid they barely knew anything about. To formulate such precautions in advance required an insane level of foresight, but for the man sitting across from him, such calculated moves were second nature.

As the Giant Killer contemplated this, the man in sunglasses responded.

“It’s not that he’s dangerous. Kids like him are naturally drawn to our world, so I’m just making sure not to get on his bad side if he eventually enters it.” The man in sunglasses spoke, and the Giant Killer could only nod in agreement. There was no doubt in his mind that the boy would eventually become a notorious figure in the criminal underworld.

“Are you trying to recruit him?” Another voice interrupted the conversation, and the man in sunglasses couldn’t help but smile.

“What’s wrong, Eva? Is it a problem if I do?” he teased, but the girl’s face remained unfazed.

“Not really. I just don’t think it’s a good idea.” Her reasoning contradicted her statement, a clear sign that there was indeed a problem.

“Well, you don’t need to worry. I don’t have any plans for him at the moment,” he reassured her, but the Giant Killer scoffed.

“You say that, but it doesn’t seem like you want anyone else to get to him first. That’s why you chose this elaborate approach to test him, isn’t it?” he challenged, causing the man to smile in response.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man replied, but the Giant Killer pressed on.

“[Ten Tedious] already had a six-man team for the operation—two for each target floor—but you somehow got access to that information. You took an interest in that boy, so you decided to pull a double-layered plan to sabotage the entire operation.” The Giant Killer asserted, but the man in sunglasses maintained his silence. It was a significant leap in logic, especially since the man had hardly lifted a finger during the whole operation.

“You sound paranoid; maybe they should also check your head.” Eva suddenly shot in, causing a chuckle from the man in sunglasses as he nodded.

“Perhaps she’s right? You’re just overthinking it,” he said, but the Giant Killer didn’t take offense, smiling back as he continued his explanation with confidence.

“You made sure to kill one of the two who would be going to that boy’s floor and used me as a replacement. That move served two purposes: One, you ensured no one in the criminal underworld would know about the boy's real abilities. Two, you would be the only one who knows about his abilities.” He said, observing the man’s expression, which didn’t change much.

On the day of the placement exams, a lot of students that watched Ian's fight against the Scarlet Arsenal couldn't really wrap their heads around what they had seen, and because of this, the reports about his authority were too diverse to form a proper conclusion, causing the vast majority of organizations to take interest in the boy. Using inexperienced students as spies had many downside, but this was the worst of them, and that is; their inability to scale a persons power.

“I see. So you’ve figured out that much.” The man in sunglasses admitted, letting out a light sigh. He was already aware of how sharp the Giant Killer was, but he didn’t expect him to deduce so much with so little information to work with. As if putting the final nail in the coffin, the Giant Killer continued,

“You gambled on the chance… No, gamble is a strong word. You were confident that the boy would somehow kill my partner, effectively removing Ten Tedious’s access to information and making me the only witness to the boy's skills. The only way they would know about the boy’s abilities is if I shared my findings.” He said, sounding a bit impressed.

Since one of the operation's objectives was to confirm the rumors about the Ian's Authority, the Giant Killer realized that by killing the masked woman, the only other person to have witnessed his powers would be himself—a replacement sent by [False Peace]. It went without saying that [Ten Tedious] would’ve sold that information to anyone in the underworld, and by stopping them from obtaining it, [False Peace] effectively prevented it from spreading.

“Hehe, so will you share it with them?” The man in sunglasses asked with a small smile, but he already knew what the Giant Killer would say.

“I won’t. But I also won’t be sharing anything with you, but that doesn’t matter to you, does it?” The Giant Killer said, yet the man could only shrug, confirming his thoughts. The Giant Killer didn’t care for ethics when dealing with people in the underworld, so he felt no obligation to appease anyone, even this man. But would the man be affected if he didn’t get this information? The Giant Killer didn’t think so.

“The reason it wouldn’t have mattered whether or not I came back alive was because you were using me as a scale to measure the boy’s skills. If I had died in that dungeon, it would’ve given you an idea of how strong he is. Even if I didn’t die, you would still find that out by looking at my injuries. That’s why you insisted on using this place for my return summon under the guise of ‘healing my wounds’ when, in fact, you wanted to be the first to witness my injuries,” he explained, causing the man in sunglasses to clap his hands a few times in amazement.

He wouldn’t point out the things the Giant Killer may have been wrong about, but the many things he got right were enough for his story to be considered ‘true.’ Of course, the other reason the Giant Killer had agreed to use this place for the return summon was that he didn’t fully trust [Ten Tedious] enough to walk around their base with his stats restricted like this. So in a way, he had no choice but to dance to this man’s tune.

On the sidelines, Eva looked at their interaction with conflicted emotions. She couldn’t help but regard the Giant Killer with newfound respect, but her expression didn’t show it. She already knew he was incredibly strong, but discovering that he was also much smarter made her feel a bit…

“I guess I’ll have to give you credit for that one. You mentioned the war in Eza; are you interested in joining the frontlines?” The man in sunglasses asked.

Hearing this, the Giant Killer suddenly smiled, the gears in his head moving as a plan formulated in his mind. Just as he had been used for this man’s goals, he would also try to use him for his own. For the Giant Killer, his main goals only lay in seeking entertainment. What greater entertainment could one receive than watching this man fight seriously?

Two can play this game.

“Before we discuss that, I have a question. There’s a rumor floating around that’s got me very curious, you see, so I wanted to know: Hiro, are you scared of the Dragon Princess?”

The moment those words left his mouth, the tension in the room rose, and for the first time since the Giant Killer had arrived, the man in sunglasses showed his teeth, a confident smile plastered across his face.

There was no need for an answer, the thought surfaced in the Giant Killer’s mind. The face the man showed was already an exceptional answer.

Then this might work.

The Giant Killer thought to himself as he prepared to throw some bait, matching the man in sunglasses as he prepared to beat him in his own game.