EeDeChi was sorting through a stack of applicant materials, while she and Barrett sifted through the papers, complaining along the way.
"After all this effort, only a handful of decent candidates showed up. The female knights have high levels of justice, but either their outfits are too revealing or their behavior is too flirtatious. As for the male warriors, they're all strong, but their Justice Value is so low it's practically in the gutter."
"I think that young guy named Rance meets the criteria," Barrett said.
EeDeChi nodded. "He's the only one who seems somewhat reliable."
"Clap... clap... clap, clap, clap! Clap! Clap!..." A series of intense collisions of flesh resounded from next door, interspersed with the low, suppressed gasps of a girl.
"Who's clapping outside?" EeDeChi frowned. "Go check, tell them to move farther away, don't let them disturb our recruitment."
Barrett turned and left the wooden house. He returned shortly, wearing an unreadable expression.
"What happened outside?" EeDeChi asked.
"Uh... how should I put this? Never mind, I'll just say it straight—Rance is fucking Sill."
"WHAT!" EeDeChi was furious. "In broad daylight, and in the middle of the marketplace, no less!"
She drew her giant sword, kicked through the wooden wall, and charged out, shouting, "I'M GOING TO SLICE YOU TO PIECES, YOU BASTARD!"
Rance, true to his elite warrior status, was incredibly fast. He lifted up his pants, scooped Sill into his arms, and sprinted off without a trace.
EeDeChi chased for a few steps, but when she realized Rance had vanished, she could only stomp back to her original spot. The small recruitment cabin had collapsed from her kick, and Barrett, holding Cheeko, looked at her helplessly. "You scared off the only decent candidate we had left."
"Sigh!" EeDeChi covered her forehead with a hand and let out a deep breath. "Why is it that all the weirdos are showing up to apply? The only normal ones are those girls, but their clothes are either flashy and useless or too revealing and provocative. It's clear they're not cut out for fighting."
"I've never seen or heard of any of these people before, and their style of clothing isn't local either," Barrett said. "Could this be related to the 'banned character'?"
"Well..." EeDeChi frowned, thinking it over.
She suddenly felt something was off. The noise she made when she kicked down the wooden cabin was pretty loud, and this was a bustling marketplace. Normally, a bunch of people would've noticed by now.
Everything around her was silent. It was as if time had stopped, space had frozen, and the actions of the surrounding crowd had come to a complete halt.
The people walking had their left and right feet separated in mid-step. An old woman buying spices had a frozen smile on her face, and the small copper spatula she was holding was suspended in the air. The rosemary, which should have fallen into the customer's bag, hung motionless in midair.
A child was tugging on his mother's hand. His feet were off the ground, frozen in the midst of a "jump," and his playful expression looked like a finely sculpted plaster statue.
Barrett stared at the bizarre scene, and Cheeko in his arms looked up at him with a questioning "meow," clearly confused by the situation.
EeDeChi's hawk-like gaze scanned the surroundings. It didn't take long for her to spot the fourth living being in the marketplace, besides herself, Barrett, and Cheeko.
It was a young man with strikingly handsome features. His bright golden hair was neatly combed, and his eyes were an uncommon shade of violet, like crystal beads embedded with violet flower petals. He wore a well-tailored wizard's robe, and a silver brooch adorned his chest, with sapphires and rubies embedded in it, forming a delicate six-pointed star pattern.
EeDeChi kept her eyes fixed on him, her brow furrowed deeply. She wasn't attracted by the man's looks; it was the man's behavior that was utterly repulsive. His actions right now were as sleazy as they come, completely at odds with his handsome appearance.
The young man held a cyan magic wand in his right hand, and a beautiful girl frozen in motion stood beside him. His left hand slithered like a snake around her waist and hips, caressing her sexy body.
EeDeChi furrowed her brow. She was certain that this sleazy guy was the one who had cast the time-stop spell, freezing everyone in place so he could freely indulge his disgusting behavior.
"STOP!" EeDeChi charged forward in a blur, driving her knee into the man's face. He barely had time to react before his nose exploded with blood, and he was sent flying backward, crashing into a fruit vendor's stall.
"Why'd you hit me?!" The young man clutched his nose, blood pouring out, and angrily demanded an explanation.
"Well, look at that. You can still get up." EeDeChi was slightly surprised. Though she had held back her strength, a regular person would have been knocked out cold or at least concussed from a hit like that.
She rolled up her sleeves. "I'll hit you a few more times, and you'll understand why."
"Don't get too cocky!" The man shook his wand, and sparks exploded from the tip, sending a column of fiery magic straight at EeDeChi.
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Caught off guard, EeDeChi was hit by the magic, but it did nothing to her. The spell passed through her like air, utterly harmless.
"Such a shame," the man muttered, looking disappointed. "With magic resistance like that, but you're a wild and untamable girl." He cast a quick healing spell on himself to stop the bleeding from his nose.
He raised his wand again, his arm jerking violently as he cast ten death curses in rapid succession. The green light of the spells shot toward EeDeChi like long, sharp spikes targeting every part of her body. EeDeChi twisted and turned, easily dodging each and every curse.
The man smirked. "Nice figure, but your personality is so spoiled and unruly—definitely not my type."
But his smirk didn't last long. EeDeChi charged forward like a streak of black lightning, her fist slamming into his chin with brutal force.
The sound of fist meeting jaw rang out like the toll of a heavy bell. The man's eyes went vacant, and his two white front teeth, with a string of saliva still attached, flew out of his mouth. They landed like a rag, crumpling in the corner of the wall, and he groaned in pain, unable to stop.
"Now do you know why I'm hitting you?" EeDeChi asked, feeling satisfied and ready to back off.
The young man with golden hair was disheveled now, but he still tightly gripped his magic wand. "I will bow down only to a beautiful woman's charm, but I'll never submit to a woman's fist!" He staggered to his feet, casually brushing off the dust from his clothes. "Come on, woman, let's go for round two. Let's see who can last longer in a hundred rounds of battle!"
Barrett, who had been watching from the sidelines, was shocked. He had expected someone to end up dead, but this tall, lanky blonde guy seemed to take a beating way better than he thought. Cheeko, perched on Barrett's shoulder, was staring intently at the situation, not blinking once, fully focused on what would happen next.
EeDeChi cracked her neck, then suddenly sprang into action. Her foot stomped the ground, causing cracks to spread out like a spiderweb. In the blink of an eye, she had closed the distance and was right in front of the blonde man, her massive fist reflected in his violet-colored pupils.
"BOOM!" The man was sent flying, spinning 180 degrees in the air before crashing headfirst into the ground. But shockingly, he got back up again. His right eye was bruised and swollen, matching the color of his violet-colored eyes.
"Brute strength can only defeat my body, but it cannot defeat my spirit!" The man pounded his chest, his voice booming with pride.
"Buddy, maybe it's time to stop talking. If you keep this up, you're going to get yourself killed." Barrett sighed. He had once felt a shred of sympathy for the blonde man, but now he was starting to think the guy really had it coming.
EeDeChi's face remained expressionless as she calmly walked toward him, step by step. The man, terrified, took a step back and raised his wand, shouting, "Woman, prepare to kneel and beg for mercy! Oath of the God-Slayer, Eighth-Level Magic!!"
Quick as lightning, EeDeChi drew a pen from her pocket. "Magic Repeater!"
Oath of the God-Slayer!
Oath of the God-Slayer!
Oath of the God-Slayer!
Four terrifying curses collided head-on, and the explosive shockwave created a massive crater where they stood. Three of the curses came from EeDeChi, and only one came from the man.
The result was immediately clear. The man's eyes bled, his golden hair began to smoke, and he collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
EeDeChi shook her head, sheathed her pen, and turned to leave. But to her surprise, the man hadn't suffered serious injuries. Like a snake, he curled his body and, taking advantage of her moment of inattention, lunged at her… and wrapped his arms around EeDeChi's thigh.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" EeDeChi jumped in shock, shaking her leg fiercely, but she couldn't shake off the man, who was clinging to her leg like glue.
His right eye was still swollen and bruised, but he clung to her thigh, unwilling to let go, his eyes full of desire. "Master, what magic did you just use? It was able to copy my spell. Are you the Magic Goddess? Please, teach me, Goddess."
"Let go!" EeDeChi was both angry and anxious. She grabbed his face and tried to pull him off, but it was like trying to pull rubber bands apart—the man's grip didn't budge.
He tilted his head up to look at her, his tone dripping with false sweetness, "If you don't teach me to copy magic, I won't let go."
"Quit talking nonsense, let go!"
"Nope, I won't. I just won't."
...
The two struggled for a while longer, and EeDeChi's face grew darker. "Last chance, are you letting go or not?"
For a moment, the young man was stunned by her icy stare, but he still refused to give in. With a pitiful expression, he sighed, "I haven't learned the magic, so I'm not letting go."
His tone was unbearably sickly sweet, and he even raised his eyebrows, throwing her a flirtatious wink. EeDeChi felt a chill run down her spine, disgust creeping over her. She took a deep breath, her arms tensing, her wrist moving so fast it nearly broke the sound barrier. As she shouted in fury, her fists came down like hailstones in a snowstorm:
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"
In the continuous, densely woven storms of fists, the man finally lost consciousness, but his hands remained stiff and locked tightly onto EeDeChi's thigh.
As the man lost awareness, time began to flow again, and the people of the market—young, old, and everyone in between—returned to their activities. EeDeChi and Barrett exchanged a helpless glance. Barrett hoisted the blonde man's legs, and the three of them, along with the cat, staggered back to their lodging at the inn.
...
Inside the inn, the blonde man slowly opened his eyes. The moment he did, he noticed Barrett was holding a long steel saw—like the kind used by lumberjacks—and was hovering it over his arm, preparing to saw his hand off EeDeChi's thigh.
With a sudden jolt, the man quickly pulled his hand back, and EeDeChi's thigh was finally freed.
"Ah, feels nice," the man said, a somewhat lecherous smile creeping onto his face.
Seeing this, EeDeChi raised her hand to slap him, but the man hurriedly dropped to his knees, speaking in a rush, "Please, let me join your adventurer team, I want to learn the magic of replication."
His injuries had mysteriously healed, even his missing front teeth had grown back. His self-healing ability was so remarkable that even the well-traveled Barrett was left in awe.
After a brief discussion, Barrett and EeDeChi exchanged a look, both wondering if this guy was another "talent" sent by the "recruitment event."
"It's a pity his justice value is only 2. I've never seen such a low score for justice," EeDeChi said, her eyes filled with distaste as she looked at the blonde man.
"Stop being so picky," Barrett whispered. "If we kick him out, all our efforts with the recruitment will be for nothing."
"Fine," EeDeChi relented, motioning for the man to sit in a chair as she began the interview. According to her, even though the decision was practically already made, they still had to go through the process.
"Name?"
"Franco."
"Identity?"
The man, who called himself "Franco," proudly raised his chin, declaring, "I am the noble prince of the human race, the legendary wizard adored by the goddess of magic, and the savior of lost girls!"
"What can you do?"
"I can concoct sleeping potions, love potions and arousal elixirs, excel in hypnotic magic and time-stop spells, master bondage rope art, command tentacled creatures, possess dexterous fingers and an agile tongue. By the way, I also have body transformation abilities, but it's limited to my ......"
"Alright, enough of this." EeDeChi shrugged and signed Franco's team application form. "Congratulations, you've become the fourth member of the Last Defender of the Way adventurer team."
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You don't need to look for the origin of the character Franco; he comes from an erotic novel I read a long time ago.