Melissa's enthusiasm disappears when she sees me. She scratches her head, embarrassed.
Underlying her embarrassment is disappointment.
??
At that moment, I did not know that my appearance was not what she thought. The man that the criminals in her prison mentioned "Arsto" was a person with brown hair.
"Nice to meet you. Pardon my rough entrance, I...mistook you for someone," says Melissa. The officer behind her bows at us and leaves the room.
"It's alright."
"We haven't put up a bounty for the criminal yet so I will need some time to arrange your rewards."
I nod and take the cup of tea for a sip.
"...May I ask you something?" Melissa says.
I look at her with the cup still on my lips.
"Why did you come here? You could have given the criminal to the Imperial Army or...other platoons."
I put down the cup of tea and smiles at Melissa.
"Have you heard of recent rumours surrounding the Imperial Army? Some say that they hire criminals to do their dirty work rather than punish them. I don't want that. I want true justice. That's why I came to you. Your reputation precedes you." I say.
Melissa's face slightly reddens as she flusters and looks away while nodding.
Melissa is a kind-hearted girl who firmly acts on her morals. However, she developed an obsession with devastating "evil" due to her past. She will even abandon her morals if she is pushed to the edge.
The only question now is...how can I brainwash her?
"Thank you...Do you need accommodation? I will need a day before I can reward you. Also, I will be on patrol duty for the day so if you need anything, you can contact my assistant."
"That...will help. Thank you."
Melissa smiles and nods.
"Oh yes, one more thing." Melissa takes out a document. "I am planning to report this to the press. Do you want me to omit your identity?"
...
"No," I reply and sign the document. It's a contract where I am paid a sum for them to use my name in their article.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Melissa's grin stretches. With this news article, The Bureau of Virtue further grows in influence and embarrasses The Imperial Army.
Afterwards, my schedule for the rest of the day is open. Next to the BOV(Bureau of Virtue)station is a dormitory for BOV officers and captains. Although Haeru is mainly popular for its food, I spend my time loitering around the dorm eavesdropping on conversations.
Turns out Rena successfully eliminated the Pyramid of Insanity causing her reputation to greatly spread. In addition, The Imperial Army seems to be covering up their failure to defend the main castle from Haren's attack. They started releasing excuses in the news.
"Hey. You are the guy aren't you?" A middle-aged man and a woman officer call me from afar.
...?
"Pardon?"
"The guy that brought the hot shot in. Why are you loitering around?"
"Ah...I was just taking a look around."
The man with black eyes and hair stares at me from head to toe. He takes out a storage ring and shows it to me.
"Duel with me and I will give you this storage ring." the man says.
"Hey hey. Just leave him alone!" the woman tries to stop the man. "I'm sorry."
"No no no, I refuse to believe this brat can catch him. He might even be an accomplice."
I frown. "What's with that accusation?"
"No, we are sorry-" the woman tries to speak.
"Why? Prove it to me then, look at yourself." the man says.
I sigh.
...
The woman probably said something about me that made the man jealous, I can see it as clear as day.
"Sure sure, is there an arena here somewhere?" I ask.
The man clicks his tongue at my arrogance and walks ahead.
When I don't move, he glares back. "What are you fucking standing there for?"
The woman bows to me and politely says the Arena is in the direction of the man's path.
I follow the man to a large stadium behind the dormitory. A large oval sandy rock space surrounded by ascending rows of seats.
The man points at a rack of swords. He and I both take one and enter.
My uninterested expression pisses him off even further.
"Let's get this over with," I say.
"T-This fucker..."
-----------------------
Blue Kael
Strength:???
Weakness:???
Status: Angry, Agitated, Annoyed
Tribe: Human
Lvl: 158
Hp: 100000/100000
Mana: 25000/25000
Atk: 102
Def: 123
Dex: 98
Mag: 2
Luck: 19
-----------------------
A well-balanced statistic...
The officers in BOV are divided into groups and each group has a leader. This Blue guy might be a leader with these stats.
As I grip the sword, I take a deep breath.
I must control my strength. I cannot kill him.
Blue holds the sword beside his chest. With a leap, he raises the sword high but feints and goes for a sweep. I saw through his tricks and jumps back.
An aura then envelops his sword as Blue pushes a thrust. My weapon swings aside, deflecting his sword and instantly dissipating the aura.
"Wha-"
The dissipated aura caught Blue off guard, giving me a chance to channel mana rapidly throughout my body and send a kick to his chest.
"UCK?!"
His body ejects back. I zap to him and grab his head, slamming his body to the ground using momentum.
"..."
"S-Sir Blue!" The woman exclaims and runs to the injured man.
Did I overpower him in speed? To be honest, I don't know the exact buff of circulating mana in my body...
Or is it because of my manafication body that intensified the benefits?
The match ended quickly after I take away his sword aura, not a drop of sweat is seen.
"Hm?"
I sense someone else in the stadium. At the top row of the spectator's auditorium, Melissa coincidentally witnessed the battle.
She places her hand on her chin and ponders.