Chapter 52: Hase

'This is an assassination attempt against the youngest son of the Noble Terio. Yeah, that's a long story short. I only have so much time to think. Is it not a game over if I gloss over the entire situation?'

He spotted three black-robed people who were slowly but steadily making his way towards him and secretly observed them. 'I don't know if it's racist to tell that the three of them look more or less the same. Probably the author of this story didn't bother making them look different. Seriously, why am I thinking about useless things now? Hah… running isn't an option.'

Rewen took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. 'Now or nah… now or nah… now or nah… now or nah… now or…'

"NOW!!" Within a second, Rewen jumped off from the spot holding Ryu tightly and just as he was about to fall on the ground, he noticed a small dart flying off from the previous spot Ryu and him were in.

"What are you doing?" Ryu whined, depressed that his clothes got dirty.

Rewen wasn't in any situation to answer his question and he hurriedly got up, keeping Ryu behind. 

*Swish*

Just as he suspected, a figure abruptly appeared in front of him. The figure had his two hands gripping daggers and had no expression on his face. 

Rewen knew that the moment the assassin swung his dagger, his head would roll. He knew that the other party was a Bronze-ranked Combative Gruer User. Let alone his G.C., his POW would be at least 30. It is practically impossible to expect a win when he (Rewen) is possibly the weakest Gruer User, no, he wasn't even a Gruer User. Despite this, Rewen wasn't panicked or had any fear of death.

He saw a dagger approaching his neck and tried to dodge it but the dagger was ten times faster than his movement. 

One-twelfth of a second passed away and a small cut appeared in his neck. Blood hasn't started pouring from his neck yet but it's only a matter of time. However...

*BOOOM*

'At long last…'

Looking at his left, Rewen found an unconscious bloodied man in black crashing onto a nearby wall.

"What's just happened?"

"You didn't see!? A daylight assassination was about to happen! Do you see that man in blood? He was the assassin who was probably out to assassinate that overweight lad over there. Fortunately, that young man appeared in time and blew the assassin away." The passerby pointed to a newcomer blue-haired young man.

"That actually happened!? Did anyone record that?"

"There are surveillance cameras." Another passerby grinned. He had a friend who works in the Local Security Unit.

The passerby started talking among themselves.

Meanwhile, the newly arrived blue-haired young man came to Rewen and Ryu.

"Ryu, are you alright?" He himself was shaken and hadn't anticipated this to happen. 

Ryu quietly nodded.

"Thank you, Brother. I heard about your situation from Uncle. I will help you to the best of my abilities. Now let's go and talk in the car."

Rewen smiled and nodded. He didn't necessarily save Ryu for goodwill from others or even future benefits. It's not like the thoughts didn't cross his mind but ultimately he is a person who would not think twice for saving a person if he can.

[Enough of your BS. If you really are as good as you think you are, then why didn't you go together with Ryu's father? Surely you could have avoided the entire event, right?]

'Wow, I didn't think of that.'

[Sure.]

The blue-haired young man led the two of them to a four-wheeler. 

Ryu's father sat in the front seat. He was looking at his smartphone when his attention got diverted when Ryu waved his hands. 

"Come, get inside. It's a bit congested with the three of you but my villa is not far away." Ryu's father gave a light laugh.

The three of them - Ryu, the blue-haired young man and Rewen, sat with Ryu in the middle. Adding on to Rewen's large belly, it was very difficult for them to feel comfortable.

"Big Brother Piggy, you should lose your weight…" Ryu felt stuffed.

The blue-haired young man also had an uncomfortable look. "Ryu, don't be rude." He was normally a polite and well-mannered person. Also, keeping in mind that the other party was a Noble from the Central, he had to show some respect. "How may I call you? Oh, forgive my rudeness. I'm Hase Shichiro."

"For now, I go by the alias of 'Rewen'. Nice to meet you, Hase." He wanted to stretch his hand for a handshake but obviously couldn't.

"So it's Rewen. Nice to meet you too. I hate to make it awkward but I have some questions regarding the incident that happened a few minutes ago." 

Ryu's father's ears perked up. "What incident?" 

"Regarding this…" Hase looked at Rewen, wanting him to narrate the whole story.

"Umm, how should I put it in simple words… a person, probably an assassin attacked me and Ryu."

"Huh?" Ryu's father felt that he had heard something wrong. "An assassin attacked? Is this some kind of prank?"

"Unfortunately, it is true," Rewen responded.

"What? How?"

"I have no idea. I was standing along with Ryu when I saw a dart flowing towards us."

"A dart?" Ryu's father suddenly felt that the matter was very serious. "Nevermind that, are both of you alright?"

"If it wasn't for Hase, this would have been my last day." Rewen honestly replied.

"I will remember this." Ryu's father nodded, then turned to Hase. "Give me the details when we get home."

"By the way, Hase." Rewen had an important question.

"Yes?"

"What is the thing you did to blow the assassin away?"

"You mean the <<Suction Blast>>?"

"Probably."

"It's a simple silver-ranked skill. Look here." Hase opened his palm and kept it on his eye level.

"Oy, oy. Don't blow the car away." Ryu's father commented while Rewen's and Ryu's eyes shone with light. 

"Don't worry. You have to condense your G.C. instead of channeling and…" 

*Splash*

A sound akin to a bucket of water poured directly into the ground sounded around Hase's palm. 

Dropping his arm, Hase gave Rewen a small smile. "Although the demonstration looked simple, the actual process is much more complicated. I think it would be better if I thoroughly tell you the steps afterward. Sounds good?"

"You have my gratitude."

It didn't take more than fifteen minutes for the car to stop. 

"Have we arrived?" Rewen looked outside of the windows out of curiosity. What came before his eyes was a grand gate with its sides filled with ten-meter walls. 

Rewen and the others got out of the car. 

A guard who was standing right in front of the gate came forward and led them inside.

The villa was two-story, stretching to almost two football fields. Rewen estimated that there were at least two hundred rooms. Perhaps even more than two-hundred-and-fifty. 

"If I may ask, how many people live in the villa?"

"Excluding servants, around six," Hase responded.

"Including servants."

"Let's see… we have eleven maids including the Head Maid. Three butlers and 126 servants in charge of caretaking, gardening, finance, cooking, and others who oversee the working servants."

"I kinda expected this." It wasn't like he was blown away. No, he did get blown away at the beginning but then, he remembered his own house.

Meanwhile, Ryu's father was conversing with a butler.

"Alex, give him a room and treat him well. No need to worry about his meals."

"Understood." Alex was an experienced butler. He had been working in the Terio Household for over twenty-five years. When the House Master says "treat him well", it means that the other party was a guest.

"Hello, you can call me Rewen. I'll be staying here for a few months. Sorry for freeloading. If I do something rude or wrong, don't hesitate to criticize me." 

Alex was surprised when he saw an ugly kid appearing in front of him. He immediately had a good impression of the lad when he saw that he was quite polite. "Hoho, how can that be? You are our precious guest."

Rewen didn't say anything more. After a while, Alex led him to a room.

"If you need anything, just tell a servant to call me." Standing at the door, Alex gave him a spare key.

"Sure."

Alex walked away and Rewen closed the door. 

'Today was a rough day.'

[Which day isn't?]

'Days when you had not appeared yet.'

[I'm not that good…]

'It's not a compliment. This should be an example of tsukkomi, right?'

[An elementary level tsukkomi but still. I see that you are progressing quite fast.]

'Enough jokes. Let me just destroy the flag.'

Rewen knocked on the bathroom door inside the room.

"Fueh!? Who is there?"

A female voice came from the bathroom.

"I'm a stranger to you but I just want to let you know that you have not locked the door. It would be quite a scene had I not listened to the sounds from the bathroom clearly. Please lock it and sorry for interrupting, take your time."