22 Arranging Future Meetings

Eventually, Ramph Zelu, with utmost care, held his son's corpse in his arms, and after absentmindedly excusing himself, with heavy steps, took away his now dead offspring.

What followed his departure was an awkward silence, a prolonged one. It couldn't be helped, the scene just now had materialized a heavy weight on the spectator's hearts.

In the end, it was Lenna Zelu's footsteps what broke the silence. She stopped in front of Thorn, and said handing 4 black coins over to him: \"Congratulations. Here it is your deserved reward.\"

She then directed her next words toward the public: \"With this, the twenty-first Lurep Village Mercenary vs. Adventurer Novices Tournament ends. Thanks for your presence today.\" Immediately after, she too left. Her quick actions showed how upset she was. Well, her cousin had just died, it was understandable.

After which, the gates to the exit of the mansion opened.

The spectators exchanged distressed looks, and proceed to leave in an orderly fashion.

At that juncture, Delia Adver told Arger Dal and Cley Alch: \"See you later, my friends. I have some business to attend.\"

Used to her personality, they just waved at her; and after she disappeared, they began to discuss Ramph Zelu's matter.

Delia Adver suddenly appeared in front of Thorn giving him a little scare.

\"W-what?\" He stuttered.

\"Since you are a mercenary, you can accept a job from me, correct?\" She asked, her gaze firmly settled on his eyes.

\"Oh… Yes, yes! Although our party is still inexperienced, until now, we haven't disappointed a single client; so you can feel relieved putting your trust on us.\" Radiating confidence, he beamed.

\"That's great. Meet me at the principal headquarters of the Adventurer's Guild in 457 days. And don't worry about the money, I'll give your party enough to spend the rest of your lives in luxury.\" After saying such awesome words, she disappeared from Thorn's field of vision.

*Gasp*

Thorn couldn't help gasp in astonishment. (Goddammit! She almost gave me a boner!)

Delia Adver appeared in front of her disciple, the girl with sexy thick lips, and mocked her revealing a playful smile: \"Ashly, that was pathetic: you got your ass kicked really good there.\"

Ashly involuntarily put her hand on her chest, pain stabbing her heart, and said grimacing: \"Y-y-you know that it was a shameless, underhanded blow… Why are you adding salt to my wound? As my teacher, you should be trying to heal it instead… \"

Still with the playful smile on her face, Delia Adver replied: \"Don't be silly, Ashly. As your teacher, I have the responsibility of putting enough salt on your wound to kill every bacteria it may attract. And believe me, it requires quite a lot of salt to do so.\"

*Grrr…*

Ashley made such noise as she held her own head with both hands in frustration. \"Forget it, I had never won a discussion against you anyway!\" She then lowered her arms and sighed.

After a short silence, Ashly suddenly said: \"I suppose the reason why you are in such a good mood is because he'll help you with that matter.\"

\"Of course.\" Delia Adver immediately admitted. She then started to walk toward the exit as a casual mutter left her rosy lips: \"Let's go home.\"

Not too far away from the teacher-disciple pair, Arnold Alch sauntered to the side of Captain Fou Tre, and said with a hushed voice: \"I'll 'eat' tomorrow. Bring just three knights this time. Same place as always.\"

The Captain Fou Tre wordlessly nodded and turned to leave.

By this point, Rose and Thorn were already chatting. It was a private conversation thanks to her Awakened Skill.

\"What did Delia want from you?\" Rose asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.

\"She made us a job offer; though, apart from the extravagant payment she promised, she only said that we have to be at the principal headquarters of the Adventurer's Guild in 457 days.\" Thorn answered.

Thorn's words immediately made Rose's eyes lit up like golden coins. \"Well, I have no idea why she'll need our help, but if there's an organization that is famed for how depth its treasure vaults are, that would be the Adventurer's Guild! I'm sure the journey to the Monster Human Kingdom will be worth it!\"

\"That's awesome! By the way, speaking of money, here there are the 4 black coins!\" He said handing the money over to her.

After Rose put the coins in her pocket, she joyful celebrated flinging her arms in the air. \"We are now so close to have enough to contract a ship designer!\"

\"How much are you planning to extort from the murderer?\" Thorn suddenly asked, a wide and malicious smile on his face.

In response to Thorn's question, Rose nonchalantly said: \"Oh, about that, since his Awakened Skill is so useful and so unique, I thought we should ask him to join our party.\"

\"W-what?!\" Thorn's mouth and eyes became completely wide open.

\"I know, I know, it's a risky move; but I think it would be worth it. You must be aware of the fact that probably, in the entire world, there isn't a second Awakened Skill like his.\" Her look was earnest.

\"Yes, probably there isn't; but a party united by extortion won't work right; actually, it would be extremely dangerous.\" He tried to change her mind patiently.

\"That's why I said 'we should ask him to join our party', and didn't say 'we should extort him into joining our party'.\" She stubbornly replied.

*Sigh…*

After a long sigh, he finally conceded: \"… Okay. If you have already decided it, I suppose I won't be able to change your mind because, in spite of everything, you are the smartest of the team right now.\"

\"It's a bet, okay? We could receive a disaster or a blessing from him. I just want to take the risk because I believe that, with our combined wits and strengths, we can overcome any disaster he may throw at us.\" She explained in a single breath, eyes radiating deep craftiness.

Seeing her confident attitude, he couldn't help but crack a slight smile on his face. \"Let's follow him then, before he gets away.\"

\"Yes!\" Rose nodded satisfied. Thorn had at last understood her.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

An almost desolate suburban region of Lurep Village.

The buildings and streets were constructed with grey metallic rock chunks, the rooftops filled with a variety of domesticated plant monsters: lavender, daylily, maiden grass, etc.

*Step* *step* *step* *step*…

Steady footsteps echoed out through an empty and dim alley.

Under thick shadows and right in the middle of the narrow path, the owner of the footsteps all of a sudden stopped, turned around, and let out a single word in a relaxed tone: \"Why?\"

Soon, Thorn and Rose walked into the alley, and stood side by side ten meters in front of the murderer.

\"Because I want to befriend you, and I want you to join our mercenary party.\" Rose answered, she too used a relaxed tone.

\"Hahaha… Again, why?\" The individual shrouded in shadows gave such a reply. It was evident that Rose's answer sounded amusing to him.

Frowning, Rose spoke out, her voice steady and clear: \"Isn't it obvious? In the long term, if you join our mercenary party, the strength your Awakened Skill gives you could bring us hundreds of thousands of bigger benefits than the benefits we would have received if Thorn pointed his finger at you at that moment.\"

*PUMB!!*

The murderer slammed his right feet against the floor, his fists clenched so hard faint cracking sounds could be heard.

Thorn's eyes sharply narrowed. He was ready to use the Final-Star Memory of the Skill at any given moment.

As the tension in the air increased, the murderer's furious shout suddenly rang out: \"So you view 'benefits' as something more important than 'people'?! You are the kind of trash I despise the most!\"

Rose's frown deepened, and she roared gnashing her teeth in indignation: \"Bullshit! I'm not that innocent nor that softhearted! I'm much colder and crueler than that! I firmly believe that 'people' are just 'benefits'!\"

\"….\"

\"….\"

As expected, Rose's declaration rendered Thorn and the murderer speechless.

Rose cleared her throat and said: \"A-anyway, will you join us? The decision is up to you. If you don't want to, so be it. But think about it carefully. I'm sure you have already noticed that Thorn is actually much stronger than what he showed. That's why if you join us, you'll have an easier time when working.\"

The murderer unhesitatingly replied: \"I'm not interested. Since you are looking for a criminal to join your party, then you two must be criminals too. I had my own reasons to do what I did, and I have no intention of becoming an outlaw.\"

Rose smiled. \"We aren't criminals. It's just that your skill is so useful I decided to take the risk of allowing a criminal in our party.\"

\"I see…\" The murderer whispered as he began to consider Rose's offer more seriously.

Some time passed by in silence, and finally, he sauntered closer to the duo. His appearance little by little became clearer as he walked out from under the shadows. First, his heavy black armor became visible, and then, his pitch-black smoke which had the 'V' shape. He was Cure Song!

\"I have my own goals, so I'll only work with you guys for a while to see if your party suits me. Are you okay with that?\" The dullahan asked, arms folded across his chest.

With a radiant beam, Rose exclaimed: \"Of course! Welcome to our nameless party! My name is Rose and I'm the party leader; it's a pleasure to meet you, Cure Song!\"

\"Eehh?!\" Cure Song's voice sounded beyond shocked. \"Are you telling me that you are stronger than Thorn?! Even though your cultivation base is so pathetic?!\"

\"No. Counting you in it, I'm the weakest of the party. But I'm the leader. You'll have to just accept it.\" She explained as if it were a matter of fact.

Cure Song felt dismayed; still not sure if his decision to join them was the right one, he said resigned: \"Ah, whatever. So, party leader, what are your plans?\"

Rose, Thorn and Cure Song chatted for a while about different matters and left together the ally.

They went to shopping. Thorn's rags needed to be replaced. It was a tough battle after all.

After buying enough clothes, which were of the same style Thorn had been using, they rented an entire flat with three bedrooms and a living room.

Once they entered into the living room, they ordered food and drinks to celebrate Thorn's victory. They sat on comfortable couches to eat while lively chatting.

\"Soooo… Rose, how did you figured out that Cure Song was the culprit even before I interrogated the spectators? You don't know how awe-struck I became when you whispered me 'don't tell anyone that Cure Song is the murderer!'.\" Thorn at last voiced out this doubt.

\"Eeehh?! Did you discover that I was the culprit before the interrogation?!\" Cure Song literally jumped in surprise.

Puffing out her chest, fork in hand, Rose earnestly bragged: \"I was worried about someone else noticing it too, but in the end, I was the only one who successful connected all the dots! I even was quicker than Crok Alch in noticing the slight change in the color of the skin of the corpse! Some instants after I saw that change, I understood everything and whispered you that order.\" She drank some juice and continued: \"The most important clue was the fact that Cure was wearing heavy armor in spite of his combat style being specialized in speed. The moment I saw the change in the color of Resh Zelu's skin, I thought about the death grip monster; but that wasn't the only thing which came into my mind, I also thought about a nearly extinct cosmetic potion named Yellow Spring, which can change the color of skin just like the death grip monster. Then I remembered Cure said that one of his Awakened Skills was named 'No Color' and that it allowed him to become invisible; but he didn't use it in combat, even though he had the chance before attacking Allen Bullo. You know that because we can feel the cultivators' Aura, the power of invisibility isn't that useful, but still, the Aura we feel is a single point in the cultivator's body, so, in a melee combat, the power of invisibility could be lethal, because the power can conceal the trajectory of the attacks. If Cure became invisible, Allen Bullo wouldn't have been able to put his darkness in the right place to defend himself.\" She paused for a moment to put a greater emphasis in her next words: \"It was evident to me that Cure didn't want to use his 'No Color' skill. I asked myself 'why?' Then, my mind answered me 'there's something he wanted to conceal, something that could be exposed if he used that skill'.\" A smile from ear to ear slowly formed on her face as she intently gazed at Cure Song. \"The heavy armor, something to conceal in the 'No Color' skill, Yellow Spring. What does the death grip monster do? If only Cure's skill wasn't 'invisibility' but 'intangibility', then, with a Yellow Spring, he would be able to do what the death grip monster can do, and with a heavy armor he could disappear one of his arms without anyone noticing it.\" Her gaze still settled on Cure Song, she cheerfully demanded: \"Tell me the real name of your second Awakened Skill!\"

Cure Song's body shuddered, he couldn't be more shocked after listening to Rose's words. (So, this is why you are the leader…) He understood.

Yes, Rose was right: Cure Song concealed the real nature of his skill, and got his hands on a Yellow Spring, and wore a heavy armor; then killed Resh Zelu making it appear as if a death grip monster were the culprit.

He finally said, a clear hint of pride in his voice: \"I named it 'No Thing', as you said, it enables me to become intangible, and it is a perfect intangibility; when I use it, nothing can touch me, no light, no darkness, no shadow, no existing thing.\"

\"N-no existing thing? That's crazy…\" Said the million years old monster.

Even Rose gaped horrified. She didn't expect his intangibility to be this incredible. It must be understood that the intangibility toward just two aspects–like for example light and matter–at the same time was already something legendary.