CH_3.3 (062)

CH_3.3 (062)

"This isn't what I thought I would be doing as a shinobi," said Ai, grumbling as she pulled out weeds in an old lady's garden.

This was precisely what Takuma thought he would be doing when he became a shinobi. And with hundreds of thousands of people capable of supernatural doing the same things across the lands, he didn't mind doing menial jobs.

"I want to drink something cold. Let's get a milkshake when we are done with this," said Takuma, working his hands to de-weed the garden. D-rank missions weren't always solo endeavors. Random genin would be teamed together as per the requirement of the task, such as the patron wanting to get the job done faster, which would need extra labor.

In the months he had been a genin, he had worked a mission with Masaaki and the current one being his first with Ai. With multiple years of genin doing D-rank missions, it was already a surprise that he was teamed up with two out of four teammates. Even today, he and Ai were accompanied by a third genin (an older one) that they didn't know.

"How's shinobi life suiting you?" asked Takuma.

"Hmm? Unexpectedly not difficult at all. When compared to basic training, I don't even notice doing the missions, you know. The pay is a little shit though."

The compensation for D-rank missions was shit, especially when the mission was a multiple-day affair or when there were multiple genin on the same mission as the pay was split between them. Moreover, the state took a commission for themselves before handing them what remained. If not for the permanent base pay they got outside of missions, working D-rank missions wouldn't have been worth it. And they never knew when they would be getting a good quality mission or they would be forced to work a mission with shit pay. The latter happened more than the former.

Takuma looked at Ai, "You shouldn't stop training. Who knows when we will get a C-rank mission," in which there was a chance to encounter bandits or highwaymen— it was better to be prepared than dead in a ditch, "and you can't be a chunin if you aren't stronger, we can't stop training."

"Isn't it still too early to think about that? We still have two and a half years before we can even apply, and then we will need recommendations for it," said Ai.

Two and a half years seemed enough to get some recommendations, thought Takuma. But at the same time, he hadn't been in contact with any chunin yet. His interactions had been with his fellow genin and the receptionist at the mission desk, who were also genin. He needed some way to get in touch with some chunin and work with them.

———

.

That same week, he got to talk to a chunin.

Just that it wasn't the chunin who he thought he would be talking to.

"Takuma, fancy meeting you here."

Takuma, who was walking down his usual route back home, stopped beside the café. Sitting on one of the outdoor tables was Shady Guy with tea and daifuku. If not for his shinobi uniform, he would've looked strange in his small blackout shades and the headcover bandanna. Maybe he still looked weird, but after seeing him for two months, Takuma had gotten used to that style aesthetic.

Shady Guy waved at Takuma as he said, "It's been a while, how about you join me for some tea. Come on here, let's catch up."

Takuma was baffled for a moment about how to respond. He and Shady Guy didn't know each other very well— shown by the fact that Takuma didn't know the man's name and addressed him as Shady Guy. However, Shady Guy did close his bleeding wounds and heal his broken bones on multiple occasions— which did warrant some form of familiarity and intimacy.

So, he decided, what the heck, why not, and went down to sit down with Shady Guy.

Out of all the things that Takuma thought Shady Guy would say, he didn't think it would be this one. From the sound of it, what Shady Guy described was an underground fighting scene with shinobi-grade fighters beating up each other... to feel more like shinobi?

He didn't think that last part stood true at all.

There was something that Shady Guy mentioned which told Takuma that there was something more.

"And how does this provide me more value?" asked Takuma.

"Excellent question," Shady Guy smiled. "The Ring has existed for a very long time, Takuma. Many of our members have risen through the shinobi ranks and understood how the ring contributed, and have since become very generous sponsors. If you participate, the ring will compensate you with money—"

So, it was a gladiator's ring, thought Takuma. He was sure the fights would have an audience who would be betting on the fights. There was money to be made for everyone, but as it happened for every gambling den, the house always won— the sponsors who invested would make more than they put in.

"— and with mission points."

All of Takuma's thoughts came to a halt. The incentive of participating in what seemed to become more and more like a modern combat sport league just jumped various levels.

And Shady Guy seemed to sense that as his smile turned into a grin.

"You know what the D-rank missions pay. There's something that offsets the shit ryo compensation, but there's nothing there to do the same with the mission point compensation."

If his time as a mission-completing genin had taught anything, it was that the D-rank mission's mission point compensation was miserably frustrating. They paid in a fraction of mission points! He had one mission in the five months of missions that had paid a full single mission point.

Only recently, he had collected enough to afford a D-rank jutsu. From what he had gathered from others, it took four months of hard work in terms of hours to gather enough for a D-rank jutsu. And the difference between D-rank and C-rank jutsu costs was staggering. It would take him a year and a quarter of hard work and savings to afford a C-rank jutsu.

It had him realize how generous the basic training had been with mission point rewards.

"We can pay you more," Shady Guy leaned back into his chair as he said,

"So... what do you say?"

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