RATH 16

TL: Eevee

2. What is this. Scary. (9)

#13 Their story: A certain host’s story

The first conversation with the instructor in a while. But his ability to p.i.s.s people off is the same as ever. But, the instructor does not know. The surprisingly fearful world of a host!

It is because he does not understand. What it means for I, the Empire’s best host to have to temporarily retire from a place connected to the organization simply because of women’s power struggles.

The organization had determined the faction wars that had been occurring there were dangerous, and they were right.

Because the ones fighting were none other than the young ladies of ducal houses, of which there were only three of in the entire Empire.

Those girls are fighting over me. And not even with words or power but with actual physical fisticuffs!

And the extent of their skills were such that I couldn’t even look out for myself if I was caught in the middle!

To think a disciple who had undergone the training from h.e.l.l would struggle to block some young ladies’ faction wars!

And the truth that one who so easily restrains them every time with just two bottles of beer is a regular clubber who keeps getting rejected every time he tries, and this fact depresses me.

But I heard a lot of things in that place and I could train myself.

The women there all had quite the backstory behind them.

Having to close off their hearts in social circles with a fake smile plastered on their faces, used for arranged marriages to strengthen their families’ standings, being discriminated against despite their superior skills and talents just because they were women, each and every one of them had similar wounds on their hearts and the majority of them were brought to this club by others with similar scars.

And they said they couldn’t express how happy they were that they could heal their hearts in this club.

To be honest it was something that p.r.i.c.ked quite a bit at my conscience. I wanted to go into a paramilitary force like Rood or Ragnum, but to think I’d end up in the Intelligence Agency, which the instructor said could cut you off like a lizard’s tail at any moment and working as a club host! And backstabbing these kinds of women as well!

Me, the one who was nicknamed the conscience of Instructor Naruan’s third cohort!

And so I did my best to respond to them sincerely, and I didn’t even try to fish for information from them.

This was my conscience’s last struggle against my circ.u.mstances. But on the contrary the results were a great success.

Did my honest feelings get through, the number of requests for me rose and I took the position of the club’s ace within just two years, and my skills improved accordingly as I met countless women.

Sometimes I would consult with a young lady of a martial house at a bottleneck and help her with a breakthrough, and at other times I would discuss new magic theories over wine with a lady from the magic tower.

And very occasionally I would be requested for an expensive on-site callout and even acted as a swordsmanship sparring partner.

Thanks to all these there were my own skills improved as well.

I said these was all the bare foundations of training, but the primary training centers were the entirety of my basic training! Since immediately after that the difficulty shot up from easy mode to h.e.l.l, no, evil G.o.d mode, and because it was the type of training where we all struggled and crawled to not fall off the cliffs into h.e.l.l, our basics were unexpectedly quite poor.

And the most important thing was, mm. That’s it. Practical experience. And with my life and chast.i.ty on the line.

Our club is an adult entertainment facility but it is no brothel. It’s actually quite a clean club where even young ladies who’ve just made their social debuts seek us out.

Plus the patrons are all either n.o.bles, or incredibly rich!

The moment I rub them the wrong way, the survival game begins where death is the only ending.

Sia told me that either to catch the common host who dared lay his hands on their daughter(s) from the n.o.ble families, or the possibility of falling in love and blindsiding the organization as a future traitor, both outcomes meant that I was now number one in terms of likelihood to get a knife through my viscera.

Although her odd smile gave me ma.s.sive cause for concern, but since that instructor-lover swore it on the instructor’s name, it’s probably true.

But because I was too good at my job, there actually were n.o.ble girls that tried to physically push me down, and because I had to avoid hurting their feelings and push them away at the same time it really was a period where my crisis management skills were honed and hardened.

That kind of person, namely me, wouldn’t be looked down on by my juniors with just around a year of training!

I speedily pushed through the trials. Since I’d already been through them once before it was easy.

The most difficult ninth trial is easy as well if you know where the hole to the next room is. Open the door and make a straight path with ice magic, do a sliding jump onto it into the hole, done.

Although it erases all your senses, it’s not like all your senses actually disappear so it’s easy to pa.s.s like that.

Tak!

“Uh…”

I can see the three of them surprised at my cool appearance. Are you looking, sir instructor? Now I will show you my skills. The growth of my skills!

“Do not be alarmed. I am your…”

Senior that came to test you! Was what I wanted to say but I never got a chance to finish. Because.

“Kill it Surtr.”

The blazing heat I felt behind my back even before I finished talking and.

“Now I will definitely finish you off!”

“Die.”

And the other two diving at me. Wait, do you even know who you’re trying to kill?

Then I realised. These kids, were my juniors. And also the instructor’s disciples…

‘Please sir instructor. Sia too but please include some character building in your training regiiiiimmeeeeee!’

I screamed internally as I pulled out my sword.

***

“They need urgent character development!”

The moment he came back after fending off the kids first strike, valiantly fighting and eventually coming out victorious this is the first thing he says.

My. What bulls.h.i.t. Why?

“You shouldn’t be looking for character in an evil organization.”

“Ah…”

A well-natured evil organization, that’s like saying a demon king would set up a democracy.

“But, but… an immediate attack the moment they see their senior! Isn’t that way too overboard?”

“They probably attacked because they thought you were a doppelganger. Plus considering your cohort I don’t think your personalities would anywhere near behind theirs.”

“That, that’s just around four of us starting from Sia!”

“Out of seven, at least four. You’ve already pa.s.sed the majority.”

Then again they immediately started counterattacking against me the moment they got used to the bat.

Thank goodness I’d prepared the metal bat early. Metal always hurts more than wood.

After I diligently beat the c.r.a.p out of them they became a lot quieter and so I had no more cases of them rebelling until their graduation.

“Th, then what about putting explanations on the trial doors? When I listened to the kids talking I heard they thought that their bored workless seniors came to beat them up themselves.”

“Life is a real fight. To kindly explain what trial it is, do you think it’s some hero growth dungeon from some storybook?”

Life is always a matter of practical experience. No matter how much you look up cooking recipes on the internet it’s a whole different story if you actually try it.

“The difference between knowing an arrow is coming or not is significant. Same with the vanishing five senses, same with the fights against the doppelgangers. And even in the final trial’s explanation, there is a significant difference between knowing everything and only a part.”

“But doesn’t the final trial actually need an explanation? They might die.”

“You did it as well.”

“I didn’t partic.i.p.ate in that! What, to remove the weaknesses in that h.e.l.lgate as well! We literally nearly died when we did that stage. Starting from magic attacks from the ceiling, arrows from the left, knives from the right, a giant rock from in front of us and the floor splitting open from under us, and you only gave us two seconds between each stage!”

“For the record, your cohort added summoning circles that summons two devils from behind one’s back as well.”

“Devils?! No wait, those kind of things weren’t there when we graduated?!”

“Rood and Sia used their first pay packet to bring in the organization’s magicians to engrave them in with happy hearts.”

“They really were devils…”

Rein despaired, smacking his face into the table. Mm, to be honest I’ll agree with you there. The only trap I made myself was the ceiling, you know? But then as time went on it turned into one of those cla.s.sic bullet h.e.l.l games.

I dodged this so my future juniors should at least be able to survive this right? And the juniors who dodged that would think I dodged this so my future juniors should be able to dodge at least this! And as a result it became a difficulty where you’d have to use a grand spirit or some SaXXan skills to dodge those.

Well you could say that these kids’ conscience was that they actually did give them two seconds to prepare? And this boy is forgetting the key point.

“When these kids dodge them, the difficulty will only get harder.”

“Do we all have to die to bring world peace or something…”

Hoho, you won’t die. Because the Black Anvil clan that cooperates with me are the specialists in non-lethal weaponry! The Bat Series know-how I developed with them is incorporated in these traps as well! It hurts and it’s painful, but they won’t kill you. Even if finishing them off would be more merciful it won’t kill them!

The combination of Made in Black Anvil and the elven race’s opposition to needless killings is the world’s greatest! Even if you bring in the greatest engineers from a monster manga where the human PK is more OP than the monsters we will never lose out!(1)

“They won’t die.”

“Not killing them doesn’t solve everything…”

Although he says that with a really tired face it can’t be helped. My incentive is on the line! Plus all the resentment falls squarely on their seniors!

My disciples don’t even develop bad practices like giving privileges for former office. Although I don’t know about previous sen(pai) alpha strikes!

Because to my disciples, their seniors aren’t respectable people who learned from me before them, but the worst villain that made them eat their middle fingers!

“Anyway I’m, going to head back now.”

Oho, and just where is this cohort’s living sacrifice going now!

“A personal order came down for you from the organization. They’re saying you’re in charge of training them for the time being.”

“Those lunatics?”

I showed him the written orders, complete with official seal and all. Well I’m an instructor but there are times when as an active agent I need to put off my instructor duties and deal with some short-term missions.

Even when I was a new instructor, I was a used as a temp hire, but my results were good enough for a permanent place.

But to think they’d use a high-spec personnel like me, what could the job possibly be?

Even if I look like this I have a 97% completion rate for my a.s.signments. Especially it involves great magic, magic labyrinths then I’m a specialist.

Perhaps out of balance patching interests, even those beings called G.o.ds didn’t give me any magic power or even the chance for buffs, but in return they gave me a body where I can’t be cursed by magic or can just steamroll through traps that activate by detecting magic! To be honest why couldn’t they just give me magic!

“It is a quick job but the organization trusts your skills.”

Mmm. To be honest it’s just that aside from Sia who brought me the orders, there’s no one that I’d really want to hand over my disciples, but let’s let him mistake it as a good thing.

“Isn’t it just because you don’t want to have to deal with these kids so you’re pushing it on me?”

Sharp kid.

“Of course not.”

“But it’s still scary.”

“You seemed to be drubbing them quite well earlier.”

To be honest he beat them with a more overwhelming difference in skill than I expected. Well they say an old eagle’s better than a young crow after all. Really how cowardly considering he beat them to the point it reminded me of the old phrase even worms can wriggle.

“No, even when the doppelgangers had exhausted them, and from their point of view I’d all but ambushed them, but they didn’t hesitate and tried to kill me instantly. Furthermore even when I tried explaining to them they just looked at me with expressions saying “cool story, so what.” What kind of kids are they to all have personalities that could put Sia to shame.”

Hm…. That their personalities were trash the moment they started a war over breakfast, I knew that much.

Since the evaluations from the most normal out of my disciples is like this I’ll ease it a bit from the next cohort. I’ll give them breakfast at least.

“Do you hate it that much.”

“Yep. They seem like the type to bury a knife in my back the moment I turn around.”

That’s true, but from what I see this kid’s face readings he’s a type to take a knife in the back someday. Most likely by a n.o.ble girl with a high yan disposition.

“In that case…”

I took out the thing I prepared in advance at the faster-than-expected trial clear speed. This lad who just flinched back in shock should know it better than anyone else. Since it beat the c.r.a.p out of him for the better part of a year he shouldn’t be able to forget.

“Can you say you are still not confident even if I left you this.”

“If, if I have that…”

Would a lesser demon receiving orders from a heavenly demon in those old wuxia novels act like this?

Or a cultist fanatic dreaming of the revival of the evil G.o.d!

Eyes dyed in lunacy which didn’t suit the most normal of my disciples. And the letters spelling greed written all over those eyes told me of his true thoughts.

“They have not experienced this yet except for No.1.”

“My evaluations were wrong. To think I feared these little children.”

Even his evaluation was overturned. Starting from today with Rein’s burning bloodthirst, no, his pa.s.sion for education I’ll start the process of teaching him to take over my duties. If he has this much motivation then he should learn quickly enough.

But I didn’t realize then. That this a.s.signment would be my last in an evil organization.

#14 Their story: a certain organization’s story.

Loud voices and curses went flying back and forth like some local market.

Ahh, it’s so pointless. I want to see Master. I curse my fate that I need to stick with these moronic old men.

“It can’t be helped. We are not in a position where we can take the Empire head-on yet.”

At our secretive boss’s words the entire meeting hall goes silent. Since our boss was so secretive even when all the higher-ups of the organization met up we still couldn’t see his face.

To be honest it’s because he pulls things like this that rumours go around the capital that the boss of this organization is actually the emperor or something.

Everyone sighed at the boss’s words. To be honest, the organization’s leaders’ evaluation of master were a lot more special than what he himself thought.

Starting from the Utopia Plan where we managed to earn a base of operations the size of a city, and the Other Race Familiarization plan where we sacked other organizations’ slave markets and freed slaves of other races, in addition to reducing the funding of other evil organizations it also had the effect of having non-human races look favourably on us.

There’s a reason why there’s a saying that goes ‘Howling over the Empire!’ among the non-humans.

He also was responsible for teaching countless… no, a small number of elite disciples including myself, well although there were a few that ran away, but our skills alone are rated in the single digits of the organization.

And even outside of that among the high cla.s.s personnel with over 90% a.s.signment success rates, he’s one of the aces with a success rate over 95%. Especially, the imperial court infiltration mission during the last great war remained a legend that even I’d heard many examples of during my primary training, although I never heard specific names.

“Do you believe that the imperial princess will keep her promises?”

“She’s the witch that spread her infamy across the empire!”

But there’s only one reason they’re giving up that Master.

Because starting from all of the organization’s bases, all of their personnel was identified by the princess as well. Even the special ops forces that not even the Intelligence Agency knew about.

And a hostage exchange with them on the line. In return for staying quiet about that information, she’s spouting bulls.h.i.t about handing over Master in exchange.

Haa. She was famous for being a crazy b.i.t.c.h. She dares to try and buy Master with just that kind of information? Master isn’t anywhere near as cheap an existence as that!

Even if this entire organization was sold a hundred times over it still wouldn’t be enough gold, and she only offered information. Either this princess doesn’t understand the market prices, or she’s a corrupt merchant that doesn’t even bother thinking of others’ circ.u.mstances.

But likewise, the organization who knows nothing of the market is trying to sell off Master for that dirt-cheap price.

“She even sent over a Gea.s.s Roll.”

“That much can be trusted then.”

“Isn’t there the chance that it might be fake?”

“As a result of inspections by specialists of magic, sorcery, and magecraft they were all determined to be the genuine article. On the contrary it was such a simple contract there couldn’t possibly be any hidden traps inside the contents.

Listening to the noisy uncles talk on I sighed quietly again. Haa, I want to see Master… Master Master Master Master~

“But Master, this might be a bit difficult.”

A moment of silence for Master who’s going to have to work really hard again. But if it’s Master then he’ll be able to get over just this level of hardship.

In that case for the sake of our future, I should get moving as well?