Ch.343[Episode 343] Event: Story

Sir Dominic thought he had heard the term Red Arrow somewhere before.

And soon he realized it was one of the two major factions in this event story, either Red Arrow or Iron Shark.

“What’s this? You look like you’ve heard our name before.”

Donna Carota looked suspiciously at Sir Dominic’s surprised face upon hearing the name Red Arrow, but soon broke into a bright smile.

“Come to think of it, it would be stranger not to know a gang of our caliber. Right.”

Donna Carota seemed to genuinely believe this.

Perhaps she took pride in being the boss of the most famous gang in Sanhoff.

Donna Carota rubbed her nose with her finger and said to Sir Dominic with a satisfied expression.

“Well, well, I thought you were just an outsider, but if you know us well, that changes things. Hey, would you like to be under our gang’s protection? As the boss, I promise to treat you with the utmost respect.”

Sir Dominic remembered what was written in the notice.

The phrase about being hot-tempered but honest.

True to those words, Donna Carota seemed quite honest and loyal despite being hot-tempered and willful.

Sir Dominic pondered her offer for a moment.

Should he accept this proposal? Or should he decline it?

However, Sir Dominic’s deliberation was in vain.

Because suddenly, rat beastmen came rushing in.

“…Huh?”

Donna Carota was the first to sense something was wrong.

Being a rabbit beastman, she was sensitive to killing intent.

“…You didn’t happen to call those hamster guys, did you?”

Donna Carota looked at Sir Dominic with suspicious eyes.

The aura of the rat beastmen surrounding them was clearly not normal.

“…That’s impossible.”

Sir Dominic shook his head at Donna Carota’s words and looked around, soon realizing that he was surrounded by hamsters.

Sir Dominic shook his head at the rabbit beastman’s words and pulled out his shield from behind, holding it in front of him.

The hamster beastmen’s aura was definitely not ordinary.

“Th-that’s him! He’s the one who threatened me! That big brute!”

And in front of them was the rat beastman that Sir Dominic had just grabbed earlier.

Next to the rat beastman was a plump hamster beastman with distinctive black stripes and yellow fur, who adjusted his fedora and coat before covering the chattering rat beastman’s mouth.

“Be quiet. Unless you want to explore the waters off Sanhoff.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The hamster beastman in the suit stepped three paces forward and stood in front of Sir Dominic.

Of course, given the hamster beastman’s small stature, his three steps were equivalent to one step for Sir Dominic.

“I hear you’ve been bothering my client. Is that true?”

The hamster beastman addressed Sir Dominic.

His eyes were smiling, but Sir Dominic glimpsed the madness hidden within them.

Perhaps Sir Dominic could see it more clearly because he too had experienced madness.

“Well, all I did was ask him a few questions.”

Sir Dominic shrugged.

“Th-that’s a lie.”

The rat beastman despicably began to lie.

“He hit me, threatened me, and, uh, you know. Anyway, he did all that! I’m lucky I escaped quickly, otherwise I would have become shark food-“

“-Billy!”

“…octopus food.”

The hamster beastman overreacted to the rat beastman’s mention of sharks.

As Sir Dominic was wondering why the hamster beastman reacted so sensitively, the hamster beastman, seemingly embarrassed by his sudden outburst, explained to Sir Dominic.

“It’s because he carelessly used someone’s name. Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself either. I’m King Fin Shark.”

“King Fin Shark!”

The rabbit beastman, Donna Carota, who was next to Sir Dominic, exclaimed in surprise.

“King Fin Shark’s territory should be the desert, so why…?”

“Well… I have my reasons that I can’t discuss. Anyway, you… you’re quite big.”

King Fin Shark admired Sir Dominic’s physique.

From the perspective of hamster or rabbit beastmen, Sir Dominic was certainly a giant, but even setting that aside, he had one of the most impressive physiques among all the people they had met.

“I like it… I really do. Hmm…”

King Fin Shark thought for a moment, then made a proposal to Sir Dominic.

“Even if you didn’t hit our client, you can’t say you’re not responsible for his condition.”

“…”

Sir Dominic kept his mouth shut at King Fin Shark’s words.

He wanted to hear what King Fin Shark had to say.

“There are two ways to compensate for responsibility. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Or equivalent compensation.”

King Fin Shark spread his short limbs, trying to appear as threatening as possible.

“If you choose the former, our Iron Shark will have to see blood today. But if you choose the latter… I promise to cover all compensation for my client on your behalf.”

“I don’t like either option.”

“Right. Of course you don’t like both… What?”

King Fin Shark had apparently expected Sir Dominic to choose the latter, as he smiled brightly but then his expression quickly stiffened.

He hadn’t even considered the possibility that Sir Dominic would reject both options.

“…Look, friend. You don’t seem to understand, choose one-“

“I don’t like either option.”

“…Ha.”

King Fin Shark glared at the stubborn Sir Dominic as if he wanted to kill him.

“So you’re saying you want to drink the bitter cup…”

King Fin Shark subtly signaled to his gang members behind him.

“Wait! Hey! What are you doing in someone else’s territory?”

That’s when it happened.

Donna Carota interrupted their conversation.

“…Who are you?”

“Donna Carota. Boss of the Red Arrow Bunny Gang!”

“Red Arrow!”

King Fin Shark gasped in surprise as soon as he heard her name.

More precisely, he seemed surprised at hearing the name of the organization she belonged to.

“What is the boss of Red Arrow doing here?”

King Fin Shark took a step back, wary of Donna Carota.

It was quite different from his intimidating attitude until now.

“Hey, Sir Dominic. It seems your claim about not being related to the hamsters was true after all.”

“I asked what you’re doing here!”

Donna Carota ignored King Fin Shark’s words and spoke to Sir Dominic.

King Fin Shark bristled at Donna Carota’s attitude and shouted.

“Nothing much. I just came here to recruit Sir Dominic.”

Donna Carota brazenly told a lie.

“So, could you get lost so we can talk with Sir Dominic? If you have business, I’d prefer you handle it after we’re done.”

“Ha! How arrogant. Even for Red Arrow, aren’t you being too confident? In front of all these numbers?”

With one gesture from King Fin Shark, rat beastmen appeared from all directions and surrounded the two.

It was truly an overwhelming number.

“…Even with your numbers, I’m confident I can at least take you with me.”

Donna Carota stomped her foot hard.

The sound of her heel hitting the ground echoed all around.

“…Hmph.”

King Fin Shark snorted derisively at Donna Carota’s words, but cold sweat was running down his back.

As she said, if she was really from Red Arrow, she could probably take him as a companion.

“Then let’s hear what our friend has to say.”

King Fin Shark proposed that Sir Dominic join his gang.

“If you join our gang, I’ll handle all the problems related to Billy. If Billy bothers you, I can even take care of him for you.”

“…King?”

“Also, if you join our gang, I can immediately give you important missions. It wouldn’t be difficult to become an executive after just a few missions. Then you could command subordinates and handle enormous sums of money.”

King Fin Shark promised lots of money, a comfortable life, and a high position.

“Well, I think that’s more than what the Bunny Gang offered. What do you say?”

Sir Dominic carefully observed King Fin Shark after hearing his proposal.

Then he looked at Donna Carota.

“…We don’t have much to offer. But we are expanding our business in various ways. If you want, I can promise you a share of that. I stake my name on it. I can even stake the honor of the Bunny Gang.”

Donna Carota’s offer was less substantial than King Fin Shark’s.

Of course, this was unavoidable.

The recruitment offer was a temporary measure she had blurted out because Sir Dominic appeared to be in danger.

So there was no way she could offer proper conditions.

“Ha.”

King Fin Shark snorted at Donna Carota’s words.

Anyone could see that the situation was clearly flowing in King Fin Shark’s favor.

“It seems the outcome is already decided.”

King Fin Shark said triumphantly.

“Now, make your decision. Us? Or them?”

King Fin Shark urged him to decide.

Sir Dominic realized that this was an important crossroads in Story Mode.

Obviously, this choice would determine whether Sir Dominic would become a member of Red Arrow or Iron Shark.

Sir Dominic thought for a moment, then looked at both of them once as if he had made his decision, and opened his mouth.

“I-“