If You’re Curious, That’ll Be 100 Gold

First impression: squirrel.

Or, chick.

If not that… sparrow?

–Stagger.

“Aaah!”

No, it doesn’t matter.

There was no reason to care what that small, naive stalker who had finally tripped and fallen to the ground, not seeing the stone sticking out at their feet, was doing.

“…You don’t think you weren’t noticed, do you?”

Rier had already been aware of the presence of the child, who was rather clumsy for a stalker, from the moment they began following.

Nevertheless, the reason for not imposing any sanctions or threats was simply because it was bothersome.

Whatever that seemingly harmless child did would have no influence on a man called the battle maniac.

On the person reigning at the top of the Northern Continent, so it was a natural choice in a way.

And so, without caring at all about what the little stalker was doing, Rier continued walking toward the dungeon that was said to have been newly discovered.

Not long after, after finally arriving at the dungeon, Rier erased even the existence of the child from their mind.

After entering the dungeon, there was only fierce battle with monsters, each one immensely powerful.

–Boom!

–Crack!

–Smash, Crash!

“Oh, you’re not bad?”

–Growl…!!

Monsters of all shapes that rushed in while making horrific noises.

However, instead of stepping back, Rier took a step forward and threw a punch that had been thrown dozens or hundreds of times before.

Afterward, what was originally one was torn into several pieces, a hole was made in the center of the chest, and it was mangled from head to toe until its original form could not easily be recognized.

By the time the kind of satisfaction and elation Rier desired had boiled up, the nearby monsters had already been completely crushed.

Of course, it was somewhat disappointing, but it was a dungeon with a promising future in many ways, so it wasn’t appropriate to completely devastate it on the first day of entry.

“Ah…! Refreshing.”

Rier turned away, hoping that when they visited again in the distant future, there would be more dangerous and vicious monsters swarming.

Right after that, Rier encountered the youthful stalker who, for some reason, was still waiting.

However, now that Rier looked at them, they looked exactly like a girl from a fairy tale read long ago.

“…I’m not buying matches.”

“I-I’m not here to sell matches!!”

Rier spoke in a voice half annoyed, half playful, indirectly telling them not to waste their time.

Nevertheless, they clung so persistently.

Even to the point of hanging on Rier’s right arm and making noisy whining sounds.

–Tap.

“Go home, kid. Don’t catch a cold for nothing.”

Rier lightly shook off the child who was more like a piece of gum than a piece of gum.

However, not even a few seconds later.

After confirming that the small footsteps were no longer following them but had stopped in place, just as Rier turned off their interest again, shiver.

“…?”

An intuition close to instinct forewarned of a sharp killing intent.

Almost simultaneously, Rier quickly moved their feet and unconsciously shifted their body to the side.

–BOOM!!

Something like a slash mixed with a kind of shockwave cut through where Rier had been standing just before.

What the sudden anomaly left behind were rough traces engraved on the ground and broken, shattered rocks.

Seeing thick rocks torn lightly like pieces of paper, Rier’s “blood boiled” for a moment.

It was already a predetermined course to rush toward the source of this strange power.

But when Rier asked what guild they belonged to, the child rather provoked them by asking if that mattered right now.

“If you want to fight me, just say you want to fight.”

“Ha, you seem confident.”

Rier willingly fell for the provocation, whose intention was obvious.

It was probably just a kid who had just awakened their special ability and couldn’t control their power, challenging Rier to a fight, but what did that matter now?

What mattered was that the child’s attack had made Rier dodge.

In other words, the child was someone with whom a fight could be established.

Therefore, Rier didn’t say no even to the sudden request to borrow just one shield.

It was hard to believe that someone who had unleashed a powerful attack never seen or heard of before claimed to be a tank… but anyway.

“Choose anything you want and bring it out.”

There was no problem until Rier returned to the mansion, almost carrying the child.

Even until providing the equipment the child had requested and heading to the sparring arena.

Though the old secretary, who had belatedly realized that the lights of the sparring arena were on at this late hour, kept calling, it didn’t particularly matter.

It wasn’t the first time Rier had brought various powerful fighters from the Northern Continent to fight.

And so, after finally facing the child in the middle of the sparring arena, Rier nodded to the proposal that the loser would grant one wish of the winner.

–Click.

While activating the various safety devices of the sparring arena to their maximum, Rier rushed toward the child.

Still, with the intention of showing some restraint—since knocking them out from the beginning would prevent tasting that tremendous attack from earlier—Rier extended a fist toward the child’s blue shield with slightly reduced strength.

–Thud.

“…Huh.”

The child, who should have been sent flying while holding the shield, was somehow still standing in place.

Not to mention, the shield showed no sign of being dented or even scratched by Rier’s fist.

Less than a second later, Rier slightly lowered their head at the killing intent felt once more. An invisible slash passed just above Rier’s ear.

What began to flow along Rier’s spine was a chilling sensation felt for the first time in a very long time.

“You, what’s your real identity?”

“If you’re curious, that’ll be 100 gold.”

“That’s a bit expensive just to learn a kid’s name—”

–Boom!

Before Rier could finish speaking, a fierce shockwave emitted from the shield in front.

Since it was too late to dodge, Rier had no choice but to endure it somehow by forming their arms into an X shape to cover their face, and this time the child rushed in.

The small, soft fist that normally wouldn’t matter if it hit struck not Rier but the floor of the sparring arena right after.

At the same time, rumble.

The ground around literally vibrated and then began to crack rapidly, creating fissures here and there.

It was inevitable that Rier jumped into the air to avoid the things that were shaking as if an earthquake had occurred.

However, something close to excitement rather than confusion began to circulate throughout Rier’s body.

“This isn’t the skill of someone who’s only fought once or twice?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment!”

As the child’s blue shield was raised toward Rier once more, Rier felt the thread of reason gradually loosening.

After that, Rier twisted their body sharply in mid-air to change the direction of their fall.

Then, after landing on a spot that was still in a relatively intact form, Rier began to return the favor for the attacks received so far.

The first thing thrown toward the child, who was not far away, was debris of broken and shattered concrete.

Right after, Rier stomped the already messy floor strongly with their toes to cause fierce dust to rise.

At the moment when the child’s vision was momentarily blocked.

“Let’s see how much you can block.”

Rier rushed toward the child with a momentum so powerful it was almost crude, then delivered dozens of punches.

What followed was also a merciless barrage that had completely abandoned even a hint of mercy or hesitation.

Sometimes from top to bottom, sometimes head-on, sometimes pretending to come from the side but then suddenly changing direction to the blind spot of vision.

Although they were fierce blows made only with arms and legs, they were enough to make loud impact sounds and resonances echo.

Nevertheless, without allowing even a single direct hit.

No, rather, as if they had ‘predicted’ in advance, the child raised their shield at the right place at the right time, which was too much.

“…This is going to hurt a bit!!”

Momentarily forgetting that the opponent was a young child, Rier wrapped a power that rendered defense meaningless around their fingertips and struck with full strength.

Right after, what was emitted from the fist with bulging veins was blue lightning.

Unlike the other attacks that had been blocked by the shield so far, this one pierced through the child’s shield and through the wall beyond.

Almost simultaneously, what filled the surroundings was a burst of sound with an intensity incomparable to anything before.

However…

–Tap.

“This will, also, hurt… a bit!”

For some reason, the child who should have been hiding behind the shield was panting heavily and had somehow appeared behind Rier’s back.

In addition, even though the child had only thrown that small fist once, for some reason, familiar yet formidable fists endlessly attacked Rier’s entire body.

“How… is this just a bit…”

In the end, Rier staggered and collapsed, unable to endure until the end.

At the same time, drip.

‘…Blood?’

Rier was left speechless at the red liquid flowing down after so long.

Only, at least consciousness wasn’t lost.

Moreover, since Rier had belatedly become convinced that the child was more fun to fight than anyone else fought so far.

Rier forcibly raised their aching body, catching their breath again.

Right after that, Rier completely tore off their own tattered white shirt.

The child’s eyes narrowed momentarily at the suddenly revealed muscular upper body, but it didn’t matter.

“Now, here I come for real!!!”

Yes, if Rier could continue to fight with a being that made their blood boil more and more as they fought, nothing else would have mattered.

–Step.

“What.”

–Step.

“Is.”

–Step.

“This!!!”

“…Damn it.”

The voice of an annoying person who always seemed to appear just when things were getting most interesting struck Rier’s ears.