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A Time Bomb at the Border and Worries of the Adventurers Guild Receptionist – Part 05

The reasonably spacious training ground quickly became congested as approximately fifty adventurers entered. Nevertheless, they managed to carve out a bit of space in the center, where Hikaru and Jonathan squared off.

Both were armed with real weapons, Jonathan a long spear, and Hikaru a dagger.

“I apologize in advance if I accidentally stab you. But rest assured, I’m a spear expert. I’ll make sure it’s not fatal.”

“…”

Despite Jonathan’s attempts to provoke him, Hikaru remained stoically silent. Why? He was irritated.

The arduous journey had deprived him of much-needed sleep. Paula was left back in the royal capital, likely sleeping soundly by now.

Using his Stealth to get close, he had killed the Hell Tarantula with a single strike. However, complications arose when numerous private soldiers of Viscount Clement and Baron Ricker were poisoned, leading to chaos.

Hikaru asked Paula to treat them, only moderately, so as not to draw undue attention to her abilities. He then handed over the task to a priest who arrived later.

Unfortunately, the priest turned out to be an annoying individual who incessantly tried to recruit Paula, even engaging in borderline sexual harassment. Hikaru had to fight the urge to kick the man in his groin and send a stern email to Luvain, as that would mean revealing his identity as Silver Face. Not that they had emails in this world, of course.

This wasted time brought them down to the wire, forcing Hikaru to rush back to Pond throughout the night.

“Are both parties ready?”

Unken, seemingly aware of the match’s outcome, positioned himself in the center as a witness. Adventurers started shouting.

“Come on!”

“Kill him!”

Freya was as pale as a sheet. Aurora and Gloria had to hold her from both sides.

“Begin!”

As the signal sounded, Jonathan, spear at the ready, charged forward. Users of long weapons could choose to wait for the opponent to attack first and counter, but he dismissed that option to avoid being seen as a coward.

He’s faster than I thought.

Jonathan wasn’t bluffing about being Rank D. The spear’s tip rapidly closed in at a speed an average person couldn’t evade. Since this was only a mock battle, he aimed at Hikaru’s thigh.

But compared to Kutsuwa’s strike, it’s like he’s not moving.

Hikaru had accumulated a wealth of combat experience at this point. Unken had also trained him so that he didn’t have to rely solely on Stealth when fighting. In his battle against Kutsuwa, the Quinbrand Empire’s intelligence agency’s hotshot, he had observed the agent’s moves up close. Compared to the most formidable fighter of a nation, a Rank D adventurer was nothing.

As the spear neared, Hikaru advanced, surprising Jonathan. Hikaru then sidestepped, dodging the spear, and closed in further. His speed surpassed Jonathan’s.

The spear had not fully extended yet. Before Jonathan could make his next move, Hikaru stood before him, pressing the dagger against his neck.

The training ground fell silent.

“It’s over. Hikaru is the winner,” Unken declared.

Given the difficulty of executing coordinated moves with a spear and Jonathan’s limited combat experience against humans, resulting in sloppy movements, this outcome was predictable. The onlooking adventurers, failing to grasp these factors, were befuddled.

“What was that?”

“What are you doing, Jonathan?!”

“I could’ve taken him down.”

To those observing, what Hikaru did seemed easy, but to Jonathan, the one who actually faced him, Hikaru’s skill was undeniable.

“…”

Even as Hikaru sheathed his dagger and stepped back, Jonathan remained frozen.

Hikaru charged forward because he was absolutely certain that the spear wouldn’t hit him. In other words, he completely anticipated Jonathan’s attack. And the way he closed the distance. The moment Jonathan saw Hikaru stepping forward, it felt like he was already right in front of him.

Last, but not the least—Hikaru’s aura. Overwhelmed by the presence of an absolute powerhouse, who belonged to a completely different world from Rank D adventurers, Jonathan found himself unable to move.

“Hikaru,” Unken called. “I will explain to you the details of the commission.”

“All right. Please keep it short. I’m sleepy.”

Unken led Hikaru away from the training ground, but the buzz among the adventurers showed no signs of fading.

---

About an hour later, Freya sought out Hikaru in the guildmaster’s office.

After clearing the training ground of adventurers, she had resumed her regular duties, and the usual morning rush struck.

While the adventurers weren’t entirely satisfied with the match, Jonathan’s acknowledgment of his opponent’s skill was enough to shut them up. They couldn’t really go against a Rank D adventurer.

Something’s off with Hikaru.

Unease churned in Freya’s chest. She had never seen Hikaru so blunt, foul-mouthed, and brutal.

“Guildmaster, are you—”

With a small knock, Freya entered the office, but swallowed the rest of her words.

Unken was not in the bright room. Instead, a boy lay on the couch—Hikaru, fast asleep, with the blanket that had covered him now on the floor.

Freya froze with a start, before finally coming to a realization. Hikaru had embarked on a perilous journey to kill the Hell Tarantula on an exceptionally tight schedule. Gloria, an experienced receptionist, might have stored the kingdom’s map and main roads in her head, but Freya didn’t possess that level of knowledge yet.

“Hikaru…”

Approaching the couch, Freya picked up the fallen blanket and draped it over him. She studied his face up close.

“Why would you go to such lengths for me?” she muttered.

From the beginning, Freya recognized that Hikaru differed from other adventurers. He was polite, humble, thoughtful, and hardworking. Freya, eager to look out for him, initially considered herself an elder sister figure.

Before she knew it, Hikaru had grown, surpassing her, despite his unchanged appearance. He would vanish from Pond one day, then return out of nowhere. For some odd reason, he received a massive elemental magic stone from the Confederacy of Einbiest, and even participated in relief operations at the royal capital when it was ravaged by an epidemic.

For some time, Freya had believed that even though Hikaru was officially at the lowest Rank G, he was doing things that even a Rank D couldn’t do, and today’s mock battle transformed her assumption into conviction.

Hikaru displayed an expression Freya had never seen before—an expression that only someone who had faced numerous hardships would possess.

“Hmm…” Hikaru mumbled something in his sleep.

He looked so defenseless, so childlike. The contrast between this vulnerability and his usual demeanor warmed Freya’s dry heart.

“Thank you, Hikaru.”

Placing a hand on the blanket covering Hikaru, Freya gazed at his face.

---

Hikaru opened his eyes. “Hmm… Where am I? Oh, I fell asleep.”

He realized he had dozed off after his conversation with Unken. The weight of the blanket on him caught his attention.

“What is this… Huh?!”

Freya was sleeping while sitting on the floor, her head resting on his legs.

“Freya…”

Feeling somewhat rejuvenated after a brief nap, Hikaru observed Freya looking a bit fatigued.

I see…

Freya must have felt reluctant about taking on this survey commission. Trustworthy adventurers were a rarity in this town, and on top of that, Hikaru had embarked on the mission to kill a Hell Tarantula. If Hikaru had failed and lost his life, she would likely blame herself—what seemed like an easy mission for Hikaru might have appeared impossible to Freya, who was unaware of his Stealth.

And the straw that broke the camel’s back was the mock battle with Jonathan. Freya might have assumed the worst—Hikaru getting seriously injured, or even dying.

Maybe I should’ve been more thoughtful.

As Hikaru reached out to prevent her cap from falling off her head, a voice came from behind.

“Could you not lay your hands on a receptionist in my office?”

Hikaru jumped. “U-Unken?! I-I wasn’t laying a hand on—”

“Hmm… Huh? Where am I? Did I fall asleep?!”

“You were both sound asleep.”

“Wait, there seems to be a misunderstanding, so I’d like to clear it up!” Hikaru cried. “I was just trying to make sure her hat didn’t fall.”

“Why didn’t you wake us up?!”

Unken, holding documents and a map in his hand, grinned.

“Good to see you both full of energy. Well, let’s get started. We’re continuing our discussion about the dungeon survey.”

“…”

“…”

Hikaru realized Unken was poking fun at them. Freya blushed awkwardly.

“Uh, Hikaru…”

“It’s all right. Since it’s going to be quite a long journey, we’ll probably see each other’s sleeping faces many times.”

“Th-That’s not what I meant!”

“It’s not?”

“Well, it is.”

“Which is it?”

“Hmph!”

Freya pouted. Perhaps it was catching a glimpse of her sleeping face, or the fact that she was caught sleeping on the job, or maybe it was a combination of both. Regardless, seeing the disgruntled expression on her face, Hikaru couldn’t help but smile.

She’s back to her usual self.