Tier I Seeker (1)
The Cidre Tavern was bustling today as well.
Day after day, Agaro held indiscriminate drinking contests, racking up victory after victory.
The crowd of onlookers swelled ever larger, and the owner, Burns, was seriously considering expanding the establishment.
Now, seated at a table away from the commotion were four men.
Two among them, in particular, had appearances that made even the staff reluctant to approach.
“Hmph. It seems this is my victory.”
One of them. A man in a tailcoat, whose head was entirely covered by a whole fish, from head to tail.
The ‘Lord of the Seas’・Gymnema Sylvester.
“Hey you! You gettin’ the rules, man? This is my win, yeah!”
Another one. A man with a large afro slammed his cards down.
He wore flashy sunglasses shaped like a gold moon and a silver star.
His skin was earth-toned, and he was tall.
He wore a strange silver jacket with wide shoulders that only reached halfway down his torso.
On his white shirt, the words 『Do-Ha』 were scrawled in clumsy black letters.
His trousers, held up by crossed belts, were ordinary, but he wore old sandals.
‘Do-tsuha’・Do-tsuha.
“Hmph. How absurd. The winner is Saaoing-san.”
“Eh? Me?”
A handsome man dressed in a flowing, blue-willow-patterned kimono nodded.
He had long, cherry-blossom-pink hair and ephemeral-looking eyes. A slender man with well-defined features.
He had white horns, but only one, and that horn was long, following the line of his hair.
From a distance, he might almost be mistaken for a woman, but he was a man.
Still, he possessed an indescribable allure. But he was a man.
‘The Aloof and Elegant’・Kessai.
“No, none of you won, you guys. You don’t know the rules of Omuto at all, do you?”
A blond man, dressed exactly like a minstrel from head to toe, sighed.
He had gentle blond hair and a smart, handsome face with well-proportioned features.
His long ears marked him as an Elf.
He wore a bright red cape and a large, wide-brimmed hat adorned with flashy flowers. A red shirt.
White trousers. Gold shoes—an outfit just as extravagant as Do-tsuha’s.
Leaning against his chair was an old lute.
In ancient times, they were called Landsknechts.
Modern minstrels no longer dressed like traveling performers like this.
But he stuck to this appearance.
‘The Wandering Minstrel’・Saaoing.
Four Tier I Seekers were gathered at a single table.
“Alright, yo. Enough with the cards, let’s get down to business, Z!”
Do-tsuha placed a single sheet of paper on the table.
“This year is full of exceptions, isn’t it?”
Gymnema said upon seeing it.
“The location is one thing, but this just made me laugh,”
Kessai chuckled, looking amused. Saaoing gave a wry smile.
“I didn’t know what to say. The Impregnable, you know? And four of them… impossible. Listen. They’re called The Impregnable because it is impossible. Countless men of every status and power imaginable have challenged them. But none could even get close. Hence, The Impregnable. And now, half of the Retainer designations… this is more than just an abnormal situation. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“Hey yo, calm down, Saaoing. Who is this Wof guy, Z?”
“The Witch’s disciple.”
“That Witch’s… Wao, seriously, yo?!”
“Ho. I had heard the rumors.”
“A man, you say. But what kind of person could he be?”
“Hmph. Actually, I have met him.”
Gymnema puffed out his chest slightly.
“Hey you, really, yo?”
“Well, that’s unexpected. What was he like?”
“He saved me when I was drowning in the river. He is my benefactor.”
“So he’s a good person?”
“Mm. He was indeed a good person.”
“Is that how he managed to conquer The Impregnable, then?”
“But yo, can ya really win them over just by bein’ good, yo?”
The other three fell silent at Do-tsuha’s words.
“Well, whatever the case. We’ll meet him in another week.”
“I wonder what he’ll be like. I’m looking forward to it.”
“I, for one, have already met him.”
“Hey you, who the heck are ya, Wof? Hey yo.”
And, unbeknownst to them, Wof was elsewhere, sneezing repeatedly.
A flashing blade. The foolish ones are cleaved in two.
“Why must they throw their lives away like this? I cannot comprehend it, de gozaru na.”
Her pale crimson lips parted in displeasure.
Her jet-black hair was tied back with a white cloth. Her eyes were completely covered by a matching white blindfold.
Her long, pointed ears and dignified yet beautiful features were exposed.
She wore the white hakama and light armor that marked her as one of the Yamato People, with a large black kasa hat slung across her back.
Two swords were thrust into her sash. The main one, however, was currently gripped in her hand.
The Yamato People were scattered throughout the world.
There was a village in this country as well, and she hailed from it.
Those who harbored wicked intentions and actually tried to act on them were, without exception, cut in two.
In short, a clean cut.
‘Master of the Clean Cut’・Kaede Akima. Also one of The Impregnable.
However, it wasn’t as if she wanted to become one of The Impregnable.
She remained single simply because her standards for romance were far too strict.
“This level of opposition isn’t even practice, de gozaru.”
As she murmured with a sigh, a floating, round, pink object approached her.
This round object had a ring like a planet, and countless smaller spheres floated around it.
Kaede Akima glanced at it and asked.
“What business do you have with me, de gozaru ka?”
“Pee… Pee-pee—Pee…—Pee-pee…—Pee……..Po.”
With each sound, the center of the pink sphere flashed red and blue.
“Hmm. Hmmm. As always, I do not understand.”
“Pee… Pee… Pee-pee…—Po.”
As the countless small spheres touched the corpses, the bodies vanished.
“Are you cleaning up, de gozaru ka?”
“Pee-pee…—Po.”
One after another, it made the bisected corpses disappear.
Kaede Akima watched its efficient work with a sense of admiration.
And she thought: What truly is this pink sphere?
It was a Tier I Seeker, same as her, but was it even, at a minimum, a living organism?
“Pee-pee…—Pee… Pee-pee… Pee…—Po.”
The only thing she knew for sure was its name.
『Afterlife Vision System ver. β』
And even how she knew that name was unclear.
In other words, she understood nothing at all.
Once all the corpses were gone, the 『Afterlife Vision System ver. β』 departed.
Its inorganic nature made it seem as if it had simply finished cleaning up trash.
Perhaps that was actually the case, or perhaps not.
No one knew its true intentions.
“And yet, it steadily accumulates achievements as a Tier I Seeker. I just don’t understand it, de gozaru na.”
Smiling faintly, she flicked the blood from her blade and sheathed it with a click.
A presence approached. She turned, and chuckled softly.
A large blue dog was sitting there. It wore a black collar and carried a greatsword on its back.
“Are you making your disciple search for you again? While searching for you is certainly good training, de gozaru, I question doing it in an unfamiliar town, de gozaru yo.”
“…………”
“Most likely, you were drawn by the scent of blood, de gozaru ga, but too bad for you. It’s already cleaned up.”
“…………”
“Or perhaps you wish to duel me to the death, de gozaru ka? The Yamato spirit is found in death, as they say.”
“……”
“—A jest, de gozaru. If we were to fight in a place like this… an exhibition match would be preferable, de gozaru ka.”
“…………”
The blue dog turned its back, looking utterly bored, and started walking away.
Kaede Akima walked alongside it, gently petting the dog’s back now and then.
The dog paid her no mind. Very well then— Kaede Akima sat down on the dog’s back.
She sat with her legs neatly together atop the greatsword’s scabbard, but the dog remained completely unconcerned.
However, this naturally made them stand out, and it wasn’t long before Celeste found them.
An utterly unremarkable man was watching this scene.
Then, he instantly transformed into a woman and began to walk away.
It was the ‘Thousand-Faced’, possessor of a thousand faces.