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'No problem. This is ............ warrior shaking.'


Quickly observe your surroundings. He lowers himself and backs up against the wall. He is unarmed, but fortunately Tino's best weapon is his own body.
The moment you let your guard down, or relax that you're still okay, he'll send the bandits after you, which is always Masutaa's MO.

'What are you doing? Tino.'

Lyle rolls his eyes at Tino, who suddenly goes on alert. It was proof that Lyle had undergone fewer trials than Tino.
You have to be ready to be attacked at any time.

Yes, it might be a good idea to show this perfect reading to the Master.

'...... I'll go to Master's.'

'Oh, oh. I see. Give my regards to Cry.'

Tino gulped and slipped out of the lounge, taking great care not to make a sound.
















'Hey, why can't we? Let's kill it? It's dangerous if we don't crush it properly. Why can't we?

One night after the attack, in my room at the Clan House. I'm sitting on the bed with my head in my hands, and Liz is making sweet noises and clinging to me.
I'm at her mercy and sigh for the umpteenth time.


They say that when you gain power, you gain enemies as well as allies. This was especially true of the job of treasure hunter, a fact that came as a shock to me as I had become a hunter simply out of a desire for adventure.

If you turn back a bandit who attacks you, you will be resented. If I unloaded treasure or demon biomaterials to a merchant association, I might be resented by other merchant associations, and many of my rival hunters were ambitious and would try to kick me down if they could. And, of course, it was not uncommon for my childhood friends to anger their customers directly and cause resentment.

Recently, they've been a little more quiet, but something seems to have changed after the recent Martial Emperor Festival.

The windowless private room downstairs from the hidden door of the clan master's office also serves as a safe zone for such situations. In the early days of the clan, there had been many attacks, and it was natural to think about the safety of the staff and myself.

Contrary to expectations, the clan house had never been attacked before. ...... What could have gone wrong? I'm not sure if it's the fact that I've announced that I'm going to stay in my room, or the fact that I've lurched out into the lounge.

When I closed my eyes, all I could see in my mind was a looming arrow and a bomb strapped to my chest. Fortunately, as usual, I was unharmed thanks to the power of my warding fingers, Eva was unharmed, and Gark-san, who had passed the bomb, was alive, but I didn't know what to do. The only thing I know is that if I stay in my room, I'll be safe.

The identity of the attacker didn't matter anymore. It could be anything, and he had no idea what it could be. Perhaps the bandits who had failed to kill him had come to retaliate, or perhaps Franz had lost his patience and hired a hitman.
It would be nice if it was a case that time would solve.



'Let's make an example out of him and kill his whole family. I'll get every last one of you. Okay? Okay?'


And the biggest problem of all was her childhood friends.

Liz padded over to me, tapping her foot on the bed without hesitation.
When she gets close to me, she puts her arms around me and whispers in my ear.

'No.'

'Why not? Hey, if you keep this up, she's going to lick you, okay? I'm going to make you regret targeting Cry-chan. I'll make you bleed and hang you from the gates of the Imperial City.''

There was a simmering emotion in his voice that he couldn't hide.
I think I know the rules of treasure hunting. But she's going a little too far. It's okay to fight off the attacker, but that's not the kind of s*x you can control. When she finds the culprit, she's going to make an example of him and kill all his relatives and friends. Which one of us is the criminal?

Liz says, rubbing her skin against mine.

'Lizzie, you're not mad about Kry-chan being attacked. There's no way that Krai-chan would be hit by an explosion, but if you're hit, you have to hit back, because that's what ...... hunters do. You know?

'Hmm ............'

He's completely pissed. If I don't stop him, he'll become a criminal.
It's not a matter of not being found out. I really don't know how I'm going to explain myself to Liz and her parents back home.

I guess I've been under a lot of stress, and my skinship is even more intense than usual. Her arms and legs are tangled around my body without restraint. I can feel her body heat, and I'm sweating.

As if by accident, she bit me on the neck and I raised my voice. Stop acting like an animal!

I shake her off, grab her arms and legs, and pin her to the bed. Liz rolls her eyes and relaxes.


It's been a while since I became a hunter, but my repertoire of excuses to use in these situations hasn't grown at all.


'It's okay. I'm busy right now, it's okay. It's all going according to plan!


In any case, because of the incident, Mr. Murchis was supposed to come and appraise the treasure that Eliza had left behind, but he didn't.
I was planning to rest and relax while tinkering with the treasure without thinking about it, but I don't want to kill all of the attackers no matter how badly they hurt me. I've been through a lot in my life, you know! I have a tolerance for bad things.


'What? Are you sure? Are you sure you'll retaliate well?


I say to Liz, who is unusually skeptical.


'This is no time to be thinking about such trivial things. Don't worry, they won't attack for a while since we made such a big deal of it. Even the guards are moving.

'Er, .......'

Okay, okay. All right, you're under a lot of stress.

I reach out and stroke the puffy face of Liz's neck. Her skin is as smooth and slightly hot as it was when she was a child, and it seems to absorb the palm of my hand.

She loves skin-to-skin contact, often hugging me, and the closeness is always a problem, but most of all, Liz loves to be touched. She was a little jealous of the way I used to tie Lucia's hair, and combing her hair is also effective.

I know a lot of ways to make her happy. We've known each other a long time.



As I smiled, feeling enlightened, Liz blinked her eyes and said in a softer voice than before.

I'm not sure what to do. ...... Are you stressed out, Crye? I'm sure you're in the mood. Do you want to take it off?

'...... I think we should call Lucia and Sitri to come with us when Lyss is escorting us.'

'That's right, it's really stressful to endure retaliation, no matter how much it's for the sake of strategy. Yeah, fine. Take your stress out on me.

says liz with flushed cheeks. What does she think she's doing? What does she really think I am?
I don't know if she's joking or not, but I'm now dumbfounded before I'm embarrassed. I silently twisted up her soft cheeks. I'm not sure if it's a joke or not, but it's a good idea.


............ I'm not holding back at all. I let go of her hand and sigh deeply.


'I'm not happy that Liz is worried about my stress.

'Well, you always have to keep me company, and I'll keep you company once in a while. ......'

For the next few days, Liz and the others will be guarding us on a daily basis.
I'm very grateful for that and I'm looking forward to it, but will I really be able to withstand my powerfully grown childhood friend? I was filled with anxiety from day one.

But it seems that retaliation has slipped my mind. Simple and very helpful.

'Well, it's not like I'm stressed or anything, but I've had a rough time at the Emperor's Festival and I need to recharge. I'm sure you're exhausted as well, so you should stay quiet for a while.

'I didn't even get to play in the game after all, so I'm not tired. ............ Oh, that's right! My master wanted to see Cry-chan. ......'

'......I want to meet her too, but I'm too busy. It's not that I'm not busy.

Liz's master, every time I see her, I hear her bragging and complaining about them. ...... I'm not their guardian!
I'm not a guardian! I'm too scared to check how much they're exaggerating about me.

At that moment, there was a sound on the other side of the door. Liz's smile disappeared and she got off the bed with a somewhat bored expression, approached the door and opened it without hesitation.
It was Tino who was outside the door. She was on her buttocks, looking up at her sister with a pale face.


I've been wondering why you've been out there for so long. ............ Cry-chan, what do you want to do with this?

It no longer has the appearance of a hidden room, but now it's too late. Tino's eyes widened and he looked at me as if he was frightened.

'Charging period. I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how to get the best out of this.

I'm sure you're aware of that, but I'm not. I'm not sure if it's because of Liz's silent pressure or not.
I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's a good idea. ............ If you're in a good mood and you're interrupted, you're going to be in a bad mood.

You'll be able to find a lot more than just a few of them. Tino falls to the foot of the bed without even catching himself, and lets out a short scream.

'Did I not educate you enough? They heard my plan. You should've known that when you said no training today.

Calm down, calm down. I'm surprised you came out of nowhere, but Tino's a good kid. I'm sure he came because he was worried about me getting attacked.
I'm sure he was worried about me being attacked. He smiled and said slowly, so that even a frightened Tino could understand.

'I don't have a plan. ............ I'm not going to kill you all, and I'm not going to make you bleed. We're just gathering our strength for a while to prepare for the future. ......'

'Mastaa is ............ accumulating ...... power!

Tino ruminates in a faint voice, his expression even more strained.
I'm not sure what's going on with me from ............ Tino's perspective.