Chapter 147 – Glasses boy sighs when measuring all that he lost to win the match
One of the reasons why I temporarily blinded Beckenberg, was because I foresaw that this situation was a realistic possibility.
Because making full use of the abilities of my Glasses means making it clear that I can use multiple Gifts.
Lisse finding it out wouldn’t be that bad, but it would be troublesome if old lady Adyll understood the intricacies of my Gift.
But most importantly, I absolutely did not want Beckenberg to learn about it.
If this old man sees what my Gift can do, then he’ll surely start digging for as much information on it as possible.
Me and that old man have a similar nature.
We want to know as much as possible about potential future threats.
We need knowledge to protect ourselves in case the potential threat becomes hostile to us.
And also, for this particular situation, Beckenberg will need the knowledge to know how to best use said threat if I were to ever become his ally.
It’s very troublesome to handle this kind of person.
In any case, since Lisse isn’t entirely sure that I am Eil, I will try deceiving her as much as possible.
But with old lady Adyll… I’m her bodyguard, so there isn’t much that I can do.
“Hey, come on? What are you going to do next? I’m getting bored here.” Zet told me.
After being hit by him once in close combat, I’ve kept my distance while thinking about those things.
Zet has been patiently waiting so far, but he now started complaining that he was bored.
… I don’t want to half-heartedly give up on a job that I have already accepted.
My master told me before, that I should avoid breaches of contract whenever possible. It should be something that I only do when I’m out of options.
And in this situation… I don’t need to give up on the job. I’m her bodyguard, and I can manage this situation.
If I use the powers of my glasses, I can win.
“Can I have a moment?” I asked Zet.
“Huh? You still have something you wanna talk about?” Zet replied.
His tone made it sound like this was a hassle.
Well, you’re a hassle too. I wish you’d go home already.
“I don’t think this is the right mood for a fight to the death, so I’d like to establish the rules to decide who is the winner and who is the loser.” I told him.
Neither of us has a grudge against the other.
Zet doesn’t like killing.
And I don’t want to kill Zet.
I don’t have any idea of what Zet’s role in this city is.
I did hear that he was the leader of a criminal gang, but I do not know how big that gang is, or what that gang would do if Zet died.
With this kind of unclear situation, it’s better to not kill anybody thoughtlessly.
Otherwise, I might get in trouble because of my actions.
Like, if Zet’s comrades decided to take revenge on him… That would be way too troublesome.
So, my goal is simple.
Make him leave the restaurant.
This is all that I need to do to handle this mess.
“You win if you knock me unconscious.
“I win if I kick you out of the restaurant.
“If I win, please go home for the night.
“How about it? Good enough?” I suggested.
Since Zet entered the restaurant in a very flashy manner, he broke its entrance door, so the entranceway is open.
The adventurer-like man that Zet stepped on when he entered has already disappeared as well, so there is nothing between Zet and the exit right now.
“Oh? So you’re saying that you can kick me out of the store? You really think you can do that?” Zet asked me.
“Yes. Or well, I’ll do my best.” I replied.
“Hah! Alright, I don’t mind these conditions.” As Zet said that, he started fully emanating his bloodlust, “I’m a bit bored right now though, so I may end up crushing you.”
Well then…
“If you think you can do it, then you should try it.” I replied.
“Sure thing!” Zet exclaimed.
Zet closed in on me.
His strength was on his right leg. It is his pivot.
So, the upper left kick is coming… Whoa!
“Too slow!” Zet exclaimed.
I raised my right arm to guard my head against the incoming kick, but… Before I could finish raising it, Zet’s kick had already reached my head.
My body was flung away by the power of his kick. I hit an empty table and fell down.
He really is way too strong… He’s truly beyond my expectations.
… But now, my preparations are complete.
******
I realized something when I met that perverted thief the other night.
I’m weak in interpersonal combat.
It made sense once I thought about it.
Because I’ve never fought a human before.
Training and interpersonal battles are different. Especially so when one is talking about assassinations.
In assassinations, you don’t even need to fight in the first place.
Yet until the moment I met that pervert, I had naturally thought that interpersonal combat was just an extension of fighting Demon Beasts or animals.
Because I thought that hunting and fighting humans was the same thing, that pervert was able to use me as a scapegoat.
That was when I realized that they were different. They’re completely different.
In the first place, neither animals nor Demon Beasts tend to use feints.
If they get into attacking position, they’ll come at you in a straightforward manner and will rarely attempt to dodge your attacks.
But you cannot apply this kind of mindset to battles against humans.
It became obvious once I thought about how I fight.
I deceive, I trick, I lie, I use whatever tools I have available.
When fighting against other humans, I’ll surely face people who think the same way I do.
People who deceive, trick, lie and use whatever tools are available to them.
I learned from the fight against that pervert. I fell for the high kick feint and was knocked off the roof by some pebbles with Full Impact imbued on them.
That happened, because the pervert didn’t attack me with the intention to fight.
She attacked me with the intention of temporarily incapacitating me, so that she could escape.
If I was more aware of the nature of interpersonal combat back then, then I think I wouldn’t have been caught by her trick.
So, I think it was a good thing that I met that pervert.
I have no idea what would happen if I were to meet Zet without having any experience with interpersonal combat in advance.
Just thinking about it is scary.
… But well.
It’s about time for me to start my counterattack.
******
First, I switched from Anomalous Ogre, which I was using for defense, to Full Impact, for offense.
Anomalous Ogre is a physical enhancement Gift that increases your strength.
However, it doesn’t simply increase your raw strength, but it also makes your body capable of withstanding the increased strength.
In other words, it makes your whole body tougher and stronger.
It may not change one’s weight, but it certainly allowed me to withstand Zet’s kick much more easily than a normal person would.
“Haah? Are you seriously going to try this kind of thing?” Zet asked me.
Because as soon as I stood up, I got closer to the table and started throwing the forks, knives, glasses, and everything else I could get my hands on, towards Zet.
Zet avoided them while slowly walking towards me.
Is it even possible to dodge it like that at this distance?
Our strength is worlds apart alright.
But the real deal comes now.
I picked up the small bottle that made Beckenberg cry, added Full Impact to it, then threw it, scattering the salt in Zet’s direction.
“Useless struggle-!?“ Zet groaned as his body flew away.
A loud sound echoed throughout the restaurant as the salt hit him.
The grains of salt had Full Impact added to them, after all.
And Zet didn’t bother with trying to dodge every single grain of salt, so he took a direct hit.
The reason why I threw a bunch of random things at him, was to prevent him from realizing what my true intentions were.
I wanted to show him that I was cornered and desperate.
As expected, Zet let his guard down.
If he hadn’t let his guard down, he would have avoided the salt too.
But just as I predicted, Zet was hit and thrown away.
Now, to wrap things up.
I set my Gift as Anomalous Ogre again, then threw a huge table towards Zet, who was still being flung away from me.
The table was right in-between me and Zet, so it hid me from him for a moment.
In that moment, I used Sound Bomb on a fork that I was holding; threw it towards the ceiling, at the point directly above Zet; then started running in Zet’s direction.
Zet laughed out loud as he kicked the table, that was about to hit him directly, making it fly far from us.
Then, he caught sight of me as I approached him.
“This was a bit funny, but it’s the end!” He exclaimed.
He is right.
Though I think the ending will still be pretty interesting.
Zet landed without taking any damage in particular, then tried to land a counterattack on me.
But when his fist was about to connect with my face… I disappeared.
“Huh!? Disappear-“ Zet started saying.
Even he was surprised by this.
[Someone who has never been popular with women shouldn’t be this cocky!] The Sound Bomb hit the ceiling and exploded.
Just like how it happened in the dangerous battle against the Obsidian Wolf, for better or for worse, the battlefield was dominated by a large sound.
This was also something that I heard in the royal capital… I don’t know what exactly it means, but it feels a bit sad.
“Huh!? I’m popular though!?” Zet commented.
That seems like a sensible statement.
My master once told me, bitterly, that there are plenty of women who like bad guys.
Zet seems to fit into that definition.
But now is not the time to worry about that.
Zet was confused by the fork I threw earlier, and I now appeared behind him.
I avoided his gaze by using Mist, and moved to his blind spots.
Then I distracted him with Sound Bomb, while also making him unable to hear my movements.
And so, I hit him, in the direction of the entrance, with a punch empowered by Full Impact.
Zet groaned as he was thrown outside.
And that’s the match.
******
However, I did have a bit of a miscalculation…
I’m sure this was caused by Zet’s Gift.
He was blown away; flung outside the broken door.
“Ouch…” I muttered.
There were six, sharp, needle-like things pierced through my left arm that had hit Zet.
******
Iron Eater…
I don’t know if he actually eats metal, but I know this is a Gift that allows one to manipulate metal to some extent.
I know it allows one to corrode, deform and mix metals, at the very minimum.
There is a widely known tale about a hero, who rose from commoner to king of a country.
That hero had the Iron Eater gift, and he used it during a war to gain an enormous advantage.
Namely, he was able to make the enemies’ equipment unusable.
The hero always won not through overwhelming power, but by weakening the opponent before the battle.
However, this tale that I read on a book is all that I know about the Gift.
I do not know the full capabilities of Iron Eater.
******
The moment I hit him, the pain ran through my arm.
At that moment, Zet was definitely distracted.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to hit him.
Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that Zet’s Gift can hit his attackers even without him directing the Gift to behave in a specific manner.
It’s a Gift that he can use subconsciously, huh?
But well… For now, I used Mist to dematerialize my arm, forcing the needle-like things to fall from it.
Then, I set my Gift to Life Absorption.
It still hurts quite a bit, but the bleeding should stop soon.
… I sighed.
This wasn’t exactly a clean victory… More like a pyrrhic victory with a handicap.
It feels like a loss when I let this much of my abilities be known.
… I sighed once more.
At least, I tried using as few Gifts as I could.
… It was all that I could do to limit how much information was disclosed.
Chapter 147 – Glasses boy sighs when measuring all that he lost to win the match
One of the reasons why I temporarily blinded Beckenberg, was because I foresaw that this situation was a realistic possibility.
Because making full use of the abilities of my Glasses means making it clear that I can use multiple Gifts.
Lisse finding it out wouldn’t be that bad, but it would be troublesome if old lady Adyll understood the intricacies of my Gift.
But most importantly, I absolutely did not want Beckenberg to learn about it.
If this old man sees what my Gift can do, then he’ll surely start digging for as much information on it as possible.
Me and that old man have a similar nature.
We want to know as much as possible about potential future threats.
We need knowledge to protect ourselves in case the potential threat becomes hostile to us.
And also, for this particular situation, Beckenberg will need the knowledge to know how to best use said threat if I were to ever become his ally.
It’s very troublesome to handle this kind of person.
In any case, since Lisse isn’t entirely sure that I am Eil, I will try deceiving her as much as possible.
But with old lady Adyll… I’m her bodyguard, so there isn’t much that I can do.
“Hey, come on? What are you going to do next? I’m getting bored here.” Zet told me.
After being hit by him once in close combat, I’ve kept my distance while thinking about those things.
Zet has been patiently waiting so far, but he now started complaining that he was bored.
… I don’t want to half-heartedly give up on a job that I have already accepted.
My master told me before, that I should avoid breaches of contract whenever possible. It should be something that I only do when I’m out of options.
And in this situation… I don’t need to give up on the job. I’m her bodyguard, and I can manage this situation.
If I use the powers of my glasses, I can win.
“Can I have a moment?” I asked Zet.
“Huh? You still have something you wanna talk about?” Zet replied.
His tone made it sound like this was a hassle.
Well, you’re a hassle too. I wish you’d go home already.
“I don’t think this is the right mood for a fight to the death, so I’d like to establish the rules to decide who is the winner and who is the loser.” I told him.
Neither of us has a grudge against the other.
Zet doesn’t like killing.
And I don’t want to kill Zet.
I don’t have any idea of what Zet’s role in this city is.
I did hear that he was the leader of a criminal gang, but I do not know how big that gang is, or what that gang would do if Zet died.
With this kind of unclear situation, it’s better to not kill anybody thoughtlessly.
Otherwise, I might get in trouble because of my actions.
Like, if Zet’s comrades decided to take revenge on him… That would be way too troublesome.
So, my goal is simple.
Make him leave the restaurant.
This is all that I need to do to handle this mess.
“You win if you knock me unconscious.
“I win if I kick you out of the restaurant.
“If I win, please go home for the night.
“How about it? Good enough?” I suggested.
Since Zet entered the restaurant in a very flashy manner, he broke its entrance door, so the entranceway is open.
The adventurer-like man that Zet stepped on when he entered has already disappeared as well, so there is nothing between Zet and the exit right now.
“Oh? So you’re saying that you can kick me out of the store? You really think you can do that?” Zet asked me.
“Yes. Or well, I’ll do my best.” I replied.
“Hah! Alright, I don’t mind these conditions.” As Zet said that, he started fully emanating his bloodlust, “I’m a bit bored right now though, so I may end up crushing you.”
Well then…
“If you think you can do it, then you should try it.” I replied.
“Sure thing!” Zet exclaimed.
Zet closed in on me.
His strength was on his right leg. It is his pivot.
So, the upper left kick is coming… Whoa!
“Too slow!” Zet exclaimed.
I raised my right arm to guard my head against the incoming kick, but… Before I could finish raising it, Zet’s kick had already reached my head.
My body was flung away by the power of his kick. I hit an empty table and fell down.
He really is way too strong… He’s truly beyond my expectations.
… But now, my preparations are complete.
******
I realized something when I met that perverted thief the other night.
I’m weak in interpersonal combat.
It made sense once I thought about it.
Because I’ve never fought a human before.
Training and interpersonal battles are different. Especially so when one is talking about assassinations.
In assassinations, you don’t even need to fight in the first place.
Yet until the moment I met that pervert, I had naturally thought that interpersonal combat was just an extension of fighting Demon Beasts or animals.
Because I thought that hunting and fighting humans was the same thing, that pervert was able to use me as a scapegoat.
That was when I realized that they were different. They’re completely different.
In the first place, neither animals nor Demon Beasts tend to use feints.
If they get into attacking position, they’ll come at you in a straightforward manner and will rarely attempt to dodge your attacks.
But you cannot apply this kind of mindset to battles against humans.
It became obvious once I thought about how I fight.
I deceive, I trick, I lie, I use whatever tools I have available.
When fighting against other humans, I’ll surely face people who think the same way I do.
People who deceive, trick, lie and use whatever tools are available to them.
I learned from the fight against that pervert. I fell for the high kick feint and was knocked off the roof by some pebbles with Full Impact imbued on them.
That happened, because the pervert didn’t attack me with the intention to fight.
She attacked me with the intention of temporarily incapacitating me, so that she could escape.
If I was more aware of the nature of interpersonal combat back then, then I think I wouldn’t have been caught by her trick.
So, I think it was a good thing that I met that pervert.
I have no idea what would happen if I were to meet Zet without having any experience with interpersonal combat in advance.
Just thinking about it is scary.
… But well.
It’s about time for me to start my counterattack.
******
First, I switched from Anomalous Ogre, which I was using for defense, to Full Impact, for offense.
Anomalous Ogre is a physical enhancement Gift that increases your strength.
However, it doesn’t simply increase your raw strength, but it also makes your body capable of withstanding the increased strength.
In other words, it makes your whole body tougher and stronger.
It may not change one’s weight, but it certainly allowed me to withstand Zet’s kick much more easily than a normal person would.
“Haah? Are you seriously going to try this kind of thing?” Zet asked me.
Because as soon as I stood up, I got closer to the table and started throwing the forks, knives, glasses, and everything else I could get my hands on, towards Zet.
Zet avoided them while slowly walking towards me.
Is it even possible to dodge it like that at this distance?
Our strength is worlds apart alright.
But the real deal comes now.
I picked up the small bottle that made Beckenberg cry, added Full Impact to it, then threw it, scattering the salt in Zet’s direction.
“Useless struggle-!?“ Zet groaned as his body flew away.
A loud sound echoed throughout the restaurant as the salt hit him.
The grains of salt had Full Impact added to them, after all.
And Zet didn’t bother with trying to dodge every single grain of salt, so he took a direct hit.
The reason why I threw a bunch of random things at him, was to prevent him from realizing what my true intentions were.
I wanted to show him that I was cornered and desperate.
As expected, Zet let his guard down.
If he hadn’t let his guard down, he would have avoided the salt too.
But just as I predicted, Zet was hit and thrown away.
Now, to wrap things up.
I set my Gift as Anomalous Ogre again, then threw a huge table towards Zet, who was still being flung away from me.
The table was right in-between me and Zet, so it hid me from him for a moment.
In that moment, I used Sound Bomb on a fork that I was holding; threw it towards the ceiling, at the point directly above Zet; then started running in Zet’s direction.
Zet laughed out loud as he kicked the table, that was about to hit him directly, making it fly far from us.
Then, he caught sight of me as I approached him.
“This was a bit funny, but it’s the end!” He exclaimed.
He is right.
Though I think the ending will still be pretty interesting.
Zet landed without taking any damage in particular, then tried to land a counterattack on me.
But when his fist was about to connect with my face… I disappeared.
“Huh!? Disappear-“ Zet started saying.
Even he was surprised by this.
[Someone who has never been popular with women shouldn’t be this cocky!] The Sound Bomb hit the ceiling and exploded.
Just like how it happened in the dangerous battle against the Obsidian Wolf, for better or for worse, the battlefield was dominated by a large sound.
This was also something that I heard in the royal capital… I don’t know what exactly it means, but it feels a bit sad.
“Huh!? I’m popular though!?” Zet commented.
That seems like a sensible statement.
My master once told me, bitterly, that there are plenty of women who like bad guys.
Zet seems to fit into that definition.
But now is not the time to worry about that.
Zet was confused by the fork I threw earlier, and I now appeared behind him.
I avoided his gaze by using Mist, and moved to his blind spots.
Then I distracted him with Sound Bomb, while also making him unable to hear my movements.
And so, I hit him, in the direction of the entrance, with a punch empowered by Full Impact.
Zet groaned as he was thrown outside.
And that’s the match.
******
However, I did have a bit of a miscalculation…
I’m sure this was caused by Zet’s Gift.
He was blown away; flung outside the broken door.
“Ouch…” I muttered.
There were six, sharp, needle-like things pierced through my left arm that had hit Zet.
******
Iron Eater…
I don’t know if he actually eats metal, but I know this is a Gift that allows one to manipulate metal to some extent.
I know it allows one to corrode, deform and mix metals, at the very minimum.
There is a widely known tale about a hero, who rose from commoner to king of a country.
That hero had the Iron Eater gift, and he used it during a war to gain an enormous advantage.
Namely, he was able to make the enemies’ equipment unusable.
The hero always won not through overwhelming power, but by weakening the opponent before the battle.
However, this tale that I read on a book is all that I know about the Gift.
I do not know the full capabilities of Iron Eater.
******
The moment I hit him, the pain ran through my arm.
At that moment, Zet was definitely distracted.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to hit him.
Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that Zet’s Gift can hit his attackers even without him directing the Gift to behave in a specific manner.
It’s a Gift that he can use subconsciously, huh?
But well… For now, I used Mist to dematerialize my arm, forcing the needle-like things to fall from it.
Then, I set my Gift to Life Absorption.
It still hurts quite a bit, but the bleeding should stop soon.
… I sighed.
This wasn’t exactly a clean victory… More like a pyrrhic victory with a handicap.
It feels like a loss when I let this much of my abilities be known.
… I sighed once more.
At least, I tried using as few Gifts as I could.
… It was all that I could do to limit how much information was disclosed.
