༺ Hassan and the Nine-Headed Thief (1) ༻
The Thieves’ Guild was conducting recruitment interviews?
Was this some kind of audition program to find the real thieves? I couldn’t understand the sentiment here. Also, shouldn’t the Thieves’ Guild operate more discreetly?
They must be confident in their power to openly engage in activities like this in a crowded place. Or not, Sodomora was just that messed up after all.
Anyway, we were already in luck after obtaining information about the Thieves’ Guild.
So I was curious about what this was all about, and it turned out they were cheering on people who were picking locks here and there and even hanging some coins.
Clack— Clink— Clink—
“Damn it, just a little more, and it would’ve worked. Seriously, just a little… sigh.”
As if his hand was sweating, a scrawny guy wiped the sweat off his palm before he inserted a safety pin into the lock. People all around were encouraging him.
“It’s almost done! Hang in there!”
“Damn it, keep it down! I’m trying to concentrate here…!”
It really made me realize how amazing inventions like computers and game consoles are. If we didn’t have computers, we’d probably be playing around like this on Earth, too.
Slap—
That was when the masked man swung the short whip in his hand.
“Time’s up! Disqualified!”
The scrawny guy, who was fiddling with the lock, was sent sprawling to the ground with a loud impact.
As an expert in taking a whipping, I immediately recognized that the sound was just a bluff, a harmless impact.
“Gyaaaak! Y-You really hit me! Damn it!”
But the scrawny guy, clutching the beaten part of his shoulder, glared up at the iron bars.
“You think you can hit me, Half-hand Edgar, and get away with it?!”
Pull—
Before long, the situation turned quite ominous as he pulled a dagger from his waist.
“That bastard ended up drawing a dagger!”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
The spectators were startled.
I also, just in case, slightly hid Luna and Paranoy behind me.
At that moment, the masked man bursted into laughter.
“You think drawing a dagger makes you a thief? No, you’ll be just a damn robber. Consider yourself lucky to have been hit by my whip. If this were a real fight, your wrists would be severed, not merely whipped.”
“Shut up, you motherfucker! As long as we can steal something, it doesn’t matter!”
“Younguns don’t understand romance these days. Always making a fuss, looking down on our Hydra, and bragging about subduing it.”
Plop—
The man with the black mask quickly leaped down below the iron bars. He stood face-to-face with the man holding the dagger.
To be able to stand calmly in front of a man holding a knife, either he was quite strong or he didn’t value his own life.
Anyway, if there was one thing I was certain about it was that it was truly entertaining to watch fights.
Even on Earth, with its advanced computers and entertainment, there was nothing as thrilling and spectacular as watching people fight.
So what the hell is about to unfold while we’re licking our candy? The scrawny guy charged at the masked man while wielding his ominous-looking dagger.
Step— Step—
Perhaps due to his agile physique, he moved quite swiftly.
“I take back what I said earlier. The way you look, you wouldn’t even be able to rob someone.”
“Shut up! Wha—?!”
Like a bullfighter, the masked man effortlessly dodged the man’s knife attack, then swiftly struck the back of the latter’s neck with the edge of his hand, causing him to collapse to the ground.
It was a clean and efficient display of skill.
“Next! To the person who successfully picks the lock, I offer a special opportunity to have an interview with our executives! If you come in now, you’ll also get a discount on thief attire.”
Swoosh.
The masked man gestured with his chin, and some people with black clothes covering their faces appeared and dragged away the fallen dagger-wielder.
Thunk— Clank—
Some of them even replaced the iron bars in front with something else.
The masked man continued with a few more words.
“And, this, is also part of the reward—”
Gyuiiing—
“Wow, holy shh— a wildling!”
Trapped within the newly appeared iron bars was a slimy creature about the size of a small soccer ball.
“Hassan, it’s a wildling! A wildling!”
Seeing Luna’s reaction, as if her seizure button had been pressed, she began to slap my forearm with her palm. Some people burst into laughter at her sight.
The interviewer from the Thieves’ Guild, who was conducting the event with a whip in hand and a masked face, also smiled with satisfaction.
“That’s right. It’s a wildling. These are magical creatures that fall from the Milky Way and hide in the ground. They move and breathe silently. So, fully grown wildlings like this one are quite rare.”
As he explained, someone raised their hand and shouted.
“It’s said that eating a wildling can make you move so fast that your hands become invisible. Is that true?”
In response to the question, the masked man answered.
“It depends on the individual’s constitution. Some experience it, while others may not.”
“Then, is it true that the 8th Hydra became stronger after eating an armful of wildlings?”
“…It’s damn true. Anyway, this wildling is a genuine, fully-grown wildling. It wouldn’t be exaggerated to call it a living elixir, worth two pieces of gold for a single specimen.”
Two golds.
Gold.
Murmur— Murmur—
People’s reactions also started to change after the strange liquid-like monster was unveiled. It was because indicating the exact amount had a greater impact on people’s minds than talking about health benefits or its effects on one’s constitution.
Luna, too, trembled as if she didn’t know what to do to get the liquid monster trapped inside the iron bars.
“I want that! Hassan ate all of them, including the last one earlier. If I could make a potion with that, it would be amazing…”
Since I ate the two wildlings Luna bought, I couldn’t say anything back at all. But it did taste good.
I wanted to eat more.
It would also increase my task points if I ate it.먹으면
So, I was also interested in the item inside the iron bars.그래서
“Then, we’ll accept more applicants for the interview. The participation fee is one underground silver coin.”
At the man’s words, hands were raised here and there. People were coming forward to try and pick the lock.
Thud— Thud— Thud— Thud—
Among those participants, someone even tried to strike the lock with all his might using his hammer.
“Damn, it’s so sturdy! Wasn’t it supposed to be designed to be easily released? It seems like they just wanted to extort 1 silver!”
As one participant couldn’t contain his frustration and shouted, the interviewer snickered loudly in response.
“Of course, it won’t break easily. It’s titanium iron bars with a titanium lock. Did you really think you could break into a safe with such amateur hammering?”
“Then how the hell are we supposed to break it?”
“You idiot, safes are made to be unbreakable in the first place, which is why they’re safes and why they’re locked. Any idiot can jump over a fence, but being able to pick a safe is what differentiates the real deal from the frauds.”
“Well, damn it. It so sucks. I guess I’ll stay away from thievery then.”
“Yeah, you better.”
Challengers appeared from all around, aiming for the prize worth 2 golds— the wildling. However, most of them could do nothing and ended up venting their frustrations against the tough and sturdy lock.
Since they had thrown away 1 silver for the participation fee, it was understandable that they were getting angry.
“Well, is there another challenger?”
“Me! I want to give it a try! Anyone can participate, right?”
At that moment, Luna raised her hand next to me. She was so quick that I couldn’t even stop her.
Luna handed a silver, which she had exchanged at the underground exchange office, to the masked man. Then she stood in front of the iron bars, examining them from various angles.
The man who had been watching her through the mask turned over the hourglass near him.
Swoosh— Thump—
“5 minutes. It’s the time it takes for the guards to arrive at the east gate’s wealthy district. Now, how will you get your hands on the wildling?”
“…Be quiet. Concentration is essential for the looting voodoo.”
“Oh? I don’t know what you’re up to, but sure, understood. I’ll keep quiet. Being stealthy is indeed the most important thing when it comes to thievery.”
Swoosh— Swoosh—
Luna moved around the relatively large space inside the iron bars and would occasionally stroke the lock as if searching for any weak point or imperfection.
It was quite puzzling because she didn’t pay any attention to the lock, only inserted her slender fingers inside.
“What is she trying to do?”
“I have no idea. What is it?”
The onlookers who were watching her were also puzzled about what Luna wanted to do. All of them were crossing their arms, looking intrigued.
Even Marco, who was beside me, couldn’t help but ask.
“Brother, did Sister have thieving skills?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
Did Luna have thieving skills?
Since she was the daughter of the Goddess of Night, and thievery usually was done at night, maybe there was some connection there.
No, even so, that would be too much of a stretch. The only things Luna could steal were royal jelly or honey inside the beehives. Also, occasionally, she would steal bird eggs from nests.
But aren’t those all-natural products that don’t require picking locks?
So, I couldn’t help but look at her with rather anxiously, wondering what she was up to.
Clink— Clank—
“It seems like this should be enough.”
Luna, who kept pushing her palm into the small iron bars, started rummaging through her waist as if she had made a decision.
Crinkle— Crinkle—
What is she trying to do? Did Luna have a hidden lockpicking skill?
Right at that moment, Luna pulled out something round and red from her waist pouch. It was the leftover candy stick that she had saved in her waist pouch after licking it. She had taken it out again.
Seeing that, people burst into laughter.
“What? Isn’t that candy?”
“What does candy have to do with picking locks?”
Everyone laughed at her cute demeanor, even I couldn’t help it, but Luna was looking very much serious.
Luna knelt in front of the iron bars and began murmuring in a soft voice.
“Gyu, Gyui-ing.”
Then Luna started swaying the candy in front of the iron bars.
I had seen Luna imitating animal sounds many times before. Did she ever have any successful attempts at doing that? My eyes turned to the hourglass, and there was only a small amount of sand left.
Did Luna also end up throwing away 1 silver?
“Look at that.”
Someone in the crowd said.
“Look, the wildling is reacting to her!”
“I-It really is!”
People pointed their fingers at a certain spot. The wildling, which had been quietly trapped inside the iron bars, began slowly approaching Luna’s hand.
Swoosh— Swoosh—
Gyui-ing—
Eventually, it wriggled and squeezed its body through the gaps in the iron bars. As, by nature, the wildling was composed of a boneless, gelatinous substance, it could effortlessly slip through the bars and end up in Luna’s hand, clinging to the candy.
“Holy shh—! I caught the wildling!”
Luna raised the wildling she caught, holding it high with both hands expressing her joy.
“Hassan, look at this! I caught it!”
Did she just—? I was completely flabbergasted, Luna actually caught it with her own powers.
“Wow, you can steal the contents without picking the lock, so impressive.”
“I thought she was just a funny pink-haired girl, but she’s so talented.”
“This hair color isn’t common on the continent. Where is this young lady from?”
People threw compliments and admiration at Luna like roses. Blushing at those words, Luna turned the bone helmet she had been carrying on her back and wore it on her face as if to hide her embarrassment.
Clatter— Clunk—
Since Elfriede broke her chin strap, Luna couldn’t secure her helmet properly and ended up holding it with her hand to cover her face.
Gyu-ing.
Anyway, the blue gelatinous slime, the wildling, wriggled and nestled in Luna’s arms. I never knew Luna could pull off something like this. Nonetheless, I felt as proud as if I had done it myself.
“Ho, it’s an impressive method. Not touching the lock and only taking out the contents. How did you do it?”
The masked man asked Luna about her method. Luna stuttered to answer him while pressing the bone helmet on her head.
“…Well, wildlings can easily escape if there’s a narrow gap. This one was a bit larger, so I was uncertain. But then I remembered that wildlings like sweets, so I thought of how to—”
“Wildlings like sweets, huh? This is the first time I have heard of this. It’s always good to learn new things. However, young lady, it’s unfortunate, but you’re disqualified. You were supposed to pick the lock.”
“Y-You didn’t say that?”
Luna protested as if it couldn’t be true. The crowd also erupted with shouts here and there.
“This jerk is taking back his words because he doesn’t want to give us the prize! What a complete bastard!”
“Don’t twist your words, you jerk! And give me back my participation fee of 1 silver!”
The anger of the gathered people was comparable to a riot, and if it continued like this, it would turn into a stampede. And I was angry too. Was this some kind of scam unique to the underground?
While simmering in frustration, the masked man added a few more words.
“To be able to steal the items without picking the lock is truly a first-class talent. However, this is an interview. However, our esteemed 8th Lord has written in the regulations that only picking the titanium lock in under five minutes can count as succeeding.”
The man took out an old scroll from his arms and unfolded it with a swift motion. It seemed to have something written on it but I was too far away to see clearly.
At that moment, the Nypmh Paranoy, who had been chewing on candy for a while, opened her mouth.
“I-It’s really there… It’s written that you have to pick the lock within 5 minutes…”
How could she read those tiny letters? Paranoy must have better eyesight than I thought.
Anyway, how could such a rule exist….
“Well, I guess you have to return the wildling as well, young lady. I do want to give you a perfect score, but the Thieves’ Guild is like that these days. So I can’t help it.”
“H-Hassan—”
Luna trembled as if she didn’t know what to do. Although it was not clearly visible beneath the bone helmet, there must be a tearful face looking at me.
So, with a “Fuck it, whatever,” attitude, I stepped forward in front of the crowd.
“Isn’t it just about picking the lock within 5 minutes?”
I took out the club hanging from my waist and exerted a lot of strength in my arms and grip.
Gwaaak—!
The club seemed to scream at the strength of my increased grip.
“Are you planning to use brute force? Although your stature is quite large, did you not see the others who tried and failed earlier? It requires skill. It’s not something you can achieve with brute force.”
While I was calculating the best angle and force to swing the club, the masked man advised me with his arms crossed.
Inside the man’s brown eyes, I could sense a mixture of anticipation and a tinge of frustration, as if there were complicated emotions. It felt like he was saying, “If you want to try, then go ahead.”
“Hassan…”
Luna held the wildling tightly in her arms while watching me. Countless people, countless pairs of eyes, were also watching me.
Why did I come here? I was so nervous that sweat was naturally pouring out of my palms.
However, if this was the same titanium metal as that plate, there was a good chance that I could break it with the club. With an Elfriede-like strength of 12, it should be more than enough for me to do this.
The sounds of people whispering around.
Their breaths.
Everything seemed to be amplified even louder in my ears. I opened my mouth wide as if to overcome those noises.
“Uaaaah!”
Simultaneously, I raised the club with my arms full of strength. What I wanted right now was a power akin to an ultimate move.
Yes, it had to be an ultimate move.
“BAN-KAI!”
After mass protest on the discord server, I have changed BANKAI to BAN-KAI.
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