Evil Avalon - Volume 2 - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: New Weapon

The three of us walked through a path in the school grounds lined by cherry trees. The cherry blossoms had all fallen, and green leaves sprouted on the branches. Even though it was past 4 p.m., the sun was still high in the sky, shining brightly through the trees. This part of the school included the factory complex. Delivery personnel and corporate workers streamed in and out, and I could hear conversations and the sounds of metalworking, especially at the busiest time of day.

We walked another hundred meters and reached the factory where I’d requested my mithril ore’s refinement. I stood at the entrance and called to let them know I was there, but nobody responded. When I looked inside, I couldn’t see anyone. I started looking around outside, hoping to find someone.

Oomiya told me she’d heard people talking and pointed me toward a storage area by the side of the factory that had raw material and other items stacked up. I went over and found the large student I’d met the other day talking with a few others with a huge grin.

“Check out my new weapon!” the student said, swinging the weapon to show off in front of his younger friends.

“Awesome!” one of his friends marveled.

“How much did you have to pay for it?” another asked.

I noticed the weapon was comprised of mithril alloy. Don’t tell me... “Excuse me,” I butted in. “I ordered the refinement of some mithril alloy the other day, and I wanted to check on its progress.”

With that, he finally noticed me. The student grumbled, looking annoyed that I’d interrupted his boasting.

He gets no points for customer service, I thought. And he should remember that I’m paying him. I retrieved the refinery request contract from my bag and handed it over.

The student flicked the contract with his middle finger, snorted at me, and said, “This is a counterfeit. I have half a mind to bring you in front of the student council.”

I had a bad feeling when I saw him boasting about his new weapon, and his reaction confirmed it; he’d used my ore for himself. And so I decided to point this out to him so he could grovel at my feet and apologize for his thoughtless action. Then, and only then, might I consider letting him off the hook.

“Um, no, actually,” I said. “You wrote it out for me yesterday. If you look closely, you should recognize the handwriting, seeing it’s yours.”

“It’s not stamped, so it’s not valid,” he argued and continued to do so to prevent me from piping up, trying to intimidate me. “Besides, you’re from the first-year Class E. How’d a loser like you get their hands on mithril ore? I’ll tell you: you stole it.”

The thief’s threatening attitude had stunned the two first-year students behind him as well as Oomiya and Nitta.

Mithril ore was expensive, but not prohibitively so. Moreover, mithril ore and alloy were common in the factories since many orders for weapons went through. Pointing all this out to him would be a waste of time. He’d just ignore me and continue to call me a thief.

“Wh-What’s happening?” Oomiya whispered to me, sounding concerned. “Did he take your ore for himself?”

I felt guilty for dragging her into this and wouldn’t have brought her if I’d known that my contract required a stamp. But I had been exhausted on that day and hadn’t been thinking clearly, forgetting that scum like him was commonplace in this world.

Now, what was I going to do about it? I could freak out and beat the pulp out of him. That would definitely be the easiest option.

He said he’d bring me in front of the student council, didn’t he? I thought. What does he think they’re going to do about it? They don’t know anything about what happened. Unless he thinks they’ll decide against me because I’m in Class E.

I had to do something, or he’d keep my mithril. The best option would probably be to go along to get the student council. They were more likely to hear reason, and I could return to the “freak out” plan if that didn’t work.

“Okay then,” I said. “Let’s see what the student council thinks.”

“Who do you think you are? You’re just a Class E loser,” he warned, slashing the mithril-alloy curved sword that I wanted as a katana for Kano. Hadn’t his parents ever taught him not to point blades at people? This world’s Japan likely hadn’t passed the Firearms and Swords Control Law. Regardless, his behavior was out of order.

He’d forced my hand since he wouldn’t settle this without a fight, so I cast Basic Appraisal on the thief.

Name: Yuzuru Kumasawa

Job: Fighter

Strength: Pathetically Weak

Available Skills: 3

He probably wasn’t using the Fake skill, so I could defeat him barehanded, even though there would be too many witnesses. The two first-year students, whom I didn’t know because they weren’t in Class E, glared at me behind Kumasawa.

“Did you just appraise me, you little shit?!” barked Kumasawa.

“Stop!” protested Oomiya, jumping between us. “P-Please, no fighting! If you’d take another look at the document, I’m sure—”

“Shut it!!!”

Kumasawa raised his fist to strike Oomiya’s face, but I grabbed his arm and stopped him. Maybe I should squeeze until it breaks, I thought.

“What’s going on?” someone called out. “Why are you arguing?” It was the third-year student council member we’d met in their office. “Oh, it’s you three again.” He had apparently heard the commotion while locking up and had come to investigate.

Kumasawa switched from open aggression to deferential meekness now that there was an authority figure to suck up to. Listening to him prattle off his false justifications made me want to kick his ass.

Wanting to plead my side, I held up the contract and asserted, “He’s taken my ore for his own use.”

“The ore was stolen property,” rebutted Kumasawa, changing his excuse.

“So you’re suggesting that he may have stolen the ore?” the student council member asked Kumasawa while eyeing me.

“That’s right!” Kumasawa confirmed. “So, you see, I was about to rough him up a bit...”

“I see. So, where did you buy, or mine, the mithril?” he asked me. “Show me your proof.”

He wasn’t likely to believe that I’d bought it from Granny’s Goods on the tenth floor. Not that I would have told him anyway since I wanted to keep the shop a secret.

“Come on, out with it,” pressed the student council member. “Don’t tell me you did steal it?” He activated his Aura threateningly. “I’ll get the answer out of you one way or another.”

Why did everyone in this world think threats were the simplest solution to all problems? I sighed as I thought nobles were supposed to be smart, so why didn’t he understand that doing this to people he didn’t know could have consequences? I felt it might turn out like this, so I pulled Oomiya behind me and stepped forward to keep her out of harm’s way.

He’s probably around level 20, I thought. On the high side for a student here.

I hadn’t cast Basic Appraisal yet, but the volume of his Aura suggested he was a similar level to me. A short staff with an embedded dark-purple jewel hung from his waist, even though he hadn’t moved to draw it yet. He wasn’t facing me directly and hadn’t leaned into any stance, which led me to believe that he was a straight-up magician rather than a staff-wielding magical warrior. I expected that he was a Caster... Or, no, Wizard was more likely, given his level.

Appearances could be deceptive, so it was time for Basic Appraisal.

Name: Akizane Sagara

Job: Wizard

Strength: Slightly Stronger

Available Skills: 4

So he was a level 21 adventurer with the intermediate Wizard job and four skills, none of which was likely Fake. The few skills suggested that he was purely trained in magic and had none of the skills from the warrior- or thief-style jobs.

His appearance made it obvious that he had little experience fighting other people. Yet he showed complete confidence in his prowess despite not being able to judge his opponent’s strength, disregarding he was wildly underestimating me. He probably wouldn’t take any notice if I changed my stance ever so slightly and continued staring me down.

Magicians needed to have expert footwork and fire off quick volleys of spells if they wanted to survive PVP*. Sagara didn’t appear to have much PVP experience since he had probably faced opponents weaker than himself. Had he faced any strong opponents, his strategy had likely been to shield himself behind a wall while he cast powerful long-range spells.

*TIPS: PVP is short for player versus player and refers to situations when two or more players fight against each other, unlike combat against monsters. PVP usually conveys situations all players involved have agreed to combat to differentiate from PK, where a player attacks another without their permission.

I would’ve loved to show him what happened when a magician tried to stare down a close-combat type within reach... But he was a noble. I could get away with self-defense, but throwing the first punch would get me in trouble.

Still, I sensed Sagara casting Basic Appraisal on me. Although I felt awful that someone like a bird of prey examined me, my Fake skill meant that he wouldn’t see my true stats. I’d appear as a pathetically weak Newbie to him.

“How odd,” said Sagara.

“So, are you going to get the answer out of me by force?” I asked.

Sagara ramped up his Aura to its full extent to apply further pressure. Aura’s original purpose was its use against low-level monsters in the dungeon to avoid combat, and it had little effect against an opponent of similar strength.

Not everyone here was the same level as Sagara. While I shielded the two girls from receiving the full force of the Aura, some of it still made it past me. Oomiya was clutching herself, cowering. On the other hand, Nitta put on a brave face despite being only level 5, which was a little amusing. If I didn’t end this situation, their bodies would suffer the consequences of being exposed to a powerful Aura for too long. Just as I was about to act, Sagara suddenly retracted his Aura.

“Hmm, so that’s how it is,” he said. “Souta Narumi... I’ll remember that name.”

I wasn’t sure what had changed his mind, but I was glad that the Aura was gone. It sucked that he’d learned my name through Basic Appraisal, and I would have to pray it wouldn’t get me in any trouble.

“You,” Sagara addressed Kumasawa. “He is more than capable of acquiring mithril through his own means. You are to return what you’ve taken or otherwise compensate him. That’s an order.”

“B-But I’ve already used the mithril,” Kumasawa tried to protest.

Sagara then directed his Aura at Kumasawa, who shrunk back with fear. While I hadn’t liked how proud and arrogant Sagara acted during our earlier meeting, I was thankful he was here to resolve our problem.