Chapter 71 – Hoodlum

『Huh, authenticity… you say?』

Tre’ainar threw a retort at my remark, but he seemed to be in a slightly good mood.

『However, tis better to not get too carried away by overwhelming the small fry, is it not? If you overdo it, you may appear as the weak one.』

「Osu.」

These guys aren’t a threat to me. Tre’ainar’s words to me weren’t ‘Don’t let your guard down’, but rather ‘Don’t get too carried away’.

Thinking that it’s typical of Tre’ainar, I looked down on the three guys who stayed down due to shock then nimbly hopped on the spot and stepped back.

“So, are we done?”

“””Eh!!??”””

When I asked, the three guys stood up in unison.

“Tch, we were caught off guard… heh, you’re not an amateur. You learned that somewhere, right?”

“But for you to stop, what a softy.”

“By any chance, an Imperial Pushover?”

The three of them smiled and took a stance, their battle spirit unbroken.

“I’ll tell you, this is not how the Kamikaze Gang fights!”

“Oh, if you think that’s the measure of the Kamikaze Gang’s strength, you’re so wrong!”

“Pulling your punches hah? I’ll treat this cheeky brat to our deadly special full course!”

It might have fired these guys up apparently.

Well, I’d like to hit you anyway.

“What’s a special full course? Older guys nowadays have terrible naming sense.”

『What was that?』

“This full course of yours, you’ll have to accept a return on the goods, at all cost! Come on, I’ll take all three of you!”

『No, tis why you should not get carried away… well, not that I care….』

“But I’m really going to hit you this time.”

Even though I was told not to get carried away, I was still in a bad mood because the encounter irritated me.

I challenged the three of them to come all at once, and with a snap, the guys shouted and raised their voices.

“Bastard! Don’t look down at us!”

“Let’s do it! We mastered the underworld’s strongest martial art, ‘Arcane True Zenith Style’ in 3 days!”

“You’re gonna regret getting cocky with us!”

Saying that, the three guys nodded to each other, lined up, ran straight at me.

The assault of the three guys wearing black coats…

“””We’ll show you, hooligan pride of the Kamikaze Gang, Black Three Prong Star of the Arcane True Ze–“””

『Huh?』

For a moment, I felt like Tre’ainar had tilted his head, but I don’t care….

“Great Demon Body Blow!”

“””Hebu, Bugo, Domu!”””

“Such an unsavory full course, I can’t accept that.”

I slammed it into the body of the guy at the front and the momentum of the blow hit the other guys behind him.

“What, what!?”

“Hey, what’s that kid?”

“That guy, so absurd! Those three in an instant!”

“Hey, hey, somebody call ‘Leader Bro’!”

This time, the merchants around me raised their voices in astonishment at the sight of three guys who fell down and couldn’t immediately stand up.

And when I realized, that woman was gone….

“Damn…… did she run away in the chaos… now what do I do ….”

『…………』

「Hmm? Hey, Tre’ainar, what’s wrong? You look strange.」

『Nothing…. just…』

At the time, Tre’ainar who was beside me seemed worried about something, as he stared at the three guys on the floor.

I wonder what got you bothered……

“Gaha, ba, bastard… Yo, you dare.”

And then, the guys got up. However, it seems they won’t be able to stand up easily this time.

“But…… Yo-you getting all smug just because you’ve beaten us? We have some allies on our side, you see…. “

“Hey, it sounds like a pathetic throwaway line that appears in a story, doesn’t it?”

“Ah, wh-what’s that!?”

However, bothering with every nuisance anymore would be particularly troublesome.

To begin with, that woman got away…… Or should I give up on the 50,000 and think about how to manage with the remaining 30,000?

“Bastard, you’re gonna regret this! You’ve turned the most dangerous man in the empire, the one person you shouldn’t, into an enemy!”

“Ah, yes, yes… I’m so scared, so I’ll be going now.”

Can you keep company with a gang member forever?

First of all, simple daily necessities and food… and then, money of course. It’s money after all, isn’t it?

“Hey, hey! Really, don’t go! The boss, our Big Bro, he’ll be here soon! And when Bro arrives, he’ll…”

At first, I was thinking about buying and selling treasure on the cheap in this town, but, in the first place, it doesn’t seem that treasures are easily mixed in.

No, Tre’ainar said something like “business” to me, but what kind of business…

“—have, hey! That’s why you shouldn’t ignore me! Get back here! Damn, somebody call Bro now! Bro! Bro! Brooo!”

Well, it’s been a while since……

“Good Grief(Yare Yare)… I can hear you. Don’t yell people’s names in the street, it’s embarrassing, yeh.”

And that was when.

“Domouf!?”

“…… Geh.”

Just as I was about to rebuke him for being too noisy, a man suddenly appeared and lightly swung his fist on baguette head.

“So….. you guys…… what are you doing to my hometown?”

But the moment the man appeared, both the baguette head and the merchants smiled with their eyes shining as if a ‘hero’ had arrived.

“B, Bro!?”

“Yo, you’re too damn noisy, yeh.”

“Bro, listen! I hate to say it, but…… we’ve lost.”

“I can tell without looking. Well, I’m not surprised you guys lost, yeh.”

“Such, so, so bright!?”

“Kakkaka”

White trousers in a long white coat with flashy embroidery and patterns.

He wears a large white hat so deep on his head that it hides his ears, and with a lit cigarette in his mouth.

“But, hah~, don’t worry about it. No shame in defeat.”

“Bro…”

“Thing is, I don’t like it when you call my name afterwards, yeh.”

He had a slender build, so tall and slim…. but…… I could tell.

“…… heh~.”

『…… un…..no? This one…』

He looked slender, but you can see it through his clothes. Quite…… not gonna play… so-so.

“Well, if you’re gonna rely on others after losing a fight, why don’t you guys just do it from the start? Only pick a fight with those who don’t mind fighting, even if you get yourselves wrecked as a result. You don’t even have the guts to do that, that’s why you ran away from ‘Arcane True Zenith Style’ after three days, yeh.”

“Bro………… Well, that’s true, but…… But that kid tried to break the rules of our town and turned to violence! We can’t stay quiet when a guy breaks the rules, right? It’s common sense!”

“Why, you guys decided on your own with the geezers and the like. When was all that approved by the Imperial Assembly and became a law? I don’t give a shit who’s from out of town, yeh.”

“Ugh, th-that’s…”

“It’s a little too much to make such a selfish rule, fight to push it through, then have the tables turned on you only to rely on people and to talk about common sense when at your own convenience, isn’t it?”

He looked quite young. Probably a normal teenager…. Even though…… he’s got a keen eye, those guys were wild, vulgar and not too bright, but he has a very calm demeanor.

What do you call it…Dignity? It felt like something I can’t explain was overflowing from his body.

“Remember. When a ‘hoodlum’ starts to follow the common sense of the world, it’s all over, yeh.”

“U, uh…”

And even some kind of light sermon.

Somehow, for a hooligan’s head, that’s kind of unexpected.

And…..

“So, are you the chap who got caught up in some trouble or are you raising a fuss? You’re young… a kid?”

“Huh? A-ah…… a strange woman took 50,000 for a dirt cheap vase.”

“Hmm~, ah~…… Date…… Kakka…… that lady’s no good, isn’t she? Well, that was unfortunate.”

The man turned to me. He spoke in a calm tone, and with a smiling face while holding his head.

“And you, who have been so unfortunate, have two choices.”

“Ah?”

However, the man……

“Either you get down on your knees with an apology, or I get my one-on-one fight, those two.”

“…… Tut? Ah? Huh?”

He made an unexpected proposal to me in the same tone.

“Hah, really, you gotta be kidding me! Why would I put up a fight! It’s none of your business in the first place!”

“Oh no~, well, might be true, but you know, even though they’re such idiots who rely on others, they’re still my buds that you gone done in. You gotta make that distinction, yeh.”

“You tell your people not to rely on others, yet you’ll actually do it! What kind of logic is that?　So messed up!”

“Of course. Do I look like a decent chap you can talk to?”

Even for a moment, I thought he might be a little understanding, but the unexpected choices made me raise my voice.

However, the man told me so with straight eyes without fear at all.

“The scum, trash and hopelessly reckless fellows of the world who are incapable of doing normal things or following common sense. That’s what we are, the ‘hoodlums’.”

Messed up logic. I’m aware of that, but the man who laughed thinking, “So what?” as he hoped I would fight back, called his group the “Hoodlums”.

“Ah, how annoying…”

“Kakka. Well, the selfish world and the age of the delinquents have gone on in such a way. That’s why it’s worse than the Mafia.”

He proudly laughed while admitting that he’s a piece of shit.

Somehow, this is a type I’ve never met before, this guy.

“Oh, but I don’t have the heart to put in an apology, do I?”

“Then, as the chap whose buddies were done in, I have to put life on the line and obtain it, yeh.”

At that moment, though he was laughing, somehow his expression tightened… and the air…… changed?

“…… this guy…”

I wonder what. It felt strange.

It’s not a sharpened air like with the princess or Rebal.

It’s not an overwhelmingly crushing air like Mr. Aka either.

“I don’t know what you’ve come here for, but… as the chap throwing his weight around in my hometown, kid or not, you will be given a grand welcome….”

“Heh… is that the rule of this town?”

“No, it’s my style.”

Even though it’s calm, it feels like it’s somehow enveloping, and the enveloping air is gradually heating me up inside…. the hell?

I don’t know how strong he is.

『If you cannot discern it… you have no choice but to step in and find out.』

“Eh!?”

At that time, Tre’ainar, who had been silent, whispered in my ear.

『Surely…… warriors and soldiers…… different from mages, hunters, killers and mafias… Well, I could say tis just a ridiculous, reckless idiot…… living by his own beliefs… feels that way.』

Tre’ainar also, in some respect, with this guy…… he seems unable to take a measure of this man called Bro.

It’s unusual.

However, I agreed with what was said.

“Then put your body up so I can grind you against the ground!”

“Hoh~. Aren’t you stylish, brother. So blazing. A brat, but…… you’re manly, yeh?”

So, as Tre’ainar said, I decided to jump in.

With a light step, the Great Demon Flicker stance was set.

“Haha, silly kid! Are you going to take on Bro!?”

“Bro’s the best~ he graduated from the ‘Arcane True Zenith Style’ dojo!”

The guys I beat and merchants raised astonished voices at my appearance.

Or rather, what’s that something dojo anyhow?

「…… Tre’ainar…… have you heard of it?」

『Never… tis as if…… but…… I am a tad concerned…』

Sure enough, is it a pretty low-profile dojo that even Tre’ainar doesn’t know, as you can expect?

However, as long as it is unknown, we must be vigilant.

Then, when I tightened my mind and lowered my waist a little, Bro scratched his head a little shyly…

“Oh, stop already, you guys. It’s embarrassing. I mean, most people don’t know anything about that. Besides, the road a man walked and the effort he put so far do not matter in a fight, it is not enough to talk with the mouth. We talk as we clash, and the winner wins, that’s the only rule, yeh.”

It’s kind of refreshing, but it’s as if I’m going to lose, and Bro’s got confidence.

“You think so, too, don’t you?”

“I agree!”

I moved forward.