kscans

Chapter 200 - A Threatening Level

I waited in Satsuki-san's room for Arc to be picked up.

"So what are you going to do? Report to the Guild about the Status Cards and unique skills?"

"I’ll put it on hold. The Guild is probably aware of unique skills, but for now, each branch is hiding them, so it’s in a state of tacit approval. The topic will probably come up when a crime involving a unique skill comes to light. I’ll just casually report it then."

Casually, huh...

"So in the future, they’ll take our Status Cards away. It’ll be a pain not being able to check levels and skills."

"Well, that’s a matter for the next generation. It doesn’t concern you."

That’s true. I wonder what would have happened if I had become an adventurer in an era where Status Cards were managed by the Guild.

"By the way, what happens to your Status Card when you retire as an adventurer? You’re not allowed to keep it personally, right?"

I think that's how it was. Though Nanapon and I have ours.

"That’s right. Upon retirement, it’s either destroyed or held in custody by the Guild."

"You can choose?"

"Yes. People who might return choose to have it held by the Guild. Those who have decided they will never return have it destroyed."

Hmm?

"Wouldn’t everyone choose to have it held by the Guild?"

That’s what I would do. You never know what might happen.

"Well, that’s generally the case. But there are a surprising number of people who have them destroyed so as not to be held back by the past. Kaede is one of them."

So Kaede-chan’s Status Card is gone... Well, if I make her drink a TS Potion, another one will appear.

"What about you, Satsuki-san?"

"I still have mine. I have no intention of returning, but I thought I’d keep it as a memento. Sometimes I look at my Status Card. It makes me think, ‘I really worked hard.’"

Ah... right, she's on the management side.

"Maybe I’ll say I dropped it in Frontier and keep mine."

"That should be fine. I’m sure there are others who do that."

Maybe I'll do that. I can look at my Swordsmanship Level 6 and grin to myself.

Satsuki-san and I continued to talk for about an hour when Arc suddenly appeared. Satsuki-san and I jumped in surprise at her sudden appearance.

"I’m back."

Arc said unapologetically and sat down on the sofa.

"Don’t just appear out of nowhere. You scared me."

"I don’t know what to tell you. Sometimes I use Telepathy to call out before I teleport, but you guys can’t use it."

Teleport in front of the room and knock. What would you have done if Satsuki-san was picking her nose?

"Well, whatever. It took you quite a while, though."

More than an hour had passed since Arc and Yoshino-san left. It shouldn’t be that far from here to my house.

"Your wife, was it? I was explaining things to Kaede. She was in a bit of a panic. Something about her senpai saying stupid things on TV..."

Who are you calling stupid? She's going too far, even if I didn't explain things.

"Did you explain about yourself too?"

"I explained most of it. But I said that auction thing was your idea alone, so I don’t know anything about it."

You were supposed to cover for me there.

"So thoughtless."

"You should do that yourself. She’s your wife, isn't she?"

She’s not my wife. Not yet...

"You’ll never become a proper witch like that."

"I have no intention of becoming one! Why did it turn out like this!?"

"Arc, you became my disciple a little while ago."

"Since when!? Absolutely not! You’re the epitome of a good-for-nothing human!"

How rude, coming from a fellow Provocation user.

"This is a done deal. You just have to use your teleportation for me. I gave you juice, didn't I?"

"So cheap... You scarfed down a ton of snacks yourself."

"You’re so noisy. I’ll turn your girlfriend into a boy. And then I’ll make you the Queen."

".............................."

She’s actually thinking about it...

"Hmm..."

She looks like she's thinking, 'that might not be so bad'... This one's sins run deep.

"I’ll give you as many TS Potions as you want, so be happy. Let’s go home."

"Yeah. Kaede said to bring you back quickly."

She wants an explanation...

"Satsuki-san, I’m heading home."

"Right. You do that. I’m going home too. I had to stay here yesterday."

Ah, that’s our fault.

"Sorry about that."

"Don’t worry about it. Thanks to you, I'm rolling in it. We’re going to make that final auction a huge success."

Just as expected from a money-grubber...

"Yes. Let’s do our best. Well then, see you... Disciple, teleport me."

"I said I’m not your disciple. What you lack is respect. I’m royalty, you know? Have you ever heard of the crime of lèse-majesté?"

I feel like Kaede-chan said something similar to me before. Back when I was making fun of that small fry Yoshino-san.

"It’s annoying to hear that from you. What’s your Provocation level?"

"Six."

Whoa... This kid is seriously dangerous... A natural-born monster. And this person is the next king... Frontier is doomed.

"Arc-san, if you would be so kind as to teleport me."

"Huh... What’s with that reaction? What level are you?"

"Three."

It’s actually fi... four, but still.

".............................."

Upon hearing my answer, Arc’s expression became dead serious, and she raised her hand without a word. And then, my vision went white.

◆◇◆

When my vision cleared, I had arrived in the living room of my nostalgic home.

"Ah, Senpai! What in the world are you doing!?"

Kaede-chan, who had been sitting at the table, stood up and rushed toward me.

"One last money-making scheme."

"No, this is going too far! I was watching the press conference broadcast and I was so surprised! What was that?! You were provoking people, using magic, and to top it all off, you’re selling off an area of Frontier!? I haven’t heard anything about this!"

Kaede-chan rattled off her complaints in a rapid-fire speech.

"I was planning to discuss it with everyone. But then they sprung the press conference on me right after I got back from Frontier."

"So you thought it was a good opportunity..."

"Exactly. Well, I’ll be ironing out the details from here on out. Yoshino-san went to the Director’s office, so I’ll be looking after Arc for a bit."

I said this and looked at Arc, who had moved to the sofa at some point, and Kaede-chan looked at Arc too. Then, Arc looked at us.

"Are you done? Kaede, can I have some of that drink from before? It was sweet and delicious."

That’s Arc for you. Way too laid-back.

"Ah, sure. Wait a moment."

Kaede-chan said this and went to the kitchen. I left the customer service to Kaede-chan and sat down next to Arc.

"That drink from before?"

"Cocoa. It’s super delicious. You just dissolve it in hot water, right? I’m going to buy some as a souvenir."

Cocoa, huh... Well, it is delicious.

"What about coffee?"

"Coffee, you mean that bitter stuff, right? Yoshino was drinking it, so I had a sip, but it was super gross. What is that stuff?"

Well, coffee, like beer, is an acquired taste. It’s probably too much for a child like Arc.

"It’s a drink for adults. It’s good if you add sugar and milk, though. You should buy some for your father."

That man was enjoying his beer, so he’ll probably be able to drink it.

"Hmm. Then maybe I will. I was told to buy a bunch of things."

"A bunch of things? Not just beer?"

"He said to buy other alcohol and anything that looked convenient."

That man acted all high and mighty, saying it was for Arc to deepen her knowledge, but I’m starting to think his real purpose was souvenirs.

"Well, that’s fine, isn’t it? I’ll take you to some shops later."

"Please do. I saw your cityscape from the car, and it’s amazing. The buildings are packed so tightly. Isn’t it cramped?"

"Japan is a small island nation. A lot of people live inside it, so the cities ended up like this. You and people from other countries probably find it cramped."

I don’t know what the cities in Frontier look like, but I imagine they’re spacious, since their population has decreased and they have a surplus of land.

"So that’s why there are so many tall buildings... You couldn’t expand sideways, so you expanded upwards."

"That’s right."

"When the world changes, the way you use land changes too. By the way, your way of speaking changes when you talk to me versus when you talk to Kaede."

"I’m a man. Normally, I talk like this. This is my home. I don't want to be a woman even at home. I’m just doing this now so you don’t get confused."

I answered in Okita-kun mode.

"You’re not changing back?"

"I want to, but before that, I have to call your senior disciple."

Actually, for a while now, Eleanor-san’s phone has been blowing up with calls and messages. The sender is, of course, Nanapon. It seems Nanapon was watching the broadcast too.

"Senior disciple?"

"That’s right. Wait a minute. I’m going to call her now."

I took out my smartphone and decided to call Nanapon.