“You can do it! Cut off his tail! Slash his eyeballs! Show that mangy mutt the pride of Father’s land, Big Brother Woofy!” Cheetara cheered from afar.
Wolverine’s aura strengthened as he started toward his opponent, reigniting the furious exchange of claws and teeth again. He tackled the coyote into a tree, causing the demonic beast to cough blood.
But before he could unleash a finishing Sunlight Flash, Mudwater stubbornly jumped away. A glowing red claw appeared in Wolverine’s vision. He blocked it. It created a shockwave that slammed the sunlight wolf into a tree. Pain briefly coursed through Wolverine.
“Wolverine, you’re strong, but why are you hindering yourself by living without a pack?” Mudwater said. “Shouldn’t your pride, your presence, your power be for the pack, by the pack? Just what are you doing? Are you perhaps living as a lone wolf?”
Wolverine stood back up. “It seems your time under the nipple of that serpent has clouded your wits and your judgement. Visiting the forest front would be your undoing. As for a pack, are you blind? Do you not see my fellow disciples, Best Buddy, Mistress Milia, or Best Buddy’s apprentices, or even my soul kin? You, who grovel at the foot of the Axem, will never understand what a pack truly is!”
Wolverine’s aura doubled, towering even Mudwater’s own aura as it began to shine like a sun. The dim forest lit, and all seemed to bow to the wolf’s might, as he was essentially one with the land.
Before Mudwater could so much as think about his next move, a claw raked across his face, embedding the most painful slash he’d ever felt in his life. It would no doubt leave a nasty scar. Yet… Wolverine hadn’t even moved!
Mudwater’s eyes widened and for the first time in a while, he felt absolute terror. The sunlight wolf was too much for him. “We’ll meet again someday, Wolverine Woofy. Perhaps I will try to understand your words.”
Just like that, the coyote fled, disappearing in a puff of leaves and regret of ever leaving the depths of the forest.
“Woo!” Cheetara appeared next to Wolverine. “You handled that ignorant mutt like a true disciple. You’re so strong, Big Brother.”
Wolverine snorted. “Let’s go back.” His tail wagged. “Best Buddy’s preparing food.”
Beakwing appeared moments later. “Disciple Cheetara Cutie’s right, Master’s Buddy, Wolverine, Mistress’s Lovey Cuddle Muffin, Woofy.”
Wolverine chuckled. “Perhaps. I doubt the coyote will return, and certainly not with such arrogance.”
“He won’t,” Beakwing agreed.
“Or else we’ll just have to beat him up again,” Cheetara cheered.
After feeding my best buddy, congratulating him for ruthlessly defending the land, I headed into town with Cheetara on my shoulder, leaving the shop-running to Milia and the teenagers.
I found the mayor in his office. Given that the ex-soldier had been nothing but good to me, I refused to let the guy get fired so easily. Being the father of my most promising pupil may or may not have formed a slight bias, but the fact of him being a good guy still held. He learned even more lessons about letting nobles, even the minor ones, have too much of a say in the town’s operations, funding, and general direction.
By that logic, Mayor Rue should technically be wary of me too, not that I had any nobility, bloodlines, or titles. However, knowing how I fought tooth and nail to get his name on the financing papers, the veteran welcomed me in with warmth. He had long since stopped attempting to arrange a marriage between his daughter and I, finding out about my betrothed and that Harmony was my student.
There was nothing more annoying than forced marriages, by the way. He probably mistook Harmony’s frequent visitation of my shop as some kind of secret courtship.
“What brings you here to the office today, Sir Nate?” Mayor Rue asked.
“I actually had a few ideas of how to pull this town from an F-rank to maybe an E-rank or higher and quickly,” I said, recalling the system’s answer to my straightforward question. To say it was a surprise that it even answered would be an understatement. If you think I hadn’t questioned the thing nonstop at the beginning before realizing it only rarely replied, then think again. The system would never do the work for me, gave very few hints at anything, and often loved to remind me that I was technically an E-ranked loser in a world far bigger than one could imagine. Of course, I wasn’t going to take this sitting down, and neither was Milia. What could she be working on that was taking so long? I wonder if she needed critical materials. That would explain her furious efforts at training and meditating. She needed as much power as possible to traverse an A-ranked or higher dungeon to acquire the items.
Mayor Rue’s eyes lit up. Honestly, I was a bit uneasy that the veteran didn’t know any of this already or, given that his town was once D-ranked, allowed the important businesses to leave without first finding replacements. He likely informed the capital, but they ignored him for some unknown reason.
[A town or city’s ranking is determined by the availability of necessary buildings, merchants, population, and sometimes even the satisfaction of the people, though there are some cities that somehow function under tyrants such as the Goblin Warlord. To advance to E-rank quickly, try establishing a bank or inviting the representative of a wealth management family. The bank must be capital-approved, however, and entered into magical logs, which can be expensive to purchase and manage. Other things that could help will not be shown to you without access to Town Management, as you are not a lord.]
I found it amazing how this world didn’t give a shit if someone was qualified enough to enter a position of power. I understood the flawed fundamentals of might makes right, but this was exactly how lands ended up enslaved by tyrants. Not that I was some saint going around liberating nations. Fuck that.
Not even the hero’s party wanted to do their damn jobs, which I found more hilarious than sad. I didn’t know if they were hellbent on recruiting or training under me, but I easily rejected them. After all, if I was a powerless nobody, they wouldn’t so much as glance in my direction. To be fair, that applied to anyone incapable of making themselves stand out. Also, it was clear as day that the system lured the party to this specific insignificant town—you know, instead of literally everywhere else that had better and more secured cities.
“Start with a bank,” I told the mayor. “I know that’s probably obvious, since Kyushu was once a D-ranked town, but from what I can tell, the presence of a bank will jump our rankings up immediately.”
Mayor Rue nodded, writing down the suggestion. “It will be a longshot trying to get one running in town and approved by the capital. Given how they ignore us…”
“They probably ignore any town below D or maybe C,” I said, though that only blossomed an even more grim atmosphere. The Lord Ruler basically stopped giving a fuck about any town that didn’t meet his standards, and didn’t so much as reach out to them or send qualified personnel to boost whatever revenue was needed to grow a town.
“We may have to rely on the generosity of the Wingston nobles a little more, until Kyushu can get out of its mess,” I said. “Although I want to limit that as much as possible. I can tell you realize that nothing is free. If I decided to leave for some reason, the Wingstons may start demanding payments on the debt.”
Mayor Rue sighed. “Unfortunately, our bastard of a Lord Ruler has forced us to take desperate measures. We really can’t thank you enough for seeking help. They’re usually very difficult to approach, much less get an audience from. How did you do it?”
Remembering how I basically overpowered the mistress of the house, I decided to keep that information to myself. No need for rumors to start, damaging the reputations of our benefactors.
“Like I said before, you should thank Milia and Mandi too. It’s her mother after all,” I said.
“Oh, the redhead,” Mayor Rue said. “She’s changed so much. Far more radiant than before. What did you do?”
“She dropped the façade,” I said. “Friendships are ridiculous among the nobility and even worse for a powerless girl in the Wingston family. She kind of faked it, but after meeting us, valued actual friendship over what she referred to as the game of houses.”
Mayor Rue shuddered. “The game of houses is a backstabbing and sometimes bloody hobby of the nobles, even more brutal among the higher tier. If you want to avoid it, pray to Wanda you don’t catch the eye of someone really powerful, capable of rewarding you with a title. Or cursing you with one, depending on your perspective.” He chuckled. “Some will endlessly try to curry favor with you and far worse than the Wingstons. At least the Red Star actually likes you, which is rare for a pillar of anger like that.” He quickly added, “Or so I’ve heard.”
Cheetara meowed a response.
“Cheetara’s got a point,” I said, gently scratching beneath her chin.
Mayor Rue’s eyes widened. “Yo-you can understand the cat?”
I flinched and changed the topic, a bit embarrassed at my unconscious response. It wasn’t as if the animals spoke directly to me, but for some reason every now and then, their impressions, feelings, and emotions imprinted directly into me. At least that was my best guess.
“Anyway,” I said as I stood. “If we can’t get a bank, then we should at least get merchants to return, as well as start increasing the population. It’d be much easier if we had all the core buildings, though. As high of a rank as possible for banks, clinics or maybe healers, oh, and vets.”
“Vet?”
“Doctors or healers for animals,” I clarified. “Maybe a magical…”
“You do know spirit beasts can just drink potions like the rest of us,” Mayor Rue said. “They also regenerate significantly faster than us.”
“True, but not every situation is the same,” I said. “Just because we’re way out here doesn’t mean we should get complacent. Remember the bandits, the hallow, and even an assassin. This place may be no safer than the capital, honestly.”
“You… you’re exactly right,” the mayor said. “Thank you for the advice. Say, Sir Nate, would you like a position as town advisor?”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to pass,” I said. “I’m simply not qualified. Perhaps after I’ve actually lived here for more than a couple months and earned the right to help decide the town’s fate.”
If I were qualified, the system would’ve offered me the prompt, probably.
I started out of the office. “Thank you for listening, Mayor Rue. Even Harmony’s looking forward to seeing where the town goes now that you’re able to relax a little. You’ve shown me hospitality since I first arrived.” I looked at him. “I’ve got your back.”
The mayor grinned. “Just take good care of my daughter. She means the world to me.”
“She’s got the potential to carry the future in her hands,” I said, then exited.
As Sir Nate left, Mayor Rue sat back, deflating, and dropping his hand that reached toward the walking miracle. While he’d make a perfect addition for what was left of the family, Rue wouldn’t dare suggest anything to his daughter. If she lost respect for him, his life was essentially over.
There was something strange about Nate that Mayor Rue couldn’t put a finger on. His origins were impossible to find, as if he only manifested into existence on the day that he arrived. He didn’t speak like a wild man, didn’t appear to be one of the isolated elves, and he doubted Nate came from the Ruthless Outerlands, right? Just what did Wanda have planned for them?
He glanced at the papers on his desk. Getting a proper bank in town after the decline would be a tedious task, but not impossible. Thanks to the backing from House Wingston, Rue may be able to find someone for the job within a month, if not a week. Nate’s other suggestion referred to funding the school system, and Mayor Rue wasted no time sending men to scout out teachers. While some towns didn’t value education, Mayor Rue made it his main priority when he was appointed by the Lord Ruler. Enlisting in the kingdom’s army taught him the value of being able to read, perform basic arithmetic, and to not get swindled by a crafty merchant.
One of the biggest things he wanted to do, however, was reform the town guard. With the funding, they could now appoint trainers, which freed up the balding man from having to do it himself. He no longer held the energy and vigor to whip even fireheads into shape.
“My loot senses are tingling,” I said to Cheetara as we started for the town’s exit. “I’m still feeling the urge to clear that dungeon. But even for a C-ranked, there should be secrets.”
The answer became apparent just a moment later. “Under-fucking-water.”
Cheetara meowed her agreement.
“Are you really talking to the kitten?”
I spun to see Iris, Nuwa, and Maxus walking toward me, each dressed in various Kyushu commoner outfits. Nuwa still somewhat dressed like a nun, but never wore a head covering.
“Cheetara’s a great conversationalist, aren’t you?” I said.
Cheetara responded with a smug meow, and I couldn’t help but laugh, pride probably oozing from me. Milia talked to her too, but the hero’s party didn’t need to know that. They’d be better off catching her.
“She’s so cute,” Nuwa said, hugging Cheetara. Good thing the kitten was the friendliest, but as a full cat, well, who knew?
A stray thought snuck its away into my head and I strained with everything to keep from laughing. I wondered if the talented kitten could defeat the hero’s party. Probably. She had no problems keeping up with training, easily outpacing some of the apprentices. Harmony and Cheetara were both friends and rivals.
Before I could turn to leave, the voice of the twerp sounded through the air, pulling my glare.
“Nate! What were the ingredients for the burgers?” she asked when she caught up to us.
I sighed, figuring it’d be best to make them before the girl ended up drooling all over the place.
“Fine, let’s go to the butcher,” I said with a sigh. “You’re paying, of course.”
“No problem,” Ronica cheered. “You’re feeding us. That’s the least we could do.”
Iris hid her excitement poorly. Maxus tried to hide behind a stoic expression, but the gleam in the older man’s eye revealed the desire for a new culinary experience. Eventually Kelvin joined, but Ramon still held the day shift until the guards arrived to relieve him for the day. Apparently, they paid him quite well to personally monitor the prisoners. Good pay, a place to meditate and train, with the drawback of the place smelling terrible. Ronica made fun of him all week.
“Gwendolyn said the soldiers should be here tomorrow to pick up any criminals,” Kelvin said.
“Wanda’s ass, finally. I guess that’d leave Ramon out of a job,” Maxus replied.
“That is, until the next person gets thrown in jail,” Iris said, shaking her head. “He’ll have to go back to being one of us again.”
After making the hero’s party buy the hamburger ingredients and fresh baked bread from a friendly woman that was too friendly to Kelvin, despite him claiming to be a married man, we headed back to my house.
The apprentices were chatting with Chenzu. Their eyes lit up when they noticed the wrapped food items I carried, including vegetables for the veggie burgers.
“It may be a week or two, probably a month before I make these again,” I said. “So take a few home back to Ramon. Not you, twerp. Kelvin.”
“Are you implying that Kelvin is more trustworthy than me?” Iris asked, raising an eyebrow, which prompted Milia into laughter. She and the elf somewhat became friends over the past days, though a spark of the worship showed itself every now and then.
“As a matter of fact—”
“And me?” Nuwa interrupted me, feigning hurt.
“You’re less trustworthy than the twerp, somehow,” I said. Nuwa pouted.
Chenzu loaded the makeshift grill with some fresh, dry wood bought from the general store, and a few sparks later, laid the foundation out for some good coal. We tried to do this while Milia was inside, but she eventually caught onto our ploy and made it clear that she didn’t mind.
Trees existed as a part of the great cycle and besides, she had lived inside one she’d carved into a home. She also reminded everyone what the house was made of.
It took only fifteen minutes of preparation before the burgers were on the grill. During that time, I made sure everyone learned.
“I’ll totally mess that up,” Ronica said. Everyone agreed, except Chenzu, Milia, and Harmony. Milia was a great cook, to the point that I wondered where the hell she learned her craft. I made the bold choice to be competitive with her and we laughed together in good fun.
My only edge was still meat, but if Milia wasn’t a vegetarian, she’d probably defeat me there too.
“Say Nate, have you considered going back to that A-ranked dungeon?” Iris asked later, after finishing her first veggie burger. She wasn’t quite a vegetarian like Milia, but may as well be, as the elf rarely ate meat according to Ronica.
“Not in the slightest,” I replied without hesitation. “I do have plans to challenge it again when I have ways of my own to exploit the fallen angel’s weakness. I want to take her down with overwhelming force, if possible.”
“Pfft, good luck with that,” Ronica said. “They’re feared for a reason.”
“I’ll figure something out,” I said, snorting.
“Don’t take too long,” Iris said. “The longer she’s allowed to sit and cultivate, the stronger she gets. Guardian power resets to their initial strength upon defeat.”
“The only exception is the S-ranked dungeon,” Milia said, gaining everyone’s gazes. “Once the guardian is defeated, they’re dead for good. Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of a single person beating one.”
“We’ve never even heard of an S-ranked dungeon before coming here,” Nuwa said. “It makes the term S-rank adventurer sound silly.”
My eyes widened. “That’s it! We need an adventurer’s hangout place. If we can get Anzu’s help in the A-rank dungeon run, maybe she’ll be more inclined to help us out with the S-ranked bastard too.”
“It’s a long shot,” Milia said. “But she’s still an adventurer at heart.”
“And one of the most powerful adventurers in the kingdom,” Ronica added.
