I Became a Raid Boss

“The weather is so nice~ right?”

If it were a few weeks ago, Joanie would have said something like ‘The sun is nice’, but now she could string together a rather natural sentence.

It feels like the saying that everyone has something they’re good at might actually be true.

But… is the weather really nice?

I briefly looked up at the sky.

“….”

A sky full of clouds greeted me.

The sunlight that should have been shining down on the ground was unable to do its job because of the clouds blocking it.

It’s not bad weather, but it’s not really nice either; it’s that kind of ambiguous weather.

“It’s not raining, the air is nice, and since the sun isn’t too hot, it’s perfect picnic weather!”

Well, that’s what the positivity queen of this era, Joanie, said, so it must be true.

I don’t really want to pour cold water on her comment about the weather.

Thinking positively is definitely better than being negative, right?

“How is it? Delicious?”

“Yeah.”

I took a bite of the chocolate that Joanie was bragging about.

“Which one should I buy, this one or that one?”

“… They both suck.”

I helped her choose a weapon.

“Kana! Try this on, okay?”

“… No.”

“Aww, don’t say that~!”

“….”

“… Okay, fine.”

I watched Joanie’s excitement transform into disappointment as she put the clothes down.

Joanie led me all around Liberi, going here and there, and just when I thought we were finally heading to the cooking shop, we ended up passing through the same alley three times or more.

No matter how positively I looked at it, her route wasn’t efficient at all; it seemed like Joanie didn’t have a plan.

“This is pretty, and that is pretty… Which one looks better? Can’t I just buy both? You guys aren’t the ones paying, so you don’t care, right? That’s why you guys don’t have girlfriends. …I shouldn’t say that, right?”

I looked at Joanie, who had a serious face while pondering in front of a jewelry stall.

At that moment, our eyes met as Joanie lifted her head.

“…”

“…”

“Hmm…”

“…?”

Instead of the necklace she had been staring at, Joanie turned her gaze to the bracelet next to it.

… What’s going on?

While I tilted my head, a smell carried on the wind and tickled my nose.

“Echuu…!”

I couldn’t hold back a sneeze due to the tickling sensation at the tip of my nose.

‘This smell…’

It was an unfamiliar yet familiar scent.

I instinctively looked around for the source and soon discovered a restaurant with a bright red sign.

“It’s ‘Burning Phoenix’. Remember the spicy fried rice we had last time? This is the place that sells it.”

Joanie, who had approached me before I knew it, said.

“Last time we got it from a branch, and this is the main store. Since my stomach is a bit empty, shall we have lunch there?”

Shake, shake.

I shook my head.

I didn’t want to experience my tongue burning for the second time.

“Didn’t you like it?”

“Not at all.”

“Aw… I was thinking of having it again…”

“Cough, cough! What is this?! You call this food?! Cough!”

Suddenly, a rough shout interrupted Joanie’s words.

The commotion started at the restaurant ‘Burning Phoenix’.

A man with a bright red face was coughing repeatedly, next to a flustered employee, and surrounding them were other customers and bystanders watching the scene unfold.

The man, grabbing his throat and coughing, roughly pushed aside the employee’s hand.

“I came here because it’s famous, and you serve me this trash? What a mood killer!”

“Sir, you need to pay before leaving…!”

“How dare you ask me to pay for this trash? I’m not paying! No way!”

“Ah, you can’t! If you’ve eaten, you have to pay!”

“In fact, I should be the one asking for a refund, and since I held back, I might need to see a priest for treatment, so give me the healing costs!”

Even in Liberi, a haven for mercenaries, you find such troublemakers.

Should I call it bravery or sheer audacity?

As the man tried to leave the store, the employee stopped him, and they began to argue.

The man looked strong enough to easily shake off the frail employee, but even as a troublemaker, he was visibly hesitating to use more force and was busy shoving away the employee angrily.

WHOOSH!

“Kyaaaah!”

“Do you know who I am? I’m an Expert-class, Gold-grade mercenary!”

Suddenly, the man shoved the employee forcefully and pulled out a card from his pocket.

The card that came out shimmered with a faint golden light.

“Gold-grade mercenary…!”

“Expert-class?!”

He wore a triumphant expression as he saw the onlookers murmuring in awe about the card.

‘Gold-grade….’

… Is that really something to boast about?

I tilted my head.

As far as Gold-grade goes, it’s hardly anything special; there’s really no need to show off.

After all, Joanie, who was beside me, is Gold-grade too.

While I thought about that, I couldn’t help but let out a small gasp.

‘The criteria must be different from an Apostle.’

I’d forgotten Expert ranks are quite significant for regular mercenaries.

Eventually, the person who seemed to be the owner of the restaurant, an Apostle, came out due to the commotion caused by the man.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, boss…”

“You’re the owner? I thought I was going to die of frustration! I can’t believe the food you made left my tongue numb! How are you going to take responsibility for this?!”

“Ah, I see what this is about… Susan, I told you to call me right away if anything like this happens.”

“Ah, that, um… I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t mean to say sorry; lift your head. More importantly, sir, you want compensation, right? Didn’t I explain things when you ordered?”

“… So you’re saying I should normally be charged for the treatment costs, but you’re trying to let me leave without paying for the food!”

“Hmmm… Alright. Just go.”

The owner’s words caused mixed reactions.

“You should have done that sooner!”

“Boss…!”

The man smiled triumphantly while the employee looked dissatisfied.

It was enough to understand what the owner’s words meant.

As expected, the best entertainment is watching fights.

“Ah, I see now.”

As I watched the conflict with interest, I took a step forward.

“… Kana?”

“Wait up.”

Her voice and face felt oddly familiar, and now I understood why.

Continuing to walk forward, I stood in front of the man who was preparing to leave. The man made an ‘Huh?’ sound, looking puzzled.

“What’s this little brat doing?”

“Little brat….”

“… Huh? That voice is….”

The man’s eyes widened.

“Even after a long time, your speech hasn’t changed.”

“Is, is that you, Dandan…?!”

“Yup. It’s me, Dandan.”

The man instinctively spoke to me as Granic.

Still, even addressing me as just Dandan, instead of ‘Dandan-nim’, shows how he really thinks of me.

Well, it wasn’t unexpected.

“Did you recognize me but not salute?”

“Hah! You think you’re still the Dandan you used to be just because you show up out of the blue?!”

“Hmm… That’s a fair point. But you were the one who said Dandan first. I was just going along with that.”

“… Shut up!”

These youngsters really don’t know how to handle being called out.

I clicked my tongue.

The guy’s name was…

… what was it again?

I remember he was in the same knight order as me… so he was in the Crimson Aegis and I remember he did something stupid, but I couldn’t recall his name.

He was a commoner who sucked up to the noble faction and did all sorts of obnoxious things.

It’s one thing for a commoner to align with the nobles, but the extent of his behavior, riding on their coattails, was sly, if not childish, and I didn’t like him one bit.

“What was your name again?”

“… How dare you mock me like that!”

“Yeah… Sorry?”

I wasn’t mocking him; I honestly didn’t remember.

Since forgetting someone’s name is indeed rude, I apologized sincerely, but the man’s face turned even redder.

“Forget it! I have a lot to do, so let me pass!”

Thud.

Bang.

The man moved anxiously, not hiding his urgency.

I stepped aside, following his movements.

The man’s eyebrows twitched.

“… What? Get out of the way already—”

“I don’t want to poke my nose into things.”

I have enough sins of my own to pretend to be the righteous Apostle now.

“So this is just me letting off some steam.”

He really annoyed me back then.

I lifted my arm, concealed by my cape.

“Are you crazy?! You think you can start a fight here?!”

“No.”

This isn’t a fight.

I shook my head.

“I’m just trying to teach you a lesson as someone who used to be your superior.”

It might sting a bit, but good medicine is often bitter, right?

I’m sure this will be a valuable experience for him.

Or not.

“If you cause a scene here, you won’t end up unscathed!”

“That’s not something you should say!”

“… Right! I’ll let the Empire know your whereabouts! Do you think you’ll be safe?”

“You’re slower than the Apostles.”

When did the Empire learn of my whereabouts?

No matter what he said, it wouldn’t have any effect on me, and the man eventually yelled, drawing a sword and charged at me.

“Aaaaah! Die!”

“Kyaaaah!”

“Call the guards!”

In an instant, the area turned to chaos.

Even if he was half-crazy, the way he wielded his sword was sharper than many mercenaries, but—

“Yup.”

A crazed person’s sword doesn’t scare me at all.

My hand shot out like a ray of light, firmly gripping his collar.

And then I lifted him up—

BAM!

WHAM!

“…!”

I slammed him hard against the ground.

The sound of something breaking and the sound of rubble echoed as the man, who crashed onto the floor, trembled and rolled his eyes back.

Looking down at him, I dusted off my hands as a memory suddenly struck me.

“Right, it was James.”

That was his name.

Now I remember.

The expression of the unconscious man looked incredibly wronged, but it was probably just my imagination.

*

“… How long was I gone to come back and create a scene?”

“Um… About three hours?”

“You’re really not asking, are you?”

Aaron sighed, pulling at his hair.

“It’s not my fault.”

If there’s any fault to be found, it’s with Liberi for accepting James as a mercenary.

I raised my head proudly.

“I can see you think you’re not at fault. But was there really a need to go that far?”

“Isn’t this quite generous?”

“… Well, compared to before, I guess it is. Last time, you turned him into a bloody mess.”

“Yup.”

“Don’t take that as a compliment, so don’t get too full of yourself.”

Once again, Aaron sighed deeply.

“Didn’t you know?”

“Are you saying the guy joined Liberi? Of course, I didn’t know. I’m not in charge of greetings; I’m in charge of training.”

“Couldn’t you have at least given me a heads-up?”

“I don’t know. At least as far as I recall, I never heard anything about that.”

“Hmm.”

Aaron has no reason to lie to me, so it must be the case.

Honestly, it’s not too surprising for bad apples to be mixed in with mercenaries.

After all, that’s the reason for the saying, ‘They’ll do anything for money’.

Of course, if they actually did anything, they would never be safe, but there really are plenty of bad guys out there.

James was just one of them.

“It seems like after the nobility disappeared, he wandered around until he flowed into Liberi. Normally, he wouldn’t have done something that bad and would have ended with a warning, but….”

“And?”

“He’s not someone who’s going to add any good influences to Liberi, so I should make sure he gets kicked out. While I don’t have the direct authority, if I speak up, they’ll seriously consider it.”

“If you had done this back in the day, it would have been great.”

“That’s true.”

This time, both Aaron and I sighed simultaneously.

Both of us were equally troubled by James’s antics.

The upper waters have to be clear for the lower waters to be clear, but just because the upper waters are clear doesn’t mean the lower waters are.

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