Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Frontier (2)
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For a moment, he thought he'd misheard.
So he asked again.
"......What?"
"You're really young. Well, you're seven now... no, since the year has turned, you're eight? Definitely no joke."
Hanni rattled off his impressions without even answering Jamie's question.
As Jamie shot him an irritated glare, Hanni noticed and looked sheepish.
"Oops, I got too excited. Forgive me—I just really wanted to meet you, and suddenly here you are."
"Do you know Sir Onyx?"
"We're comrades."
"Hah, Sir Hanni. That kid's Jamie Welton?"
"Figures."
Brahma gaped in shock and pointed at Jamie, while Ramu consoled himself with, 'No wonder I got outmatched.'
Izaya shoved the two aside and asked Hanni.
"Is it true?"
"Seems like it. Isn't the power in that little body proof enough?"
"Coincidence or fate, who knows."
Izaya looked at Jamie with a headache brewing.
"Shame we have to meet under these circumstances."
"Just clear up the misunderstanding."
Hanni patted Izaya's shoulder with a reassuring smile, as if to say not to worry.
Siegfried, who had been watching them, turned to Jamie.
"His first name wouldn't be Beryl, would it? Surname Onyx?"
"Yes. It's the person you're thinking of, Elder."
"So the young master was connected to him as well."
"He was a guest at my maternal grandfather's estate."
"Ah."
Siegfried nodded as understanding dawned.
"I'd heard the rumors that he was staying at the Bell Marquis's castle. But I thought he'd left by now..."
The last he'd heard, Beryl Onyx had been recuperating in a sickroom at the Pyro Church in Uptown.
Over five months had passed since then, so he must have recovered long ago.
"But how do these people know Sir Beryl Onyx?"
"Guess we'll find out now."
Hanni in particular seemed quite close to Beryl.
"Hey!"
Jamie shouted at Hanni, who wasn't responding.
Siegfried looked mildly surprised, and the others, including Hanni, whispered among themselves, not realizing the call was for them.
So he called again.
"Hey!"
Hanni flinched and turned to Jamie.
Jamie tossed his half-removed mask to the ground and said,
"When someone's calling you, you answer. Why ignore me?"
"......Never heard I was rude before."
"You started it."
"M-Me?"
"If you want to be treated like an adult, you listen when a kid talks. Right, Elder?"
"......"
Siegfried didn't know what to say.
He hadn't expected Jamie to charge ahead like this.
Hanni stared blankly at Jamie, then scratched his cheek.
"Hah, Sir Hanni."
Brahma looked at Hanni worriedly.
The others began gauging Hanni's mood in the sudden situation.
They knew his temper well. Right now, he was like a volcano on the verge of erupting.
However.
"Hoo—pah!"
Hanni took a deep breath in and out. He repeated it a few times until a hint of calm settled on his face. Then he smiled and said,
"Haha. You're right. I wasn't listening properly."
"Watch it next time."
"......Well, this isn't bad. Yeah. If you're the ultimate talent, you need this kind of spirit."
It wasn't bravado backed by the archmage beside him.
He hadn't lost his fear either.
That was just his personality. No idea why he acted like a lamb around Beryl, but Jamie didn't care how he acted there anyway.
What mattered was getting this treatment from an eight-year-old kid. He had to endure it. Losing his temper at a child would be unadultlike, and it'd make facing Beryl awkward later.
"Ahem. So, curious about my connection to Beryl?"
"Yeah. He told you about me?"
The casual speech grated, and so did the dismissive tone.
Hanni kept his expression as calm as possible while replying.
"He's my sworn brother. We met up just before coming here after a long time apart. That's when he told me about you, kid. Do. Your. Stuff."
Hanni emphasized "kiddo" with a smug grin, which came off pretty childish.
The problem was Jamie didn't bat an eye at it.
"How'd you meet Sir Onyx?"
"Nothing special. I'm in Frontier too."
The moment "Frontier" came up, Siegfried stepped in front of Jamie, eyes blazing.
Hanni felt a chill from the killing intent but smiled thinly.
"No idea where you're from, but you're being too obvious."
"Young master. Step back."
"Why?"
"It's dangerous. Stay behind me."
Dangerous?
What did that mean?
The Frontier Jamie knew wasn't some dangerous group. Their goals even aligned somewhat with his, so he felt a bit of fondness for them.
Yet Siegfried was reacting like they were enemies.
"What's wrong with them being Frontier?"
"You seem to know a bit about Frontier, young master, so I'll explain."
Mana roiled, distorting space slightly.
Siegfried's power.
He continued while holding the phenomenon steady.
"Frontier is currently the de facto leader of the liberation army trying to overthrow the Harmonia Kingdom in . Got it?"
was on the western continent, and Harmonia Kingdom was one of its powerhouses.
He'd vaguely heard about corruption among officials sparking a liberation army revolt.
But Frontier not just joining them, but leading?
"That's too fabricated."
Hanni shook his head like he couldn't accept it.
Siegfried warned in a humorless voice.
"No clue why you're in Selдам, but don't do anything stupid. Selдам isn't like Harmonia."
"Whoa, calm down, archmage."
Hanni raised both arms with a sly tone.
"How about we move first? This'll take a while."
Hanni's group was fleeing from the Gehenna Auction House.
Pursuers could show up anytime.
Selдам was vast, but after that skirmish, they'd be found soon enough.
"Let's do as he says."
"Young master."
"It's fine. They're not enemies right now."
They claimed to be Beryl's friends.
No hostility, and outnumbered—fighting would be a loss.
Siegfried clicked his tongue in displeasure.
Then he snapped his fingers, and the six vanished somewhere.
The auctioneer Miju paced the stage restlessly.
She didn't know who those bastards were, but things had gotten serious.
All the auctioned items had been stolen.
Thankfully, they hadn't touched the ones already claimed.
'What kind of luck is that!'
This auction had two items worth over a hundred million, and both were gone.
The rest were whatever, but those two were huge losses.
Miju bit her nails.
The face of Gehenna Auction House's owner, Gehenna Bernstein, flashed in her mind.
Her master, one of the world's most wicked men, was utterly terrifying.
He was sensitive to rewards and punishments—fitting rewards for the deserving, fitting punishments for the failures.
So what punishment awaited Miju for losing the big prizes?
'It'll be so horrific I'd beg for a quick death.'
She'd witnessed a punishment firsthand.
Even as a spectator, the gruesome scene had seared itself into her mind as trauma.
Her chest tightened, her stomach churned. She felt like vomiting any second. Then she turned around.
A muscular black man stood there in sunglasses.
"Why are you still here?"
The man didn't answer.
Miju's anger boiled at his attitude.
"Do you know how much the Gehenna Merchant Group invested in hiring you?! And you let every single intruder slip away?!"
Miju knew exactly how formidable the man was. That's why she was even angrier.
She wanted to smash a brick over his head, but he wasn't someone she could touch—she just barked like a terrified mutt.
"If you have a mouth, say something! Taking all that money and shirking duty is crossing the line!"
"I."
Then the man spoke.
He flicked his sunglasses with a finger and said,
"Don't do 'catch them all at once'."
"......What does that mean?"
"They're gathering in one place anyway. So I let them."
"What?!"
Miju couldn't believe what she was hearing.
If he were a regular guard, she'd have him tied up and dragged to death.
But she couldn't—because he was a 'Fight Master'.
Fight Master Darius.
He'd dominated the illegal bare-knuckle rings—known as the Dark Arena—for over ten years, the dark overlord.
His master-class skill was that of a perfected superhuman.
But that wasn't what made him truly fearsome.
'The guy who tore two Sword Masters apart with his bare hands.'
Miju swallowed dryly, recalling the unbelievable rumor. It might be exaggerated, but the rumor alone proved his strength.
So despite her rage threatening to blow her top, all she could do was yell.
"Is that your excuse?!"
Darius was blind.
The sunglasses hid it. Yet his gaze was fixed precisely on Miju.
"Not an excuse."
Darius looked up.
"It's time."
"Time for what?"
"To fulfill the contract."
"Mr. Darius?!"
Darius ignored Miju and turned to head outside.
Miju was dumbfounded by his arbitrariness. But she didn't block him. He scared her, and just sharing space was burdensome.
Raising her voice took considerable courage already.
Better if he weren't visible.
With that thought, as she stepped off the stage to rest her weary body and mind—
"Ah."
"Uh."
A madam with striking pink hair, wearing a mask, was heading somewhere.
The noblewoman who'd bid an astronomical sum on All Might!
Miju didn't know how to react.
She'd spent 800 million to win All Might. And now it was stolen.
Someone who could drop 800 million gold was surely a massive power player.
'What if she comes at me?'
She might slap her outright.
If she ended with a slap, it'd be lucky—if she snapped and tried to kill her, Miju had no grounds to refuse.
"S-Sorry, madam! We'll get the item back, absolutely, no matter what!"
Miju bowed her head to the ground in apology.
Nobles could be ruthless, but this should prevent murder.
Fortune favored her this time—but Miju was wrong on one count.
"Ah, uh. Y-Yeah...... Please do find it."
Vena wasn't a noble, filthy rich person, or anything like that.
If anything, she was of an ancient race thought extinct.
But Vena wasn't dumb enough to reveal that.
The woman was thoroughly mistaken.
'Not mistaken, actually.'
She had bid 800 million and won it. With Kiriell's blank check, payment was no issue.
Vena cleared her throat and said,
"I'll be waiting."
She turned away with as haughty a tone as possible.
Miju kept banging her head on the ground, shouting, "Thank you! Thank you!"
Once outside, Vena let out a sigh of relief.
"Dodged that. Lucky. Whew."
Then, Phillion, who'd been quiet, spoke up.
[That human.]
"Human? The one just now?"
[No. The black one who left.]
"Why?"
[Didn't you sense it?]
Vena tilted her head.
"Huh?"
[Be careful of that human. Actually, careful won't help you avoid him.]
"What do you mean?"
[Insanely strong. Way beyond that demon baron we faced.]
Vena swallowed dryly at Phillion's words.
She glanced in the direction the black man had gone and muttered,
"Pfft, why worry? We're just customers here."
He was the auction house's security.
No matter his skill, he had nothing to do with them.
But still.
'Why the unease?'
Master Jamie's face crossed her mind.
Vena shook her head.
'No way......'
They were here as guests. No way to get tangled with that guy.
Absolutely not.