A Man of Tasteless Hobbies

"So you want in on the auction?"

The following day, Yohane slipped out of the house in the dead of night with only Azu and went to meet a certain man.

He was a large man.

Even through his clothes, the sheer mass of muscle was obvious, and his head was completely devoid of hair.

His eyebrows were trimmed with meticulous precision, lending him an unmistakably menacing aura.

This was, without question, someone who belonged to the underworld.

Azu waited silently behind Yohane.

Her sword was sheathed, both hands clasped behind her back as she observed the conversation between Yohane and the man.

"That's right. I heard the Triwright Auction is being held. And I figured you'd be the man to get me in."

"Heh heh. I wonder who told you that. Well, the fact that you found your way to me means your ears are sharp, at least."

"Do I just grease your palm and call it a day?"

The man let out a small laugh.

A condescending sort of laugh.

Azu's brow twitched, but Yohane had ordered her to do absolutely nothing until told otherwise.

So she swallowed her irritation, though her hands tightened behind her back.

"I'm afraid money's not something I'm short on. Besides, there's no shortage of people who want in on the auction. I've got no reason to give you preferential treatment."

"That's why I'm asking. You wouldn't have agreed to meet if you had zero interest. Am I wrong?"

"Fair point. You came to see me, so you've got at least some understanding of how things work on this side. Then let's keep it simple."

The man clapped his hands.

From the back, a young man appeared.

His outfit was like nothing Yohane had seen before.

Fabric covered every inch of him.

His head was wrapped so only his mouth was visible, and even his hands and feet were concealed to the tips.

The man was suspicious enough on his own, but the youth was no less so.

Walking down the street like that would guarantee being stopped by a patrol.

"This is Lee. Assassination's his specialty, but he's no slouch in a straight fight, either."

The youth called Lee stared fixedly at Azu.

He didn't seem to register Yohane at all.

"I'm sure you did your homework on my hobbies before coming here, yes? And this girl is the best escort you could bring?"

The implication was clear: leave now while you still can.

He was looking down on Azu.

But Yohane already had most of the information he needed.

Including the fact that this man called Lee would make an appearance.

He'd ended up asking Finn for the details and paid gold coins for the privilege.

An ordinary merchant of Yohane's caliber wouldn't normally be able to participate.

But he wanted to see the auction at least once. The prospect of an Earth Elemental Stone was intriguing, too.

That was why he'd brought the person he trusted most: Azu.

"I don't mind. Rules?"

"Let's say… no killing. The current boss of this city is scary. I'd rather not make trouble."

He meant Jacob.

Good to know his capable governance was making an impact even in the underworld.

"Understood."

He'd also brought a top-grade potion, just in case.

The man led them deeper in, and they emerged into a large, empty room.

The man dragged out two chairs and offered one to Yohane.

He sat without hesitation.

Azu and Lee moved to the center of the room, sizing each other up.

Both stood naturally, at ease.

"When this coin hits the floor, you start."

A coin sailed from the man's hand and spun through the air.

After a brief hang time, it struck the ground with a sharp clink.

In that instant, Lee's right arm shot forward.

No—from inside his sleeve, a set of nunchaku came flying out.

The opening move was ferocious.

If it had been Yohane standing there, he'd have taken the blow square in the face and been knocked out cold.

But Azu saw it coming.

Without drawing her sword, she gripped the sheathed blade in her right hand and swung. The scabbard deflected the nunchaku.

Lee's eyes widened for a split second.

He hadn't expected it to be blocked.

He abandoned the nunchaku immediately and moved his left hand.

What emerged from beneath his sleeve was a weapon known as a tekko-kagi—hand claws.

Wickedly sharp, talon-like blades came raking down at Azu.

Rather than dodge, Azu caught Lee's left forearm with her own left hand.

The blades, sharp as they were, couldn't reach her with his wrist pinned.

The spot where she gripped him creaked audibly.

Lee's face twisted in pain. A moment later, the fabric over his left arm separated cleanly, and he slipped free of Azu's grasp.

All that remained in Azu's left hand was a strip of blue cloth.

"You don't look it, but you've killed a lot of monsters."

Lee spoke for the first time, but Azu didn't answer.

She tossed the fabric aside and took hold of the hilt, settling into her stance.

The sheathed sword lacked lethality, but it was a heavy, solid bludgeon.

She was honoring the no-killing rule.

"Hah!"

Lee pulled throwing knives from his jacket and launched them at Azu.

Simultaneously, he shifted his weight forward, dropped low, and kicked off the ground with his right foot.

The acceleration was staggering.

He hit top speed from a dead start and tried to circle behind Azu.

But the instant he thought he'd made it behind her, she was in front of him, mid-swing.

Azu had simply been faster. That was all.

"Shaa!"

In desperation, he thrust the hand claws at Azu's heart, but it was too late.

Before the blades could reach her, the scabbard Azu swung down connected with Lee's skull, and he crumpled.

She'd pulled her blow. Lee convulsed briefly, but there appeared to be no threat to his life.

The man applauded.

"Splendid. I was wrong to underestimate her based on appearances. Now then—"

The man stripped off his shirt.

Beneath it was a body riddled with old scars.

Finding an unscathed patch would've been harder than finding a wound.

And just as his build suggested, every muscle was trained to hypertrophy.

"My turn. If she can beat me, I'll hand over my ticket."

This was the man's hobby.

He acquired things others coveted, then made those who sought them challenge him.

A life so steeped in boredom that it had tipped into masochism.

Lee had been nothing more than a warm-up.

If you couldn't even beat him, you weren't worth fighting.

"Azu. Do it."

"Yes, Master."

Azu answered and stepped forward.

She put the sheathed sword away.

The man eyed her with suspicion as she advanced bare-handed against him.

He could tell her strength didn't match her appearance, but charging in unarmed was practically suicidal.

The man lunged to grab Azu with both hands.

Azu grabbed right back.

"Let's see those pretty hands of yours snap, little lady."

A hulking man and a girl locked hands in a contest of raw strength.

It was a bizarre sight, nothing less.

Anyone watching would have assumed the girl was about to be overpowered and suffer a gruesome injury.

Yohane's heart skipped a beat, too.

He held a white cloth in his right hand, ready to throw it and call a surrender at any moment.

But the two pairs of hands didn't budge.

Their expressions, however, told a different story.

Azu looked perfectly at ease, while the man's face contorted in agony, sweat beading on his skin.

Even from where he sat, Yohane could see the man straining with everything he had.

The muscles in both arms groaned. Veins bulged to the surface.

"… You mocked my Master a moment ago, didn't you?"

Azu said this quietly, and began to push.

The man was driven backward, helpless.

"That's something I can't let slide."

She kept her voice low enough that Yohane couldn't hear, but loud enough that the man heard every word.

A moment later, he was pinned against the wall.

"But I'll forgive you if you apologize."

The man's body lifted off the ground under Azu's force.

Adventurers who fought monsters far larger than themselves were physically superior to ordinary humans by a wide margin.

The more monsters you killed, the more pronounced it became.

There was an upper limit, but someone who'd only ever fought humans—or only trained their body—was no match.

Now Yohane fully understood what Finn had meant when she said the man would be no threat to Azu.

"I'm sorry!"

The instant his plea—closer to a scream—rang out, Azu set him down.

The moment his feet touched the floor, the man lashed out with a right kick aimed at Azu's midsection.

But Azu blocked it without so much as a flinch.

"Ha… haha. I lose."

Before he could finish the sentence, Azu's fist buried itself in his face.