Book 15 Chapter 2
Episode 50
“You profile scammer, abhorrent to both heaven and earth, I, Smaldi, guardian of justice, shall end your evil deeds with this sword—!”
A swordsman bravely stepped forward, but someone with water-colored hair blocked his path and held out a wooden tag with the number 42 on it.
“—Yes, the participation fee for the bounty hunt to receive 50 gold coins is 1 silver coin.”
A piggy bank was hanging on the head of a cute-looking snowflake.
“Ah, yes.”
The swordsman put 1 silver coin into it and lightly stroked the soft hair on the snowflake's head.
“Gyuung-gyuung!”
“Thank you. Please take this number ticket, then stand at the end of that line and wait your turn. When it's your turn, I will call your name, so please come forward.”
“Yes, thank you.”
The swordsman received the number ticket, bowed deeply, and went to stand at the back of the line.
He thought he was lucky.
The burly swordsman who came right after him had to swallow his tears upon hearing, “Please come after lunchtime~”
“Waiting number 10, please come forward! And please return your number ticket here.”
The red-haired witch pushed up her glasses thoughtfully and shouted. The waiting person at the very front responded.
“Yes.”
“Then it's okay to start to your heart's content.”
“Here I come, villain of this world—!”
“—Fireball.”
“Kkuaak!”
“Now, waiting number 11, please come forward.”
“Yes, here’s the number ticket.”
“Yes, thank you. Now, please enjoy yourself.”
“Here I come! How dare a mere man manipulate profiles, a prerogative of women—!”
“—Fireball.”
“Kku-ang!”
Only after all thirty waiting contestants ahead of him had vanished into the sky as stars in a burst of flames could the swordsman face the villain.
The great villain, who had brutally trampled upon women's hearts with profile fraud, wore a conical hat and kept his gaze fixed on a book, regardless of whether the swordsman had come forward or not.
A surprise attack was unbecoming of a swordsman. It was a disgrace to a swordsman. The swordsman thought so and shouted.
“You profile scammer, abhorrent to both heaven and earth, I, Smaldi, guardian of justice—!”
“—Yes, next fireball.”
“Kkuaak!”
This fireball had been modified by the boy with his genius intellect.
The power of the flame was lowered to the extreme, but the impact force and wind pressure were maximized, making it possible to subdue and drive away opponents without killing them.
What that means is that the swordsman who was directly hit by that fireball became the 133rd star and vanished into the distant sky.
“Pipi, it’s time.”
A wooden sign indicating business hours hung around the sun parrot's neck. As soon as it heard the red witch's words, the clever divine beast flipped the wooden sign.
[Lunchtime].
The bounty hunters, who had been approaching from all directions, each exuding a fierce aura, scratched the back of their heads upon seeing it.
“Hmm, can't help lunchtime. Let's respect labor standards laws.”
“Ah, I should've come a little sooner! I told you we should come right away!”
“Didn't expect this. Then let's go eat too. There's a rice dumpling restaurant nearby, you know.”
The red-haired witch, Friede, hummed a tune and caressed the silver coins piled high in the piggy bank.
“Kyaha! How much is all this? I wonder how many times I can have a drink with handsome oppas.”
The sun parrot expressed its owner's joy with a dance on her shoulder.
“Kya! Kya! Kya!”
The boy, Lin, who had used a fireball a staggering 133 times in the morning alone, emotionlessly pushed up his conical hat.
“Isn't something a bit off? Maybe because I used a lot of magic, my dominant side is starting to ache.”
“What do you want to do, kid! There are tons of guys trying to catch you everywhere we go. It's better to beat them up like this and earn money than fight in the city. Shut up and earn money! You're a money-making machine. Abandon your ego!”
“Hmm, even so, the numbers are just too great. It seems those two spread wanted posters all over the area.”
If that was the case, they couldn't stay tied up here indefinitely. They also had to go to the Papal See and reunite with their last companion…
“If we stay here, Lin will keep overexerting himself, so it's probably better to just move on.”
“What do you want to do? Will your ancestors deal with the bounty hunters who appear everywhere we go? So let's just make some money here. If we beat them all, they'll eventually get tired and drop out.”
“So, I have a brilliant idea. What if we use a disguise?”
“Disguise?”
“Right now, bounty hunters know Lin as a man, don't they?”
“That's right.”
“And they know the two of us as women.”
“That's right.”
“But what if we disguise Lin as a woman here?”
“?”
“Gyuung?!”
“Gyuung, gyuung, gyuung.”
“Wait, what are you talking about right now? Cut the crap and get lost.”
Friede, who had a pipe in her mouth and was staring at the floor, suddenly flashed her eyes ominously.
“No, from the wise perspective of the Fire Dragon Priestess, this is absolutely not nonsense. It's a brilliant idea! Hmm, it just so happens we have tools for makeup, perfect.”
Hehehehehehe… Friede approached with a cunning and wicked laugh, and Lin, feeling his life threatened, backed away.
“Wh-what is it?”
“Rista, Pipi, hold this guy tight so he can't resist.”
“Lin, I'm sorry. But we have a long way to go, don't we? I will forever remember your last appearance as a man.”
“No, no no no, no! Get away from me! Don't do it, I said don't do it! I'm getting angry! I'm truly getting angry as [The Strongest Mage], right now!!!”
“Kyuu-u-u-u-ung!”
Sval bravely stepped forward to protect its owner, but Pipi immediately suppressed it with a flaming claw kick!
“D-don't do it, d-don't do it, d-don't do it.”