Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~-Chapter 266: 1 - Return to the Everyday life ②

The lounge at 《First Step (Hajimari no Ashiato)》 Clan House is well known among Zebrudia’s Treasure Hunters.

Being a Treasure Hunter is a lucrative profession. It is not uncommon for a first-class Hunter to earn enough money to last the lifetime of an average citizen in a single hunt.

The Clan House, built with abundant funds by some of the best young Hunters in the Imperial Capital, is cutting-edge and has become some kind of dream for young Treasure Hunters. Combined with the Clan name, which sounds very beginner-friendly, it has often been a reason for newly registered Hunter fledglings to have illusions about the profession of Treasure Hunter. It is probably because the Clan Master thought of such effects that will bring him that he built such a huge Clan House in a prime location in the Imperial Capital.

And of course, even for the Vice-Clan Master, who was found by such a talented Clan Master, it was a wonder that he had not appeared on the front stage before despite being so ingenious.

“The Clan Master wants to focus on another matter for a while, so no one should interfere with him. I understand your situation, but please withdraw.” (Eva)

In the lounge of the spacious Clan House. Eva Renfeed, Vice-Clan Master of 《First Step (Hajimari no Ashiato)》 said in a clerical tone to Gark as he sat in front of a large table set up in the center of the lounge.

Even after his retirement, the head of the Explorer Association’s branch office is still highly respected. There are only a limited number of people who would not shrink in front of the former 《War Ogre (Senki)》, a man who is known for his ability to make even crying children silent. What’s more, if you count the number of ordinary people who have not absorbed Mana Material and not shrunk in front of him, there are probably only a handful of them in the whole Imperial Capital.

Eva Renfeed is a brilliant woman. Gark knows that she is not just any ordinary civilian as she is the one who managed and made the Clan grow to this level, but also because she is the right-hand woman of 《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》, the man who could control any situation with such ease. Moreover, Gark was well aware that she sometimes reprimanded Cry and supported him in both his public and private life.

At the same time, she possesses a certain stubbornness that, once she has made up her mind, she will not budge, no matter how much leverage you have. When necessary, she will work with Gark to persuade Cry, but if she decides that there is no middle ground, no matter how many threats or how much you give her, there won’t be a middle ground. Her temperament is probably one of the reasons why Cry chose her.

In addition, unlike Cry, she is the type of person to argue with logic. She is also well-versed in the Empire’s laws, the rules, and the regulations of the Explorer Association. In addition, if you are an ordinary civilian and not a Hunter, the authority of the Explorers Association does not affect you.

All the staff members that Gark had brought with him were already in the mood to give up. Originally, Gark had no intention of threatening her with violence either.

The lounge is filled with Hunters belonging to 《First Step (Hajimari no Ashiato)》. They are Hunters who do not shrivel up even if their opponent is the head of a branch of the Explorer Association. Of course, even if those Hunters weren’t here, threatening ordinary civilians with violence is outrageous.

“If 《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》 was a little more hardworking, Zebrudia would be twice as developed as it is now.” (Gark)

“If 《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》 was a little more hardworking, I would have collapsed from exhaustion.” (Eva)

At Gark’s light-hearted remark, Eva said that with a serious expression without even smiling. Seeing this, Gark sighed a little.

The reason why Gark came all the way to the Clan House today was to check on the progress and confirm what happened during the Supreme Martial Arts Festival incident.

If possible, it would have been better to discuss the matter face to face, but this time there would be no problem if she relayed the message. Since no incident occurred.

The fact that he did not come to meet them meant that he had decided that there was no need to meet face-to-face. If the other party was just a regular Hunter, Gark would have forced the meeting with him, but he had a proven track record for his divine strategies, extraordinary insight, and his near-future prediction. He has a track record so good that Zebrudia can not ignore him.

Two weeks have passed since the incident at the Supreme Martial Arts Festival. The operation to destroy the secret organization, 『Nine-Tails Shadow Fox (Kyubi no Kage Kitsune)』 was proceeding more smoothly than how Zebrudia and Gark had ever imagined.

Their opponent is an organization with a reputation for thorough secrecy. The Empire and the Explorer Association have been secretly investigating this organization, but have been unable to obtain any information about it. No matter how many countries work together to solve the problem, there is almost nothing that can be done if the names of the organization’s members, their base of operations, and everything else are unknown.

Gark and his team were prepared for a long battle, but the situation developed unexpectedly.

Some of their members switched sides to Zebrudia and brought information with them. They weren’t executive personnel, and the information they brought was not that great in quantity or quality, but the defection of members of an organization that they had not been able to catch the tail of was a major change.

“Now that I think about it, the conclusion at the Supreme Martial Arts Festival was not like him.” (Gark)

“…………” (Eva)

Eva was silent at what Gark said.

Up until now, 《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》 has defeated all the organizations, bandits, and Phantoms that have stood in his way, with his clever strategies that don’t seem to be coming from a human. In this incident too, his figure that faced the fox mask man in the arena showed that he was calm, and that is why Gark and the others did not immediately enter the arena but decided to observe the situation.

This led to a delay in the preemptive response and let the fox mask man escape, but to begin with, this point is strange.

If he didn’t want him to escape, all he had to do was to put people on his escape route. That place was full of mighty warriors like Luke or Liz.

The arena had a barrier and his escape routes were limited. There is no way that Cry would not have noticed something that simple, and even if he were absolutely confident in his plan, Cry would definitely deploy people there as he usually does. Although just barely enough people to capture the fox mask man.

If so, why didn’t Cry block the entrance at that time? Was he counting on the Previous War Emperor and all the other Hunters in the audience to stop him?

The fox mask man that had escaped, a plan unlike Cry’s which has holes in it. And the investigation of the organization, which, however, has made great progress.

So Gark arrived at an answer.

Everything――What if everything was part of his plan?

What if everything from letting that fox mask man escape to the betrayal of the members of his organization was exactly what Cry had planned?

That intruder who came out in the open at the Supreme Martial Arts Festival must have been a high-ranking member of the organization. Normally, there was no way he would have allowed him to escape.

However, if it turns out to be to our advantage――Wouldn’t 《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》 choose to let him escape?

The organization, which had been rock solid, is now shaky. It is clear that the trigger for this was the incident at the Supreme Martial Arts Festival.

The activation of a Relic weapon that could destroy the world. That was surely unexpected for the organization. As a result, some people gave up on the organization.

No matter how big an organization is, it will never have the power to deal with multiple nations at the same time. And the enraged Emperor Radrick Atrum Zebrudia is already on the verge of purging all the nobles that are uncooperative.

Few people know the truth about the incident at the Supreme Martial Arts Festival. Gark, the Empire, and perhaps even the fox mask man do not know――Only one person knows the full truth.

Thanks for reading!

Gark, of course, Cry planned the Kitsune Boss’ escape.

Did you think that he fought with the Kitsune Boss with no plan, that Cry let him escape due to some negligence!?

Or maybe something along the line of he didn’t even expect to fight at the tournament?

Preposterous! This is impossible. So of course, Cry planned everything!

Tchao à plus!𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝑚