Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 8

Trouble at the Hunter's Guild

“It will be finished in one week as you requested.”

“Thank you. I am expecting great results. Is the down payment enough?”

“Yes, milady. I will make the inner garments first. I will be waiting for the silk tomorrow.”

The old tailor bowed as he saw the two girls off. Closing the door with the familiar jingle.

Connie glanced at Sen, who was looking down.

“So, what do you think? A noble’s store is nothing much, right?”

“Hmm, yeah,” she said absent-mindedly. “Um…miss. Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Ask away.”

"Um…why are you treating me like this? I mean…not that I don’t like it but…usually rich people don’t like children like me.”

“Because you are honest. You smile when you are happy, your eyes gleam when you see a gold coin,” she said, munching on a flower. “And you did not try to kill or steal from me.”

“What?”

“You see, Sen. There are some things in this world that I hate. The first is those who try to kill me or mine. The second is those who lie to me. The third…well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Sen shuddered. Though she was speaking so lightly, she could feel that whatever happened to those who she hates would not be pleasant. A small tinge of fear appeared in her heart.

“I…”

“Now that you know, will you still guide me?”

“Y-yes!” she said, embarrassedly. “I think you are a bit scary just now…but I think you’re a good person, miss!”

“Alright. Lead me to a blacksmith!”

Sen laughed and excitedly lead the way for her. Connie followed behind, rubbing her chin and laughing derisively. “A good person? Couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

“Aw, they are closed,” Sen said dejectedly.

Connie patted her head placatingly while looking around the place.

“Are you looking for the blacksmith?” a large woman came from behind an alleyway with a basket of clothing in her arms.

“Yes. Do you know where the blacksmith is?”

“In the capital. All the blacksmiths around the kingdom had been called to the Capital. People say the King is planning something big.”

The woman was about to say something when her husband called out from inside a nearby house. “Ey, woman! Don’t dally! We’ve still got to prepare for dinner.”

“Coming, you fat bastard! I’m putting this in the room first”

With that, the woman flew into the house and left them hanging.

“What a woman,” Connie commented. “Can’t be helped then. Too bad, I want to order a personal weapon for myself.”

“I’m sorry,” Sen looked down, dejected.

“That’s okay. Now that we have an extra time, how about we go to the hunter’s guild? I’ll buy us some sweets after I get my reward.”

“Really? yay!” Sen raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Wait, the hunter’s guild, miss? Are you going to request something?”

Connie smirked. “What, you don’t think I have what it takes to be a hunter? I am a legit hunter, you know. Though I lost my identification card.”

“A hunter? Just like my sister!”

“Oh, your sister is a hunter? Yeah. She’s really strong you know! But she goes out of town a lot these days,” she said. Connie noticed the lonely look on her face and patted her head.

A while later, Connie and Sen arrived in front of a large building that looked like a dome. A large plague with ‘Hunter’s Guild’ written on it had the letters almost washed out from age. They could see people in different types of armors going in and out of the dome.

After entering through the large open gate, Connie could not help but be fascinated by the crowd. They were more lively than those in his old world. Especially because there are people with different skin and hair colors.

As she was curiously looking at a board with wanted people poster on it, she noticed Sen looking at a group of people sitting in a small room.

“Hey, isn’t that Sen?” A man with a thin beard and a leather apron called out as he walked in from one of the rooms. He was muscular with a distinct smell of animals on him.

“Oh, Uncle Hans!”

“You know him?” Connie asked.

“Yeah. He takes care of me, mom and my sister after our father died. He’s the dismantler for the guild.”

“Afternoon, miss,” she nodded lightly at Connie, who answered with a slight nod of her own. He then turned to Sen. “What are you doing here, Sen? This is not a safe place for children. Your sister will have me beat if she ever heard you coming here.”

“Don’t tell her please! Miss Connie hires me for a tour! It’s good business!”

“Business? What do you know about business, little girl?” he said jovially.

“She gives me this!” she said conspiratorially. He saw the yellow glint and quickly covered the coin.

“Don’t just show that thing willy nilly, Sen. There are bad people here,” he whispered. “And you too, miss.”

Dismissing the worry with a wave of her hand, Connie asked, “What is that?”

A bit annoyed with being ignored, Hans commented off-handedly. “Old Ben is teaching the newcomers about the basics. He just started.”

“Interesting. Can I join them?”

“Of course. The basics are open to the public. Head on in. Sen, you’re with me. Hey, Sen!”

By the time he realized it, Sen had already followed Connie inside.

In that simple room, some chairs were set with a chalkboard on the front. The attendance consists of only teenagers. All wearing different kinds of armors. They all had hopeful look on their faces.

A scruffy looking hunter wearing a dirt cloak was talking in front of the chalkboard. He spoke slowly and with great care to the hopeful hunter trainees.

“ - Everything in this world requires mana. As we gain mana from the monsters we kill, we gain experience, which will be used to raise our level. At a certain level, we are able to change jobs. And to do that, we need to go to the temple.”

“There are many jobs with many ways to acquire it. For example, if you join the Church Knights, you may gain the job of a Church Knight. If you go to one of the Magic Academies, you’ll be a mage. Right now, however, you need to gain experience.”

He stopped and knocked on the chalkboard three times. “Now let’s talk about skills. Master Kaihaku, go ahead.”

A bald man with the tattoo of a large sun on his head stood from his seat and bowed slightly to the trainees. “This one is Monk Kaihaku of the Rokudo Temple. And I shall teach you about skills.”

“Skills are special moves we learn as we grow in levels. Some from mastery of the weapon, some from gaining levels, and some are obtained from mastering a combination of those skills. And for some, it can be obtained through scrolls or books.”

“What about magic?” one of the boys sitting at the front asked.

“Magic is also a type of Skill. However, it’s restricted to those whose profession is a Mage. They have the ability to command the elements at will, but in exchange, they are not as agile or strong as those whose job is a Thief or Knight.”

“Now, let me show you one of the basic skills of a Monk. It is called Mountain Breaker.”

The man stroke the air with his elbow, yelling out the name of the move. A loud crack resounded.

“Ooh!” The attendees clapped in amazement. Only one person did not.

Connie looked thoughtfully at the monk. Sloppy. So very sloppy. If this is the level of martial art in this world then I pity them.

“Let’s go, Sen.”

“Huh? They’re not finished yet.”

“There is nothing else we can learn here,” she whispered quietly.

“O-okay.”

She walked out of the room silently with Sen in tow. Unbeknownst to them, Kaihaku glanced at the golden-haired girl, his eyes sharp as an eagle.

Once they were back in the main hall, Connie told Sen to sit on a chair while she queued behind a quest counter. About 5 minutes later, it was her turn.

The person manning the counter was an attractive girl with a head of lustrous pink hair braided into a bun. She had a beautiful smile and looked very good in her uniform.

“Good afternoon. My name is Cosette. how might I help you? If you are posting a quest, you should queue on the other side. This is for claiming quest rewards,” she said politely, noticing the expensive looking dress that she was wearing.

“Oh, I’m a registered hunter here. I’m here to replace my lost ID and place a complaint about my quest.”

“I-I’m sorry,” the girl said, confused. The lady before her was dainty and beautiful enough that she felt inadequate, yet she just said that she was a hunter?

She quickly regained her composure and said. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Cornelia Asterium Steelheart.”

“Cornelia…Asterium…wait a moment please,” her expression seemed to go through a lot of emotion as she flipped through a book. “I-I’ll have to speak to the guild master.”

“No rush.”

As the flustered guild receptionist disappeared behind the counter, a group of rowdy looking men barged into the guild. All the hunters inside frowned and moved away from them.

“Who are they?” one of the new hunters asked.

“They’re a C-Ranked party, ‘Black Wind’. The guy with the sword in his belt and the brown hair is Garett, the leader. They’re infamous for making trouble everywhere,” a mage answered.

“Aren’t the guild guards going to do something?”

“Hush. They have a really strong backing. Just finish your ale and let’s leave.”

Connie paid the ruckus no mind, instead leafing through a pamphlet stuck on the side of the counter. It was a general rule for the guild. The writing in this world is really similar to the western country. Thankfully I’ve learned their writing system 300 years ago.

“Hey! Where’s Cosette?!” the man named Garett shouted. “I’m here to see her!”

“Mr. Garett. Y-you can claim your reward here,” one of the male receptionist said. Clearly not one of the brightest in the guild.

“Hah?! I’m not here to see your ugly mug!”

While Garett was threatening the poor guy, Sen tiptoed her way towards Connie and tugged on her dress. “Let’s go miss. We don’t want to get into trouble here. My sister would give me a ding around the ear!”

“I’m still waiting to complain,” she said calmly, undisturbed by the tense atmosphere in the main hall.

Sensing something was wrong, one of Garett’s party member saw Connie leaning on the counter without a care. “Hey Garett, look at her! What a girl!”

Garett turned to see her. Because she had been silently reading on the counter, he had not noticed her, but when she saw her, the burly man was dumbstruck. No woman had ever made his loin felt like that for a long time.

He swaggered towards her and said. “I’ve never seen you around. What’s a pretty little thing like you doing here?”

“I know where this is going,” she said, still not taking her eyes off the pamphlet. “And I am not interested in whatever you have to say. So screw off.”

“Heh heh! Look at the dainty little girl trying to look tough! It’s gonna be fun hearing you squeal!”

The man made a move to grab her, but Connie was already at one corner of the main hall with Sen dangling by her arm. She put her down and glanced around. She said with a calm but loud voice. “Anyone wants to lend a hand?

Every eyes in the room looked away and they shirked further from her.

Garett and his people laughed. “Hahaha! No one’s gonna help you, missy. We’ve got some powerful people backing us up! No one in their right mind would even spare you a hand!”

“Not even the guards?”

Connie shrugged exaggeratedly. “Well! So this is the hunter’s guild? A den of lowlifes and coward who does not even have the courage to stand up to two young girls being accosted by bad guys? I am not impressed.”

“Cease!” A loud, gruff voice echoed in the hall, accompanied by a loud thump of a stick on the ground.

“Oh? Someone with some balls.”

Master Kaihaku appeared from within the room where he was teaching. The hunter behind him closed the door to keep the younger hunter safe from the confrontation.

“Oh, if it isn’t the failed monk!” One of Garett’s member said.

“The guild rule says that there is no fighting inside the guild. If you have any problem, bring it outside.”

Garett moved until his face was a mere inch away from the monk’s hard face. “Or else what? Are you going to fight us? Monk?!”

The monk did not answer, his stern eyes did it for him.

Connie coughed.

“Huuh?”

“All these posturings are becoming tedious. If you want a fight then I’ll bite."

“Miss -” Kaihaku started.

She pushed Sen towards Kaihaku as she walked past. “Master Kaihaku, will you keep her safe while I play for a bit?”

“Mm…” he nodded firmly as she put his hand on Sen’s shoulder. “I don’t know how strong you are but these men are all nearly level 30s. You should let me handle them instead.”

“And let you have all the fun?” she raised a teasing eyebrow and walked out, tapping the pamphlet she had been holding on one hand.

Garett and his cronies followed her, their heads already filled with things that they would do to her.

“Boss, I analysed her just now. She is still a level 5.”

“Heheheh. Nice. We’ll make a show of her first, yeah? First turn’s mine!”

An onlooker had quickly gathered around. It was a peculiar sight to have a young girl with no armor or weapon facing against a fully equipped swordsman. Some even had thoughts that it was rigged.

“Hey! Give the young miss a weapon!” one of the onlookers shouted.

“Yeah. This isn’t fair!!”

Connie shook her head when one of the hunters offered her his sword.

“What’s the rule?” Connie asked while folding the pamphlet into a rectangle.

“There is no rule. This isn’t some duel. It’s gonna be a massacre!”

“Great. You can all come at me at once then.” Connie showed a predatory smile, showing her sharp fangs. A shiver ran through Garett’s back. He had lived a dangerous life so he could feel when something bad is going to happen.

And his first instinct was to lunge forward, his sword aimed at her throat.

Connie did not move from her spot. She channelled her Yin Energy into the pamphlet held between her middle and forefinger. She received the sword attack and guided its edge around with it.

“What the-?”

Connie slapped his cheek with her free hand. Enraged, Garett slashed back, this was parried and she slapped her again. This happened again and again until his cheek bled and swollen three times its normal size.

“Y-you! No more playing around! Raging Blade Wave!”

His sword shone red and he slashed downwards, releasing a blade of wind that left a deep gash in the ground. The skill was so strong that it hurt a few onlookers. One of them was a child who hit his head on the cobblestone road.

The old monster looked at the boy and she was reminded of something bad. A child inside collapsing house. Her powerlessness. Her anger. At the world. At herself. For a moment, her eyes turned reptilian and she let out a small puff of poison from her breathing. She regained her cold demeanour the next moment as if nothing happened.

“I was about to let you go with a slap on the face, but now…now I will dismantle you.”

Her body blurred and she appeared right in front of Garett. “You don’t need this sword.”

She flicked at his wrist, at which point he lost all feeling on his hand and dropped the sword. “Or this arm,” she said as she pressed a spot near his shoulder, sending a wisp of Yin Energy into his tendon.

The man scrambled towards his sword and tried to hold it but failed to do so. Enraged, he tried to do it one more time and failed again. He could not gather enough power to grip the handle.

“W-what the hell?!”

“I severed the tendon in your arm. From now on you cannot wield a sword or anything heavier than a fork. Use this chance to get a desk job. Get educated. Maybe then you’ll think twice about pointing a sword against helpless children or a weak girl,” she said with a vain smile. “Especially a weak girl like me.”

The people around the guild sucked a bit of air at hearing her words. One of them even bit his lips. The audacity of the girl who just wiped the floor with a swordsman using a paper pamphlet and the warning in her voice was not lost on them.

The rest of his members were enraged by the treatment and launched themselves at Connie. Two men grasped their swords and began to use their skills while the mage began to chant.

Connie flung the pamphlet loaded with Yin Energy straight into the mage. It lodged deep into his mouth and severed his tongue. Seeing this, the swordsmen flinched. The young girl evaded the swords slashing at her in and grabbed both their legs and was about to rip them apart. However, she glanced briefly at Sen and decided to be satisfied with sending Yin Energy to cripple their legs instead.

The two did not realize what she had done and only saw her moving past them. As they were about to move their legs, they could not use force and fell onto their faces.

“I-I can’t stand!”

“W-what the hell did you do to us?”

“I’m learning to control myself,” she said simply.

Kaihaku watched the whole fight mesmerized. It was not a fight. The difference in skill and power was so vast it was like the difference between an ant and a dragon. She was even fighting them wearing a dress!

The people who looked at the girl with pity now could not find words to express what they were feeling. Surprise, amusement, and fear all mixed into one.

“What is going on out here?!”

A fat man with grease covering his forehead ran out of the guild.

Master Kaihaku spoke out. “Garett and his party challenged the young miss and lost.”

“Dammit!” Garett yelled out angrily. “Don’t think that I’m going to forget this! Earl Stanton is not going to forgive you! We’ll hunt you and your family down and fuck you in front of your family and make you regret you ever lived!!”

“Earl…Stanton, is it?” Connie’s chilling smile made everyone who saw her feel ice coming down their belly. Only Garett who was drowned in anger could not feel the change in the atmosphere.

“Hahah! You’re dead!”

“Boss, something’s wrong. She doesn’t look afraid.”

“What?”

Connie looked down at Garett. “So, is that a threat against me and my family?” she paused, appearing to have remembered something. “Ah, yes. I haven’t introduced myself.”

Connie took a slight bow, a masculine gesture which does not seem right with her wearing a dress. She would not waste a warrior’s salute to a bunch of lowlifes.

“Cornelia Asterium Steelheart. Of the Steelheart family. Daughter of Duke Steelheart.”

Connie raised a knowing eyebrow at Garett. “You want to play with fire, little man? Then let’s play with friggin’ fire! Can you handle the heat?!”

“A Duke. Boss, that means…!”

Realization dawned on them. A Duke is two ranks higher than an Earl. No way that Earl Stanton would spare them knowing that they had vile thoughts about a Duke’s daughter.

“That’s right. Don’t think you can count on him to save you. Best thing you can do is run. Run away as fast as you can. Oh, but you can’t, right? After all, you’re all cripples now!” she said with a laughter that reached the heavens. The laugh was filled with so much evil intent that the hunters unconsciously reach for their weapons.

After a few full seconds of laughter, Connie clapped her hands and said. “Alright. Someone call the guards and clean these trashes up. I still have some business with the guild. Come, Sen.”

She stepped inside the guild while holding the smug faced Sen’s hand, ignoring the gazes from the people as if she owned the place. Indeed, Cosette and the rest of the hunters dared only to enter after she entered. Like servants waiting for their ruler.