The Grimmlands of Menagerie (III)

"C-Chieftain… Ghira! Sir…" A man yelled after vigorously knocking on the door to my office. Even from across the room, I could hear his ragged breath and state of alarm clearly.

"Come in," I said, preparing myself for whatever terrible news awaited. With the state of affairs both in and out of Menagerie, there was no telling what else had gone wrong.

I recognized the man as Archie, one of the braver Huntsmen that had volunteered to be stationed at the Easternmost Settlement of Kikuo. Quickly after he entered, he closed the door and faced me with the most serious and dread-ridden face I'd seen in a long time.

"S-sir… I came as quickly as I could…" He said as he struggled to catch his breath. "Kikuo… It's likely fallen to the Grimm Tide that formed about an hour ago…"

'What? But how could another one have developed so soon?!' I frowned as the fall of Kikuo would withdraw our territory against the Grimm by another couple dozen kilometers.

"Michael sent me back with James as he and the rest of the team stayed back to cover the citizens' escape with the help of the military. He said you'd need to hear how bad the situation was from James himself, but… You can imagine how bad it was given that James is still out of commission after having been knocked out by the negative pressure that was unleashed by the Grimm Tide," Archie said.

"He… Fainted? James Aiker?" I asked, hoping for the best.

"That's right, sir," Archie killed off my hope.

I cursed internally for the situation was beyond dire, if one of our finest Huntsmen had been dispatched by the feedback of his own Semblance.

James and Michael were among the better-known Huntsmen within Menagerie for their contributions in killing off the majority of the Alpha Grimm that managed to enter Kikuo whenever an outbreak occurred that couldn't be dispatched by the military present. Never had James been so much as been held back by the effects of his Semblance, so for him to have been knocked out outright…

"I understand…" I said before taking a second to consolidate my thoughts. "Here's what we're going to do. You're going to quietly and calmly leave to gather the Huntsmen currently present here and inform them of the situation, while I'll be contacting all the settlements from here to Kikuo as well as sending a distress signal to the other continents."

"I understand, sir," Archie said before promptly excusing himself from my office.

The next hour and a half passed in the blink of an eye as I coordinated with a Mistralian Huntsman at Sanctum Academy who had a Semblance that facilitated long-distance communication to get the news out to the other three continents. It was times like these when I lamented the fact that we could not afford the cost of creating or even maintaining a CCT tower.

Just as the last meeting with General Ironwood of Atlas was about to come to an end, however, we were interrupted by another knock on my office. Knowing how rapidly the situation might change, Ironwood patient allowed me to welcome our interloper and to my surprise I saw Michael enter with his Huntsman partner, Katherine, and a man I did not recognize.

"Chieftain Ghira," Michael calmly greeted me as if he were going to make a common report.

So far, this was better than I could have hoped for. But, that was offset by how confused I was to see him here, and not fighting what James had described to me as, "the most overwhelmingly oppressive force of negativity [he] previously couldn't have even imagined." He'd been the only other person to interrupt me in the last hour and a half, and it was just to inform me just how bad the situation was from his perspective.

"Michael Manaford? How could you be here and not on the frontlines against the Grimm Tide?" General Ironwood asked, perplexed as my report to him included the names of all the Huntsmen that were stationed at Kikuo.

"That'd be because there are no frontlines to fight against," Michael said as he beamed towards me and the projection of the Mistralean Hunstman, General Ironwood, and the Headmaster of Sanctum who had been present for the meeting. "Thanks to this man right here, Kikuo suffered absolutely zero losses against the Grimm Tide," Michael said as he patted the green-haired young man's shoulder.

"Excuse me? Are you implying that a single person fought off a Grimm Tide single-handedly? A man I've never seen or heard of? Or is he one of yours, who hasn't bothered to take a Huntsman license to practice in Menagerie?" General Ironwood asked.

The fact that he didn't recognize the man either started firing off all kinds of alarms as I knew just how cautious and prudent the good general was. If anyone knew the names and faces of the most powerful Huntsmen around, it was bound to be General Ironwood.

"Oh, I'm not implying anything," Michael said as admiration almost poured out from him tangibly. "No, my team and I saw him kill off thousands of Grimm firsthand. And, not only did he kill them all himself, he did so while fighting off the largest Alpha Ursa in recorded history; the thing was like thirty-feet tall!"

"What?!" I found my shock shared by both Headmaster Lionheart and General Ironwood. The other Mistralian Huntsmen's impression, conveyed by the momentary wavering of all the projections within the room.

"That just isn't possible," General Ironwood seriously said. "A Grimm of that magnitude would be classed as an Ancient Grimm and the last time one of those appeared, it took the entire military might of Atlas just to repel it."

"With all due respect sir, I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen his strength with my own eyes. But the fact of the matter is that the threat of the Grimm Tide is over, and all the credit for that achievement should rightfully go to him," Michael said.

…

"So, mystery man… Do you have a name?" The projection Izuku observed to be of the "Headmaster of Sanctum," asked.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya… sir," Izuku's awkwardness was back to full power after finding himself to be the center of attention in the room.

"How did you do it?" The "General of Atlas," asked.

"Well… I'm pretty fast and even stronger than I am fast, so… I just punched and kicked most of the Grimm that rushed me to death," Izuku said. He wasn't lying so much as he wasn't going into full detail about explaining his use of Argent Energy-based techniques. The fact was, most of the Grimm he killed were slain from his sheer physical prowess, alone.

"So, you're a Huntsman who doesn't use weapons, I gather?" The General continued.

"I'm not a Huntsman at all," Izuku shrugged as if to convey, "what can you do?"

"Without the license or the training, I wouldn't call myself a Huntsman. I'm just a guy who had to kill off some hostile monsters that were antagonizing me," Izuku said.

"Just a guy who single-handedly supposedly stopped a Grimm Tide?" The Headmaster seemed to mock. "I don't have the time to waste on this nonsense, so please, contact me when you figure out whatever is going on in your territory, Chieftain Ghira" The projection of the Headmaster then flickered before cutting out.

"Indeed, it seems you have much to learn and discuss with… your new guest. I will await for a report when you have all the details as well," the General followed up, and after he exchanged nods with Chieftain Ghira, the rest of the projections cut off as well.

'Damn,' Izuku grimaced as he thought, 'Of course, I just had to make a bad first impression on two of the most prominent figures of the Human territories.' He didn't know exactly how prominent they were, but with titles like "General of Atlas" and "Headmaster of Sanctum," it didn't take a genius to understand that they were influential figures.

Fortunately, the same could not be said about Izuku's reception to Ghira. Izuku just had to quietly stand to the side and let Michael and Katherine recount what they'd seen him do to the Grimm Tide beyond the border of Kikuo.

"Well, Mister Midoriya, personally I must thank and reward you for your actions in saving us from the Grimm Tide," Ghira said as he gave Izuku a deep bow. "There's no telling how many lives would have been lost if a horde as strong and plentiful as Michael described managed to break through the settlement of Kikuo."

"Please, sir, there's no need to thank me," Izuku said as felt guilt begin constricting his heart. He was responsible for unleashing the Grimm Tide in the first place, and even if no one else had become casualties of collateral for his actions, he had created a mass panic, after all.

"I believe that a proper amount of respect and gratitude must be in order for more than just your actions in Kikuo. You are a free agent unrestricted to the Huntsmen forces outside of Menagerie, correct?" Ghira asked.

"Yes?" Izuku asked, not seeing the connection that was implied by Ghira's words.

"That's all the more reason to remain respectful, then, for I believe you could be a great warrior to protect us against the Grimm; to ensure the peace that we still have in Menagerie."

"You… Want me to become a Huntsman for you?" Izuku asked.

"It would be for the best from my perspective if you were to do that, but I'm assuming that you have yet to become a Huntsman already for your own reasons. I won't pry, I would be content if you could just lend us your strength if we ever find ourselves in another situation like the Grimm Tide in the future."

"Sure," Izuku accepted easily enough. "Just… Could I possibly take on some Huntsman work while I'm here? I've got to find some way to make money, after all…" He laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Of course," Ghira didn't miss a beat as he rummaged through one of the cabinets affixed to his desk and created a mantle with his signature, officiating Izuku for Huntsman work anywhere on the continent. He then let Izuku go after getting him to promise they would meet again to eat dinner with his wife and giving him a Scroll; the Broken World's equivalent of a smartphone.

Now outside the Cheiftain's manor, Izuku split off from Michael and Katherine. They had to return to Kikuo to help the rest of their team with the resettling efforts, while Izuku was now free to start setting himself up to live in the Broken World. He bade them goodbye and went to the nearest Mission Board center to make a bit of Lien before the time came to meet with Ghira again.

'10,000 Lien: Beowulf Extermination — Estimated threat level, eight strong, no Alphas detected — Location, 3-4 km East of Kuo Kuana along the open road.'

'52,720 Lien: Class B Extermination — Estimated threat level, twenty-three strong, one Ursa Alpha, one Creep Alpha, and one Beringel Alpha detected — Location, 8-9 km North of Kuo Kuana within a cave.'

'88,000 Lien: Protection Detail — Fulfill the role of a bodyguard for the client, Mr. Mackes, for a period of ten days — Huntsman prospect must be competent enough to pass a test issued by the current bodyguards of the client (Restriction Class C and above only) — All expenses will be paid while on duty for this mission.'

Izuku nodded appreciatively at the sheer variety and quantity of available missions to choose from. He picked a few Grimm Extermination missions that were relatively close to one another and added their details to his Scroll.

Apparently, the marvelous piece of technology would automatically collect evidence of his confirmed Grimm Kills so long as he kept it on him. He would be able to receive payment by showing its proof after returning to the Mission Board.

He walked to the edge of the settlement and only after getting clear of any citizens took off in a burst of speed. The many impressive new Abilities he had created since the fight against the Grimm Tide allowed him to feel less unsafe about expending his non-Stamina types of Energy and being caught unprepared for a disastrous situation, so he let loose with Augmenting Runes.

Even without Draconification, it only took him seconds to approach the spot marked on his Scroll by its GPS-like tracking software. Even faster than that, he completed the mission by wiping out a group of thirty Grimm with an instance of Argent Bullet.

'...Maybe I should have just taken all the Extermination missions at once?' Izuku thought as he slowly walked back to the Mission Board less than half an hour later, after having completed twelve different missions.

Only now had he internalized how fast he was, as he'd never before went all out on distance running; all of his speed had previously only needed to be used for quick bursts of acceleration during a fight. Not like he'd had to in the Dungeon, after all.

He accepted another forty or so missions and spent the next hour or so running circles around Kuo Kuana as he killed most of the packs of Grimm that had been detected around the capital.

When he went to collect his payment, however, the Mission Board immediately placed a ban on his account for "Obvious Hacking of Either Mission Board or Scroll Features." He had to visit the Mission Board's Management Suite within the financial plaza of Kuo Kuana to get the issue resolved.

Fortunately, with Ghira's Mantle and signature of approval, it didn't take long for the staff in the building to accommodate him and reward him with his earnings.

1,856,950 Lien…

Once again, he became exorbitantly rich; maybe not as a billionaire like he was in Orario, but making the equivalent of nearly two hundred million yen was just as insane. He ignored the money as he was never really one to care about materialistic things. He'd only really needed enough coin in his pocket to live comfortably. The rest of his wealth would eventually go into whatever philanthropic venture caught his eye or whatever other need he saw could be fulfilled with money.

For now, though, he settled on spending a bit of the money he'd gathered on some new clothes and a place to clean himself up for that upcoming dinner he had with the Chieftain of Menagerie. He was ecstatic to find out that his Backup Equipment Slots had increased by one, presumably for having entered a third world.

For his return to the Doom World it wouldn't matter, but it'd be awkward if he returned to the Dungeon World and appeared underneath Amaterasu with an entirely different outfit.

…

"So you're the Hero of Kikuo I've heard so much about for the past few hours," Ghira's wife, a woman with very prominent cat-like ears, asked as she smiled at Izuku.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I'm Izuku Midoriya," Izuku introduced himself.

"Oh, there's no need to be so formal," the woman almost purred as she introduced herself in kind. "I'm Kali Belladonna, and the pleasure's all mine."

"Yes, yes," Ghira rolled his eyes as he ushered his wife towards the entrance of the restaurant. "Now that we're all introduced, why don't we get ourselves seated."

"You poor thing," Kali giggle as she failed to put up any resistance against her husband. "You must be starving after the long day you've had."

And so, for the next few minutes, Izuku could only watch as the leader of the city and most respected person in the continent was baby-talked and teased by his wife. It was as perfect of a relationship as he could imagine any two people having, more so after his Observe detailed that Kali and Ghira had been married for well over two decades ago.

Eventually, though, Kali stopped the relentless chastisement of her husband to ask Izuku. "So," she began after turning to face him, "I've heard you're nineteen. That's just two years older than our daughter and somehow you've managed to get strong enough to eliminate a Grimm Tide by yourself."

"I'm just lucky to have had the opportunity to get as strong as I am today. I've had to fight many battles against tons of monsters, but the effort was clearly worth it," Izuku said.

"That's right…" She grew the slightest bit somber as her smile dimmed and she added, "You've had to fight a lot to get as strong as you now. It really make me wonder how much fighting my little girl has done and how much more she'll do to reach her goals, you know?"

"Is she a Huntress?"

At that Kali lightly shook her head and sighed, "I wouldn't know. She left us years ago to help the White Fang in Vale. Ever since, we haven't heard from her again."

"So, she's fighting for equal rights outside of Menagerie? That's admirable," Izuku nodded.

Ghira, however, frowned as he coldly remarked, "It would be if their current High Leader hadn't radicalized the organization into the terroristic lot they are today. I never should have stepped down as the head of the White Fang; at least, not for Sienna…"

"What? I've only heard good things about the White Fang," Izuku asked as he was genuinely confused.

"That'd be because most of the people here are out of the loop, since we're disconnected from the CCT network. Without the Cross-Continental Telecommunication's ability to relay the news of their actions within the four Kingdoms, they still think the White Fang are full of peaceful protesters. Now, they're just a bunch of robbing, murderous, terrorists who go so far as to assassinate even Council members of the Four Great Kingdoms," Ghira sighed.

"That's awful," Izuku said. He paused for a moment before saying, "I'd actually been thinking of either joining them or the Huntsmen to fight back against the Grimm, but if they're actual terrorists… I can't join them, even if they're striving for a good cause."

"You're willing to join the Huntsmen, then?" Ghira asked as his eyes widened.

"I mean, I'd need to if I wanted to take on better missions at the Mission Boards outside of Menagerie, right? All I'm good for is fighting, anyway, so I might as well fight against the Grimm for a living."

"Do… Do you know when you might be heading out? Or where you'd what to go?" Kali asked before Ghira could.

"Eh," Izuku shrugged half-heartedly as he admitted, "It wouldn't really matter where I'd go. Now that I know I'm strong enough to deal with Grim Tides, I think I'd leave after I finished clearing out all the Grimm Pools that are currently present on this continent first. Although, if I get the feeling I'm in over my head, I might leave sooner." After all, with none of his Stats rated over a 5/10 in the absolute power scaling hierarchy for this world, there was no telling when he might encounter something above his current overall combat prowess.

"You want to do what?!" Ghira could barely contain his yelling as he looked at Izuku like he was out of his mind. "No… Don't tell me…" Ghira slowly said as it dawned on him the gravity of what he was beginning to realize. "Did you… Did you intentionally trigger the Grimm Tide to form after destroying a Grimm Pool on the outskirts of Kikuo?" He blanched.

"...Yes," Izuku said.

"How?" Ghira didn't even look mad, just dumbfounded as he explained, "Grimm pools aren't even solid. Their amalgamations of darkness and negativity condensed down to form the Grimm in the Grimmlands. You can't just punch, slice, or even shoot them to cause any damage!"

"I used my energy to blow it up?" Izuku said. He really didn't want to explain what kind of energy he'd used, though.

"This is madness!" He said as he stood up. "The others must know immediately of your ability. It's way too important to ignore."

As he tried to leave, however, his wife pulled him back and reprimanded him as she said, "Now, now. Ignoring how absurd this all is, Izuku won't just up and disappear all of a sudden." Her petite body betrayed the ridiculous strength she must have had to force Ghira down to his seat as she did with one hand.

Kali added, "You've had a long enough day at work already, darling. Why don't you just put this off until tomorrow?"

Unable and unwilling to refuse his wife when she got like this, Ghira accepted his fate and soon enough the three were served their meals.

For the rest of his time spent with them, Izuku only spoke to Kali. She poked and prodded him until he ended up Draconifying his arm for her amusement. Ghira, on the other hand, looked like he as terribly ill; as if just withholding the information he had was a poison in and of itself.

Izuku couldn't do much to help the poor man, as he was finding out for himself how boisterous and rowdy his wife could get. By the end of the night, the only thing Izuku knew for a fact was that he did not want to antagonize that woman.

He couldn't imagine how bad it could have gotten for Ghira who was married to her.