Dragon-chan deals with an idiotic loan shark

Dragon-chan deals with an idiotic loan shark

AN: I thought of this chapter before I'd read chapter 72 of KKKBear, so don't hate because it's too similar... and no, you don't need to have read that chapter yet. Again, Arc 1 doesn't have much to do with chapter 3+ of KKKBear

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A year or so after I made my public debut (after Nene Drachen did, that is) I was eating over on Shikine Island after taking care of a group of stray Behemoths when I noticed someone following a young girl of maybe eight years old at a fixed distance, so I decided to follow him (while using the fire/wind combo magic {Refraction} to make myself invisible) so as to make sure nothing would happen... You know, this is exactly the sort of thing where I wouldn't be telling you any of this if nothing happened... Sure enough, the man waited until she reached an area with nobody around before covering her mouth and dragging her into an alley where another three men were waiting.

"Your father didn't pay up the money he owes us, so you're going to be taken as this month's payment. Don't worry, you won't be hurt... We have a buyer who plans to make you feel really good, in fact" (Mook A)

"Father wouldn't miss a payment like that! He- mmph!" (Girl)

"Shut up! He wouldn't have missed a payment normally, but I made the interest rates go up really quickly once he'd given me most of my money back so that he would miss them. That way, I could get you, your sister, and your mother as payment and get three or five times my investment" (Boss)

"I've heard enough. I suggest you release that girl and give up without a fight. I'd rather not hurt you, but I won't hold back that much if we fight. I won't kill you, but I might give you some scars or a few broken bones" (Nene)

"Yeah right. It's three against one, and that one is just a little kid!" (Mook B)

"Try to capture her without hurting her too much, I'm sure that she could be sold for a good amount. If she runs, don't pursue her much. She's not a priority, as we don't have any real claim to her" (Boss)

"How about 'try not to get hurt too much'? I may be a kid, but I'm an adventurer. My name is Nene. You may have heard of me, but it doesn't matter if you have or haven't" (Nene)

"Oh, an adventurer. I suggest you run away, but don't try to get help. I'm good friends with the Imperial Family. I am even a backer of the princess, so I've had plenty of opportunities to meet her and her parents. If you try to make a fuss, you'll just... disappear" (Boss)

"I'm going to respond to that, but first... {Triple Cast} {Paralyze}" (Nene)

I paralyzed the three mooks, then removed their weapons, released the girl, telling her to stay with me, and turned back to face the boss of the group after I sent the mooks into a holding cell that was prepped for my personal use

"So, you were saying something about knowing the Imperial Family, including the princess? That's odd, I've never heard them saying they are on good terms with a criminal. First, why don't we go somewhere better than a dark alley to talk. Why don't you come over to my house? I'm sure we can talk without any eavesdroppers there, and I'll even let you bring, say, five of your mooks? Actually, I'd be fine with you bringing up to 20 or 30, but you can't be that scared of a little girl, right? I won't have any guards myself, and if a fight breaks out, even if you brought a few hundred, I would still be fine. I will return this girl to her family first though... If you really turn out to have ties to the Imperial Family, I'd be fine with letting them decide how to handle the situation. If not... I'll have you locked away for staining the name of Drachen with lies" (Nene)

"Sure thing. I'll go with you to the girl's house, and then you'll come with me to pick up some of my men. After that, you can use that {Gate} magic to bring us to your house... Wait, how many can fit in your house?" (Boss)

"Uh... like, 10 to 15 comfortably, or 30 if you are fine with us standing around without any food or drinks" (Nene)

"Then I'll bring 20 of my best men" (Boss)

After that, I returned the girl to her family, telling them not to let her or her sister out without a guard for the next few days, unless I say that I've dealt with all of the kidnappers, and then I went to the loan shark's building to pick up some of his men. Instead, what greeted me was a group of men who attacked me as soon as I entered the building, as their boss must have signaled them somehow. I beat them, sent them into the holding cell that was starting to get cramped, and brought the boss with me through {Gate}, without anyone else coming with us. When we got to the other side, he noticed that we were on the outside of the palace gates, and started laughing.

"You're more stupid than I gave you credit for if you think that I might believe that you live here. Why don't you take me to your real house to talk. After all, I am an important guest with ties to the Imperial Family, so you have to show me some hospitality. Otherwise, you could run away... but I'd still find you and crush you" (Boss)

"Just a minute... {Earth Wall}" (Nene)

I sealed off his escape route, left him there, and went to the guards in front of the gate, keeping him within earshot.

"Do you think that I could see the Emperor and Empress? I have someone who claims to be good friends with them and the princess, but I doubt that. Still, it wouldn't do to arrest him if he actually does know them" (Nene)

"Sorry, you'll need an appointment to see them. Would you like to get one in about... six months?" (Guard)

"Let me rephrase... I'd like to see them, and I'm positive that they would be able to see me sometime today. Tell them that the one who made the Adventurer's Guildmaster faint a year ago will be waiting for them" (Nene)

"I'm sorry, I can't bother them with that sort of -" (Guard)

"I'm sorry, I forgot to say what my name is. I'm the adventurer Nene. Why don't you look at my card" (Nene)

"Forgive me. I will send someone to inform them of your request. Please wait a few minutes" (Guard)

About five minutes later, the messenger came back, panted for a minute, and said something to the guard

"They will see you in audience room three in five minutes. Apparently, you know the way, is that so?" (Guard)

"I can do one better. I can go there without you opening the gate, as I've been there before, and can use {Gate} to get where I've been. I'll take down that wall, don't worry" (Nene)

I grabbed the loan shark, took down the wall, and used {Gate} to bring him to audience room three, just before my parents walked in.

"Oh, Nene, you got here fast. Did you use {Gate} to get here? Ah, and this must be the idiot who claimed to be friends with you to your face... I don't know him, so I think you can give us the story and arrest him without any problems on our end" (Mother)

"I'm sorry... what was that about being friends with this girl? I don't... wait..." (Loan Shark)

"I believe I said that I would bring you to my house to talk, didn't I? Well, here we are, in my house, talking. My name is Nene Drachen. It's not nice to meet you, mister kidnapping loan shark whose name doesn't matter to me. I guess I should also tell you that I'm an S rank adventurer, and that you are going to spend the rest of your life mining... unless your life ends in the next week or two" (Nene)

After a few minutes of explaining, I sent him to a cell, and a day later, I rounded up the rest of his crew, and went to the family of the girl to say it was safe and what had happened... save for my being anything more than an ordinary S rank adventurer... yeah, I said ordinary S rank. Oh, what's that you said? Ordinary and S rank are incompatible? Well, I guess ordinary for an S rank is more like it. Wait, I'm out of the ordinary, even for S ranks? You must have missed the part where I said that I was omitting my being more than ordinary, or are stupid enough to not see that it might mean that I know that I'm an extraordinary S rank. Besides, I was saying "save for my being anything more than an ordinary S rank" in the meaning of "save for my being a princess"