Smith’s Request

[03:05 PM]

Zaiden and the girls immediately surrounded me before being pulled to the cafeteria at lunch break. They interrogated me about my new house and wanted to visit it.

I told them that my companion was uncomfortable with strangers, so I couldn't take them to my house for now. They were satisfied when I told them that I would introduce my companion to them at a later date.

For now, that was enough to keep them from discovering my house. The class continued after that, and as usual, I didn't pay attention to the class and did Mana Breathing instead.

The class ended at 3 PM like usual. Because Smith was looking for me, I left the class without talking to Zaiden or the others. They understood that I was in a hurry from our conversation at lunch break with Ao, so they just said goodbye to me without stopping me.

I exited the main building immediately, following the merry students toward the entrance gate. They were joking and talking with their friends and seemingly had no worries about what was happening in the world. Such was the privilege of the ignorant.

For someone like me, who knew what would happen to the world, time seemed to flow faster and was chasing after me. Even now, Smith suddenly called me for a reason that I didn't know.

'Ao didn't know what Smith wanted from me either. That means it's something related to Rai or Awakener things.'

I tried to guess Smith's reason for calling me when I noticed a crowd that had formed near the entrance gate. The students were flocking to one place, creating a semi-circle around one side of the wall near the entrance gate.

With my sharp hearing, I was able to pick up a few things from the crowd.

"You're so pretty!" Asked one of the female students.

"Hey! Do you have a boyfriend?" Asked a playboy that was not as popular as Zaiden or me.

"May I ask who you are, miss?" Asked a student with glasses who looked strict.

As expected, they had a lot of spare time that they even stopped to crowd around a girl.

"What a stupid thing to do," I muttered to myself as I put my hands inside my pants pocket and walked past the crowd.

However, when I walked past the crowd, a familiar voice stopped me from the middle of the crowd.

"Vincent, wait."

I stopped on my track and followed the source of the voice. Because of the people that crowded around me, I was not able to see her figure, but I knew who had called me earlier.

"Chloe?" I asked while facing the crowd.

The crowd suddenly turned their attention to me. I scowled at them, and they immediately turned their heads away. They were terrified of just that. My reputation as a delinquent was still working nicely.

A second later, the owner of the voice that called me out earlier spoke.

"Yeah, It's me."

She jumped from the middle of the crowd and landed beside me. It was really Chloe, and she wore clothes that were similar to our uniform. The effect of her necklace changed her face, so no one recognized her as the Hero. Even so, she still gathered a lot of attention because she was pretty.

I turned to her and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I just finished my cooking class, so I thought of walking home together with you."

The students around us began to murmur with the people around them. Some even took pictures of us without even hiding their attempts.

'Fuck.'

This could be bad for me. But I couldn't do anything to them. My expression worsened, and Chloe noticed it.

"What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"Nothing." I shook my head at her.

Ah, fuck. I couldn't even blame Chloe for what she did, as she even went to the length of using the necklace to change her face when she visited me. The only thing that I could do right now was one.

I glared at the crowd of students and cautioned them, "Oi. If I find my picture spread on the internet, get ready to be beaten, you bastards."

Their bodies flinched as they kept their phones back in their pockets. Some of them were sweating as they averted their gazes, avoiding direct eye contact with me. Finally, the crowd began to disperse at the instruction of the strict glasses-wearing boy earlier. At least with this, I could minimize the leak of information.

Although no one would connect me to Rai, some would still be suspicious if suddenly a girl with the name of Chloe appeared in the Academy to find me. I clicked my tongue at a blunder that I had made. Unfortunately, I forgot to warn Chloe about it.

"Tsk!"

However, what had happened couldn't be changed. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and smiled at Chloe.

"My bad, Chloe. I showed you something rather unbecoming of me."

She shook her head; her eyes held a hint of guilt. "No, it's fine. I'm sorry, Vincent. It looks like I made a mistake by coming here."

"You're not. It's just… I wanted to lay low for a while. If a beautiful girl like you suddenly appeared in the Academy to find me, the rumors about me would go wild, and I wouldn't be able to keep a low profile. I already talked about having a companion that lived with me with my friends, so it's not a problem."

'Well, it's not like I ever managed to keep a low profile in the first place.' I added in my head.

I was only hoping that Zaiden and the girls wouldn't bother me tomorrow after they heard about Chloe from the rumors. That would be troublesome, and I wanted to avoid that at all costs. But… It seems that I couldn't avoid being bothered, huh?

Chloe smiled. "I see… Then, should we go home?"

"Ah, about that… I need to make a stop somewhere first."

"Huh?" She tilted her head cutely. There was curiosity mixed in her voice. "Where?"

"My Master's place."

***

[03:20 PM]

[Waterflow Training Facility]

We arrived at the training facility after walking for a while. On the way, I told Chloe about my Master, Smith. She was surprised when she heard that he was the Sword Saint.

Even someone like her knew the story about Smith, the Sword Saint. He was famous for clearing an S-Rank Dungeon with the headmaster of the Academy, Jack, and an anonymous Awakener when they were still active. Those old men were really active when they were in their prime.

In front of the training facility, Chloe was looking around the area curiously, mixed with excitement, as this would be the first time she met the Sword Saint.

I knocked on the training center's door and called out to Smith. "Master, I am here."

A few seconds later, a voice answered me from inside.

"Just enter, lad! Go to the training area and wait for me there with the other lad."

"He noticed me…" Chloe whispered, surprised that Smith noticed her presence.

"It's not a surprise. He's the freaking Sword Saint."

"I guess so."

I opened the door and entered with Chloe. As Smith instructed before, we went to the training area, a dojo located at the end of the hallway. Because there were no chairs, we sat adjacent on the wooden floor.

"Vincent, I wanted to ask something. Is it okay?" Asked Chloe hesitantly.

I smiled kindly at her and answered, "Just ask me anything. We are partners. Don't hesitate to ask anything, even if it's a bit sensitive and personal. I won't mind about it, and I will answer you as much as I can."

"Then… How did you become the Sword Saint's disciple? I-I mean… Sword Saint had hidden himself after he retired. How did you find him?"

"Hmm. That's a rather hard question." I mumbled as I touched my chin. "Let's say that I found him coincidentally, and he was impressed by my swordsmanship talent. That's why he decided to make me his disciple." I smirked proudly at Chloe.

I was just joking in order to avoid the question, but Chloe unexpectedly believed what I said as she nodded her head. "I see... You didn't tell me your Talents yet…" Her voice was a little down when she said the last part of the sentence.

"Oh… right…" I forgot to tell her because we retreated early yesterday. I looked at Chloe seriously and said, "Please don't tell anyone about this."

Sensing that I was serious, she narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Alright."

After coughing a little to clear my throat, I told her my secret that no one knew before, "I have 4 Talents."

Her eyes slightly widened as she asked, "Really?"

I nodded my head, "Yes, I have S-Rank in Enhancement and Sharpshooting Talents. Also, A-Rank in Swordsmanship and Magic Talent."

Chloe's mouth gaped. She tried to say something, but it seemed to be stuck in her throat. At that moment, I heard footsteps coming from the hallway. I quickly clapped my hands to snap Chloe out of her thoughts.

"Master is here, Chloe."

She gasped a little before looking at me.

"Sorry… I… I couldn't say anything because it was surprising."

"I know. I would be surprised too if someone told me that they had something absurd."

"Yes, I will tell you my Talents later, at home."

"Okay."

At that time, the door of the training area was opened, and Smith appeared from beyond with his right arm put inside his training clothes.

"Thanks for coming, lads."

"It's not a problem, Master. I heard from Ao that you called me, Is there anything that... you possibly need from me, Master?" I asked Smith with a careful tone.

In the novel, he was famous for asking Zaiden to do something impossible at short notice. I had prepared myself to hear something a bit absurd from him today.

"Hahahaha. Don't be too tense. I won't ask something impossible out of you." He laughed and walked toward me. He sat down right in front of me and looked at Chloe. "Hou? What a wonderful mask." He muttered as he stroked his beard.

Chloe was immediately on guard, but that only made Smith chuckle in amusement.

"Kukuku, what an amusing brat. Don't worry; my mouth will not spread your real identity. The same goes with my disciple."

"Hahahaha. Thank you for that…"

He could see through the illusion made by the necklace. As expected from the former S-Rank Awakener, he was a monster under human skin.

"More importantly, lad. I was thinking of asking you something else, but I changed my mind after I heard your Talents." A smirk formed on his face.

I somehow had a bad feeling about this. All the requests from Smith were always troublesome ones, but the reward from completing his request was really appealing.

"What is it, Master?"

"You… Make me an item with an effect like that brat's. I prefer the one that I couldn't see through, not a lousy illusion like that." He said as he pointed at Chloe's necklace.

At that moment, the first thing that came to my mind was a thought that said, 'Are you crazy?' but I kept it in my mind.

He wanted me to create an item to change someone's mask without being able to be seen through him, S-Rank Awakener?

He was asking for something troublesome, for sure. The materials needed to make such items would only be available in A-Ranked Dungeons from a monster called Dark Chameleon, which specialized in camouflage.

An item made from normal materials, such as Chloe's necklace, wouldn't do. The material used to make a special item like that was an extremely important factor in getting the effect that Smith wanted. A material from a monster adept at illusion or camouflage would be perfect to create an item with an Illusion effect.

It would further strengthen the effect of the enhancement. But it was too troublesome to secure those materials and make the item from scratch.

"About that–" I was about to refuse Smith's request, but he suddenly interrupted me.

"I think I will give my treasured Brahmastra to the one who managed to make that mask…" He pretended to talk to the air as he glanced at me.

"Of course, I will take your request gladly, Master!"

But no matter how troublesome the request was, if the reward of that request was a sword artifact wielded by Rama in the mythology, then it would be worth it. After all, that sword Artifact was Smith's main weapon when he was in his prime.

I smiled brightly at Smith with my hand on my chest to show sincerity.

"Is that so?! This Master is glad that you accepted it, my student!"

"Don't worry about it, Master! I will deliver the mask as soon as possible!"

"I am glad to have such a promising student. Hahahahaha."

"Of course! I am the best student that you can hope for, Master. Hahahahaha."

Both of us laughed loudly with evil smiles as our voices echoed inside this wrecked building.

Chloe was looking at us on the sideline with a confused gaze. She couldn't understand what happened, but then she joined us, laughing loudly while putting on an evil expression.

"Fufufufufu."

We looked like the members of an evil society that planned the destruction of the world.

That day, everyone who passed the Waterflow Training Facility was confused by the loud laugh. They reported a ghost-type monster haunting the wrecked building to the local authorities. But that is a story for another time.