yemalu

"Thank you again for saving us, Miss Aster, Miss Katsuki," Leonard bowed for the umpteenth time.

I\'ve already told him it was fine multiple times, especially when they had helped me extract the goblins\' Mana Crystals despite not needing to.

"Still, are you really F ranks?" One of the other boys asked in wonder.

"Well… We only started less than a week ago, but we have been training ourselves for quite some time," I admitted.

Leonard gasped, "But that\'s still really impressive! I would have thought that both of you were already experienced Mercenaries!"

Well, I guess I can say that both of us do have live combat experience so it\'s also quite accurate to say that we are indeed experienced. Although I suppose anything would be better compared to Leonard here, no offence.

His stats already told me that he\'s quite inexperienced, especially when both of his skills are only at tier one.  Even goblins have their Martial Skill proficiency at tier one you know?

Besides that, we decided to return back to the city with Leonard\'s group.

I did manage to have Katsuki complete her first set of exercises and it looks like it wasn\'t something she would struggle with. Thus, I told her to increase the numbers by three times the next round and if it was still easy, then four times.

"Is Miss Aster related to a famous Mercenary?" Leonard\'s little sister asked.

I shook my head, "I don\'t think so. I don\'t have a father and my Mother is a… Well… Relative normal housewife… I guess?"

I don\'t even know what I should even say Mother worked as… Why is my family so weird?

Katsuki didn\'t say anything either, probably because she remembers Mother\'s words about not speaking for me unless given permission, even though she\'s currently not dressed in her usual maid uniform.

We soon reached the gates of the city just as the sky was starting to turn orange, joining the queue to enter it.

And just because the universe seemed to think I didn\'t face enough troubles yet, a group of eight older Mahun Mercenaries walked up from behind and cut in the queue in front of us.

Leonard and his group scowled at them but they said nothing, was this a common occurrence?

"Are we just letting them do that?" I asked.

"They are D rank Mercenaries, Miss Aster… They are in a different league of their own… Newbies like us can\'t even compare…" Leonard sighed.

I looked at him with an absolutely confused expression, "Leonard… Did you somehow forget that we took care of those goblins? Quite easily as well, I might add?"

"Umm… I admit that Miss Aster is indeed strong, but D rank mercenaries can do that too. They are even able to face boss monsters like the Hell Wolf Alphas…"

Well, I know that from watching Jack fight one with his party.

Just in case, I checked them all with [Screened] and… Oh… They are all weaker than Jack, which means I could take them all with both arms tied behind my back while hopping around on one foot. How did these guys even become D ranks?

I was just about to call them out when I heard a roar of outrage coming from behind us.

"You!! You\'re that girl from yesterday!!"

I turned around and standing behind us was the fat brat and his entourage that tried to extort me of my rabbits yesterday. What was his name again? Clown boy?

I rolled my eyes at him, "What do you want, clown boy?"

His eyes widened, "How dare you?! Do you think you can run away from me this time?! Not today! Hey! Hey, you!!"

The Mercenaries in front of us turned around to look at him with their eyebrows raised.

"I\'ll pay you guys a small silver coin each if you beat up this girl over here!"

The man closest to me gaped, "Woah, you serious? One hundred Creas just for that? What\'s the catch?"

"No catch! You just need to beat her up until I\'m satisfied!"

"Oh damn, free money guys! Sorry missus, but it is what it is!"

Katsuki stood in front of me protectively while glaring at the men, "You would all truly do this just for a bit of money?"

The man in front laughed, "Little girl, don\'t you know Mercenaries do anything for money? We\'re only after the missus behind you so step aside before you get hurt."

Unexpectedly, Leonard stepped up beside Katsuki, "You… You\'ll have to… You\'ll have to get through me first!"

"And me!" His sister shouted, joining his side.

"And us too!" Another of the boys roared, joining Katsuki\'s other side.

All of Leonard\'s party members now stood protectively in front of me, even though it\'s clear from the way they were shivering that they were most definitely deathly afraid of the mean looking men in front of them.

Oh these innocent kids… Did they really get that attached to me after I saved them once?

Unperturbed, the men cracked their knuckles, "If you think we have a problem hitting little boys and girls, then you\'ll be dead wrong. Now step aside before we beat you all up with her!"

Leonard wanted to say something but I interrupted him before he could.

"It\'s ok, you guys can stand back."

Katsuki turned to me, "Are you sure, Mistress?"

Leonard and his group noticed what she used to address me and widened their eyes, though the men in front of us seemed unaffected.

"I\'m sure, let me handle this."

She nodded and took a step to the side, allowing me to make my way to the front and look up at the group of men in front of me.

The one who has been talking so far grinned, "So accepting your fate eh? Smart girl. Maybe we\'ll give you a cut of it for helping us earn some easy money!"

I held up a hand and turned towards Katsuki, "I just want to make sure… Mercenaries fighting each other is completely ok?"

"As long as it\'s not within the city, Mistress, no one will say anything."

"Even if they were to kill each other?"

"Not to that extent, Mistress. That would still be murder unless it\'s a justifiable reason."

"Hmm… I see. I don\'t suppose self defence would work?"

"That would be a legitimate reason, Mistress."

Oh good. Not that I plan to kill them of course but you never know.

I turned back to the men, "Ok, here\'s the deal. You guys can first apologise for cutting the line and queue up behind us right now and I\'ll forget about this. Or you can insist on taking clown boy\'s money and fight me which would result in me possibly breaking your limbs and leaving you outside the gate in a miserable mess. What would it be?"

The man in front looked me up and down, "Do you think just because you\'re a Meslatar you\'re better than us? Wait, don\'t tell me you think we\'re going to fight you one on one? Ahahaha! Fat chance, missus! Did all your brains go into those boobs of yours?! Actually, you know what? Why not let us play with those and we\'ll forget about it? Good deal eh?"

The other men also laughed and agreed with him.

I narrowed my eyes, "Ok… Apologise for both the line cutting and that comment and then queue up at the back or I\'ll break your limbs and your faces before making you all beg for mercy until I am satisfied. Your choice."

"Fucking arrogant bitch!!" He roared, punching towards my face.

"Miss Aster, look out!!" Leonard yelled unnecessarily.

I raised my palm and caught his hand, pulling him aside before punching his elbow with my other fist.

The crack of his bone breaking was loud enough to startle everyone before I pulled my right foot back and kicked him in his left knee, snapping it as well.

The man screamed out in pain and I pulled back my foot once more to kick him in his other knee, also breaking it from underneath him and causing him to hang from my grip as he lost strength in his legs.

Transferring him to my other side, I struck his shoulder with my elbow, dislocating it out of its joint before I broke his arm at the elbow with another punch.

His screams of pain were getting a little bit annoying so I went ahead to punch him in the face, his nose snapping to the side with a crack and causing his screams to turn into a choked gurgle.

I then went ahead to give him another punch towards the side of his face and dislocated his jaw, which also sent several of his teeth flying out at the same time.

Done with the first idiot, I let him drop onto the ground in an unconscious heap before turning to look at the seven remaining men who were still staring at me in shock.

I shrugged, "As I said, you guys wanted this."

Then I leapt at them.