Ranking System

"Charles, have you been here all night? I have been searching for you."

Joanne found me drinking at a bar. She was angry that I had not told her where I was. Anyway, after a night of rest, Joanne seemed better.

"Drinking this much is incredible. I had never met someone who drank for eight hours straight. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I can\'t get drunk. Period."

"Can\'t get drunk? Such a pity."

The bartender interjected his opinion. He wondered if I could pay the bills. Since Joanne was here, I had no reason to stay.

"How much would this cost?"

"Four hundred thousand fibs."

Since I was done drinking, I paid the bartender. While it put a dent in my wallet, I could always regain them.

"Let\'s go. I need to find Constance."

"With the compass, I\'m sure you will find them."

Upon leaving the bar, I felt some presence following me. Joanne felt the same and glanced at me, giving me a signal. I nodded in response, telling her I knew what would happen.

I didn\'t know the exact reason, but I could guess that it was because of my race or the money I gave to the bartender. Once we hid in an alley, our pursuers appeared out in the open.

"So what do you guys want from me? Depending on your reason, the pain you will receive is determined by your answer."

"How dare you reject Lady Samantha\'s approach!"

"Who?"

Who the fuck was Samantha? Did these people get the wrong person? I don\'t remember meeting someone that important for these people to ambush me.

"Did you guys get the wrong person? I didn\'t talk to anyone."

Joanne had a surprised expression upon seeing what I did. Was her faith in me that low? I won\'t just hook up with anyone. As for the stalkers, they began to discuss."

"Did we get the wrong person? He really doesn\'t seem to know Lady Samantha."

"Let\'s check if our information is wrong."

"Sorry to disturb you, but could you wait?"

"Sure."

These people were easy to convince, but why would I wait? If I wasn\'t the culprit, there was no reason to stay.

"Joanne, let\'s just leave. I want to find Constance immediately."

"Didn\'t you agree to stay?"

"What\'s the point if I wasn\'t the person to do it? There won\'t be trouble if I leave."

Joanne, who saw my point, agreed. I already had my compass out, and it was time for us to leave the town. Once we headed toward the main gate, the guard from yesterday was still there.

"Did you enjoy your stay?"

"This place was better than I thought. The bar was great."

"When you say that, I\'ve got to go there tonight. Have a great trip."

"HOLD IT!!! IT WAS YOU BASTARD!!!"

"..."

It was those groups of stalkers again. This time, they confirmed that it was me. I didn\'t know what I had done to deserve this, but I had to take them out.

"What problem did you cause?"

"I don\'t know."

I shrugged my shoulders at the guard. The group of six was pissed at how I quickly dismissed them.

"Once we kill you! We will drag your corpse to Lady Samantha!!!"

Did they just discuss how to kill me with a guard right beside me? I looked at the guard, and he glanced back at me and returned it to the six stooges.

"Can you tell me who this Samantha is? I geniunely don\'t know."

"It\'s our lady boss!"

"The most beautiful person in existence!"

"Our love!"

"Her beautiful large eye!"

Hearing the last compliment, it didn\'t take me long to realize that it was the cyclopes that they were talking about. And hearing them talk more about it made me realize that these simps weren\'t worth listening to.

"I get it. So why does my rejection of her matter? Go cheer her up alone if you\'re her fan. What a bunch of idiots..."

I whispered the last part only for Joanne and the guard to hear. The guard, who had been confused the whole time, now understood the situation. He then looked at the six idiots, his eyes glaring at them for their idiocy.

"Who cares about that? We want justice!"

"???"

Justice??? The only justice that will be served is when these six are six feet underground. The guard, finding this problem ridiculous, tried to interfere.

"Any more useless talk, and you six will be detained. You\'re sullying our town\'s image."

"You think a guard can scare us? If we get rid of you. No one will know."

"The audacity!"

Before the guard acted, I made a pit hole under the six idiots. The six had fallen and were unable to get up. I could have killed them, but being detained wasn\'t a terrible option.

"I\'m leaving for real this time. Take these idiots out."

The guard and I weren\'t close. There was no need for an emotional goodbye. He saluted me, and we left this small town.

"Charles. The compass isn\'t working. I can\'t see the direction of it."

"It only works for me. Bounded items only work for the host."

My compass was an accessory to those that could see it. Only I could use it unless I died and the compass recognized someone else as its master. I wonder if this compass of mine has an ego. A further test would have to be done to see if it works.

Anyway, the compass pointed south. Joanne and I have no idea what will happen for the remainder, but I only hope there will be no distractions.

It wasn\'t until three hours later that we stumbled across a different ambush.

"Come out."

Joanne and I had already noticed someone trailing us. Being stalked wasn\'t something anyone wanted to experience. Our stalkers knew their cover had been compromised, and hiding was pointless.

"Did you guys want something from us? None of us are residents of this world. Why make it more complicated than it needs to be?"

"We aren\'t here to harm you. We wanted to test you."

Tested? I didn\'t need their approval. I was already being patient enough to let them live.

"Hurry and tell me what you want. I\'m in a hurry."

These people didn\'t like my attitude. I didn\'t care, as I was not here to please them.

"We\'re seeing if we can recruit potential members for our group."

Recruiting? There was no need for me to see what they were up to. I had my problems to deal with.

"Whoever you want to recruit has nothing to do with us. I have to do something else."

Without listening to their words, we left. Joanne was in her thoughts when we returned to our path.

"Charles. Ever since I met you, there have been too many events happening. Is this usual for you?"

"Yes."

She began to wonder even more as we continued. I can\'t blame her. The things I encountered were too much for an average person.

"Stop."

The people that we rejected stopped us from continuing. I was inches away from drowning them.

"You don\'t understand. There\'s a monster up ahead. We need all the help we can get to defeat it."

So they wanted me to join them to defeat a monster. If that is all, I can do it myself.

"I can defeat the monster myself. There\'s no need to come with me."

Those who tried to recruit me sighed. The group of three thought I was excessively stubborn and gave up trying to convince me.

Nevertheless, they wanted to see what I could do against the monster. I was bothered that they were still following me, but since they had no malicious intentions, I didn\'t mind. They would leave me alone after I killed the monster blocking this road.

"Charles. It\'s a wyrm."

I could see why these people were having trouble crossing. Wyrms were only below dragons in strength. Even so, they weren\'t something anyone could smoothly deal with.

"I can take it on."

After fighting Agnus continuously, I learned something. The dragon-slaying property had significant effects on them. They would do almost triple the damage of a usual strike. I applied a dragon-slaying property curse to myself and ran toward the wyrm.

"I thought he was arrogant, but I think they would be evenly matched."

Evenly matched? I wasn\'t using my full force. I was a bit rusty and wanted this opportunity to use this monster as my punching bag. Within a few rounds, I felt my condition reach its peak, and I felt refreshed.

"Wyrm, come under me. Being my mount should be your honor."

I used the blood of an Elder Evil Dragon to suppress the wyrm. My aura had suppressed the wyrm along with Joanne and the other three.

The wyrm reluctantly agreed, sensing it was no match against me. It was a shame that this wild beast couldn\'t communicate with me, but I had gotten myself a mount.