Black Clover: Nah I'd Lose

(This week's powerstone goal is 550 Powerstones, we didn't reached the previous week's goal, so normally you wouldn't have gotten a bonus chapter on Wednesday, however, I think the current arc is going a bit too slow, so I wanted to pace it a bit, and the only option in my current capabilities is to give extra chapters, so do you guys want chapters on Wednesday and Thursday? {If you do say yes, you better be ready to give powerstones})

Time -- ? Location -- ?

A little boy could be seen standing close to the door. 

However, if one looked closely, one would notice that he was listening to the conversation happening inside. 

"We are being accused by the Rozzo family of establishing trade with the Diamond Kingdom," a male voice said gravely. 

"That's ridiculous. Though we are situated near the border, it doesn't mean they could blindly accuse us. Do they have some proof?" a lady's voice could be heard, laced with shock. 

"That's the thing that worries me. They have not given any proof, but magic knights would be soon dispatched to investigate. Though we haven't made any contact with the Diamond Kingdom, I am worried about our family getting framed somehow." 

"We need to think about how they could frame us so that we could prevent this from happening," the lady said in a solemn tone. 

"Indeed. I will have my assistants get to work, along with personally delving into it. Don't let the kids go out during this period," the man said.

"I will help you." 

The boy who was initially outside the door could be seen nowhere when the conversation ended. 

---

"We are finally here. I thought I would die from that much training," Erza said while stretching out her legs. 

"All you did was sit on that boat throughout," Akeru rolled his eyes while storing the boat in the spatial pouch. 

Having such things with him was really convenient at times like these. 

"It didn't really matter at whatever position I was in. It would have been painful regardless," Erza rolled her eyes while putting the hood cap on her head. 

The others were also wearing similar hoods that covered their entire body, such that their face would only be visible to the other party if they were close to them. 

Erza had also helped them with makeup, increasing the credibility of their disguise. 

They were currently standing in a desolate area near the shore. Akeru had chosen this place with the help of his sensory field and Still Spectator, calculating the area with the highest probability of remaining without human presence. 

"So, what's our first plan, boss?" Erza asked. 

"Should we also create some other names for us?" Ren's words made everyone silent. 

They hadn't considered this until now. 

"Ahem, better to make them up beforehand," Akeru said while internally feeling embarrassed that he had overlooked this aspect. 

'Well, last time I did this, I didn't really require using my name, though I wasn't really looking to find more nuanced information.' 

"I will go with Luminous," Kaiser was the first one to decide his name. 

"..." 

"..."

"..."

"Ahem, anyway, if we are going with such type of names, I will go with Scarlet," Erza chimed in second. 

'Not you too.' 

Akeru and Ren were speechless at the naming "choices" of Kaiser and Erza. 

"Oh, well, I will go with Zinnia," Akeru spoke up the name which came to his mind. 

"You had that name prepared beforehand, didn't you?" Erza asked while looking at him suspiciously. 

"I will use my right to remain silent," Akeru's face didn't betray any of his internal thoughts. 

"Well, I will go with Kevin then," Ren decided to go with a more normal name similar to Akeru's. 

"Cool. Now it's time to gather some information. Let's first get some information about this town and find a place to crash. You guys already have this country's currency." 

With that, they started moving deeper into the city. 

Though their luck might have been good or bad, before even finding an inn, they were confronted by some uncouth people.

"What do we have here? New faces?" 

"Oh, there's a girl in that group. Nee-chan~ Please marry me." 

"You need to give protection money to our boss. Seeing how weak you guys are, it would be better to be under us." 

Akeru was really shocked at seeing this group of people. 

'What do you mean weak? That's my line. I don't even sense a proper Intermediate level knight. I am afraid that these guys would die if even Kaiser sneezes.' 

"It seems you really know what situation you are in. Luckily, your group has somebody smart in them. Previous buffoons need to be taught by giving them practical lessons," one gang member mistook Akeru's shock for fear of being outmatched. 

Akeru ignored the oblivious guy. 'Also, what's with so many single people? Though the last one I saw was lustful, this guy seems love-struck. Last time I checked, there was almost a 1:1 ratio of males to females in this world, or was that wrong?' Akeru was confused about the information he had. 

Before anybody could say anything, a presence made itself known. 

'Second Class Intermediate Magic Knight. He should be the leader,' Akeru thought, while internally facepalming when realizing that every member of the gang was technically in his mana zone. 

He could choose to silence them in an instant if the need arose. 

"So-" The leader, who was oozing out pride and arrogance, was kicked in the balls by Erza, making him drop to the ground on his butt. 

His face went pale due to pain, but he hadn't reached his position as the gang leader without struggles. 

He mentally reached out to open his grimoire, but even before the grimoire could start floating, he felt something cold on his head. 

The gang leader looked up to see the cyan-haired lady's finger on him. 

The finger had metal on it, with a hole in it, looking like the opening of a gun barrel. 

He instantly realized that he could be killed at any instant. 

This thought solidified when she oozed out a bit of her mana, making his underlings who were going to shout have their faces drained of blood. 

They immediately shut up due to how terrified they were. 

The gap between Intermediate and Advanced Knight was significant, even when comparing Fifth Class Advanced Knight and Peak Intermediate Knight. 

However, it is possible to overcome that gap with growth in battle, as grimoires evolve to make their users adapt to the challenges they face. 

However, things are very different when discussing the difference between peak-level Intermediate Knights and nearly peak-level Advanced Knights. 

If you are not a protagonist of a series, you better hope that you can survive the confrontation with some luck. 

"Well, you better answer my questions if you want to leave here alive," Erza said with the sweetest smile Akeru had seen on her face. 

However, for the actual receivers of the smile, they only saw a demon in the form of a young girl asking for their souls. 

"What a show-off," Akeru clicked his tongue while rolling his eyes. 

He took a few steps until he was beside Erza.

"You are going to scare them so much that they would become unconscious, nee-chan. You will give answers, right?" Akeru asked this question while looking at the leader. 

The latter nodded very quickly, like a kid nodding when his mother asked if he had done his homework in exchange for chocolate.

"See, he is such a nice guy. I knew it. No need to kill them," Akeru said with a bright smile. 

For some reason, the gang leader and his cronies thought that Akeru had the smile of an angel. 

Erza was speechless at Akeru's words. 

'What a shameless person.' 

The other two behind them were also speechless at Akeru's acting.

With that, the quartet gained a decent amount of knowledge about not only the town but also some other things about the Diamond Kingdom that Akeru wanted to confirm. 

After gaining information, Akeru and Erza looked into each other's eyes. 

They were internally deciding whether to kill these guys or not. 

Akeru looked at the other two members and decided that it wasn't worth killing them. 

They soon took shelter in one of the inns for the rest of the day.

***

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