NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14 - The Overwhelming Power of the King
“Hey! Takehiko!”
Another man ran up to the man who had been knocked down.
Rubbing his cheek and steadying his shaken brain, the man stood up.
The two men turned and glared at me, shouting angrily.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“You punched us out of nowhere! You must be ready to die!”
The two men stood up and attacked Kenya with fists and swords. One was a swordsman, the other seemed to be a monk. They probably didn’t intend to kill him, but if this continued, it would still hurt a lot.
Kenya swung his katana with one hand. The single strike deflected the man’s steel sword, sending it flying far away. The man was stunned.
Kenya caught the other man’s fist with his left hand. He grabbed the fist tightly.
“What the hell are you doing? That’s my line!”
His voice was incredibly low, filled with anger toward Sato.
Then, he squeezed the fist harder.
“Ouch! Ouch! Time! Time!”
The man fell to his knees, begging for mercy. The man whose sword had been deflected also sensed the difference in their abilities and started to apologize. Their equipment was probably the Knight series. Against Kenya’s King series, they stood no chance against the overwhelming power of the king.
“S-sorry, if we did anything, we apologize. Please forgive us.”
The men, rotating their palms, began to apologize. They could tell they couldn’t win any further, a judgment fitting of adventurers.
“Apologize to her and turn yourselves in.”
“What for? Hey, you!”
Kenya pointed at Misuzu. The men understood immediately upon seeing her.
“Don’t pretend you don’t recognize her.”
“Oh, so that’s it… you were fooled by that woman—ouch! Ouch!”
“Are you apologizing or what?”
“We’re sorry, we apologize, just let go of our hands!”
Kenya released his grip. The men bowed deeply to Misuzu, rubbing their foreheads against the ground.
“We’re so sorry!”
It was a perfectly executed dogeza, as if they were used to apologizing. It was impressive how they could discard their pride and rotate their palms.
“No, it’s okay, it’s my fault.”
Misuzu extended her hand and shook her head, stepping back and saying she was also at fault.
“Misuzu!”
“Yikes!”
Misuzu let out a strange sound when Kenya suddenly called her name loudly.
“You did nothing wrong. It’s never the victim’s fault. The one who bullies is always wrong. The victim is the victim, the perpetrator is the perpetrator.”
Kenya spoke as if convincing himself. Although he wasn’t bullied, it was the same to Kenya.
“These guys are the perpetrators, you’re the victim. You don’t need to apologize.”
Misuzu decided to accept the apology straightforwardly.
“Okay… I’ll accept your apology. Make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“Y-yeah!”
“Thank you!”
“Then, we’ll be going…”
As they tried to leave, Kenya patted their shoulders.
Then, with a smile, he said,
“Turn yourselves in and accept the appropriate punishment.”
“We can’t?”
“No, you can’t.”
Kenya took them through the gate to the first floor and handed them over to the Dungeon Association to turn themselves in. This opened the gate, allowing direct access from the first floor to the tenth floor in future challenges.
The Dungeon Association oversees this dungeon. While not police or military, it’s an organization run by the country.
It was created due to the lack of legal structure within the dungeon. According to the Dungeon Association’s rules, the two would likely be judged.
As a result, their adventurer qualifications were revoked. You can’t become an adventurer without applying for it.
With their qualifications permanently revoked, they could never enter the dungeon again. Though it wouldn’t have been surprising if they were charged with attempted murder, Misuzu settled it, saying it wasn’t necessary.
“Is this okay?”
“Yes, it is! You were angrier than me, Kenya.”
“Well, sorry about that.”
Indeed, I had projected myself onto Misuzu and those guys onto Sato.
Since our business was finished, I decided to head to Ai’s place, but Misuzu grabbed my sleeve.
“So, Kenya, can you give me your contact information? I became an adventurer, but I have no one to rely on…”
“Huh? Sure, no problem.”
Then Misuzu and I exchanged contact information. With a “ping,” Misuzu’s contact appeared on my phone.
“Which high school do you attend?”
“High school? I attend Kibogaoka High.”
“Oh, a friend from middle school goes there! Also, could you tell me your address?”
“Address? Why?”
“Just in case.”
“I don’t know what just in case means… but it’s in Saitama Prefecture, XXXXXX.”
Misuzu quickly typed Kenya’s address into her phone with her long nails.
“And your family structure, please. Just in case.”
“What for? Well, right now, I live with my younger sister.”
“A younger sister… if the parents are gone, maybe there’s a chance…”
Misuzu mumbled something and then smiled brightly.
“Then, let me thank you properly next time! See you again, Senior Kenya ♥.”
Misuzu left. Her last smile left a strong impression in my mind.