The man’s blue robe was pristine.
If he claimed he had just slain a Grade 1 beast, nobody would have believed him. He looked more like a spectator than the main character in this situation, but the spear he was holding gave away the truth. He really had killed the beast.
He wore a surprised expression, as he never would have expected to meet someone else in such a desolate place.
But before he could say anything, the young woman calmly said, “Since you were the one who killed the beast, I won’t bully you. Leave now, and I’ll make sure you get promoted as soon as you go back.”
The man frowned slightly. What is she talking about?
That subtle change in his expression didn’t go unnoticed by the young woman, and her tone turned displeased.
“What? You want more? You’d better not be too greedy, or you’ll end up with nothing.”
Despite having witnessed the beast die by this man's hands, she showed no fear when speaking to him. There was even a sense of superiority in her tone, as if it didn’t matter who she was talking to, they were supposed to thank her and be on their way.
While she stared at him, he noticed the rapier strapped at her waist and drifted into his thoughts.
Eh? She uses a rapier too? But she has such a bad temper. Compared to her, my daughter is ten times better. No, a hundred times better. Wait, they can’t even be compared. He thought, nodding inwardly as the image of a calm woman with a gentle smile and mostly icy blue hair, streaked with a few black strands, formed in his mind.
It was Cassidy.
And the man standing there was, of course, Victor.
He had long since started traveling across Earth to find Grade 1 beasts to hone himself against.
He had gone from west to east, south to north; at one point, he had even tried exploring the ocean, but discovered that although he could kill some of the beasts there, their numbers were simply too high.
Back then, he saw no hope of coming out alive if he delved too deep, so he made the decision to leave and continue his training on land.
Before that, though, he promised himself he would return one day to explore it fully.
Since stepping back onto land, he hadn’t set foot in a city for a long time. His only contact with other humans came from the occasional call with his daughter and a few sparse encounters with other warriors.
Not even Jack and the others knew where he was.
One could imagine his surprise at meeting a young woman in such a deserted place but…her attitude was making him miss being alone.
The young woman saw his thoughtful expression shifting rapidly and said, “I don’t have time to wait for you to make up your mind. I’ll be taking this beast’s body while you think whatever you’re thinking.”
She took a calm step toward the beast and reached out to grab its body. But before she could touch anything, Victor appeared in front of her, making her hand stop mid-air.
This made her smile, but that smile didn’t reach her eyes.
As if dropping the act, she said coldly, “Obstructing an officer of the Federation on a mission is a severe offense. Now I won’t just be taking the beast’s body, I’ll also bring you back for questioning on suspicion of acting against the Federation.”
Victor raised an eyebrow. So she’s someone from Jonathan’s side and not from Nemesis. For a moment, I thought she was trying to promote me into my daughter’s organization.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The thought made Victor smile ruefully, but he quickly composed himself. She’s young but already hunting Grade 1 beasts. It’s best if I find out who she is and report back, just in case Cassie doesn’t know about her.
He said calmly, “Officer? You aren’t wearing any uniform, nor did you state your identity before making a demand. How am I supposed to believe you’re an officer?”
The young woman’s fingers twitched.
She seldom went out, and even less often needed to provide her identity, so she had forgotten about this detail. Usually, the missions she took were so high level that anyone who encountered her already had an inkling of who she was.
But this time, it seemed she had met someone completely clueless despite him being so strong.
It made her wonder how that was possible.
After all, killing Grade 1 beasts meant one held a high position in the Federation and thus should at least know of her, but clearly, that wasn’t the case.
She didn’t think too much about it and cleared her throat. “I’m Mavis. Here’s my identity token.”
Victor looked at the token, noticing the words “Special Agent” carved on its surface. There were no other details. It seemed that the title alone was meant to explain everything.
What is Jonathan up to? From the looks of it, this is clearly a high ranking Federation token, but I’ve never heard of such a rank. I’ll report back to Cassie, this feels odd. He thought.
Outwardly, he simply nodded and said, “Alright, now I know you’re truly an officer…”
Mavis nodded and stretched her hand out again to grab the body.
“…but I still won’t give you the beast’s body. I killed it, and I’ll be the one reporting back.”
Victor touched the carcass and stored it in his Inventory right before Mavis’s widening eyes.
He glanced at her and said, “I’ll go ahead.”
Victor walked away, leaving a stunned Mavis frozen on the spot.
It was only when he had become no more than a dot in the distance that she snapped out of her reverie and murmured, “You won’t be getting away unless I tell you so.”
A flash of lightning reflected in her pupils, and her figure seemed to vanish from sight.
“Hmm?” Victor sensed something and stopped in place. He turned his head just in time to see Mavis appear in front of him, her fist already on its way toward his back.
Petty, he thought as he fully turned around. He sidestepped, and his hand shot forward, easily catching her wrist.
“What?!” Mavis exclaimed in shock as she felt his grip clamp around her arm. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected the man before her to react to her speed.
She knew best how fast she had been traveling at that moment and what kind of reflexes one needed to have to react thus why she was so shocked.
Victor’s cold eyes stared down at her. “Resorting to a sneak attack because I refused your so-called order? Are you seriously from the army or…” He stopped there, then shook his head.
“Never mind. I’ll let this one go because you’re young but if you try to attack me again, don’t blame me for not showing mercy.”
He released her wrist and turned around. This time, his figure shot toward the horizon without the casual air he’d had before. His mood had clearly been ruined.
Mavis remained stunned for several minutes before murmuring, “To react to my speed… I know only two people capable of that. To think I’d meet a third today. I forgot to ask for his name.”
She sighed. “The mission is a total failure, but that man was an unexpected surprise. When I get back, I’ll have someone find out who he is.”
Mavis cast one last glance toward the direction Victor had disappeared, then shot off in another direction.
////
Far away, in a place so distant from the ice desert that the only remnant of its harsh weather was a few centimeters of snow patched ground, grass covered the rest.
Victor sat on the grass, pulled out a device, and made a call.
Soon, a cheerful voice came through.
“Daddy!”
The moment he heard her voice, Victor’s smile brightened. His recently ruined mood flipped completely.
“Cassie, how are you?” he asked, and the father-daughter duo took their time catching up.
When he heard that Nova had returned recently, he couldn’t help but whisper, “So he’s back…”
A few seconds of silence followed.
“Dad?” Cassidy probed, sensing something unusual. She didn’t know why her father had suddenly gone quiet.
Victor snapped out of his daze and immediately said, “Yes, I’m here.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Hahaha, of course not.” He laughed, then his voice dropped slightly. “There’s something I wanted to tell you. I met someone earlier who claimed to work for the Federation, and their strength was above that of a normal Grade 1.”
On the other side of the device, Cassidy’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me more.”
Victor let out a sound of acknowledgment before explaining everything that had happened with Mavis just minutes ago.
The more Cassidy heard, the more she frowned. She recognized the name from a past Birth of Deities, but at that time, Mavis had been nowhere near as strong as Victor claimed.
While Cassidy mulled over this new information, Victor suddenly said, “By the way, I noticed she had a small tattoo on the back of her neck.”
She echoed, “A tattoo?”
Victor’s mind flashed back to the moment he sidestepped and caught Mavis’ wrist. Her hair had flailed in the wind, clearly revealing a tattoo on her neck.
“It was a number. I don’t think it’s of much use, but I noticed it.”
Cassidy didn’t think too much of it either. A number could mean anything and, without context, it might as well be useless.
Still, she asked, “What number was it?”
Victor had already anticipated her question, so he replied lightly,
“It was a 2.”
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