Chapter 10

I wanted to at least eat my meal in peace, unfortunately there are some idiots who says otherwise. Such as the 2 idiots here trying to show their "generosity" in letting them be my "comrades" in exchange for a sum of gold and about 60% of the loot that I gain.

You know what, having to deal with idiots like these or the likes of Motoyasu gives me the migraines. So I told them to get lost, but instead of leaving they decide to take out a switch-knife. Well what a "bright" idea for these idiots to use SOMETHING rather than their fists to try and threaten me, because honestly I expected for them to flip and charged at me instantly like a bull because of the 'level' of intelegence they showed.

As I was having those thoughts they pointed their knives at my face while "trying" to threaten me, and because I didn't move looks like they think that I'm scared because of their "malicious" smile that made me extremely sleepy. After they made their "demands" to make it "even" between us, I simply grasped their hands the ones that held the knife and simply thre them to the floor and with an "umph" they landed of their faces. After that I took their knives and while they were trying to stand while glaring at me I simply held the 2 knives with both hands and in the incredulous gaze of everyone I bended the knives and made them in to a ball and put it in front of the faces of the 2 which are frozen with fear.

And after showing them a "kind" smile I left the restaurant after leaving them a little of something to remember me by.

---After Naofumi left (Thug A POV)

After the demon left our sight we didn't move, no to be exact we didn't dare to move. Because we're afraid of the demon is actually hiding and is waiting for when we stand to appear out of nowhere and torture us. That thought is enforced by the ball which used to be our knives in front of us and the smile that he showed before leaving, that smile was surely the devil's there's no one else that could make that smile, my partner is likely to have the same thought because I can smell him pissing in his pants.

But before we could calm ourselves we saw ball in the shadow of the table in front, the ball is strangely near the foot of the table it almost looks as if it's attached to it. But before we could do anything the ball just jumped from the foot of the table in front of us and now that I see clearly it has eyes, immediately I jumped realizing the ball's identity.

My friend however just looked at it dumbfounded probably still wondering how did it jump like that, well to be fair I am the brain of us 2. Anyways now that the 'ball' is out in the light all of us as some people draw their breaths loudly in amazement as they realize the identity of it, but what's laughable of it is that my partner didn't react at all until the orange colored 'ball' starts biting him.

"AAAA, MY ARM MY ARM GET IT OFF GET IT OFF." He screamed while waving his arm that is being bitten by the 'ball' which is actually an orange balloon, how exactly a demon made it here and what it's doing here is beyond me, but all I could do is stare at him dumbfounded for a second before reeling back to reality because of the crowd's surprised gasp.

I turned around just in time to see an orange balloon jumping right at me, I didn't do anything but stare dumbfounded as it bit down on my nose. When the pain kicked in I finally react rolling on the floor trying to get the persistent demon of from my poor nose while yelling "MY NOSE, SOMEONE GET THIS THING OFF FROM ME!!"

---Back to Naofumi

As I made it to a nearby deserted alley I heard the 2 thugs pained screams, satisfied at my successful prank I head into the alley with a smirk. As I headed down the alley a feminine voice stopped me in my tracks "So this is the famed shield hero, Naoufumi Iwatani? Well, except for your 'evil' gaze and orange balloons you certainly fit the description 'that person' gave to me." Hearing those words made me turn to face the person who said it, and what greeted me was a beautiful woman of moderate height with a long black hair flowing freely on her back that reached her waist, she also has a voluptuous body. She's holding a smoking pipe with pale colored smoke constantly rising from it, she's wearing a tuxedo suit with some feathers attached near the collars which makes it like what a circus ringmaster would wear and shirt which is short to show her belly, she also wears a long black pants and black shoes, she's also wearing glasses with a gold colored frame.

When she saw me turning to her she smirked and said "Ara~ it appears that I have your attention, however this is not the best place for us to talk. Follow me if your interested to know more." After saying that she turned to one of the alleys, to be honest this is damn straight suspicious and I probably shouldn't follow her if I follow logic, but strangely there's a strong feeling telling me to follow her. But seeing her distancing back I decide to temporarily follow her, besides if I get into trouble I'm pretty sure I can at least get out of trouble, Gudako's training is the guaranty.

After following her for a while she leads me into a circus-like tent, upon entering the tent I saw some eggs on the shelves with some sort of marking on them besides that I also spot some equipment that looked like the ones used for mounts, besides that there were other stuffs. But she instead lead me deeper into the tent, into a room with a table and 2 chairs which she sat on one and directed me to sit on the other chair in front of her.

Wordlessly I sat on the chair while eyeing her and the room vigilantly, but she seeing my vigilance smiled, not the mocking type of smile but a happy type of smile but strangely it felt a bit creepy as I feel a shiver down my back. Her voice rang out as I was calming myself internally, she said "It is good if your vigilant, because if not I will truly be utterly disappointed in you." Hearing the last of her sentence made me curious as to why she would be disappointed 'could it have any connection to the person that mentioned me to her?' as I have that thought I pointed my curious gaze to her.

Reading the message from my eyes she giggled lightly, after that she said "Now then Shield Hero don't be so hasty it's not good for your health." she said that while waving her index finger as a 'no, no' gesture. But seeing the unchanging look on my face instead of getting angry she instead smiled seemingly satisfied by my reaction, not giving me the chance to say anything she said first "I do like the look in your eyes, always vigilant for any sort of shenanigans but not on the level of paranoia... yet."

When she said yet a light seemingly beam from her eyes for a while, which made a shiver went down on my back. 'But that doesn't explain any of the relevant question to who you are, who sent you, and who's that 'person'' As I wanted to voice those thoughts she raised her finger to her mouth which made a 'silence' gesture. After that she said "I know what your going to say." after saying that she stood from her seat and gave a graceful bow while saying "My apologize for the late introductions, my name is Beloukas." after that sentence she raised her head to have her face displayed to me clearly and continued to say "Also a person who has been 'helped' by Gudako-sama."

Her last sentence made me focus on her, she Beloukas after seeing my increasing vigilance laughed it off. She returned to her seat, and after that she said "To be honest even if I didn't encounter Gudako-sama I would've still paid you a visit, especially after hearing your already infamous 'negotiation tactic'." Hearing the last tidbit made me a little embarrassed but no changes appeared on my face or body language to show it.

Not minding my mind's state she continued "Although Gudako-sama has already instructed me to 'assist' you in the form of business, do keep in mind that the best I will give you is a bargain sale and that if I 'accidentally' sold you an item that is a 'bit' more expensive the fault does not lie on me yes?"

I understand the connotations of her words, but there's one thing that interests me. "So what is it that Gudako helped you with?" I asked not able to keep my curiosity to myself. To my question she blushed a little, before coughing and thought silently for a while before saying "Although it is a bit embarrassing it will soon be an open secret on the black market though, so I see no harm in telling you. Especially because of your closeness to Gudako-sama, you will eventually know of it sooner or later." She said before leaning on her chair, after taking some breaths she said "To be simple I was a man before Gudako-sama helped me."

Hearing the sentence made my head blank, so I involuntarily asked "...What did you just say?"