Chapter 14

Joshua blocks Laudia's shield bash with his sword and uses his shield to attack Laudia. When his attack gets blocked, Joshua decides to jump away from his party leader and think for a second.

After a few seconds, Joshua charges at Laudia and swings down his weapon. When Laudia is ready to block his sword, Joshua changes the direction of his sword. He let his sword move from the left.

Laudia proves that she is a battle-hardened veteran and quickly blocks the incoming attack using her gauntlet and uses her shield to block Joshua's shield attack. Laudia smirks a little but turns her expression into a shocked one when he spins and uses his leg to kick her head.

Seeing her get thrown away, Joshua ran toward her and arrived on top of the leader of the Wild Hunt party with a smirk on his face.

"I win"

"Heh," Laudia smirks back at him. "It looks like I underestimated you too much."

"A win is still a win, no?"

"Don't get too cocky, Joshua. This is your FIRST win out of thirty sparring matches we have."

Joshua raises his finger for a second before putting them down. She is correct. Out of thirty sparring matches, Joshua only won once.

Even when he is more powerful than her, Laudia is able to search for the weak point he has and exploit it. After all, she already used to fight something stronger than her. The only thing that she needs to watch out for is that her opponent is a human, not a mindless monster that is charging at her without thinking.

Joshua offers her a hand, and she takes his hand before getting up from the ground.

"Your strength is very annoying. It was like fighting against a B-rank Martial Artist. I think this will make a mark."

"Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

"Nah. We are currently taking three days to break, and it will disappear when our break is over."

Rachel and Laudia are currently taking a break for just the two of them. While both of them thought that it was a secret that both of them were a couple, it was not. It was an open secret. Rachel and Laudia are a couple who are planning to get married in two years.

Because of the appearance of the tower, this Earth changes from the one from Joshua's previous life. For one, the same-gender couple is not seen as taboo in this country, unlike the other Earth. People start to accept that life is short and it is good to live life to the fullest. A homophobic behavior is useless, and people decide to use their energy to think about the important matter. The Infernal Beast can leak out of the tower and kill them.

There are still people who see same-gender relationships as taboo, but it was not as bad as it was in the '90s.

"Where are the two of you going?"

"Both of us will stay at home, I think."

"Hmmm, say hi to Rachel from me, okay?"

"Of course. What do you want to do? Today is the day the hospital allows you to hunt once again, right?"

"Yup. I think I will walk around for today. I will start to hunt tomorrow morning."

"Very well. Take care, okay? We did not want something to happen to you."

"You don't need to worry. I will be careful in my hunt."

"Good. Anyway, I think this is the end of today's training."

Joshua nods his head before walking away from the training room and going to the locker room.

After taking a bath to clean his body, Joshua gets out of the bath and walks away from the guild building.

==||==

"Look at her! I bet she stole that clothes."

"No! My brother gave them to me!"

Tiara shouted, defending her brother's name. The people in front of her are the people that always bully her because she and her family are from low-income families. They did not know that Joshua was a Blessed One and a C-rank Blessed One who earned a massive amount of money from his first hunt.

Kesha and her minions come from the family of a businessman. Their parents have a lot of money, and Kesha's brother is a Blessed One, an E-rank blessed one. Because of this status, she thinks that the world should bow at her.

"And I bet your brother stole it! No way he can buy that clothes."

Kesha points her finger at the clothes Tiara wears. The shirt she is currently wearing is from a rather expensive brand called Luxian, and Kesha can see that Tiara wears the original product, not the imitation one.

She has one, after all.

"No! We bought it yesterday!"

"Keep lying to yourself."

"Actually, I bought it yesterday. I still have the proof."

Kesha looks at the voice coming from her left and sees a young man walking toward them. This young man is Joshua, Tiara's brother.

"I give them to her. I did not steal, neither did she. Please don't accuse someone of stealing something when they are not doing that. That is rather rude."

"Brother!"

Tiara runs toward her brother and tackles him before giving him a tight hug.

"How are you, sis?"

"I'm doing great! Are you the one that picks me up? How about mother?"

"Mother is waiting for us in the car."

"Car?! Do we have a car?!"

"Yup. I just bought it not too long ago. Come on."

Tiara and Joshua walk toward the car that Joshua decides to buy in the morning, leaving Kesha and her minions behind. They did not see Kesha's fuming expression. She is already planning to exact her revenge on Joshua and Tiara.

With a smirk on her face, she took out her phone and called her brother.

"Brother? T-there is someone who hurt me…."

When she hears her brother's enraged voice from the phone, her smirk gets larger than ever before. She can already see the outcome of her petty plan, and she loves it.