A reward worthy of me, or so it seems (2)

-By risking their lives to subjugate the Daemon, they have proven to be model citizens... this shows their excellent service for the good of society and their exemplary behavior that would motivate others, thank you for saving the lives of many innocent people-

The S-rank hunter spoke with a tired tone and then began to hand us the certificate of recognition without adding any comments. First it was Hajime, then Hanami, then Miguel, and finally me.

-The awarding ceremony ended-

With the host's announcement, the awarding ceremony came to an end.

An hour and a half of rehearsal and an hour of waiting had been reduced to just five minutes. It was so fast that I didn't even realize it had started.

-Oh, I almost forgot...-

Haruto, who was about to give up, suddenly stopped as if he had just remembered something.

-The reward for subjugating the Daemon will be 10,000 dollars for each of us-

When I heard "10,000 dollars," I felt victorious. I felt like all the hell I went through during the academy was so worth it.

-Well, good luck. We'll see each other again if our paths cross-

After that, Haruto left without another word.

We saw it with our own eyes and then stepped off the podium before we could even touch the ground. The guild members flocked to us.

But they were only interested in Hajime and Hanami. No one approached me. I literally wanted to cry. They're probably thinking, "Ah, that guy was just lucky to have been with them during the incident"

-Hey Alan, let's get something to eat-

Miguel said as he took out his wallet.

-Yeah, right now I'm a little depressed about not having anyone's attention-

**

Miguel and I escaped to a nearby cafe.

-Rock... paper... scissors-

-Rock... paper... scissors-

We were both playing rock, paper, scissors to see who would go buy the food since there was a long line inside and boredom was bound to get to us.

Miguel drew paper and I drew scissors, so I won.

-No way!-

-Hahaha, I've never lost at this game in my life, Miguel, bad luck, hahaha!-

Miguel reluctantly went to the line, a depressed aura whispering in the air.

I drank my iced coffee, which I had bought after the ceremony, and sat staring at the cafe's white ceiling, my gaze dark and depressed by everything that had happened.

"Cheer up, man. Maybe no one was interested in you, but at least we made some money"

«You're right... I'm not interested in guilds right now... all I'll do is increase my fortune and become a millionaire superhero»

-Oh, there you are-

When I stop thinking about everything that happened

A charming voice caught my attention, interrupting all thoughts in my head. Just hearing it, I thought it was for someone else, but when I turned my head, I couldn't believe it... Ciel McGrath appeared behind me.

The woman approached me and sat in the seat in front of me with a smooth, almost seductive movement as her eyes rested on my humble person.

-You must know me, right?-

She didn't take her gaze off me for a moment, giving me a small smile.

-Don't you remember me?-

Ciel asked again. I shook my head in response. I did know her, but I lied to see how she would react.

-No~-

-That's a relief. I was surprised because you suddenly disappeared. There was something I wanted to give you-

Ciel took the certificate of recognition out of her wallet.

I was a little perplexed since I thought I had left it well hidden somewhere in the ceremony room, but apparently the woman managed to find it.

When I received the certificate, I noticed Ciel handed me something else, something hidden inside the certificate, using the sheet of paper as a facade.

[Guild, Sacred America United, Sub-leader Ciel McGrath]

What I received was a black business card with gold lettering.

I was speechless, staring at the card as Ciel continued.

-There are thousands of things I want to talk about, but unfortunately I don't have much time. I spent a lot of time looking for you, Alan Harwey-

-What do you want from me?-

-Nothing in particular. I just wanted to know one thing...-

Ciel pointed at me with his finger while humming.

-Is your elemental affinity light?-

The woman asked me as her smile grew wider and wider.

-Yes, anything else?-

-That's great. I already had my suspicions. Wouldn't you like to join us in the future?-

The woman asked in a charming voice, still holding that smile.

The Sacred America United guild, or SAU, is the best guild in the world, and its leader is rank 1: the God of Fighting, Alexander Grayson.

Anyone would want to accept that proposal, but there was a small problem.

She was only asking me, not Miguel. If it weren't for him, things with the Daemon would surely have been worse.

-Why are you only asking about me? There was also my partner, Miguel Hidalgo, who was key to defeating the Daemon without a single casualty-

-Miguel?... Miguel... Miguel... Ah, the applause boy! Unfortunately, I'm not interested in him. No matter how good his skill is, he's not a wielder of the light element. He was merely a support. Any mage with basic spatial magic can do the same thing as your friend-

I grimaced in disgust at the woman.

-Can I ask you something else?-

I looked into Ciel's eyes. His gaze was absolutely calm, but now that I looked closely, his expression changed. It seemed as if he was thinking of taking me to his guild, but with other intentions, it was as if I were a mere object.

Realizing his true intentions, I made my decision.

-No-

-How...?-

Ciel was shocked by my response.

I already discovered what kind of person she is. She's pretending to be kind and elegant with me and even tried to captivate my heart with a slight seduction. In truth, she has a cold heart. She surely expects something from me in the future if she manages to recruit me, but if I don't meet those expectations, she'll throw me away like a toy that no longer works.

Just by the way she talked about Miguel, I realized.

-Don't ask me again-

I said in an angry tone upon discovering his personality type.

-Huh? Alan, did I hear that right? You're not understanding, are you? I'm interested in you as the deputy leader of the best guild in the USA-

-Miss Ciel... according to the academy rules, guilds are prohibited from recruiting first-years and that is punishable by a heavy fine. For a woman with an impeccable name like yours, it must be tough if the media knows what you're doing right now-

After saying those words, I stood up before Ciel could look at me directly again.

When Miguel had the food, we quickly left.

I left the cafeteria, angry at that woman. What she thought was none of my business. I didn't want to see her in person.

A few minutes ago, the reward money arrived when I returned to the dorm, and as they told me, it was 10,000 dollars. With that, I knew I had to buy shares in the "Black Skull" guild. Now, with 90,000 shares, I was probably the majority shareholder.

-I hope this works, please-

***

[Third-person perspective] [Sunday, 7:50 p.m.]

Hajime was training at the first-year gym. Because he's a rank 1, he must live up to the public's expectations. The boy is a very regular visitor to the gym, along with Alan, with whom he's never spoken in his life.

In the mornings, this gym was packed, but at night, there was no one there due to upcoming exams. Even so, there was nothing there except for those two until now.

-Kuu-

After finishing a set, Hajime looked around while resting. Shinji Suzuki, Isaac Arden, Mirai Shiva, and Alice Aisha Lawrence were visitors he never expected to see here.

-Are you a pervert, Hajime?-

At that moment, Hajime felt something metallic and covered in ice touch his neck. Hajime jumped in surprise, but he knew there was someone who would play that prank on him. Hajime looked at him indignantly. Damian shrugged and took a sip.

-Answer me. Are you a pervert or what?-

-No, never just me...!-

-…-

-I-I just thought it was a rather unusual sight-

Hajime pointed at Alice with his chin, Damian looked at Alice and nodded in agreement.

-You're right, I never thought I'd see King Leonard's daughter in person-

Golden hair that shone and blue eyes that looked like refined jewels, her figure showed no imperfections, she displayed elegance and charm.

Even while sweating, she looked like she had stepped out of a painting. Alice is part of the royal family of England and a direct descendant of the right-hand man of the father of hunters, Aiden D. Lawrence. Her father, Leonard Draegasis Lawrence, is part of the top 10 national-ranked hunters and the leader of one of the oldest and strongest guilds, Camelot, the sixth-best guild in the world.

-Stop looking, Hajime. Let's train-

At Damian's words, Hajime nodded.

-Uuk!-

As the two spoke, a sudden, loud growl caught his attention.

-Huuk!-

A loud breathing sound came from a man engaged in a life-or-death battle with a piece of exercise equipment.

-…He seems to be struggling-

Damian said, still staring at the boy.

-You can't even imagine it. Alan was here earlier than me, looking haggard, yet he still has the energy to keep going-

Damian looked at him with respect.

Only a few people, who could be counted on the fingers of one hand, knew that Alan trained very hard every day, almost looking like he was on the verge of death.

Almost all the students laughed as he walked like a zombie. Alan simply ignored them, continuing his fight to become stronger.

-I have to admit that doing that for so long, exhausted and without collapsing, is worthy of respect-

-You're right, Hajime, but it's a shame that almost no one follows her example... except for her, who does the same-

The door to the gravity room opened, and Hanami came out at just the right moment. Covered in sweat, she was a little surprised, her face exhausted.

It seems she was planning to go back, but when she saw Alan, she stopped and started staring at him. If you could describe it, it would be like laser beams coming out of her eyes.

-…Don't you get along, Hajime?-

-Unfortunately not, they're like cats and dogs-

Hajime smiled bitterly.

After staring at Alan for a while, Hanami clicked her tongue and turned around. At the same time, her eyes met Hajime's. She let out a dry cough in discomfort and walked towards them.

-Hey Hajime, don't you find this strange?-

-What's strange?-

-That bastard is acting like a bastard-

-What are you talking about?-

Both Damian and Hajime frowned in confusion at Hanami's question. They didn't understand, but when the girl looked at him as if he were playing dumb,

-…I can understand your confusion, but you should have realized it by now. You really are insensitive about this kind of thing-

"What are you talking about? I don't understand?-

-You saw him that day, and you still don't understand-

Actually, Hanami's suspicion was justified.

Mana, or magical power, was one of the most important abilities of a Hunter. In that sense, Alan's magical power displayed in that incident was far superior to that of a normal student. However, his mastery of using it in practice was unreal, making him look more like a battle mage who emerged from a magic tower.

Sometimes things like that don't make sense.

If that guy was so strong, Hanami always asked herself the same question: Why does he let the students bother him and never fight back?

Just as Hajime was about to say something, three male students approached a tired Alan. Hajime instinctively began to close his eyes in disappointment. Those three were well-known delinquents.

-What are you doing here, loser?-

-Look at him, he's struggling with this. I only need one finger to lift this-

Alan was elbowed, but he didn't react in any way; he was just focused on doing the exercise.

-Hey, are you mute? Say something, damn it-

-Let's take pictures of this bastard and hang them up. Look at him working hard when he's a total waste-

The three delinquents began cursing openly. Why live? Are you a waste of money? Do I feel bad for your parents? Aren't you going to graduate anyway? Why aren't you leaving? Etc.

-Tsk, I'm leaving-

Seeing the scene, Hanami walked away with a disgusted expression, since one of the students bothering Alan was Japanese. Just seeing him made her want to throw up.

-Those sons of bitches... I don't care if they're Isaac's henchmen, I'll beat that guy up later-

Damian said with anger in his eyes. He felt outraged that someone who tries so hard would be treated like that. He always trained to the limit, and seeing someone bother someone who works so hard made his blood boil.

-Come on, Damian, let's scare them away-

Suddenly, Alan's gaze fell on the strongest duo, and with a sly smile, Alan ran and sealed the gym doors.

Like a bullet, he clung to Hajime's feet and with teary eyes, he begged.

-Mr. Hajime! Mr. Hajime! Those guys have been bullying me! I can't stand it!-

The trio of delinquents were scared since they knew Hajime very well. That boy was the definition of a hero; he would help the weak without hesitation.

Hajime hated using violence, but Damian was the complete opposite of a rank 1. He would use any means necessary to defend what he believed was right.

Damian clenched his knuckles and glared, his red irises glowing with pure anger.

-You lazy bastards who do nothing. How dare you bully someone who's never done anything to you?-

-W-Wait, Damian!-

-Please listen to us!-

-We were just following orders!-

Damian ran straight at the trio of criminals, his fist ready to knock out a few teeth.

Magic, Spear, and Martial Artist

Those are his three talents, all in the Mid-High range.

-Fist Technique/Ghost Fist-

Dozens of Damian's fist projections projected outwards. This was his [Martial Skill], something he learned in his training with one of the many masters he had before even stepping foot on the academy floor.

The trio of delinquents were knocked out by Damian's powerful blows.

-Kekeke~ mission successful-

Alan whispered to himself as he saw the trio of delinquents lying on the floor, agonizing from the sharp pain they would have to endure all night.