BEYOND SHAMELESS

A group of twelve youths stared dumbfounded at the sudden development. The oldest of them, the tall, bald man, had a rather shocked expression as he stared at Lynne; he was certain that even if the twelve of them fought back at the best of their abilities, they still wouldn’t be able to withstand the onslaught of the strange creature. As the matter of fact, the reason he joined the others was exactly that – he always felt strange whenever he’d look at the frail and hunched body of a young lad. Clearly, he realized, he had underestimated his doubts, but instead of regret, he only had relief. Still, he didn’t drop his guard; he could clearly feel that the newcomer wasn’t even Dao Magus, but the speed at which he killed the creature completely negated that fact. As the oldest of the bunch, and as the first to recover, he stepped forward and slightly bowed towards Lynne who just now left the scene of the crime and stood before them. He had a casual smile plastered on his face, and although his clothes appeared slightly ragged, there were no visible wounds on his body.

“I, Ronald Hufe, alongside my brothers and sisters, offer deep gratitude to our benefactor!” the bald man spoke in a deep tone. “May I inquire your name?”

“Just call me Lynne,” Lynne casually waved off. “Now, that was a tough battle, huh. Hm, I know. Ten gold coins from each of you should be enough of a payment.” nearly everyone suddenly dropped to the floor upon this exclamation. It’s not the fact that he expected rewards – they were even willing to give him far more than measly one hundred and twenty gold coins – but rather how blunt and shameless he was about it. The monkey, on the other hand, was still hiding on the branches, shaking his head. He had naturally learned about Lynne’s unquenchable love for gold and mature ladies over the past three months he had spent with him.

“B-benefactor Lynne,” Ronald was the first one to recover, forcing a shaking smile on his face. What thick skin!! “N-naturally, we will offer rewards alongside our gratitude.”

“Good, that’s great,” Lynne smiled brilliantly. Just how much do you love money, dammit! Give me back the image of a peerless, handsome hero who swept in and saved me!! One of the girls bitterly thought. “Oi, monkey, get out already.”

“Damn brat, at least ask me nicely!” a coarse voice suddenly came from the branches; as the twelve focused their eyes to another newcomer, their jaws grew agape. Monkey, no taller than thirty centimeters, was talking! A freaking monkey was talking! The little creature landed on Lynne’s shoulder, staring daggers at him.

“Don’t be a stuck-up,” Lynne shrugged off monkey’s glare. “You guys,” he then turned to the twelve who were yet to recover. “What the hell are you doing? Didn’t your parents teach you not to follow weird-looking kids into even weirder woods? And even you, bald guy,” It’s Ronald dammit! “You look at least a bit older than others. Did your hair fall off when your brain rotted?” Ronald was already crying in his heart; he wanted to crush this annoying brat’s skull, but was also aware that he was simply stating facts. “Ah, it’s all great now. Oh right, where the hell is this?” he then casually asked.

“It—it—it’s ‘Forsaken Forest’,” Ronald grit his teeth and spoke. “On the outskirts of Elver, a relatively famous city in the Kingdom.”

“Oh, Elver.” Lynne muttered, remembering a thing or two about the city. If they were near Elver, though, it meant that they were nowhere near Royal City, Capital of the Rolyhard Kingdom. “Oh well, let’s camp here for the night, and you can show me a way out in the morning.”

“S-sure.”

Ronald and others quickly set up a temporary camp, lighting up fire, while the monkey and Lynne were lazily leaning against the tree, seemingly disinterested in the affairs of the twelve. Everyone would occasionally glance at the two, complex emotions dancing in their eyes. At last, when the camp was set up, one of the girls braved herself and stepped forward; she looked to be no older than fifteen, and had a rather docile and innocent appearance. Her hair was golden, face oval-shaped, and eyes deep, lime-colored. She was nervously grinding her fingers against one another as she stepped before Lynne.

“S-sir Lynne,” the girl spoke softly, her voice emitting nervousness she felt. “M-may I ask what are you doing in the woods?”

“… hunting rabbits.” Lynne casually replied, causing the twelve to curse his lineage to the ninth ancestor inside their hearts.

“Ah,” the girl softly exclaimed, clearly realizing that he wasn’t going to tell them. “T-thank you for saving us.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Lynne said, smiling. “You already promised me ten gold per person. Don’t forget it though!” he creased his brows slightly as he spoke the last sentence.

“Never, never!” the girl exclaimed, rising her voice slightly. “Here,” she took out a pouch seemingly out of thin air; Lynne realized she also had some sort of a spacial treasure. As Lynne grabbed the pouch, his eyes immediately shimmered in starlight. Drool instinctively dripped down the corners of his lips.

“Gir—I mean my Queen, this is a bit too much,” Lynne stuttered. “Th-there’s good two thousand here.” even though Lynne was by no means poor, as he had thousands upon thousands of gold coins himself, it didn’t mean he was bereft of his innate desire for glittering gold.

“It’s fine,” the girl shook her head, blushing slightly when Lynne called her ‘my Queen’. “Money means little to me if my friends get to live.”

“Ah~” Lynne hummed lightly as he got up, patting the girl’s shoulder gently. “You are a good gir-I mean Queen. Indeed,” he then puffed out his chest and looked towards the sky, despite the fact that it was bloated by thick trees. “Friends are fires that fuel us forth!” he exclaimed into the night, causing even the monkey to lower his head in embarrassment. Naturally, he knew Lynne was not a fool, but he also knew just how much Lynne loved playing the role of the fool. “Forget wives and concubines, forget brothels and such,” girls’ faces blushed in deep crimson as the guys all looked away, wanting to bury themselves away from this guy. “With friends, we can storm the skies! With friends, nothing is impossible! Ah~gir-I mean my Queen, you and I think alike! Good, good! Your friends are your blood, and should never be abandoned! But!” he suddenly exclaimed, his face darkening slightly. “If you tell to my face – ever again – that friends are better than gold, I’ll spank some reason into that plum buttocks of yours!” Oh my God!! even monkey suddenly screeched and couldn’t handle it anymore, hiding in the bushes, not speaking for the rest. The girls instinctively covered their behinds, while guys bled crimson from their eyes. Utterly shameless! Skin thicker than rhino’s! Who the hell is this guy? Ronald thought as he felt his heart crumble; after all, right now this young lad threatened to spank Third Princess of the Kingdom! Naturally, Lynne wasn’t aware of her status.

“N-n-no!” the girl, though, didn’t back off, despite Lynne’s threat, her expression determined and firm. “Friends are far more important than gold!”

“Ah, innocent youth,” Lynne shook his head, sighing. “Here’s profound truth of life, little girl!” he finally stopped calling her ‘Queen’. “With gold, you can buy rivers of friends! With rivers of friends, you can’t even fart out a copper coin!” his words echoed like a storm, causing all others’ hearts to stir with killing intent. Even the monkey wanted to twist Lynne’s neck at least thirty times to sate his anger at the moment. “Nonetheless, all paths are not mine to walk. If you desire to squander mountains of gold for your friends, I can neither stop you nor change your mind. I can only ask one thing: can I also become your friend?” Lynne’s sudden shift from domineering and holier-than-thou attitude to that of a docile dog finally snapped everyone’s patience.

“Shameless!” Ronald roared. “Have you no honor? Dignity?!”

“Honor? Dignity?” Lynne casually glanced at him. “What’s that? Can that buy me a dinner? Sate my thirst? Buy me a couple of mature maidens?”

“F*ck, I’m actually starting to miss that creature!” one of the girls exclaimed angrily.

“Hey, hey,” Lynne reprimanded. “It’s not nice for a beautiful and young maiden such as yourself to have a tongue of a snake. Only when you grow old, sagged, bitter and single should you begin using those words.”

“Stop!” the monkey screamed out. “For the sake of all that’s good and holy, please stop, you rotten brat! Your tongue is fiercer than Dragon’s breath! Just shut up! Please, shut up!”

“Screw off, damned monkey,” Lynne angrily glanced at the small cretin. Can’t you see I’m trying to leave an impression you dumb infidel? They’re clearly from some powerful sect, dammit. This young girl is dumber than wood, at least let me grasp this chance! Naturally, the monkey was unable to read Lynne’s thoughts; although, even if he was, he’d still probably want to slap him even more.

“I-if that’s what you want,” the young girl lowered her head slightly, her cheeks reddening. “W-we can be friends.”

“Anna!” one of the girls yelled at her in a soft tone. “You can’t be serious?”

“Right, that guy is an absolute animal!”

“Hoarder beyond even Dragon’s scope!”

“He doesn’t want to be your friends, he just wants your treasures!”

“So what?!” Lynne exclaimed as she glared at the others. Damn me if I allow these brats to build a wall between me and a mountain of wealth! “What, you guys are her friends unconditionally? When she took out that pouch, none of you offered to split the expenses! Screw off with your above-all attitude.” the monkey stared with his eyes wide open; he simply couldn’t comprehend how can someone be so shameless. Not only did he admit that he was after the young girl’s wealth, he also accused others of doing the same on the spot! … he… he may truly topple Kingdoms… without even lifting a sword… “Huh, that’s what I thought,” Lynne snickered when he saw dulled and astonished expressions of others. In reality, they simply couldn’t process how could heavens allow someone like him to exist. “Now, my new friend, where are you from?” Lynne smiled widely and gently, as if he was a big brother looking after his little sister. Such change in attitude didn’t go unnoticed; however, Ronald and others relaxed slightly. Even if he was shameless, at least he didn’t seem to be an actual, bad person, as they couldn’t detect even a trace of lust in the guy’s eyes.

“I’m from ‘Imperial Magus Sect’,” the girl called Anna exclaimed softly, smiling gently. She had long since understood that this wasn’t Lynne’s true character; after all, as someone of Emperor’s descent, she had seen truly crooked people since the day she could talk. Lynne was simply in love with money, and that was all. “And these here are my friends, while Sir Ronald is one of our teachers.”

“Oh,” Lynne exclaimed softly. “You guys do have that bearing. Yet you were still dumb enough to fall into that thing’s trap…” Lynne shook his head slightly, causing others to look away, blushing slightly. “Alas, you are all young. Except the bald dude,” he looked at Ronald then. “Lord help these kids with you teaching them.”

“….” Ronald simply stared into nothingness. He had met many people in his life, many of whom were evil beyond reason, but he had never met anyone even close to Lynne. Not only did he care less than nothing for any one of the twelve, he threw accusations and insults left and right. It seemed as if whatever was on his tongue would slip out, without even a hint of hesitation.

“Anna, was it?” Lynne then turned towards the young, docile girls who was chuckling lightly. It was the first time she saw her friends and her teacher at a complete loss for words; she even admired Lynne silently. While his character may be overbearing, he was also like a firm wall that wouldn’t crumble even if the skies were collapsing.

“Ahm.” Anna nodded as she smiled gently.

“How about I teach you instead, huh?” Lynne said, swallowing a mouthful of saliva. “I’m really knowledgeable. Just a thousand gold coins per lesson, huh? If you follow me, you’ll become Celestial Magus within a year, what do you say?”

“….” others stared at him, eyes vacant. They were truly lost; for the first time in their life, they couldn’t summon words from their throats.

“Ha ha,” Anna laughed happily. “Brother Lynne, you really love money, don’t you?”

“More than my life.” Lynne exclaimed boldly, his expression so serious as if he was informing someone of their beloved one’s death.

“Ha ha,” Anna still laughed, unlike everyone else there who had already drifted away to a world where Lynne was never born. “You’re really funny Brother. Come, let’s eat first. I’d also like to know about Brother more.”

“Ten gold coins per question.” Lynne said.

“Fine, ten gold per question it is.” Anna nodded, chuckling.

The two sat down, while everyone else, the small monkey included, appeared to be completely asleep, stuck in a daze they were unable to leave. They had finally understood that all the people they claimed to be ‘shameless’ before were but droplets in ocean. They had unanimously agreed that they had finally met the most shameless person in the world.