“So this is the real Hope City?”

“Yep, this is where we’ll be spending the majority of our time so try and remember the typography. We’ll get the others to guide you around the city once we get back.”

Gorou converses with William and Gareth as the rest of us admire the city. It was incredibly large. We were so far up that the workers on the ground were the size of ants. There was machinery all over the city and it seemed like they were still planning to expand it.

“Excuse me, William, but where will Karla’s accommodations be at?”

I look back at Karla’s face as I ask William. She’s been following us but her eyes were cloudy and lifeless. I thought she was going to be living on the surface of Hope city but William hadn’t said anything.

“She’ll be living at the base with us. She knows too much to be living on the surface with normal civilians. Although I say that, this doesn’t mean there aren’t normal civilians down here. Just from the size of the city alone, I’m sure you understand that it needs a lot of personnel to maintain it.”

“Yeah.”

“Karla will just be another personnel of the city. She’ll get paid a regular wage just like the rest of us if she works.”

I see, it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to get Karla to accustom to regular life again. The only thing I’m worried about is if her mental strength will ever come back.

“Wage? You did say wage, right?”

“Yeah, all of us will be getting paid for our work.”

Fifi asked for clarification and I could see her eyes glowing. It might just be my imagination but I could see dollar signs in them. Yeah, it’s just my imagination.

“What kind of money do humans get paid nowadays? Are they still being paid in gold and silver?”

“Pfft.”

Gorou, Jill, William, and Gareth were shocked while Mako was trying to hide her laughter. Most of them didn’t know that Fifi was a thousand-year-old fairy so her sense of money must have seemed absurd.

“W-w-why is Mako laughing, Jude?”

Fifi was flustered and her face was red in embarrassment as I began explaining to her about our currency. I hand her the only bill I have in my pocket.

“What’s so special about this paper? It doesn’t have any mana in it nor are there any special attributes to it.”

She begins to thoroughly inspect my dollar and by the end of it, she ripped it in half. I felt a slight pain in my heart as she ripped my last remaining dollar. Now, I am officially penniless.

“Hmph, you call this a wage! My Jude is going to be out there risking his life and all you’re going to pay him is some meaningless paper.”

“Wait, Fifi, it’s fine…”

“No, let me handle this Jude. These people are trying to scam you.”

She winked at me but I didn’t know what she was trying to do. I’m fine with being paid in paper money if I was going to be living here for a while. Somehow I was getting a bad feeling.

“Um, what would you like to be paid in, then?”

“Good, then I want Jude to be able to keep whatever he finds out in the field.”

“Specifically?”

“Items or corpse of monsters will all belong to Jude if he discovers them.”

“Ok, that should be fine. Does anyone else want to be paid differently?”

Everyone else agreed to be paid regularly. Fifi gave me a thumbs up and I responded back although I still didn’t understand her plan. All I could do was trust in her decision.

“Hehehe, I’ll become his sugar momma.”

I heard Mako whisper something but I couldn’t quite hear it as we finally got to the bottom of the elevator. The doors opened and the sounds of hustle and bustle could clearly be heard throughout the city.

The moment we stepped out of the elevator there were three people facing us. The boy in front had red hair and piercings all over his face, the other was a girl with dark blue hair whose bangs hid half of her face, and the other girl had brown hair and freckles.

“See I told you they would be alive!”

“W-william!”

“...”

Both of the girls ran up to William with tears in their eyes and hugged him. William gently soothed them as he patted their heads. Even the red hair boy who stayed in the back seemed quite emotional at there reunion. The three of them must be very close to William.

“Come on, don’t cry anymore. You guys can’t be crying in front of your new teammates.”

“New teammates?”

“What, we don’t need new teammates!”

In comparison to the brown-haired girl’s questioning gaze, the red-haired boy was glaring daggers into us. Unlike Tigurka or Madam Justice, I didn’t feel any pressure whatsoever from him.

“Now, now, calm down. Why don’t you guys introduce yourselves.”

“Hmph, I’m Ken.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Rachel.”

“...”

Ken reluctantly introduced himself to us and Rachel normally introduced herself. The third member didn’t speak.

“The quiet one is CZ...”

“I don’t accept them, they look weak!!!”

Ken interrupted William before he could finish talking. I don’t understand why he’s so hostile against us even though it’s our first time meeting, and his eyes must be bad because none of my friends are weak.

“Haah, alright Ken. This will be a good chance for both sides to judge each other’s strengths. Why don’t we have a quick sparring match.”

“Wait a minute, I don’t want to fight our new teammates, Ken apologize.”

“Hmph.”

Rachel tried her best to persuade Ken to apologize but he was being stubborn. It seems like she was used to his stubbornness as she quickly gave up.

“Is that fine with you guys?”

Mako and Gorou quickly agreed while Jill was slightly hesitant. I was going to accept but Fifi told me not to join which I didn’t understand.

“It’s fine, Jude. Just stay back and watch how your teammates fight. You’ve been fighting on the frontlines by yourself so you haven’t had a chance to learn how each of your teammates fight.”

Listening to Fifi’s words, I realized that I don’t know how Gorou, Jill, or even how Mako fights. During the prison monster battle, Mako didn’t participate in the fight, and in Ostempal I’ve only fought in a group with Lisa and the Shield squad.

“William, I won’t be joining.”

“Alright. Then this battle will be a spar with 3 people on each team. Whoever knocks out or subdue the enemy team will be the winner, otherwise, the spar will be a draw if 10 minutes pass without a winner. I’ll give you guys 10 minutes to prepare.”

|......|

“Hmph, we’ll finish this in 5 minutes.”

“Don’t be so overconfident, Ken.”

“It’s fine, we got this. We’ve been teammates for over 2 years. Their teamwork won’t be as good as ours.”

I don’t know why William brought new teammates but we don’t need anyone else in our team. Our team has always perfectly done our jobs and new members will just be a burden.

The only person we have to worry about is that giant made of muscles. The other is a pretty girl who has probably never fought before and the other girl is dirty and messy. I’m sure neither of them is as strong as Rachel or CZ.

“So what’s our plan, Rachel?”

“Well, I was thinking that we’ll stun the big guy with CZ’s ability, and then we’ll handle the other two. The big guy is going to require all three of us to beat him.”

“Ok.”

“...”

“Get into positions. We’ll allow some injuries but please do not aim for anything lethal. If we see any of that then your team will automatically lose.”

Good, this shouldn’t be too hard. We’ll show William that we’re worthy of our positions. Looking at Rachel and CZ, it seems like they were both ready to fight. Now, all we had to do was wait for William’s signal.

“Ready, fight!”

“Hahaha, I’ll show you why they call me the Steel Porcupine!”

I rush towards the muscular guy while taking my piercings off. I’ll show them that these aren’t just for fashion. My plan was for him to come closer so I could use my ability but he seems to be the cautious type and didn’t charge forward. I guess I’ll rile him up.

“What, are all those muscles just for show. I guess you’re just a big coward.”

Damn, it didn’t work, he’s just silently staring at me. I guess it’s not my time to show off. They would have never been able to beat me if I got a chance to use my ability.

“Go, CZ!!!”

“...”

I duck down as I rush for the messy and dirty girl. By now CZ’s “Third Eye” should have stunned that muscular guy. From the corner of my eye, I could see his body stiffen up.

“Jill, don’t look at the floating eye.”

“Ok.”

The pretty looking girl gives out commands but its no use, I’m already in front of that girl named Jill. I throw the piercings in my hand at her and they immediately turn into steel needles. With how close we are, she won’t be able to dodge them. I guess I’ll hold back so I don’t injure her too much.

“Ken, you’re too far out!”

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

Knowing that my needles will finish off Jill, I rush towards the pretty girl. CZ’s stun should be running out of time soon so I’ll need to finish her off as soon as possible.

“Ken, watch out!”

“Now, Jill!”

“Ok.”

Looking back, I could see that the dirty girl was perfectly fine. There was an earth wall in front of her that had blocked all of my needles. Suddenly I could feel the ground trembling as I rushed towards the pretty girl. Before I was able to adjust myself, the ground became uneven and I lost my footing.

In that time I was trying to regain my bearings, the pretty girl had rushed towards me. Her knee was flying towards my face but I was able to block it with my hands. It seems like she knew how to fight.

“Hmph, it seems like I underestimated you.”

It doesn’t matter if she can fight in close quarters, I’ve also had my fair share of training. Her attacks continue to barrage me but I was able to block her and counterattack. Her attacks didn’t have a lot of strength behind them but each attack was fast and precise. And it seemed like she was only getting faster.

“S-shit, I won’t let you beat me.”

I was finally able to grab her arm and was ready to throw her but she viciously punched me in the face which made my grip loosen. Her attacks continued and it was becoming more and more difficult to block them.

“Ken, you idiot! Show them why we call you a porcupine.”

Rachel’s right, I shouldn’t be holding back anymore. I concentrate my energy and begin to activate my ability. The metals installed on my custom made jacket juts out and becomes sharp as knives which causes the pretty girl to back off.

It’s been a few years since I discovered my ability which gives me the power to transforms various metals into sharp objects. These various restrictions and limits to my ability but it’s perfect for fighting in close quarters. This is the ability that made William scout me a few years ago when everyone else viewed me as a freak. Ever since then, I’ve constantly been training to not disappoint him.

“Time for round 2.”

I can see the fear in her eyes. She must be amazed and afraid of my awesome skill.

“You seem to be forgetting but this is a team battle. Go ahead, Jill!”

Shocked at her words, I look towards Jill and her hands were planted on the ground. Suddenly a pillar of dirt emerged from the ground and sent me flying into the air. The wind was knocked out of me and I wasn’t able to warn Rachel and CZ.

‘Shit!’