Josh was back! The crowd erupted in excited cheers as they felt foolish for doubting whether he'd return. The knight had even stopped fighting Kasha, evidently holding Josh in higher esteem.
There was just something peculiar about him. Why was he carrying a half-naked man that seemed out of it? Many pointed with perplexed expressions, with others shrugging. How could they fathom what he had been up to?
As Josh watched this fearsome opponent, he was thinking of the best way to avoid conflict. No matter how much he searched his memory, he didn't recall ever meeting this individual. Why suddenly go after him, and why now?
He gave a wry smile as he considered his options, picturing it as a visual novel:
A: Fight —> Die like a dog
B: Beg —> Loss of face
C: Intimidate —> Possible backlash
D: Reschedule —> Only delaying the problem
A: Fighting was out of the question. His specialty was technique, but what was he supposed to do against an enemy he was pretty sure he couldn't even harm?
B: Begging could work, but it depended on how kind the opponent was, and it would tarnish his reputation a whole lot. Plus, it didn't sit well with his nature.
C: He could try intimidation: he could bluff using killing intent. It could work, but he'd be in great peril should that knight charge at him instead.
D: He could try rescheduling. This problem would then be future Josh's problem. The only requirement was that he had to give a good excuse, and confidence would be critical.
Josh stepped forward, the crowd parting on his way. He made sure to stride forward with great assurance. On the other side, there was this crazily powerful knight that was overflowing with mana and determination.
Josh kept walking until he arrived right next to the individual. He then spoke in the best secret agent voice he could muster: "There is a matter that requires my immediate attention. Let us fight another time."
"What kind of emergency? You're already here. Why don't we have a quick challenge?" The mysterious opponent asked with evident dissatisfaction.
Josh felt like replying: 'Cause I want to live' but instead answered as mysteriously as possible. "The League of Assassins is back. I need to do a little cleaning if you know what I mean. Let us meet soon." He said, smiling fearlessly.
The knight seemed to hesitate, with fists clenched in discontentment, but eventually nodded in acceptance.
The best bluffs were the factually true ones. The assassins were back, and he really would clean, just not them! He'd be cleaning his new house in D-23!
Josh signaled his party, promptly deciding to leave the place resolutely. The Drinking contest had been his win (earning him 52k credits somehow). He had saved Markus, found the assassins, and avoided a challenge. This was a great win in his book.
They all boarded the ships in confusion, with Josh showing a somber expression; One that made people believe that he was a man on a mission. But internally, he was laughing his ass off.
The crowd seemed to find his actions weird and even question them, but they refrained from disparaging comments. There had to be something more to this story seeing how heroic he looked and how the knight was cool with his departure.
But that's when the pumpkin knight thunderously shouted: "I will challenge you once more as soon as you are done destroying the League of Assassins!"
The spectators that heard that couldn't believe their ears. Josh would destroy this criminal organization that was both deadly and shrouded in mystery?! Holy shit! He wasn't just foiling one assassination. He was getting revenge on the whole profession!
"Guys, that explains why he has to leave so quickly!"
"Yeah, who's the dumbass that suggested that he's running away?"
"Anyone that dares trash talk the LoA in public is either insane or insanely powerful!"
"He's obviously the latter. I mean, the guy has ties to Dimensional Legion."
"Yep, these assassins kicked a slothtrosity this time around!"
"You're goddamn right! That's even stronger than an iron plate!"
They all threw admiring glances toward the departing EDM Fleet. Josh was receiving a similar treatment inside as the soldiers looked at him with reverence while softly murmuring.
"He truly is worthy to teach us. Only he would dare to disparage those assassins publicly. Everyone is scared of them, but he doesn't even put them in his eye!"
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"I can understand why General Roderick holds him in such high esteem! He protects his allies and is unforgiving to his enemies.
Then there were the ones that knew him better:
"Why do I feel like he never intended for this to happen?" Dale questioned.
"Because it wasn't announced in a flashy manner. The Josh I know would have done it properly if he wanted to send a death promise." Kasha chimed in.
"Well, now Josh has a huge target on his back. I wonder how he'll handle it." Joe remarked.
"Honestly, I'm more concerned about Minor. He'll have to do exceptionally well with the barrier magic or forever live with his conscience if Josh dies." Emsee darkly added. Would Minor soon do a burnout?
As for Josh, he was forcing a smile. What had he done to deserve this?! Sure, he had used misleading words on purpose. But was there a need to shout it out so loudly?! Perhaps this was karma.
He heard the hush voices about how brave and valiant he was. They all seemed to think that the LoA would send assassins after him just because of one statement, as if! This kind of stuff only happened in fiction! Good killers didn't care about fame.
The Generals came to meet him, gesturing at the man that Josh was still carrying. "Who's this?" Even now, the man was still shaking and honestly looked more like a Hobo than an assassin.
"He's the mastermind behind the attempt on Markus' life. Right, did you guys find anything interrogating the other two?"
They scratched their head awkwardly. "These two assassins are extremely resilient. We haven't gotten anything at all from them. We'll have to request for a specialist to help." Roderick sighed.
"To make them talk, you mean? Give me 5 minutes, and I can take care of it." Josh offered.
"Alright! Here, take this with you. It will record everything just in case they confess." Roderick handed him a small blue sphere and nodded in encouragement.
Gaiden could be seen shaking his head in evident dislike of Josh's confident attitude. They hadn't succeeded in two hours. What made him think he would succeed?!
A few minutes later, Josh returned.
"How did it go?" Roderick asked with Gaiden scoffing behind. The answer could only be negative with the extremely short time he had spent in there. Getting into someone's mind took time and perseverance.
"It went well, don't worry. Oh, yeah, we are about to arrive at D-23! Let's get ready to disembark." Josh was hyped about this new project and already didn't care about the prisoners.
"Sure, I'll be coming along to check how the training works. Oh, can I have the recording device back, please?" Roderick requested.
"I left it with them in their cell. They'll still need it for a while, I think."Josh explained.
"W-what do you mean?" Roderick was puzzled and expectant.
"I told them to take turns confessing and recording. I have no idea when they'll be done. Just today, they had three assassination jobs. This may take a while." Josh shrugged.
The two generals rushed to the prison as fast as their legs could carry them. He had told them to record?! Didn't this mean that they were untied?! But as they entered the prison, they froze. The two prisoners were well-behaved and were confessing all their misdeeds to the camera.
Gaiden shouted in shock. "What the hell is happening?! Why are you guys doing this?"
"If we don't do it properly, the devil will come back! It's better to go to jail!" He said with resolve.
"What did he do exactly?" Roderick was perplexed.
"H-he...He-he..." One choked as he tried remembering.
"Nothing. He didn't do anything in particular. But, he did show us his true nature..." He could be seen shaking as he said so."
As the generals were going crazy, Josh happily thought about the brainwashing capabilities that killing intent showed. Oh, this would be so much fun! They had finally arrived at D-23, and it was time to build an army!...
Creator's Thought
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I didn't even bother to explain anything. These kinds of rumors tend to get out of hand easily. In my personal opinion, the less you reply, and the better you end up. Well, generally, sometimes it can lead to some pretty crazy events. #Blame-Pumpkin-Knight #I'm-Innocent