Marco was a Hunter—that is, someone who made a living hunting monsters. Well, it wasn’t as if a Hunter’s job could be summed up as just exterminating monsters; there were also plenty of search and escort missions. However, in Marco’s case, he limited himself to monster hunting.

  Escort jobs meant dealing with nobles or merchants—two types of people Marco really didn’t want to interact with. Search and exploration missions didn’t seem very appealing to him either. Monster hunting, on the other hand, was easy, straightforward, profitable, and fun—he didn’t even need to think.

  That was why Marco had moved to Durham, a frontier town on the Empire’s borders, a place infested with monsters of all kinds that, to Marco, were no different from a gold mine.

  And one could say he had achieved a great deal of success. At forty years old, he had reached the B rank among Hunters, placing him firmly within the upper ranks of the organization.

  Of course, this was a vast world, and there were plenty of "monsters" in a different sense of the word, hidden in various corners. But at least here in Durham, there weren’t many people Marco needed to fear, and he was satisfied with that—like a big fish in a small pond, which was good enough for him.

  “Yeah, but like I was saying, you should’ve seen the look on his face when I told him that. The bastard was trembling with rage, but he didn’t have the guts to do anything. The woman was looking at him like he was a total loser. Seriously, after seeing that, she’s never gonna want to sleep with that poor guy again.”

  “You’re a piece of trash.”

  “Hahaha, are you saying you’d have done things differently, boss?”

  “Pff, if it were me, I’d have taken the woman for myself too.”

  “Hahaha, but that’s because you’re a great B-rank Hunter. No sane woman would turn you down, boss.”

  “You’re not half bad yourself. There aren’t many other C-rank Hunters around here.”

  Marco was at the guild’s bar, drinking while listening to the story of Damon, a fellow hunter he was acquainted with. Calling them friends would be an exaggeration, but due to Damon’s skills and personality, Marco liked having him around. They had even gone on a few monster extermination missions together. He wasn’t someone you’d trust with your life, but he was a good bootlicker who knew how to liven things up with a good story.

  “Oh, and another time—oh? That’s a face I don’t recognize. A rookie?”

  Marco followed Damon’s gaze and saw an unfamiliar face entering the building.

  ‘A kid?’ A young man who couldn’t have been older than eighteen. Average height, a lean build, messy black hair, and very light brown eyes—almost golden. A completely ordinary-looking young man, so unremarkable that you’d hardly remember him if you’d seen him before.

  After quickly scanning the room, the young man’s gaze fell on the reception desk. He walked over and started speaking with one of the receptionists.

  “Hmph. Whatever.”

  He was probably there to register as a Hunter. But judging by his appearance, he didn’t seem like anything special, so Marco quickly lost interest. The same went for Damon, who turned his attention back to Marco and continued their conversation.

  “Yeah, so like I was saying, the other day I had just finished a mission, my pockets were full, so I decided to have some fun at the brothel. And on my way out, I ran into this really weird old man.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Old man?”

  “Yeah, but calling that mummy an old man would be an understatement. Seriously, the guy was so ancient he looked like he had died a hundred years ago, but Death forgot to come collect him.”

  “Yeah, and so what?”

  “Well, he also didn’t seem quite right in the head. I mean, I guess that’s expected from someone that old, but he was saying some really strange things—it gave me the chills.”

  “What kind of things?”

  Marco’s curiosity was piqued.

  “Hmm, excuse me…”

  “What is it?”

  Marco turned around, already somewhat irritated by the interruption, and saw that the speaker was the same young man from before, who, for some reason, had approached their table.

  “What do you want?”

  “Hmm, it’s just that when I looked around earlier, you seemed like the strongest person here, so I wanted to know what rank you are.”

  “Hmm? Is that so? I’m a B-rank,” Marco said with some pride. He had initially thought this kid looked pretty stupid with his sleepy-looking eyes, but wasn’t he rather perceptive, being able to recognize Marco’s superiority? Or maybe he already knew who Marco was and was just trying to suck up to him. But even if that was the case, it wasn’t bad. After all, who didn’t like having their ego stroked?

  “Oh, so you’re one of the best Hunters around here, huh?”

  “Yeah, you could say that. I mean, even among those of the same rank, there are still differences in skill, so while there are other B-rankers here in Durham, I’m at a higher level.”

  “Right, right. That’s great.”

  “So, did you just come here to ask me that?”

  “No, actually…” The young man pointed at one of the receptionists, who was now looking at them with a rather strange expression. “I was talking to that lady over there because I wanted to register as a Hunter, but from what she told me, if I sign up, I’ll have to start as an F-rank and won’t be allowed to take monster extermination missions until I get promoted. That sounds really annoying and tedious. I mean, you’d expect the guild, given its bad reputation, to be more lax about these procedures, but apparently not.

  So I asked her if there was any way to start at a higher rank. E-rank would be enough since my interest is in taking extermination missions. She said that to do that, I’d have to prove my abilities. So I thought that if I defeated the strongest person here, that would be enough to show my skills. That’s why I came to talk to you. So, would you fight me?”

  When the young man opened his mouth, what came out was practically a speech. He talked so much that Marco had trouble processing everything, but once he understood what the boy was saying, a vein bulged on his forehead.

  “What the hell did you just say?!”

  He stood up abruptly, knocking over several empty mugs on the table and nearly toppling it.

  “Please, Mr. Marco, calm down.”

  “I said I’d like to fight you.”

  At that moment, the receptionist from earlier rushed over, trying to defuse the situation, but it was already too late.

  “Do you have shit for brains, you little bastard?!”

  “Agh..!”

  Marco lunged at the young man, shoving the receptionist aside in the process. She fell to the floor.

  Wanting to teach the disrespectful brat a lesson, Marco reached out to grab his throat. But before he could, the boy caught his wrist with one hand.

  “When I mentioned I wanted to fight you, I imagined we’d do it outside, not here. But since I’m the one asking for a favor, I guess I can’t be picky. And well…” The young man glanced at the fallen receptionist.

  ‘This little shit…!’

  Marco tried to yank his hand free, but the boy’s grip was so strong it felt like his arm was shackled in iron. It was unimaginable that such strength existed in such a small body. Because of this, Marco had no choice but to reevaluate the young man—he wasn’t an opponent to take lightly.

  ‘But you messed with the wrong guy.’

  Without hesitation, Marco reached for the sword at his waist. Killing someone inside the guild would cause a lot of trouble, and even he wouldn’t escape the consequences. But since this brat had provoked him first, if he just cut off one of his arms…

  “Buagh!”

  Before Marco could fully draw his sword, the young man punched him in the torso.

  The blow was so strong that Marco was sent flying backward, crashing through tables and chairs before slamming into the building’s wall and collapsing unconscious.

  “Hmm, I think that should be enough, right?” The young man, Lucius, asked as he looked at the receptionist. He had expected to see gratitude in her eyes since he had just taken down the man who had knocked her over. But why did she look so terrified?