A Farce

"Hey, who are you, anyway?"

A clear voice called out.

Reke turned around.

A lively girl of about thirteen or fourteen, slender and with two cat ears on her head, had called out to him.

He'd known someone was following him, but hadn't paid any attention. They'd seemed so weak to his senses that he hadn't bothered keeping track of them.

Who could've guessed they'd call out to him?

He suddenly found this interesting.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking about me? Don't you know even the most basic manners?" Reke shot back at the girl.

The girl looked at Reke with scorn. "Listen up, bumpkin. I'm Bellis, future leader of the Budaso Adventure Team—and your future boss."

Reke looked at the girl, who was holding her chin high, and thought she looked like a proud peacock showing off its feathers.

"Pfft—"

Reke couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha!"

Ignoring Bellis, whose face had turned red with anger, Reke clutched his stomach and laughed until tears came to his eyes.

He'd never expected to run into a scene straight out of some third-rate novel. He found the whole thing utterly hilarious.

People like this really existed in real life. Reke couldn't believe his eyes.

"What are you laughing at? Shut up," Bellis scolded him in a sharp voice.

Her tightly clenched fists showed how hard she was trying to hold back her anger.

She was a little dense, but her strength was pretty good within the Budaso Adventure Team. Apart from the dozen or so founders, she was the strongest, having already surpassed all the older members.

For all her sharp tongue, she wasn't a bad person. She'd always treated the people in the team like family.

If she hadn't seen the boss groveling before Reke today and felt that he'd been humiliated, she wouldn't have followed Reke or spoken to him so rudely.

"What? I can laugh if I want. What are you going to do, hit me?" Reke said, wearing a thoroughly punchable grin.

"You..." Bellis pointed at Reke, so furious she couldn't speak for a long moment.

"You're an idiot. What do you mean, 'you'?" Reke kept provoking her. Seeing her want to hit him but desperately holding back only made him more amused.

"Argh!" Bellis grabbed her hair and screamed in frustration.

"I'm going to kill you! I swear I'm going to kill you!"

Bellis spoke with red-rimmed eyes.

"Come on, then. If you don't, I'll think less of you," Reke continued to taunt her.

"Click." Lola's front door opened from inside. The argument outside had caught her attention.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Bellis charging at Reke with her fists clenched. Lola hurriedly grabbed her and held her back.

"Eighth Sister, let go! I'm going to kill him today! I'm going to kill that bumpkin!"

Bellis struggled wildly in Lola's arms.

Lola was startled at first, afraid Reke might kill Bellis, and cautiously glanced toward him.

He didn't look angry. If anything, he seemed to be watching Bellis with an amused, carefree expression. Lola breathed a sigh of relief.

Bellis's struggles got her nowhere. She turned and looked at Lola with a pitiful expression.

"Eighth Sister, please let me go. I promise I won't hit him."

"Remember what you just said."

Lola slowly released Bellis.

But as soon as Bellis was free, she charged at Reke again.

For all her bloodthirsty threats, she had no killing intent at all. She simply wanted to beat Reke up.

Reke had noticed there was no killing intent in her, which was why he'd decided to play along. Otherwise, he would've killed her the moment she showed any.

Lola was about to stop Bellis again, but as soon as she moved, Reke stopped her with a look.

With no other choice, Lola gave Reke a pleading look, hoping he wouldn't hit Bellis too hard.

Bellis hadn't noticed the silent exchange between them. She was still wondering why Eighth Sister hadn't stopped her this time.

When she came to her senses, she realized she was already right in front of Reke. Startled, she hurriedly pulled back nine-tenths of the force behind her punch.

Reke saw the small gesture and gave an almost imperceptible nod. He leaned to the left and dodged Bellis's punch.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bellis couldn't stop herself and rushed past Reke.

The two of them switched places.

"Not bad, bumpkin. Looks like you've got a few tricks," Bellis said, her expression turning serious. After complimenting Reke, she charged again.

Straight punches, elbow strikes, hooks, knee strikes, flying kicks—Bellis threw everything she had at him, but Reke dodged every blow. She kept increasing her force.

Bellis attacked nonstop for half an hour. Unfortunately, the gap between them was simply too great. She didn't land a single hit and only wore herself out.

She stopped, drenched in sweat, braced her hands on her knees, and glared fiercely at Reke.

"Bumpkin, if you've got the guts, stop dodging and fight me!"

"Ah! The idiot's got decent stamina, but her strength is terrible. I'm getting sleepy. Bye!" Reke yawned, gave his verdict, and went inside Lola's place.

"Coward! Don't run if you've got any guts!" Bellis yelled indignantly at the closed door.

"Bellis, that's enough for today. Come on, let's go downstairs."

Seeing that Reke had lost interest while Bellis kept provoking him, Lola grabbed her and led her down to the first floor.

Behind the door, Reke smiled. He'd enjoyed the farce and had memorized Bellis's name and face.

Lola kept hold of Bellis as she led her to the boss.

Bellis had stopped struggling and followed Lola with a dejected expression.

She'd realized the gap between herself and Reke. Her words had been nothing but the roar of someone powerless, and her last act of defiance. She didn't want to admit defeat.

Four-Eyes looked at the two of them curiously, unsure what had just happened. He waited for Lola to explain.

Lola was just about to speak.

Bellis jumped forward, bowed to Four-Eyes, and spoke first. "Boss, please train me. I want to become stronger."

Four-Eyes was completely bewildered, but seeing the fighting spirit in Bellis's eyes, he didn't ask why. He nodded and said, "All right. Then you'd better be ready to work hard."

"Boss, I'll show you how determined I am." With that, Bellis left without looking back.

Four-Eyes gave Lola a questioning look.

Lola told the boss what had happened outside her door and shared her guess about why Bellis had acted that way.

They exchanged rueful smiles.

"Boss, why don't you try talking Bellis out of it?" Lola said.

Four-Eyes thought it over, recalled Bellis's spirited expression, then shook his head and rejected Lola's suggestion.

"This is a good thing. Ever since that girl Bellis surpassed the older members of the team, she hasn't taken her training seriously. This might be just what she needs."

Lola rolled her eyes at the boss.

"Even so, she shouldn't make Reke her goal. Aren't you just pushing her into an abyss?"

Four-Eyes rubbed his chin. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

"Suit yourself." Lola shook her head and left.