The Fickle Scum Girl

"How come you're alone? Where's Tornado?" Melard's lazy tone brimmed with teasing, like a cat toying with a mouse before eating it. A nimble figure flashed through the jagged rocks and approached Bred, who was training.

Bred remained completely unmoved, glancing sideways at her. "She probably went home to visit her little sister, Melard."

"Oh~ oh..." Melard drew out the sound nasally and lightly licked her lips. "Did you make Tornado mad?"

"I can sense your malice, Melard. Couldn't be clearer," Bred said darkly. "What? Have you finally made up your mind to come after me?"

Because Bred had "taken" Tornado for himself, Melard—precocious and possessed of a twisted affection for Tornado—had always been jealous and resentful. She had constantly sought an opportunity to teach Bred a lesson.

Unfortunately, Tornado clung to Bred and was practically inseparable from him, leaving Melard with no opening. Of course, teaching Bred a lesson was not the goal; her goal was to "take" Tornado away. Otherwise, after the academy introduced combat classes and allowed students to challenge one another, she would have acted long ago.

"Don't be so murderous, Bred..." Melard raised her hands in surrender and said flippantly, "It'd be nice if you were a girl. What a waste of such a pretty face."

Bred said nothing.

"I'm not some clueless idiot. At the very least, until I master Nen, I promise I'll behave myself!" Melard solemnly changed her surrender pose into one of swearing an oath, then grinned. "Hey, Bred? Is your black-hearted shop still open? Help me buy a huge birthday cake. Don't worry, I'll pay you plenty."

"For whom?" Bred raised an eyebrow.

"Esdeath~" Melard was delighted inside and out, so high she could barely contain herself as she fantasized feverishly. "Just think about it! Esdeath has no family, all alone in the world—how helpless, how sad, how painful! Then, on her birthday, someone suddenly appears, holding a birthday cake and singing her a birthday song to celebrate her. Wouldn't she be moved? Of course she would! And then... hehehe~~~ This big sis will get another chance to take her down!!!"

Bred: "..." Again? Take Esdeath down? Again?! Wait, why was she so familiar with the tricks for playing with girls?

"Don't you like Tornado the most?" Bred sneered contemptuously. "You fickle slut."

Melard spread her hands and sighed deeply. "You don't understand, Bred. Girls have even less resistance to cute girls than boys do. I... I just can't control myself!"

"One hundred thousand beli," Bred named his price casually.

"Are you robbing me?" Melard's feverish expression vanished.

Bred was utterly calm. "If you can't bear to spend money, why are you trying to pick up girls? One hundred thousand beli, and I'll throw in a bouquet of roses."

"K, deal." Melard was clearly not short of money. Their Oberge Family was a well-known part of Cipher Pol.

Watching Melard leave while humming a tune, Bred rubbed his fair chin. It definitely wasn't because he was nosy; he was simply curious that Melard had actually taken down the ultra-dominant ice queen Esdeath. Yes, purely curious.

The truth was—

Around half a year earlier, when Cipher Pol Agent Academy had first opened, the newcomer Esdeath and the seasoned veteran Melard had come to know each other through a fight.

Then Melard lured Esdeath into the woods, claiming she had a way to make Esdeath stronger.

Then Esdeath was pinned to the ground, lost her first kiss, and Melard's wandering hands even groped her breasts, reaching second base.

There was no then after that. Luckily, Melard ran fast, or the rampaging Esdeath would have killed her.

"Pretty exciting." After hearing the story of Melard and Esdeath, Bred clicked his tongue in amazement.

Kurando Akabane, who had told him the story of Melard and Esdeath, smiled with narrowed eyes.

"You awakened your life energy too?" Bred suddenly realized.

Kurando Akabane gave a slight nod and calmly continued reading.

"Then why didn't you ask Father Anderson for guidance?" Bred was surprised by Kurando Akabane's unhurried nature.

Kurando Akabane said, "I don't want to stand out. I'll wait. There's no rush."

With that—

Kurando Akabane said no more. In Bred's perception, Kurando Akabane's life energy gradually steadied as well, clinging tightly to the surface of his body before finally sinking back inside. Without question, he had independently grasped the trick to Ten as well.

Monster, Bred thought.

Making his way to Mosquito Girl and Tornado's room, Bred wanted to check on Mosquito Girl's training progress and see whether Tornado had returned.

Tornado was back. She wasn't sniffling or crying, but she wore an expression as though the whole world owed her fifty billion beli. She held her head high and looked down with extreme contempt at a certain Bih who had secretly grown taller without telling her. "Hmph~~~"

"Bred, am I too stupid?" Mosquito Girl said dejectedly. "I can't feel it."

"Be patient, Joanna. You can do it." Bred flicked Mosquito Girl's forehead, his smile dazzling. "Trust me. Trust yourself!"

Mosquito Girl hesitated. "But... I really..."

"Life energy is an innate power possessed by every living creature, even if you aren't human." Bred was absolutely certain, based on the example of the chimera ant race of demi-humans he had once "seen."

"Hmph~~~"

Another cold snort came, much louder this time.

Bred said, "Still unhappy? Want to go out and have some fun?"

"Go... go where?" Tornado asked awkwardly, her words saying one thing while her heart said another.

Bred jerked his chin. "The neighboring Marine Academy?"

"Carry me!" The dragon knight spread her arms.

Bred was helpless.

Not long after—

Using Nen techniques, Bred easily scaled the towering wall of Cipher Pol Agent Academy—a wall that, in the past, no students besides the flying Mosquito Girl and Tornado could cross. His first thought was that his black-hearted shop might suffer a sharp drop in sales half a year from now. Only then did he lead Tornado through the Pine Sea, with her following close behind, until they reached the vicinity of the Marine Academy.

They crouched atop the wall.

"So quiet. Is no one here?" Tornado tilted her head left, then right.

Bred released his Observation Haki. "They're in the classroom. Let's just look around."

Compared to Cipher Pol Agent Academy, Marine Academy covered a far larger area and boasted more complete facilities and equipment. Its overall atmosphere was especially stern. Perhaps due to the composition of its students, Cipher Pol Agent Academy was filled with children and teenagers, while Marine Academy was entirely made up of adult Marines.

As they walked.

"Hey! Kid!"

A carefree call rang out.

Bred turned his head. Someone was squatting in the shadow between two buildings, swaying back and forth with a lit cigarette pinched between his fingers.

"Uncle? Looking like that, you're making it really easy for me to call the cops on you," Bred teased.

The other person: "..."