"I asked if everything was alright but..."
"It's weird..."
Katherine and Léa muttered.
"They almost look like a team now." Marianne chuckled. "Like he's coaching them or sothing."
***
"Get it? You can't just go for anyone you co across. You gotta choose your targets better." Elijah explained, whispering while leaning closer to them. "You need a system. A way to know whether you can handle the people you co across or not, okay? Or it'll backfire. Like it did just now."
"I see."
"Yes, like those guys at the museum."
"Right, they have a system. I understand."
"Um, why are you telling us all of this?"
"Good question." Elijah stretched his arms up. "In the first place, taking from people is la as hell. You should take from the big guy above instead. At the top, that's where the money is."
"The big guy above?"
"Does he an god?"
"What the hell is he talking about?"
"By above I don't an literally above..." Elijah clicked his tongue. "Anyways, that's who you should take from, alright?"
"Who are you talking about?"
"The Administrator, obviously."
"Administrator...?"
"Oh, I guess you guys didn't do well enough to et him" Elijah scratched his chin. "Now that I think about it, Katherine and Marianne didn't et the Administrator either..."
"O-Okay."
"Y-Yeah, we understand."
"We're sorry for the-"
Not only was the sentence interrupted, but the word 'Inconvenience' was replaced by the loud sound of crashing. The five remaining could barely believe their eyes. One punch had sent their comrade flying into a car.
"That's one." Elijah said as he rolled up his sleeves. "Who's next?"
***
"Hahahahaha!" The Administrator laughed while slapping his thigh. "I love this guy, seriously. Making the Boss Monsters fight one another, giving advice to looters who wanted to steal from him... Man, this is hilarious."
From way beyond the clouds, his red eyes watched.
"It's nice of you to join . You could say sothing though. I can feel you hovering."
The Administrator's eyes narrowed, annoyed by the silence.
He swung his hand to the right, and part of the sky seed to be cut off.
"Lowering my veil..." Her blonde hair shimred in the sunlight. "That's rude." She said icily, her white-feathered wings spread wide.
"I would like to say that it's nice to see you, Seraph..." The Administrator turned in her direction for only a mont. "But I would be lying."
"I'm just here to make sure everything goes well." She explained.
"What is this? My hundredth Apocalypse? I don't think I still need my senior to watch over ."
"Just making sure everything goes well." Seraph explained. "You're spending too much ti on one area. You have a whole Planet to oversee."
"I know, I know... But this area is the most fun." He shrugged. "What can I say?"
"You're free to have all the fun you want, but you still have a purpose here."
"Ugh, I know that!" The Administrator smiled mischievously. "Wouldn't want to make the big man upstairs angry."
"Making him angry is way beyond your capabilities."
"Touché." The Administrator chuckled before raising a hand. "Look. It's fun. I'm not watching here for no reason."
"Depraved Hero and New Magus... These two Classes appeared before the start of the Second Main Quest?"
"Correct."
"That's insane." Seraph said with a cold, reproving voice. "Those shouldn't appear until the Fifth Main Quest. And even then, they should-"
"You're free to check their Achievents. I believe I treated everyone fairly." The Administrator interrupted. "But in any case, that's not all there is to it."
Seraph's eyes narrowed, her blue eyes losing so of their shiny hue.
"A Nascent Seer...?"
"I think she even noticed ."
"That's impossible."
"I know." The Administrator nodded. "But she noticed sothing. The fact that the Nascent Seer Class resonated with her most is proof of that."
"Clairvoyance, huh?" Seraph muttered. "What an annoying Skill for soone to develop so early."
"Right? Even the Skills that resonated with her are proof of her affinity. Developing the Nascent Seer Class and the Clairvoyance Skill..." The Administrator let his chin slowly rest on his fist. "It explains a couple of things about her."
Seraph stared at him for a bit, confused.
"You an she would have developed them anyways."
"All these Tickets and Scrolls do is speed up the process." The Administrator grinned. "You're the one who taught all about that, rember?"
Seraph scratched her cheek as she sighed.
"Whatever."
A blinding white light started oozing out of her body, and she disappeared.
"So cold, always~"
***
Five out of six had been punched to the stomach, each having been launched in different directions.
Only one remained standing.
Her anxiety and fear were such that she couldn't feel her legs below her.
The only reason that the weakness in her shaking legs and knees hadn't brought her down to the ground was that she had been ordered to stand.
"One left~" Elijah humd as he cracked his knuckles.
Her trembling arms wrapped around her stomach to protect it. She knew that, any second now, she would be ordered to move her arms away from her stomach, and she knew that she would have no say in the matter.
Her face was covered by sweat. Her face was twisting and turning, her teeth chattering.
It wasn't so much the pain that she feared.
She genuinely believed that a punch like that could kill her. She could already picture that fist colliding with her body, smashing and shattering her stomach and internal organs.
"Don't want to be seen as a woman beater, so I'll take it easy on you."
It was only after those words were uttered that she could breathe again.
Maybe she would live another day-
"Just because she's a girl doesn't an you gotta take it easy on her!" Marianne shouted from inside the bus.
"Equality for all!" Léa added.
"That's right, don't go easy on her!" Katherine continued. "Well, maybe just little bit."
The sweating that had montarily lessened ca back in full force. Her gaze slowly moved from the ground to Elijah's face.
"You heard them." He said with a shrug, as if what was coming wasn't his fault in the least.
She braced herself, clenched her teeth, accepted her fate, and moved her arms away from her stomach.
She waited for the punch with her eyes closed... But the punch didn't co.
Instead, the most devastating slap ever delivered landed on her cheek, causing her to tumble a fall a dozen steps away.
It took a mont for the pain to set it. For the burn to really be felt.
She lay on the ground, hands on her cheek.
The pain ca at once. The tears. The crying. The scream-
"Shut up." Elijah ordered with the iciest voice.
Despite feeling pain a dozen tis worse than anything she had ever felt, she clenched her teeth and let her tears silently roll down her face.
Elijah hated crying more than anything in the world. The sound of soone crying was enough to drive him to the brink of fury.
A cold and icy fury.
The Absolute Authority Skill hadn't been used. Still, the fear that his order and voice instilled silenced her completely.
[The Side Quest "Bus Protection" has been Cleared.]
[20 Bus Ticket Coupons have been deposited in your Inventory.]
"Oh, right." Elijah stopped after having walked a couple of steps away. "That museum." His cold gaze lay upon her once more. "Tell more about it."
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