The wind breezed past the Yokai Dojo, carrying the faint scent of rain and rustling the leaves of the dark blossom trees.
"You're here for the job?"
Junior Instructor Tanaka raised an eyebrow and looked at Kiernan with a scanning eye.
"Yes, sensei."
Kiernan placed his arms next to his waist and bowed deeply in a show of respect.
"You don't seem to be around here. I don't quite understand why a tourist like yourself would co all the way here to just… work."
Tanaka said with a look of suspicion.
"I am actually moving here permanently, and I am in need of work. Luckily I didn't have to wait for long, as I saw the poster by the pole."
Kiernan said with a smile and pointed towards the wooden pole outside the compound of the dojo, which was suffering under the heavy winds, and the poster was barely hanging on.
"Moving here? Dusk Town is a martial arts town, and if anyone moved here, it would be for these reasons—wanting to join one of the dojos, ulterior motive, or escaping from sothing."
"I guess I am a unique soul then. I just moved here to start fresh and explore a new place."
Kiernan said.
"Hmm… We're only about two weeks away from the annual tournant between the dojos, and it wouldn't be the first ti that our rivals had sent spies to gather information on our fighters.
"You're a stranger and a foreigner—it is hard for to trust you at this point. Thus, I must reject your job application at this point."
Tanaka said.
'I should've expected that this quest wouldn't be as simple. It doesn't have a ti limit, so I guess I can wait till that tournant of dojos is over.'
Kiernan nodded in understanding and asked.
"What about after that tournant of dojos is over?"
"We usually have our students doing all the chores, but they're putting all their effort into training now before the tournant. Once the tournant is over, we don't need outsiders to do the chores anymore, and we'll have students do it instead."
Tanaka said, and then grabbed the gate in an attempt to close it down. It looked like he was done conversing.
'Wait, if I don't get this job, wouldn't I fail in the quest? Shit! Since it doesn't have ti limit, if I get refused now, that might count as my quest being failed!
'I can't let this end like this!'
"Wait!"
Kiernan shouted and stopped him from closing the gate.
Tanaka's eyes turned sharp, and he moved his fist beside his body before throwing it forward like a harpoon.
With his left arm, Kiernan pushed Tanaka's arm to the side just enough to miss his face, but it only took that one contact for him to realize that Tanaka was strong!
"Hmph!"
Tanaka's aura flared up—he revealed his true martial rank, and it was Martial Grandmaster!
'I expected people of Dusk Town to be powerful, as the country we're in is tier 3!'
Kiernan's forehead scrunched up, and he quickly threw his arms up in surrender.
"I do not desire to fight you. Please, let say sothing, and it might interest you!"
"…"
Tanaka frowned and halted his next attack, but then a dozen more silhouettes jumped from inside the dojo.
"Tanaka, is everything alright?"
"We felt your aura!"
When they finished asking, they looked over to Kiernan and glared while also unleashing their aura straight at the young man.
"…!"
Kiernan gritted his teeth as a dozen more Martial Grandmaster auras crashed onto him like a wave.
It was getting hard for him to stay conscious, let alone stand.
"That is enough, senior brothers. Everything is in order."
Tanaka said and bowed.
With the auras disappearing, the senior brothers nodded briefly and retreated back inside the dojo.
"What did you want to talk about? If it doesn't interest , I will shut these gates right in front of your face."
He said.
"You can look up, and it should prove that I am not a spy. Search Kiernan Hunter on the internet."
"…"
Tanaka crossed his arms and tapped his feet impatiently.
"I don't see why that would interest in any way."
"It doesn't take, so please, just do it."
Kiernan said with a heavy tone.
"Sigh…"
Tanaka rolled his eyes and said.
"I do not carry a phone while I am doing my instructor duties."
"Here."
Kiernan offered him his phone, which Tanaka accepted with a heavy sigh, and started searching through the internet for his na.
It didn't take long for him to find sothing.
"It does look like you've made a na for yourself, but why would that matter? New Rakuya is no more than a tier 4 country, and we're a tier higher.
"It might seem minimal, only one tier difference, but it is as vastly different as the distance between the sun and the moon.
Tanaka said.
'I realized that as well when I visited Sirkus City. Tier five countries are ridiculously weak, and even with my current strength, I could be an important figure over there.'
"Yes, I am sure every student of Yokai Dojo could've done the sa as I in New Rakuya, but that should prove that I couldn't be a spy for one of your rival dojos.
"I ca here for the first ti just now."
Kiernan said.
"I still don't understand why you would. It is not like we're advertising this place to anyone. You arriving here is enough to make us suspicious."
"I realized that New Rakuya is… too small for soone like , and I need greater challenges to overco to gain greater strength. arriving here? I arrived in a neighboring city, and I asked people there for directions to the strongest dojo where I can train.
"They pointed to Dusk Town, which wasn't too far away, and then I found out that there are multiple dojos. I didn't expect to get accepted to any of them, but I saw that you guys were looking for a cleaner.
"I thought I could start as a cleaner and climb up to a student."
Kiernan said.
It was a completely bullshit story, but Tanaka's expression changed as it actually started to make quite a bit of sense.
"You must talk to the master. The master of Yokai Dojo, and the founder of Yokai Style, Arakawa Raizen!"
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