Disciple of Immortal

Act 2: Chapter 38: Kotone Takanashi

After waiting for a while, the other adventurers also started to come in one after another. The chairs were filled up soon after.

「That man with bandages coiling around his body… That’s 《Ludger of Magic Poison》. He’s a troublesome man whose fighting style centers around the use of poison, water magic, earth magic, and alchemy.」

Rosemonde, who sat beside me, introduced the arriving adventurers in a low voice.

She was looking at the man whose entire body was covered in a blue robe.

His face and arms peeked out from the gaps that were covered in bandages. In addition, he had bizarrely long fingers.

I nodded lightly.

「Be careful of that guy. Though his status is the lowest amongst the A-rank adventurers in this city, not even I can guess his overall combat capabilities. There’s a nasty rumor about him supporting a crime organization. He’s a mysterious man who you can’t guess what he’s thinking about. He’s far more dangerous than Alfred whose train of thought you can guess easily.」

Rosemonde clicked her tongue as she said so.

「The reason I’m telling this to you here is to give you a warning and to prepare for a counterattack. Well, though it’s literally impossible for Ludger to defeat you in a frontal clash… he has a lot of other hidden, cruel attacks to backstab you at his disposal. That’s why, be careful around him.」

「Thank you very much, I’ll be very careful around him.」

「… It seems you two already hit-it-off before I knew it.」

Pomera was looking at Rosemonde and I with a curious look on her face.

「Hump, I might look like this but I know better as to how to treat my benefactor. Naturally, it’s not like I couldn’t get out of that situation myself, but I’ll at least giving you an introduction as your senior in this city.」

Rosemonde crossed her arms that were covered with bulky metal protectors.

Though she seemed to be extremely depressed after she lost in the self-imposed duel against me, getting herself sent flying by Philia’s giant hand and being surrounded by swarms of monsters when she was out of mana, it looks like she had already recovered from her mental trauma due to her tough mentality.

I looked around and realized that it seemed almost all participants were about to arrive.

Though Rosemonde already gave a brief introduction to me, it seems that only the lord of magic city, his subordinates, adventurer guild’s staff, and A-rank adventurers participated in this meeting.

Including Alfred, Rosemonde, and the fella called Ludger, the other A-rank adventurers were an old magician and a young female magician.

It seems that were all the A-rank adventurers in this city.

「Is that all?」

「The last one is guild master Gannet, and S-rank adventurer; Kotone.」

I was at a loss for words.

… I recalled the female magician clad in black overcoat who parried Philia’s attack with ease.

She might be the S-rank adventurer; Kotone.

If my guess was correct, her level should be above 2000.

I don’t wish to meet her in this kind of situation, but…

That moment, the door opened again.

「Even though I’m the one who invited you guys, I owe you all an apology for my tardiness.」

The one who arrived was Gannet.

Right behind him was a petite woman. The petite woman bowed lightly toward all the people in the room.

She was a fair-skinned beauty with glossy black hair.

Her age might be… one or two years younger than me?

She only wore simple gauntlets to protect the back of her hands and a lightweight robe.

The slightly cold expression, and forelocks that were trimmed neatly at the same height was something that seemed akin to her trademark.

A single glance at her face was enough to convince me.

Though I had this premonition when I heard her name before, I was instantly convinced when I saw her features; she was Japanese.

I unintentionally lowered my face.

「… She’s 《Ares’ Hand(Hand of the God of War)》; Takanashi Kotone. Though she seems to be taking a break from her activities as an adventurer from around half a year ago, she seems to have been forced to come out in a hurry by that cunning old man.」

I felt that the air within the room froze at once the moment Kotone made her appearance.

It seems that the A-rank adventurers also acknowledged her strength.

「Kotone Takanashi…」

「You’ve never hear about her? She’s an S-rank adventurer, a human from another world who owns 《Gift Skill(God’s Blessing)》. She’s a cold, taciturn, unsociable, and indifferent woman. I’ve never seen her acting friendly with others. Well, personality aside, she’s undoubtedly the one with the strongest combat power in this city. Even from my perspective, she’s already quit being a human. Never provoke her anger.」

Rosemonde herself had told me that Kotone was a human from another world.

It seems she didn’t keep a secret of the fact that she was a human from another world.

Or maybe, she had no choice but to announce that fact.

Maybe, the one she referred to as 《Gift Skill》 was the cheat skill given to her by that bastard Nyarlhotep.

So that’s what it was called in this world.

It was something that I missed since I accidentally incurred Nyarlhotep’s wrath: the power to become a hero in this world.

Rosemonde was right, I had to raise my vigilance around her.

Did that mean Kotone’s 《Gift Skill》 was called 《Ares’ Hand》?

Let’s not use 《Status Check》 on her to prevent incurring her suspicion.

I mean, she should have 《Status Check》 too.

Kotone just expressionlessly sat at an available seat.

From her gestures and the way she acted, I did feel that cold air around her.

It seems she really was an indifferent person.

Though she had retired from adventurer activities, Gannet, who could bring her back, was truly amazing.

「Eh?… Kanata-san, that person, is different from the one who dodged Philia-chan’s attack so easily before, right?」

I also noticed when I heard Pomera’s remark.

Her appearance was completely different from before.

Moreover, though she was quite far away, I noticed that her long hair wasn’t there anymore.

Maybe, her hair color wasn’t black either.

Though I couldn’t completely confirm this matter properly, her hair color definitely wasn’t dark before.

Was there another person that I needed to pay attention to in this magic city aside from Kotone?

I pressed my eyebrows together, trying my best to recall the incident with the mage in black robe.

Her height… should be shorter.

That’s including her hair, the length should be longer than Kotone’s shoulder length hair…

「Eh, could it be that the mage from before was… Lunaire-san?」

N-No, wait a minute, I mean, we had already parted ways in such exaggerated fashion in 《Cocytus》.

I mean, did she really chase me all the way to this city after such an emotional separation?

But, if she really did come out from Cocytus, why didn’t she greet me back then?

No, wait a minute… dammit, no matter how I think about it, I couldn’t think of any other candidate other than Lunaire.

Not good, it seems I was too biased to analyze this situation.

I shook my head lightly.

「Is something the matter, Kanata-san?」

「No, it’s nothing.」

I should stop thinking about such convenient things for me like Lunaire coming out to meet me. Let’s set aside that possibility for now.

I mean, there’s no way she went as far as leaving 《Cocytus》, breaking her own vow to not leave that place to just to meet me, and yet ended up missing out the timing to call out to me and loitering around for no reason in this magic city.

Though Lunaire did rampaging around in a strange direction once in a while deep in the depth of 《Cocytus》, that’s a bit…

「… I guess I have no choice, once we’ve some time to spare, I’m going to take a walk around this city to look for someone.」

「E-Eh? Pomera is willing to help if Kanata-san if have something you want to do…」

Pomera was tilting her head as she spoke with a puzzled look on her face.