150 times
Hassan and the Nine Headed Thief
150 ? Hassan and the Nine Headed Thief #1
The Thieves Guild is holding job interviews?
Is this some kind of audition program to find real thieves? I can’t understand the sentiment. And if it’s a thieves’ guild, shouldn’t they operate a little more secretly?
They’re so openly active in such a crowded place. That must mean they’re confident in their power. Or maybe the laws of Sodomora are a mess.
Anyway, I guess I’m lucky since I’ve gotten information about the Thieves’ Guild.
So I was wondering what the heck this was, and I saw people cheering on lockpicking here and there, even putting coins on the table.
Clink, click, click.
“Oh, shit. I think it’ll work out if you just do a little more. Seriously, just a little more… Ugh.”
A skinny man wipes the sweat from his palms as he pushes a pin into the lock hole. Other people shout from beside him.
“Almost done! Cheer up!”
“Dude, be quiet! I’m concentrating…!”
It really makes me realize how amazing computers and game consoles are. If there were no computers, we would probably be playing around like this on Earth.
slap.
A masked man swinging a short whip in his hand.
“Time’s up! You’re out!”
Soon, the little boy who had been fiddling with the lock was thrown to the floor with a loud crash.
As an expert in whipping, I immediately realized that it was just a loud, intimidating blow.
“Ouch! I, I really hit you! Shit!”
But when the skinny guy looks up at the iron bars, holding his hit shoulder, his eyes glaring.
“I’m Edgar, half-handed. Do you think you can hit me and get away with it!?”
Sling.
The sight of him finally pulling out a dagger from his waist is quite ominous.
“That kid ended up pulling out a knife!”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
The surprised audience.
Just in case, I hid Luna and Paranoy behind my back.
The masked man bursts into laughter at that very moment.
“You should have drawn your sword, you are not a thief but a robber, you rascal. Consider yourself lucky to have been whipped by me. If this had been a real fight, you would not have been whipped, but the guards would have cut off your wrists.”
“Shut up, shit! Just steal whatever it is!”
“These days, kids have no romance. They act so recklessly, so even the people above are making a fuss about subduing Hydra and such.”
Pot.
The man in the black mask eventually jumped down from the iron bars and stood in front of the man holding the dagger.
Standing there in front of a man with a knife, not even tense. Is he a pretty strong guy? Or maybe he’s a guy who doesn’t care about his life.
Anyway, one thing is certain: watching fights is really fun.
Even on a world with advanced computers and entertainment, there is nothing as exciting and spectacular as watching people fight.
So what the hell is going to happen? While we are licking our candy, a skinny guy wielding a vicious dagger lunges at the masked man.
Tadah.
Perhaps because of its slim build, it is quite fast.
“I take back what I said earlier. At this rate, you won’t even be able to commit robbery.”
“Shut up! Huh!?”
The masked man swings his sword-wielding body around like a bullfighter, then strikes the back of the man’s neck with the blade of his hand, knocking him to the ground.
It was a neat and uncluttered skill.
“Okay, next! Whoever picks the lock will have a special opportunity to interview with the executives! If you come in now, you can also buy special work-friendly clothes at a discount.”
Swish.
The masked man gestured. Then, people with their faces covered by black clothes appeared and dragged the knife-wielding man who had fallen to the ground somewhere.
Rattling, clanking.
Also, some of them soon replaced the iron bars in front of them with something else.
The masked man looked at the sight and said a few more words.
“And, I’ll give you that special gift too-.”
Kyuing… .
“Wow, whoa! It’s a wildling!”
Trapped inside the newly appeared iron cage was a slimy creature the size of a small soccer ball.
“Hassan, it’s a wildling! A wildling!”
At that sight, Luna started slapping my forearm with her palm as if a seizure button had been pressed. At that sight, several people burst out laughing.
The interviewer from the Thieves’ Guild, who was conducting the event while holding a whip and wearing a mask, also smiled with satisfaction.
“Yes, they are wildlings. Mysterious creatures that fall from the Milky Way and hide on the ground. They move and hide without a sound. That’s why it’s not easy to see a fully grown wildling like this.”
Someone raised their hand and shouted at his explanation.
“They say that if you eat a wildling, you’ll grow so fast that you can’t see your hands. Is that true?”
The masked man answers those words.
“It depends on the constitution. Some are suitable for you, and some are not suitable for you.”
“So, the 8th generation ate a bunch of wildlings and became so strong. Is that true?”
“… That’s fucking real. Anyway, this wildling is a full-grown, real wildling. They’re even called living elixirs, and they’re worth two gold pieces each.”
Two gold coins.
2 gold.
Buzzing.
The crowd’s reaction to the strange liquid monster starting to shake. This is because presenting an exact amount creates a bigger ripple in people’s minds than saying it is good for their health or constitution.
Luna too was shaking as if she didn’t know what to do with the liquid monster trapped inside the iron cage.
“I want that! Hassan ate the last one just now. If I make a potion with that, it’ll be really awesome…”
I ate two of the wildlings Luna bought. I had nothing to say even though I had a mouth. But they were delicious.
I want to eat it again.
If you eat it, you can also increase your task score.
So I’m also interested in the products inside those iron bars.
“Then I will accept applicants for another interview. The participation fee is one silver coin from the underground.”
At the man’s words, hands were raised here and there. Soon, everyone came out and tried to pick the lock.
Bang. Bang! Bang bang!
Some of them even struck the lock with all their might with the hammer they were holding.
“Fuck, it’s so damn strong! Fuck, was it really made to be unlocked in the first place? It looks like it was just made to steal 1 silver!”
The interviewer snickers when a contestant yells that he can’t control his temper.
“Of course it won’t break easily, it’s a titanium lock on a titanium iron bar. Do you think you can open the safe door with that kind of clumsy hammering?”
“Then why did you make it so that it would be destroyed!”
“You little bastard, the safe was built to not be easily broken in the first place, that’s why it has a safe lock. Anyone can jump over a low wall, but if they can’t break into an important safe, it’s over.”
“Hey, what the hell. It’s so dirty, I won’t steal it.”
“Okay, let’s do that.”
Challengers appeared here and there, aiming for the 2 gold prize – the Wildling. Most of them were unable to do anything due to the extremely strong and sturdy lock, and were just venting their frustration.
It’s understandable that you’d be upset, since you’ve just blown the 1 silver entry fee.
“Okay, so is there another challenger?”
“Me! Let me do it! Can anyone participate?”
At that moment, Luna raised her hand next to me. She was so fast that I had no time to stop her.
Luna handed the silver coin she had exchanged at the underground currency exchange to the masked man. Then, she stood blankly in front of the iron bars and began to look around.
The man who had been watching the scene through the gap in his mask turned over the hourglass placed near him.
Ssuk tak.
“Five minutes. That’s the time when the security guards are deployed to the wealthy streets of Dongmun. Now, how are we going to get our hands on the wildling?”
“… Keep quiet. The voodoo of capture requires concentration.”
“Oh? I don’t know what it is, but okay, I understand. I’ll keep quiet. This work is all about secrecy.”
Swish, swish.
Luna looks around the fairly large iron cage, acting as if she is stroking it to see if there are any gaps.
It was quite odd that he didn’t even look at the lock, as if he was trying to put his slender fingers inside it.
“What are you trying to do?”
“I don’t know. What is it?”
The onlookers watching it also have their arms crossed and their faces filled with puzzlement, wondering what on earth is going on.
Even Malko, who was watching this from the side, said something.
“Brother, did your sister have the talent of a thief?”
“No, I don’t know.”
Luna stealing?
As the daughter of the goddess of the night, does that have anything to do with stealing at night?
No, this is just too much of a stretch. The only things Luna can steal are royal jelly and honey from the beehive. Sometimes she steals eggs from the nest.
But aren’t they all products of nature that don’t need to be locked?
So when I was just looking around anxiously wondering what on earth he was going to do.
Swish, swish.
“I think this should be enough.”
Luna, who had been pushing her palms into the small iron bars, began to move her waist as if she had made up her mind about something.
Rustle, rustle.
What are you trying to do? Did Luna have something like a lock fit?
Just then, Luna took out something red and round from her waistband. It was a candy bar that she had licked off earlier. She had taken out the candy that she had saved and put away in her waistband.
People burst out laughing when they saw that.
“What? Isn’t that candy?”
“What candy is needed to pick a lock?”
Everyone was laughing as if they were watching a cute joke, so I felt a little discouraged. But Luna’s expression was completely serious.
Luna knelt down in front of the iron bars and began muttering in a small voice.
“… Gyu, gyuing.”
And then he even goes so far as to wave the candy in front of the iron bars.
I’ve seen Luna imitate animal sounds many times before. Has she ever benefited from it? My eyes turn to the hourglass, and there’s not even half the sand left.
Luna ended up blowing 1 silver coin too.
When I was thinking like that.
“Look at that.”
Someone in the crowd said.
“Look at that, the wildling is reacting!”
“Oh, it’s true!”
As I looked at where the people were pointing, the wildling, who had been quietly locked up in the iron cage until now, began to slowly approach Luna’s hand.
Swish, swish.
Kyuing.
Eventually, the guy squeezes his body through the gap between the bars. As is typical of wildlings, they have no bones and are made of slime. Eventually, the guy slips through the bars and is caught by Luna’s hand, biting into the candy.
“Wow! I caught a wildling!”
Luna raised both hands high in joy at the wildling she had caught.
“Hassan, look at this! I got him!”
I think I’ve seen this before, but this time it was to the point where I could say it was Luna’s power that really caught it, so I was really surprised.
“You stole the contents without even opening the lock? That’s amazing.”
“I thought you were just a funny pink-haired girl, but you’re actually quite talented.”
“It’s a color I’ve never seen on the continent. Where did you come from?”
People also showered Luna with compliments and admiration like roses. Luna, perhaps embarrassed by this, turned the skull she was carrying on her back over her face.
Clink, click.
Elfriede’s chin strap was broken, so she couldn’t keep it from swinging around, and ended up holding the helmet with her own hands and covering her face.
Kyuing.
Anyway, Luna was holding a blue slime, a wildling, and it was wriggling in her arms. I didn’t know Luna could do something like that. I felt proud, as if I had done something great.
“Wow, that’s a curious method. You can take the contents without even touching the lock. How did you do that?”
A masked man asks Luna how to do this. Luna, wearing a bone helmet, also stammers and answers.
“… Wow, wildlings can easily get out if there’s a narrow gap. This one is a bit big so I wondered if it was long or short. Then I remembered that wildlings like sweet things, so I wondered how…”
“Wildlings like sweets. I didn’t know what they ate. It’s fun to learn. But, miss, it’s too bad you’re out. You had to pick the lock.”
“Where is that!”
Luna protested as if it couldn’t be happening. People also started screaming here and there.
“Look at this kid, he’s changing his words because he doesn’t want to give up the prize money! He’s a real jerk!”
“Don’t change the subject, you idiot! And give me back my 1 silver entry fee!”
The gathering people were like a mob, and if it continued like this, it would spread into a huge fire. And I got angry too. Isn’t this a kind of fraud unique to the underworld?
While they were bubbling away like that, the masked man added a few more words.
“Stealing things without even picking the lock. Truly a first-class talent. However, this is an interview. Our great 8th generation lord has written in the regulations that anyone who picks a titanium lock within 5 minutes is a candidate.”
The man eventually took out an old scroll from his bosom and unfolded it. There seemed to be something written on it, but it was far away so he couldn’t see it clearly.
The nymph, Paranoi, opens her mouth, which had been closed for a while while eating candy.
“Yes, it is true… It says, ‘The one who can pick the lock in 5 minutes’… ”
You can see those small letters. Looks like Paranoy has better eyesight than I thought.
Anyway, there is such a rule.
“Well, I have to give the wildling back here too, miss. I’d like to give it full marks, but that’s what the Thieves Guild is like these days. I can’t help it.”
“Ha, Hassan… .”
Luna shivered as if she didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t see well because of the bone helmet, but I’m sure that beneath that hard helmet, a sad face was looking at me.
So I stood before the crowd with a feeling of not knowing what to do.
“You just have to pick the lock in 5 minutes.”
I took out the club that was hanging from my waist and put a lot of strength into my arms and grip.
Kwaaaaak-.
A club that screams at my considerably stronger evil power.
“Are you thinking of trying to do it with brute force? You’re pretty big, so you could probably use some strength, but didn’t you see what happened to the other guys earlier? You need technique. You can’t do it with brute force.”
As I was calculating which angle and how to swing my club, a masked man came towards me with his arms crossed and gave me advice.
The man’s brown eyes showed a complex mix of anticipation and sighs of reprimand. It felt like he was telling me to try it out.
“Hatsan… .”
Luna also holds the wildling in her arms tightly and watches me. Countless people, countless eyes are watching me.
Why did I come out here? I’m so nervous that my palms are sweating.
But if this is the same metal as the steel plate earlier, called titanium, then it shouldn’t be impossible to break it by swinging a club. Elfriede, with her 12 strengths, should be able to do this much.
The voices of people grumbling.
Their breathing.
Everything seems to expand unusually loudly in my ears. I open my mouth wide and shout as if to shake off the noise.
“Eww-!”
At the same time, I raised the club with both arms that had been strengthened. What I wanted now was the power that was like a finishing blow.
Yes, it has to be a finishing move.
“Man-hae!”
[Work Review]
The only thing that came to mind was Manhae… Even Hassan, who was 1mcr… I’m sure he couldn’t think of anything else than Manhae…
While we’re on MCR, as a side note, let’s look at the characters’ IQs.
Sodomora’s Youngae – Enya : 3 mcr
Mars Guild Receptionist Daphne: 1.5 mcr
Nymph Paranoia of the Ditch Water: 0.5 mcr.
It’s just for fun, of course, and may not be accurate…
