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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 155: Negotiation

Following Olga, we entered the lounge and sat on the sofa facing him, while Miria obediently took a position against the wall like a proper maid.

“Let me introduce myself again: I’m Olga, the leader of the Crimson Lion Clan, and my adventurer rank is SS.”

“I’m Eir. I’m not particularly affiliated with any clan. My rank is S.”

As expected, Olga’s adventurer rank was higher than mine, and he exuded an aura that screamed ‘powerful.’

“I apologize for the inconvenience earlier.”

“Hey, you don’t need to apologize. That guy wasn’t even a member of your clan, so if anyone should be apologizing, it’s him, right?”

“Hahaha! You’re right! Let’s just consider the matter closed, shall we?”

After laughing for a bit, Olga’s expression turned serious as he squinted a little.

“Eir, could it be you’re the one who stopped the monster rampage in Adonia about two years ago?”

“Stopped the monster rampage, huh? That was just a byproduct of my actions. I merely wanted to fight the Forest King.”

“I knew it! Hahaha! This is fantastic!”

I had no idea what was so amusing, but Olga laughed and suddenly seemed thrilled.

“What’s got you so happy?”

“Because, you see, I’m from Adonia. Unfortunately, I had already formed a clan and traveled to the imperial capital when the monster rampage happened, so I couldn’t get involved. But I heard from my buddies over there that a monstrous adventurer named Eir saved the town. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to meet you!”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! Seriously, thank you! To us adventurers in that town, we’re all like brothers. I truly appreciate it!”

As I listened to him more closely, it turned out that Olga was an orphan who lived in the Adonia region. His parents, who were adventurers, had been killed by monsters when he was young.

After that, he began gathering other children in similar situations to help each other, and by the time he turned twelve, he started adventuring himself.

With some skill to back him up, he quickly rose through the ranks and formed the Crimson Lion Clan upon becoming an S-rank adventurer. He informed me he had become an SS-rank adventurer a few years ago.

“That’s why I bring in kids and young adventurers in the same situation as my past self into the clan and support them as the clan leader.”

“I see. That’s a really good idea.”

Olga might look intimidating, like a black lion that instills fear in others, but he’s genuinely kind-hearted. Just a little conversation with him made his good nature apparent.

“So, if you wouldn’t mind, Eir, how about joining our clan?”

“Join a clan?”

“Yep. My buddies owe you, so I want to show my gratitude. Plus, I can tell you’re strong just by looking at you. If you join, I’d welcome you as one of our top members. What do you say?”

“Hmmm. A clan, huh…”

To be honest, I had never considered joining one before, and more importantly, there weren’t many benefits for me at this point.

Clans generally don’t move around much from their base, and usually venture into dungeons in large groups.

That would restrict my freedom to move how I want, plus having too many people in a fight means those who couldn’t keep up would be more of a hindrance than help.

“Of course, I’m not saying you have to. However, if you do decide to join, I’m willing to accommodate your requests as much as possible.”

“Well, okay then, I have a few questions.”

“Sure! Ask away!”

“First: if I join the clan, how will the party formations work?”

“There’s someone among the executives who’s in charge of training the newbies. Basically, that person assesses compatibility to set up party groups. There’re usually about five to six people in a party, and one of them is a D-rank adventurer.”

“In that case, there’s no need to reconfigure our party, and we don’t need a D-rank adventurer either. I don’t know what kind of people you have in your clan, but I’m not planning to team up with low-rank adventurers.”

“Don’t worry, that was my initial plan too. Honestly, only a few, including me, can keep up with you right now. I had no intention of forcing an overhaul on your party from the start.”

“That’s a relief.”

I’m not particularly good at fighting alongside others. Even with Fiera and Shuvina, we end up working together purely because we all want to fight our own way.

“Secondly: while I’ll belong to the clan, I’d prefer to have the freedom to act as I wish.”

“Freedom?”

“Yeah. I’ve got my own objectives, and to achieve those, I can’t stay in one place for too long.

Plus, I’m technically still a student at the academy. Of course, if you decide you need my strength, I’ll help out, and I’d like to participate when tackling undiscovered dungeons. But aside from that, I want to have the freedom to act on my own, okay?”

“So, you want to join the clan but want to be left alone for the most part?”

“Exactly. However, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea—by joining the clan, I’ll contribute properly.

I plan to tackle a lot of monster subjugation quests to fight strong monsters and also aim to challenge S-rank dungeons, so I believe I can earn enough contribution points for the clan. How does that sound?”

Clans are obligated to report their achievements and completed quests every month, which can affect their ranking.

So, my proposal essentially was that if they let me be free, I’d contribute through dungeon conquests and completed quests instead.

“I see. Indeed, it’d be a waste to confine strong individuals like you in one place… Very well. I accept that condition.”

“Thanks. Finally, my third condition. This one’s the most important…”

“What is it?”

I deliberately paused for a moment, smirking before stating my final condition.

“I want you to fight me.”

“What?!”

“As I mentioned earlier, my current rank is S. I’ve wanted to level up, and SS-rank adventurers are rare, right?

And now you’ve just appeared, so it’d be a shame to let this opportunity slip away! Plus, I’ve been personally wanting to fight you.”

To become an SS-rank, one must actually fight an SS-rank adventurer, and the examiner assesses your abilities. Then there’s an interview with the guild master, and the high-ranking members at the guild headquarters ultimately review and approve your promotion.

However, there are few SS-rank adventurers, most are either tackling high-difficulty dungeons or off adventuring in other countries, making encounters rare.

“Plus, I bet you’d want to fight me too, wouldn’t you?”

“Ha! Hahaha! That’s right! I’ve wanted to fight you too! Looks like we’re on the same wavelength!”

Olga laughed heartily for a while before shifting his gaze into one that resembled a predator eyeing its prey.

“Very well. I’ll test you. But it won’t be possible right now, so how about two weeks from now on a day off?”

“Sounds good to me. Also, there’s someone else I want to have join the fight with me. Is that alright?”

“Someone else?”

Olga glanced at Sonia and Miria nearby as if to confirm my words, but unfortunately, I wasn’t referring to either of them.

“No, it’s not them. The two of them currently have about A to S rank capabilities. I doubt they’d provide much entertainment for you.”

“Then who are you talking about? Oh, could it be that beast girl?”

“Correct.”

It seemed my friends had told him about Fiera, as Olga nodded in understanding.

“If you’re saying so, she must be a true powerhouse. But trying to take on two at once might be pushing it for me, you know?”

“But we have another person, remember? That guy from earlier, Rai.”

The guy named Rai who had provoked me downstairs had no intimidating presence like Olga, but the way he concealed his aura and moved was so refined that I immediately recognized he was also an SS-rank adventurer.

“Haha! You’re something else! To pick up on Rai’s strength in that brief moment? He’s indeed an SS rank adventurer. Fine, I’ll grant that request as well. Any other requests?”

“Not at the moment. If something comes up, I’ll reach out again.”

“Got it. Oh, and those girls over there are welcome to join the clan with you, Eir. We gladly welcome capable individuals!”

“Thank you!”

“I’d also like to join if it’s okay!”

“Sure! Then the paperwork can be done after the promotion test.”

“Roger that. Now then, with that, I believe our discussion is done, so we’ll take our leave.”

“Yeah. Let’s meet again in two weeks!”

After parting ways with Olga, we greeted Sheila and took a break at a nearby shop with some sweet cake.

(I hadn’t planned for this, but I landed an interesting ally. This makes it easier to accept high-ranking requests, and tackling undiscovered dungeons should be more manageable too.)

It was an unexpected windfall, but having another card to strengthen myself made me feel a bit lighter.

“Ah, I’m really looking forward to two weeks from now.”

With the prospect of fighting the powerful Olga confirmed, I returned to the academy with a slight bounce in my step.

 

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