"No way. Your skin.... How does it become this smooth?"
"What have you done?"
"Did this come with Clovis?"
Kanaria, Christina, Lucifania, Aileen, and even Melody ganged up on her, demanding an explanation.
Clovis smiled wryly, knowing this would happen. They didn’t have this reaction right away when Clovis returned to the group, but Hana’s change jolted their memory. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel★fire.net
All of them couldn’t help but swarm Hana. Vina looked troubled. It was clear she wanted to join, but she was still angry at Clovis. Besides, he might not help her.
So, there was no way she could come.
Clovis let out a long sigh while taking his seat.
"Looks like you have done something big this time..." Jay chuckled.
"Well, you can think of it that way, but it’s all thanks to you guys..." Clovis shrugged. "Thank you for leading the group this whole time, Jay."
"That’s right. I have brought some more items for Tier 5. I have checked everyone’s progress." Clovis looked up, recalling their information. "Usually, my evolution progress would be 30 to 40% below yours, but it looks like I have managed to catch up.
"At this rate, it will only take three to reach Tier 6, yes?"
"Indeed. Yours, Kanaria’s, and my evolution progress is averaging at 84%. Ragna and Melody are already Tier 6, with an average of 36%. Erwin has gone all the way to 48%, while Lucifania is at 51%.
"Christina and Aileen are the highest among us at 72% and 69% respectively. Still, if we didn’t have that city and monopoly on those beasts, we couldn’t progress this fast."
Clovis nodded. "Don’t worry. That’s the privilege of having a city. Even the people around Tier 9 humans in this world receive the same benefits."
Jay nodded. "The items... is it fine to give them to us? I mean, we’re going to rank up soon, so you should be able to take out an even stronger item, no?"
"That’s true, but it’s still fine. Right now, our opponents are strong. The Three Swords has three Tier 7 humans and two Tier 6 humans with a pseudo unique ability. There are other parties who have yet to join the battle. Although I don’t know which one will join the battle, they will surely come. So, we need all the strength we can get."
"Fair enough." Jay nodded. "Still, it looks like you have gotten another helper... No, is this person even a helper? Is this person actually... a new member?"
"A new member, huh? It will be good if she becomes one of us. Her ability is something that I want. Her combat prowess is still unknown, but she has a pseudo unique ability."
"Hmm? Really? What kind of person is this woman?"
"Chef?" Jay raised his eyebrows. "A few years ago, you told us you wanted a chef..."
"Yeah. Whether I can recruit her or not... I don’t know." Clovis sighed. "For now, she’s going to for this succession battle as a chef, not a combatant."
"I see." Jay nodded. "Well, you are the boss. Besides, we have nine members, not counting Reolf. Don’t you want two groups’ worth of members?"
"Yes. This means we will need three more members."
"So, we will just have to make this chef our tenth member. Besides, aren’t you determined to make Mara Leverstrike our member? What did she say again? We have to beat her or something?"
"After training under her for 18 months, are you still planning to do that?"
"I do. Besides, having Mara will make the group even more fun, no?"
"Fun? Someone who is doing everything at her own pace?" Jay didn’t know whether it would be fun or not. Some people might get frustrated because Mara wouldn’t do anything.
"Well, we had Melody."
"Ah!" Jay looked away. The first time they met Melody, she was definitely similar to Mara in a certain way. "So, assuming we can recruit those two, there’s only one spot left... Do we include Reolf?"
"No. Reolf... already has a friend now. Although I want to introduce that guy, I guess this is not the right time yet."
"An element of surprise, huh?"
"Well, do you know that these two girls have been listening to us the whole time?" Jay asked one last question while pointing at Melody and Kanaria.
"A woman, huh?" Kanaria suddenly turned around. As expected of someone who focused on Brain Affinity. Her hearing was definitely exceptional. Even when Clovis and Jay whispered to each other carefully, she managed to pick it up. Then again, Clovis didn’t use any jamming that could distract their hearing, so it wasn’t weird that these two picked up their conversation.
Of course, Melody wasn’t angry since he wasn’t Clovis’ lover in the first place. However, Kanaria couldn’t ignore this matter.
"Looks like you have a lot to explain, Clovis." Kanaria smirked. "Follow me. I will interrogate you."
Clovis scratched the back of his head, but she failed to kidnap him because Christina stood in her way.
"Interrogate? Kanaria. You shouldn’t monopolize him. Since Hana’s turn is done, isn’t it time for my turn?"
"How can you say that? It’s clearly my turn." Kanaria squinted her eyes.
"I contribute more to the group." Christina didn’t back down.
"If you’re talking about contribution, I contribute more. So, I go first?" Melody raised her hand.
"I cooperated with Hana through that medicine. I believed that as her partner, I should go after her." Luci, who usually stayed silent, couldn’t help but join the argument.
"Ahem! Girls. You are troubling Clovis." Erwin stopped them. "That’s why I shall give you a solution. So that you don’t have to fight, why don’t you sit down and let Aileen go first? As the vice-captain of this group, I assert my right!"
Aileen was already behind him, erasing her presence while still pinching Erwin’s back as if she were asking Erwin to speak on her behalf.
However, all the girls shouted at the same time. "Shut up, number 3!"
"Number... 3?" Erwin could hear his heart cracking. For someone as prideful as he is, comparing him with Jay and even with him losing was something they shouldn’t have done.
"Pfft. Isn’t that good, number 3?" Jay sneered.
"You bastard!" Erwin leaped toward Jay and kicked him in the face. Jay stopped his kick with his bare hand, but he stood up, ready for a fight. "A mere number 3 dares to fight me, the second-in-command? Fine by me!"
Clovis let out a long sigh while muttering, "Why is this more tiring than Mara’s training?"