9 Edmonds Challenge (1/2)

Taking a deep breath to get rid of the embarrassment, the Chief closed his eyes for a second and turned toward the one who had spoken so impetuously.

When he did so, he was pretty surprised to see a style of clothing that he had only seen in pictures.

A red vest over a tight shirt, with tight pants and a traveling coat that reached the knees.

Oh, yes, this was the style that was currently in fashion in the nearest city.

Aaron, meanwhile, was shaking his head on seeing the extremely constricting nature of those clothes.

The coat could be pulled by anyone to make the one wearing it lose balance, and such tight clothes would cause the wearer to move slowly.

Edmond, on the other hand, who had just named himself with such valor, was taking in all the shocked gazes with pride on his face.

It seemed that pausing outside to arrange his hair and dust his clothes which had gotten dirty during his travel had been the right decision.

His black hair was combed perfectly to curve up and fall down like a curtain on both sides of his face, which, he thought, was quite a heroic look.

Yet, when he heard the one whom he had come looking for answer, he stumbled and almost fell as he had just begun walking forward.

”Challenge hours are over. Come tomorrow.”

His confident demeanor gone, Edmond quickly looked at the clock on the wall.

It read 12:01.

Raising a hand, he stuttered, ”B-but it's only been a minute! You can't-”

”Oh, yes I can. The Challenge hours were put in place so that you Ascenders won't disturb our lives all day. Get going! Just try to reach before 12 tomorrow! Now, then, children, where was I?”

A defeated expression appeared on Edmond's face as he leaned on the wall for support.

He had rushed over with great enthusiasm after braving countless Teras in the jungle.

Now…he had to go back?

Seeing his defeated expression, the Chief chuckled.

'Hehe, serves you right for interrupting my speech.', he thought, before turning back to the children.

Yet, he raised his eyebrows and took a step back when he saw them looking at him with reproach.

Wh-what the hell was wrong with these kids? Weren't they looking up to him just now?

”Mom was right! The Chief really does like escaping from his responsibilities!”

”Yes! I heard Mrs. Ernst telling my mom that the Chief loves to escape when it's his time for chores! We do all our chores!”

”Yes! Chief should fight! I wanna see the fight!”

”Fight! Fight! Fight!”

This made a ray of hope appear on Edmond's face, while the Chief could only gape at the little kids.

Right now, he knew that even if he tried to explain about the Challenge Hours, it wouldn't make any difference.

In fact, other Hamlet Chiefs welcomed Ascenders at any time, as the Challenge Hours weren't compulsory. Yet, if a Chief wanted to quote them, he could.

Sighing, the Chief realized that he would have to rouse his viper again.

”All right, fine! I'll fight! Let's go! Do you all want to watch?”

This made the children's eyes light up, and they once again started to look at him with admiration.

That wiped away the last hesitation in the Chief.

Turning around, he suddenly had to take a step back, as he had come face to face with the kid who had just been slumped on the wall.

Weren't you looking defeated just now? What's with the enthusiasm?

Edmond's valiant disposition was back; he was holding out a rectangular card, on which one side was filled with details.

The other side was empty.

Looking like it was made out of some silver-colored metal, the card looked very sturdy, and it even looked as if the material it was made out of was precious.

Seeing the card, the Chief raised an eyebrow and said, ”An Ascender Card, huh? Seems you're prepared. Where are you from?”

Beaming with pride, Edmond answered, ”Dion City.”

This time, genuine shock appeared on the Chief's face, and even Jenny slightly opened her jaw with surprise.

Bending closer, he whispered in Edmond's ears, ”Do you have any…”

”Err…no. I ran out of it on the way here.”