Chapter 34: My Power Level is…

I was once again in a meeting with Alexia's team. Though one member is missing and the reason we gathered was because of her. We are on a private VIP room of a restaurant and on the table is a newspaper with Rose's face printed on the front page.

"I can't believe she's done this." Alexia muttered.

"Perhaps she didn't want to be betrothed with this Duke… P-Perv Asshat. But still, her reaction is a bit extreme." I said, still struggling whenever I have to say that ridiculous name.

"I think extreme is not strong enough word to describe stabbing your fiancé." Alexia said.

"She was last seen heading north before they lost track of her. I doubt she has left the capital by now. Oriana's diplomats wanted to settle this as an internal affair and requested Midgar not to interfere, didn't they?" Natsume said.

"Indeed. That was suspicious." Alexia said.

"Rose is an exchange student, not a diplomat, and thus we should have a right to interfere with what happened in our land in accordance with Midgar's laws but that may worsen Midgar's relation with Oriana." I added.

"Well. My father wants to observe the situation first. He's always been a bit passive. But as her friend we can't be as passive. We must find her first so we can question and help her." Alexia declared.

"But she didn't tell us anything before this happened. There's a chance that she didn't want us to interfere out of fear that it may worsen relations between kingdoms." Natsume interjected.

"I know. And that's why I'm pissed off right now. Aren't we friends? Why didn't she tell us?" Alexia complained.

"I agree with Natsume. It'll be disastrous if we, especially you, Alexia, are found meddling in foreign affairs." I said in agreement.

"Claude! I can't believe someone like you would say something like that! Foreign affairs!? This entire thing happened within our soil!" Alexia exclaimed angrily.

"That's why we should be discreet when we search for her. Here." I unveiled three black robes from my bag.

"C-Claude. That's…?" Alexia asked.

"The same kind of robes worn by the terrorists who attacked our school. We need to hide our identities when we search for her so we don't have to cause any problems to the kingdom."

"Claude. You're a genius!" Well, that's rare, a compliment from Alexia of all people.

"I get that a lot." I replied smugly.

"Don't get that over your head though, pervert."

"You're never gonna let me live that down, huh?" I said with an uneasy smile.

"Of course. Heh." She replied smugly. Damn she always got me.

"Haahh… I'll gather more information so we can get a lead. I'll also investigate the dark rumors surrounding Perv Asshat." Natsume said.

"Please do." I said.

As Mr. Claude and that bitch left the restaurant, an agent of Shadow Garden entered the room with reports.

"Lady Beta. Is it okay to let them investigate?" She asked.

"Haaah... I cannot stop them. Not when Mr. Claude is so smart that he already countered my attempts to persuade them into leaving this matter be."

"What should we do?"

"Let us leak more information about Perv Asshat. That should distract his faction in order to give Rose some breathing room while they try to cover things up."

"Very well."

"How's Rose?"

"She has entered the underground maze underneath the capital city through the sewers."

"I see. That's an ideal place to hide from Perv's agents after all. Continue to keep watch over her." I ordered as I opened the folder containing the latest report from our agents and read it.

"She was holding her chest as if in pain while she ran…" I recalled that Mr. Claude stared at her chest during our first meeting… and not in a perverted manner… I didn't think much about it back then but… could it be…!?

"Summon Nu and have her monitor Mr. Claude!"

"Lady Beta?"

"And send reinforcements to aid Rose in repelling her pursuers but don't contact her yet!"

"Y-Yes! At once!" She said as she's about to leave the room.

"I'm not finished!" I stopped her as I wrote an encrypted message on a piece of paper.

"And give this to Epsilon!"

"Yes, Lady Beta!"

Mr. Claude. You continue to surprise us. To think that you noticed that Rose was suffering from Possession before we did.

I returned to my apartment room that night. My old dorm near the school has been destroyed along with the school during the whole Lutheran incident so I have to rent another apartment. A black robed man with a pale face waiting for me there.

"Master. You called?" The pale man asked.

"Yes. Did you watch how Mundane Mann fights?"

"Yes. He was fast. Very fast. But so far he hasn't shown his true strength."

"Continue to observe him. Learn how he fights. And also, take these." I summoned a chest containing weapons and armor.

"Wear these and be ready to confront him at my command."

"Yes, master." He said as he disappeared from the room with the chest.

I defeated some randos in my first rounds of the tournament easily. I was also able to watch how Mundane Mann defeats his opponents. He's indeed as fast as my minion claimed. Most people thought he paid his opponents to let him win because they can't see how fast he beat his opponents. He even defeated that bald headed Quinton without breaking a sweat.

Today, I faced Goldy Gilded, a smug blonde man wearing a sparkling golden armor. He usually forfeited any fight he cannot win but it seems he doesn't know me enough that he dared to face me. Well, I did hide my magic output and perhaps he's unaware of my reputation because I didn't participate in tournaments as much as someone like me should. Being an executive of a shady organization ain't easy after all. We now stand face to face in the arena.

"Hmph. I applaud your courage to stand before me, boy. But know that now you face me, Goldy Gilded the Victorious Golden Dragon! It's not a shame to forfeit this match, you know? You, boy, whose Battle Power is merely 50! I suggest you retreat! For my Battle Power is 4330!" Ho? A scouter reference? I have a great idea.

"Is that so?" I said as I unleashed some of my magic power, startling him as he felt… saw my magic power rising.

"Wh-What…? How…!? Your Battle Power… It's over 9000!?"

Pfft….. Musn't laugh. Not now. I must stay cool and deliver… no, steal a certain galactic emperor's line.

"Since you've told me yours I shall warn you in the interest of fairness. You see, sir. My Power Level is 530000. Rest assured that I have no plan to engage you with my full strength." I said with a sinister smile, channelling my inner Frieza-sama.

"530000!?" He exclaimed, thinking of retreating. But it is too late.

"Battle start!" As the referee already announced the battle to start.

"Tch! Whatever!" Shouted Goldy as he charged forth with his sword raised, ready for an overhead slash. I dodged it effortlessly.

"Wha…!?" He exclaimed as he retreated.

"Is that all you've got?" I taunted.

"Kuh…! I admit! You're strong! And so I shall show you my true power! HAAAAAAA!" He began shouting as his body began glowing. Golden aura envelops him.

"Can't be… Is that...?" I muttered with a surprised face.

"Heh. Scared? But it's too late for you to run now! Hyaaaaaaa!" Oh my. He has become a Super Saiyajin. His golden aura even formed a dragon and he started charging towards me.

I didn't even unsheathe my sword and just punched him in the face. The golden aura dispersed immediately as he was blown away.

"UOOGHH…!"

He crashed to the ground, making a circular dent on it while laying in a perfect Yamcha death pose. Perfect. As perfect as Cell.

"Winner, Claude Normann!"

I walked triumphantly back to my seat. Though I noticed my stalker from Shadow Garden has returned, once again watching over me. Why is she here again? Ughh… I hope she's stalking me for official Shadow Garden business and not… any yandere stuff. Even I don't wanna deal with that stuff.

Then I took a look at the tournament bracket to see my next opponents and…

"Hm? This name… So she's here…"

The next day wanted posters of Rose Oriana was spread across the capital. Someone leaked some nasty rumors about P-Perv's crimes back in Oriana and it made him desperate enough to put 10 Million Zeni price to get her back alive. This move didn't help his rumors and he's been busy trying to cover them up while beheading some Oriana nobles he thought were responsible for spreading rumors about him.

Today I was scheduled to attend the pianist Silon's Moonlight Sonata performance with my sister, who is also in the capital, but the Rose case was more important so I ditched her. Silon was most likely a reincarnator as well considering she brought many classical songs from Earth to this world. I'll pay her a visit later. She can wait. Rose however, especially at her current condition, cannot.

I, along with Alexia and Natsume, wore the black robes I provided and we sneaked together to the underground passageways to search for Rose, with Alexia leading the way holding the lantern.

"Do you know the way?" I asked Alexia.

"Not really. Won't stop me from trying though."

"The ancient labyrinth's maps have been lost so I hope you know what you're doing or we could get lost."

"I know. We can just retrace our steps to get back." Alexia said.

As we passed through the tunnels, I began to notice some things… familiar things… on the walls… Oh right. I almost forgot I did this.

"What's wrong, Mr. Claude?" Natsume asked.

"Oh… Look at these." I pointed at the runes and magic circles carved on the walls.

"Those runes… do you know them, Natsume?" Alexia asked.

"Sadly I'm unfamiliar with them. But…" Natsume replied uneasily.

"These runes… belong to the Necromancer." I answered.

"What!? How did you know!?" Alexia questioned.

"He used to leave runes like these along with magic circles with pentagrams which were written with blood on the crime scenes back when he was a serial killer." I explained.

"Then… He was here too!? Aghh…! Why is he always involved everywhere!?" Complained Alexia. I dunno, man. Maybe it's because I loved leaving things for people to discover?

Anyway, I did visit this underground maze underneath the capital years ago and since it was the perfect place, I turned it into a dungeon. If we delve deeper, I'm sure we'll soon find my undead minions. How exciting. To think that our search for Rose would turn into a dungeon crawling. Heh heh heh.

"Mr. Claude. Princess Alexia. This is getting to dangerous. I suggest we retreat and-" Natsume was about to suggest we retreat before being cut by Alexia.

"No! This is all the more reason we can't leave Rose alone! Let's go!" Exclaimed Alexia as she recklessly charged in deeper and deeper into the maze. Me and Natsume sighed before chasing after her.

Author's Note:

When I think of how to do the Goldy scene, I knew I had to sneak some DBZ reference.

ACogintheSystem: I was hoping Shadow Garden would discuss with Shadow about his "Past Life".

If Necromancer meets Gettan, I want the former to taunt Gettan by "revealing" he has romanced his former fiancee to get him piss off. Then, Necro grabs Gettan when he tries to attack him and slapping him silly and slaming him to the ground before saying, "Know your place, mutt!"

Answer: Yeah but I feel like there are too many Seven Shades meeting scenes already.

I have different plans for Gettan actually.

primenidus: Interesting

Answer: Omoshiroi

Wholesome07: He's getting promoted good for him.

Hehehe, somehow he deserved it, those glasses.

Are u gonna add that Claire is choking his lil bro?

Answer: Yay for promotion.

Now even Alexia thinks he's a pervert

Will only mention it.