In the center stage, Stands Cosmo with everyone is staring at him in silence, even Sasha wakes up when she heard his voice.
Long black hair, pristine, white and pale skin, deep blue eyes, body; slim and shapely in all the right places.
Even Leo was captivated by the sight of Cosmo, which confuses him since he never felt like this when he saw him before. Maybe it was the lighting he thinks as he shakes off the feeling. He cuts through the silence with a loud cough.
"This is Cosmo and he's here for a re-evaluation." Leo turns to Nail, only to see him stare intently at Cosmo. "Nail…" He says in surprise, the leader of the infamous 'Money Hound' having interest in something other than money.
***
Nail; beastman skirmisher, leader of 'Ghost', moneymonger, and above all, an analyst. With an innate talent for judgement and the instincts to act on it, whether it be quests or fights, he'll take the best options for the best results.
When his party was picked to be evaluators for the next evaluation, and after some negotiations, he saw it as a good opportunity to not only make some coin, but to further boost the reputation of his party.
So he scouted the next selection of adventures for evaluation, collecting information and forming plans on how to combat them. There were some adventures that he was weary of; a raising swordsman, 'Red Edge', the veteran staff wielding martial artist, 'Steel Rod', and finally, the talented mage, 'Icy Breath', but these were handled swiftly with Nail pre-planning.
'Red Edge' is good but relied too much on his sword, so Nail easily took him out with parries and a single bash to the chin.
'Steel Rod' had an injury that made his left side weak to guard against, letting Hussler easily win in a match of attrition.
'Ice Breath' was the most concerning, as a noble, he had access to materials and elixirs to make him an excellent mage, but he has a habit of being flashy with his spells, a habit that Fess took advantage of and ended his fight in a single cast.
So when the Guild leader himself made a special assumption for this one adventure, he couldn't help but be skeptical.
'Was he here to make them lose the wager?' was the one thought that Nail went to, but as he scans this Cosmo, he feels nothing, no strength, no weaknesses, all he has is looking pretty. Yet, since this is at the request of Leo, Nail still can't help but be cautious.
"What's the reason? Couldn't he wait until next month's evaluation?" Nail asks, turning to Leo to see him giving him this concerning look. "What?"
"Nothing…" Leo response, "Cosmo recently completed pretty big bounty…"
"Which one?"
Leo takes a moment before responding. "The Boar Bandits."
The rest of 'Ghosts' turns to Leo upon hearing the name of such a infamous band, all with a look of surprise.
"The Boar Bandits? Not some other two bit band pretending?" Fess speaks up.
"Yes, at least from the testaments of the group of slaves he saved" Leo responds. "They all came from recently attacked villages fitting the pattern and recent reports of the bandits."
"How about Kurn?" Hussler interjects.
"The freed slaves say that they found him beaten and on the ground." Leo stares at Cosmo, still trying to get a hint of his character. "It seems that he was too focused on saving the slave, and didn't even know that Kurn even has a bounty."
Nail looks at Leo and starts to think. "You say beaten and not killed, why?"
"Despite what the people Cosmo saved said, he said he didn't kill a single one…" Leo says, while the 'Ghosts' party gives him a skeptical look. "I know… strange…"
Nail begins to think, did Cosmo buy the slaves in hopes of getting the bounty with testaments alone? Did he use some kind of unauthorized poison to take the Boar Bandits out? He assumes that Leo was thinking the same thing, but one question rings in his mind.
"Is the Bounty still open?" Nail asks, staring intently at Leo, his eyes glowing at the chance to make more coins.
Leo returns a tired look and sighs. "That's why I want a evaluation for him, if he saved the slaves but coerced the women and girls into giving a false testament, it'll be an easy win, but if he is strong enough to take on the entire Boar Bandits…"
"Then he'd be might be the strongest…" Hussler finishes, he turns to Cosmo, his barbarian instinct telling him something different. He looks at his leader, and leans.
"How Strong?" He whispers, well aware of his leaders ability to gauge strengths.
"Not strong… but not weak…" Nail replies.
"Ok boss, how about this then…" Hussler whispers his idea to Nail, and thinks about something for a moment and nods.
"Ok Leo, we'll evaluate this Cosmo, under a few conditions." Nail turns to Leo, ready to haggle again.
Leo sighs, ready to take a break from all his haggling. "Name your conditions…"
"First, our win or loss in this match does not count for our previous deal and second, we get to make a deal with him."
***
Hussler steps up to the stage and faces Cosmo. After getting a closer look, he really is pretty, but looks alone isn't enough to sway him into holding back.
"So you're the one that took down Kurn and his band." Hussler places his hands on his hips, exuding an air of confidence.
"Yes, what about it?" Cosmo replies.
"Well, you see." Hussler scratches his chin. "Kurn's really strong from what I heard, strong enough to rival any knight garrison and party." He points his thumb at his party behind him. "except for my party of course." He then points at Cosmo. "But I can't help but… assume you're lying." He states bluntly.
"Why's that?" Cosmo gives him a confused look, but completely unbothered by his statement.
"There's no way a 'child' like you could've killed him." Hussler puts an emphasis on the word 'child'.
"What?"
"It's what we call people in my tribe, for 'Someone yet to kill.' and you feel like such a person." Hussler puts on this air of smugness while pointing at Cosmo.
Cosmo only stares, then gives a smile that suddenly makes Hussler blush.
"Thanks." Cosmo say cheerfully. "For such a big guy, you really have a way with words."
Hussler turns, embarrass by the compliment, at the way Cosmo said it. He gathers himself and faces Cosmo.
"Anyway, this 'Kurn' happens to be a bounty my party was going for so… how decided to give you a chance to make more coin." Hussler continues.
"How?"
"The Guild is kind of a stooge when it comes to bringing in proofs." He nods his head at his party. "if you win against each of my party members, we each will personally pay part of the bounty but…" He cracks his knuckles. "If you lose, then you tell us where you last saw him."
The reason why Leo agreed to Nail's new conditions was simple: if Cosmo is strong enough to beat the strongest party in this region, he told the truth that he single handedly beat the entire Boar bandits. If he simply beats one or two of them, he might be strong enough to beat Kurn himself. If he's lying, they at least show a lead to find Kurn.
Cosmo only looks forward, slightly smiling as he shrugs.
"Ok, sure."
Kurns bounty is about 100 gold coins, and each member of his band ranges from a few silver coins to a gold coin. Nail and his party are confident that they each could handle Kurn alone, and with their teamwork, could take him and his entire band.
Nail assumes that this Cosmo hasn't killed Kurn, but probably snuck into his camp and freed the slaves, he then made some kind of a deal with them so they would give a statement to make Cosmo look like he saved them.
He sends Hassler out first since he's the strongest and most durable of them, he can finish the fight quick, but if he does lose, and depending on this Cosmos's greed, would tire him for the next fight. So as long as they all don't lose, the 'Money Hounds' can make a good pile of coins from this.
The two then get into position, Hussler lets his heart beat and pulse with power, an innate ability of barbarians. He aims to finish this in a single blow. Cosmo simply extends his hands, palms open, while looking relaxed.
A magic bell ticks down and when it rings, Hussler charges, but even before he could lift his foot of the stage, Cosmo vanishes, placing on his abdomen and with a twist and a push, sends his massive body flying a couple of feet.
Hussler, surprised that someone like his was sent flying, tries to land on his feet, but fumbles and lands on his back. He quickly tries to stand, but strange sensation causes him to curl. The feeling grows and it takes every effort of him to not moan, but the feeling grows and grows, a release threatens to undo him and any pride he has.
Cosmo turns away and walks back to his side and faces the rest of the 'Ghosts' and then stares at Leo with a cold gaze.
"Who's next?" Cosmo's words echo through the room as the air of the room turns heavy.