The next day, Kelvin wore an appropriate combat attire, which consisted of a dark leather jacket along with a fitted black shirt and combat pants reinforced at the knees, while a pair of sturdy boots completed the outfit, their soles thick enough to absorb impact.
He adjusted the collar of his jacket slightly, exhaling as he rolled his shoulders.
Today was a big day.
The young man would be heading out on his first mission as a Hunter. Basically, it was his debut.
It will be fine. It will be fine.
He couldn't help but feel anxious.
Yesterday, during the physical examination, he had — completely by accident — knocked out the instructor, Todd, with a single crushing blow. At this point, Kelvin Pierce might as well have been considered a broken RPG character, unaware of the full extent of his own strength. More than that, other worries plagued his mind for the past few hours.
What am I going to do about her?
Kelvin stared at the succubus named Sera with a calculating gaze.
She was the Servant bound to him by the mysterious phenomenon called Deathmatch that had forcibly transmigrated him, along with several others, into another world for a battle royale.
Though they were called Servants, they were not to be underestimated.
Each of them possessed abilities and cunning that could turn the tide of a fight in an instant. For example, Sera herself was a living embodiment of charm, magic and fire. Her mastery of mana manipulation, especially the forbidden techniques unique to demons, charm, long arsenal of techniques and her ability to control demonic flames that targets the three dimensions of a person made her a formidable foe.
A careless opponent could be obliterated before even realizing what had happened. In other words, she could be described as his trump card.
However, she was also a double-edged sword.
First of all, the succubus was particularly lazy and somewhat of a prankster. She had no interest in working or following strict orders unless it amused her or directly benefited her in some way. Tasks that seemed simple to others could become convoluted under her influence, and Kelvin often had no idea whether she was genuinely helping or subtly sabotaging him for her own amusement.
On top of that, her unpredictable nature made her presence as dangerous as any enemy and sometimes leads to catastrophic results. Kelvin had seen the aftermath of her experiments with even mundane objects: such as a bento wrapper and an egg.
Despite her quirks and mischief, though, Sera had been invaluable in teaching him the Little Universe technique, refining his mana control, and guiding him through the basics of combat. Without her, he would still be fumbling blindly, unsure of how to wield his own strength.
Theoretically, she was on his side. But the unpredictability of her nature, her sheer greed and whimsy, made him wary. At least, a little.
Now that I think about it, what would happen to the Servant if the Master dies or wins the game to make a wish?
The rules of Deathmatch were cruelly precise. If a Master fell, the Servant vanished alongside them. Victory, on the other hand, granted the Master's wish, but Servants rarely shared in the spoils equally; they were bound to serve, not to benefit freely.
From a certain point of view, their existence was like that of a machine, created for a singular purpose.
Once that purpose was fulfilled, they would be sent back to wherever they came from.
Just what was the point? Kelvin had been grappling with that question for some time. Unfortunately, he couldn't reach any conclusions. His knowledge was limited, and the Game Master, who held all the answers, was as unreachable to him as a game developer would be to a common player.
Of course, thinking about it any further was as pointless as discussing the change in weather.
Which brought him to his current dilemma.
Should he bring her or not?
"Master..."
For some reason, Sera was also dressed too She was now wearing a strange coat he had never seen before; a red-and-black, ultra-tight robe with bat-like scalloped edges. Beneath it, a dark top covered her small bust while leaving her midriff exposed, paired with matching leggings that accentuated her thick legs. Thigh-high boots and fingerless gloves completed the ensemble, giving her a look that was both seductive and dangerous.
She didn't resemble a mage at all. If anything, she looked more like a stage performer.
A bead of sweat ran down his temple. This was a situation he needed to avoid at all costs.
"Hello...? Earth to Master?"
The answer, in a way, was obvious.
To mask his insecurities, Kelvin gritted his teeth and launched a barrage of verbal assaults.
"MY GOD, WHY THE HECK ARE YOU DRESSED LIKE THAT?! EH? YOU WANT TO GO WITH ME? I DON'T THINK SO! I'M GOING TO A WELL-RESPECTED ORGANIZATION WITH COMMENDABLE PEOPLE, NOT A GODDAMN BROTHEL! OH, I JUST REMEMBERED...THE ELECTRICIAN IS SUPPOSED TO COME TODAY TO FIX THE CIRCUITS YOU BURNT OFF WITH YOUR UNGODLY EXPERIMENTS! WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND PERFORMS EXPERIMENTS WITH A MICROWAVE!?"
As expected, under relentless barrage, Sera's head let out a hiss of steam.
"Oh, so now I'm the problem? Who was it that saved you from blowing your own circuits during the first mana circulation training? Hmm? Who refined your pathetic excuse of a control into something barely passable?!"
"..." Kelvin opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out.
She leaned forward, poking his chest with a finger.
"Exactly."
"Tch… that's not the point," he swatted her hand away. "You can't just walk into the Association looking like that. You'll cause a scene."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"It is a bad thing!"
"Is it? Attention can be a weapon, you know. Distraction, confusion, desire… all very useful in combat. Or are you saying you'd rather fight enemies who are fully focused and thinking clearly?"
Kelvin frowned.
That… was annoyingly valid.
Still—
"The Association isn't a battlefield. It's a formal place. You might not know this, but first impressions matter. Besides, you're not even a registered Hunter, so you can't come with me."
"Then I'll just register. It's not a big deal."
"Registrations closed yesterday, Friday, so you'll have to wait until Monday."
"W-wait, what!? Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I didn't? That's funny, because I clearly remember telling you to come with me for months, but you kept saying, 'I don't wanna.' So obviously, there wasn't much I could do." He paused, narrowing his eyes. "Now that I think about it… why do you suddenly want to come with me anyway? Isn't being a shut-in your whole gimmick? Or are you trying to reinvent yourself?"
"Don't start making up weird labels! And for your information, I just felt like stepping outside for once. Is that so strange!?"
"Yes."
"OI!"
"You've spent most of your time lazing around, messing with random objects, or dragging me into your 'experiments.' Suddenly wanting to go out is suspicious."
"Suspicious!? What am I, a criminal now!?"
"With the way you blew up the microwave? Debatable."
"THAT WAS A CONTROLLED TEST!"
"YOU NEARLY BURNED THE HOUSE DOWN, GODDAMN IT!"
"It was a minor miscalculation!"
"You turned a boiled egg into a bomb!"
"That was an unexpected breakthrough!"
"...You're literally proving my point!"
Noticing he was becoming heated, Kelvin took a few deep breaths and scratched the back of his head.
"Anyway, you can't come with me, and that's final. There's food in the fridge, just microwave it before you eat. And no, you're not using the freezer as a cooling device. If you want anything else, just tell me through our link. I'll have it delivered."
"Eh? Ah, u-um… I really can't use the freezer as a blower?"
It was to be expected. Sera was a succubus, one of the many demonic species from the Demon Realm, so her logic and common sense were inevitably different from that of humans. For instance, she genuinely saw no issue with using household appliances as experimental tools, nor did she understand why "don't touch that" was meant to be taken literally.
Kelvin pinched the bridge of his nose.
"No. You can't."
"But it works. Cold air comes out, I redirect it, and—"
"You break it."
"I modify it."
"You destroy it."
"It's a creative process."
"It's a repair bill."
"Tch… humans are so rigid."
"And demons are a walking disaster."
"Hmph."
She puffed out her cheeks and turned away with a small huff, clearly dissatisfied.
In her mind, if Kelvin refused, he was being unreasonable master. But if he agreed, she would obediently follow his lead.
What could he even call this… Misfortune?