Gozoto held onto his chin. Klautz's lack of interest in victory, and also his mind that seemed to be preoccupied with his troubles seemed to catch his interest.

'Hmm interesting. I wonder if it would crush his heart if he learns that it was a useless victory?'

Gozoto smirked as a devilish thought surfaced in his brain.

"Aren't you going to ask about the prize money?

"

Gozoto smirked.

His mocking smirk caused Klautz to squint his eyes but he sighed right after.

"I am not a challenger so you are not giving it to me anyway for only challengers have the right to receive it. It follows the same logic doesn't it? You better keep it to yourself and hope that no one steals it from you.

"

Klautz shrugged. He didn't care anyway. Had Gozoto known about the fortune that Klautz was able to smirk his smile would have truly disappeared!

"Pfft, you are quite the fellow,

" Gozoto smiled.

Under the gaze of the crowd and the second gen he raised his hands in the way of a handshake. Klautz pupils traveled the same wondering if he was trying to do something funny. After all, you can never trust a person like him. But surprisingly nothing bad happened.

It was a gesture of a congratulatory handshake but there was more to it. But Klautz couldn't help but be suspicious. It caused Klautz's eyes to squint for a moment before it reverted back to normal.

Without waiting a single moment Klautz reached out his hand as well. In front of the public, they shook it making them burst in cheers.

*cheers*

But, Klautz had his own set of worries. Something was poking the hand with which he had reached out to him.

A slight frown formed on his lips.

'Why do I feel this strange sense of deja vu?' Klautz thought as he forced his frowning lips into a smile.

For the crowd it was a moment of joy. But for Klautz it was getting more and more troublesome.

Crushed between Gozoto's fingers was a small rough paper-like substance of unknown origin hidden from the world. It was the same thing that was poking Klautz's hand at the moment and Klautz knew what Gozoto wanted.

*sigh*

Klautz slipped the paper in between his own fingers. Gozoto let it go as soon as he was sure of Klautz actions with a smile on his face that was happy with his quick judgements.

Such a transaction took place in between the two of them without anyone's notice. What was even more funny was that Klautz had no idea what he had brought upon himself. He had no idea what that chit of paper even was.

And he certainly didn't feel good about the situation.

'On what side of the bed had I woken up today to have such bad luck…' Klautz thought, 'Oh wait, I couldn't even sleep last night because I was chasing the ninjas. Certainly those lowlifes could bring nothing but bad luck upon me.'

Klautz repeated his own words that he had said before the beginning of the duel albeit with a different tone this time around. He couldn't help but put the whole responsibility for his bad luck on the black faced ninjas instead.

The two disconnected their shaking hands as they smiled at each other. Klautz had no idea what was going on in Gozoto's head.

"Can I go now?

" Klautz asked, a bit troubled and tired by the course of events. Even hunting for an entire day wasn't enough to make him this tired but all of this mental fatigue was too much for him.

"Won't you want to meet your fans? They are waiting for you after your victory.

"

"Oh please…

" Klautz turned around towards the crowd.

"I prefer to stay in my own space. These people would stab anyone as long as it allows them to live. Can't really trust them when things are going south.

"

Gozoto nodded. He understood Klautz's mentality. Wasn't that the very reason he kept hopping guilds and eventually became a loner mercenary? But Gozoto was misunderstood as a lunatic instead. Only a loner could understand the feelings of a loner like him.

But Gozoto was wrong in his assessment. Klautz would rather spend his time with his woman rather than his fans.

Little did he know about the girls that were waiting for him.

*Cheers*

Without catching sight of anyone Klautz left the premises.

*Bang*

As Klautz found himself in the solitude of his room, he took out the chit that he had received from Gozoto. Unfurling it, certain words written in black adorned his eyes.

"COME TO MY OFFICE TONIGHT

"

All of the letters were written in big bold letters as if threatening KLautz to some degree. Klautz could only frown at the lack of details in the note. What he felt wasn't fear but a deep repulsion for a bad choice of words.

"In the end all of them are the same. They don't consider the opinion of us newbies important at all.

"

Klautz reminisced about a certain annoying man who refused to leave him any information about Colt Ackerman. In a distant village Akihiko suddenly found himself sneezing hard for unusual reasons.

Klautz glanced at the letters of the message again as veins on his forehead popped up.

"Does he swing the wrong way that he is inviting me to his room at night? Please, I would rather be alone.

"

The sense of repulsion wasn't leaving Klautz anytime soon. He could only roll his eyes as he tossed the letter aside. Pieces of papers like this have been nothing but an annoyance for him ever since he was reborn, but the weird part was that he couldn't ignore them either.

'But this time, it's certainly not something I want to get involved with.'

Klautz nodded...

***

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