ROSES HAVE THORNS-Chapter 91 - Newfound Power

"We deeply apologise for our unethical behaviour, Boss!" Vicky bowed down at the perfect 90° angle as she apologised to Kurt. "You too, Bob! Quit standing there looking like an utter buffoon and lower your head while apologising to the boss right now!"

"Y-Yes ma’am. Sorry Boss." Bob straightened his back and, like Vicky, bowed at the perfect 90° angle.

"Uncle Kurt," Rupee tugged on him from the side of his pants. "Why is Ms. V. and Mr. Shiny Head doing that?"

"R-Rupee! I told you not to call him that! His name is Bob!" Tristan lightly pinched her cheek as he reprimanded her.

"I don’t mind if she calls me that. As long as she knows that Vicky and I are here to protect her and that she does not see me as a bad guy, then all is well."

"M-Mr. Bob..." Tristan looked at the burly bald man with eyes of respect as he admired the shine of his head.

"So can I keep calling you Mr. Shiny Head?" Rupee asked as she looked at Bob with adorable puppy eyes.

"You may."

"Yay!"

"Alright, that’s enough, you two." Kurt patted the heads of Tristan and Rupee. "Stop teasing the poor guy. Also, you both can stop bowing at me now. What if you make these kids develop a weird habit? They’re very impressionable, y’know."

""Yes, Boss."" Right as the two guards stood up straight, Rupee suddenly broke free from Kurt’s hand and positioned herself in front of Bob and Vicky.

"Yes sir, Uncle Boss!" She shouted enthusiastically and bowed before Kurt.

The gesture had him slightly taken aback. He glared at the two guards as if to blame them for this situation, but their professional straight faces showed no signs of breaking under his scrutiny.

"R-Rupee, stop it! You’re making Uncle Kurt feel bad!" Tristan ran up to her and pulled her up straight, causing her to giggle at Kurt’s flustered expression.

"Hehehe! Yes sir, Uncle Boss! Yes sir, Uncle Boss!"

"W-Whoa! S-Stop moving up and down like that! Why are you so strong?!"

"Rupee, can you please stop calling me that. Just Uncle Kurt is fine. And there’s no need to bow at me. I’m not your boss."

"Ok!" She suddenly stopped her frantic movements, which led to Tristan letting her go out of sheer dizziness.

"By the way, I don’t see your friends with you. Don’t tell me you two walk home alone?"

"No way, Uncle Kurt! That’s dangerous! Mrs. Maggie came to fetch us!" Rupee jumped up and raised her hand.

"Mrs. Maggie?" Kurt looked at Tristan for an answer.

"S-She’s the manager of the orphanage."

"Ohhh. Come to think of it, I never asked for her name."

"Boss." Vicky spoke up. "Mrs. Manager told us to stay here at the orphanage in case someone happened to come by even though we insisted on tagging along. After much back and forth, she revealed to us that she was once a former B-ranked adventurer back in her heyday.

Given this new piece of information, I deemed her to be capable of protecting the two kids while we watched over the orphanage. Additionally, her husband went along with her. He himself was once a former B-ranked adventurer as well."

"You’re saying these things about ’rank’, but I don’t really know what that means. Do you have a frame of reference I could use?"

"You don’t know what that means–?! Gah!" Bob held the side of his stomach as Vicky elbowed him.

"Do not speak out of turn, Bob! And do not question our employer!"

"Y-Yes ma’am. I apologise, Boss."

"N-No worries." Kurt promptly closed Tristan’s and Rupee’s eyes the moment he saw what Vicky was about to do.

"Now, you asked for a frame of reference. Let’s use Bob and I for an example. Although I am not in the adventurers business, if I were to be, I say I’d be at least A-rank. And Bob here would be a B-rank."

"So the manager and her husband are as strong as Bob?"

"Much more capable too. The only reason I put him in B-rank is that his overwhelming brute strength makes up for his lack of intellect. If it wasn’t for that strength, he’d be in C-rank. Maybe even D."

"Damn, Bob..." Kurt looked at him with slight pity.

"It’s okay. I understand my faults, Boss."

"That alone makes you better than most. Just for curiosity’s sake, what would Emelie Herst’s rank be?"

"S-rank no doubt." Vicky answered with no hesitation. "However, I can easily see her become a SSS-rank in the future if she were to continue at the rate she is going."

"Hmm. What about the prefect, Dominik?"

"A-rank. However, I believe he could be S-rank if he were to cast away his self doubt and realise his full potential."

"You talk like you know him personally." Kurt tilted his head with his hand on his chin.

"Sort of. We both attended Future Academy at the same time. He was just a weak nobody back then whereas I was part of the ten representatives. Due to us being in the same class he would often challenge me to a fight, losing each time.

As the years went by and we all went our separate ways, I went on to join a security firm and Dominik a prefect where I would often read about his accomplishments in the newspapers.

One time our company had a joint training session with a bunch of trainee prefects. Dominik was in charge of his trainees, and I was in charge of mine. Spurred on by the cheers of said trainees, we had a spar which surprisingly resulted in a draw. I won again, but only barely. Despite the dirt and sweat that covered him, and despite what he said, in that he told me he was going all out, I knew it was a lie."

"So basically he’s a late bloomer?"

"Yes, Boss." Vicky nodded.

’Hmm. I can’t help but wonder if there’s more to it than that... Wait–’

"Say, if you attended the academy the same time as Dominik and were part of the ten representatives, that means you must know Diana Valentine. How would you rank her?"

"I do not know how her strength fairs these days but back then I’d rate her as SS-rank. She was so much in a league of her own that the whole world became interested in her for all sorts of reasons.

I keep mostly to myself but I did hear that she is now the principal of Future Academy. That alone leads me to believe that she is one of the few SSS-ranked individuals that walks this Earth."

"Woow. The whole world huh? Guess I gotta keep my wits about me."

"... Hm?" Vicky was about to ask him what he meant by that but opted for professionalism and kept her mouth shut.

Meanwhile Rupee, being long bored of this conversation, was playing on the broken swings with Tristan scolding her to get off before she hurts herself.

"So, Ms. V., Mr. Shiny Head. How would rank me based on our fight?" Kurt asked with a smirk.

"I dunno. But you are strong, Boss." Bob gave him a simple yet vague answer.

"I’d say your A-rank teetering on the edge of S-rank." Vicky smiled. "That mana coating move you did towards the end is something not even I could do. I have witnessed only a few use it. That includes Diana Valentine."

"Mana coating? I just used body enhancement magic."

"... What? Forgive my presumption but, do you not know what mana coating is?"

"No? But judging from the name and what I saw, it sounds like a technique that my favourite blonde-haired ninja uses. Or maybe it’s similar to a technique that a certain monkey pirate uses to enhance his abilities. If that’s the case, then holy shit, am I stoked to see what this mana coating can do." Kurt clenched his fist at the thought of it.

"... R-Right. It seems that you already have an idea..."

"Mr. Kurt!" The manager of the orphanage came running but immediately stopped at the entrance of the playground. "Oh my goodness! What happened here?!"

"Maggie!" Rupee jumped down from the broken swings and ran to her with Tristan following from behind.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Manager. I was just... having fun with our new security friends here. However, you don’t need to worry. They said that they’ll clean up any mess that was caused. Right guys?"

"Yes, Boss."

"Did we– Gah! I mean– Yes, Boss."

"Oh my, it seems that you two are not only capable guards, but also skilled handymen."

"Thank you for you kind words, Mrs. Manager."

"Oh please, Vicky. I told you to call me Maggie. You too, Mr. Kurt. ’Mrs. Manager’ makes me sound old."

"Sure thing, Maggie."

"Great! Would you like to stay over for lunch? The other kids should be back with my husband soon. I’m sure they’ll all be happy to see you. Rupee has been talking about you and Mr. Dominik so much that the children have started to idolise you two."

"Haha, is that right? I’d love to stay. Thank you for having me."

"Uncle Kurt! Where is Mr. Prefecky? I want to see him too."

"He couldn’t make it because he had very important work to do. But I’ll be sure to tell him that you miss him."

"Okay! Oh! Come with me! I want to show you my room!" Rupee pulled on Kurt’s jacket as she ran towards the orphanage.

"Alright! Alright! I’m right behind you, haha!"

"W-Wait for me!" Tristan ran with them.

"Hehe. I better make sure that the table is set." Maggie followed them last, leaving the two guards alone in the park.

"Well, what are you doing just standing around?! for Let’s clean this playground back to its pristine condition and go back to our posts!"

".... Yes ma’am." Bob dropped his shoulders in sorrow and rolled up his sleeves as he got ready to work.

.

..

...

"That’s all. Now leave."

"... *sob*..."

"Austin. Stop standing there, crying like a baby, and leave. I’m busy with work and would like to leave early." Diana shooed him away with her hand without looking up at him.

"U...U-Uwaaaah! I hate you, Dia– P-Principal Valentine!" Austin stormed out of the principal’s office after receiving his additional punishment.

"Austin?!" Gary, who was standing outside, watched as Austin ran out the office with tears in his eyes and ran after him.

"Wait, Austin! What’s wrong?" He caught up to him and grabbed his wrist.

"G-Garan..."

"It’s Gary."

"Gary."

"Yes?"

"I need to fuck someone."

"... W-What?" Gary’s eyes widened as he slowly let go of Austin’s wrist and a barely noticeable blush crept up his face.