Ugly Guy, Hardcore Fighter-Chapter 82: The Man with a Gratitude Precision of 5
-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-
The first customer to come to the branch was not a client.
In the morning, as I was sweeping the storefront, I saw a white cloak from across the street.
Today too, Abel walked with almost no attendants, letting a brightly colored parrot perch on his shoulder. He spoke with market owners, patted children on the head, and when he found a broken streetlight, he had officials record it.
The King walks around the city on his own feet every morning.
I could understand why the citizens were proud.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well last night?”
Abel looked up at the branch’s signboard and smiled happily.
“That’s a splendid sign. I too am proud that a new power has joined Selenoa.”
At his voice, Seiji-san and the others came out from the back.
“Thanks to you, we’ve at least got the form in place.”
“Sometimes things begin with form. First you set forth an ideal, and people need only catch up to it.”
On Abel’s shoulder, the parrot tilted its head.
“Measure! Gratitude, measure!”
“Here we go again.”
Abel smiled wryly.
“This little one is a magical bird called a 〈Gratitude Bird〉. It tells me the strength of the gratitude people hold as a number.”
“Is it different from the Gratia bracelet?”
“Yes. That one is gratitude received from people. This one is the gratitude you yourself feel toward me and this country.”
“So it’s like a favorability rating toward the King?”
“I’d like you to phrase it a little more beautifully. Well, it’s only a rough guide. Please think of it as a bit of entertainment.”
The parrot spread its wings.
“Seiji, 88!”
Above Seiji-san’s head, a faint “88” appeared.
“Seika, 98! Seika, cute!”
“That much? …Cute?”
“The words after that have nothing to do with the number. This bird quickly memorizes whatever words it hears.”
Abel gently closed the parrot’s beak with his fingertips. But the moment he let go—
“Seika, cute!”
“Kato, 95!”
“I hold the system’s ideals in high regard.”
“Ria, 68!”
“Excuse me. What do you mean I’m lower than Kato?”
“Reia, 79!”
“I don’t care.”
Reia-san yawned.
The parrot tilted its head to the right in front of Rizu.
It tilted it to the left too.
Once, it turned upside down.
“Unclear!”
Rizu stayed silent.
“Unclear! Annoying!”
I burst out laughing.
Abel did not.
“Are you going to keep silent even to a bird?”
“Please forgive my silence.”
“…I see.”
For just an instant, the warmth vanished from Abel’s smile.
Finally, the parrot looked at me.
It raised its feathers and cried with conviction.
“Shigeru, 5!”
It became quiet.
“50?”
Seika-san threw out a lifeline.
“5!”
The parrot insisted.
“I’m reasonably grateful too, you know?”
“With a 5?”
For the first time, Abel failed to form a smile.
Huh? Is this actually for real? Wasn’t this supposed to be entertainment?
“I have a place to sleep. There’s food, and hospitals. You even prepared a place where foreigners like us can work. I think you’re working hard every day too.”
“Then why is it 5?”
“Don’t ask me. That thing gave it, right?”
“If you have complaints about this country, please tell me.”
His tone was calm.
But Abel leaned forward slightly.
It looked less like he wanted to hear my side and more like there was something he couldn’t help wanting to say.
“Yesterday, I fixed the water station. Water came out. But my earnings were 0.”
“That’s because no one knew you fixed it, right? I said this yesterday too, but if you gather people first and then fix it—”
“That’s it.”
“What is?”
“Probably the reason there’s only 5 gratitude for you.”
Abel’s eyebrow moved.
“To gather people, they have to be inconvenienced first. The water stops completely. More troubled faces. Then I show up and fix it in front of everyone. Then I get gratitude.”
“I don’t recall recommending that.”
“But the ones who earn the most under this system are people like that, right?”
The parrot flapped its wings.
Abel gently held its legs down with his fingers.
“The system is premised on the goodwill of those who use it.”
“Maybe so. I think what I did was also goodwill work outside the system.”
For a while, no one interjected.
Abel’s gaze left me.
When it moved to Seiji-san, Seika-san, Kato-kun, and Ria, his usual softness returned.
“That’s precisely why I have expectations for people like you.”
Abel stepped into the branch.
“Seiji-san. Your fairness can reduce disputes in this country. With Kato-san’s accuracy, we can eliminate waste in distribution. Ria-san’s magic brightens people’s hearts.”
“Naturally.”
“Seika-san. I heard you worked devotedly at the relief center. This country needs kind people like you.”
Seika-san smiled with a troubled look.
“Thank you. But I want to work with everyone in Visbridge.”
“Of course. That’s why I want the branch as a whole to lend its strength.”
Abel’s eyes were serious.
He probably truly wants to improve this country.
If that were all, nothing would be strange.
But he did not look again toward Rizu, who was beside me.
“Kato-kun. Do you think we can keep taking jobs at the branch like this?”
Seiji-san asked.
Kato-kun lined up yesterday’s request forms and income and expense records on the desk.
“It’s difficult. The reward amount isn’t known in advance. Even if we dispatch staff, if the other party’s gratitude isn’t recorded, income is 0. We can’t predict labor costs or required time.”
“Are you charging money?”
Ria asked.
“We’re a company, after all.”
Kato-kun pushed up his glasses.
“To begin with, we don’t understand what actions in this country earn gratitude. Operating on intuition alone is dangerous.”
Abel nodded without looking displeased.
“There are places where you can learn the gratitude system. Training sessions at the National Benefits Bureau and open classes at schools. If you learn the system, you’ll understand more of this country’s wonderfulness.”
There was no hesitation in the King’s voice.
I looked at the bracelet that still held a record of 0.
“Maybe I’ll try clearing this country.”
If it’s a game called gratitude, I have to learn the rules first.
-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-