Synopsis: As Grimm tosses another captured applicant into the brig and gets more replacement cuffs from a guard, she finds it curious that Merrio and the others still haven't come to interfere. In the fourth floor hall of the Ironworks, we see why as a large mustached man with an eyepatch holds Migael in a headlock that's knocked her hood off. He says he's always hated religious types as they have no expenses and thus get to keep any money they get as income. Spotting Migael's predicament, Nulo starts to use the elixir from before again but is stopped by Merrio. Merrio talks to the man and says he assumes he's wanting to extort them since he's taken a hostage, and asks him to release her so they can talk – otherwise, he and Nulo will have no choice but to attack. The man introduces himself as Mosko Cobbs and apologizes, saying he got so angry that he acted without thinking. Releasing Migael, he claims that he's not their enemy, bu their ally or savior even. He surmises that they're gathering human resources to pass the test in a way that will allow everyone to pass and praises the idea, but ays he's taking an even longer view. Mosko explains that he took this test so that he can stage a takeover of the guild and turn it into his very own company. As the guild has a near monopoly on monster hunting, if he takes it over that will give him plenty of clout to negotiate directly with countries and even religions and grow it into a business beyond anyone's wildest dreams. He even floats the idea of weaponiszing wolfonium further and changing the very face of war and the power balance of the world, something that can't be done so long as the guild keeps it's crafting a closely guarded secret. Merrio thinks to himself that it's precisely because of people like Mosko that they do keep it secret. A small group of people walk into the hallway behind Mosko, and he introduces Merrio and the others to his new subordinates, saying he just hired all of them to work for him. He tosses large bundles of money on the ground and says he'll take Merrio and his team up on their cause and even pay them, so long as they agree to work for him. Merrio says there are lots of things he could say and he's not even sure where to begin, but is interrupted by one of Mosko's men, a man with a bruised and battered face that recommends they don't say no. Merrio realizes that refusal means Mosko resorts to force, a fact Mosko doesn't deny and even praises Merrio for realizing. He tells Merrio that he's exactly the sort he wants working for him, and claims that the most useful and practical tools are money and violence. Merrio responds however by saying that working for Mosko is the last thing he'd ever want to do. Mosko becomes enraged and says that he's their superior now, but Nulo says he isn't. Merrio tells him that Mosko is simply psyching himself up however, almost using a form of self-hypnosis even. Migael has heard enough however and says she'll stop him and casts another spell, a Sanctuary Priestess Defense Art called Touch of Love. The magic forms long bars that try to wrap around Mosko, but the man proves to be surprisingly agile for a man his size. Nulo launches an attack of his own by aiming a kick at Mosko's face, but Mosko catches his leg with his hand and scoffs, asking if the elixir is Nulo's only worthwhile ability. Mosko then throws Nulo into Migael and incapacitates the both of them with chops in the neck before turning to face Merrio. Merrio says he was hoping not to use this and reaches into his jacket, grabbing something that makes a noise similar to a gun's. He runs at Mosko but Mosko catches him and tells him not to pull a gun in an enclosed hall, chastising him by saying guns were against the rules anyway. What Merrio pulls the trigger on however turns out to be a mist blower rather than a gun, and as the mist blows into the air between them, Merrio declares his victory. Mosko asks him what he's talking about as his mustache suddenly appears to grow out of control. He freaks out but Merrio tells him it's harmless and merely a distraction, as he then sprays both of Mosko's shoes with the mist blower. Mosko's shoes promptly mold over and cause him to trip, allowing Merrio to then spray him down with the blower repeatedly, resulting in Mosko becoming trapped in a mold cocoon against the wall. As Mosko apologizes lamely for his actions while Migael and Nulo get back up, he asks Merrio if this is some sort of magic or something. Merrio says he's just a humble scientist, a mycologist (a research of fungi and mold) to be specific, and opens his coat to show various vials filled with mold that he describes as his slime associates. He carries various types with all kinds of abilities, such as the blackbrush mold that looked like hair; the slippery tree mold that made Mosko's feet slip' or even the ironeater mold that ate the buckles on his shoes. Mosko says it's disgusting to call molds 'friends', but Merrio says he gets that a lot when people ask him about his work. He explains that he decided to join the guild as an experiment to find out if his research can be used as a useful tool for hunting monsters. Mosko mocks him and asks if that's really something worth staking his life on, and Merrio says it's no different than Mosko's own ambitions in the end. As such, he decides to tell Mosko their plan, shocking Nulo and Migael. Merrio says that's the whole reason he bothered fighting Mosko in the first place, though he does remind the man that they have handcuffs and can easily toss him into the brig themselves and never come back for him if they see fit. Merrio asks Mosko's group if they'd like to join them as well, though cautions them that they'll be equals and nobody will be paid, but they all readily agree. On the roof with the brig, forty-five minutes have passed since the start of the test, and Laurell tells them there's still been no sign of their friends. Just then however, Merrio and a new girl walk up and ask if either of the cops are there, and when they see that they're not, they free Velou, Bonkers, Porschen, and three others that were in the brig. As they leave Merrio tells Velou that they managed to recruit six more people themselves by using Velou's plan, but Velou says Merrio's slimes have also proven to be really useful so far and the plan wouldn't be working without them. Merrio says he's pleased to hear that. In the second floor training room, Velou says they've gotten the information they needed, and between both of their original two teams, they've managed to recruit six more people from outside the brig and three more from within, bringing their total numbers up to fifteen. With roughly an hour left in the test, Velou says it's time to make a counterattack to take away more of the handcuffs from Grimm and Debonair. Review: It feels good to be right. I feel pretty vindicated that I predicted that the mold we started seeing pop up last chapter was a result of Merrio's involvement, though what I didn't expect was for this chapter to make me actually start to like the guy. In a short time he's come a pretty long way from 'guy who's scared of leftovers', though I still wonder what the heck is up with that. If anything, now that we know what he's all about, you'd think he'd love them since they could end up growing stuff once they start to go bad. What I didn't predict was the exact method that he'd use to create mold, or that he'd actually be a scientist. It's an interesting background and reason that he presents for wanting to become a Hunter, and I'd daresay he's the one most befitting of passing the test now other than Velou. Nobody else that we've been introduced to has given us a concrete reason for wanting to pass the test, so it's going to be interesting over time to see what everyone's individual reasons are. That is, except for Mosko. We have his reason, and holy crap – if the job was to just make Capitalism: The Character, then bravo Kawaguchi, you succeeded in spades. The character is slimier than any of the mold that Merrio works with, and it's almost a little disappointing that if this works out he'll pass as well. I did figure there was a reason we saw his design so clearly a few chapters ago though, and I guess this is why. There's a couple of other characters we see just enough to get a look at their designs too, so I'm expecting we'll get their names and perhaps their unique skill sets in the following chapters. One interesting tidbit we get amidst all of this is that the guild closely guards the process by which wolfonium is made, which helps explain why Velou had never heard of the stuff, and also why Grimm is so surprised the mayor and thus Velou had an axe seemingly made of the stuff. If the material is as strong as they're building it up to be, I can certainly see why they wouldn't want it to get out into the general population too much, though you have to wonder how good of a metal it really is for anything but werewolf slaying. After a relatively good showing in the previous chapters, it's a bit of a shame to see Migael and Nulo get discarded so easily in this chapter, but it allowed us to see what Merrio was capable of, so it's worth it in the end really. I was somewhat surprised to see the guards do nothing to prevent the captured candidates from being freed too. I criticized Velou for telling Laurell as much as he did, but inexplicably I guess it was fine after all? Weird. With their team more than doubled in size and the plan back on track, it's going to be interesting to see how Velou and everyone plans to attack Grimm and Debonair now. Will they head out and try to ambush them? Will they wait for them at the brig and try to catch them in their surprise that nobody's jailed now? Or will they try something else entirely? Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Chapter 12
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About the AuthorAspiring author and big anime/manga fan, just trying to do my best in the world. For more details, go to About Me. Archives
September 2022
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