Chapter 42: E… vil?

After the uncalled for statement of Hazaru, they did a lot of questioning, but I ignored them with a smile. They told me that they would be thanking me at a later time and after that I left their residence.

Of course, before returning, I gave Hazaru-kun three hits and scolded him severely. While he was staggering exaggeratedly, I made him treat me to a meal.

Rembrandt told me that I could stay for dinner at the very least, but I politely declined (because I wanted to harass this Hazaru-kun).

Damn it… Because of how idiotic he is, I ended up remembering his name!

Well, I am the savior of his family’s life. Rembrandt-san would probably keep my followers’ level a secret just like he keeps his butler’s.

The day was still young, so I decided on leaving for the time being.

While I was at it, I called Mio and Tomoe in a hurry. I don’t know how well I can manage to conceal it, but I decided on going to the merchant guild before registering in the adventurer guild.

Is what I thought but…

“Die”

With those words said, something that was clearly a magic formation appeared beneath my feet. Moreover, only below Tomoe and me. Why was only Mio not aimed at?

It was a given, but I didn’t want to get hit by something I didn’t know about.

So, in the time lapse that the magic formation appeared, I leaped away from it and evaded it. Fortunately, it didn’t have some sort of tracking ability in it.

However, Tomoe stood inside the magic formation without a single care. Why?

I didn’t feel an aria at the activation of the magic formation but, could it be that there is a magic formula I still don’t know? A technique to eliminate the traces of an aria. I want to know.

The owner of the voice was in a pretty far away place. The person was clad on a gray robe and moved his hands in a complicated manner. Maybe one can do arias with hands. That I am able to detect the location of the person with just the signal of him, I have gotten better.

Anyways, the gestures of the robed person were indeed an activation of something. On my (previously located) place and below the feet of Tomoe, a giant fire pillar appeared, and I felt a strong heat even when I was far away from the location.

A quite tall pillar of fire that clearly had strong heating power was baking the body of Tomoe!

“Hmph”

Swiping the fire with her left hand, the fire that was enveloping Tomoe disappeared in an instant. Geez, so you were testing the fire power. What an aggressive Nee-san.

“You, just obediently evade it” (Makoto)

“No no, we have to gauge the capacity of the assassin. For such an event to occur as soon as you called us. How pleasant. As expected of Waka. It seems that you understand my wishes” (Tomoe)

On the return of saving someone, you get attacked. That is certainly a pattern but…

The attackers are… one, two, three, four… hey hey, aren’t these numbers a little too much?

The numbers I can find with my eyes are two. A thin man that blurted out such dangerous words like ‘die’, and the gray robed person that was at a grove section.

However, the result of expanding [Sakai], I found out that there were numerous people that were hiding. In total, there might be close to 20 of them.

Is it regarding Rembrandt-san? Or maybe, me?

But I don’t have any recollection of being hated. The friends of the demons that I defeated at the gate should not know that I was the one who defeated them and there shouldn’t be any survivors from Zenno that have reached Tsige yet.

Fumu. I don’t know.

If it’s related to Rembrandt-san, I will leave them totally beat up. Leaving aside if they are the mastermind, I will be getting rid of any root of evil. From what I see, the thin man gives me a cool impression, but in this world he is your regular hoodlum.

I looked at the lower than second-rate person that was talking.

“So you evaded it huh. And moreover without any injuries. Tch, there is another that is strong like the black one”

So they know the strength of Mio huh.

“Hey, that black Nee-san over there. Could you please just stand there watching for a while? I promise you that we won’t lift a hand on you”

To our silence, the man continued to talk. From the way he talks, I could tell that he wasn’t impatient and had no panic yet. Does that mean that he saw Mio fight somewhere or he only has superficial information he heard?

Without lifting suspicions, I exchange looks with Mio and tell her with my eyes to go along with his offer. Since I had Tomoe beside me, furthermore, it was a favor that I asked, she accepted without showing any displeasure about it.

“… Will it be free of charge?” (Mio)

“You do get it. No, how about I give you 10 gold?”

“Fine, I will do as if I haven’t seen anything-desu wa” (Mio)

“Mio, you bastard!” (Tomoe)

Tomoe was enraged and tried to grab Mio. Of course, it was an act though. Because from a while ago, I have been feeling her overflowing happiness.

Striking the hand of Tomoe lightly, Mio distanced herself and took the stance of a third person.

“Thanks. Do you want the gold right now?”

“I am fine with later-desu wa. More importantly, make sure not to get beaten up. Because I don’t want to deal with the aftermath after all” (Mio)

“You are totally right. You have a nice attitude Nee-san. I am sorry guys, this is how the world works”

The man laughed for a while and then turned to look at us again. Maybe he has quite the high level, his relaxed face didn’t disappear yet.

Well, it is already definite that he is a small fry though. Because if he were truly strong, he would have felt something when he looked at Tomoe and Mio. It seems he doesn’t have the instinct to feel strength.

“…”

“For bastards like you, I alone am enough!”

I who was still silent and the high spirited Tomoe.

Maybe that was some kind of signal, I began seeing the group that was hidden. There were also people far away that were getting ready. They were probably archers or magicians. I am looking forward to see how this free-for-all situation will develop.

“If you didn’t get involved with someone like Rembrandt, you wouldn’t have died! GET HIM!!”

It’s settled. Total beat up.

Their course was ganging up but, maybe it was because the prospects were too much in my favor, I didn’t feel any fear looking at all their dangerous weapons. Maybe it was because if I were to release my full defense I would be able to even break a sword.

But Tomoe didn’t move. I didn’t feel like she would be parrying or deflecting or any other offensive move.

“Hey, Tomoe. Just go and do your work!” (Makoto)

“But, Waka. As expected, if there is no signal…” (Tomoe)

Even though she is the only who has something that can be recognized as a weapon, my slave didn’t unsheathe it and was saying words I didn’t understand.

What do you mean by signal?

‘Isn’t saying it in words going to boost entertainment?’, is what Tomoe-san said in thought transmission, moreover, she stealthily told me her will.

Saying.

‘You know, Waka, it’s that. The ‘Go discipline them’. As expected, if there isn’t that as the beginning signal it just doesn’t feel right. I am waiting for it with all my heart you know?’

I almost failed evading one of the attacks.

I was trying to over evade them in order to hide my real strength from them, but because I was caught off guard, I finely evaded it.

“To-Tomoe-san” (Makoto)

“Yes!!” (Tomoe)

“Go discipline them…” (Makoto)

“YES!!!!!” (Tomoe)

My tension goes down~. How embarrassing~. At this rate, there will be a day where I will be able to say ‘Go discipline them!’ normally.

“Bu gya!!”

At the same time that she responded, she did a backhand strike on a robber-like man that was holding a dagger and had spiky hair. It seems that she held back properly and was blown away in a good manner.

If it were full power, his head would go *PAM! That’s good, Tomoe.

Tomoe was punching, kicking, throwing anyone that was getting close. No matter if it was heading for me or her, she intercepted them all without minding that.

Geez, she is being swept by the tension. Saying something like she is Kaku-san, she was really going empty-handed.

As expected, it is no good if I go without doing anything. Creating a good distance from Tomoe, I gaze at the girl in front of me that was holding a one-handed sword.

She is coming!

With a predictable timing, the girl plunged onto me. What an unusual sword. Maybe it was for the sake of making it easier to stab, the tip had an edge on both sides, but aside from that part, there was only an edge on one side.

In this world where western swords are the core part, the double edged swords are the most common, it is rare to see such a rare single edged sword. It was probably close to the double edged tip of a spear.

Moreover, it was a person with healthy looking brownish skin and didn’t have swelling muscles. Even though it was a vital spot, I could see her abdomen that had a six-pack and the beauty of those muscles stole my attention. Wouldn’t it be better for you to be using a great sword or an axe?

Maybe I should try doing a karate chop on the back of the neck~. But while I was thinking that, in between us appeared a shadow.

Hey hey Tomoe. Just how much do you want to beat people up?

No, her gaze was concentrated on the weapon.

What, is she interested in the weapon? Do you have a Benkei* attribute? The appearance may be similar but, it isn’t the Karasuma, you know?

Well, it’s fine if she is going to be protecting me. I once again evade and slip away.

Maybe it was because they were afraid of friendly-fire, they haven’t done any significant long ranged attack. Moreover, the people that were coming at us, were attacking two at a time.

To encircle with only two people and getting your movements controlled, what low level performance…

From all of them, that girl was actually in the proper side. Because she was aiming to break my timing and attack me after all.

I was thinking about exchanging with Tomoe for a bit but…

“What is up with your clothes?”

The girl unleashed an attack from the bottom to the top.

Doing a counter to that, Tomoe does a spinning kick to her head. How can such a kick come out from a person wearing a kimono?!

Moreover, what is up with that perfect form? Will you teach me the fundamentals of karate?!

“!!”

The beauty that had a healthy body with well-defined muscles, smiled at Tomoe and the black of her eyes faded out and, just like that, she collapsed. I don’t know if it was the head or the neck, but it was a clean hit after all. It was the obvious result.

“I have finally gotten a sword that can strike with the blunt side-ja!” (Tomoe)

That was your aim?! Even if it’s a lie, say something like ‘Waka are you alright?’!

*Cling

She holds it so that it will cleanly hit the stomach.

*Gusha

*Dogon!

*Sha~!

“A gya~~?!”

“Hia~~a!!”

“HIdebu!”

The last one understood that she was messing around. But they were feeling a pain that made them wish they were dead.

Having their shoulder sunk in. Their bones were broken. The shoulders of a human aren’t that flabby after all.

There was no one that could follow the relatively slow speed of Tomoe’s long sword.

More like, this girl, she has grown quite accustomed to using the sword. Was she secretly training? Even though I have been asking so many things of her, she surely has a lot of free time. Later I will have to TALK with her.

“GYA!!”

“AU!”

“AGYAP!”

Yeah, the last guy was pretty good again.

The screams that I heard at the distance were made because of Tomoe having fun using the blunt side of the sword. The fallen weapons were proof of those hits.

She is hitting them on their limbs after all. It’s possible for their hands and legs to be send flying. That it is not happening is a blessing in a sense.

“Y-You guys…”

The thin man was finally showing anxiety in his face.

That was the only thing he said as he reunited with one other magic user and took distance from us.

“What is it-ja? Already over?” (Tomoe)

“…”

Now that I think about it, I haven’t said anything all this time. And I haven’t written either.

I am a sort of literary boy, so somewhere inside my heart I feel like it is fine to not be talkative. Umu, silence is gold.

“Ah, Nee-san. Won’t you come to our side?! I ask for your assistance!”

The man asks Mio for assistance. Uwaa, how uncool!

“No way-desu wa” (Mio)

“Don’t you want the gold?!”

“It’s not like I need to get it from the living you. I can take it from your pockets when you are dead after all” (Mio)

“Geh?!”

The robe man let out a voice. I see, they are both men.

“Who do you think I am*?! I am the number one adventurer in Tsige, rank S and level 201! Lime Latte-sama-da zo!”

What an unfitting name he has. Lime Latte he says… gross.

However, the number one in Tsige huh.

I received a report when I was in Zenno.

Is it that? The number one in the guild is always an idiot and a bad guy?

The other one is staying silent. Maybe he is planning on a way to escape. His hands are trembling after all.

“I a-ask of you, oh sacred horse of the eight co-court rank. Please leave your marks in this place and carry me”

Eh, an aria in common language? You can even do that?

“You bastard! You plan on running?!”

“It seems to be a teleporting magic, Waka” (Tomoe)

“Got it~” (Makoto)

Ah, this may be my first time talking.

I rush on the guy that was making an aria while clattering.

“Oan Panchi!” (Makoto)

Let me explain, Oan Panchi is…

In the outside it looks like a flashy high-powered punch that sends the opponent flying, but the truth is that it’s a non-lethal sure kill technique that only hurts you a lot but doesn’t turn into a fatal wound.

It’s a technique that uses the control of fierce high-grade magic power and jujitsu at the same time. It’s originally a technique that was born from my feelings of wanting to protect the life of the residents of Asora that were practicing with me. The warriors that assisted in my training filled with fear and grudge (Eh?) faced this fist that only left 1 hp. And just as my information…

“Tama, e? Buggyuruuruurooo?!!!!”

The robe blasted away and slid on the floor to the point of leaving fumes. After that, he perfectly stopped his movements.

“Oh! Magnificent!” (Tomoe)

“… *Pong*”

The thin man had his mouth wide open while looking at his robed partner that was not even twitching.

“The only one left is you-ja, just quietly surrender!” (Tomoe)

“Don’t mess with me!”

“Ho!!”

“Na!!”

“Tei!”

“No waaaay?!”

“Horya” (Tomoe)

“Ku?! A nosebleed!! Underestimating m-…”

“Sei” (Tomoe)

“Heh~ I, sky, eh?”

“Hmph” (Tomoe)

“Hiiih!! I will do anything so please save me!”

Uhm…

The words of Tomoe have changed to waga* and the frenzied man plunged onto Tomoe with dagger in hand and began swinging at her. Tomoe, with the hand that didn’t carry a sword, grabbed the dagger with her bare hands.

And with a light voice she broke the dagger. And just like that she did a jab onto the face of the man.

Even with that, the man continued resisting and with an okay get away from me throw, he was sent flying.

Stealing the dagger of the man that was now face up and stabbing it to his side, he finally gave up. Is how it went.

Y-You are way too weak~!

“Waka, do you have anything to ask him?” (Tomoe)

[Why did you attack us?]

“Wr-writing? N-no, it’s not really that strange! It is nice! The reason, yeah, the reason right?!”

Sensing the wrath of Tomoe, the man answered the question that I gave him in an instant.

The man says.

Because of Rembrandt Company’s expansion, it seems that the requests that ask for low level adventurers to transport carriage and collect were decreasing greatly.

For the strong people it was on the level that they have just lost a bit of pocket money, but for the adventurers that are low leveled, it’s a matter of life and death.

… For the adventurers that can’t even go out of the town properly, just what in the world do they do? Isn’t it better to retire and look for another job? I am not in the position to say this but, if there isn’t any requests then you should go hunt some mamonos and earn money. That is what should define an adventurer, or so I think.

And then some guys began to form groups and leave town. And when winter came, some people even died. I seriously feel like it is your own fault that things got like this. You are not grasshoppers after all.

And when spring came, they began thinking about revenge, planned it and executed. Even so, for the revenge to be a cursed disease… I-It’s way too dark.

It seems that for them it was some sort of divine punishment, a kind of job. That’s why, the user that was captured didn’t talk even in his dying breath.

In a sense it was the resentment of a particular number of adventurers.

So that was why no one did the Rubee-eye request. It means that they already marked me by the time I took that request.

The top ranked in this Tsige, Lime, as the mastermind of this revenge, took part of this attack as well.

What is this?

[However, you guys, didn’t your conscience hurt casting such a curse?]

“Such a curse, you say? It’s just a sleeping curse that made you sleep like a log for several years. Well, I did hear that they did something in order for the curse to not get dispel in the middle though”

Ah?

[What are you saying? The curse that was casted on the family of Rembrandt-shi was a level 8 sure-dead curse]

“Eh?”

“Are you playing the fool, you bastard?” (Tomoe)

Tomoe held the dagger that was stabbed beside him.

“I-I am not telling any lies!”

His face color is telling me that he is serious. I ask Tomoe to check his memories with my gaze. She nods and I quietly watch over.

“Something like killing! We only wanted that Rembrandt to feel the pain of stealing the place of the growing adventurers!”

“Waka, he is not lying” (Tomoe)

It seems that she was able to look at his memories. Then, there is nothing else to ask of him.

Geez, where did the conversation derail? It looks like there was some sort of misunderstanding here, well, no one died (probably) so it is fine, right?

I can’t say it is all resolved, but for now, one point has been solved.

[I understand. It’s alright now]

“You are letting me go right?”

[That’s right. It’s okay to go and treat the people here]

I am wearing a mask, so it should impossible for him to get my true intentions just by looking at me.

“Okay! I am sorry!”

That should be the case.

But the man that stood up was grabbed by the hand instantly.

“W-What is it? Black Nee-san”

The one that grabbed him was Mio that had returned to my side at some point in time.

“Money” (Mio)

“Ah, the money right. I understand… eh?”

Mio steals the wallet-looking bag from the man and took out all the money that was inside.

Even though he said 10 gold coins.

“Ehm, just what is going on…?”

“Here” (Mio)

Mio returns the emptied bag to the man.

“No no no no! Isn’t this taking too much, Nee-san?!”

“Interest” (Mio)

“I-Interest?”

“That’s right, interest” (Mio)

“… That is too messed up”

Seriously.

“IN.TE.REST!” (Mio)

“Wa, yes. It is fine”

But she blackmailed him with power. Mio, what a scary girl. But this Lime-kun is a bit pitiful. Taking his background into account, let’s help him a bit.

[The dagger that my follower broke seems to be a pretty good one. I will be bringing a compensation for it at a later time, so please forgive us for this]

“Eh, really?”

There is no doubt that it was a dagger enchanted with magic. Picking up the broken dagger from the floor, I return a positive response to him.

[I will leave a word in the guild on the name of Raidou. I am sorry. Then with this, we will be leaving]

“Ah, you don’t have to do something like that Waka-sama~” (Mio)

“Waka, please wait for me~” (Tomoe)

It seems that Tomoe learned from Mio, she was searching in the pockets of the people there. I quickly left the place so that she would stop it.

Geez, if we do something like that, we are nothing but highway robbers!