Previous Chapter l Next Chapter

**Reminder: Nameless sometimes switches his first person pronoun.

I in italic = Watashi

I in bold = Ore

———

I regain consciousness from the pain in my body. 

Aah, this feeling is nostalgic. I haven’t had muscle pain recently and it has been peaceful days. Now then, I have to confirm my current situation.

I open my eyes. 

Looks like I have been made to lie inside a building. There’s barely any light coming in from outside, and it is a dark, dirty, and dusty room. It doesn’t feel like someone lives here. 

It is most likely a vacant room. 

Hayde and the other Mejis Anbus were using a house with no owner after all.

My body is…being restrained by ropes instead of chains. I don’t think I can use my arms and legs. 

This is where my memories get clearer. 

Just when the battle with Girista and Pashuro had begun, I was constricted by chains by a man that appeared all of a sudden.

What did Girista say? Ekdo…right, Ekdoik. I dropped the wanted posters when I got caught, so I can’t check it. Or more like, I am tied up so I can’t do anything though. 

However, from within those 3, he seemed to be the most out of it and reeked of danger. Considering that, me being alive is a miracle.

With the appearance of a 3rd one, if Girista and Pashuro intended to bring harm to me, I would be dead by now. On top of that, even if I lost consciousness, I doubt they would undo my bindings just because of it. 

There may have been a discussion after that, and the 3 must have escaped from Ilias and Wolfe. I don’t think the two lost… I don’t want to think so. 

I would like to try an escape, but the restraints are not budging one inch. I try struggling to test it out, but it is to a degree where I can somewhat get my body up. I might be able to call for help if I were to scream here, but…let’s not for now. There’s a high chance they are in a range where they can hear my voice.

While I was doing that, the 3 from before opened the door and entered. 

“Oh my, you are awake? I was thinking about getting an arm of yours as good morning. Too bad.” (Girista)

“Is there no woman in this world who wakes people up gently?” 

“You are pretty high-and-mighty for caught trash, brat! You’ve got balls.” (Pashuro)

“I would like to ask if it is allowed of caught trash, but weren’t you guys told by Raheight to kill me?” 

“That’s right. That’s why we will pro~perly murder you~.” (Girista)

“The reason is simple. It is to use you.” (Ekdoik)

Ekdoik opens his mouth. What, so you can speak. 

Wait, Girista and Pashuro are also super shocked by this. 

“That’s a surprise. You could speak normally?” (Girista)

“I was so surprised I was on the verge of killing you, trash! That’s quite the rare occurrence.” (Pashuro)

“I have no intention of speaking on any occasion aside from ones that I judge necessary. I simply have no intention of getting along with lunatics like you guys. Now then, Earthling, just as Girista said, the request we got from Raheight was to murder you. But we were also told we can freely choose our targets aside from that.” (Ekdoik)

“…So a hostage, huh.” 

Because Earthlings are rare, it should be safe to assume I have decent worth as a hostage even if I don’t like it. 

That said, I am grateful for someone like Ekdoik. It would be tiring to have a conversation with people like Girista and Pashuro after all. 

“That’s right. For Girista, it is to settle her fight with Ilias Ratzel; for Pashuro, it is to draw out Pope Euparo.” (Ekdoik)

“So, Ekdoik, was it? What about you?” 

“Kill Rakura Salf. I will use you for the sake of that.” (Ekdoik)

The unexpected Rakura here. What did you do now? If a stupid reason pops up in this scenario, I can only exclaim to read the atmosphere. 

“I can somewhat understand the objectives of Girista and Pashuro, but I want to know the reason you direct killing intent towards Rakura. Can you tell me if possible?” 

“Revenge for mine father.” (Ekdoik)

Okay, I understand even less now. She doesn’t look like someone who would kill people though. She is of course strong. But is Rakura the type that would choose to kill for the sake of living? …No, there’s one possibility.

“Were you raised by a devil?” 

“—No wonder Raheight is wary of you. I was a baby sacrifice offered to mine father by a certain village. Mine father who was a literal devil took the path of raising me instead of eating me. For the simple reason that he wanted to see me destroy the village that offered me.” (Ekdoik)

I see, that’s a devilish way of thinking. But despite being raised by someone like that, he is still avenging him, huh. He is talking all obediently here, but can I get a bit more info on him?

I feel like Ekdoik is strongly prioritizing his own objective here. The people here are the type with aligned objectives rather than them obeying Raheight. In that case, this is not a mind battle with Raheight, but a conversation with the 3 in front of me. The necessary opener in order to bring out words from him are…

“It doesn’t look like you were raised with love. In that case, is it to restore your honor?” 

“That’s right. Father didn’t love me due to me being human. Even so, he was far better than the ones who sacrificed a baby for their own safety. The reason I am still alive is due to the training of mine father. However, mine respected father was killed by the inexperienced cleric, Rakura Salf. The honor of mine father was wounded from this. His evaluation from humans plummeted along with his evaluation from devils.” (Ekdoik)

“So that’s the reason you kidnapped me. You wanted to create a reason to fight Rakura fair and square.” 

“That time Rakura Salf appeared after destroying the barrier. I wanted to settle things at that time, but other matters were in the way. That brings us to the present. Rejoice, Earthling, we will let you live until we have drawn them in and killed them.” (Ekdoik)

“I am so happy tears are gushing out.” 

I pretty much understand the flow of events that happened while I was unconscious. Soon after I lost consciousness, Rakura destroyed the warding barrier and intruded. Many knights must have followed after once they heard the ruckus. The 3 began to escape after that, managed to, and hid inside a vacant house. 

“Don’t worry. We will pro~perly kill you. What kind of death would you like? Sliced down, crunched, or want to ascend from on top of the bed?” (Girista)

“Ah, the last one please.” 

I would of course take the last one if asked to choose. 

Also, if I can decide my way of dying, I can secure my safety in the time it takes to settle things. 

“…Pfthahahahahahaha! You are an honest boy.” (Girista)

“Ain’t ya honest, you brat. But having hope is fine.” (Pashuro)

“By the way, Ekdoik, it is fine to not kill this boy immediately, but can’t we saw off his legs so that he doesn’t escape?” (Girista)

She places a greatsword in front of my eyes. That sword moving restlessly really gives that bio feel. Stop that please.

“This one is a frail creature. He will die if you cut his legs off.” (Ekdoik)

“It is alright~. Despite appearances, I am super good with hemostasis magic.” (Girista)

That’s not really unexpected though. She is an adventurer and it is also useful for her sadistic hobbies. That said, I would hate having my legs chopped off. My heart would break. I don’t see the other two trying to stop her. This won’t do. Now that it has come to this, it can’t be helped. I would rather face pain but retain all my limbs.

I tilt my body forcefully and fall towards the greatsword. The greatsword didn’t twitch one bit, but my body got caught on the fangs of the sword and my shoulder was injured. It hurts a lot. The fangs were sharper than I thought. Not only my skin, a bit of meat might have been torn out too. Blood trails down from my shoulder. It wet my clothes and dripped to the ground. 

“Oh my, oh my, what are you doing?” (Girista)

“Uooh, that hurts… I was just thinking about having you show me your hemostasis magic if you are so good at it, you see. I wouldn’t like that being a lie after all.” 

“You are a worrywart. A wound like that, see? Just as—oh?” (Girista)

Girista used some sort of spell on my shoulder, but there was no change in the wound. The blood is not stopping at all. I am glad I tested it out. 

“What, you are useless, you trash. What’s the matter? That’s not like you.” (Pashuro)

“I have low mana by constitution. I can’t get the benefits of healing magic that increases healing capabilities. I had to prove it before I got bled to death.” 

“—Girista, this guy doesn’t have much power. I checked his clothes too, but the only weapon he had was that wooden sword over there and he doesn’t have the strength to undo the restraints by himself. What we have now should suffice.” (Ekdoik)

“Too bad. I thought he would cry in a nice voice.” (Girista)

Haha, scary, scary. So scary my cold sweat ain’t stopping, seriously. These guys would definitely not hesitate when they say they are going to do something after all. 

The yakuza and mafia might definitely do something like that if necessary, but the only ones who would do that for entertainment are those who are crazier even among those. 

It is impossible to escape and there’s not much I can do right now. However, the possibility isn’t zero. Ilias and the others will be making their moves too. I will do what I can in the meantime. 

I have obtained a certain degree of relief after learning about the objective of their last member Ekdoik. His way of speaking, his anger towards Rakura, his eloquence despite not speaking to even his comrades…

I have also managed to see the sides of Girista and Pashuro that are outside of battle. Yeah, these guys are pretty crazy compared to the sane ones out there. The more I learn, the more pronounced their abnormality is. 

But being able to learn about them means it is possible to comprehend them. In that case, what I have to do doesn’t change. It is simply that my position is a bit dangerous, but there’s no obstacles. 

“…Oh my, you can make eyes like that too, huh.” (Girista)

“—If you find it unpleasant, can you please reflect on yourself a bit more? I just naturally end up resembling the people around me by trade, you see.” 

“That’s not it. I like those eyes.” (Girista)

“Yeah, I’m sure you do.”

“You are one creepy brat, damn it! I can understand why Raheight wants to kill you.” (Pashuro)

It seems like they have begun to show reactions to my change. But I have now gotten my target. Allow me to aim at you.

“Don’t say something so dangerous. I am simply a weakling. A very very weak being that any one of you could kill easily.”

———

He has been abducted. 

What unbelievable carelessness despite having been left with the job of guarding him. 

The 3rd enemy that appeared suddenly captured him and was on the verge of being killed. But their hands stopped abruptly. It is because Rakura destroyed the warding barrier and showed up.

According to her, she used all her money and was searching for him, so she went to the place that she felt had a strange presence, and a ruckus happened. When she hurriedly headed there, she saw knights who couldn’t get close. Noticing and detecting the presence of a warding barrier from this, she destroyed the barrier. 

When Rakura appeared, the one other man, Ekdoik, directed strong killing intent towards Rakura. I thought an immediate battle couldn’t be avoided, but many knights began to gather in the location. The 3 of them began to escape the place after judging the situation was not favorable. 

It seems like they had magic seal stones, so we couldn’t chase after them with detection magic, and that leads us to the present. Ekdoik said: ‘Interruptions came in, so we will contact you at a later time’. He is most likely being left alive as a hostage, but…

“You are not at fault, Ilias-san. They had higher numbers, so it can’t be helped. Ah, if you include Counselor-sama, you would be equal in numbers, but he is more like a deadweight though.” (Rakura)

“Rakura, no bad-mouthing Shishou!” (Wolfe)

Wolfe hasn’t been sitting for a while now. She has been wandering around restlessly, and is showing anger and tension. 

“Uuh, sorry. At any rate, why did that chain man-san direct such killing intent towards me? I don’t remember doing anything to be hated that much though… Hmm.” (Rakura)

It is true that the presence I felt from Ekdoik was the type of someone who lived in the underground world. I can’t think of any connections Rakura would have with her acting on the surface world. 

“They are criminals. It is most likely something about capturing an associate of theirs.” (Ilias)

“I have only fought with people in training. I have done a decent amount of monster and devil subjugations though.” (Rakura)

“Anyways, Rakura showing up there was a saving. That Ekdoik man was without doubt about to kill him. With you showing up there, his target switched to you, and with the knights showing up, they took him alive and left the place to reset the situation.” (Ilias)

“I am happy that I managed to save the life of Counselor-sama, but I can’t be happy from the bottom of my heart…” (Rakura)

I felt strong desire from Ekdoik. He most likely wants to put an end to Rakura with his own hands. That goes for Girista too. The chances of them challenging us to a rematch are high. 

“But this is worrying. They didn’t look like reasonable people… Even if the chances of Counselor-sama being okay are high, is he okay…?” (Rakura)

I don’t know about that. 

They are lowlifes that would even drag unrelated innocent people in the middle of the city without hesitation. Would they treat him with decency as a hostage? They will most likely do atrocious things like cutting his limbs so he can’t escape without feeling one shred of remorse. 

Bad thoughts entered my mind and strength accumulated in my fist. If he wakes up soon, he might be able to manage somehow though…

“Ilias-sama, a letter like this appeared at the feet of the gatekeepers in the gate!” 

The one who came in was a sentry. There’s always sentries at the gates. If they were going to contact us, the possibilities were there that they would come there. But judging from his state, it would be better to assume there has been no more progress than that. 

I receive the letter and open it. 

{At the time when the day changes, we will be waiting at the plaza of the west rampart for these 3: Rakura Salf, Ilias Ratzel, and Euparo Rosareo. Your only companion allowed is the white demi-human. The moment we feel the presence of anyone aside from the aforementioned, the hostage will be killed on the spot.}

Ekdoik was the one who called for Rakura, the one who called for me was Girista, as for Pope Euparo, it would be Pashuro or an order from Raheight. As for why Wolfe was allowed to come…must be Pashuro. It is as if saying ‘come if you want to settle matters’.

“There’s no issue with us, but the call for Pope Euparo…” (Ilias)

It has already been told to His Majesty that he has been captured. His Majesty has ordered us to stay on standby at the same place. It is a decision after judging that the chances would be higher for them to want a rematch against us. That thought hit on the mark.

However, Pope Euparo is not here. Not only that, he is not in the capital of Taizu. He has gone out to accompany the transport of the tools for the Harvest Festival for each village. Even if we sent a quick horse to explain the situation to have him come, I doubt he would be able to make it in time. 

“I will send a fast horse, but for the rest, there’s no choice but to have only Lady Ratzel and the others go.” 

“Your Majesty!” (Ilias)

His Majesty showed up. His face isn’t looking calm.

Of course it wouldn’t be. That man is a useful talent and also a friend for His Majesty. Even when I knew that, I…

“Leave the regrets and contemplations for later. They should have also taken into account that we will be going there to confirm his safety. They are not the only ones who would be troubling if they were to move without thinking about the means.” (Marito)

That’s where His Majesty instructed us in the actions we should take.

“Lady Ratzel, now that things have turned out like this, there’s no choice but to have you take responsibility and fight to the end. I would like to ask for your assistance too, Rakura of the Yugura Church. The enemies may be humans in form, but their insides are nastier than even monsters.” (Marito)

“Understood. I will do my best to save Counselor-sama.” (Rakura)

Rakura already intends to fight. She immediately decided to risk her life for him. This is not the time to be mortified here. I must do my best to save him.

“Wolfe, you stay. The one who allowed you to come is most likely Pashuro, but his strength is quite the thing. He is above Girista in terms of technique.” (Ilias)

“I don’t wanna. Wolfe is coming too!” (Wolfe)

“But—” (Ilias)

“If Ilias were told not to go, would you not go?” (Wolfe)

“…The enemy is strong. I don’t have the confidence I will be able to protect you, Wolfe.” (Ilias)

“You don’t need to protect me. We are going there to protect Shishou. That’s all!” (Wolfe)

Resolved eyes. I have not been able to persuade anyone with eyes like those. 

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he is Wolfe’s everything. He provided Wolfe with her present and future. It is not only for his sake, Wolfe has decided to fight for her own sake as well. There’s no method to not have her regret not coming. 

“They are not enemies that you can win against with conventional means. Let’s think up a way to win.” (Ilias)

“Okay!” (Wolfe)

“That can be applied to you too, Lady Ratzel. Even if you can win with conventional means in battle, you will need to break through an unfavorable situation. If the pride of a knight is going to get in the way, you will need the resolve to throw that away.” (Marito)

“…Yes, in this moment alone, I will think of saving him as my utmost priority.” (Ilias)

I couldn’t protect him as a knight. This is not the time to worry about pride. I must think about saving him above everything else… But there’s something that bothers me even more. 

He had a similar atmosphere as Dokora when he was talking to him. If he were to make contact with those lunatics, and he tries to comprehend them, will he end up being dyed in their color? 

If possible, I want him to be safe and wrap things up peacefully. 

We finished confirming our equipment and headed to the designated location.

Previous Chapter l Next Chapter