“Man, taking down bandit gangs is so satisfying. It reduces evil in the world, and it strengthens my magical power. Even so, I’ve been crushing bandit gangs at a pace of about once a month, but they just keep popping up one after another. It’s really strange.”
Bandit gangs generally use caves or abandoned old fortresses as their bases.
The one I just crushed was the cave-based type.
According to the Adventurer’s Guild, that cave was originally a Goblin nest. Then, the bandit gang came along, killed about half of the Goblins, and showed off their power, making the remaining Goblins their underlings, using them as pawns when attacking wagons and such.
“I wonder how they get Goblins to obey them? I’ve crushed many Goblin hordes myself, but I’ve never had a Goblin bow down to me. Maybe bandits and Goblins are biologically similar? The way they keep popping up even after you defeat them is exactly the same.”
“It’s just that there are a lot of good-for-nothings who try to make easy money by stealing from others, right? More importantly, Akito-kun, the subjugation of bandits is an official request from the Adventurer’s Guild, so there’s no objection to killing them all, right? But, you don’t have to kill them like that, do you? Crushing their limbs one by one and all.”
“I’ve told you before. I can’t collect them as spirits unless I kill them after inflicting pain.”
“Well, they’re bad guys, so it’s their own fault if they die in agony… Akito-kun, you’re enjoying killing the bandits, aren’t you?”
“Of course, I am. They kill people and steal their belongings. They rape and sell young women. There’s no way such guys should die easily. By torturing them before killing them, I’m settling their debts. And after death, they become my pawns, killing other bandits and contributing to society. Since everyone benefits from this, it’s bound to be fun.”
“When you put it that way, it really does sound like a good thing…”
“It’s not just ‘sounds like,’ it is a good thing!”
I’m not saying this to convince Mizuha. I truly believe it from the bottom of my heart.
I take pride in my actions.
It’s a social contribution that I don’t have to be ashamed of in front of anyone.
“Okay, okay, don’t get so worked up. It’s because Akito-kun has grown his magical power and become so skilled at handling curses that I was saved. I’m not seriously trying to stop you. I just thought it was a little… gruesome!”
“You’ll get used to it eventually.”
“I wonder if that’s how it is.”
We head to Emilie Village to report the completion of the bandit gang subjugation.
On the way, we meet a little girl in the forest.
She looks to be a little over ten years old. She has gently wavy golden hair.
She’s too lovely to be near a bandit gang’s hideout, but if we’re talking about appearance age, I’m about the same, and if we’re talking about loveliness, Mizuha wins.
“Ah. Rosette-san. What are you doing in a place like this? You wouldn’t get out of bed when I tried to wake you up earlier.”
Mizuha waves her hand and calls out to her.
“Mizuha and Akito, huh? It seems you’re on your way back from bandit subjugation. I wanted to participate too, but you know, I’m the type who wants to sleep in in the morning.”
Rosette, completely different from her sleepy self this morning, walks towards us with a dignified air.
The reason we tried to wake Rosette up this morning was because she stayed at that castle.
I had no intention of letting her stay, but,
“It’s foolish to pay for a room when there are so many empty rooms here. Of course, you’ll let me stay, right?”
She pushed her way in, and Mizuha readily agreed.
It seems that she’s not just staying for one night, but is planning to settle in.
Actually, it does feel lonely to have just the two of us in that big castle, and if Mizuha is having fun, I don’t mind.
If Mizuha keeps picking up people at this rate and we become a large household, our newlywed mood will be ruined.
Well, I’m not going to do anything with Mizuha’s eleven-year-old body, so it’s fine.
“So, Rosette, are you just taking a morning stroll?”
“Even I wouldn’t come this deep into the forest for a stroll. It’s work. Although, it’s not a job from the Adventurer’s Guild like yours. It’s a job for the country.”
According to Rosette.
After we left, she was lazing around in bed when she heard a tapping on the window.
It was the work of a pigeon. A carrier pigeon used by the Valmiris Kingdom’s Royal Magic Corps. It detected Rosette’s magical power and came to deliver a letter.
“The Magic Brigade, during their regular patrol, encountered a monster they had never seen before in the forest a little ways from Emilie Village. It had the body of a bear, the head of a snake, and bat wings on its back.”
“…A Synthetic Creature (Chimera)?”
“Yes. There are many mages who like to create such things. And it’s not uncommon for them to create them but not be able to control them and let them run wild. However, this one seems to be quite strong, as even the elite of the Magic Brigade couldn’t defeat it and let it escape. So, they passed the job on to me, who happened to be nearby.”
“…The Magic Brigade of this country, each one of them is an elite, right? Even the True Holy Order holds them in high regard. And, a reconnaissance mission is done with about ten people, right? To fight against them and escape, that’s quite a troublesome monster. For something like that to be near Emilie Village… we can’t ignore it. Rosette-san, I’ll search with you.”
“If Mizuha is going, I’ll go too.”
“It’s reassuring to have the First Saintess and the Boy of Darkness with me.”
“What’s with that ‘Boy of Darkness’?”
“It’s you, Akito. Ever since you purified that castle, the mages of the royal palace have been in an uproar about who you are. I reported Akito’s skills and abilities. And that you have no intention of being an enemy of the kingdom. Then, because you manipulate curses and the undead, the people of the royal palace started calling you the Boy of Darkness. To already have a nickname after I just reported it yesterday, you must be getting a lot of attention.”
Boy of Darkness.
What’s that? It’s a little… no, it’s pretty cool.
If they’re calling me that in the royal palace, does that mean the king is saying it too?
If I have the opportunity to meet the king in the future, will he call out to me, “Oh, Boy of Darkness”?
I’m getting excited just imagining it.
“Boy of Darkness, huh? Akito-kun, that’s so cool!”
“S-stop it, I’m embarrassed…!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, your face is red. Are you really embarrassed? Fufufu, you have a cute side to you.”
“D-don’t call me cute. Mizuha is the only one who’s cute enough.”
“From my perspective, you’re both cute younger siblings. Like a younger brother and sister. Fufufufu.”
Tch, she’s acting like an elder.
It’s true that Rosette is overwhelmingly older, and on top of that, she’s about half a forehead taller than me.
And it seems that Mizuha feels reassured by having a reliable elder around.
Mizuha is a spoiled child. When her parents came to visit her during her past hospitalization, she was very spoiled. I get jealous when she’s being spoiled by someone other than me. But Mizuha’s comfort is my top priority.
In the first place, even I find it reassuring that there’s someone other than myself who’s trying to protect Mizuha.
In other words, I’m probably just as spoiled by Rosette as Mizuha is.
I definitely don’t want to say that out loud though.