Chapter 8: To the Elf Village – Part 15
As the village fell silent, I slipped out of the inn alone.
My destination was the Village Chief’s mansion. It seemed that the female adventurer from Oz was being held there.
The only light came from the moon. Apparently, street lamps could be found in cities of the royal capital level, but this village had none.
I concealed my presence in the shadows of a house near the Village Chief’s mansion, continuously scanning the surroundings with my Presence Detection.
After about an hour, two faint presences suddenly appeared, weaving through the shadows of the houses. Their auras were quite weak, suggesting they possessed some form of concealment skill.
The two figures approached the Village Chief’s mansion without hesitation, beginning to probe the front entrance. It looked like they were using some tools to break the latch.
Normally, one would assume they were thieves, but they had longswords hanging from their waists. It was clear they were not here for mere theft.
I burst out from the shadows and sprinted towards them. It was about a hundred meters away. Unfortunately, I lacked any concealment skills, so they noticed my presence and turned around.
One of them, a man whose face was covered by a hood, seemed to be of a sturdy build. Judging by his movements, he was likely an Awakened One, probably one of the remaining members of that party of girls from Oz.
“Damn it, they noticed us!?”
“There’s only one of him; we can take him down!”
After a brief exchange, they drew their swords. In an instant, one of them blurred out of sight. A Swift Run user, it seemed.
I raised my shield and charged forward. From Larni’s movements, I knew that Swift Run could only be used for straight-line movement.
The sound of metal clashing rang out as my shield met the strike of a sword. However, the thick shield, which even B-rank adventurers struggled to wield, absorbed the blow without any damage. I pushed the shield forward, slamming it into the man using Swift Run. It was akin to a technique known as Shield Bash in games.
With the overwhelming combination of Strength, Herculean Strength, Stability, Immovable, and Heavy Impact, my strike sent the man flying about twenty meters, leaving him motionless. At least he still retained his original form.
“What the!?”
The other man, startled, moved sideways to create distance. He swung his sword as he moved. Of course, he was out of range, but I instinctively raised my shield. The next moment, a shockwave hit my shield. So, he must have a skill that allows him to launch slashes from a distance. I was glad I had observed Anatoria’s abilities.
“Damn it, is this guy the one who took down the Golem!?”
The man exclaimed as he pretended to flee. Not so fast; I swung my mace. An explosive Shockwave struck the man’s back, sending him flying about five meters. I had held back a bit, so he shouldn’t be dead.
I approached the fallen man while keeping my shield raised. He groaned on the ground, so he was still alive. I couldn’t kill him; I needed to interrogate him.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air. I hid behind my shield, but the target wasn’t me. An arrow had pierced the skull of the man lying on the ground.
A third man? They were quite thorough with their silencing. But…
“Ugh!?”
A voice echoed from a distance. It seemed my second companion had taken care of it. No matter how skilled one was at concealment, it appeared they couldn’t suppress their presence until the moment of attack.
“Village Chief, it’s done.”
As I called out, the front door of the mansion opened, revealing the Village Chief. He held something resembling a lantern, and his expression was quite grim under its light.
“Thank you once again, Soushi. However, I never expected such a convoluted scheme… how terrifying it is.”
I shared his sentiment. What terrified me was my own Bad Luck skill, which had thrust such troublesome events upon a fledgling adventurer.
“I’m sorry, Soushi. I thought I had captured him, but he drank poison and died.”
Larni, who had dragged the man to the front of the Village Chief’s mansion, said with a downcast expression.
Looking closer, the third man was bleeding from his mouth, lifeless. Choosing to take his own life upon failing the mission was a terrifying trait for an ordinary person like me. They were professionals, but I had always thought such people existed only in fiction.
“Hey, more importantly, Soushi, what does this all mean?”
“I already explained it earlier, didn’t I?”
“Could you please say it again? I didn’t quite understand.”
“Honestly… These guys were trying to pin the blame on the female adventurer from Oz. They planned to create zombies, spread a plague, and then use a Golem to attack the village. Do you understand that?”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“But if the female adventurer is alive, a magical tool that can see through lies will eventually reveal she isn’t the culprit. That would be a problem.”
“So, they were trying to kill the female adventurer?”
“Exactly. If she dies, only the information that she was the culprit remains. Whether that’s true or false becomes irrelevant, and it will be treated as if it were true.”
“I see… But what do they gain from that?”
“The female adventurer is from the nation of Oz. If someone from Oz commits such heinous acts in this country, it would sour relations between the two nations. That seems to be their goal, at least.”
“So, if the two nations fall out, they benefit?”
“If they are indeed associates of the slave traders, as Larni said, then the nation of Mecalinan would have something to gain. That’s a political matter, so it’s beyond our understanding.”
I said that, but it was easy to imagine they were simply trying to take advantage of the situation. It seemed this world had recently experienced what one might call a “Warring States Period.”
“Hmm… Soushi, you’re quite clever. Everything you said came true, and I might just respect you a little.”
“Anyone could come to that conclusion with the right information. It was a gamble whether they would actually come to kill us.”
As I said this, the Village Chief, who had been listening nearby, shook his head.
“No, no, such insights are not something one acquires unless they are a noble or an exceptionally talented merchant. However, if your reasoning is correct, then this is beyond what I or this village can handle. We must consider how to deal with the situation, including the capture of that adventurer from Oz.”
Indeed, it felt like the situation had escalated far beyond what I had anticipated. As an adventurer, I probably wouldn’t be involved in what came next, but the stench of trouble was thick in the air. It would be much easier to just deal with monster hunting… but perhaps feeling that way was itself a bit strange.