Chapter 55: Three Knocks
Nearly twenty days had passed, living a life where I sold a small amount of game at the Adventurers Guild once every two or three days, when the long-awaited news finally arrived.
《Master, this is Mii-chan No. 3. There are humans following the path you walked.》
《How many?》
《Seven of them.》
《Thank you. Don’t attack them yet.》
Now then, the Carrions and wolves were out hunting for food, so they weren’t here.
Since the opponents were Magicians, I had kept Hoo-chan and the others away from me, so they were out of our fighting strength.
Mii-chan No. 1 and No. 2 had been on standby in the trees, but I ordered them to hide in the thicket and prepare for battle.
For now, after calling Bee-chan and the others and having them standby in the sky, I moved behind a large tree, Jumped up onto it, and sat on a branch to check on the pursuers.
When I was Taming the wolves and Carrions, I checked my Skills and found I had Search: Advanced (Low), Presence Detection: Advanced (Low), and Stealth: Advanced (Low). So, I figured if I sat still on a branch, I could blend in with the tree and avoid detection.
The man at the front, likely a scout, tensed up as my presence vanished.
The men walking behind him also received a signal and nocked arrows to their bows. There were four archers, two men who looked like Magicians, and the scout—different opponents than I expected.
I pulled my hood down low, raised my collar to hide my mouth, tightened the hood’s drawstrings, and completed my battle preparations.
As they cautiously advanced, trying to locate me after my presence disappeared, I jumped down behind them.
The moment I landed with a rustle 〈Gasa!〉, they all whirled around and loosed their arrows.
I heard the thudding sounds of arrows hitting me, but seeing me standing there unfazed, they reached for their second arrows.
“You don’t look like acquaintances. What business do you have with me?”
“You’re Shinya, aren’t you? Just as skilled as the rumors say. You’ve overdone it.”
If I’m the target, there’s no need to hold back. I ordered Mii-chan and the others, who were hiding, to commence their attack.
〈Uoooh!〉 〈Gyaaa!〉 〈It huuuurts!〉
Clutching their legs, they each voiced their respective complaints, but I had no obligation to listen.
I used my Wooden Sword to break each of their arms, crippling their ability to fight, before starting the interrogation.
“Overdone it? What are you talking about? If you don’t talk quickly, you’ll only suffer more.”
They grimaced from the pain in their legs and broken arms, but no one said a word.
It felt like a waste, but I used a Basic Potion just to stop the bleeding in their legs. Then, I gathered the men together and tied them in a line with a rope around each of their necks.
“Well now, there’s a convenient place for torture just ahead. I’ll invite you there.”
“Wh-Why aren’t you handing us over to the Guards?”
“You’ve let it slip. That’s as good as saying you’d be safe if I handed you over to the Guards.”
I grabbed the end of the rope connecting them and started dragging them, but even with Super Strength, a 7-on-1 tug-of-war was disadvantageous.
I unleashed my killing intent, and kicked the trembling men’s behinds to get them walking.
I made them all sit in a small depression, a place hidden from view.
“You probably don’t feel much like talking, but whose orders are you following? You don’t have to say if you don’t want to, but in that case, I’ll strip you naked and make you Goblin feed.”
Seeing the calm expression on my face as I told them, they seemed to realize I was serious; their faces turned deathly pale, and they began to tremble.
Among them, two men were glaring at me without a change in their complexion. I pulled those two out of the line and made them sit in front of the others.
“I’m about to show you what will happen to you.”
Saying that, I stripped the two men bare, cut both their Achilles’ tendons and the tendons in their elbows, then left them.
They screamed and tried to escape, but their legs wouldn’t move properly, and their bound arms, with severed tendons, only brought them pain.
The other one was looking away, but you’ll suffer the same fate, so just wait.
“Please, let me use a Potion!”
“Hmm? Someone unwilling to talk doesn’t need a Potion, right? Besides, do you even have a Potion?”
“It’s in my Magic Pouch. Please!”
I took out a Magic Pouch from the clothes I’d stripped off him, but I can’t take things out of it, can I?
“If you want to drink a Potion, I’ll need you to remove the user registration.”
As I said that with a laugh, the man, who had been groaning from the pain in his leg, froze.
He seemed to be loaded with guilty secrets, so I guess I’ll torment him thoroughly.
“Let me know when you feel like talking.”
Leaving those words with the frozen man, I smiled at the trembling man next to him.
“I’ll let him savor the pain thoroughly, but it must be boring for you to wait.”
He shook his head frantically, but I grabbed his leg with my Short Sword in hand and lifted it high.
I lightly tapped the area of his Achilles’ tendon and asked, “Going to talk?” but he remained silent, so I cleanly sliced through his Achilles’ tendon.
〈Gyaaaaargh!〉 He let out a loud shriek and thrashed about, but I, holding him up, didn’t let him fall.
After letting him thoroughly savor the pain, I slammed him onto the ground, then grabbed his other leg and lifted it.
He struggled desperately, but he was no match for an Orc’s Super Strength. I placed the blade of my Short Sword against his Achilles’ tendon and gently slid it.
“Stop! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so please stop! I beg you!”
“If you were going to talk, you should have done it from the start. What a pain. So, you’ll remove the user registration on your Magic Pouch too, right?”
“I’ll remove it! I’ll remove it, so please let me drink a Potion!”
Taking the now compliant man’s Magic Pouch, I touched it with the blood from his leg and brought it to his mouth.
I spread out a camping robe and emptied the contents of the Magic Pouch onto it.
In a leather bag were three Potion bottles, a change of clothes, and food—like the belongings of a proper Adventurer—but there was one Medicinal Herb Pouch with a distorted bulge.
The Potions were also the disgustingly bad ones sold at the Adventurers Guild.
The Potions were a Basic (Mid), a Basic (High), and an Intermediate (Low); it seems they were earning a decent amount.
“Alright then, if you want to drink a Potion, tell me why you were following me.”
I dangled a Potion bottle in front of his eyes, and he said, “I was told to bring you in.”
“If you were told to ‘bring me in,’ you sure shot arrows at me the moment you saw me, didn’t you?”
“N-No, I thought you were a Beast, so I just…”
I delivered five quick slaps back and forth across his face. His lips were cut and bleeding, but I silently lifted his leg, cleanly sliced his Achilles’ tendon, and tossed him aside.
“Uwaaaargh! Stop! It hurts! I talked, so the Potion…”
“I was watching you all from the tree. When my presence vanished, you nocked arrows and drew your swords, didn’t you? If you’re not going to answer what you’re asked, don’t think you’ll die an easy death.”
I kicked away the first man I’d injured, who was groaning from the pain in his leg, and turned to the remaining men.
They were all terrified and averted their eyes, but I squatted down in front of the man who was trembling the most, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
“What will you do?”
“I’ll tell you anything! My archery skills were bought, and I was called by Lukzen-san over there. He said I’d get three Gold Coins if I captured you alive or defeated you.”
“Capture me alive? Did you hear anything else about me?”
“I heard you’re a Tamer with cats. Please, help me. I won’t do his jobs anymore.”
Something about this story is off.
If they were targeting me, they should have known Bee-chan and the others were guarding me, yet they didn’t.
Also, saying he won’t do ‘his’ jobs anymore implies this Lukzen guy is a specialist in shady work.
I stood before the man who was enduring the pain and groaning. “Lukzen, huh?” It seemed I couldn’t just kill him easily.
Hearing his name called by me, the expression of the man enduring agony changed.
I kicked the wound on his severed Achilles’ tendon again.
“Uooorgh! Stop it! Please, let me drink a Potion!”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Whose orders?”
“Deios! He asked me to capture you alive, or kill you if that failed. Please, a Potion!”
“Who is this Deios?”
“He’s the Butler at Earl Lingan’s place. He’s the one who asked me.”
The butler of that stingy Earl… Is it resentment from the Adventurers Guild, or an order from the Earl whose pride I crushed?
I’m not trash like Hirokun, but it’s infuriating to turn tail and run just because my life was targeted, and that guy doesn’t seem likely to show up.
I want to take care of the stingy Earl and that butler bastard first, but my opponent is an Earl-sama with numerous guards.
If I use Bee-chan and the others, it’ll be completely obvious it was my doing, so that’s no good.
If I’m going to attack the Earl’s Residence, night is more convenient. I slit the throats of the men groaning at my feet.
I heard some voices uttering curses, but it didn’t hurt or itch, so I paid them no mind.
The man called Lukzen was stark naked, but I tossed him into my Magic Bag.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
The sun had completely set, and it was the witching hour when everyone was asleep. I Jumped over the town fence and infiltrated.
Dodging the Guard patrols, I sprinted down the path I’d taken before.
I easily Jumped over the Earl’s Residence’s fence. Recalling the interior of the residence from when I had come with Okusama before, I lay prone in the bushes around the area beneath the study.
The residence was mostly dark, but a light was on in one of the second-floor rooms, which I presumed to be the study.
I had little Mii-chan No. 1 scout and tossed it towards the window frame.
I ordered No. 2 and No. 3 to notify me if a patrol came, entrusting them with guarding the surroundings.
《Master, there are many humans.》
《Is anyone near where Mii-chan is?》
《No one.》
I moved beneath the window, Jumped lightly, grabbed onto the window frame, and observed the room’s interior.
The Earl was leaning back arrogantly on the sofa with the Butler waiting by his side, and opposite them were two men with very similar builds.
They resembled each other so much I almost blurted out, “They must be father and son.”
To think I’d end up cursing myself here—there was no way to enter this room.
If I forced my way in, I’d have to deal with around ten people, including guards, but I didn’t want to leave any trace of myself.
I mulled it over, but no good idea came to mind, so I decided to just threaten them tonight.
I climbed down, took out Lukzen’s corpse, tucked a piece of paper with the sentence “Watch your head” written on it between the corpse’s fingers, and once again clung to the second-floor window frame.
To make sure they heard, I knocked hard on the window frame three times, then Jumped down and sprinted at full speed away from the residence.