Chapter 45:
A Suspicious Request
The next morning, when the girls descended to the first floor for breakfast, the owner was nowhere to be seen. He was most likely away in the kitchen, leaving little Faleel to tidy the room and set the tables, along with two slightly older boys.
Wait, he has three children? I wonder if his wife is off in the kitchen, too.
Mile pondered this as she looked at the three children but then noticed something strange: both of the boys appeared to be normal humans.
Hm?
All four girls were curious about this, but while the family was busy running around with breakfast preparations, they wouldn’t have time to be answering any questions. Unlike during dinnertime, the guests who were present for breakfast would all be showing up rather quickly, within a brief time frame. Even if the menu was fairly truncated compared to the dinner spread, they would still be quite busy. It would go against common sense to try and take up an employee’s time with frivolous things during a rush like this. Instead, the common etiquette for any diner would be to eat quickly so that his or her table could be freed up for others.
Thinking this, the Crimson Vow sat quietly, all their attention on their meals. However…
Huh?
Mile tilted her head yet again. Just now, she had caught a glimpse of a woman in the kitchen. More than likely, she was the owner’s wife—in other words, Faleel’s mother. However, yet again, this woman appeared to be nothing more than a normal human. Of course, she had only caught a glimpse, so perhaps Mile had missed something. Perhaps Faleel’s features were merely some atavistic, recessive trait—or there was some other peculiar circumstance at work. However, whatever that might be, as nothing more than a group of overnight guests, it was really none of their business to comment on.
Mile pretended that she hadn’t seen anything and silently returned to her meal.
After eating, the Crimson Vow popped back up to their room, strapped on their dummy packs, and then left the room behind, completely empty.
They did, of course, intend to stay at this inn again tonight, but depending on the job they took, there was a possibility that they might end up leaving the city for a short while. Should that happen, they would not wish to leave anything outstanding, and so, they decided to settle up the bill for now as well.
“We’d like to pay now, please,” said Reina at the desk.
“Huh? Big sisters, you’re leavin’ already?!”
Faleel was startled by the request, and a look of sadness spread across her face, but Mavis quickly explained.
“No, no, it’s just that we might have to go far away for a job, so we just want to take care of our bill now. If there aren’t any good jobs, or there aren’t any jobs that need us to go away overnight, then we’ll be right back here tonight! Even if we have to go far away, we’ll definitely come back after.”
Hearing this, Faleel looked relieved. Apparently, she was quite enamored of them.
All according to my plan…
As Mile silently gloated, feeling as powerful as the god of a brand-new world, she happened to look over to the inn’s guest register, which lay atop the desk. In the blank space beside their four names, there appeared to be some manner of childish scrawl. Perhaps it was Faleel’s notes for her own personal reference.
What might she have written? Suddenly burning with curiosity, Mile read along to see…
Mayvis: Shes tol but shes got no chest. Probly a elf.
Rena: Shes got fangz. Shes probly got sum beestfok blood in her. Just lik me.
Poline:I sens evil on her. Probly a deemon.
Miel: Shes a skwirt. Probly a dworf.
H-how rude!
Did she think they were some kind of all-star cast of nonhumans?! Mile seethed internally, but of course, she could not reveal such a reaction to a child of only six years old.
That said, if Reina or Pauline were to see this, things were sure to get out of hand. Mile casually flipped the page of the register to one that did not have their names written upon it.
Still, her analysis of Pauline was spot on! A beastperson’s intuition is a fearsome thing!
Once the bill was settled, the Crimson Vow headed to the local capital branch of the Hunters’ Guild.
“We are the C-rank hunting party the Crimson Vow, registered in the capital of Tils Kingdom. We are currently journeying in order to gain new experiences, and we will be stationing ourselves in this city for a short period. We look forward to working with you all,” Mavis explained at the reception window, introducing the group.
“Oh, my, my! Thank you! How courteous,” the clerk replied, smiling wide. “My name is Felicia. I’m the receptionist. The city of Shaleiraz welcomes you! If you desire, I can have one of our representatives give you information about this city, as well as the monsters and gathering spots in the surrounding areas. Would you like that?”
“Will it cost us?” asked Pauline.
“Ah, no. We provide information as well as local maps and other materials to anyone who has come from afar and will be operating here for some time, free of charge. It is part of our sworn duty as guild employees to provide for the security of our hunters and safeguard against any unnecessary trouble.”
There was no sense looking a gift horse in the mouth. The four girls replied as one, “Please and thank you!”
As the Crimson Vow sat at a nearby conference table receiving their information from the representative, a number of glances were cast their way.
There was a slender beauty, of around seventeen or eighteen;
A busty beauty of around sixteen or seventeen;
And two cute little girls of around twelve or thirteen…
And among them were two highly valuable mages.
Normally, to have a C-rank party with that sort of composition, at least three of the members would have to be C-ranks—or else, if the two youngest were perhaps still D-ranks, then at least one, if not both, of the two who were of age would be B-rank. In a country such as this, which had nothing like the Hunters’ Prep School, a girl of twelve or thirteen who was a C-rank was almost unheard of. Honestly, even in Tils, which did have such a school, the sight was rare. For a young person to attain such a rank, she would have to have some manner of extraordinary skill or some special abilities, such as outstanding magic genius or the like…
A beautiful girl under twenty who was already at a B-rank was an even more improbable sight. Even with as much strength and renown as the Roaring Mithrils had, only their leader, Gren, had yet to rise above a B-rank. It was not a rank that some little girl could attain easily.
In other words, this was a group of beautiful young women, youthful in body but with the strength of hunters much their senior, with special abilities and no man in sight. Such myths were sung of in the bawdy epics of troubadours across the land, with titles like, “The Ballad of a Man’s Wet Dream.”
Most of the hunters who were based in the capital of Tils had been present at the graduation exam. Therefore, they were already aware that the Crimson Vow had incredibly exceptional abilities for rookies. As a result, no one of lesser ability ever dared make a pass at them, and no one of greater ability tried to tangle with them either.
Plus, they all feared what rebuke might come from their betters should anyone dare lay a hand upon the girls.
Their betters. Including higher-ranking hunters, the guild’s upper management, or the Crown…
And so, it had been tacitly decided that all the hunters would watch over them.
Yet here in a foreign land, where such details were known to none, the Crimson Vow appeared a tasty morsel indeed. And now, the all-male parties who were present here in this, the capital branch of the Hunters’ Guild of the Kingdom of Vanolark, sat biding their time, waiting for the appropriate to time to speak to the Crimson Vow, silently keeping an eye on the competition.
After the guild employee finally finished giving the girls the rundown on the area, the Crimson Vow stood and moved to check the current entries on the information board. This would have been a prime opportunity, but what they were doing was an incredibly crucial task for hunters, so much so that interrupting them now would leave a horrible first impression. The men continued to wait, no one yet daring to call out to them.
After they were through with the information board, the Crimson Vow moved to check the job board. When they had decided upon a job and were moving to the reception window to further discuss it— that would be the moment to strike. That would be when the men could offer advice or pointers, or propose they accompany the group to the hunting grounds, as it was their first time in an unfamiliar place—or some other excuse.
Most of the parties who were aiming for the Crimson Vow came to the same conclusion at once. And because they all knew that the others knew what they knew, a fierce and silent war broke out…
“Oh!”
Just then, Mile suddenly raised her voice.
“What’s up?” asked Reina.
Mile pointed to a single card that was pinned to the board.
Investigation request. Reports of a group conducting suspicious activities at Golem Ridge. Members to be captured or executed pending results of the investigation.
The four looked at the request and then looked at one another. In the back of all their minds floated the images of the beastmen operating at the ruins. News of the investigation into the beastmen had yet to make it this far, apparently. It would probably take time for those in the palace to investigate and discuss what was to be conveyed to other kingdoms.
And so, Reina tugged the posting from the board.
“Are you sure?” Mile asked.
Reina shrugged her shoulders.
“You want to do it, don’t you? Even if it wasn’t our main goal, this was one of the points of this whole journey for you, wasn’t it? I mean, this might not even have anything to do with that other incident at all. Even if it did, well, we already know that beastfolk are no big thing. And if one of those shows up again, I get the feeling that we can just bring up the names of those guys from last time in order to get them to sit down and have a conversation. Anyway, I doubt that anything that coincidental would happen here.”
Mavis and Pauline nodded in agreement.
This was perhaps a little overly optimistic. The last incident had been settled neatly, but there was no guarantee that things would go so smoothly the next time. Regardless, Mile wanted desperately to take this job and continue her investigation. She nodded as well.
The pay was fairly decent, but given that the level of danger could not be easily predicted and there was no guarantee that the hunters would necessarily encounter their targets, the job seemed to have been posted there for some time without anyone choosing to take it on. Seeing that the Crimson Vow intended to accept this job, the other hunters, who had been waiting to speak to them, were confused. In their confusion, they lost their chance to talk to the girls entirely.
Things don’t always go the way one hopes they will.
This was also true of the Crimson Vow, who assumed that the individuals they might encounter this time would also be beastmen. They had already forgotten what the elder dragons had said—namely, that they were going to check in on the beastmen and demons who they had investigating on their behalf across the land.
“Huh? Um, this is the job you wish to take, then?” Felicia, the clerk, asked as Mavis handed her the job slip, confusion clear upon her face.
“Um, it is. Yes?”
“I would really recommend choosing differently…”
Not this again!
This was the third time now. The four were growing weary.
“We are already fully aware that there’s a chance that this job has been left as a ‘red mark’ job, that the level of danger is unclear, and that it’s possible we might turn up empty-handed, with a failure mark. One member of our party is still underage, but we are a full-fledged C-rank party, so there is no need to worry about us. Should we happen to fail, the blame lies solely on our shoulders,” said Reina.
As there was nothing that Felicia could do, she reluctantly processed the request. Even she was aware of what it meant that the Crimson Vow were C-ranks at such a young age. And she knew how many other parties would have set their sights on them, as well. Of course, what had put the glint in those men’s eyes was not just that the Crimson Vow had the ability of C-rankers, but also that they were a group of beautiful young girls. Had they merely been a C-rank level and nothing else, there would be much less excitement from the hunters. Yet as it stood, most of the parties who were currently present were practically drooling.
Furthermore, their young ages meant that, even if they had talent, they would still be lacking in experience, which should have put their abilities at a firmly middling level. To become C-ranks so young, things must have been going quite favorably for them, so it was likely they had become rather conceited. This was the primary reason that talented hunters often died early deaths.
In other words, the chances of the girls successfully completing a job that so many other hunters had avoided was slim. This was Felicia’s logical conclusion.
They were a group of cute young girls—a rarity amongst hunters—and they were polite and courteous to the guild staff. It would weigh terribly on her conscience to have them travel all the way to this kingdom only to have get wiped out on their very first job there. With this in mind, Felicia shot a wild look at the local hunters, who had all neglected to take on this job that the Crimson Vow had just accepted. It was a look that said, “Do something!”
There was no hunter in this capital who was foolish enough to defy Felicia’s command. Swiftly, one five-man party jumped into the fray.
“You girls have a moment? You all just arrived in this kingdom, didn’t you? I can’t say I applaud the choice to take on a dangerous job in an unfamiliar territory with so many uncertainties. What do you say? Why don’t you pick another job? Or, if you really want to do it, why don’t we tag along with you?”
The young man smiled, a sparkle in the flash of his pearly whites.
The Defenders of the Covenant were a crack team of five beautiful young men, known to those at this branch as the Pretty Boy Party, but they were more than just a set of pretty faces. They were fairly skilled for a group of men still in their twenties, and except when it came to matters involving women, they were fairly sincere. As the party’s name suggested, they were men who kept their promises.
The other parties were stomping mad that this lot—of all people—had jumped out ahead of them, but it was their own faults for hesitating to make the proposal themselves.
Indeed, the proposal that the Defenders had made was a right and just one. Felicia nodded heartily, satisfied. At least, until the Crimson Vow replied.
“We don’t need any extra burdens.”
“I’m pretty sure you all wouldn’t be able to keep up with us…”
“That’d make our cuts of the pay go down!”
“Ahaha…”
“Wha…?”
The leader of the Defenders was speechless at their replies. Felicia was slack-jawed as well.
“Y-you’re being a bit hasty there, aren’t you?” the leader managed to get out, still forcing a grin, though his cheeks were twitching.
However, as far as the Crimson Vow were concerned, their affairs were very clearly none of his business. Just as they said, the men would be nothing but a burden, and besides, they had certain battle techniques that they were not prepared to reveal to others.
They did not enjoy making fools of other hunters, but if they did not assert themselves now, more and more parties would try to come cozying up to them later on. So, reluctantly, the Crimson Vow decided to make this into a demonstration.
As always, Reina gave the direction.
“Mavis, do the thing.”
“On it. Excuse me, could someone please take out a copper coin and toss it up in the air?” Mavis asked, urging the others around her to move away and clear the space for safety’s sake.
“Sure, I’ll do it,” one of the hunters offered, intrigued.
And so, the coin was thrown.
Shing!
Swish!
Snap.
There, before everyone’s eyes, were two freshly cut halves of a copper coin atop Mavis’s outstretched palm.
Yes, once again, it was the copper-cutting trick.
She cut the coin, snatched it with her left hand, then sheathed her sword with her right. She had practiced this so very many times that it was no longer even useful as a training device and had been relegated to nothing more than a party trick.
“Wha…?”
The hunters and the guild staff were wide-eyed in shock. The leader of the Defenders of the Covenant was wide-eyed as well, but he was yet undeterred.
“A-are you a B-rank?” he stammered. “Well, even if you have one B-ranker, the rest of your party is still made up of only a mage and two underage D-rankers. You won’t be able to get enough done. You need to team up with us—we’ve got a full front line.”
Mavis cocked her head, confused.
“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. Everyone in this party is a C-rank, and if you wanted to know who among us was the weakest, I… No, never mind.”
Even though Mavis herself was the one who was about to say it, she was a little bit depressed at the prospect.
Reina then placed her next order.
“Mile!”
“Okay! Pardon me, another coin, please!”
At Mile’s request, the hunter who had thrown the previous coin pulled out another from his purse.
Shing!
Swsh!
Snap.
Just as in the previous display, Mile snatched back, and then held out her left hand.
Unlike the last time, the coin atop her palm was cleaved not in two parts but into four.
“………”
This time, even the leader could not speak.
All of the frontline fighters in the building were completely silent, but from somewhere in the room, someone who sounded like a backline mage raised their voice.
“Might we see the mages’ skills, too?”
While the coin-cutting trick was nothing more than a simple demonstration, when you watched a mage use magic, it revealed a number of things about the range of their skills. Even if you faked it a bit, anyone watching could make a fair guess at your abilities based on your specialty, your casting speed, and your efficiency. It was probably only an urban legend that you could determine a tank’s effectiveness from watching it fire a single round, but there had to be at least a grain of truth to it.
And so, in response to that question, Pauline replied as follows:
“We could certainly show you, but if we do, could we request that any ruined buildings be restored or any deceased persons brought back from the dead? We can destroy things on our own, but unfortunately we can’t restore anything or resurrect anyone.”
There was not a being alive who could do such a thing—except perhaps the gods.
“………”
At this, the mages in the room fell silent, too.
“Now then, if you’ll excuse us,” Pauline said to Felicia, tipping her head slightly, and the Crimson Vow, having finished their job-acceptance paperwork, left the guildhall behind.
When Felicia finally returned to her senses, she looked toward the B-rank party, the Silver Fangs, who had been sitting at a table in the corner watching the commotion, and flicked her chin.
Signal received, the five men slowly stood.
There were two swordsmen, one lancer, and two mages. Every one of them, front line to back, wore bright silver breastplates atop their leather armor, which was clearly how the party got its name. Seeing that they were B-rank, they were financially stable, and all of them were in what could be said to be the prime of their lives, so they had no interest in clamoring after some little girls. And so, they had merely sat and watched the preceding circus with a smile—even if they, too, were stunned at the copper-cutting display.
But now, at that chin signal from “No-Hope Felicia,” one that clearly said, “Follow them,” they hurriedly stood.
“No-Hope.”
This was a shortened version of, “Anyone she glares at better abandon all hope.” Not even the Silver Fangs would be so bold as to defy a signal from her. Not in the slightest.
The Silver Fangs, who had already been thinking of going away for a while, had made all their necessary preparations and simply popped into the guild one last time to give their regards before heading out. Therefore, they were ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Felicia knew this, of course, and it was why she had chosen them.
The Silver Fangs left the guildhall in a hurry, and soon enough the Crimson Vow were in their sights. They appeared to be standing around chatting about something—and the Silver Fangs, who had overheard their conversation in the guildhall earlier, decided against approaching them directly, instead choosing to follow at an appropriate distance.
“All right, time for our ‘Sahnik Spied’ move! Let’s go!”
“Okay!”
At Reina’s call, the other three crowed in reply, and all four switched into the high-speed mode that Mile had introduced to the group, the so-called “Sonic Speed.”
First, Reina, Mavis, and Pauline all dropped their swords and staves, along with the dummy packs that they carried, and placed them in front of Mile. Mile stored these away, along with her own sword and pack, and in exchange, produced a set of small flasks, handing one to each of them.
Indeed, with each of them carrying the minimum amount possible, they could move much faster. Even if they should suddenly be faced by robbers, it would not take Mile more than a second to retrieve everyone’s gear from storage and hand it over. Anyway, the staves actually had nothing to do with casting spells. As long as they were walking on a road with good visibility, there was no increase in danger.
“Now, onward to Golem Ridge! Crimson Vow, roll out!”
“Oh, they’re walking now. What were they just doin’?”
“Who knows? C’mon, let’s follow ’em!”
And so, the Silver Fangs began following the Crimson Vow, leaving a wide gap between them. Still, as soon as they started walking, the men noticed something peculiar.
“Th-they’re fast!”
“We can’t keep up with them at this rate!”
“Th-there’s no way a bunch of little girls can keep up this pace! They’ve probably just temporarily sped up for some reason. I’m sure they’ll slow down soon.”
The Silver Fangs were optimistic about this, but soon enough, one of them noticed something else.
“Say, is it just my imagination, or are they not carrying anything?”
Because the Fangs were traveling at a distance that would keep them from being discovered—or at least allow them plausible deniability if the girls did notice them, they could not clearly make out the details of the party. Yet now that he mentioned it, it did appear that they weren’t holding anything at all.
“I’m pretty sure they all had packs on when they left the guild, didn’t they?”
“Yeah… Plus, there’s no way anyone could just go up to Golem Ridge empty-handed.”
“………”
No matter how long they walked, the Crimson Vow’s pace did not appear to slacken.
Even if they were in the prime of their lives, there was no way that a group of men, burdened down with gear and weapons, food and water, medicine, camping materials, and so forth, could ever hope to keep up such a pace on foot. And yet that was the pace of these four speedy young girls, who wore nothing more than a single tiny flask at each of their waists…
The Silver Fangs. The silver breastplates that each of them wore were the party’s namesake.
This armor that they all wore was not only for the sake of granting them stronger protection, but also served as a proud mark of the party’s unity. At the moment, however, that proud mark was nothing but a burden.
That beautiful, gleaming silver armor was rather heavy.
Truthfully, this was the reason that most hunters wore only leather armor. Even knowing this, it was party policy for each of the Silver Fangs, from the frontline fighters to the backline mages, to wear their silver breastplates. This policy favored protection over ease of movement, and it was perhaps due to this that they had all lived to become B-ranks, so perhaps it was not such a bad choice after all. On the contrary, it was the optimal choice for this party.
Now, however, they were finally seeing the downside.
“This is hopeless. Sorry, you all go ahead. I’ll catch up with you when those girls stop to take a break…”
One of the mages dropped out.
Then the second mage dropped out.
“Sorry guys, just go on without me. When those girls make camp for the night, come back up to the main road and wait for us to catch up.”
Typically, mages did not have the stamina of frontline fighters to begin with. Unlike the mages of other parties, the mages of the Silver Fang were stalwart in battle, thanks to those silver breastplates; however, the burden of their armor became enormous when they tried to move fully laden.
“Damn it, they aren’t slowing down at all,” the leader grumbled, some time after the two mages had dropped out.
Just then, the Crimson Vow broke into a run.
“Wha?!?!”
The distance between the two groups widened in the blink of an eye.
“I can’t do it, I can’t keep up! This is it for me!”
“Idiot! If we go back with our tails between our legs like this, Felicia will… Well, you know! That! It’s that I’m talking about! There’s a reason she’s called ‘No-Hope Felicia’!”
“In that case, please, leader, you go after them! And once they’ve settled on a campground, please come back and let us know.”
“……”
It was then that the Silver Fangs finally understood what the swordswoman who seemed to be the leader of the Crimson Vow had said:
“You’d never be able to keep up with us…”
That was not just some empty boast meant to make a fool of the other hunters but an expression of an honest fact.
“Think we’ve lost ’em, Mile?”
“Huh?”
“The other party that was following us. That’s what it was, wasn’t it? If there wasn’t something like that, you wouldn’t have suddenly said, ‘Why don’t we jog for a bit?’—would you?”
“Ahaha!”
Reina’s guess was dead-on. Mile laughed and scratched her head.
“I’m tired. Can we go back to walking now?” wailed Pauline, who had the least stamina of all of them.
Mile figured it was probably fine now, so she allowed them to return to a normal pace.
***
“So this is the place…”
Thanks to the map that was provided to them by the guild staff and some directions from a helpful traveler they met along the way, the Crimson Vow arrived at the mountainous area known as Golem Ridge around sunset the next day.
For most normal hunters, the journey would have taken a bit longer, but if they did not arrive by sunset, then they would have had to make camp for yet another night and not arrived until the next morning. It was only a half day’s difference in time, but the difference between getting started on their job in the afternoon when they were already weary and getting started bright and early in the morning after a full night’s sleep was immense.
“Let’s take it easy tonight so we can be ready for tomorrow. First, let’s start getting dinner ready…”
“And then it’s story time!”
What exactly had Mile so excited for those folktales of hers this time?
***
The Wolf Boy
Once upon a time, there was a young wolf boy named Ken…
The Ant and the Grasshopper
Grasshopper: “Would you mind sharing some food with me? Even a little will help.”
Ant: “Uh, sorry Grasshopper, but this is all for me.”
Grasshopper: “Aw c’mon, Ant…”
The Little Matchgirl
“That’s it! If I’m going to freeze to death anyway, I might as well use this little match to set the whole town ablaze!”
“………”
As tonight’s Japanese folktales drew to a close, all four girls were overtaken by sleepiness.
***
The next morning, the Crimson Vow used magic to draw some hot water and had a simple breakfast. Mile packed away the tent, still erected, and they were ready to roll out several times faster than any normal hunting party would be. Their destination was the peaks of the mountains. Naturally so, as the other hunters’ reports of suspicious people had come from parties who were heading up toward the summit.
Even if they came up empty-handed, they could still go home with the same things that those other hunters were likely after— AKA rock lizards and herbs that grew only on the summits of rocky mountains, such as the elusive “rocky mountain summit grass.”
They could have at least put a little bit more thought into that name, Mile grumbled internally.
“About 30 meters ahead, in the two o’clock position! There’s one rock lizard, medium size!” Mile reported.
Reina was swift with the command.
“Let’s get it! Mavis, Mile, get ready for an ambush! Pauline, get your freezing magic ready and then hold!”
“Roger!”
After their first experience hunting that large rock lizard, they had since acquired many others, all stored away in Mile’s inventory. That way, even if they ended a job without catching one, they would not end up taking any demerits.
After dealing cleanly with the rock lizard, they continued to head for the summit. That was when Mile reported, “At the 12:30 position—huh…? R-rock golems! Three of them! That’s right, now that I think about it, based on our past encounters I should’ve expected there would be golems around, since wherever there are rock lizards…”
“Huh?”
The other three stared blankly at her.
Very timidly, Mavis asked, “M-Mile, do you have any idea what the name of this place is?”
“Huh? Of course I do…”
“Then say it!” Reina said with a scowl, rubbing her temples.
“Okay. I’m pretty sure it was Golem Ridge… Ah.”
The other three were struck by a terrible fatigue before the battle could even begin.
Ker-blam!
Wham!
Ka-smack!
It was over.
The three golems rolled onto the rock face, their legs obliterated. As they tried to drag themselves along with their arms, Mile and Mavis pierced the golems through the heads with their swords, and the creatures ceased to move.
“I knew it. If you destroy the parts of their heads that are in charge of their sight and hearing, they stop moving. But why? It doesn’t seem like that should count as a vital area for them.”
Mile stared at their lifeless bodies, her head cocked, but the other three appeared wholly uninterested.
“What are you doing? Let’s go already!”
“C-coming!”
The Crimson Vow proceeded toward the summit, slaying rock lizards and rock golems along the way, but soon Mile began to feel a sense of unease.
“Are we being watched?” she asked.
Reina nodded. Mavis and Pauline, whose senses were not so sharp, stared blankly.
“That’s strange. According to the guild’s information, the suspicious parties were split up into several groups, all keeping hidden and working in separate areas. As soon as the hunters encountered them, they ran away. They didn’t say anything about lookouts.”
“Maybe they’ve gotten farther along in whatever they’re doing, and the circumstances have changed?” Mile suggested.
“Why is it only at times like this that you show a bit of smarts?!” Reina shouted.
Mavis and Pauline nodded in agreement.
“Th-that’s rude! Even at the prep school, my marks on our class assignments were better than all of yours, weren’t they?!”
“That’s right, come to think of it.”
Mavis and Pauline looked as though they could not believe it. Seeing their expressions, Mile puffed out her cheeks.
“ I’m the one who can’t believe you guys!”
Somehow, Pauline managed to calm Mile down, and they returned to their conversation.
“Well, nothing’s going to come of all this if we continue on this way. So, shall I do it?”
“Please do,” Reina confirmed.
Carefully Mile retrieved her slingshot from her inventory, moving in such a way that anyone watching might think that she was pulling it from her pocket. Of course, there was a mismatch between the size of her pocket and the size of the slingshot, but, well, one couldn’t think too hard about that.
She gripped a metal pellet, likewise drawn from her “pocket,” and fired a quick shot. These were not the pebbles that she normally used for this purpose but specially made metal slugs. Most pebbles were oblong, which meant that their firing accuracy was lower, and there was a chance that they might explode on impact, which could cause quite the disaster. The metal pellets would not miss their mark and were guaranteed to sink in or pierce through their target.
Fwip!
“Gaaaaah!!”
It hit.
Apparently, the metal slug had pierced its target.
Really, being pierced through was not such a bad thing—far better than the alternative of having something lodged in your body. If there was a metal pellet lodged in your flesh, you would have to dig deep to wrench it out again.
Naturally, she had not struck any vitals.
On the surface, it would seem as though the Crimson Vow had taken the preemptive strike, but in this world, if you were following someone at a close distance undercover, observing them, it was likely that you were planning a surprise attack, so you could not complain if you were attacked in return. Being struck by a surprise attack would put one at a huge disadvantage, so it was only natural that the Crimson Vow might counter with all they had the moment they caught wind of such a thing. Anyone who subscribed to daft philosophies like, “If you aren’t attacked, then there’s no need to counterattack,” or “No attacks until you can justify a legitimate self-defense,” would soon perish here. The ones who abandoned such foolishness lived on.
Therefore, it went without saying which of these two opinions was most prevalent in this world. Dead men could tell no tales, after all.
Anyway, what if their followers were only scouting without any intent of violence? Well, scouting undercover was malicious enough, so it was fine to knock out or capture them.
“Now to bring them in for questioning…”
“Don’t move a muscle!”
“Frame!”
“Wha…?! A magic barrier?!”
Hearing the sudden, commanding voice from behind, Reina immediately shot off a fire spell, but the suspicious person quickly countered, putting up a wall of magic in defense. Unlike ice javelins, which were made of tangible, materialized ice, fire spells could be deflected with magic.
The man, who appeared to be some sort of leader, had just managed to get the magical barrier up in time before shouting, “Wh-what’s the big idea?! Why would you just attack us like that?!”
The group of suspects was made up of four men, the same number as the Crimson Vow. All four of them were wearing hoods. At first glance, they appeared to be human, but two protrusions atop each of their heads made their hoods stand up at points.
Those are beast ears, aren’t they?! That’s way too conspicuous!
Among the beastmen they had encountered at the excavation site, the majority were far more fuzzy in appearance, but that did not mean that there could not be those among them who appeared mostly human. The Crimson Vow, who had just recently seen little Faleel at the inn, would not be so easily fooled.
Likely, the beastfolk had chosen from those of mixed blood for this cover operation, sending out those individuals whose human traits were more predominant so that the humans would not suspect their true nature.
“What are you talking about? Isn’t it obvious?! You were lurking at a close range, scouting us out, so that you could launch a surprise attack. Shouting, ‘Don’t move!’ is as good as saying, ‘We’re about to capture you!’ isn’t it? Who do you think would just stand there and obey? If you like, why don’t you come along with us to the capital and report to the authorities? We wouldn’t mind that all.”
“Er…”
The man who appeared to be their leader was lost for words.
“Now, why don’t you go ahead and tell us why it was that you were planning to attack us? Be honest. If you don’t, you’ll be executed as bandits.”
“What?! Why would you call us bandits?! Humans are such cretins…”
“Shut up, you idiot!”
The leader frantically tried to stop his companion’s reply to Reina’s needling, but it was already too late. He had already as good as confessed that they were not humans. Though, honestly, the state of their hoods had given them away from the start.
“My,” said Mile, “I’ve heard an exchange just like this before. We’ve already encountered cohorts of yours investigating some ruins in another kingdom, so we know the whole story. Plus, your hoods are sticking up. We’ve found you out, and you must be hot under there. Why don’t you go ahead and take those off?”
“Y-you bastards! Just how much do you know?!”
The leader, already resigned to the fact that their cover had been blown from the get-go, lowered his hood. Seeing this, the other three lowered their hoods as well. With their ears covered, it was more difficult to hear, and of course, Mile thought, the continuous pressure on those ears had to be uncomfortable. But then…
What appeared from under their lowered hoods was a pair each of… horns. Horns. HORNS!
“Th-they’re cowmen!” Mile exclaimed unconsciously.
At this, the four men all screamed at once. “We’re demooooooooooooooons!!! We aren’t beastmeeeeeen!!!”
“Huh?”
“Huhh??”
“Huuuuuuuuuuhh???”
They had heard that demons and beastmen were on friendly terms, but apparently demons could not abide being mistaken for their allies. Interracial relations are such complicated things…
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login