I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Where Cats Go, Trouble Is Soon to Follow

Who is the God of Evil?

An evil god? A god who fought the other gods? While these answers are not mistaken, they are merely a part of the God of Evil’s narrative.

To know the God of Evil, we must start with the gods in general.

This is not public knowledge, but the gods of this world did not come from this world. I have come to this conclusion after consulting those with the Oracle skill and those who have written down and preserved the divine word of the gods.

I was surprised to learn that there were eight million gods where they came from. They came to our world to seek a new residence because theirs had become too cramped. Unlike villagers who rant and rave at being forced to leave their overpopulated village, the gods simply left their world to come to ours. Their number was eighty-nine: exactly the number of gods which grace our world.

What follows is general folklore: Having come to an uninhabited plane of existence, the gods wasted no time shaping a new world. The God of Earth created the land out of his own body, and the other gods filled that body with each of their aspects. The God of Oceans filled the seas, the God of the Sun lit up the great fireball in the sky. The God of the Silver Moon then created the moon and moved there to lessen the burden of the God of Earth. The lesser gods proceeded to live on the Great Moon, the greater gods staking their claims on each of the seven moons orbiting it.

There was one god who was left out during the creation of our world, and that was the God of War. He continued to assist the other gods, saying that he would bestow his blessing upon this world once they were done with their part. When the other gods had exhausted their creative energies, the God of War rose in revolt. Some say he lost his mind, while others say he fell to temptation. Only the gods know for sure. One thing we do know is the God of War, possessed by the God of Evil, was so strong and the other gods so weak that they were no match for him in the ensuing conflict.

Nevertheless, the united power of the gods managed to subdue the God of Evil. They scattered his remains across the known world and sealed them away. However, they were unable to completely seal away the pieces of his body, and those pieces went on to create Fiends, which remain a problem to this day.

I do not know whether the following is true or pure mythological conjecture, but it is said that one of the gods summoned his godly weapon from his home world and wielded it during the war with the God of Evil. His sword was the first of the Divine Weapons created in our world.

The significance of this story lies not only in the origin of the Divine Weapons but in how the link between worlds could be established. It goes without saying that summoning a divine weapon is not so easily done, for we are not gods ourselves.

But what of other beings? Perhaps, people?

Impossible? Why so? The gods themselves came from other worlds, after all. There is a nonzero chance that non-divine aliens live in our midst.

—The writings of Willow Magnus, High Elf historian.

Excerpt from “On the Mythology of Our World.”

A day had gone by since we left Jean’s laboratory. Thanks to Jet’s efforts, the port city of Dars was now within sight.

Our side trip to the floating island had left us behind schedule. We should have reached Dars a few days ago. We would take a boat from Dars and head south to the port town of Bulbola. From there, we would carry on to our final destination, the Dungeon City of Ulmutt.

I can see it!

“Oooh.”

The city of Dars was beginning to come into view beyond the distant hill. A sparkling blue sea with a refreshing breeze surrounded the port town, itself home to rustic wooden houses. Why, it looked like a scene right out of my manga.

The town was slightly smaller than Alessa, the first major settlement Fran and I came across.

“Woof, woof, woof!”

What is it, Jet?

Jet began barking excitedly. At first, I thought he had detected some enemies in the vicinity, but his barks lacked the necessary hostility.

“He likes seeing the ocean.”

Oh yeah. You’ve never seen the ocean before, have you, Jet?

“Aroo!”

Jet looked at the sea, his eyes glittering like the surf itself, unable to hold back his excitement at seeing his first body of water.

Let’s head to the beach later.

“Woof!” Jet replied with vigorous wagging of his gigantic tail. The size and speed at which he wagged his tail turned it into something of an electric fan.

Fran closed her eyes and looked satisfied. “I can’t wait.”

You too?

“I’ve never been on a beach before.”

Fran had been transported on slave ships, so she’d never had the chance to play on a beach. That was no good! No good at all! I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said half the fun of the ocean is playing on the beach! I’d make her a pro at beach games before we got on a boat to Bulbola.

Shall we make it a picnic? We can have lunch and everything.

“Curry?”

Not curry, no.

While the lumpy curry served in beach houses had a certain charm to them, they wouldn’t do us much good at a picnic.

Times like these call for sandwiches.

“Like curry sandwiches?”

That…would be an interesting challenge.

I’ll make some curry sandwiches, too. I figured I could either make a sandwich out of dry curry or one out of curry-seasoned meat.

“Hm!” Fran nodded in enthusiasm, and Jet looked up at me, following his master’s cue.

“Arf?”

All right, fine, I’ll make some for you, too, Jet. You okay with bone-in?

“Awoo!”

I wonder if they were more excited about the picnic or the food. Fran and Jet did prefer cuisine to scenery, after all.

First, we would need to secure lodging. We’d have to stay in the city for at least one night, maybe more, while we looked for a ship traveling to Ulmutt.

Make yourself smaller, Jet. We’re walking from here on out. The town might break out into a panic if we walked in with a giant direwolf. They might even mobilize the town guard. We wouldn’t want that.

“Woof!”

Fran hopped off of Jet, now dog-sized, and walked alongside him down the hill. We soon found a path which led straight to the town. We met a lot of travelers along the way, though all of them steered clear when they saw us. Some of them went so far as to go off the main road to avoid us.

Try as we might to blunt Jet’s intimidation factor, he was still a wolf to most people. We knew he was a big puppy underneath all that ferocity, but his jet-black fur and menacing jaws understandably struck fear into people’s hearts. Fear enough to make them get off the main road.

Only two things prevented pedestrians from outright fleeing: Jet’s collar, with his Familiar Identification Tag attached, and the fact that he was walking alongside Fran. Still, he looked menacing enough. I apologized mentally to everyone who was shocked by the encounter.

We reached the city gates after unconsciously pressuring everyone we passed to get out of our way.

“What? An adventurer? And a D-Rank, at that? Excuse me?”

The guard on duty was astonished when Fran showed him her guild card. He was surprised enough to learn that the little beastgirl in front of him was an adventurer. That she was also a mid-rank adventurer proved too much to process.

After inspecting her guild card multiple times, the soldier regained his composure and resumed the registration process. We paid 300G for our entry fee and produced Jet’s Familiar Registration documents.

“Carry on.”

We were free to enter. That went smoother than I thought. I expected him to bother us with a lot more questions, but as it was in Alessa, entering the city was simple enough as long as you had proper documentation and identification.

All right, let’s look for a place to stay.

“What about the beach?”

After we get a room. But wow, this city is packed!

Although Dars was smaller than Alessa, its population was several times larger. Did that come with being a port town?

The streets were bustling with merchants and seamen.

I hope we can get a nice place to stay. Wouldn’t want to sleep on the streets in a city like this.

“Well, duh.”

Who taught you to talk like that?

“Hm?”

…Never mind. We need to check in at the local guild, so let’s hurry up and find some lodging.

We saw a lot of hotels and inns along the main street, just like in Alessa. The cheaper inns didn’t feel safe to me, so I kept my eyes peeled for something pricier.

However, that didn’t work out.

“They wouldn’t let us stay, either…”

What is going on?

We had been turned away at all of the five inns we went to. At first, I thought it had something to do with Fran being too small or them not allowing pets like Jet, but the innkeepers didn’t seem to be lying. The receptionists had all apologized profusely for turning us away. There really were no vacancies.

Did this come with being a port town? Were the inns always packed because of all the people who were constantly coming and going?

But how could all the lodges be filled all of the time?

Can’t be helped. Let’s go to the guild for now. We’ll ask them if they have any suggestions on where to stay.

“Okay.”

We reached the local guildhouse after asking someone on the street for directions. It was much smaller than the one in Alessa.

“Hello.”

“Welcome!”

A voice full of vitality and vigor greeted us when we opened the door to the guildhouse. A well-built man was waiting at the reception table. He wore a tank top and a headband around his forehead, making him look like a veritable fishmonger. Was this also part of the port town experience? I should stop with the comparisons.

The difference between Alessa’s pretty lady receptionist and…this guy, was quite a shock, though. Oh, adventurers of Dars, how I pity you.

“What brings you to the guild, little lady?”

“I want to sell materials.”

“Sorry, but we only buy mats off of authorized adventurers.”

“No problem. I am one.”

Fran presented her guild card over the counter. The man casually picked it up, expecting Fran to be a newly minted rookie adventurer.

His indifference didn’t last for long.

“Wh-what? Y-you’re a D-Rank?” He inspected her identification, astonished. “Is this fake? No…it’s real no matter how you dice it. H-hang on.”

The guild receptionist shared the reaction of the soldier at the gates. He scrunched his face and held a crystal against Fran’s guild card.

The crystal looked to be of the same kind as the one used to register her guild card, albeit much smaller. It probably had the ability to read information stored in a guild card. Fran’s name and information appeared on its surface, confirming that her card was, in fact, authentic.

“It…it’s real?! You really are a D-Rank, little lady!”

The macho man stood up, astounded. The other adventures gathered around after hearing his exclamation. The guildhouse came equipped with a tavern, so there were quite a few who had been lounging in their seats.

A crowd of twenty encircled us in no time.

“What the hell are you on about, Modge? Is this some kind of joke?”

“That’s gotta be fake.”

Disbelief was their immediate reaction. The receptionist, Modge, insisted however, having seen the proof with his own eyes.

The rowdy adventurers were making this conversation go nowhere.

“Can I sell you my stuff now?”

“O-oh, of course. Sorry about that.”

“Good. Trading counter’s over there?”

“Y-yes.”

Fran ignored the rowdy complaints of her fellow adventurers and made her way to the trading counter.

She piled materials one on top of another on the leather-adorned table. She started with the low-rank materials she got off the monsters we fought on our way to Dars and worked up to the few materials she had left from the undead dungeon.

We had sold the materials that could be used for specialized crafting off to Jean. All that we had left on us were materials which were used for making weapons and armor.

The guild hall grew noisier with every item Fran put on her pile. That was until she took out a D-Rank Threat material. Clearly, that had crossed some line, and everyone fell silent.

The only sound left in the guild hall was that of Fran stacking up items.

Judging by the looks of the guildsmen, it didn’t seem like we were going to get caught up in the cliché of having low-life adventurers gang up on us. Good. Should we make a public display of all our transactions from now on? No, that would only attract the attention of money-grubbing idiots.

“That’s all of it.”

The guy behind the counter didn’t answer.

Fran stared at him questioningly.

He still boggled at her pile.

“Hey.”

“…Oh! ’Scuse me! I’m just a little shocked is all!”

Fran might be a D-Rank adventurer, but she couldn’t avoid being treated like a child because of her looks.

“All right… It’s going to take about an hour to get through all of this. Do you wanna wait?”

What do you think?

Ask him about lodging so we can head out and find a place to stay.

Got it.

So we asked the receptionist, Modge, if he knew of any place that would take us in for the night. The information he had to share was unfortunate.

“That’s going to be tough at this time of year,” Modge said, furling his eyebrows.

“Why?”

“It’s almost time for the Festival of the Moons, isn’t it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“We celebrate it normally in this city like anywhere else, but they throw an extravagant festival over in Bulbola. Folks who wanna take a ship over there end up crowding our little town around this time of year. Can’t find a vacant room for the life of you.”

“I see.”

That didn’t sound good. Were we going to have to sleep on the streets while we were here? And what was this about the Festival of the Moons? Fran seemed to know what it was, so it must be a customary festival of this world.

Hey, what’s this Festival of the Moons thing?

It’s a festival.

Yeah, I kind of figured. It had “Festival” in the name, after all.

It’s a day where you can see all the moons.

Doesn’t that happen all the time?

No. I mean you get to see all of them being full moons at once.

After much prompting, I was finally able to put together Fran’s explanation of the Festival of the Moons.

The Festival of the Moons happened once every three months. A large silver moon surrounded by six smaller moons orbited this planet, but you could only see all seven heavenly discs at their fullest on the days of these festivals.

The seven simultaneous full moons occurred on the last days of March, June, September, and December—only four times a year. Today was March 25, just six days away from the Festival of the Moons.

I couldn’t tell how grand the Festival of the Moons in Bulbola was going to be based on Modge’s explanation, but I could tell it was big. Big enough to get all the people in the country to want to visit.

“You’re not the only ones without lodging. If you don’t mind hunkering down in a corner of the bar, I can lend you a blanket.”

Yeah, I would like to avoid that if at all possible.

We left the guild regardless, since calculating the price of the materials was going to take time, anyway. Modge gave us some leads for inns that might have vacancies but…to no avail.

Some of the inns were completely chartered by some rich nobles. God, why did they have to bring so much trouble wherever they went? We tried three more inns and were turned away from all of them.

Oh well. Let’s go get our money at the guild before trying again.

“Okay.”

We might have to take Modge’s advice and rent out a corner of a bar.

“You’re back. Any luck?”

“None.”

“I see. That’s too bad. Ah, before I forget, here’s payment for your materials.”

“Thanks.”

120,000G in total. Not bad. If we could find a place to stay, today would be perfect.

“I’m so sorry. We’re fully booked today.”

This was our ninth miss of the day.

We can’t find an inn at all. What should we do?

We found ourselves at the market, located in the city center, as we continued our search for lodging. Specialty foodstuffs unique to port towns lined the stalls on the streets.

How about we take a walk around the market for a change of pace? I wanted to get my hands on seafood if they had any.

“Okay, sure.”

We looked around the market, and the selection of seafood did not disappoint. The port town of Dars lived up to its name. They had so many different kinds of fish.

Among the selection of products sold at the marketplace was some kind of crimson salt. It was ten times more expensive than regular white salt.

We learned a lot from speaking to the fast-talking young lady (estimated age: fifty years old) who ran one of the stalls, although we did have to prevent her from going off on a tangent about the problems she had with her daughter-in-law and husband. She told us about Dars’ specialty, which could only be harvested from a nearby dungeon in the sea.

The mere mention of a dungeon excited Fran, but she lost all interest after being told the details. This dungeon was only one floor deep. You could clear it in thirty minutes, and there wasn’t anything of interest in it other than Blue Salt. To top it all off, the monsters were few and weak, as it was a G-Rank dungeon. No wonder Fran was disappointed. I wouldn’t want to bother traversing such a dungeon myself.

The notion of underwater battles did pique my interest, though. You needed Underwater Breathing to get to the dungeon, but once you were in, you could proceed as normal. There was air inside, making it no different from an ordinary cave. We could sell the blue salt at the marketplace, too.

Still, we’d pass on it for now.

We walked around the marketplace, shopping for various items on our way. I identified everything Fran took an interest in to tell her the details.

What’s that one?

That is a fish-type monster called the Piragna. Its meat tastes pretty good by the looks of it.

What about that one?

Is that a crab claw? It’s huge!

“Arf.”

You want that one, Jet?

But man, the seafood in Dars was cheap. They went for half the price of what they were in Alessa. We got a big haul for ourselves in the marketplace.

Still, we couldn’t find a single inn that would take us in.

“Sorry. We’re full for the night.”

That makes ten. What gives?

“Jet.”

“Woof.”

Fran was getting tired. She started playing with Jet’s ears and tail.

“Teacher, I wanna go to the beach.”

Yep, she was done!

But we haven’t settled our lodging yet.

“We’ll stay the night at the guild. For now, beach.”

“Aroo.”

You too, Jet?! You know I can’t resist when the two of you stare at me like that!

“Beach…”

“Awoo…”

Ooooh, fine.

We paused our search for lodging to go to the beach. I couldn’t help but long for the beach myself after Fran and Jet’s appeals. The string of disappointments had left me in a low mood, and I was feeling nostalgic for the ocean.

Let’s go to the beach!

“Yeah!”

“Woof!”

The seashore was quiet when we got there. It was still too cold for maritime merriment, and so the beach was empty save for us. It was like we had the place to ourselves.

Fran grew more elated the closer we got to the ocean. Her eyes sparkled, and her excitement peaked in the form of a shout.

“It’s the sea!”

“Ruff, ruff!”

Fran took off her shoes and cloak and made a beeline for the waters. Jet followed suit, tailing his master. As they ran, they left a picturesque trail of footprints in the sand.

Still, though Jet had his fur pelt and Fran had magic which could help her deal with cold water…

Look, I know you’re excited, but if you just jump into the ocean like that you’ll—

“Yech.”

“Arf!”

Oh, if they would just listen for once. Fran received a face full of seawater courtesy of a crashing wave. Her face immediately twisted as she started spitting it out.

And then—

Crash!

“Urrp.”

“Ruff!”

A big wave engulfed them and left them sprawled on the shore. They were now totally wet and covered with sand.

Heh, they look like a couple of floaters who got washed up on the beach.

I felt the great power of nature, which was able to take down Fran, who had superhuman stats, and her Darkness Wolf, Jet.

The sea’s made entirely of saltwater, so don’t get any in your mouth!

“I didn’t know.”

“Arf…”

Fran was in low spirits by the time she pulled herself up from the sands. To think she was so looking forward to this just moments ago.

“It’s kinda gross, too…”

“Aroo…”

Fran and Jet screwed up their faces and looked at their feet.

What’s up?

“My feet are getting sucked in.”

“Awoo…”

Oh yeah, that was what it was like to stand in the middle of the waves. It felt like you were being dragged back into the ocean along with the sand. Fran didn’t seem to like it very much.

Had enough?

“Yeah…”

“Arf…”

The two went back to shore, drenched and dripping with seawater. Their spirits were so low it looked like they’d just been to a funeral.

I used magic to produce some freshwater to rinse them off. They’d get sticky when they dried out, otherwise. Especially Jet, who might end up feeling gritty from all the sand for a few days. Once I had washed most of the sand away, I just needed to dry them off, and we would be done.

Getting clean wasn’t enough to cheer Fran up, however. She sat on the sandy shores, her knees huddled up to her chest, staring out at the ocean. Jet was lying beside her with a similarly distant expression. They had such high expectations about the ocean, so the experience must have left them devastated.

Come on, it’s okay. Let’s have some dinner. That’ll cheer you up.

My initial plan was to get a room at an inn so I could cook up some packed lunches to take to the beach. Given our current situation, I had no choice but to serve a meal that was already in our inventory.

“Curry…?”

I haven’t had the chance to make you a proper packed lunch yet, so sure.

“Thanks.”

You can have this, Jet.

“Woof.”

I took out a huge meatball for our direwolf. Hopefully, they would both feel a bit better with food in their bellies…

There was a gentle, salty breeze and not a cloud in the blue sky. I doubted Fran had ever had dinner at a beach like this before. I had to show her that playing in the water wasn’t the only fun thing you could do here.

Let’s start with this.

“A fishing rod?”

I crafted a makeshift fishing rod out of some bamboo, some string, and a hook. Fran had done her fair share of fishing on this trip, usually in rivers and ponds, but fishing in open waters was a different deal.

We can fish over there. There were some rocks where the sands met dry land, which would make a solid fishing spot. I couldn’t let this opportunity pass.

Having finished her meal, Fran quietly began to fish. I created a clone of myself to join her.

Now that I thought about it, this was my first time fishing since I came into this world. Usually, I’d let my Skills do the work for me. Heh. I was itching to put my abilities to the test.

“I’ll catch something big.”

Good luck!

“Woof, woof!”

One hour later.

“Wow.”

“Woof, woof, woof!”

There you go! Reel it in!

I was beginning to get nervous, since nothing had been biting all night. Fran was about to come to the awful conclusion of the sea being a boring place. Fish who was foolish enough to take Fran’s bait, I thank you!

“Nailed it.”

“Awooo!”

That’s pretty big.

The grotesque looking fish must have been about eighty centimeters long. A respectable size for any fisherman. As for me? It didn’t matter what I caught as long as Fran landed a big one. Hahaha!

Let’s cook it up and eat it here. Can’t get any fresher than this! Nothing beat cooking freshly caught fish.

“Yeah!”

“Woof, woof!”

We went back to the beach, where I started preparing a makeshift kitchen. I fashioned a stove out of Earth Magic and lit it with Fire Magic. It would seem that I had the ability to turn any locale into a kitchen, even an empty beach.

You can go play with the sand while I get your food ready.

“Play with the sand? You can do that?”

The concept seemed foreign to her. Well, it was her first time at the beach.

Sure you can.

“…Do you just rub sand in each other’s faces?”

Oh, like a sandball fight? Well… Wait, no! That is far too messy of a game to play with sand! You make sandcastles, or dig holes in the sand. That kind of stuff.

Sand had rocks and shells mixed into them, which would hurt if they hit you in the face. If an adventurer of Fran’s level flung it at someone, they might actually get injured.

That was Fran the wild girl for you. All her games had a streak of violence running through them.

“I see… Okay, I’ll work it out. Come on, Jet.”

“Woof.”

Fran seemed to understand what I meant by playing with sand. Jet nodded and followed alongside her.

Don’t go too far, now!

“Okay!”

Now, what should I make? Sashimi would be the default option. Alternatively, I could make soup or go with simple grilled fish.

I cast Identify on the ugly fish and found that it was edible. It was also an ordinary fish and not a monster. I filleted it and found that its flesh was an exquisite white. It was quite fatty, giving it a satisfying bounce.

Let’s start with sashimi.

The grotesque fish’s succulent flesh looked delectable, not that my blade body had an appetite. Still, I could imagine what it tasted like, given my past life.

I rubbed the fish with the blue salt we bought earlier to prepare it for the grill.

Yep, tastes like normal salt.

My clone had taste buds, as it turned out. Its sense of taste was on the weaker side, though, so I had to be careful that I didn’t over-season.

To the fish soup, I added something that looked like clams, which I got from the market earlier, along with some claw of crab. It went without saying that I used miso as the base. I had managed to reproduce miso paste thanks to the Cooking Skill I had. My version ended up sweeter than the one back home, but it still made for great soup, miso or otherwise.

And we’re done!

It was thirty minutes later. Now that I was done with my cooking, I needed to call Fran back to camp—

Wait, what?!

Did I fail a spot check? Had I been so engrossed in cooking that I’d failed to notice the giant, five-meter tall gothic sandcastle being erected not so far from me?

Fran was the culprit, of course.

She had excavated and molded it using a combination of earth and wind magic. I knew I had told her to make sandcastles, but this was ridiculous. This was closer to professional sand art than a playful day at the beach.

I was so glad no one was at the beach tonight. Her sand palace was really detailed, too. Fran might have a talent for the arts. It would be my duty as her guardian to cultivate this talent.

The sand Fran used in her sand fortress must have come from Jet, who was next to her, looking as if he were fervently digging a hole to the other side of the world. Actually, “crater” might be a better word to describe the hole he was digging.

Jet paid me no mind as I got closer, completely entranced in the act of sand excavation. He was having the time of his life. He panted happily, digging ever deeper, his face and body entirely covered in sand. I had given him a wash earlier, but he was going to need another bath after this.

What were we going to do about this hole, though?

I wonder if anyone would notice if we just left it alone…

We returned to town, having had our fill of the beach. We still needed a room for the night.

Fran’s sand palace? We left it there. Fran looked like she was about to cry when I started to destroy it. We managed to fill Jet’s hole back up with some magic, though.

The sun was already setting; we had spent more time at the beach than I expected. We gave up on the inns lining the main road and decided to look in the alleyways for a chance at lodging.

We were wandering the back alleys when Fran noticed something.

Teacher.

I know.

Or rather, someone.

We heard the sound of footsteps behind us. It sounded like they were tailing us as we entered one of the alleyways.

The footsteps belonged to two men, who stood a reasonable distance from us. They didn’t bother concealing their presence, revealing their ineptitude. I looked back and saw that they didn’t even hide in the shadows. Identifying them confirmed their low stats. They were slightly stronger than an average goblin, at best.

Should I kill them?

I can see why you want to…but hold on. They might not be hostiles.

There was the possibility that they were part of a local gang and we’d just happened to wander into their territory. I wanted to make sure before we did anything decisive.

Let’s go somewhere quiet.

Hm.

We would still retaliate if they tried to do anything funny.

Jet, stay in the shadows. But get ready.

“Ruff.”

Fran took a turn into a convenient dead end. The two Blue Cat beastmen revealed themselves, right on cue. They had no idea they were being lured right into a trap.

“Are you lost, little girl?”

“We’ll take you back to your parents.”

Their invitation was casual and kind; they were used to this. They used sweet words to lull their victims into a false sense of security.

“I’m all right.”

“Come on, no need to be shy.”

I Identified the two men again.

Definitely weak.

Their skills and stats were no match for Fran. Despite being a Fighter and a Merchant, they had Pickpocket, Capture, Assassinate, and Torture in their skill lists. With skills like that, there was no way the two beastmen led respectable lives.

“It’s easy to get turned around in this part of town.”

“Back off.”

“Now, now…”

Danger Sense triggered. So much for the possibility of them being mean-faced good Samaritans.

“Come any closer, and I’ll cut you.”

“What?”

“It won’t be pretty. This is your last chance to walk away.”

It was right after Fran’s warning that the two men dropped all their pretensions and burst into laughter.

“Gyahahaha! Oooh, I’m so scared!”

“Shut the hell up and get over here!”

“Hey, take it easy. You don’t wanna damage the merchandise.”

“I know what I’m doing!”

All of the Blue Cat beastmen we’ve met so far had been unanimously of the scumbag variety. So far, so typical.

Fran unsheathed me without a word.

“What? You wanna go?”

“Stop acting tough, kid!”

The two men mocked her. They might as well enjoy it while they could. Their mocking jeers would soon turn into pleading for their lives. I was ready to let loose into these scumbags who were planning to sell Fran into slavery.

“I warned you.”

I started casting my spells on Fran’s mark. The two spells manifested at the same time thanks to Double Mind.

Stone Wall.

Silence.

I blocked their escape route with a wall of earth magic. The two men wouldn’t be able to run away now. I also soundproofed our surrounding area with wind magic. No one would be able to hear anything.

Not even their cries for help.

The two men were startled at the sudden casting of magic. “H-huh?”

“Wh-what’s going on?”

Neither of them dropped into combat formation. They were pitiful weaklings, after all, who were only used to tormenting targets that were weaker than them.

Don’t kill them.

Why not?

Fran was already furious at the prospect of slavery, so she looked disappointed that I was asking her to spare them.

I have some questions for our slaver friends.

Fine.

The next moment, Fran dashed forward.

“Hmph.”

“Gah!”

“Hah.”

“Bwuh…?”

Aaaand that’s the end of that encounter.

The beastmen fell to the ground, unconscious.

“What now?”

We’ll start by tying them up.

I made some string using Create Mana Thread and bound them with it. The individual mana threads weren’t strong by themselves, but they were as sturdy as rope once you spun enough of them together. I bound their ankles and then put their arms in front and tied their wrists.

I was interested in the beastmen’s background. We figured they were Blue Cats when they mentioned their plans of selling Fran. They were slavers who sold unwitting victims into slavery against their will, just like the bastards who had Fran when I found her.

Dars was a port town, too. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to think that slavers from all over Granzell gathered here for easy pickings; they had immediate access to boats, after all. Fran had mentioned being put on a slave vessel, too.

The Blue Cat slavers were Fran’s archenemies. They were on my hit list, too, of course. We might end up confronting them at any moment, so I wanted to get my hands on any information that was available. Now was a good time to stock up.

And there you have it.

“I see.”

I was about to suggest making a clone of myself so I could question the two men while Fran kept watch…but Fran had other plans. She began kicking the two men awake.

“Wake up.”

“Urgh… Wh-what’s going on?”

“What the hell…?”

The men came to their senses after a good deal of kicking. They still didn’t know what had happened to them. Who could blame them? Fran took them down in less than a second.

“What the—hey! What’s the meaning of this!”

“You little bitch! What did you do to us?!”

I had to hand it to these two. They had the balls to start yelling at Fran despite their circumstances. Maybe their ignorance enabled them to do just that.

Fran ignored their shouts and called on Jet.

“Come out, Jet.”

“Ruff.”

“Eek!”

“Whoa!”

You’d be hard-pressed to keep your nerves when a three-meter-tall giant wolf popped out right in front of you. Their anger was now replaced with fear as they desperately tried to get away. However, they could barely get on their feet with their limbs tied up.

“I have some questions for you.”

One of the men didn’t take kindly to being ordered around, and recovered his nerve, if only for a second.

“You bitch! You’re not the boss of me!”

He must really be a lowly grunt if he couldn’t tell his life was in danger.

“Don’t expect to leave the city in one piece after doing this to u—hurk!”

Whoa. Fran had kicked the protesting merchant right in the face. Blood was pouring out of his nose like a broken faucet. I had never seen anyone bleed that way before.

“Shut up. I’m doing the asking here.”

The men relented, seeing how merciless Fran was. She was stewing in quiet fury, which was fair enough, since she’d had more dealings with the Blue Cat slavers than I had. Saying that she loathed them wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

She looked down upon the beastmen with cold eyes and asked again.

“Are you slavers?”

“H-heh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“W-we’re honest to goodness merchants.”

Yeah, right. I didn’t need Essence of Falsehood to see through their barefaced lie.

They’re slavers, Fran. No doubt about it.

“Where do you keep your captured slaves in this city?”

“I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He’s lying again.

They really didn’t know when to give up.

“Hm. Are you in cahoots with other slavers in town?”

“I’m telling you, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Still lying.

The slavers were managing to lie despite Fran’s intimidation. Impressive. That being said, their persistence guaranteed that they weren’t getting out of here in one piece.

Fran frowned. She wasn’t entertained. “If you just tell me what I want to know, nothing bad will happen to you. Probably.”

“If only we knew what you wanted to know.”

“He’s right. We’ll let you walk away and treat this as a huge misunderstanding if you let us go now.”

“…Jet.”

“Grrrr!”

“Aiee!”

Now that Jet’s gigantic jaws were right in front of the criminals’ faces, Fran continued dispassionately.

“My wolf happens to love people. He especially loves eating their guts while they’re still alive.”

“Bark!” Jet played along, growling low in his throat and licking the Fighter’s face. It was almost as if he were saying, “Your guts look delicious.” The man must have taken it that way, because his face went pale, and he started quivering.

“If you don’t want to be eaten alive, start talking.”

“I don’t know what you’re—gyaa!”

Fran stabbed the Fighter in his thigh. She slowly twisted me for maximum pain.

“Gyaaaa!”

“Hey, are you okay?! You little bi—aaargh!”

“Do you have a learning disability?”

“Aieee…”

She kicked the Merchant’s face in again. His nose was now bent at an odd angle.

“Greater Heal.”

“What?”

“An advanced healing spell…?”

She pulled me out of the Fighter’s leg and healed it; the gaping wound closed in an instant.

The man started looking hopeful. This little girl didn’t want to kill them. There was no way she could bring herself to do it. Given the circumstances, I couldn’t blame them for wanting to believe in this convenient delusion.

What Fran said next turned their hope into despair.

“Nice, isn’t it? You won’t be able to die so easily now.”

“What?”

“Not even if I do this. Fire Arrow.”

“Guaaaaah!” the Fighter bellowed in pain after receiving Fran’s fire spell at point blank range.

“Greater Heal.”

Her next spell recovered the Fighter’s hands, which had turned to ash. She had ended up burning the rope which tied his hands together, but I was sure these two weren’t going anywhere.

“You can’t die unless I let you.”

“No.”

“Eek.”

A squeak of anguish escaped their lips. They couldn’t run from this girl. And as long as she had mana to cast her healing spells, they couldn’t die, either. An eternity of torment awaited them.

The realization must have dawned on them in a dreadful instant.

“L-Let’s make a deal! We have money! Just name your price!”

“Don’t need any.”

“Then what do you—”

“Are you really that dumb? Just tell me what I want to know.”

“Hee hon’t—oogfh!”

That was the third kick to the Merchant’s face. His front teeth were all crushed now.

“Answer my questions.”

They finally understood their situation and began answering Fran’s questions.

Apparently, this town housed a hidden slaving operation. The slavers would send their ill-gotten victims to Dars to be shipped out to other countries. They were previously based in Bulbola, but a sting operation five years ago had driven them out of the city.

“The authorities would catch on to us quick if we sold them in Granzell…a-and those Raydossians pay good money for slaves.”

“H-hut nhaw—”

The Merchant wasn’t as articulate with his face busted in, but we could make out the gist of what he was trying to say.

Although Raydoss was the final destination of the slaves, getting them there directly from Granzell was difficult, since the two countries were at war with each other. They had to make a stop at Seedrun, where they would then be shipped off to Raydoss.

“Seedrun… Never heard of it.”

“I-It’s a small island nation. There’s a power vacuum because the king just stepped down, throwing the country into chaos. Makes it easy for people like us to move around.”

I see. That’s what typically happens to countries that are going through a change in rulers.

In order to avoid Granzell’s patrol ships, they had to go into open waters in the past. That had its own set of problems, since they usually ran into giant sea monsters which could destroy smaller boats. The slavers couldn’t use larger vessels, either, since that would stand out to the authorities.

My guess was that Fran was captured in a different country and was sent to Bulbola by boat. When the raid on the base in Bulbola happened, the slavers moved to Granzell. They were on their way to Dars when she ran into me.

They might have been planning to sell her in Alessa, but I doubted it. In the past ten years, most of them were sent to Dars to be shipped off to Raydoss. Slaves fetched a handsome price over there. It was a high possibility that Fran’s caravan was taking the same route.

The men told us the location of the hidden base, the number of accomplices, and the number of slaves that were kept there. They had around ten orphans kidnapped from the city.

“W-we told you everything. You’ll let us go now, right?”

“We’ll change our ways!”

Which was a nice thought, but…

Wind Cutter.

I cut off their heads with a blade of wind.

If we let them go now, they would warn their slaver friends of Fran’s arrival. I’d rather not have a syndicate of slavers targeting us everywhere we went. They were scumbags who sold children for profit. The world was a better place without them.

I stored the corpses into Pocket Dimension; my inventory was becoming more of a mess with each passing day.

“Thanks, Teacher.”

It was nothing. Don’t mention it.

“What now?”

Well, what do you want to do, Fran?

“Clean the streets, of course.”

Yeah. Of course she would want to do that.

I wanted to have Fran wait somewhere while Jet and I took care of the problem…but I had already used my clone for cooking at the beach today. I’d kept it up for quite a long time, so I could only use it again the day after tomorrow.

Besides, Fran would never let the opportunity to kill some filthy slavers slide like that.

You’ll have to wait until nighttime, though.

“Okay.”

I really hope we can find a place to stay by then.

Fortunately, we found a room at a cheap inn soon after, where we waited for nightfall to make our raid.

It was the late hours of the night. The residents of town were asleep, and the drunkards were shuffling their way home.

Let’s go.

“Hm.”

We were near the base of operations the slavers had told us about. We combined Jet’s Dark Magic with our stealth skills so there was little risk of anyone spotting us, but I had Fran wear a mask in the event our cover was blown. We were set and ready.

The hideaway was a building facing the harbor district, its first floor a warehouse and its second floor an apartment. The building itself looked inconspicuous.

I felt a number of presences from inside the house, however. Inspecting the house more closely, I found two guards manning the entrance. One was a Sadistic Torturer and the other a Sadistic Assassin. That was more information than I needed.

They’ll notice us if we take too long.

“Then we’ll have to go fast.”

“Woof.”

Yeah, we’ll take care of the guards first.

“Hm!”

Fran made her move. I muted her footsteps with Silence so she could sprint at full speed. She cut the two guards down to dispose of them. The last thing they saw was Fran’s shadow. I immediately stored their corpses away. We couldn’t do anything about the blood on the ground, but it was dark, so no one would notice.

Now we had to think of the best way to investigate the building.

Let’s start with the top floor.

“Okay.”

Charging headlong through the front door would be foolish on our part.

Fran jumped with Air Hike and landed on the roof without a sound. During our fight with the Lich, P.A. compounded Air Hike with some other skills to create Wind Manipulation. It sounded complicated, but it was easy enough to use once you tried it. I don’t think Fran even felt much of a difference when she used it.

The trade-off was that it cost more mana to use. Compounding several skills together into one advanced skill came at the cost of them being harder to use. We would just have to get used to it.

Fran landed on all fours and rolled forward, using her body as a spring to dissipate the force of the impact. It also made for a quiet landing. She really had the grace of a cat beastman.

Let’s start with this room.

All right.

We broke into the attic through a window. I used Silence to mute the sound of shattering glass.

There was a figure in the bed, asleep, who hadn’t noticed our arrival. A quick Identify revealed that it was one of the slavers. Intimidate and Swindle were listed under his skills, and he had such titles as Fraud and Slave Merchant. Definitely not a good person.

Hostile.

Hm.

Fran unceremoniously stabbed me into the heart of the sleeping slaver.

“Hrk!” The sudden pain awoke him, but his screams were silenced thanks to my spell. He took his last breath with my blade lodged in his chest.

I stored him away before he could start leaking blood, so as not to leave behind any evidence. I felt like a professional assassin.

I think the slaves are in the basement, but…

“We’ll need to clean up this floor before we go there.”

That would make our rescue operation easier.

Nothing like antiseptic to clean up an infection! We carried on our stealth run, quietly disposing of all the slavers we could find. We didn’t run into any problems since they were all asleep.

We were much stronger now thanks to our run of the undead dungeon. We wouldn’t have had any trouble even if we had gone with a frontal assault. Even so, we didn’t want to raise an alarm. Our enemies were still a pain to go through if they coordinated with each other, and some of them might end up fleeing the scene. Worse, they could even take any of the kids we were trying to save as hostages.

This is the last one.

We approached the final room on the second floor after taking down eight slavers. It had taken us all of five minutes.

There was something odd about this room, though. I could see light coming from it. There was only one presence within the room, but it must be awake. Even if we sneaked in using Silence, there was still the possibility of it noticing us.

Jet, can you take care of it?

“Woof!”

Quietly, all right?

“Awoo—”

A short while later, Jet returned.

That was fast. You’re all done?

“Arf!”

We hadn’t heard a sound as we waited for Jet. Being a wolf that lived in the shadows had its perks.

We entered into a room that looked like some kind of study. We drew close to the writing desk and found the Blue Cat beastman manning it dead. Jet had used his Shadow Magic to kill the man without so much as a sound.

His attire was more proper than the rest of the slavers we had disposed of. He must have been a clerk or something.

All right, let’s see what he had stowed away in his desk. We might be able to find some dirt.

We rummaged around and found some dossiers and ledgers. They contained records of the slaves that had been sent to Raydoss. I think there was some information about the dealings they had in Seedrun as well. Next to the names Suarez and Julius were the numbers ten million and twenty million, respectively. Were these their asking prices? That was a lot of money for ordinary slaves. They might be important figures.

I think we just found some damning evidence. I should hand them over to the authorities, but who…?

I stored them away for the moment.

Aside from that, we found seven scrolls of parchment paper which were sealed with magic. I had seen these before—they were slave contracts. They had names already written on them. Somewhere in this building were seven people who had been forced to resign their lives into slavery. We should definitely take these with us.

We also found a small metal safe tucked away in a corner of the room. There might be valuable evidence in there, among other things. A quick pat down of the man’s corpse revealed a key.

I didn’t sense any mana coming from the safe. It didn’t seem to be rigged with traps, either.

“Is this the key?”

Probably. I’ll open it. Stand back.

Although the safe wasn’t rigged, we still couldn’t be too careful. Fran stepped back, and I manipulated the key with Telekinesis to open the safe.

The safe was…safe. Opening it didn’t trigger any traps.

Oooh.

“Money,” Fran muttered flatly. She wasn’t interested in the hoard, although she knew its value. There was 100,000G worth of cash along with expensive-looking jewelry. Money, indeed.

I’m sure these are stolen goods. We’re in a thieves’ hideout, after all. It’s only right that we take these with us. Right?

“Meh.”

Of course!

I quickly pocketed everything in the safe. Fran didn’t seem interested, so I had to make up for her lack of enthusiasm. This was definitely not a case of me being swayed by pretty gemstones and money.

It doesn’t look like there’s anyone left on this floor.

“Yeah.”

It was time to move on to the first floor. I sensed multiple people moving about, so the place must be heavily guarded.

We might not have many places to hide on the first floor since it was a storage space. The worst thing that could happen would be the slavers escaping after catching sight of Fran. I wanted to keep them from finding out that their attacker was a child if at all possible.

No mere child was capable of taking down a slavers’ hideout on their own. If Fran stayed in Dars for any amount of time, the slaver syndicate would soon find out that she was the one responsible for the raid.

Our best course of action was to take down the base as fast as possible without being found out.

Hmm, how should we go about this?

We knew they were keeping slaves here, so all-out extermination was out of the question. We couldn’t raise much of a ruckus either since they might have underground tunnels they could use to escape. I used Omni Radar and Being Sense to find as much information as I possibly could about the basement.

Hmm…

The Compound Skills that P.A. had fused were difficult to use. I was getting a flood of information, and I couldn’t pick out what was relevant. Put simply, when I tried to listen in on sound signatures, I got a barrage of sounds coming from all directions, amounting to just noise in the end.

I needed to level up my Split Thinking skill so I could process all this data.

It took some time, but I managed to figure out where all the hostiles on the first floor were located. There was a big room, likely the storage space, and three smaller rooms which probably housed supervisors.

There were five people in the big room. They were going to be a problem, so I decided we would deal with them last. There was one person stationed in two of the smaller rooms and one person in the remaining one.

Let’s go in from the outside.

“Got it.”

We went out and circled around to one of the rooms on the first floor. There was a solitary man in this one. I used Silence so Fran could break through the window unnoticed. Just as the man turned around to scream, Jet clamped on his gullet. The man’s mouth flapped open and shut in a silent scream.

We took care of the rest of the small rooms in the same way.

Okay, let’s take care of the rest of them in one go.

There were five guards left on the first floor. We didn’t know how many were in the basement.

I’ll use Silence. Jet, use Black Veil.

“Woof.”

Black Veil was a Dark Magic spell which cast a dome of darkness over an area. Once they were blind, we would quickly dispose of them before they got a chance to run away.

The only thing I felt in the silent darkness were the men’s confusion. I let Fran and Jet run loose in the darkness. They had no problem seeing since Fran had Presence Sense and Jet had his Life Sense. The men didn’t know what hit them.

And that takes care of the first floor.

“All that’s left now is the basement.”

According to the info we got, there are supposed to be twenty-four slavers in total. The remaining four might be down there, so be careful.

“All right.”

We quietly descended the stairs into the basement, which was more like a dungeon, really.

There were two men standing guard at the door, but we took them out in an instant. They weren’t really on guard, and were in the middle of a game of cards when we got to them.

Only two left, now. I didn’t see them, nor did I feel their presence. They must be away from the hideout.

Now we just need to save the kids who are locked up.

Our information was accurate: there were seven children in captivity, slave collars already around their necks. They reminded me of Fran when I first met her, and it stirred my anger towards the slavers.

Let’s go save them!

“Of course.”

Fran walked to the prison cells.

“Who’s there?” a boy called out to us, fear apparent in his voice. He seemed to be the oldest among the seven.

They must have been surprised by this sudden appearance of a child from the outside. He looked quite well off. Was he a noble? The girl he was shielding behind him looked exactly like him. They were twins.

“A friend.”

“What?”

“I’m here to save you.”

“But the people upstairs…”

The boy knew Fran wasn’t part of the slaver syndicate, but he couldn’t imagine her defeating his captors to get here. He must have thought she had snuck in.

“All dead.”

“What?” The boy look puzzled.

“I killed all the slave merchants in the building.”

“Y-you did that all by yourself?”

“Hm.”

The twins stared at each other in disbelief. I couldn’t blame them. How were they supposed to believe that this little girl, who was probably younger than them, had killed over twenty men by herself?

Fran paid the confused captives no mind. She walked closer to the prison bars and gripped my hilt.

“Step back.”

“Huh?”

“It’s dangerous. Step away from the bars.”

“R-right.”

“Hnf.”

Clang!

With a swing of myself, Fran cut the bars clean open.

“What?”

“There’s no way.”

The children stared at the broken bars in awe. They were dumbfounded, still trying to register in their minds what had just happened. Now that I think about it, seeing a sword cut clean through steel must’ve felt unreal. I was the one who did it, and it still felt weird to me.

Yet again, Fran paid them no heed and stepped into the prison cell.

“Are you hurt?”

One of the children seemed to be nursing a broken ankle, carelessly wrapped bandages its only treatment. The foot was bound to get infected sooner or later.

We should heal her up, I suggested.

Fran cast a healing spell on the girl. “Mid Heal.”

“What? It’s all fixed now.”

“Are you a mage?”

“Wow.”

The children were beginning to clamor around her, but something else had caught Fran’s attention.

Fran!

I know! Someone’s coming.

We felt someone enter the building. Had one of the slavers returned to the hideout?

Shit. We need to kill him before he notices something’s gone wrong.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Hide.”

“Huh? What?”

“Don’t come out until I come back.”

Fran looked at the ceiling as worried looks began to dawn on the children’s faces. Fran directed them farther into the cell and bolted up the staircase.

He’s walking around the first floor.

“What’s he looking for?”

His friends. Don’t forget to put your mask on.

“Hm.”

Now that we were back on the first floor, we carefully looked at the intruder. The man was fully armed and looked formidable. The slavers we had killed earlier were nothing compared to him. He was good at concealing his presence, too. We had only managed to detect him thanks to our myriad of detection skills, without which he would’ve been impossible to spot.

Time to Identify you.

Name: Salut Orland

Race: Human

Class: Dark Knight

Level: 31/99

HP: 169; Magic: 288; Strength: 236; Agility: 127

Skill: Shadow Resistance 3; Assassinate 4; Intimidate 5; Stealth 3; Identify Jammer 6; Suppress Presence 3; Advanced Sword Arts 1; Sword Arts 10; Advanced Sword Mastery 2; Sword Mastery 10; Royal Etiquette 3; Shield Arts 7; Shield Mastery 8; Interrogate 4; Poison Resistance 4; Poison Magic 3; Storm Resistance 6; Capture 5; Paralysis Resistance 4; Dark Magic 5; Spirit Manipulation

Class Skill: Shadow Aura

Title: Oathbreaker; Guardian

Equipment: Fine Shadow Mithril Longsword; Black Mithril Shield; Black Mithril Armor; Black Sky Tiger Mantle; Bracelet of Magic Resistance; Ring of Bonds

He was strong. He looked kind of evil, too. I mean, he was a Dark Knight. He had all the skills associated with working in the underground like Assassinate, Interrogate, and Capture. And Oathbreaker? Come on. Although Capture and Interrogate were the only skills directly related to slaving, he might have acted as their strongman with his collection of combat skills.

His Identify Jammer was outclassed by my Heavensight. I was able to Identify him just like everyone else.

“Dammit, where are they?!”

The Dark Knight had noticed his allies were missing. He looked ready to kill.

Fran, he’s pretty strong. Be careful.

“Hm.”

Jet, we might need you to ambush him. Take position.

“Woof!”

The man surveyed his surroundings and in time turned around to look at Fran. She leapt at him that very instant.

“Here we go!”

The man was ready for her. He sensed Fran’s presence and immediately dropped into his fighting stance. He was used to this kind of ambush.

“Who are you?!”

“Hmph.”

“You will not deign to tell me your name? Coward!”

“Haa!”

Fran ignored the man’s provocations. He skillfully deflected her strikes with his sword and shield. That Advanced Sword Mastery wasn’t for show.

“Raaah!”

“Haa!”

They went back and forth with their attacks. Fran was the better swordsman, but her opponent was a knight who was proficient with his shield, his defenses were hard to penetrate. The man was also far more experienced in combat than her. This was not going to be an easy fight.

We were up against an unexpectedly strong opponent in an unexpected place. A surprise attack from Jet or a Telekinetic Catapult from me would’ve been enough to finish him off, but we wanted to subdue him without killing him if at all possible. We could get more information if we captured and questioned him.

Fran, try not to kill him.

All right.

“Graah!”

“Haa!”

Sparks flew out of the clash of their swords as sharp metallic clangs filled the room.

“Nuoooh!”

“Ha!”

The Dark Knight realized that Fran was going to be hard to kill. He dropped into a defensive posture as if waiting for backup to arrive. The swordfight was going to last for a while if we didn’t do something about it. The man also had Dark Aura, a skill which boosted his strength by several magnitudes at the cost of his health. We needed to end this fight before he resorted to using it.

First, we need to get rid of his sword.

“Ha!”

“Wha?”

We used Wind Manipulation and Elemental Blade Thunder at the same time. Our next blow was so strong that it caused the man’s swordhand to waver. He dropped his sword, unable to bear the shock waves of our strike.

“Ungh!”

The man himself didn’t waver, however. He shielded his sword and began casting a spell.

“Dark Arrow!”

Not that it would do him any good. We still had the Shadow Immunity we had absorbed from the Daemon. The black arrows flew but were dissipated by an invisible wall just as they were about to touch Fran.

“Impossible!”

We were the better swordsman, and we had means of rendering his Shadow Magic useless. Fran was a terrible match for this Dark Knight.

“Gotcha.”

“Guah!”

Fran exploited the gap in his defense as he stood there, stunned. She smashed the flat of my blade against the man’s leg. She pointed her sword against his neck as he dropped to one knee. We had won the battle.

The man looked up at Fran, vexation clear in his features.

“Curses…!”

“Who are you?”

“I do not need to give my name to the likes of you!”

The middle-aged man had chutzpah, I’ll give him that. We were going to have to hurt him to get him to talk.

Jet, come on out.

“Grrr.”

“Aargh! Wh-what is that?”

He’s scared now. I’ll have Jet growl at him while we lop his limbs off one at a time.

Or so I thought. The kids had come up from the basement. The highborn twins were at the front, peeking their heads from the door which led to the dungeon. They must have felt anxious since we had left them alone to fend for themselves. It was a good thing they came up when the fight was over.

“It’s dangerous here. Stay back,” Fran announced.

All seven of them stopped in their tracks from fear. But the highborn boy looked at the Dark Knight and exclaimed with surprise. “Salut!”

“My prince! Are you unharmed?”

Uh, prince? This kid?

“You came to save us…”

“Princess!”

Wait, I guess he’s not one of the slavers? I think I just crushed his entire leg, though…

We promptly healed the Dark Knight after that.

Ten minutes later, having healed the Dark Knight, we asked for an explanation.

“Prince and princess?”

The Dark Knight nodded at Fran’s question. “Indeed. They are the sixth and seventh in line to the throne of the kingdom of Phyllius!”

“And you’re their guardian?”

“That is correct.”

“You came to save them after they were kidnapped?”

“Y-yes.”

The prince and princess had snuck out unnoticed and were kidnapped during their little escapade. I couldn’t blame the poor guy for letting that happen.

“Those fiends! How dare they put Their Majesties in such bondage! Bastards…!”

Seeing nobles with slave collars around their necks was off-putting. Salut’s neck was on the line too, I imagine.

“That they would force such young children into slavery… You have my gratitude, girl. I would not have been able to rescue Their Highnesses if not for you.”

“I was doing it for myself.”

“Even so. You rescued Their Highnesses in the process. Whatever happened to the slavers? I have not seen any of their corpses.”

I knew it was gonna come to that. How should we explain this…

As I wracked my brain for an explanation, Fran answered simply, “Cleaned it up.”

“But there should be quite a number of those brutes manning this place…”

“You know how Skills work.”

“Well… Ah, never mind. I shan’t probe you any further. It would be rude of me to force you to explain your skills.”

“Hm.”

“I know you’re not lying. Our fight taught me that much.”

That was nice of him. Despite Fran’s youth, she had proven to be Salut’s superior in combat, and he now treated her as an equal. He treated the rest of the rescued children like a guardian would, though.

We should get out of here. Their friends might come looking for them soon.

Hm.

Would be bad if we ran into them on our way back, though. Let’s get rid of those collars.

There were seven children and seven slave contracts. No harm in trying to break them.

Fran took out the contracts out of her inventory.

“Wh-what are those?”

“I found them upstairs.”

Salut focused his eyes on the bundle of parchment that was in Fran’s hand and immediately recognized them as slave contracts. According to the captives, they had been coerced into signing their names on them.

The seven contracts belonged to the children who were held here. Their names written on each one.

Do it!

Hm!

Once having looked through their names, Fran through the bundle of documents in the air and sliced it into pieces. Bits of the contracts floated down like confetti. Immediately, the children’s collars split and fell to the ground with a clang. It was just like the day Fran had been freed from slavery.

They all stared at Fran, stunned. They must not have expected they could be freed so easily—even Salut was surprised. Shock soon turned into delight as they celebrated their freedom. It wasn’t hard to imagine why. Only moments ago they were threatened with the fate of being slaves for the rest of their lives. Now, the heavy slave collars that burdened their necks lay broken on the floor.

The young prince could not contain his gratitude and grabbed Fran’s hand. “Thank you so much!”

It felt nice being appreciated for once. Still—

“You’re welcome. We need to get out of here, though.”

We weren’t out of the woods yet, and Fran understood that. We had to leave, fast.

“Y-you’re right.” The prince turned serious. “We can go to the lodge where we are staying.”

“Yes, m’lord! Allow me to lead the way.”

The royal family had leased an entire lodge to themselves for the duration of their stay, mostly for security reasons. With nobles like these, no wonder it was next to impossible for us to find a single room!

We left the slaver hideout and headed to the prince’s lodge; Fran, Jet, and Salut protecting the children as we made our way there. Jet had scared some of the children at first, but they soon grew used to him after seeing how friendly he was. Some of them had even grown brave enough to pet him by the end of our little trek.

“How’s everyone doing? We’re almost to the lodge, you can do it.”

“We’ll be home soon.”

I expected the prince to act arrogant because of his royal bloodline, but I was pleasantly wrong. He was nothing like the scummy nobles I had the displeasure of encountering in Alessa. He cared for the former captives, taking the lead and even accommodating his walking pace to suit the slower members. Although still a young prince, he carried out his responsibilities like a noble king. The princess was as gentle as they came. She was polite in her speech and offered the kids kind words of encouragement.

The both of them were still kids, though, still childish enough to sneak out of their chartered lodge unsupervised. Their current air of maturity could be because they had regretted and reflected upon their actions.

We arrived at our destination, an inn which catered specifically to noblefolk. I really could blame the prince and his cohort for our terrible luck with finding a room earlier. I had really wanted us to stay at this kind of establishment.

The kids were taken aback at the grandeur of the place.

“Uh, are we going inside?”

“It’s huge!”

Their commotion caught the eye of a guard who was stationed at the front gates. Some of the children weren’t exactly dressed for the occasion. He did his job of staring at them suspiciously. He knew the prince when he saw him, though, which was enough to lay all suspicion to rest.

“What is it? Come on in.”

“Don’t be shy.”

The prince and princess called upon the rest of the children and beckoned them inside. Unable to disobey the commands of a highborn, the common children fearfully entered the building.

“Welcome back, Your Highnesses.”

A whole crew of hotel staff was lined up despite it being the dead of night. There were about twenty in total, an old man who looked to be the manager, and an array of maids. Talk about royal treatment. I guess this was normal considering they were dealing with literal royalty.

The manager bowed deeply to the young prince. Still, the sight of the less impressive children behind the royal bothered him somewhat.

“And these children…?”

“We ran into some trouble. Prepare a room and a meal for each of them. And a bath, as well.”

“But, my lord…”

“I shall pay for their expenses, of course. I trust we won’t have a problem with that.”

“We’re so sorry about this. We really are.”

Oooh, princely! The young royal had a way of intimidating adults, and the princess followed it up by being, well…a princess. They were the perfect carrot-and-stick combination. In the face of intimidation followed by meekness, the manager was helpless to comply. Could the twins have planned this out in advance?

“Understood. We shall prepare their accommodations immediately.”

The manager left along with the hotel staff.

A nervous old man with white hair came up to us; this must have been one of the prince’s people. Anyone could tell from his robe, which was decorated with ritzy embroidery, that he was a man of high standing. He might be a noble himself.

“What on earth is all this ruckus about?!”

“Hello, Sellid. We have returned.”

“Ohhh, Your Highness! I was worried sick!”

“I know. I apologize. We took a wrong turn and got lost.”

“You were…lost in the city?”

“Yes. Salut came and found us, and now here we are.”

They neglected to mention the entire episode of being kidnapped by slavers and having slave collars bound on their necks. The twins were covering for Salut’s mistakes; he must be one of their favorites.

“And what of these children? Did you go out and purchase some slaves?”

“No. I asked them the way around when we were lost.”

“I see.” Old Sellid stared at the children suspiciously. “That means you have no more business here. Here, have some money and leave. Go on.”

This Sellid guy was an asshole nobleman through and through. He wanted to separate his prince from the filthy urchins as soon as possible. That was his excuse, at least. In all likelihood, he didn’t want to spend any more time than he had to in their presence. He didn’t even bother to conceal his hostility.

“Silence, Sellid! I shall not allow you to speak ill of my guests.”

“Y-your guests?! Wh-what are you thinking, Your Highness! I shall not let you associate with such fi—”

“I said, be quiet. I owe these people my life.”

“Ugh…!”

Hah, suck it! We have the twins on our side!

Sellid glared at us spitefully, turned around, and left. The kids didn’t seem to care all that much. If anything, they seemed used to it. Arrogant temper tantrums must’ve been the standard reaction of the nobles they interacted with.

“I apologize for our chamberlain.”

“It’s all right.”

“He is competent, if unaccommodating at times.”

He had to be as stiff as a plank if the kind princess called him unaccommodating.

“What about you? We would love it if you could stay the night.”

Well?

Our roach motel doesn’t even have a bath. Let’s stay here.

I wasn’t using the term roach motel lightly. Our hard sought room had bugs crawling out of the holes in the bed. I wanted to pamper Fran by staying at a five-star hotel, and now we had the opportunity to do so.

Fran nodded. “Okay. I’m in your care.”

The twin heirs raised their voices in gratitude.

“Will you? We must prepare your room at once!”

“I am honored that you would let us repay you.”

And so, we scored a night at a beautiful hotel courtesy of the Phyllian royal family.

“You should take a bath to get rid of all that dirt and grime.”

“Let me take you to the bathhouse.”

The bathhouse was as big as it was luxurious. Snow-white marble graced the floors, a dragon head spout poured steaming water into the bath, and potted plants decorated the four corners of the bathhouse. It had the look and feel of a botanical garden. A fresco depicting the creation myth of this world was painted on the ceiling and the walls. The bathtub itself was enchanted to prevent mold from growing and the water from going stale. Underscoring this extravagance were bars of soap made out of herbs with magical properties. Shampoo and liquid soap were stored in glass bottles which looked like they belonged in a museum.

The lodge really was an establishment exclusively for nobles. I had never been in one, but I would imagine this was what they all looked like.

Why was I able to describe the bathhouse in such detail, you ask? Because Fran took me inside, of course. Would you believe that she wanted to give me a bath? What a good girl she is! She might be the kindest girl this world had to offer. And I’m not exaggerating, either.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Even though I am currently a sword, I was still a man in my past life. Taking a bath with Fran would be the height of indecency.

Aah, but I’m her guardian, you see. I’m well within my rights. Besides, I’m a sword! I can’t have sex even if I wanted to!

“Stay still, Jet.”

“Arooo.”

Stop wagging your tail!

Jet whined. We started off by giving Jet a good wash. We started with his back and then moved to his legs; I took his hind legs while Fran cleaned his front. Finally, we laid him on his side and gave him a good scrubbing. His tail wagging was clear indication that he enjoyed it. He did spray suds all over me and Fran, though.

We rinsed him clean after that, all of us covered with soap bubbles.

“Arf.”

Whoa!

“Jet…”

The direwolf whined again. He had tried to shake himself dry, nearly drowning Fran with soap suds in the process. He had a thick coat of fur which turned his shaking into a miniature shower.

Fran squinted, glaring at Jet. He turned to escape into the hot bath. His attempt to avoid his master’s wrath caused a big splash which drenched her, and she maintained her glare.

“Arf…”

Jet rested his chin on the edge of the bath and relaxed. He looked like a mass of long hairs floating in the water, his jet black fur swaying in it like seaweed.

You’re next, Fran. Have a seat.

“Okay.”

It was Fran’s turn next. I took a sponge, lathered it, and began scrubbing her back.

Any place in particular you want me to get to?

“No… I’m good. This feels nice.”

I’ll shampoo your hair next, okay?

“Mm.”

There we go, all lathered up.

“Aah, it got in my eye.”

What?! Don’t move. We have to rinse that out of your eyes, stat!

“Uhhh.”

Having half of my blade broken off was no big deal. A bit of shampoo in Fran’s eye, though? Bring in the cavalry.

Still, it was a relief to see her act her age for once.

Make sure to close your eyes this time, all right?

“Okay. I’ll shut them real tight.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, and I began to shampoo her hair. The sting of the shampoo must have made an impression on her. She focused on shutting her eyes until the shampoo was rinsed away with hot water.

“Is it over?”

Uh-huh, you can open your eyes now.

“Your turn next, Teacher.”

And so we switched places. Fran took a sponge and scrubbed it all over my blade.

It felt good, and I probably had the Blacksmith skill to thank for it feeling good, low level as it might be. Honestly, it was probably because Fran was working so hard to clean me up. How should I put this? It felt like she was giving me a back rub.

Oooh, yeah. That hits the spot.

“Here?”

That’s a good one, too.

I felt like I was getting drunk off the sensation of Fran’s sponge.

Now that we were all cleaned up, we soaked ourselves in the hot bath. Any other sword would be rusted to oblivion by now. As Fran lowered herself to shoulder level, water overflowed from the bath and made a satisfying splashing sound. This high-class establishment wasn’t stingy with their water, that’s for sure.

“Huff.”

Fran closed her eyes and sighed as she rested her chin against the edge of the tub. She had a towel wrapped around her head and looked completely relaxed.

What do you think? Good?

“Mmm.”

“Arf…”

We had to get out eventually, of course, but Fran and Jet enjoyed every moment of the baths.

The baths were impressive enough, but the food is exquisite.

There was a feast in the dining hall despite it being the late hours of the night. On the menu were seafood chowder with lots of clams in it, soft buttery bread, steak made from a giant chicken thigh, and an assortment of fruit. All of it was waiting for us by the time we finished our bath.

The children we found at the hideout were already seated and were being treated just as well as any other guest of the establishment. The hotel of the upper crust was living up to its reputation.

Speaking as a middle-aged man in my former life, I thought there was too much food on the table—there was no way we would be able to finish it all. The famished boys and girls proved me wrong, though. Although some of them hesitated at first, they gobbled everything down once they had taken their first bite.

The twins displayed magnificent hospitality throughout supper. They asked each child whether they had a place to go home to. If they did, they promised to escort them the following day. If they didn’t, the twins reassured the child that they didn’t think less of them. They had warmth and manners you couldn’t find in an average thirteen-year-old.

The twins turned to us and bowed their heads in gratitude for saving their lives.

“Thank you so much for saving us.”

“We don’t know what would’ve happened to us if you hadn’t.”

Prince Fult and his sister Princess Satya bowed their identical heads in perfect unison.

Fran seemed to have taken a liking to them. Although she kept her answers short, she actually took the time to respond to their questions. It did my heart good seeing Fran get along with kids of her age. The sight of it was reward enough for saving them.

After supper, Fran was led into a luxurious room. I had never seen such extravagance even in my previous life. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, a bed with curtains surrounding it, and fluffy carpeting on the floor. I wondered how much a night would cost in this place.

“So soft.”

“Woof.”

Fran, Jet! You can’t just jump into bed like that! We might go bankrupt if you break something and they ask us to replace it!

I understood their excitement, though. I wanted to feel the fluffy bed myself!

“Good night…”

“Awoo…”

Already tired from the events of the day, Fran was no match for the powerful magic of expensive pillows and blankets. She fell asleep instantly.

Good night, sweetie.

One hour later, I sensed a rat concealing his presence to sneak around the establishment. I took the liberty of casting Identify on him and confirmed that he was, in fact, an Assassin. Dark stuff, scary stuff. Although, I didn’t think he caught on to me, yet. He had Presence Sense on him but I doubt it registered me since I wasn’t an organic creature.

I was already using Silence so I followed it up with another wind spell to knock the intruder out cold. Then I carried him back to Fran’s room.

Hey, I finally caught something.

“Big haul.”

In more ways than one.

Let’s see if we can get him to tell us who sent him before handing him over to the prince.

“Okay.”

Our assassin was human. He might not have anything to do with the slavers, but we couldn’t know for sure until we talked to him. We had a lot of questions for him if he turned out to have some connection to the Blue Cat tribe.

Fran slapped the assassin’s cheeks to wake him up. She was really getting into it. His cheeks were turning an angry red as they received the brunt of Fran’s wrath. I guess she didn’t like being woken up from her beauty sleep.

“Bwuh…?”

“Are you awake?”

“Huh?! What did you do to me?!”

“Knocked you out, tied you up.”

“When did…”

The assassin immediately tried to make a break for it. He failed, though. My mana rope was much too strong for him.

He started panicking once he realized he had been tied up. “Damn it!”

“I have some questions. Answer them and I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Grrr…”

As if being bound wasn’t bad enough, the assassin was now being held at swordpoint. To top it all off, he was being stared down by a giant wolf.

The assassin knew his ultimate fate.

“…!”

Hey! He just took some poison!

He swallowed a poison pill which he probably stowed away in the far back of his teeth. I didn’t think real live assassins actually did this. I always thought it was a trope in my manga. Or maybe he swallowed his poison pill by accident? I imagine those things take some practice to pull off properly.

I Identified him and saw that his health was rapidly declining. The poison he took must’ve been boutique stuff. Not that it could work with us around. We cured his Poison and healed him back to full health.

Mid Heal.

“Antidote. Sorry. Not happening.”

“No way… You cured Deadly Poison…?”

“I’m pretty good at healing spells.”

“Urgh!”

He wasn’t giving up. This time, the man managed to bite his own tongue off.

“Mid Heal.”

“Dammit!”

“Do you want me to hurt you?”

“Ugh…”

And so the Assassin spilled the beans. He was prepared to face instant death but not so much long hours of torture.

It turned out that he had nothing to do with the slaver syndicate. He was a hit man by trade, and he had been hired to assassinate the prince and princess. His client was anonymous but had given him information regarding the best way to infiltrate the hotel where the royals were staying.

The client had paid up front, which to the assassin meant that they had bought the right to their privacy.

I guess he doesn’t have much to tell us.

“Hm.”

Let’s hand him over to Salut.

“Jet, stand watch.”

“Bark!”

We knocked the assassin unconscious again before heading to the first floor to meet the prince. Salut, along with other soldiers in full armor, were standing guard at his door. It was almost morning, but they had gone the entire night without sleeping a wink.

“Fran. What brings you here at this hour?”

“I found a rat.”

“Oh?”

Salut seemed to know what she was talking about. He told the soldiers to stay on guard as he left to follow Fran. When he entered the room, he looked surprised to find the assassin which looked like a shrimp roll the way he was tied up.

“So this is the assassin?”

“Yeah.”

Thus, Salut proceeded to interrogate him. The assassin seemed to have given up by now, though. He answered most of his questions without complaint.

“Hmm… You don’t seem to be lying…but who could it be that hired you…?”

Salut was going through the rolodex of his mind for possible conspirators. We knew nothing about the circumstances, but he seemed to have a few suspects ready.

“We’ll take it from here.”

“Okay.”

That was a load off our shoulders. There was no point in keeping him chained up here. The current plan was to give him to the Dars authorities tomorrow.

“We shall talk about what happened here later. We have prepared a reward for you as well. We hope you find it sufficient.”

I guess we got another reward for capturing the assassin. Boy, they were generous. Fran didn’t look the least bit interested, though.

“I’d rather have breakfast first.”

“Hahaha! Indeed. It is a buffet, after all. You can eat as much as you want!”

The following afternoon, Fran had woken up late because of the ruckus the other night and was now in the process of eating her breakfast’s share of food along with her lunch. Everyone at the table was startled, to say the least.

She stuffed her cheeks to the point that she was looking more like a squirrel beastman than a cat one. Food disappeared off the table as if they were being stored away into Pocket Dimension. Even Salut had a hard time believing what he was seeing.

The twins broke the silence of Fran’s feeding frenzy.

“Fran, do you have any plans after this?”

“Hm?”

“Do you have anywhere you plan on going?”

“Urghm, burgheon.”

“…I apologize. We’ll save the questions until after lunch.”

“Hrmph.”

Fran went on to gobble enough food to feed ten people. She patted her stomach, now bloated and full.

Prince Fult rephrased his question. “I hear you are on a journey. May I ask where your destination is?”

“Sure. Ulmutt.”

“And you plan to go there by boat?”

“Yeah. First stop, Bulbola.”

“I see…”

The prince looked contemplative for a while and then broke the bad news to Fran.

“Have you made arrangements for a ship yet? I believe the ferries headed to Bulbola are fully booked by now because of the Festival of the Moons.”

“Seriously?”

“The Festival of the Moons in Bulbola is one of the biggest ones in Granzell.”

“It’s even grander than the one they hold in the capital.”

We didn’t know that. I guessed we wouldn’t be able to go to Bulbola for at least a few days. Understandable, considering the state of lodging in Dars. I really wanted to show Fran the greatest festival in the country… I guessed that wasn’t happening.

“I didn’t know that.”

“There is a way for you to get on a boat, though.”

“Hm?”

“Would you like to work for us as a bodyguard? At least until we reach Bulbola.”

“We’ll pay you, of course. Bulbola’s Festival of the Moons is our final destination, so we should be able to make it.”

Prince Fult and Princess Satya were offering us a way out.

It didn’t sound like a bad deal. Looking for a ship now would take some time. And they were Fran’s first friends who were of the same age. It would be sad to part ways so soon.

“We’re going to need you to fend off monsters for us.”

“But you have Salut with you.”

“Actually—”

There had been sightings of a giant monster on the open waters off the continent. The rumors had left them worried for their safety. So they wanted some extra muscle just in case things got hairy. Fran would be perfect for the job since she was stronger than Salut but also because there was no risk of her being an assassin.

“Your Highness, I must object! You cannot simply hire such help from the lower class!” Sellid, the chamberlain, raised his voice in anger. The royals had neglected to tell him their plans. “Did you seduce the prince, you wench?!”

“Silence! Fran is my friend. I told you I will not allow my friends to be badmouthed, did I not?”

“Urgh…!”

Sellid glared at the prince, swallowed his pride, and sulked. He was still glaring daggers, though.

Teacher, can we take this job?

Fran sounded up to it. She didn’t want to say goodbye to the friends she had just made quite yet.

Why not? We’ll get a boat ride out of it, too.

“Okay, I accept.”

“Thank you.”

Fult and Satya clapped their hands and smiled. They came from different classes, but Fran didn’t seem to mind, and neither did the royal twins. I hoped they would be good friends. Fran needed friends that were her age.

“Don’t blame me if anything goes wrong!”

Fran stuck her tongue out at the grumpy chamberlain as soon as he had his back turned. He really hated her, didn’t he? We should avoid him as much as possible once we were on the ship.

“We’re counting on you.”

“I’m so glad that we can go on this trip together.”

“Me too.”

And so we were hired as guards for the royal family.