CH 209

Leaving the guild to Conrad and the others, Makina and I made our way to the lord’s mansion. It was almost lunchtime, so the town was sparsely populated.

For the time being, I’ve left Sarge at the lord’s mansion with the [Summon] I’ve mastered, so even if something were to happen, it wouldn’t be the worst-case scenario. I’ve also included that he’ll be by Henrietta’s side to make sure she doesn’t get taken hostage.

My concern is more like–

“I wonder if Basleigh-sensei behaved ……”

“That’s hard to judge, she’s good when she’s serious, but she’s basically no good.”

We could see them drinking and making noise, and we smiled. After a while, we arrived at the lord’s mansion and called out to the gatekeeper.

“Hello, I’m back.”

“Oh, you’re all right!”

“Thank you!”

The gatekeeper smiled at us, and Makina thanked him. As soon as she did, the gatekeeper’s face clouded over and he opened his mouth.

“I’m relieved, because bandits showed up here, and we almost died. Well, your teacher? She got it under control and we got out of there. “

“What? A-Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just got hit and fainted. I’m still sorry to the Lord about that, though.”

The two gatekeepers shrugged their shoulders, regretting that they were not able to fulfill the task of gatekeeping. As a result, that’s how it is, but……

“‘But I’m glad they didn’t take your life. No matter how much work you do, the people who hire you probably don’t want you to overexert yourself, so it would have been very sad if you had died.”

Of course, it’s their job, so running away is unforgivable. However, it’s still hard to see someone close to you cold the next morning.

“Thank you very much. I don’t want this to happen again, so I’m going to train harder. You’re going to the lord’s, right?”

“Yes, thank you.”

He laughed and opened the gate for us, and we walked in. I knocked on the front door and Henrietta came with Sarge, just like the first time.

“Oh, welcome back!”

“I’m back, Sarge. I heard something terrible happened?”

When Makina asks while holding Sarge, Sarge closes his eyes and clams up for a moment, and Henrietta smiles with a troubled face. 

“Y-You’re right.”

“?”

“What is it, I wonder?”

We looked at each other and followed behind Henrietta. We entered the reception room and found–

“Now, now, tell me who’s behind this!”

“I, I don’t want to, why will I tell you ……!”

“If we do, we’ll be erased!”

“I see, that’s too bad …… then, this shrimp ahijo is going to disappear into my stomach.”

(T/N: Ahijo ( アヒージョ ) is a dish cooked in garlic oil; also known as Ajillo in Spanish. Gambas al Ajillo ( Garlic Shrimp ) is an extremely popular Spanish dish, and the Japanese version is known as Shrimp Ahijo.)

“Y-Yeah ……! Gulp …….”

“Oh …… delicious ……”

“Damn it …… Ah, I’m starving …… E-Even just a little …… just the edge of bread is okay!”

“No. I’m not going to give you anything until you tell me who hired you …… I’m in pain too, you know? Even if you are a captured bandit, it is cruel to go without food …… Mmm, this steak is also delicious ……”

“Uoooohhhh!”

In the reception room, five people I’ve never seen before were wrapped up and rolled around on the floor, and Basleigh-sensei was bending over with a plate in his hand, bringing the food to her mouth.

“How about this sausage on the bone next?”

“Ahhhhhhh ……”

I don’t know how long they hadn’t eaten, but the bandit’s eyes were bloodshot and glued to the sausage. But then, mercilessly, it slipped into Basleigh-sensei’s mouth and disappeared.

I was starting to feel a little sorry for the bandit, who looked at the happy Basleigh-sensei with a resentful look in his eyes, so I decided to call out to him.

“We’re back, teacher.”

“Are those the attackers?”

“Oh, if it isn’t Lars-kun and Makina-chan! That’s right. We’re interrogating them right now! You too, Makina-chan.”

“Thank you very much ……? Delicious. ……”

“Uhh, guh …….”

When Makina gulped down the sausage that was offered to her as if she didn’t understand it, the bandits sagged heavily. Seeing this, Basleigh-sensei turned to the bones and said.

“It’s better for your health if you spit it out quickly, you know? Well, I think it’s because of the possibility of being erased by the mastermind, but aren’t you going to be erased when you’re caught here?”

“…… Hmph, if you want to kill me, kill me. I’m not going say anything, no matter what. I’d rather die without talking than saying it.”

One of the five glared at us and said with a fearless smile. I have a feeling that these guys are not going to live anymore.

“…… If it’s Kelbrem, he’s already over …… If you’re one of Kelbrem’s …… or even if you’re not, it’s the same, I guess. I don’t know what the rules are here, but since you tried to kill the Lord, at least you get life in prison, right?”

“Let’s see. If he’s been injured, they might have gotten your head chopped off? You should be thanking me.”

“But I’m a merciful person, so I just beat them up and rolled them up like this. But if you’re going to be stubborn and keep your mouth shut any longer, let’s get out of here.”

Basleigh-sensei continues to negotiate, but I interrupt her, thinking it’s a waste of time. 

“For now, you can bite Basleigh-sensei right hand later, Sarge. And, teacher, as I was saying, this threat letter was the work of the Guildmaster Kelbrem. I’m going to report it to Hugel-san, and I’m going to go to Kelbrem now. And while we’re at it, maybe we can take these guys with us and ask them if they know anything about it.”

“…… Hmm, if this continues, the only thing that’s going to happen is that I’m going to eat and get fat, which is not a very interesting future. Let’s do that.”

“With that reason ……”

“You do as you please, huh …….”

Makina sighs and Henrietta says in exasperation.

“I-I’m not going to give in to threats. ……”

“Sausage …….”

“Are you planning to betray us!?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll take you to the cart outside and so be quiet, okay? . Makina, report it to Hugel-san, please.”

“Yes, leave it to me! Henrietta, Basleigh-sensei, shall we go?”

“Yes!”

“Just let me have the prawns …… And I haven’t seen Conrad-san in a while.”

“Oh, let’s see ……”

The three of us left in a flurry of activity, leaving the bandits and me to carry the two of them back and forth between the outside and the reception room. As I carried the last one, a man called out to me.

“…… why don’t you kill us right away.”

“Hmm? I’m not good at killing, after all. I just don’t want to kill if I can help it. But, well, if someone had died because of your attack, you might have a taste of hell while alive, though.”

“……”

I can feel the man I’m holding by the side turn to look at me in a cold sweat. However, the man continues to talk even as he squeezes his voice out.

“I’m sure a well-behaved kid like you wouldn’t understand …… There are people out there who are as good as dead even though they are alive. That’s why we–“

“I don’t know what you’re going through, but I think it’s more important to think about how you should be from now on, not how you’ve been. You can’t change the past. For example, if you were in pain in the past, I can’t help you anymore. But if you can tell me the truth now, I might be able to protect you.”

I said that, and showed the same oversized fire that I had shown Ryuuze sometime before.

“……!?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter, since you’re prepared to die. I don’t really care if you don’t talk.”

“……”

The man bows his head and falls silent.

In fact, we don’t know what happened, and it would be a boon if we could hear what they want, but if they won’t talk, we have no choice. I sigh, thinking that capturing all of them will solve the problem for now.

That’s what I was thinking, but–

The last battle in Oriola territory!

Thank you for reading!

[Afteword Theater]

“There’s something going on with these guys, but they don’t have names, so they’re probably not very important characters.”

That’s prejudice, isn’t it!? Then you’ll be nameless from now on, too. Oh, but you don’t appear in my works, so you’re no more than a mob character ……?

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”