Month: August 2020

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11. For the time being, It’s the end

“Shit, Are you serious!?”

Dokora showed a surprised expression in front of the knights who appeared, but immediately changed to a smile.

“Miss, are you the captain of this unit?”

“That’s right!”

“Does the guy who found this place with you right now?”

“…It’s me who found this place.”

“Oh, Miss Knight, Don’t bullshit me! I can see it from your eyes. You’re a fucking serious knight. That kind of knight anticipating enemy in their escape route, and leaving their fellow knight in the middle of battle? That’s impossible!”

“…”

“Don’t take me for a fool! The guy who sought out this place isn’t the one who lives proudly like you. But, a guy who knows how to live like us.”

Hmm… that man named Dokora… is his sense better than his brain?

Maybe beacuse he had a lot of experience, so he trusted his sense more.

“Hey, let me talk to him. If you do so, I’ll properly deal with you later, Okay? He’s hiding right?”

Dokora looks around.

… is there no choice but to come out?

I remembered Illias said that I should never come out, she want to avoid unnecessary circumstances that might happen.

“Grandpa Kara, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Sure, Just be carefull boy.”

I stand and come out from the bush to the open space.

It seems Illias want to protest to me.

“It seems that he will not run away from fight, so if he just want to talk to me, I don’t mind. You will protect me if something happen, right?”

“Ah.. Right..”

“Anyway, it’s necessary.”

The last word, I said it with a low voice that can’t be heard by Dokora.

Then, I stand right beside Illias, and walk together.

For Dokora, this conversation is not to stall time. It’s for his own curiosity.

That is also necessary for us. I will do it as I like, but still, I need to be carefull.

“Hmm… is it you? I don’t feel like you’re a fighter.”

“That’s right. I’m confidence that I’m weaker than anyone here.”

“That’s a good introduction. But, is it really you? Let me ask you some question then.”

“Sure.”

“How did you find Gidou’s base?”

“When I was lost in the mountain, I found it accidentally. That simple”

“…Are you serious!? I thought you might did some kind of trick? …Well, there’s at least one miracle or chance in life.”

I hard to believe when someone said that. But, I’m surprised that he’s not shocked by it.

Dokora believes in his plan, but understands that it is not perfect.

Therefore, he are preparing the next move.

A well-prepared person. Then, there is a high possibility that there will be countermeasures and preparations for the current situation.

“Next question, how did you get the information out?”

“From their fear even after death, I thought that Necromancy was involved.”

“I don’t care about that. I know that even if the knights can’t understand it, some priests may know it… What I asked is how did you make those fools spit out information.”

“I told them that I’ll extend their execution date until Necromancer died, but only for the first three people who speak, that’s it.”

“…I see, so you’re saying that you can even use their meaning of live?”

“As long as they’re useful, and you can use it why not? I mean, You can get so far by bullshiting.”

“…Then last question, just what kind of thing did you use to track us to this place?”

“Comprehension, I guess.”

Dokora silence for a while. then, he distorted his mouth pleasantly.

“I see.. It’s definitely you. I understand it now. I doubted it at first, but I’m convinced by looking at your eyes now.”

“That’s good.”

“Who the fuck are you? You’re not a good guy like them, right?”

“How rude. I’m a good ordinary person.”

“Like hell good people can understand people like me! If someone like you called himself a normal citizen, then what would vilain even do?”

If you say so, I’m having trouble answering it.

There’re a lot type of villain. For example if there are tyrants who leave their name in history, there’s also those who leave a wound in only one heart.

Maybe some were only heard their name, but there’s some who were actually involved with them.

I’m not going to talk for a long time, but how do I make him understand?

“Villain, huh? They do a lot of thing, I guess”

“Hmm, I see… Black hair, black eyes… I don’t know any clan with that kind of features… Wait!”

Dokora points at me as if he remembered something.

“You… you’re a human from ‘Earth’, aren’t you?”

“!?” [Tn: I guess he make a Shocked Pikachu face]

This guy.. did he really know it?

This word is really unexpected.

The bandit leader knows about the world of the earth…

If he really know it, it will be troublesome if Illias kills you. Right?

Wait, maybe Dokora is also an earthling!?

“From your expression, it semms that’s correct. I can’t believe it’s true and I’m in front of that person right now.”

“I answered all your questions. Then let me ask you too. How do you know about ‘Earth’?”

“Well, Of course I know! Necromancy that messed up my life! And the Resuscitation Magic that created the worst history in this world! All of it was a Taboo created by those from another world!”

Apparently Dokora might not be not an Earthling.

When I gaze at Illias. I saw her surprised face. It seems, she don’t know about this.

Even so, the Earthlings made Resuscitation Magic. Is that possible?

Certainly, in the history of the world, there are anecdotes that are said to have created the basis of the fantasy world such as alchemists and witches.

Then, if these people who said that anecdotes have come to this world in the past, I can deny that they might created magic that is dangerous and called a Taboo.

But in modern times, magic is an illusion that can only exist in the imaginary world.

It’s hard to believe, but Dokora doesn’t semm lying.

In the first place, there’s no need to lie in this kind of situation.

“Do you know anything else?”

“What!? You want to shut my mouth too? Like at that time!”

“I just want to know.”

“Really? Well, too bad for you. All I knew was the entrance to that abyss. Heack, even this Necromancy is just a bonus.”

“…”

“If you want to know no matter what, look for it yourself! I’ve give you enough clue to start with, isn’t it?”

Then, Dokora pulls out the knife on his waist.

“Well, it’s good enough for me. It’s a business, and I’ve got a lot of profit already. So, Thanks.”

Illias appears in front of Dokora, who is ready to battle.

Does the talk end here? Honestly, I couldn’t help but wanted to keep talking for a while longer.

I finished my purpose. What happen from now, I’ll just trust it to Illias.

“Hey, You guys! There are a lot more people than us! And they’re stronger than the knights who came to our base, so do your best! I’ll make the one who died be an undead!”

“Yes Boss!”

Unlike the former bandits, they have high morale and no fear of the knights.

Since they’ve escaped the siege and to succeed in their escape, they have no choice but to fight now.

You can tell by looking at their face. Unlike bandits who were scared of Necromancy, They fully trust Dokora.

They enjoy the way they live.

They’re the villain, but I’m a little jealous to them.

If, the first one met was not Illias, but Dokora… No, I can’t think that kind of imagination right now.

I must concentrate on protecting myself during this battle.

“Illias, where should I stand?”

“Don’t move from there! We’ll always protect you!”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

There was nothing I could do. I could only believe what I was told.

They told me something difficult, huh.

Now the bandits is also directed here. An opponent who can easily kill me is about to attack.

The fear is as good as when I saw that Bear and Slime. No, there are fears that I feel because they’re also human.

I bite the sleeve of my left arm to hold my shivering jaw.

Because I’m starting to lose my composure, I bit too strong. But the pain in my arms calms my heart and barely keep myself.

“Well, Let’s do this!”

Dokora throws a knife at me.

Illias knocks it down.

Two knives stuck in the ground. Two!?

I’m sure he threw only one… means the other is a hidden knife.

It seems he threw a small knife behind the large knife. And I didn’t in the slightest see that.

Illias, who naturally knocks it down, is really reliable.

At the same time, a fierce battle at the surrounding began.

Even from amateur perspective, you could say that Lord Ragdo’s knights is in the upper hand.

However, the movement of the bandits here is a bit difference than the bandits we fought last time.

They’re trying to keep the knight movement in check and not attacking carelessly.

Then, Dokora takes out a new knife and try to stike Illias.

His movement far surpasses other bandits. If the knight fight him and do something carelessly, they might die.

Two bandits surround me, but I’m sure the knights will protect me.

Maybe the bandits think if they can use me, an ordinary people, well. They miight kill the knights.

I know that I’m just a burden here, even so I want to say thank you to the knights.

“Hahaha! Miss, You’re strong. Even in Garne, I didn’t see someone as strong as you!”

While dealing with Illias strike, Docora sweating on his forehead.

If he try to recieve the Illias’s strike properly with his knife, I’m sure his hand that holding the knife will got blown away.

He only got one-arm left, so he must be in a lot of pressure now.

On the other hand, Illias not even sweating. And she doesn’t look enjoying the fight.

She just chasing after him while swinging her swords quietly.

“It’s a shame that she has good skill but not good at talking. Let’s enjoy the fight more! It’s a great opportunity to relieve your stress from training, isn’t it?”

“There’s no need to please the bad guys. I don’t even have that feeling!”

“Tsk! What a boring woman! I bet even sleeping with that man would be more fun than you!”

Hey! It’s freaking me out a bit.

However, slowly, the balance gradually collapses.

“I see. I’m sure you’re a hard working Missy. Now, it seems that my leftover arms are broken.”

Dokora appeals to the fatigue of his arms. But then, suddenly he throw his knife.

Illias knocks it down without changing her complexion.

“Well, with my strength it semms this is as far I can go. Now, Let me use my trump card.”

He pull out a new knife. But, unlike the knife I saw earlier, it’s black.

Illias also felt something with the knife, then she reholding the sword again.

“Hmm, even your sense also good, Miss. But don’t worry, I’m not going to use this to fight you.”

Dokora said that while swinging his arm.

“This is how I use it!”

He throw it high in the sky.

The knife reached a height that hard to see and burst.

Then, something like a black mist spreads at a tremendous speed and come down.

The battlefield was wrapped in black mist in an instant.

“Cover him with a barrier, Now!”

At the same time with that shout, my body is wrapped in something like a film of light.

It seems that one of the knights around me used some magic to me.

My vision becomes slightly dark.

It doesn’t look like something to steal my vision. If there’s a need for a barrier, is it poison? Wait, maybe it’s that.

“Oh, good decision missy. It might harm someone with no mana.”

“Necromancy, huh…!”

“You could say that… but I didn’t cast any Necromancy Magic, though? It just that I put unbelievable amount of mana created by Necromancy into the knife… So, even if you bring a lot of Magic Sealing Stone, it doesn’t matter?”

Even if you use a lot of magic stones, It seems that Magic activated by Mana with special characteristic can’t be broken.

What made He decide to use Necromancy now? To reuse the corpses of the bandits here?

I look around. Some bandits is dead, but there is no sign of movement.

I think the knights and Illias are thinking about the same thing.

To not forget to be alert to the corpses even during this war.

“Ah, this guy is different from the guys who used the escape to increase the undead. This is the proper way to use necromancy. That’s to use the dead!”

Screams from the surroundings. Not the bandits voice, let alone the knights.

Then, does that mean…

“Be careful! We’re surrounded!”

Hands crawl from the surrounding ground.

I remember the scene I saw in the movie. The classic horror video that revives zombies from the graveyard.

Upon understanding the situation, the thirty knights who surrounded the twenty bandits were surrounded by over fifty undeads.

“They move according to my magic. It’s not a smalll fry that runs wild and attacks that area. They’re my loyal pawns who will do anything I order them to!!”

Undead that carry weapons, undead that following it from behind, and a big undead that suddenly jumped out from the back of the forest.

“Undead roar!”

That appearance is familiar.

Maybe it’s Gidou, the boss of the bandit who defeated the other day.

With a big sword that is as big as the previously equipped mallet, start an assault on Illias.

“As I thought, he was an excellent material to use. By the way, He might have a grudge to you.”

Illias receives the great sword from his powerful arm.

It seems that the attack has been completely prevented, but the sword pressure penetrates Illias’s body and creates a crack on the ground.

He’s much faster and more powerful than I’ve seen before.

Gidou’s arm burst due to a reaction that uses force beyond the body. But, the arm regenerates in an instant.

So, This is an immortal undead…. Not just a moving corpse. It’s a soldier who can keeps fighting inexhaustibly.

Even by now, I feel any nervous in the knight’s face, but I am.

“I see, when I see this, it makes me want to sympathize him.”

While saying so, Illias swing her sword, and cut Gidou’s head.

But. it soon regenerate again.

“Well then, from what I see, it seems that you guys didin’t bring any baptized holy weapon, so what will you do, Miss Knight? It’s okey if you want to withdraw, though? I’m not going to chase you all.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s just that he can’t die, so why I need to be afraid?”

The bandits who became undead. They have more power than before, but they are not overwhelming any knights.

“We are the Knights, led by the strongest in Tiez, Lord Ragdo! This kind of level can’t scare us!”

“That’s… Amazing, I guees. But to what extent you can mantain that spirit?”

Dokora still has his composure.

I can understand that. We can handle the undead coming, but that’s it. The undead keep regenerate, and the bandits that still live sets up a surprise attack.

We are the one in disadvantage of this endurance battle.

It is necessary to consider running away.

“If we defeat the caster…”

“Sorry, but I’ve already ordered these guys. If my mana exists in this area, they won’t stop even if I got killed. Anyway, I don’t plan to be killed here.”

How annoying, no wonder it labeled as a Taboo.

If it’s Maya, who was a priest, She might have known some way, but she is not here.

There are no knights in this Ragdo corps who have countermeasures against Necromancy. All of them are muscle-brain gorillas.

What can I do now? I need to think if there is anything I can do.

But, I don’t have a lot of knowledge about Necromancy.

This undead is moving with the mana that is spread around this area.

And Magic Sealing Stone has no effect. In other words, there is currently no way to cancel these.

The only thing we can do now is either leave this place or do something to the mana around this area.

However, there are a lot of Magic Sealing Stones scattered around here. So, we can’t do something with magic.

Maybe there is no choice but to withdraw here and hunt them down again next time….

“I see, So I just need to do something with this annoying mana, right?”

Illias takes a deep stance. And the sword that she grip start to shine.

“Hey, You can’t use magic Here!”

Dokora scatters a magical stone around Ilias. Damn, how many did he have?

However, the sword still Shining. It shine to the point dazzling the eyes.

“Isn’t magic!?”

“All units, jump!”

As Illias shouts, my body floats in the air. It seems, one of the knights held me and jump.

So high! How could this grandpa jump 5 meters in a vertical while carrying a person!?

While I’m in astonishment, Illias swing her sword horizontally.

At the same time, a huge amount of light was emitted, the black mist was blown away, and the bandits who were late to escape to the ground and the undead were cut off in an invisible slash.

Illias Slash Illustration

Then, I feel like coughing from the impact when landing.

I see the surrounding, of course, the open space become even wider as the trees in the surrounding collapes.

The undead that got cut by that light also turn into a lump of meat and doesn’t seem to be regenerate again.

Dokora jumps into the air and make a nervous face for the first time.

“Shit! What a brute strength! All of my mana got swept away with one slash.”

She’s really a Gorilla. I’m trying to close my open mouth with my hand.

Now, llias turns her sword to Dokora.

“It seems the undead won’t regenerate anymore. If you have another trick left, you better use it now.”

“Well, there’s no choice then. If I can, I don’t want to use it”

While saying that, Dokora takes out a black ball.

Don’t say that’s something full of his mana again, hey?

“Eat this!”

Dokora hits the ball on the ground.

This time thick smoke begins to fill the surroundings.

Damn, It’s a smoke screen!

“Are you trying to run away? Don’t be a coward!”

“Of course I am, Miss Straight Knight.”

Dokora turned back, trying to leave the place…. But, Fell to the spot.

“What!?”

A spear that flew from around the collapsed trees blown up Dokora’s legs.

In the direction in which the spear flew, Grandpa Kara looked at me with a proud face.

Illias is surprised at the situation.

“Sigh… Miss proud knight, Don’t you have any pride?”

“It’s not her plan, but mine.”

I let out my voice. And Dokora’s line of sight shifts here.

His expression is calm.

“Did you expect this from the beginning?”

“You ran away once. I thought you goona make a gap this time and run away again.”

“That’s right. But damn, your timing was just too perfect.”

“Of course, after all we’ve ben leading you to the moment when you were sure you could escape.”

All according to the plan.

Right, I only told about this strike to Grandpa Kara. I only told Illias to make Dokora prepare for his escape.

I asked Grandpa Kara to stay hidden and told him that Dokora will start an escape at some point. I also asked him to keep a position where he could always throw a spear.

The reason why I stopped hiding and showed myself is to avoid the risk that Dokora looked around and found Grandpa Kara.

There was a possibility of success because it’s a surprise attack that’s difference from knight’s action.

However, I didn’t know a lot about Dokora, so I took a step with a higher success rate.

I gave this instruction to Grandpa Kara as the timing to throw.

『Aim at the moment when someone started blaming Dokora that plan to escape.』

I was going to say it myself. But, in the ned it’s Illias who said it.

Hearing these blaming, Dokora would be convinced that he had a chance.

When he was conviced, I confirmed the success or failure of my actions.

Even if you always pay attention to the surroundings, the accuracy will drop to some extent.

For Dokora, who believes in his skill and experience, we need to make sure he conviced that he could escape.

That’s why that moment is the best chance.

I didn’t say anything to the other knights to make this situation.

I Believe that they will blame Dokora for trying to escape.

“Comprehension, was it? It seems you really understand. Get fucked up like this make me happy somehow.”

“I see.”

Maybe he was thinking the same thing as me, Dokora sighs and laughs.

“Maybe I could have a good relationship with you.”

“Perhaps. But I don’t like taking people’s lives”

“You will soon get used to it. I guarantee that.”

“Then I’ll be careful not to lose the way.”

“Yeah, You should.”

Illias walks from behind with her sword in her hand.

“There is a map in my belongings. It shows some of the locations of bases that only I know. Find the most hidden base, that will be my farewell gift to you.”

Dokora laughs, the sword that Illias holds is no longer in his sight.

“I’m amazed you can still laugh in this kind of situation.”

“Hey, could you tell me your name?”

“Sure…”

At the same time I give my name. Dokora ruminate my name silently, and laughed again for the last time. And, Illias swing her sword down.

finally, the start of two digit ch…. and it’s quite long.

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10. For the time being, Do your best afterwards

The knights are gathering on the outside of the Tiez’s castle gate.

In the center is the Knights, led by Leanor in red cloak.

He smiles satisfactorily while watching the composition.

He’ve already heard that other lords were having a hard time fighting bandits.

The knight with yellow cloak is from Lord Fowl corps. Leanor did a bit of sarcasm to him at the meeting, but admit his ability.

Because Leanor knew that Lord Fowl with do anything by all by means to reach here, That’s why Leanor not gonna say anything to him.

Leanor heard that Lord Ragdo gave him as a helper to help Lady Ratzel’s corps in the form of a recommendation.

He knew that Lord Ragdo was trying to give Lady Ratzel an opportunity. But apart of her bravery, He think that she’s a bit inexperience.

Therefore, He never expected her to achieve this kind results.

However, she is still a naive woman. Now, she lost the opportunity to earn the credit.

At first, He was surprised when a request for cooperation came from Lord Ragdot’s message, as it’s such a good opportunity.

He narrowed down the number of mobilizations of other corps, and arranged a lot of knights to surpass other corps.

And, as planned, he succeeded in taking control of this operation.

If only he succeeded in getting information from the bandits, he would have to subdue them without requesting cooperation from others corps.

Of course, He knew that Lord Ragdo corps that boasts a small number of elite, it’s not possible to subdue the bandits all in once.

If it’s only one base, it would not difficult to destroy with just their corps.

But then, He get new prisoners, and get more information.

It takes time to reach this point, but in the end he can monopolize the credit.

“After all she is a woman. When it’s about being out of hand, then she asking someone else for help. She’s laking guts to do it till the end by herself.”

The messenger comes over there.

“What? is the othe corps finished making their formation?”

“There’s nothing to say about that. It just somrone from Sir Ratzel say to give this documents to Lord Leanor.”

Leanor scan through the documents given to him.

There were detailed maps and information of each site in more detail than the one handed over earlier.

“Hmm, isn’t it good?”

“I would like to ask you to share the informations with the troops that will attack each base.”

“Even though the old soldier just a few in number, isn’t they a bit sloopy with circulating information? Or it’s just that they dissappointed to be used as a messenger?”

Then, Leanor think.

“Alright, give these documents to the knight from our corps that wil go to each base. And command them to use it to lead the other knight.”

it’s not a bad idea.

These document may have been prepared by someone with a meticulous personality.

But, There is no such person with Lady Ratzel and the old soldiers from Lord Ragdo corps.

Then, he remember the behavior of a young man at a conference.

Probably the young man, colleague of Lady Ratzel, prepared these.

While Lord Ragdo’s knights show their dissatisfaction with us, He stood around and easily make the situation procred smoothly.

Perhaps that young man is not happy about the success of Lady Ratzel which is a woman.

He made a suggestion while raising his hand to see if there’s anyone who wanted to join Lady Ratzel, so that I could easily send them to logistic support.

What a strong man.

Maybe It’s okey to put a bit of my eyes to him, who knows maybe I could use him.

“First, let’s see how useful these documents are.”

In this way, the bandit subjugation team led by Lord Leanor start to march the troops at night.

◇

Dokora, the leader of the bandits alliance, heard the news that the knights have come to attack the base.

The possibility of finding a base hidden in the forest or mountains is low, but not without exception.

Therefore, the minimum patrol was issued even at night.

Wasn’t even noticed by the patrol, the base was already surrounded by knights.

Apparently, they know the route that the bandit goes through.

Means, information is leaked.

Would it be the captured Gido member’s that leaked the information?

Docora scratch his head with his remaining arm.

“I know that they might be threatened, but I don’t think they were a fool.”

The person who understands the horror of Necromancy is the user, Dokora himself.

In order to convey it to the others to the fullest extent, he used a crew that he judged difficult to control as example.

He purposely give that crew a territory that is hard to act, and reduce their profit compared to other bases.

It gave them the feeling of disparity and fueled them to start rebellion.

Soon after, they broke the rules and started doing whatever they wanted.

Since most of them originally an outlaw, they explodes immediately if they feel dissatisfied.

Then, Dokora dismissed them as a purge and shown the other how it will be as a victim of Necromancy.

The effect was outstanding, even the leaders of each crew were afraid of Dokora.

Even knowing it, will one of them leaked information?

It is unlikely that they died and resisted the fear that he shown them.

He don’t think the bandit would spoke because of the torture by beautiful knights, but judging the current situation, in the end the leaked information.

Judge that the threat he gave them is sufficient. Maybe it’s his fault to share excessive information in order to work more effectively.

The information leaked and the knights was a surrounding the base, means that the knights would have prepared a considerable number.

In other words, it can be considered that the other bases are also surrounded. It’s the end for the other bases.

“Well, it’s already happened. Let’s run away! be prepared!”

“B, But, we’re surrounded by knights! Will we just cut it through!?”

“Fool! with your ability if we do that, we will just be doomed.”

Living as a bandit is harsh.

If normal people strength to be put in number, it will be 1, and the bandits about 10.

However, the knights have been training daily to improve their strength.

Perhaps even a weak knight should be about 20.

The knight with good skills about 50. Dokora also around that.

And the level of a knight captain… it’s a pain to think.

But that’s if we fighting head-on.

The knights currently fighting the member that stay outer tent. Well, they’re just a small fry that he can afford to lose.

But small fry won’t last long. He need to act early.

“Disperse and carry each treasure! If you make a hole in the bag and overflow, I’ll kill you! While preparing, I’ll try to break their momentum.”

“Okay Boss!”

◇

In battle, the most effective means of achieving a high winning rate is to be stronger than your opponent.

Still even if you win in one-on-one, there’s still a chance to lose because of numbers.

But if you win both, it’s going to be hard to be overturned.

And, that’s the current situation.

The difference in ability between the trained knights and the bandits is clear, and some more the number of knights is overwhelming.

There’s not even a sight that any knight might lose in battle.

On the other hand, the corpses of bandits rolling on the ground will further increase.

Leanor saw the scene with satisfaction and continued conducting.

“Now, eradicate the stupid barbarians that despise us! We have advatange in both number and power, those who can’t get the bandit heads should be ashamed! Compete for higher achievement!”

“For achievement!”

The documents was very helpful.

When Leanor send his knight to scout in advance, the knight saw the bandits in patrol, then eliminate them quickly.

Then we succeed in surounding their base, a settlement thats blending well with the night.

While we try to surround them, they used their Detection Magic, so we fail to give them a surprise attack completely, but still we manage to surround them.

Now, the state of their largest base became like this. It may be good to see that the other bases have been successfully captured.

If their damage is just this insignificant, perhaps the knight will only slightly injured.

An like that, the one in command will be evaluated more.

“But… There’s just too few of them.”

According to the data, the number of the bandits is about 50, and up untill now only a few patrols have been killed.

It’s night right now, it’s hard to think that the bandits are out to work because the merchants don’t move at night.

Even if you see the reaction of the bandits, it’s unlikely that they had escaped in anticipation of this attack.

However, looking at the state of the battle, it seems that there are only about 30 people.

And all of them will be killed by the knights.

“Maybe some of them hiding in some tent? Hmmm… if so, the center tent look suspicious.”

The bandits who were fighting back will all be killed soon.

Then, Leanor gives new instructions.

“From the report the number of enemies is fifty, so there’s still around twenty left! Look inside the tent! and gradually move to the center!”

Following the knights, Leanor also looks inside the surrounding tents. And frowned.

Most tents have traces of what the bandits might have been sleeping to.

There’re leftover food, small dirty blankets, etc.

But sometimes he saw strange scenes.

“This… Corpse?”

A pile of dead corpses was left alone.

From the appearance of the clothes, it looks like a corpse of a bandit.

To prevent the smell from leaking out, Something like herb was scattered on the corpse, but the corpse has many maggots and flies on it.

Looking at the face of the other knights, it seems that there are many similar tents.

「 Why bother with the bodies of comrade… I’m sure the bandit leader was a necromancer… No way! 」

Leanor, One of the leaders of the Knights, got chills.

It’s not that he’ve never almost die.

And that experience would warn him in advance of future disasters. One hypothesis was in his head.

“Watch out for the corpses! There is something about it!”

The corpse bounced at the moment he shouted.

Leanor, who was looking at the corpse, barely avoided it, and blast the corpse with his sword.

The blow splits the corpse into upper and lower parts. But each part start to crawl and try to stick to each other again.

The remaining corpse also begins to move, it had begun attacking nearby knights with unhuman behavior.

It seems that similar events had occurred in the surrounding tents, and the battle between the knights and the corpse had begun.

“So, this is Necromancy, huh… Disgusting!”

While swearing, Leanor cut the attacking corpse, but it soon recover from it and began to move again.

They no longer a human corpse, it is just an undead monster.

“Cooperate with the surrounding knight! Don’t be afraid!”

Whille seeing the the situation, suddenly Leanor freeze.

The bandits that they kiiled ealier are starting to get up.

About 100 corpses were scattered inside the tent.

And 30 new bandit corpses have been added.

「 No way!? Some of the knights should have been equipped with magic stones. He can also magically activate the corpse at this timing. It shouldn’t even be possible to apply Necromancy to the bandit that just been kiiled! 」

The battle start again.

The movement of the undead seems to have increased in speed and power, but He can’t feel anything from it.

It just attacks as the instinct goes.

Therefore the trained knights will not lose.

But, the undead can’t die.

Whether you slash, stab, or strike it, they recover immediately and get up.

“Don’t die! Or you will become the undead! Those who have acquired the purification magic should try various things! Those who do not, find a way to block their movement!”

When Leanor giving the command, living bandits jump into his line of sight.

It seems that the bandits has begun to escape due to the confusion.

“Someone… Hel..!”

Leanor chased him, and dealt with him.

If He give an odd instruction at this timing, there might be someone who will surprised by the undead.

It’s possible to deal with it because it is undead from a bandit, If the knight become an undead, the threat will be bigger.

The sound of teeth grinding echoed and the seemingly perfect fromation was easily broken through.

◇

“Hahaha! I think it would be better if they were dead from the start!”

While laughing with joy, for the measures he had prepared finally started, He was running through the woods.

“As expected of my Boss! But what exactly is the measures? The knight have a weapon with a Magic Sealing Stone though?”

“Magic Sealing Stones are convenient right? It will break down the magic that entered the area. But don’t get me wrong.It’s only the formula that disassembled.”

The Necromancy that Dokora used is simple. It is a thing that causes the soul of the dead to be taken into the original body and run wild as an undead. The troublesome thing about the undead is that it gives off mana that equally affect the surrounding corpses. So if you are attacked by an undead and die, you’ll become an undead. Even just by putting a corpse around will make them into undead too.

It’s a Forbidden magic that revives surrounding corpses one after another as undead if used once, and even some countries have been destroyed by this before.

And it’s easy to lie down the magic.In the center of the tent, he deployed a barrier that gave off the mana to make the undead quiet. He just need to calculate for timing and released it.

If you move around while bringing Magic Sealing Stones, you will get yourself in touble. Because the barrier itself will be released if the The Stone is brought close to it. However, the mana generated by the barrier and the mana generated by necromancy are mana with property, and it’s not a magic formula.

Magic Sealing Stones are the ones that seal magic, That meaning is not wrong, but the principle is different. All The stone do is dismantle the magic formula and return it back to mana. Therefore, the mana with the property is not affected by the stone.

The greatest merit of necromancy is that the created undead itself has a unique mana.

Therefore, even if a lot of Magic Sealing Stones are used, there will be no effect on it. As long as you don’t get disturbed when using it, you can do whatever you want.

“What? even if I tell in detail you will not understand it. Just be careful not to die near it, or you will become like them, even if I don’t do anything.”

“Y,Yes Boss!”

Drops a magic stone every time you advance a certain distance. And with this, it is not possible to trace to the your point with detection magic.

It’s not impossible to be chased while looking for traces of movement. Therefore, even if you just move straight in line, as long as you do this, it will be hard to trace the exact location.

Further ahead is an area where magic stones are scattered in advance. Just in case, Dokora had prepared an escape route and a terrain that was easy to use to escape.

Soon will be the first point, the open area. Only the long-term subordinates who are here now know this. It’s a place where they made it to be their secret area.

“Well, Let’s take a break for a while. Are these all the guys who could escape? I will check the luggage that we bring.”

Just a bit further, there are hideouts only known by this fellow and me. As long as they obey, it’s okey to bring them to escape.

“I guess other places were also finished. I should grateful to the knight. With this, our profit in the future will increase.”

The number of bandits who fled from Garne, who welcomed the new king, was enormous. Then, I started a bandit alliance so that they could pillage safely and the risk would be spread even if the knights moved.

And the result is good, The guys who didn’t like it were intentionally rebelled and used as a threat, and put the other guys that showed their favor to occupy a base where the knights could easily find them.

Leanor thought it was unlikely that the location would be exposed all at the same time, but still prepared a plan just in case anything bad happen. But this drastically reduces the number of bandits. From now on, a small number of elite bandits can casually ruin the hunting ground. So, it’s not all bad.

“Is that so? but I’m not happy at all even if the bad guys thank me.”

A knight appeared from the shade of the grass, with his voice echoing. Then, along with the appearance of the knight, some other knights also appeared from around.

“Shit, Are you serious!?”

“My name is Illias Ratzel. Bandit Boss Dokora, Your way of evil will end here.”

The woman knight who appeared pulled out her sword.

◇

In the far behind where Illias looks cool, Grandpa Kara stand and another world traveler, who try to hide, leaning on his back.

Honestly, I’m tired. This time, no one want to carry me.

“One-armed man, huh… ther’s no mistake. I goes as the boy said.”

Wait, let me explain why we are in this situation right now.

It was expected from the beginning that Dokora, a man with one arm, escaped.

Thorough information control that has deceived the knights until now, Will a man with a getaway get caught so easily because we surrounded his base?

So, it is natural to think that he have one or two escape routes and routes.

Because his confident in the fear threat by his Necromancy, I can understand why he will rely on Necromancy.

Just in case, a few day ago I asked one of Lord Ragdo’s Knight to invertigaed again the cave that we attacked last time. And, no corpses were found there.

They buried the corspe with sadness? That’s impossible.

Then he’ll use it for something… Of course at times like this.

The name Dokora was also discovered thanks to Maya finding the information

Once he work in the dark side of a certain kingdom. One day he did something taboo and be a wanted.

After that, it seems that he became a thief in Garne. But, since a new king rise in Garne, He fled to Tiez. And as the result he is here now.

Experience that he got from work in the dark side, He found it to be useful to bandit business.

In other words, Dokora is a type that utilizes past experience rather than his intelegence.

Such actions are biased towards those who trust their experience, so when you know their pattern, it is easy to read them.

I certain that he will use a Magic Sealing Stone to escape. Since it is cheap, it is possible to sprinkle it on the escape route in advance.

The reason why Illias, Lord Ragdo corps were put into a completely free state called logistical support, This is because Her corps will going ahead around the escape route from the start.

The march course of the knight was also decided in advance at the meeting place and the direction that the bandit will likely use to escape is narrowed down.

Then, just before the attack, I searched around using the Detection Magic.

By the way, Lord Leanor, didn’t attached any of his members to the Ragdo corps.

Perhaps they didn’t even want to work together. Even if some came, I will to do something about it.

When I searched using Detection Magic, the place where the magic was countered mostlikely his route to escape. so, we move circling around the area where the stone is placed.

Then I found and open place in front of the route, that seemd to be a man-made. Maybe It was supposed to be used as a point to join after splitting.

It seems that everyone came over because the formation was easily broken. In a sense, it’s a good job to Lord Leanor.

Even if I had no real experience, I was wondering what a genius type with a smart head could do.

Probably now, Lord Leanor is being challenged by an undead group.

I’m secretly asking a skilled person from church, Maya, to come for support, so the subjugation should be underway at this time.

Even Lord Leanor won’t have any complaints about this later, right? In the first place, I even let him had his way to be the one in command.

Well, from here onward, it’s Illias’s portion.

This ch forward are rough…. it’s under editing progress,

---

9. For the time being, I leave it to you

After getting the information, the first action I took was to return to the church.

Information on the masterminds of the bandit alliance, a man with one arm.

I told Maya about the newly obtained information. This will allow us to narrow down the candidates further.

Maya says that information will arrive soon, so she will tell me as soon as she understand.

Information arrive means… is it possible to exchange information over a long distance in this world? just like the Internet?

Maybe it’s a homing pigeon? If there’s a need to use the pigeon means the information must be a lot, anyway let’s leave it to her.

Then on my way back, I walked around the town while talking with Illias about future actions. And returned to the barracks after that.

The town is full of energy, I saw the market is crowded with many people.

When I was taken to church for the first time, I was carried all the way. So, I couldn’t really look around.

It is said that the prosperity of the country can be seen by looking at the faces of the people.

Many of the people walking in the city of Japan have a hard expression.

But in this kingdom, The people face is full of emotions as if every day is a festival.

Just looking at it makes me feel like I get some of their energy.

“I guess, the king of this kingdom is a pretty good king, huh.”

Such words naturally come out from my mouth.

“Of course! The king in this generation and the king from the previous generation, both of them doing a wonderful reign for the kingdom and its citizens. It is the greatest pride and joy for me to serve that country as a knight.”

Illias said with gentle face as she watches her surrounding full of liveliness of the people.

“When you see that this kingdom prospering this much, the number of merchants from outside which come here will eventually increase.”

“That’s right, But there are those who are willing to make profit with malicious intent. And that’s unforgivable “

“From the information we obtained, the bandit alliance’s base have quite alot of members. And mostly they already know that we crushed one of their base. When they heard that, they might change their main base location. Before something like that happens, it’s better if we give them surprise attack. Means that we need some mens.”

“Hmm… I am a subordinate of Lord Ragdo’s Knight, one of the leaders of the knight that protect of this country. I will explain to him our circumstances, and ask permission to summons his knight.”

“And how many of them you can call?”

“I guees… around 30?”

Not a lot, huh.

When we went to subjugate the bandits, there were about 10 people because it was called a sudden gathering, that means… 30% of them came at that time?

Our number are too few. in this case, we might need coopeartion from the other knights corps.

“How about the other knights corps? Can’t you ask for thier cooperation?”

“It’s not that I can’t… but…”

Illias said that with a bitter face.

There seems to be some unreasonable circumstances.

Not that I can’t understand it. After all, if the units are different, there might be feuds with each other.

“Do you think the current number enough?　The last time was a surprise attack after blocking their exit route. So the bandits had no choice but to fight back, and the opponents who tried to escape could easily be captured.”

The base of other bandits are not be a cave like that time.

They bulit huts and tents in some part of the forests.

In other words, they can escape in all directions, so we need a lot of knights to block their escape routes.

From the information, The bandit alliance have five bases.

One was destroyed the other day, so four left.

Three of it has around 30 to 50 people like last time. And the last one, the ‘Black Curtain’ base have around 50 people.

It is impossible for thirty kinghts to hunt down nearly two hundred bandits.

“You’re right… I need to think about is sfety of the citizens first. Not my image. I’ll request cooperation from other knights immediately.”

Illias agrred reluctantly.

It seems as if some kind of problem would occur by requesting cooperation.

“Ilias, could you tell me some things before that?”

◇

After that, I left him and went to Lord Ragdo alone. In order to obtain the cooperation of from a lot of Knights, Illias requested Lord Ragdo to tell it to the other Knights corps.

“Hmm, All right. But Ilias, do you understand what will happen if you ask other units to cooperate?”

“I understand… But the number of bandits exceeds the imagination. We finally got their information this! If we miss this chance, we will have many more victims!”

“Right… but it’s okay to ask for my support too you know?”

“No, Lord Ragdo is a symbol that should be the last fort to protect the castle and the kingdom. And you’ve helped me a lot, so this time I’ll think it as a test for my self.”

“But…”

“I am also a knight that protect this country. I can’t be spoiled forever.”

“Well, if you say like that, I’ll stay quiet until the end this time.”

“Thank you very much. Then, please let the representatives of the cooperation know that there will be a meeting at the barracks outside the castle tonight.”

“This bandit subjugation is a kingdom problem. It’s okay to use the meeting room in the castle you know?”

“No, I have a collaborator from outside. He said, ‘Can you let an outsider who seems to be cooperating to enter the castle, right?’, so I wished for a barracks.”

“I see, he’s a modest person, huh.”

“I hope so…”

“?”

There is no lie in my what I said Lord Ragdot. But then he continued like this.

“It’s hard to do it if he can’t be there.”

◇

At night, a lot of knights gathered in the largest room in the barracks.

The representatives are Illias and Granpa Kara.

After that, the representatives of each Knights appeared.

Some have the subordinates sent, and some, the knight commander came directly.

The former can be thought of as a pure collaborator.

But, the knight commander came directly is….

This place is smaller than the castle and probably a little dirty.

Some people are worried about how dirty the room is, and some wamt the chairs for themself.

That side probably will make some moves. I have to watch them carefully.

Then, Illias stood up and started speaking around.

“First let me say thank you for gathering late at night. Tonight, we are going to discuss about the details of the bandit troubles. Let me explain the current situation.”

Does her opponent have the same title as her superiors? her tone feels firm.

And she explained the process up to now, and the story that I came from outside is barely explained.

However, it was clear why Ilias was unwilling to ask for cooperation.

Knight like Grandpa Kara, such as the members of Lord Ragdo’s corps, were welcoming to Illias.

But most of the knights who are here now have cold eyes.

Some of them are impressed, and some are honestly pleased that we have hunted down the bandits… Hey, the one who just clicking his tongue, I’ll remember your face!

When I feel angry like this, I think that I am also favored by Ilias, and listen to the story.

“And I succeeded in finding out the location of each base. Therefore, I want to borrow the cooperation of each team to attack all bases in the morning.”

“May I speak now?”

The one wearing red cloak raised his hand.

The difference between a normal knight and a knight commander is the quality of their cloak.

Knights use armor ornaments with cloaks in the colors that symbolize their corps.

The knight commander has the royal coat with Tiez crest embroidered on it.

By the way, the color of the Ragdo corps is turquoise.

“Lord Leanor, by all means”

“We will not spare any troops in cooperation. Slaughtering the bandits who mess our country, that’s natural. Some of them might be the who choose to betray this kingdom, or them that have some grudes to this kingdom.”

A man in a yellow cloak stare intensely at the knight commander called Lord Leanor.

Ah, so he was the knights who responsible for this mission last time.

“Excuse me, Lady Ratzel, how many people will join from Ragdo corps to defeat this bandit?”

“About thirty.”

“Hmm, isn’t it good for a corps with the smallest number of members? However, this time our Reanor corps will deploy 300 knights. it’s 10 times than yours.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Don’t worry about it. As I said earlier, the subjugation of bandits is a matter for me to solve as soon as possible. But! Wouldn’t it be inconvenient for a corp with small number of knights to hold command?”

“That’s…”

“Isn’t your Ragdo corps is only a few elite soldiers? I’ll show that my corps can be more active ten times than yours!”

Then, Grandpa Kara butt in, but the expression of Lord Leanor does not changes.

“I know that. But, that’s why. The most important is how we use our manpower efficiently not who is the one in command, right? Also, there are 300 people in my corps alone, so how do you intend to lead?”

“Hmmph!”

“The total command of this subjugation team should be the team with the most members. Well, how many the other corps can prepare?”

“100!”

“70!”

“180!”

“120!”

Roughly calculated, eight hundred, it seems that enough numbers are available.

And from the beginning, Lord Leanor has prepared a large number of soldiers with that intention.

“So, is there any problem with me taking command in this bandit subjugation?”

“No objection.”

“Same.”

“If it’s Lord Leanor, I’m okay.”

“if you can give detailed instructions, I’ve no problem.”

Including the man in the yellow cloak, everyone showed their willingness.

Illias told me that she was disrespected because she was a woman.

There are not many women in this country who aim to be knights.

Even more to be someone like Illias, who is close with the knight commander.

I asked Grandpa Kara before, he said that within the knight itself is more insidious than expected.

Illias, a knight who ranks high in the country despite being a woman, a favorite of the oldest veteran, Lord Ragdo.

From the perspective of the male knights, her breakthrough may be a symbol of jealousy.

Old veteran like Lord Ragdo just view illias like a granddaughter, there no discrimination between man of woman.

The bandit subjugation this time was a difficult problem that other corps could not succeed, and Illias, a woman, did it.

Right now, it seems that no one disagreed with it.

But later, If failed, use it as a pretext for criticism, and if it seems to succeed, try to get the maximum achievement.

Sigh, what a narrow-minded people.

A man or a woman? that kind of pride, they will abandon it if something goes wrong. Just a bunch of people with cheap pride.

Even though Ilias has a muscle-brain like gorilla, she is a good knight.

In the end, Man or woman wouldn’t matter to be a good knight.

Well, I thought that something like this might happen, so I had already consulted with Grandpa Kara and prepared various things.

“Hey Kid! Can you say something to these guys?”

“Hmm? Right.”

“I don’t mind Who are you? You don’t look like a knight.”

“In this case, I’m just the information provider. I’m in cooperation with Lady Ratzel.”

“An outsider, huh.. So are there any opinions with me taking command?”

“No, That part I don’t mind. I just want to say, If there is a corps that can dedicate to be messenger, wouldn’t it be easier to coordinate the other corps if that corps to become the center?”

“Wha..!?”

“Heh, It seems that you understand.”

“Since you will be in command, isn’t it troublesome if you don’t get the information properly? That’s why please take a look at this.”

While passing through Grandpa Kara, who is pretending to look speechless, I handed the prepared bundle of parchment to Lord Leanor.

Even so, Grandpa Kara acting is good.

“This?”

“A map that summarizes the locations of the bandit bases, and the travel routes they are using. In addition, it is a document that summarizes information of each gang.”

Lord Leanor is checking the map.

“Well, this is good. A route that is easy to proceed when entering the forest or mountains, and even their approximate patrol route or scout route also writen here.”

“Since I tried so hard to get this information, I don’t want you wasted it. This is what I want to say.”

“I see, i see, Certainly I will be rude to your efforts if I don’t use them. Let’s use it well.”

“I also have a larger map. And since the representative from each corps is here, isn’t it okay if you decide the routes that the other corps will use now?”

I said that while taking out a large map and spread it on the desk.

“You prepared it well. It saves me the trouble. Then, let’s finish this quickly.”

“Lord Leanor will be in charge for their main base, which is said to have their mastermind, right?”

“Of course! My corps is not a coward.”

Sigh, can’t believe he said it pridefully. I know that he just want the merit.

“Then, we will allocate the other corps to other bases, so with which corps do you want the Ragdo corps led by Lady Ratzel to join? Is there anyone want to work with her?”

I say that and pay attention to everyone, but there is no reply.

Well, I was hoping for a reaction like this.

“Then her corps will wait near the trade route as a logistical support. If there is some corps in trouble, her corps will go as reinforcement. Lord Leanor, Is it okay?”

“Of course.”

“Is there anyone want to object? If no, then I will leave each base to each corps.”

This time everyone nodded. I guess unless there are too many predicaments, they will not say anytihng.

Then, the strategy meeting proceeded forward, and each representative left the place to organize their own.

“Well, let’s prepare for this too.”

“…”

Illias giving me a sour look.

Ah, Speaking of which, I talked this only to Grandpa Kara.

And somemore I said to Illias to lieave it all to me, but in the end, she will be in logistical support, no wonder she give me that look.

“Grandpa Kara, can you tell the members of the Ragdo corps about the secret operation in the meantime? I will explain it to Illias.”

“Leave it to me!”

“Secret operation?”

“Ah, It just a conspiracy that I thought with Grandpa Kara.”

Then I explain it to her.

“You… Really a cunning person.”

“It’s because they also cunning, so it’s 50:50. And I just want to teach them some lesson.”

When I think that things went according to plan, I start to grin.

Illias who saw my face, making some distance from me.’

---

Translator : Kinokura
Editor : Alany

---

8. For the time being, According to plan

◇ One of the Captured Bandits POV ◇

One of the bandits who got interrogated before, was now worried.

He despised that boy as he looked weak.

Although, the boy was skilled in determining the strength of the opponent, even before using detection magic to do it.

As for the impression when the bandit saw the boy, he couldn’t feel any signs of a strong man, and he couldn’t see any muscles on the boy.

He thought that the boy hid his power and was definitely just a mere ordinary person.

Therefore, he can’t understand.

Why were they shaken now.

The boy didn’t seem to have lied by saying some nonsense. Just that, the boy hit his blind spot.

He remembered the “one-armed man” that banded the bandits.

Suddenly appeared and brought forth the bandits’ alliance.

His gang’s boss, Gidou, was also afraid of that one-armed man. And agreed with the proposal from the man.

There was a disadvantage to sharing the territory, but the gang got more out of it.

Information of the merchants, search techniques using detection magic, a means to escape from pursuers, and resistance from brainwashing magic using magic sealing stones.

The gang was able to work more safely and get profit more than ever before.

But humans would get greedy when everything became easy, especially for someone who worked in the bandit business.

There was also a gang who broke the proposal from the one-armed man, and started to act freely.

However, it was what the one-armed man wanted.

“Well, I didn’t tell you in detail about the end of those who broke the rules in the alliance, I’d took care of them, and let me show you what happened to them.”

The one-armed man said that. Then he showed fellow members who became miserable monsters by Necromancy.

Only a slight trace of their old face was left on those monsters.

Not only that, but their consciousness was still there Lininger.

Some dirty liquid flowed out from their eyes, and they muttered something in a small voice like a whisper.

“Let me die… Please… Just let me die…”

Since he had chosen to live as a bandit, he thought he had overcome the fear of dying.

However, he was shown that even after death he would continue to live miserably, and that fear was engraved in his mind.

That was why even if he died here, he didn’t want to end up like that.

But what the boy said has shaken his determination.

The boy said that it was a coincidence that the knights attacked a cave that was hard to find, but it certainly had already happened.

So, there was a possibility that the information of other gangs would be somehow accidentally leaked.

And if that happened, who would be the first to be suspected and purged?

Just the thought of it shook his body and confused his mind.

He wanted to consult with his friend. But now all of them were separated.

Both options have their own risk. Since that was the case, he didn’t want to give the benefits to the knights who would execute them.

But the possibility of dying as a human was too tempting…

“Damn it! I should rest now, and spend more time thinking about it after I calmed down.”

The boy had told the bandit about the shortcomings of his proposal. It wouldn’t be strange if there was some trap in that proposal.

So, yeah, the best action he needed to take right now was to rest calmly.

“Hey, it’s about time to change shifts.”

The knights’ voices could be heard from outside his jail. It seemed to be the time for the lookout change.

“Hey, by the way, is there anyone who confessed?”

“No. Every single one of them just refused to talk.”

The bandit thought that his friends weren’t fools who would confess easily without thinking much.

So, after hearing that, the bandit felt relieved and proud at the same time.

As it seemed, his friends also have the same thoughts as him right now.

“By the way, are we really going to extend the execution date?”

“Yeah, seems like we will.”

“Even though we need to feed them with food from the people’s hard work…”

“That’s not really a problem.”

“Hmm?”

“It seems that only 3 of them will get their execution delayed. Others will be executed immediately, then we can give their share to the survivors, so it won’t be much of a burden.”

The bandit’s breathing stopped, and his heartbeat started to increase.

He heard something that he shouldn’t forget.

“Only 3 people?…But why?”

“Even if all 7 people give us information, in the end, it’s just the same information.”

“The boy said that 3 people are enough if it’s just to check the facts and discrepancies.”

Sure enough, the boy had never said “everyone”.

So, if there were a few people who confessed, it would be more than enough to confirm the lies. There was no need to wait for everyone to confess. That meant, 4 people would definitely have the worst end. What a merciless boy.

If any of the bandits spit out any information, they all would definitely be treated as traitors, but the survivors would be secured until the one-armed man died.

If no one confessed anything, they wouldn’t be treated as traitors, but depending on the feeling of that one-armed man, they might become his next prey of Necromancy.

The bandit was confused because there was hope in both options.

But what would happen to the 3 people who spat out  information the fastest?

Those 3 people would be placed under protection, however the other 4 would immediately be executed.

And in the end, all 7 of them would be treated as traitors.

“Wherever you are, even if you died, you will get your retribution”, The one-armed man said that before.

Whether 4 people spat out information or not, they would carry only the bad points of both options. And in the end, only 3 people could safely die as a human.

“O-oi, Guard! I will speak! Please call that boy!”

The bandit said while hitting the door. He was worried that if his friend noticed this too, they would spit out information faster than he can.

“What’s with you all of sudden? It’s good that you want to be honest, but do it tomorrow. The boy told you that he will hear you talk tomorrow, right?”

“Don’t give me that shit! I said that I’ll confess right now!”

“How noisy… That boy is already asleep. I’ll give you some paper, you can write a list of what you want to talk to him there. I’ll give it to the boy tomorrow morning.”

As the guard said that, a parchment and long charcoal were given from the small gap below the door.

It would be impossible to call the boy right now even if the bandit appealed. Then how could he be included in that list of 3?

He needed to write as much information as the boy wanted, and to make sure to get the boy’s attention.

Thus, the bandit picked up the charcoal and started writing on the paper.

◇ MC POV ◇

“In the end, 5 out of 7 people decided to confess. This is a list of information that they want to speak.”

After waking up, Grandpa Kara handed me a bunch of parchment while I was having breakfast at the barracks.

Then, while skimming it, I gave them to Illias-san.

“I don’t know which information is useful. So, let’s just hear all of it.”

“However, all of them look so desperate…”

The finishing blow was that I asked Illias-san or Grandpa Kara to talk about “we will receive information, only up to 3 people”, and let the bandits hear it.

After all, people are vulnerable to limited things. And, using that limited things, it’s easy to take advantage of people.

Especially, if you get the information about that by chance. It’ll be very effective.

I mean, if there’s a shop clerk saying “Only available now! Only for today!”, I bet only shallow-minded people get shaken by that word.

Anyone who uses their brain will realize that it’s a means to make them buy and be wary of it.

But… What if the information was happened to be heard from a third party?

Information learned through the media, the thought that you know the information by chance, and the fact that you know it yourself will make a difference in its credibility.

This isn’t the information given to me. It’s the information I got.

Therefore, you believe it easier. Even if in the end it’s just nothing more than false information.

There was sure a time when such frauds were using that trick in my previous world for a while.

Making them believe it strongly would have made them even more impatient.

They’ll think about how to make them sit in the limited informant’s chairs.

There, is a good time for handing a paper and writing instruments to them.

Then, with the thought of it might being the last chance to appeal, anyone would try to show that they have a lot of information, or that they have more important information.

As the result, everyone will speak more on the spot when we ask later.

“Anyway…. Grandpa Kara, can you tell the bandits that we will hear their talk at 10 o’clock.”

“Do you plan to put them together in the same place?”

“No, could you please ask each knight to speak with each of them in a different place, and please tell them that I’m hearing the talk from the other bandits? Don’t forget to interrogate “all of them” at 10 o’clock.”

“What are you planning?”

“You know, there are people that will talk more when they think that they’re the first.”

“You’re so thorough… Well, I understand.”

Grandpa Kara left the room.

Illias-san looked at me with a strange look and started to speak.

“Just… What kind of life did you live in your original world?”

“I see… Another vague question, huh.”

“I heard that magic doesn’t exist in your world. But you never told me anything else. All actions you took this time, for me it’s just……”

“Violating chivalry code and it’s not a preferred method to use on people?”

“That’s right. You take advantage of people’s weaknesses and use them. Moreover, you naturally chose such a method. In this world, that kind of thing is usually done by cunning merchants and criminals. Or someone who is involved with such people. Could you let me know?”

“I just… Lived safely there.”

“No matter how I look at it… I just can’t believe that…”

“What I mean by “safely” is, living in the common ways and there’s no one who criticized me. That was how I stand in there. The main difference between this world and my original world is the range of contact.”

I drank water and took a break.

“An opportunity to get to know others… There are many ways for it. The more people you interact with, the more chances you will get to know their differences. Of course, there were good and bad people there. Bad people did maliciously harm someone, trying to get profit for themselves. Anyway, it was a world where there were too many bad guys so people had to stay alert.”

“……”

“To live in such a world as an ordinary people, you need to have the knowledge to protect yourself from the bad guys. You need the means to get around without being targeted. And you need to be careful not to be criticized by others by that means. That’s how I lived safely.”

“I just can’t understand you well… Which one is the true you? The one when you were in contact with Maya and us? Or the one when in front of the bandits?”

“Both, I guess. Both are me without any doubt. I mean, you will have different attitudes when facing the citizens and when facing the bad guys. Well, in your case, you acted as Illias the Knight in front of both of them though. In my case, I change my attitude depending on the other party. That’s all.”

“Does it mean that you become evil when it comes to evil?”

“Not quite. It’s just that I will be someone who understands evil.”

“I see… I understand now… Your way of life is like a distorted mirror, isn’t it?”

Ilias-san sighing.

Then, her gaze softened.

“Change one’s way according to the other person’s way, huh… Well, I’m amazed that you can do such a troublesome thing.”

“It’s hard to live safely.”

After that, information gathering from the bandits finished.

It seemed from the 7 people there was from the bandits captured, they had the task of communications, so I was able to obtain information on other gang’s bases, etc.

Then there was the story of a man with one arm who used Necromancy, who had built a cooperative relationship called the “Bandits Alliance”.

---

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Translator : Kinokura
Editor : Alany

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7. For the time being, Let’s try it

“Magic that interferes with the soul of the dead? Illias! Just how do you dare push the boy into that kind of corner!? Oh, poor you…”

“Do I look like that kind of person!?”

While they were talking, I was thinking about ‘That Person’, the one in control of the bandits.

From the sound of it, it seems like a person that’s active behind the scene, so let’s call this person, “Black Curtain”. [TN: The reason, I’ll explain at the bottom.]

So, “Black Curtain” is the one who threatens the bandits to not let the other groups leak information out. And even if the bandits get tortured or slaughtered by the knight, they’ll never leak any information.

Maya-san is a priest, her job is to heal wounds, and offer prayers for dead people to guide their souls.

Considering this, there must be inhuman magic that’s the opposite of that. This might be the reason their mouth is sealed.

That was why, I was here right now in the church because I thought that Maya-san would have knowledge about magic with a negative effect on a person or their soul.

“The bandits are afraid of retribution if ever they spit any information. And there not afraid of executions. My theory is that they’re threatened with something that’s effective someone even after death.”

“Hmm, it’s not like there’s no magic that can call upon the souls of the dead, but it’s one of the forbidden magic.”

“As I’ve expected, there’s that kind of magic. Is it a kind of dark magic that brings the dead back to life?”

“It’s not like Resuscitation is Dark Magic. It just that it’s forbidden.”

“…That sounds like magic that everyone might want, doesn’t it?”

“Don’t say that in front of others, okay? In some countries, just saying that you want it, can be the highest of crime resulting in a death sentence.”

Saying Maya-san with a severe expression… it was the first time I saw her have that facial expression.

“Is it that dangerous?”

“Yeah, because it’ll bring the worst conclusion.”

“The worst conclusion?”

“In the past, there were people who had been revived through Resuscitation Magic. But They all became Demon Lords that resent Human.”

“Demon Lord…”

…I heard that word when I talked about the Slime’s home. As expected, there is a demon lord in this world.

“A King is the existence that builds a country and guides the people. But a Demon Lord is the existence that destroys humans and their country.”

“I understand what you want to say. But in the first place, why do the dead become Demon Lords when they were resuscitated?”

“That’s… I don’t know. I’ve never used it before. But in history, it said that by Resuscitation Magic, Demon Lords take a lot of human sacrifices to be born. Humans initially did that a few times before finally learning their lesson.”

Well, just by hearing the word “Demon Lord”, I can understand the danger of such a being.

After all, the typical image of a Demon Lord is an enemy of humankind, an evil that causes many victims and is usually defeated by a hero.

And every time someone is brought back to life, that person becomes a Demon Lord… no wonder it became forbidden magic.

…Are the bandits afraid that they will become Demon Lords? I’ve the feeling that’s not it.

“The bandits are afraid of Resuscitation Magic?… No, that’s not it. Maya-san, is there any magic that you don’t want to use any more than this?”

“Hmm… if you want me to say, something like Necromancy.”

Said Maya-san with a very disgusting look.

“From the name, is it a magic that manipulates the soul of the dead?”

“It’s a magic that forcibly pulls out the soul of the dead without being complete resuscitated, then you could humiliate them in this world”

“It seems that the difficulty level is lower than that of Resuscitation Magic.”

“That’s right. Resuscitation Magic is a higher level magic. That’s why, magic that interferes with the souls is forbidden.”

That one, is good for threatening others.

I mean, if you die and are revived to become a Demon Lord, sure there must be some people that liked that option, but the birth of a Demon Lord’s may not be a good thing for ‘Black Curtain’, who is dealing with the bandit business.

But what about necromancy? It’s like, “If you betray, even if you die, your soul will be dragged out and you will suffer even more in the future.”, kind of thing.

If so… now I can understand that bandit’s word better.

“How have the souls called from the dead by Necromancy been used?”

“Well, it’s heresy. Do you think the human soul will be treated like a living being? It’ll be used as an offering, or to be returned to their rotten flesh before ordering them like a monster. It’s really terrible.”

“Do you think that they maintained their consciousness even in that state?”

“Boy… You sure are asking about a difficult thing.”

Said Maya-san with a sharp eye, as if she tried to evaluate me.

It’s not like I don’t understand why she looks at me like that. From her point of view, there’s someone wanting to know about the magic that she loathes.

But, to destroy the bandits, there must be no blunders.

“I think that this is an important piece of information. The thing that I want to know is not how to use Necromancy but, the horror of it.”

“You know… There was a time I subdued an evil magician that used Necromancy. That guy used Necromancy on the humans he killed, then he put their souls into the bodies of a monster. In the end, I and my comrades decided to exterminate the magician and his monsters.”

“……”

“In the midst of their dying moments, there was a monster that said “Thank you” to me.”

“Thank you very much for telling me.”

Now, I’m sure of one thing. Necromancy is the chain that binds the bandits.

Even if it’s a different thing, in the end, I’m sure it’s something similar.

What if, “Black Curtain” has shown the bandits what happened to the bandits that betray him? If so, the bandit will choose to die faster rather than end like that.

“Maya-san, the bandit that are now in Tiez mostly came from Garne, right?”

“I heard that’s the case.”

“Could you find me some information if there’s any criminal from Garne that might have some relation with Necromancy?”

“Boy, do you think that such a person might have something to do with the bandits?”

“I’m going to ask the bandits for confirmation after this, I’m sure it’s not too far from this.”

“Okay, I’ll go and search then.”

“Then, excuse me.”

Now, I’ve some material to do something to the bandits. What’s left is whether I can use it well or not….

I bowed to Maya and left the church.

◇ Illias POV ◇

I was listening to the young man and Maya without interrupting.

The young man should be new to this world. However, he gathered the necessary information and arrived at necromancy at a fast rate.

At first, I thought he was smart, but I was wrong.

“Illias, please watch that boy for me.”

“Ah, Sure.”

“I’m thinking the same as what you are thinking right now.”

“That is…”

“That boy is used to malice. And he has some understanding about that world.”

Yes, the young man didn’t notice that he was quick to realize that the enemy might have something to do with Necromancy.

He came up with it naturally because he had some understanding of that world.

I heard that there was no magic in the world he came from, but…

I don’t know what kind of world he was living in.

I don’t even know what kind of person he is.

When he heard about the forbidden Resuscitation Magic, he casually said that everyone would have wanted it.

And even when Maya told him about what kind of end the guy that received Necromancy Magic had with a bitter face, he nodded without any change to his expression.

“But…”

“I know that he isn’t a bad child. I’m sure of it. But, he’s a boy who can lose his way rather easily. A dangerous boy.”

I nodded and followed the young man from behind.

◇ MC POV ◇

After returning to the barracks, I gathered all the captured bandits.

“Well, I guess I should introduce myself first, I’m your new interrogator, and my name is――”

MC Illustration

“Shut up kid! You piece of shit! What do you want from us?!! If you want us dead that bad, just kill us already!!”

I can’t even introduce myself properly. Do I have such a sad existence.

But right now it’s not time to be disheartened.

“Kill me, kill me, sigh… Are you guys that afraid to be victims of Necromancy?”

At the same moment I said so, everyone showed me a very upset face.

…OK, now I’m really sure.

“What――”

“Don’t mind it too much, and let’s continue our talk first.”

The sight of bandits looking at me started to change.

Hostility, anxiety, and vigilance feelings started to form up from the bandits.

Well… I’ve some understanding of their kind of people, and I can try to threaten them with fear, But I’m not gonna do that since it’ll be less effective than that from the “Black Curtain”, so…

“Now now, after understanding your situation, I’m going to give you a new proposal.”

“A new proposal? Is it something like if we talk, you will let us go?”

“I can’t do that. And even if I have the authority, I’m not going to do that.”

“Then what!?”

“I can change your execution date.”

“… Huh!?”

“If you give me information, I promise that your execution will be after I’ve taken care of that Necromancer.”

“Just what good will that bring us anyway!?”

“At least, you can die as a human.”

The bandits’ expression changed.

Well well, shall we start the negotiations?

“This is a negotiation. Negotiation means that the other side gets benefits from it. And in this case, you could die as a human.”

I walked slowly to them as I explained.

“Well, let me explain it to you guys about future developments. First of all, if you give any information here, You guys will get the wrath from “That person”. Right?”

First, let the other person realize that they understand it.

Make them aware of what matters most.

“But you’re still alive. You will still get your daily meals and live inside your cell.”

And then, make them understand that there is another ending for them.

“Sure, you’ll continue in jail until we captured the mastermind. But when we’re done with that, you’ll be executed. I promise that you will be able to die as a human.”

While keeping an eye on each bandit. I tried to kindly persuade them.

“No more torture for you, so you can use the remaining time you have to reflect on your lives.”

“Y-you guys, I’m not sure if you could do it! And your proposal, do you expect us to believe it!?”

“Well, first of all, there’s a possibility that you might be revived as a monster by Necromancy magic, so there’s no merit for us if we hurry your execution. That’ll only gonna give him more pawns to use. So, isn’t it better for both of us to extend your execution?”

“But still! even if spit information, we will still be executed! It’s not about your torture! We don’t have a reason to put ourselves in danger!”

“Yeah, yeah!”

Other bandits were also eager to deny this.

Good.

Until now they all were stubborn in choosing one path and never tried to move from that path.

But what about now? They began to compare the new path with the current path.

“You don’t have a reason to put yourself in danger? That’s true. But, it seems like you guys really think that your situation right now isn’t dangerous too, huh?”

“Wh, what!?”

“Other than getting information from you, do you think we don’t have any other means, or chance, to find out anything?”

“Th, that’s…”

“Actually, it was a coincidence that we found your base this time. But how do you think you were found, have you ever thought that? ‘Someone made a mistake’, ‘Someone betray us’, Did such a thought ever cross your mind?”

“…..”

“Then, if we were lucky enough to know your mastermind’s whereabouts. What do you think they all will say? ‘Someone leaked them the information’, ‘Who betray us’…. Well, I wonder who they will think of?”

Once they start comparing the path, the rest is easy.

You just need to lower the value of the path they have chosen.

Once they believe that the path they’re taking right now isn’t as safe as they’d imagined and that just by a bit of coincidence, they may have the worst end. It’s time for another attack.

“Will you guys believe in the being that you fear so much? Or will you throw that belief? This is such an option.”

The bandits looked at each other.

They’re shaking… Good, now I just need to give the finishing blow.

“Anyway, that’s my proposal, so starting tomorrow, the one who’s interested in it, please be brave. Today, I want you guys to think about it carefully. That’s all.”

After that, the seven bandits move as the knights asked.

From now, they would be separated into different places.

With this, I finished my first move. I could relax for a bit.

Huff… I’m so tired! It’s hard to give a presentation while the audience keeps staring at me!

Looking back, Illias-san and Grandpa Kara were still there, and they had the face of someone who had a hard time swallowing the situation.

“You could corner them in that way too, huh? Boy, you may become a crooked merchant in the future.”

“Pass, I don’t want a life full of grudges. It’s enough if I could live safely.”

“But why did you split them?”

“Just an insurance. What if one of them tells everyone the safest way, if that happens all of them can just lie? Then, there’ll be no betrayal, they get to postponed their executions and can avoid more interrogations. Even if we can uncover their lie, we’ll waste more time.”

“I see. So that’s the reason. But, will they give out some information with this?”

“Maybe not?”

“Huh!? Then――”

“And that’s why I’ve a request to Grandpa Kara. I’m sorry, but it might be a bad thing…”

“No problem, just say it.”

“Lend me your ear… WHISPER, WHISPER…”

“H, hey! Let me hear it too!”

I whispered the finishing blow that must be done, to Illias-san and Grandpa Kara.

Grandpa Kara closed his eyes and groaned, and Illias-san looked at me with an unbelievable face.

“What a guy…!!”

Said Illias-san.

“Really, what a scoundrel…”

“It’s nothing more than just an idea from a brat. However, this is a job that only Grandpa Kara and the Knights can do.”

“I can’t go back to my word. Hmm,… very well, let me be your accomplice.”

“Ugh… Umm… But… If it’s for the people’s sake… There’s no other choice…!”

There are various ways to obtain concessions from the other party in negotiations, but if you are on an equal footing, the first thing you need to do is to let the other person understand that there’s a benefit for them.

Only by understanding the merits, people will try to accept new things.

Next, be sure to explain the disadvantage of the negotiation. Failure to do this will give the other person a sense of distrust.

If the disadvantage can be understood with little thought, it’s better to tell it first, so that it shows your sincerity.

Also, you need to give the last push. Don’t forget this.

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TN : It’s written 黒幕(Kuromaku), used in Japan like Wire-puller, and literally translate as Black Curtain.

ED: Further explanation, Basically, In English analogy, the protagonist refers as someone who manipulates “Behind the scenes” as such “Black Curtain.”

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Translator : Kinokura
Editor : Alany

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6. For the time being, Tell me

When we reached Tiez, the captured bandits were imprisoned in the barracks’ jail.

Then they invited me to have a celebration party, but I declined them politely.

After I came to this world, I had been lacking of good sleep. No, not even once had I had a well-rested night. The second time when I went back up the mountain wasn’t that tiring because I was being carried most of the time. But still, the last time I slept, the time didn’t even amount to 1 hour, before Illias-san and woke me up.

When I complained about it, one of the grandpa knights said that I could use the bed available in the barracks. So, after I wiped my body clean and borrowed some clothes, I straight went to sleep. And finally, had a pleasant night.

I couldn’t believe that I slept well inside the barracks. For some reason, the bed was quite nice, maybe because they prepared the bed for me?

Anyway, right now, except for my sore muscles, my physical condition was perfect.

And my stomach started to growl.

“I need some food…”

I started heading out of the bedroom.

When I was wandering around, I met one of the grandpa knights.

If I’m not mistaken, he’s one of the spearmen called… What was his name again…?

I remembered that he briefly introduced himself.

If only he has a Japanese name, maybe I can somewhat remember it. My memory isn’t that good that I can remember many names in one go after all.

“Ah, it’s you! Seems like you’ve rested well last night.”

“Yes, Thanks to you. Hmm, what’s your name again?”

“It’s Karagyugjesta Domitrucovcon.” [Tn: in source, it’s written カラギュグジェスタ＝ドミトルコフコン]

Hmm… now I don’t even have the confidence to remember anyone. I’m sure that the rest of the grandpas also have a long name.

“Sorry to say this, but I can’t remember it.”

“Hahaha! I got told that a lot. It’s fine to just call me Grandpa Kara.”

“Thanks… By the way Grandpa Kara, could I get some food to eat? I didn’t have anything except for nuts these past few days.”

“Oh, that’s not good. If you are okay with leftovers, I have some from yesterday’s party.”

To be honest, I’m okay with anything.

Grandpa Kara then guided me to the cafeteria, and there were many meals left.

All of them look bizarre. Perfect for junk food lovers.

“Do you want me to warm up the soup?”

“For now, I don’t mind anything as long as I can eat it.”

Saying so, I ate cold meat together with the soup.

Normally the taste wouldn’t be that good, but since I was so hungry, I could say that it was delicious.

For the first-timer of this world food, it wasn’t that bad.

They used herbs that tasted a bit funny and it had a strong scent, but because of it, the meat didn’t smell that fishy.

The herbs were inside the simple soup too.

However, it seemed that they didn’t use salt in any of the dishes.

Salt which was usually taken from the sea, in a country surrounded by mountains and forests should be a valuable item or perhaps, it wasn’t even in circulation.

For a modern person, food without spices tasted a bit bland, still, it was a lot better than nuts.

While I was eating, Grandpa Kara, who had disappeared, went to get a wooden jug full of water for me.

“I wanted to bring you some alcohol, but Illias seems troubled with something. Could you go see her after this?”

“Okay. But before that, should we clean this place first?”

“Hohoho, Thank you.”

Then we cleaned the dishes.

After chatting with Grandpa Kara for a while, it was decided that I would visit the break room beside the prison where Illias-san was now.

It seemed that this barrack was like a gatekeeper protecting the castle gate and a resting place for the knights who were guarding the area around the castle.

Originally, Grandpa Kara and Illias-san were knights whose job was to patrol the town around the castle. But suddenly Illias-san got the order to subjugate the bandits.

Also, it seemed that this kingdom was called, ‘Tiez’.

“Hey, Illias. I brought the boy with me.”

“Ah, I see…”

Illias-san said while sitting on a chair. She looks like she thinking about something.

“From your look on your face right now, it seems that he hasn’t confessed anything yet huh.”

“I left him to someone who is good at these types of tasks, but still, it’s hopeless, and it looks like he will die if we try harder than this.”

Sounds like they are talking about something dangerous huh…

“Confess? are you interrogating the bandits?”

“Ah, yes. Even though we captured a gang of bandits yesterday, there is still another gang somewhere in Tiez territory. And since there’s no fighting between them, it seems that they have been interacting with each other and exchanging information with some unknown methods…”

I see… Well, from the size of the bandit’s gang that we fought yesterday, it’s not enough to fight one whole kingdom.

“There’s not enough information that I know. So, could you explain more about the current situation?”

“Ah, right…”

It started when the king of Garne Kingdom of the neighboring country changed.

The new King strengthened their national power splendidly and restricted the activities of criminals.

Because of it, the criminals had no choice but to leave Garne and flee to neighboring countries.

One of them was Tiez.

Tiez territory boasted the size of a territory comparable to Garne, but there were a lot of forests and mountains here. It was a perfect place for the bandits to set up a new base.

In recent years many plundering activities had occurred. And the knights started to take action to decrease it. But, the bandits would always run away whenever they saw any knights present, and when they saw any gap in the knights movement, they would start plundering again.

“I see. Have the knights ever tried to capture them using a decoy?”

“The knights did try hiding inside a carriage, they even wore the same clothes as the merchants, but they still failed, because they used detection magic.”

Even if you’re not in their field of view, detection magic seems to be able to perceive the presence of mana in a certain radius.

Indeed, if you have detection magic, then you can find anyone even if they’re hiding. If the knights were disguised, they couldn’t hide their high mana signatures, so the bandit must have considered the situation dangerous.

It’s like a magic version of a thermo-sensor. Seems really convenient to have.

“However, the fact that they are checking the amount of mana on person has means that if you use the detection magic from your side, can’t you find them?”

“There was a time when that method worked. But then they checked us from inside the forest, so the moment they felt our detection magic, they ran towards the deeper parts of the forest.”

Ah, I forgot about it. They told me yesterday when the detection magic is used, the other side will also notice it.

“I think with the knights’ speed, it’s enough to chase them while using detection magic.”

“Of course. However, they ran away while scattering Magic Sealing Stone.”

“Magic Sealing Stone?”

“What? You don’t know about it? Boy, where did you come from?”

“This one.”

Illias-san said while showing a transparent stone with a faint yellow-green color.

The size was about that of a marble, and it didn’t seem to be specially processed.

I got the impression that it was a glass stone rather than a jewel.

“This stone has a certain mana wrapped around it in proportion to its size. When magic touches that, the stone will react and break the magic construction, then disperses it as mana. It’s a stone that literally seals magic.”

What a fantasy killer item.

Since I came to the world of magic, I’ve gotten a strong desire to learn magic.

But, there is an Item that can stop any magic? Huff…

“By the way, is this stone a valuable item?”

“This kind of item… you can buy it with a child’s pocket money.”

Oh, it’s just that much? Really?

“So, are magic user almost powerless in actual battle?”

“You mean Magic-specialized Knights? Hmm, if you’re prominent at using magic, you could blow away the Magic Sealing Stone with your magic. But if the opponent suddenly throws the stone at close range, they would be powerless. In war, by bringing a huge Magic Sealing Stone, magic can’t be used on the entire battlefield.”

“I’m curious about something, wouldn’t it be impossible to use detection magic if you bring this around?”

As a matter of course, I had such a question.

I mean, based on the information, if you use magic that searches for a certain range that is centered on you, the magic stone will be included in the range and makes the magic invalid, right?

“Well, it’s possible if you use it in all directions. That’s why there’s a need to focus on the direction. For example, if there’s your comrade with a Magic Sealing Stone nearby, you need to exclude your comrade’s direction. So, you need a technique, but it’s not a difficult technique. If you’re used to it, you may be able to use magic while equipping a Magic Sealing Stone. Although there are limits.”

“So, the bandits are quite skillful…”

“Yeah, but well, depends on the training they have. Still, it’s hard to know what size and who is carrying it, so it would be difficult to use magic while carrying the stone in battle.”

“By the way, the Magic Sealing Stones were stored in one room in the cave yesterday. If you want to detect the surroundings, avoiding the room’s direction is enough.”

Hmm, so… it’s a stone which the neutralization range depends on its size.

Moreover, because the price is reasonable, it’s disposable.

And if you throw it away while you are on the run, you can effectively interfere with the chase side’s detection magic.

Then what if the merchants bring them?

No, that’s not good.

Having the means to cancel the detection magic will make them look suspicious.

Wait… wouldn’t it be hard for the bandits to attack the merchants who bring the stone?

“What if instead you give the stones to the merchants?  Won’t the bandits be more wary and reduced the amount of damage and looting they commit?”

“Certainly, the first detection magic can be neutralized. But they can use detection magic again while avoiding the direction of the one bringing the stone.”

“What if you bring it in large amounts or just one in massive size?”

“Let’s say that it works. Then the bandits have no choice but to take a risk. And if you put a decoy, you might capture them someday, but before that happens, there’ll be a lot of sacrifices. In the end, it’s difficult to get everyone to agree with that suggestion.”

Well, that’s true. There aren’t many merchants who want to take the risk with unavoidable sacrifice.

If the bandits need to decrease their plundering further, they’ll definitely search for new methods and become even more daunting.

While searching for their prey, they’ll be more careful and only attack those that they are sure of.

On the contrary, if we search for them without much planning, they’ll escape using the stones.

Really, what a bunch of troublesome bandits.

Considering this, it seems that it was really a fortune for the knights that a stranger, me, who doesn’t have normal human mana to accidentally discovered the bandit’s base and leaked that information.

No wonder they were so excited.

“In the end, there’s a need to subjugate them once and for all.”

“Yes, and when I finally thought that I can grab their tail… the bandits don’t seem like leaking any information.”

Finally, it’s back to the present problem.

Without any information from the captured bandits, the damage rate could only be slightly reduced.

No, it’s not a time to be happy with just a slightly reduced problem. If the other bandits start to be active again, in the end, the results won’t change at all.

“By the way, isn’t there any brainwashing or manipulation magic?”

“There is. But, there’s a need to cast the magic in the head. And I don’t know how, but they planted a small Magic Sealing Stone inside their head. Forcefully taking it out, may lead them to their death.”

Damn, they’re so thorough.

It might be possible if there’s surgical technology, but, considering the standards of this world, it’s not possible.

Precise extraction with magic might be possible, but, in the first place, it’s not viable since the stone planted in the head is a thing that nullifies magic.

Even so, the fact that the bandits didn’t yield to this gorilla’s interrogation makes me terrified.

Is their sense of fellowship that high? No, that’s not it. The other bandit gang didn’t even help them when we went to capture and destroy them yesterday.

So, is the information of the other bandits more important than their own life?

“I’m curious about something… can you let me interrogate them?”

“???”

Illias-san and Grandpa Kara looked at me with strange faces.

Thus, I went to the interview room… no, the interrogation room with one of the bandits.

I didn’t want to do any torture, so I planned to do it in a similar way to those in the detective dramas.

Inside the room, both of us sat on a chair.

“Huh!? Who the fuck are you, kid!?”

“I’m the new interrogator.”

“Hahaha, after the knight, now they sent a bean sprout!? Oi, oi, Tiez’s standards this low!?”

“Well, it’s not like brute strength is needed for interrogation. Besides, I don’t like hurting others.”

“And he’s a coward to boot!? Just kill me already! I don’t have anything to say to the likes of you!”

Damn, he’s scary.

There’s plenty of hate from him.

Looking at the new wounds on his body, he might have already been interrogated and tortured by the knights.

But thanks to seeing those monstrous knights, I’m not that afraid if it’s only this much!

“Then, can you at least tell me why you can’t speak?”

“Huh!?”

“Right now, I’m trying to get information from you. But if you can’t speak it, I want to know why.”

“Are you stupid? Why do I have to talk to my enemy?”

“You know… I heard from the person in charge, because you’ve killed a lot of people, it seems you won’t be able to avoid the death sentence.”

“Of course! That’s why, just kill me already!”

“I’m curious about one thing. Why do you stubbornly refuse to cooperate even if you know you will die? Even if you spit out information, you’ll eventually die. Moreso, the ones who will get troubled are those of different bandit gangs, your business rival. And normally, isn’t it better to die peacefully after spiting information, than dying by torture?”

“……”

“At least for you guys, it looks like selling information about other bandits seems to be scarier than dying. That’s why, I want to know the reason.”

“What’s the point in telling you that?”

“Well, at least I get satisfied.”

“Huh!?”

“If you could satisfy me with the reason why you can’t spit any information, there’s no need to torture you at all. Don’t you think that it’s benefits both sides?”

“……”

“It’s not like I’m asking you to sell your friends. I’m just suggesting that you can die peacefully after you tell me the reason. But, if by chance, there’s also a reason why you can’t even tell me that, it can’t be helped. I’ll just leave the rest of the work to the knights then.”

Now, what will you do?

Well, that last one seems to be a threat and doesn’t sound to good, but my mouth slipped, can’t be helped…. I hope it works.

“… It doesn’t matter even if we die. ‘That Person’ can grant us eternal fear, wherever we are.”

Oh, finally he gives me some information.

“You can’t talk about it in detail, right?”

“Right.”

Well, having some method means that if you tell it to others, it’s the same as selling information.

But he gave me some valuable information, so let’s think of what course of action needs to do done after this.

First, he said, ‘That Person’.

That means, there’s a very threatening person in this whole bandit gang.

Perhaps, it’s good to say that ‘That Person’ is also threatening other bandit gangs.

That means, the bandits’ gangs that made a base in Tiez territory must be revolving around “That Person”.

So, what kind of relationship do they have, is it cooperation? or obedience?

Next, there seems to be a means to make others who dare try to betray regret that decision even after death.

A quick idea about it would be that their family or someone important to them will get killed.

But, this bandit… his family has already been killed in front of him. And it is hard to think that his wife has been taken hostage.

Also, that’s not enough to instill an eternal fear.

Wait… maybe the word I need to worry about is, ‘eternal fear’.

I can imagine what that might be, but that’s just my fantasy delusion. No point in worrying about it now….

Just in case, let’s ask an expert later.

“I see… alright. It’s enough, thanks.”

Then, I decided to stand up and leave.

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Translator : Kinokura
Editor : Alany

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5.For the time being, It’s terrible

◇ MC POV ◇

The average speed humans walk at comes in at around 4 km/h. And when running it’s around 12 km/h.

I needed 4 to 5 hours to descend from the mountain, walk through the forest, find the road, and meet with Illias-san.

So, from the place I jokingly placed my mark at, I travelled a distance of 10-20 km.

About 1 hour has passed since we departed from the castle in the evening and we’re about to reach the place I placed my mark at.

Hmm… I guess it’s possible for humans to run at a speed of 20 km/h?

The knights, each wearing full-body armor and carrying weapons.

Sword, battle axe, mallet, spear, all of them looked heavy.

I wonder what are they made of… how can they move that fast… really, what are the average specs of this world’s people…

And more so, Illias-san has been carrying an adult male, me, on her shoulder this entire time.

Oh, its seem we’re here.

Finally, she’s taking me out of this bag!

 “I’m glad that we can reach this place before the sunset. I remember the mark supposedly…… “

The view changes as the night arrived.

I was kind of afraid and nervous that they would guess what I’m thinking right now, which was getting the general area wrong, but…

“…it’s here.”

Since it was kind of a peculiar tree, I could pinpoint it without trouble.

“Their base is towards that direction, however won’t the bandits’ notices if we go straight from here with this many people? They seem to frequently walk around here.”

“Right. It would be bad if they escaped, before we got there.”    

Saying so, Illias-san made a thinking face.

She really looks like a dignified knight right now.

“What to do…”

Without long, she asked with a straight face while tiny beads of sweat ran down her forehead. Never mind, she just a muscle-brain.

“Really, what to do…”

Even the older knights made worried faces.

So, I have no choice but to give them some help.

“First, we’ll travel up the river that is located near their base. It’s really just located on the side their base. Then,  we go into their base from there.”

I clearly remembered the shape of the river. And since the bandits seemed to sometimes use the river too, there must be a road leading to their base.

Wait… now that I think about it, I thought that the river would lead me to a place where people lived. But, in the end, I never knew where the river leaded to. Maybe the endpoint is a lake?

“I see, if we go with that plan, it’ll be hard to be recognize with ‘detection magic’ too.”

A word that I wasn’t used to hearing before got mentioned.

Eh? The bandits can use that kind of stuff? They’re not even a knight. And if they’re not magic knights… magic bandits maybe?

Now, I finally understood what they worried about.

While I was thinking about how to get near them in stealth, they were thinking about how to not get spotted by detection magic.

So, it’s not just a problem if we make a sound then run and hide to avoid being spotted. But we also have to take into account that if they begin to get uneasy, they may start observing around the area with detection magic.

Usually inside a game, when it’s an infiltration mission, the enemies’ field of vision is about 90 degrees.

But in this situation, the bandits have an antenna pointed at every direction, and you can’t even hide using rocks and trees like in those games.

…Isn’t the difficulty just too hard?

“If they have detection magic, wouldn’t we just get noticed when we get near the cave?”

“We will definitely get noticed, that’s if they use their magic periodically. But when they use their magic, we will also feel it. If we get noticed while on the way to their base, they might start to run away in every direction. But if it’s near their base, they need to take their treasure too. So, in conclusion, we just need to wipe them out fast all at once.”

That’s a lot of confidence.

They really are just muscle-brain people. But, maybe that’s the reason for their confidence.

I mean, they marched here at a speed of 20 km/h. So, if it’s a short distance, I bet it’s not a problem for them.

If we are really unlucky and encounter them on the way, and they spread the information to others by any means, even if we managed to catch the said bandit in front of our eyes, their colleagues might succeed in running away.

But, if we drive them to a corner, it might be possible to wipe them out all at once.

 “Alright, let’s go!”

Illias-san and her knights started to move inside the forest that was usually out of human reach.

Going through the forest, we went into the mountain.

Again, I was really shocked by their speed.

When I was descending from the mountain, I was so desperate to clear the spiderwebs and struggling to not get caught in by the surrounding plants.

But, for them, it seemed like nothing. It was like they run straight on a pathway.

And even if we went up the mountain, no one was out of breath, not even Illias-san.

That, made me stare at her with an indescribable expression, questioning her origin.

“I can see the river.”

The sun had already set.  So, we could only depend on the light from the moonlight that passed through the gap in trees.

That should be the case, but they continued to move even without any worries.

If Illias-san put me down and asked me to walk by myself, Surely, I would be lost somewhere by now.

……I wonder if there’s night-vision magic too? I mean, we’re progressing too smoothly no matter how I think about this.

“Could we move a bit more to higher ground? I feel that this spot is too exposed from what I remember.”

Then, after we went upstream for a while, until I started to see the spot of the river that looked like from what was in my memory.

Now, following the spot, I looked around the area for something, but it was hard to find anything, since it’s too dark.

“I think it’s around… here?”

Finally, Illias-san put me down. Then, while I was walking carefully, I heard something get kicked.

While I reacted with an unpleasant feeling, I saw the thing that got kicked.

“Wha―!?”

I thought that I stopped breathing for a moment.

Rolling on the ground, was a human arm.

The bandits that I saw before started to pass my mind.

……that’s right. One of the bandits near the cave brought a human arm around.

The human arm that I saw at that time had some ornaments on it. But this one doesn’t have any.

Maybe they chopped the arm of their prey around this river, and the one that has no value got abandoned here?

“This… maybe an arm of the merchant that got attacked.”

“How cruel. Well, let me bring it back. It’s too pitiful if it becomes food for the beasts in the area.”

One of the knights made a small pray before picking up the arm and walking towards the river. He started to clean the arm using the river water and carefully placed it inside the bag that we brought.

The other knights showed sad expressions.

Around the place where the arm rolled, there was a road.

Thinking that if we followed it, we might reach the cave, I pointed to the road up head.

And the knights started to hold their weapons at he ready and walked silently.

◇  Guard POV ◇

There was a cave in the middle of the mountain. And a band of bandits made it their base.

One person guarding the entrance of the cave. He looked bored.

In this kind of mountain, the only purpose for the lookout was to keep it safe from any wild beast.

But, the beasts that lived in the deepest part of this mountain are too hard to deal with even for them.

If the bear, which was more than 4 meters high, gave a surprise attack, they all would die in a moment.

As expected, it was hard to stay alive here. More so if they traveled to the deepest part of the ‘Black Demon Lord’s Killer Mountain’, it would be their demise.

 “YAWN!!…hmm? It’s time already?”

While yawning, another bandit came out from the cave.

 “Nooope, I just want to pee, it’s not the time yet.”

 “Please, don’t do it in my sight.”

 “Yeah, yeah.”

And that comrade of his went into the shade of a tree.

Anyway, it was too boring that he started to take out a cigarette that he got from the merchant he robbed recently.

He started to ignite flame from the tip of his finger.

“Ugh… it’s no fun to just kill fat merchants, sometimes I need girl too.”

He stared at the moon while smoking. Then after around 30 minutes, he threw the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it.

“He’s so slow…  is he shitting?”

The bandit was mumbling while looking in the direction his comrade went to.

At that moment, he felt something strange.

In the middle of night, he felt some gaze from inside the bushes.

“……”

The bandit started using detection magic.

‘You must thoroughly search any place that you have doubt’, this was the rule.

When someone started using detection magic, that person could perceive any mana within 50 meters of range.

If it was a human, then it would appear in human form, and the caster could identify where the human was located.

If it was just a beast without a lot of mana, it would just look like a little haze in the distances.

The bandit thought that in the end, it might just be a silhouette of his comrade taking a shit.

“Wha…!?”

But, at the same time when he noticed that many mana signatures with human shapes were surrounding the entrance, his head got blown away by a spear.

The other bandit inside the cave started to get tense.

Since the one who was guarding the entrance just used detection magic.

They thought maybe it would still be okay. Because, if something strange was noticed, the guy on the lookout right now will immediately tell them.

But, the detection magic suddenly stopped.

Supposedly, the magic would naturally stop after around 10 seconds, but it wasn’t even a few seconds and it had already stopped.

The only possibility was, either the caster released it or the caster had died.

Since getting interfered by their fellow comrade was unthinkable, there was only one reason they could think of.

“Intruder!”

The other bandits that were still asleep were suddenly waked by the alert and began to gather their weapons.  

◇ MC POV ◇

The battle officially started.

One of the knights quickly strangled the bandit that came near the bushes.

While we went into position near the entrance, suddenly one of the knights threw his spear and killed a guard that was nearby.

“He used detection magic. I’ve cleaned up the caster, but their comrade will notice soon!”

The knight that threw the spear shouted that word.

At the same time, the other knights started to jump out, and rushed into the cave.

Their speed was like a leopard chasing its prey.

Soon after that, someone’s scream could be heard from inside the cave.

It didn’t sound like one of the knights, so must be one of the bandits.

 “We should go too. Don’t stray too far from me.”

 “O-okay.”

I positioned myself in the rear, then went into the cave together with Illias-san.

Our comrades that had just gone into a fierce battle, didn’t look like they were in a rush anymore.

After we passed through the narrow ceiling, soon we reached a big space.

A lot of torches were on the wall, so the interior was quite bright.

Therefore, the inside was clearly visible.

“Wow…”

I saw the knights fighting the bandits.

Well, it was hard to say that they were fighting, it was just one-sided massacre.

The bandits moved faster than any wild animals, their numbers tripled ours, and they cooperated with each other, so there was no one-on-one fight with the knights.

But, the knights were just too strong.

From the back and front, the bandits tried to attack the knights, but with one spear swing from a knight, the bandit’s arms got blown off one by one.

The bandit holding a shield was trying to take the attack, but got smashed with a mallet.

Another knight attacked with a battle axe, and some of the bandits got blown away towards the wall by the wind pressure.

The bandits couldn’t handle a frontal battle well… No, even challenging one of the knights seemed like an impossible task for them.

I started getting nauseous after seeing such a bloody scene, but I held it up.

All the fighting figures of the knights were so impressive.

More than fearing them, I was admiring them.

“Don’t kill the ones that surrender! But, don’t hold back in killing anyone who tries to escape!”

““ “Yes Ma’am!” “ “

Together with Illias-san command, the knights raised their voice.

The bandits were fighting back desperately at the beginning, but the outcome was already decided before the fight even began.

There were those who were crouching on the ground with severe wounds and those who had already been cut into pieces of meat.

It was the end for any bandits who still had the will to fight.

“So noisy!”

The cave shook and the knights halted their movement.

There was a bigger area inside the deeper part of the cave. A big-muscular bandit came out from it.

He was so big… No, he wasn’t just big but more like a giant.

I thought that there was something wrong with my sense of distance.

He was clearly even bigger than the 4 meters bear I met. Perhaps around 5 meters.

A rock larger than an adult man on his arm, chained with multiple chains to a mallet.

“What… the…”

“You, how dare mere knights mess around in my bed…”

An image of those who had a prominent power passed my mind.

So… he is the master of the bandits?

But, isn’t his race different? I mean, he doesn’t seem like a normal human… or is there a Giant race here in this world?

The knights backed down. Of course, there was a need to be vigilant against this giant after all.

…….W-what!!?

I saw Illias-san move quickly towards the giant’s head.

“Are you the boss? There were no reports mentioned about you. Maybe because it’s impossible to go down from the mountain with such a massive figure?”

“What?”

The giant swung down his mallet.

There’s nothing that can be done now. But, Illias-san is also a knight! I hope she can avoid――

Then a tremor ran throughout the cave.

At the same time, the giant was stunned.

After all, Illias-san stopped the mallet with one hand.

“What’s wrong? Is that giant body just for show?”

“This bitch…!”

After a cracking sound, the mallet shattered.

Illias-san smashed it with one hand. Truly, what a strong gorilla.

Even the giant got surprised by her superhuman strength.

 “It’s too troublesome to bring your giant body back. So, I’ll just judge you for all of your sins, right here right now!”

Iliias took out her sword.

Wait, isn’t the scabbard still intact?

While I was thinking about it, the giant bounced back.

“Urgh… ahhh…”

The giant’s abdomen got blown away, and with its his head fall down to the ground, this marked the end of his life.

At the same time, the knight cheers of victory could be heard.

“Make sure to search for any bandits who could have escape our grasp with detection magic! And bring back the ones who’re still alive!”

Saying so, Illias-san walked to my side as if nothing happened.

“Seems like everything end safely.”

“Well, I’m definitely going to develop trauma from this…”

“What? You’ve got the chance to see the knights doing their job, so aren’t you supposedly feeling a sense of impression with the knights?”

Illias-san protested with a slightly unsatisfied face.

“Why didn’t you draw your sword at the end?”

“Hmph… I didn’t want my sword to be stained with their dirty blood.”

“Really? I thought I saw you trying to draw it, but it got stuck in the scabbard. I guess, it was just my imagination then.”

“……”

“……”

“…That’s not tru――”

“Okay, okay! I get it, so please lower your sword, I beg you!”

No bandits escaped in the end.

Of the 34 bandits including the boss, 7 were captured and the others died.

The robbed goods were safely recovered too.

Just like this, the bandit’s extermination was successfully completed, and we started going down the mountain.

Of course, I, an ordinary person, got carried again in the end. I was made to be even more afraid of her superhuman strength than ever before.

◇ Another Unknown Bandit POV ◇

Somewhere around the deepest part of the forest in Tiez territory. There laid another base for rhe bandits.

There was a part of a forest that got cleaned up. There, some simple tents lined up, and the largest tent in the middle stood out among all.

Inside that tent, A one-armed man was sitting down in a luxurious chair listening to his subordinate’s story.

“Gidou and his crew were defeated?”

“Yes boss, When I went there, only corpses were left. Gidou’s corpse was also there.”

“What about our treasures?”

“It’s too bad, but it looks like the Tiez knights brought them back with them.”

“That place is quite deep inside the mountain. They didn’t seem to know the exact location beforehand, so they’ll needed a few more months before they actual found it. But, it’s hard to believe that the knight has been searching around that area stealthily.”

“Maybe some of the Gidou’s people got followed?”

“No, I know that Gidou is stupid, but his men got my teaching.”

This man’s name, was Dokora.

Formerly a famous bandit in the neighboring country, Garne. But, since Garne’s national power increased because of the new king, he moved his base to Tiez.

Then he gathered other bandits that ran away from Garne territory, became the leader of them, and then formed the ‘Bandit Alliance’.

The difference from Garne which was mostly plains and the massive amount of difficultly to find a place to hide, Tiez which had mountain forests range that people rarely ever visit was like the perfect ground for them.

One day, Dokora, who lived on the dark side of the country, knew something that shouldn’t be known. Because of it, his life got aimed.

He lost one of his arms at that time. Since then, he couldn’t do any assassination properly, so he changed his way of life to that of a bandit

Based on these experiences, Dokora knew a lot of tracking techniques for spying.

By sharing a part of it with the bandits, he lowered the probability of the alliance’s crew getting captured and increased the rate of looting by exchanging information.

This allowed them to get out of Tiez knight’s grasp many times before.

“What is it? What kind of method did they use huh?”

Did they bring a child with no mana then accidentally get them lost in the mountain and found the cave by chance? Dokora thought that the probability of this was almost none.

“Tell the others to refrain from any flashy actions for a while, and when exploring, see the movements of the other party.”

“Yes boss!! One more thing, I tried to count the number of the corpse in Gideo’s place… And, I think some of them got captured, and one of them is the guy who made a lot of contact with us.”

“Are you worried that he’ll get tortured and then leak out our information? Relax. That guy isn’t stupid. He knows well that my wrath is scarier than a mere knight’s torture. More than living in fear of my wrath after he leaking our information, I bet he’ll choose to die by torture.”

Dokora demonstrated what happens to traitors at the end of their life to all of his crew members before.

Using torture techniques that he used while still living on the dark side, he made the others think that an upright knight’s torture was just a service that would kill you fast.

“Increase the stock of Magic Sealing Stones and install more traps!”

“Yes, boss!”

“Well, let’s see what Tiez got.”

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Translator : Kinokura
Editor : Alany

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4.For the time being, Put me down please

  “It seems that you aren’t lying.”

  “…”

How I came from another world called Earth.

How I came down from the slope of the mountain and into this Kingdom.

I didn’t know the reason why I migrated. And of course, I didn’t have any show of proof that I came from Earth.

All I did was just talk about my experiences up till now.

Ah, also it seemed that this knight is called, “Illias” and the woman beside her is called, “Maya”.

They told me both their names after I gave them mine.

“It’s pretty hard to believe… But I believe in Maya.”

“It was tough right from the moment I arrived here. Suddenly appearing on the side of a mountain, then right after that, I come face to face with a bear.”

“Ara, that must be hard.”

“For an ordinary person, even a bear is a threat.”

Apparently, this isn’t important information to them.

Hearing my words, their reaction seems mundane, it was just like, ‘I see… well it doesn’t matter to me’ kind of reaction.

“When the bear started to attack me, I thought that I would die at that moment. But all of a sudden, out of nowhere, that bear got eaten by a slime.”

“ “!!!?” ”

Apparently, this is important information.

This time, they looked surprised.

“You, did you seriously come from the mountain called ‘Black Demon Lord’s Killer Mountain’ !? “

Seriously!? that name sound like a mix of famous brands of sake. And I feel like taking a sip of it. [TN: Just to say, there is a sake called, Maou (Demon Lord) also, Onigoroshi (Oni’s Killer), so yeah ]

“The first mountain had a lot of translucent trunks, and even though it was night, overgrown leaves that had a shining reflection effect could be found everywhere.”

“Why are you still alive?”

Even though, I just explained my situation, my existence got questioned. This actually made me kind of sad.

“I’m sorry for being alive.”

“That’s not what I meant. That place is so dangerous that not even a dragon wants to get close.”

It seems like a dragon exists somewhere in this world. I’ll add that to my ‘must-see’ list.

The reason why I understand the word ‘Dragon’ or ‘Slime’, must be because of the possession skill that was cast on me.

In fact, maybe that’s not how it’s called here, but the words we are expressly saying are conveyed after they get translated by the spirit, so that it can be easily understood by one another.

That’s why I want to believe that ‘Black Demon Lord’s Killer’ is a name that’s forcefully translated.

Wait a moment…, even a Demon Lord could be killed by that Slime? Is power balance of this world warped?

“But, there was a bear there.”

“That’s because it ate the rye fruits. The Slime’s Mana disperses around the surrounding area, as a result even normal terrain could grow grass that has the Slime’s Mana infused into it. So, in the end, eating that fruit will get your mind manipulated and make you go towards the direction of the slime’s nest.”

Wow, that’s frightening.

The fruits were scattered all around the forest, so if you eat them, your mind will get manipulated.

Although, I ate an adequate amount of that rye fruit that was around the area, I’m glad that my mind didn’t get manipulated.

“By the way, the abundant number of fruits that you’re holding, is that.”

And, I used that as my staple food, that’s… Even more frightening.

Ah, maybe that’s why, on my way down the mountain, I suddenly got the strange temptation to go back to the slime’s nest.

That place felt so cozy, it made me want to go back and live there.

“Maybe, it doesn’t work on humans?”

“That’s not true. But, once you distance yourself far enough, there’ll be almost no effect.”

“But, I ate it near that Slime.”

“Maybe because the mana inside your body is low. Rye Fruit is made by the Slime’s mana, so every time you’re harvesting that fruit, the mind control will be carried out. However, the mana that present in your body is too low, making it so that the effects of mind control to not activate properly.”

I see, I was saved by my small fry like MP that’s only 1, is it? But in this case, I should be happy, and not sad that I’m alive.

“If it’s like that, maybe the reason why you survived is because of your small amount of mana. Certainly, that Slime would attack the prey that has more mana.”

“It reacted to sound too.”

“Right. Even insects will be eaten, so it’s the troublesome ability.”

I see, so it’s like that huh. In short, that omnivorous Slime would attack the one it detected with a lot of mana first aggressively, after that it will direct its attention to the one moving around it.

It didn’t try hard to eat me, because of my small fry MP that’s at like level 1.

“It’s great to be alive.”

“Do you want to be affiliated with my church? I will make sure you pray every day.”

“COUGH!!… So, after moving to the neighboring mountains, you go down the forest and reached Tiez. Without any equipment at that, it must have been hard.”

“For equipment, I have a splendid wooden stick, that also works as my reliable partner.”

“That stick? Oh… Sorry. But it became fuel for the fire.”

Seems like my partner, with whom I spend my time on the mountain together, just became ash.

Thinking about my partner, the flashback of my sworn partner ‘Wooden’ was rolling inside my brain with a sad song.

” ―― God died”

“Hey, don’t you selfishly make me lose my job!”

“It’s good that you didn’t meet any bandits. Right now, a lot of bandits are roaming around this territory. If you would have met them inside the forest, I bet you wouldn’t be here now.”

Now that you mention it. At that time, I was happily walking when I found the road, but now that I think about it, that area was really dangerous, wasn’t it? I was careless!

“Is that so? Thank god I only met them inside the mountain.”

“Oh, glad that you―― Huh?”

Illias-san stiffed.

Amazing, her face looks really funny right now.

This girl can make this kind of expression too huh?

“You met them… inside the mountain?”

“They were a bunch of dangerous people walking around while bringing the arm of a corpse. ―”

“Where!? Where did you see them!?”

She approached me faster than the Slime, and suddenly grab my shirt around the chest area.

Wait, stop, my brain, shaking, my energy, I’m dying, this goril――

Illias shaking our Mc Illustration

“Illias, you’re killing the kid!”

“Ah! F-forgive me.”

“COUGH!! COUGH!!“

While coughing with teary eyes, at that moment, that was the closest I got to death since I came to this world. For sure.

It reminded me of the past, when my chest got grabbed by a drunk bodybuilder. But, she got more power than them.

Humans could die just by getting shaken. I learned this fact today.

Anyways, after arranging my breathing, I told them that when I followed the river downstream, there was a bridge that was broken and after that, I found a cave and came across the bandit around there.

Then, when I was descending the mountain, I passed by a lot of bandits.

Illias-san was trembling angrily.

Illias heard that the bandits had a base inside the mountain, and it was very difficult to find their location, and she received the order for getting rid of them just yesterday.

“I can’t afford to stay still! I need to assemble a subjugation squad immediately!”

“Wait, the kid came here in rush, right? So, I wonder if he remembers the exact place in detail.”

“Now that I think about it, I left a mark on the tree, when I went inside the forest.”

“The circumstances are too good that I’m moved by it. Is it all right to hug you?”

“If possible, please be gentle”

“Both of you are getting along well huh.”

After that, it was decided that I would be in charge of leading them to the base of the bandits.

The time was evening, in front gate of the castle, Illias-san was standing in front of her personnel with me being carried on her shoulder. Nothing to see here, just some poor traveler from another world, looking like baggage to her.

Hmm… I don’t know if whether they are from the same unit as Illias-san or not, but with me included, it’s 10 people.

Most of them look like already in their old age, but that also means, they are experts.

But more than that, aren’t the way you treating me weird? or it’s just that you like to carry baggage with you?

“All of you! Today, based on information from some travelers, I got a report that inside the mountain, there is a cave where the bandits are lurking around it. We need to be on the offense and capture the bandits immediately!”

“Yes Ma’am!!”

“What luck! No, it’s a miracle that we will be the ones to subjugate them!”

“Definitely it’s God’s will for Lady Ratzell.”

With the announcement from Illias-san, I felt that the morale of the knights started to rise.

Unfortunately, I would only be baggage for this matter.

 “It’s hard to assemble a lot of personnel in a rush, so we lack people. But, with all of your courage, the one who’s lacking are the bandits, not us!”

 “Yes Ma’am!”

“Don’t you bring any shame to the knights that failed this mission before us!”

And here I thought that Illias-san was the only gorilla, but maybe all of them are gorillas.

I don’t know whether it was because of their high morale, but the sound of their weapons shaking was weird.

Just now, there was someone’s weapon hitting the ground, wait… it was the ground that was shaking.

“Okay, Let’s go!”

“Wait, Illias-san”

“What? You’ve got something to say?”

“Before we go, could you treat me a bit better?”

“?”

“Can’t you treat me like a normal person?”

“… Huh?”

“Oh, young man, I thought that you liked being carried on someone’s shoulder?”

Thus, the knight’s unit led by Illias-san, would attempt to attack the bandit’s base.

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TL : Kinokura
Editor : Alany

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1.For the time being, I want to meet another people

Alright, somehow, I came to another world

Originally, according to the transporting to another world theory, I should use a flashback scene, and explain from there, from my everyday life until I came here.

But, it’s embarrassing to talk about it with other people, so I’ll omit it.

The only information I’m going to give is, that I’m a Japanese male that came here from Earth.

More than this is going to be a privacy problem――

“No, now is not the time to be narrating the prologue.”

Let me explain my current situation, I’m inside an otherworldly forest. And, that’s all.

When I noticed, I was inside a forest. No, perhaps, it’d be more accurate if I say that, I’m inside a mountain with overgrown trees and weak slopes. By the way, how do I know that I’m in another world, is because of the trees in front of me.

It has a transparent trunk that allows a faint view of the scenery on the other side.

And fantasy-like leaves that emit faint light, are all over my field of vision.

Where can you find a forest like this on Earth?

If it exists, please tell me where it is. I want to travel there in my old age.

“By the way, about 20 minutes have passed since I’ve been immersed in the view.”

5 minutes being impressed by the scenery.

5 minutes since I calmed down, and started thinking where am I right now.

5 minutes thinking that maybe this is another world, and definitely not earth.

And another 5 minutes for looking back at the trees, and relaxing my mind.

I need to start moving soon.

First, I should check my condition.

“No injury on my body. I can’t see any sign of grotesque deformation or any appearance of a crest, like what you see in a typical fantasy development. I can’t feel any magic power surging up from my body either. Personal belongings…  I’ve nothing.”

In short, I have nothing with me because I was in the middle of throwing trash outside my house, when I suddenly transported here.

No smartphone or a wallet full of coins, and paper money from Earth. Well, I’ve only had one piece of paper money inside.

Anyway, I was suddenly sent to this kind of place without any kind of explanation.

No reincarnation bonus either.

Wait, if I think about it calmly, I didn’t die, so this is not reincarnation, but rather transported to another world pattern.

Apparently, right now, it’s nighttime. It’s pitch dark above the trees.

Ah, there’s a star several times bigger than the moon, that usually can be seen from Japan.

It must be a satellite of this planet just like the moon, because I can see the change of day and night phase, and if I can see the satellite, it’s natural that I think this planet formed similarly to the Earth’s solar system, right?   in the solar system like Earth, right?

The probability of the Earth existing is astronomical. Well, there’s nothing more convenient than being transported to another world with that kind of probability.

” ―― Isn’t it a bad idea to walk around inside the forest at night?”

One of the ways to know the direction at night is to look at the celestial bodies, but the star arrangement is different, because this is another world.

As expected, finding something like Orion or the Big Dipper is impossible.

And if I think it calmly, even if I know the direction, because I’m in an unknown land, I don’t know where should I go?

So, yeah, I can only continue forward.

Fortunately, the plants around here are glowing, which means it’s safer than walking around forests at night, than on Earth.

“I should praise myself for wearing sneakers instead of slippers when taking the trash out.”

There was something that I understood after walking randomly for about 1 hour.

That, this place wasn’t a forest, but a mountain.

Wherever I proceeded, the ground level was constantly changing, and I could gradually feel the shape of a mountain.

Still, the mountain had a bad slope.

Also, it seemed that my starting point was near the peak of the mountain.

So, the first thing I thought I must do was to go down the mountain. Next was to find a river.

While walking down, there was something that came to my mind, of course, it was a way to survive.

I planned to eat nuts and drink night dew to survive, but since I wasn’t a natural-born survivor, there would be limits.

To be honest, it was scary to drink random raw water, so I put that as my last resort.

The reason to find a river was to set a course rather than to hydrate myself.

If this planet was unexplored by humanity, there was nothing I could do about it, but if humanity, and civilization existed, then the river could be the basis for it.

Famous ancient civilizations also flourished by cultivating around the rivers, since it had nutrient-rich soil. I wanted to believe that this principle was also the same in another world too.

“Right, here comes the problem.”

I muttered in a very low voice. Of course, that was the case.

As I could see “that” from afar.

Yes.

A Bear.

An extremely giant bear.

The bear that I had seen in the zoo didn’t even reach 2 meters, but this bear was at least around 4 meters high.

Aren’t they nocturnal? I mean, this forest is bright. There should be a problem, right?

It was about 20 meters ahead, but I could see it clearly.

Well, I could see it clearly, because it was bright.

Why are you looking over hereー? Am I about to be captured?

I was then thinking for a while, and I felt the valuable experience of having a frozen spine.

Pretending to be dead? I’ll just be easy prey.

Escape? The bear is on the descending side, and chasing uphill is a bear’s specialty.

Fight? Hahaha, not a chance, even if I have a hunting gun.

In the meantime, the bear was slowly approaching while growling.

Think. Think harder and come up with a solution quickly.

Ah! That’s right! There’s “that” method!

“N, Niceー toー meetー?”

The bear roared. Apparently, the western greeting wasn’t acceptable.

I should have started running as fast as I could?

Well, I couldn’t do that. My legs were shaking, so, I couldn’t move.

And the bear that recognized me as easy prey started to run after me—or not.

Suddenly, the bear was swallowed by a greenish-yellow liquid.

Perhaps the liquid that easily swallowed the whole body of a four-meter-class giant bear had a high viscosity, after all, it started to form a sphere, instead of spreading on the ground.

Along with the bear’s sorrowful cry, a frightening sound was coming from the liquid, and the inside of the liquid gradually turned black.

Blood.

The blood of the bear looked black because it was mixed with the liquid.

The bear’s fur, skin, and flesh were also melting at an abnormal rate. This liquid must be something with a will, after all, it was eating the bear.

  “…it’s a slime”

For anyone who ever played fantasy RPGs before, probably knew of it.

The thing in front of me was that. It didn’t have cute eyes, or mouth like a certain famous game,

More than that, it certainly didn’t look like a monster that would give you a single-digit experience point.

The bear’s scream of agony echoed throughout the forest as it desperately tried to escape from inside the slime.

However, it soon became quiet as part of the slime entered its mouth.

“Uuuhh… COUGH!! COUGH!!”

Seeing such a gruesome, emotionless, eating scene made me feel nauseous.

If I had seen this after a meal, I’d surely vomited, but it ended with the pain of gastric juice burning my throat.

However, only after coming to this point, that I finally realized the fatal mistake I made.

The slime started to move in my direction, maybe because of my cough.

I should’ve quickly escaped, while the bear was being eaten. I regretted watching it, and even Moreso of making a stupid sound.

But, the slime was moving slower than the bear’s walking speed. I thought that escaping now wouldn’t be too late.

  “——!?”

My body jumped sideways out of fear before I could even think further.

The place where I was a moment ago, was swallowed by the slime.

That speed reminded me of a ruptured water balloon, or a water cannon.

The slime showed no reaction to its failure, and it began to move in my direction again.

Again, it moved slowly. I felt like I was being played even though it had no emotion.

My body hadn’t stopped trembling. The giant bear, which was a threat up until earlier, not even its bones remained.

I was starting to realize that this might be the last few minutes of my life.

“A… aaah…”

Engulfed by fear, I couldn’t let my voice out.

I threw a stone that I randomly picked up at the slime.

However, the stone I threw with a lack of composure flew through without hitting the target.

It flew past through the slime and made a fine sound as it hit the trunk of a tree.

And, the slime suddenly leaped.

  “…?”

It jumped towards the tree behind it.

The tree collapsed due to the slime’s overwhelming size.

What a strange scene.

“Is it, eating the tree…?”

I guessed that the slime reacted to the sound, or maybe it’d be more accurate to say that it felt the vibration rather than the sound itself.

It attacked the bear when it was roaring, it reacted to my coughing sound, and when I made a stepping sound, it attacked me. And just now, it attacked a tree that made a loud noise.

Immediately, I looked around and picked a reasonable-sized stone.

I got up.

Perhaps, the slime realized that there was no prey in the place where it jumped, it started to move again as it reacted to the sound of me standing up.

Then I threw the stone that I picked up to the furthest tree, while trying to make as little noise as possible.

The stone hit the tree.

The slime reacted to the sound, and it leaped to the direction of the sound, and the tree collapsed just like earlier.

At the same time, I started to run away as fast as I can.

“Haah… Haah… Haah…”

Along the way, I looked behind repeatedly to see if something was chasing me. Fearing that something might be there, I threw a stone at a nearby tree while running away.

I didn’t know how far I ran.

As I was totally exhausted, I leaned against a nearby tree and breathed roughly.

The sky lit up, and when I realized, the scenery of the magical forest had been changed into a forest with common brown and green.

Huff… It’s great to be alive.

It’s really great—but why am I in such a situation?

Why was I transferred to this kind of world?

According to the popular books I’ve read, there’s always a reason behind being summoned, reincarnated, or transported like this.

I mean, this body has no unique characteristics, and I’m not a hero descendant either.

If there’s no particular reason, it’s quite possible that I was summoned by accident.

God’s whims and mishaps, summoning failure, and many more.

Well, at this point, I don’t care if it’s a mistake or failure. I just wanted to see the summoner’s surprised face in front of me.

Being abandoned in the mountains is too much for me.

“Become a hero then defeat the Demon King, or to create a harem with a bunch of beautiful demi-human girls, or whatever, just please let me live safely…”

Well, it’s no use complaining to someone who isn’t here.

Let’s continue after taking a break.

Now that I’ve calmed down, I just noticed that in this forest, I can feel the presence of ordinary living creatures here and there.

The voice of a chirping bird, a spider nest in a gap in between the trees, and, yep, there are no translucent trees around here.

I wonder if no decent animals are living here, because that slime inhabits that place. Ah, also that bear. Did the bear just wander around by chance, or something like that?

But, why was the bear carelessly wandering in the place where the slime that sits higher than itself in the food chain live?

“Anyway… I’m tired.”

I let myself enter the dreamland as I muttered so.

◇

A meeting was taking place at the castle in the Kingdom of Tiez.

The knight captains donned their shining silver armors, and the elites who were serving the King of Tiez, all were present.

And of course, the King of Tiez, Marito Tiez, himself.

Marito, at the early age of twenty-five, was a man of great caliber who inherited the throne and took the role of an active King.

Only two years after he became the King, he solved various domestic problems, and gained tremendous support from the citizens.

However, a troublesome issue had occurred, leading to the meeting right now.

“Was it a merchant without escort that got attacked again?”

“Yes. The horse-drawn carriages we escorted passed through without a problem, but it seems that those who followed were attacked, and only the corpses were left.”

“Although they reaped what they sowed for being a pinchpenny, it’ll be a bad example if the merchants that bring benefits to our country are always getting attacked.”

In the neighboring country, the Kingdom of Garne, the King had changed a few years back, and due to his competence, the crime rate around Garne had been dramatically reduced.

However, as a result, the bandits and other criminals had flown here.

Unlike Garne, where the plains spread out vast, in this land with many mountains and forests, there was no problem with campsites, so, it wasn’t a strange thing that a lot of bandits were hiding in the unexplored place, attacking the travelers whenever they had the chance.

Under Marito’s discretion, the knights had been stationed around the castle town and the surrounding villages to prevent any further damage.

However, it was still difficult to make the road safe.

Although it was possible to dispatch the knight from the government as escorts, it would naturally cost money and labor. There were just not enough personnel to make it free of charge.

In that situation, many merchants and travelers had no choice but to hire adventurers, but the size of the adventurer’s guild in the Kingdom of Tiez was rather small, and it lacked the number of personnel due to the strong influence of the knights.

The adventurer’s guild in other countries might have sufficient personnel, but it was impossible to force other countries to dispatch escorts.

As a result, people were trying to travel without escorts, and ended up getting attacked by the bandits.

“If bandits dare to attack, I will purge them with my sword…”

Said one of the knight captains, but Marito just sighed.

Indeed, the abilities of the knights in the Kingdom of Tiez were incredibly high. Even a few of them was enough to deal with more than a hundred bandits.

However, the bandit seemed to be aware of it. When the knights were escorting, they wouldn’t make an appearance at all.

It’d be a battle that couldn’t be won by fighting fair and square. In a sense, it was something natural.

“In order to purge the bandits, it’s necessary to grasp their whereabouts. Is there anyone here with a plan to break out from this deadlock?”

And like that, the knights were unable to say anything. Previously, various ideas were proposed, and although many of them were adopted, all of them ended up failing.

The cunning bandits always slipped through the knights with their predictable pattern of conduct.

“I know that we have failed in mountain hunting three times. But if we have a better grasp of the situation, I’m sure we can get a result… well, for the time being, I would like to choose someone who will be responsible for dealing with the bandits who have become more aggressive lately.  Is there someone who would do it? Or someone you would like to recommend?”

If this were any other task, the knights would’ve taken the initiative.

However, as several talented knight captains had already failed, it seemed that they understood the difficulty of this issue.

But, one did raised his hand, it was Sir Ragdo, the oldest among the knight captains.

“My king, there is someone I would like to recommend.”

“Sir Ragdo, is there someone here you’d wish to recommend?”

“No, it’s not someone here. However, everyone knows that she has a remarkable ability. I would like to recommend Illias from my unit.”

The faces of the knight captains became slightly displeased as such a name surfaced.

“Are you talking about Illias Ratzell? Is that right?”

Marito knew Illias very well.

In terms of ability, Illias could be said as a person of talent that wouldn’t lose, even to a knight captain in swordsmanship, and there nothing to be questioned about her loyalty to the country.

However, her reputation was never good. The reason was——

“If it’s “her”, I’m sure she’ll come up with an idea seen from a different perspective.”

“Very well, I will give you one month. I shall leave this matter to you.”

Pride might be involved at not wanting to admit the heights of her ability, and being a woman, only a few knights accepted Illias.

Sir Ragdo was one of the few people who think highly of her, but being a part of the minority, he couldn’t establish a firm position for her.

If Illias succeeded in subjugating the bandits, her reputation might change, but if she fails, she would likely be looked down on even more.

Marito also appreciated Illias, but he also knew the fact that Illias was an honest knight.

There was some concern about whether this would be a good idea against the cunning bandits. But, it would be nice if something could bring her towards a bright future. Such was in Marito’s mind as he was anxious about her future.

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