Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

The First Job: The Value of a Life 

T he Kirib house, located on Rikarisu’s Block Two, was a long, single-story building with four separate entrances. 

Those who lived there were far from well-off, but they weren’t as desperately poor as those who dwelled in the city’s slums. By the Demon Continent’s standards, they were typical working-class people. 

Three shadowy figures—two small, one large—were currently approaching this place. 

Strutting boldly along the street, they made their way to one of the building’s multiple entrances, indifferent to the gazes of those around them. 

“Hello, miss! We’ve come from the Adventurers’ Guild!” The young boy of the group knocked on the door, calling out in a high-pitched voice to the resident within. 

There was something unsettling about this. None of the adventurers in this city spoke that politely to anyone. They were a rough, crude bunch by nature. 

Still, the gentleness of the boy’s voice apparently deceived the resident of this room. The door squeaked open, and a girl of perhaps seven years emerged from within. Her long, lizard-like tail and distinctive forked tongue marked her as a member of the Houga race. 

The girl’s eyes went wide at the sight of her three unusual visitors, but the boy smiled cheerfully at her. “Hello there! Pleasure to meet you. This is Miss Meicel’s residence, correct?” 

“Huh? U-uhm…” 

“Oh, pardon me. My name is Rudeus, miss. Rudeus of Dead End.” 

“D-Dead End…?” 

This girl, Meicel, was of course familiar with that name. Everyone knew the story of the monstrous Superd warriors who’d fought so fiercely during the Laplace War 400 years ago, slaughtering friend and foe alike. And everyone knew that “Dead End” was the strongest and most evil of their number. It was said that none who met him lived to tell the tale. Even those who’d only glimpsed him from a distance said they’d only barely managed to escape with their lives. His name struck terror into the hearts of every resident of the Demon Continent; even brawny adventurers who boasted that they could slay any monster single-handedly would shudder just to hear him mentioned. 

But Meicel also knew what Dead End was said to look like, and this short, young boy didn’t match that description in the slightest. 

“We took on your request at the Guild this morning, miss. We’re here to find your lost pet. We were hoping to ask you for the details, if you can spare the time.” 

The name Dead End was terrifying in itself, and the other two people standing behind the boy were a little intimidating. But he spoke to her so politely that it was hard to stay afraid. And from the sound of things, they were adventurers who’d actually taken on the job she’d posted. 

“Please… Please find Mii for us.” 

“Ah, so your pet’s name is Mii? That’s a very cute name, I must say.” 

“I came up with it myself.” 

“Oh really? Well, you’ve clearly got a knack for naming things, miss.” 

This compliment earned the boy a bashful smile. 

“Now then…do you think you could tell us a bit about Mii maybe?” 

Meicel described her pet’s appearance, explained that it had disappeared three days ago, added that it hadn’t come back home, clarified that it usually came back when she called for it, and mentioned that it was probably hungry since she hadn’t fed it. It was a rambling, childish monologue. A typical adult may have rolled their eyes at the girl’s babbling and left halfway through; but the young adventurer listened to her with a smile, nodding encouragingly after every heartfelt sentence. 

“Understood, miss. We’ll go track Mii down right away. Rest assured, you’re in good hands with Dead End!” 

The boy closed his hand into a fist and stuck his thumb up into the air; for some reason, the other two behind him did the same. Meicel didn’t quite understand, but she imitated them anyway. 

Nodding with pleasure, the boy turned around and began walking away. The hooded girl who’d been standing behind him followed; but the taller man of the group squatted down in front of Meicel to pat her gently on the head. 

“You have my word—we’ll find your pet, Meicel. Be patient just a little longer.” 

He had a big scar running across his face; there was a jewel on his forehead; and his hair was a strange, spotty blue. It was a little scary to look him in the face…but his hand was warm and gentle. 

Meicel nodded. “O-okay. I’ll be waiting.” 

“Don’t worry. We’ll be back before you know it.” 

As the taller man stood up to take his leave, Meicel called out to him. 

“Uhm… What’s your name, Mister?” 

“Ruijerd,” the man replied, then turned and walked off with the others. 

Blushing faintly, Meicel murmured that name to herself. 

Rudeus 

O ur first meeting with the client had gone off very nicely, all in all. I’d just been imitating a door-to-door salesman who frequently stopped by my house in my previous life, but it seemed to work better than expected. It was fine for the other adventurers to laugh at us, but we needed our clients to think of us first and foremost as good people. That meant we needed to treat them kindly and politely. 

“I see you’re capable of playing more than one role,” said Ruijerd as we strode away victorious. “Quite impressive, Rudeus.” 

“Right back at you, Ruijerd. Your bit at the end there was just perfect.” 

“My bit at the end? What are you talking about?” 

“The part where you patted her on the head as you spoke to her, obviously.” That had been a total ad-lib. I was sweating bullets there for a second, but the results had been very impressive. 

“Oh, I see. What was so good about that?” 

Maybe the part where she was gazing up at you with a big blush on her face? Come on, man. I woulda been sorely tempted to kidnap her if I was in your shoes! 

It wasn’t a good idea to just come out and say that to someone who loved children as much as Ruijerd, though. He probably would’ve spent the next half-hour sternly rebuking me. So instead, I adopted a joking tone of voice and nudged him playfully in the thigh with my elbow. “Heheh. C’mon, Boss. You had that chick wrapped around yer little finger! Eheheh…” 

Ruijerd smiled dubiously and denied this, his voice a bit uncertain. 

“Eheheh! Don’t be so modest, Boss! If ya pushed a little harder, that girl woulda been putty in yer—Ow!” 

I was rudely interrupted by a smack upside the head. I turned to find Eris pouting at me. “Stop laughing like that! Wasn’t that stupid ‘Boss’ stuff supposed to be an act?!” 

Apparently, she wasn’t a big fan of my leering impression of a lowlife. Ever since the kidnapping, Eris had despised “vulgar” people. Back in Roa, she’d grimaced every time we passed someone dressed like a thug in the street. I was only kidding around with Ruijerd, but I guess she didn’t find it too amusing. “Sorry about that.” 

“Honestly! You’re a member of the Greyrat family, aren’t you? Don’t be so uncouth!” 

It took an effort of will not to burst out laughing at that one. Did you hear that, ma’am? Eris just told me off for being “uncouth”! Yes, that Eris! The little lady who used to feel the need to open every door she found by kicking it! She’s certainly grown more refined lately, don’t you think? 

Still…if she wanted to say things like that to me, shouldn’t she stop getting into barroom brawls with strangers first? 

Hmm. Hard to say actually. Based on what I’d seen of Sauros, maybe flipping out and punching someone in the face fell within the bounds of acceptable behavior…? No, no. Surely not… 

After giving it a moment’s thought, I realized I had no earthly idea where “uncouth” stopped and “couth” began for Asuran nobles. Accordingly, I changed the subject. “In any case, Ruijerd…do you think we can find this pet?” 

Based on what we’d heard from Meicel, Mii seemed to be a cat. It was black, and had been Meicel’s companion ever since she was very young. It was also likely on the larger side. Meicel had stretched her arms out wide to demonstrate its size; assuming that wasn’t an exaggeration, Mii had to be about as big as a full-grown Shiba Inu, which was pretty remarkable for a house cat. 

“Of course. I gave the girl my word after all.” With this promisingly decisive declaration, Ruijerd strode forward, taking up the lead. 

He was moving with confidence, but I was still feeling a little nervous. I knew he had a powerful built-in radar for living things, but it couldn’t be easy to track down one specific animal in a city that was full of them. “Do you have a plan or something?” 

“Animals move in very predictable ways, Rudeus. Look here.” 

I peering at the ground where Ruijerd pointed, I could just barely make out the outline of a small pawprint. Talk about impressive. I never would have noticed that in a million years. 

“So if we follow these tracks, you think we’ll find it?” 

“No. These are likely from a different animal. The paws of her cat wouldn’t be this small.” 

True, this did look more like the pawprint of an ordinary or even smallish cat…though I did somewhat suspect the girl may have been overstating Mii’s size somewhat. 

“Hm. So then…” 

“It seems like a different cat has been pushing its way into our target’s home territory.” 

“What? Really?” 

“It certainly seems that way. Her cat’s scent is fading, so another one’s moved in.” 

Wait. Uh…can he actually pick up on the smells they marked their territories with or something? 

“This way.” 

Ruijerd had apparently reached some sort of conclusion that he didn’t feel the need to share with us. He strode off down a side street and I quietly tagged along. It felt like we were making progress, although I wasn’t quite sure how . Maybe this was how it felt to be poor old clueless Doctor Watson. 

No worries, folks! We’ve got the best sleuth on the continent on the case! He’ll track down the criminals with his peerless investigative techniques, knock them flat with Demon-style Baritsu, and squeeze out a confession with a few pointed questions! Make way for Great Detective Ruijerd! 

“Found it. This is probably the one,” Ruijerd said, pointing at a non-descript section of the street. I couldn’t have told you what he’d “found” or why he felt the need to add on that “probably.” There weren’t any pawprints here that I could see. 

“Follow me.” Ruijerd set off again at once, moving forward steadily. 

Without hesitation, he led us through a series of side streets that seemed to get narrower and narrower as we went. If nothing else, these looked like the type of alleys you’d expect a cat to be slinking through. I still had no idea what sort of a trail Ruijerd was following, but…it seemed to be going smoothly so far. 

“Look at this. There’s signs of a struggle here.” 

We’d come to a halt in a dead-end alley. Whatever “signs” Ruijerd had found there, they were too subtle for me; I couldn’t see any bloodstains or scratches in the dirt. 

“This way.” Turning on his heel, Ruijerd took the lead once again. It kind of felt like Eris and I were just along for the ride. Talk about a low-stress job. 

We passed through a few side streets, cut across a boulevard, and headed into another side street. From there, we made our way into a back alley, then passed onto another side street. And so on, and so forth. 

After moving briskly through the city’s maze-like streets for some time, we took a sudden turn into a very different part of town. Everything here was run-down and desolate. The buildings were crude, unpainted, and crumbling from neglect. Some of the men we passed shot us ominous looks; there were people lying sprawled out along the street, and many of the children were in filthy rags. 

We were in a slum now. The change hadn’t been a gradual one, either. It was more like we’d stumbled right into the heart of it. Within moments, I was on high alert. “Eris, be ready to draw your sword at any time.” 

“…Why?” 

“Just to be on the safe side. Also, keep an eye on the people we pass in the street, and try to watch your back.” 

“Uh…okay!” 

It felt like a good idea to put Eris on her guard as well. We probably weren’t in much real danger with Ruijerd around, but I didn’t want us slipping up due to complacency. The two of us really ought to protect ourselves. 

With that thought in mind, I reached into my inner breast pocket and clutched tightly at my money pouch. I didn’t have that much cash to lose, but it would still be a disaster if someone swiped it. 

“…Tch.” 

Sometimes, one of the rougher-looking guys we passed would stare menacingly at Ruijerd, but when he glared right back, they tended to click their tongues and look away. In this sort of neighborhood, people who could throw a good punch probably inspired more respect than adventurers. 

“Is this really where the cat went, Ruijerd?” 

“We’ll see.” 

That reply wasn’t particularly reassuring. We weren’t just wandering around aimlessly here, were we? 

No, no. Ruijerd’s just being his tight-lipped self. I’m sure he’s got us on the right track. Let’s just keep telling ourselves that. 

We ended up walking through the slums for some time, but eventually Ruijerd drew up short in front of a certain building. “This is it right here.” 

A crude flight of stairs in front of us led down to a nondescript door. It looked like the entrance to some underground bar inhabited by punk-rockers with weird haircuts. But there wasn’t any thumping music floating up from below, or bald guys with sunglasses standing by the door to keep an eye on the clientele. 

On the other hand, there was a thick animal stench coming from down there—the sort of smell you might catch a whiff of while walking past a big pet shop. 

In a less literal sense, you could practically smell crime in the air. 

“How many people are inside there, Ruijerd?” 

“None. There are a large number of animals, however.” 

“All right then. Shall we?” If there was no one in there right now, there was no reason to hesitate. 

The door at the bottom of the stairs was locked, naturally, but I opened it easily enough with a bit of Earth magic. 

Shooting a quick glance around the area to make sure no one was watching, I slipped in, waited for Ruijerd and Eris to follow, then closed and locked the door from the inside. Kind of felt like we were burglars or something. 

At a glance, all I could see was a long, dark corridor stretching out in front of us. 

“Can you keep an eye out behind us, Eris?” 

“No problem.” 

Presumably Ruijerd would know if anyone came in after us, but it couldn’t hurt to be extra careful. 

The three of us moved deeper into the building, with Ruijerd in the lead once again. A single door at the end of the main corridor opened into a small room, with another door at its far end. As we passed through this second door, a deafening chorus of animal cries instantly filled the air. 

We’d reached the room at the very back of the building. It was absolutely packed with cages. 

There were countless animals locked up in here—cats, dogs, and a wide variety of creatures I’d never even seen before, all crammed into a space about the size of a high school classroom. 

“What is this?” Eris said, her voice trembling. 

My first thoughts were roughly along those lines as well…but it also occurred to me that given the number of animals in here, there was a good chance the one we were looking for was among them. 

“Ruijerd, is the cat in here?” 

“Yes,” he responded instantly. “That’s the one.” 

He was pointing at something that looked very much like a black panther. 

The thing was huge. Absolutely huge. It had to be twice as big as Meicel had indicated with her arms. 

“U-uh, is that seriously the one we’re looking for?” 

“Of course it is. Look at its collar.” 

The beast did, in fact, have a collar. And the name “Mii” was, in fact, printed on it. 

“Wow. I guess…it really is Mii, huh?” 

Technically, we’d now completed our task. Once we took this panther out of its cage and dragged it back to the little girl, we were done. 

That said, uh…what about all these other guys? 

There were quite a few of them with collars around their neck or bracelets on their legs, and some of those had names written on them. In other words, a whole bunch of these animals were obviously pets. I’d also noticed a big, careless pile of ropes and things that looked like muzzles in one corner of the room. The ropes, in particular, seemed to suggest some capturing had been going on here. 

Was someone snatching unique pets off the street and selling them off to other people, maybe? It seemed like a perfectly plausible scheme. 

I had no idea if there were any specific laws about this sort of thing in this world, but it had to be some sort of crime… I mean, it was a form of theft, at the very least. 

“Mm…” Suddenly, Ruijerd turned his head back toward the entrance. 

Eris reacted at almost exactly the same time. “Someone’s come in after us.” 

The animals were making such a racket that I personally hadn’t heard a thing. Ruijerd aside, I was genuinely impressed Eris had even noticed. 

That said, what were we going to do about this? It wouldn’t take much time for them to get here from the entrance. Was running an option? No, not really—the only way out was through that corridor. 

“Okay. Let’s capture them, I guess.” 

I didn’t really consider the option of just talking things over. We’d broken into this place like a bunch of thieves after all. It did seem to be a crime scene, but there was still a possibility it had some legitimate purpose, which would make us the criminals here. 

Right now, we needed to take these people into custody. If they were good guys, we could cajole them into keeping quiet about this, and if they were bad guys, we could punch them until they promised not to talk. 

*** 

A few minutes later, I was standing over three people—two men, one woman—who were lying unconscious on the floor in a corner of the room. 

After restraining them with handcuffs I made using Earth magic, I splashed some water on their faces to wake them. One of the men immediately began yelping and yowling, so I promptly gagged him with a rag that was lying nearby. 

The other two kept quiet, but I ended up gagging both of them as well. It was better to be fair and impartial with these things. 

“…Hm.” 

With all this done, I found myself pondering a certain question: How exactly did it come to this? 

I mean, we’d taken on a simple E-rank job to find a lost cat. Nothing too dramatic. Ruijerd said he could handle it, so I had him take charge, and ended up following him into some sort of slum. In said slum, we broke into a building with tons of animals inside it. At which point we found ourselves taking multiple people captive…which was absolutely not what we were here to do. 

This had to be the Man-God’s fault, right? He obviously foresaw this happening. 

What a headache. I really should have gone with some other job. 

…Anyway, let’s take a careful look at our captives. 

Man A: 

Orange skin. Compound eyes like a fly, with no whites. He was kind of gross to look at. This was the one who’d started squawking like a cicada when I woke them. He seemed like something of a crude customer…the sort of guy who’d be good in a bar fight. 

I was pretty sure I’d seen a picture of his race in Roxy’s dictionary, but I couldn’t quite recall what they were called. Their saliva was apparently poisonous; I remember wondering if they could even kiss each other. 

Man B: 

This one had a lizard head, slightly different in shape and coloration from the snake-face we’d run into at the city’s front gate. Given his reptilian features, it was hard to read his expression. But I could see intelligence in his eyes, and that made me wary of him. 

Woman A: 

Another bug-eye type. Her head looked something like a bee’s, but I could still tell she was pretty frightened at the moment. I guess her face was in the “gross” category, too, but she had a nice figure, which basically cancelled that out. 

Well then. We’re not going to make any progress if I just stand here staring at them. Time for a little chat… No, no, let’s be honest. This is going to be an interrogation. 

Who to start with, though? Who was going to spit out information more willingly, the woman or one of the men? The woman was definitely afraid. If I threatened her a little, there was a chance she may tell me everything right away. 

Then again, women were known to lie. Some of them were perfectly capable of telling you ridiculous, incoherent nonsense to get themselves out of trouble. Okay, so probably not all women were like that, of course, but my big sister sure as hell was. It used to make me so angry that I’d have a hard time figuring out what the actual truth was. 

Maybe I’d start with one of the men instead. 

How about Man A? He was the bulkiest of the group and had a scar on his face… Looked like their best fighter. He was also agitated at the moment. Probably wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, judging from the way he was shouting, “Who the hell are you people?” and, “Take these damn handcuffs off me!” before I gagged him. 

Or Man B? It was hard to read much from his face, but he seemed to be observing the three of us carefully. That meant he wasn’t stupid. And if he wasn’t stupid, he probably had a few good lies worked out in advance in case something like this ever happened. 

So, I decided to go with Man A. 

It was easier to manipulate someone who’d lost their cool. With a little prodding and a bit of provocation, he’d probably slip up and tell me everything I wanted to know. And hey, if it didn’t work out, we could always try the other two. 

“I’ve got a few questions I want you to answer.” 

When I removed Man A’s gag, he glared fiercely up at me…but didn’t say a word. 

“If you tell us what we want to know, we won’t need to get rough wi—bluh?!” 

Halfway through my sentence, the guy actually kicked me. I’d been squatting down to talk to him, so the blow knocked me totally off balance. Launched backward, I rolled across the floor, only stopping when the back of my head smacked into the wall. Stars flashed across my field of vision. 

Ow! Dammit! 

Seriously, though, how stupid was this guy? Why would you kick someone who’s already got you captured? He must not have even considered what may happen if he made us angry. 

“Huh? H-hey, what th… Stop it!” 

That was Eris’s voice. I jumped to my feet in a blind panic. Had Man A slipped out of his handcuffs while I was thinking things over and somehow taken Eris hostage before Ruijerd could react? 

“Wha—” 

Nope, Eris was fine. Couldn’t say the same for Man A, though. Ruijerd had stuck his spear through the guy’s throat. Eris was just looking on, her eyes wide with shock. 

Ruijerd twisted his trident sideways as he pulled it back; blood arced through the air and splattered against the wall. The force spun Man A around briefly before he fell face-down to the floor. Blood was pouring from his throat. A dark stain crawled slowly across his back, and a red puddle spread out underneath him. The metallic stench was sickening. 

With one final, reflexive twitch, the man stopped moving. 

He was dead. He’d died without saying a single word. Ruijerd had murdered him in cold blood. 

“Wh… Why… Why did you kill him?” I asked, conscious of the fact that my voice was shaking. 

This wasn’t the first time I’d seen a person die. Ghislaine had killed to save me and Eris after all. But this was different somehow. For some reason, I was trembling. For some reason, I was deeply afraid. 

Why? What’s got me so scared? 

The fact that a man had died? Ridiculous. People died all the time in this world, for the most trivial of reasons. I was well aware of that. 

Maybe it was just because I’d never seen it happen up close and personal before? But in that case, why didn’t I react this way when Ghislaine killed those men during that kidnapping incident? 

“Because he kicked a child,” Ruijerd said, his voice calm and indifferent. 

He’d spoken like a man answering the world’s most obvious question. 

Ah, right. Now I get it. I’m not afraid because I just saw someone die. I’m afraid…because Ruijerd killed that man…without a second thought…just because he kicked me. 

I’m afraid of Ruijerd. 

Roxy had warned me, hadn’t she? “…there are many differences in what’s commonly accepted in human culture versus demon culture, so you might not know what words will trigger an outburst.” So what was I going to do if Ruijerd ever turned his wrath on me? The man was strong; as strong as Ghislaine, or even stronger. Was it possible for me to beat him with my magic? I could probably put up a fight at least. I’d worked out multiple strategies for head-to-head fights against close-range combat specialists. 

For whatever reason, many of the people in my life fell into that category…including Paul, Ghislaine, and Eris. And Ruijerd was probably the single strongest of them. It was hard for me to say with any confidence that I could take him. But if I were fighting to kill from the very start, there were plenty of things I could try. 

What if he went after Eris, though? Could I possibly protect her as well? 

No. Not a chance. 

“Y-you can’t kill someone just for that!” 

“Why not? The man was evil.” Ruijerd was wide-eyed at my flustered objection. He seemed genuinely and totally bewildered. 

“Well…” How could I possibly explain this? What did I want from Ruijerd here? 

In the first place, why was it an issue that he’d killed that man? 

I didn’t really have a standard sense of morality. Back when I was a shut-in loser, I’d snorted with disdain at preachy phrases like, “it’s wrong to kill.” Hell, I’d barely felt anything when my own parents died. I knew things were going to get rough for me, but at the same time, my general attitude was pure Crystal Boy: “To hell with that crap, dumbass! I’m jackin’ off!” 

Needless to say, if I tried to feed Ruijerd some cookie-cutter ethical argument, it was going to come out weak and unconvincing. 

“Look, there’s…a very good reason…you shouldn’t go around killing people.” 

Okay, I’m pretty shaken up. Let’s acknowledge that. I’m kind of freaking out. 

I’m kind of freaking out, but I’m still going to think this through. 

First of all, why was I trembling? Because I was scared. Because I’d seen Ruijerd, who always seemed like such a kind-hearted guy, kill a man without even blinking. 

I’d thought the Superd were a peaceful people who’d simply been misunderstood. That clearly wasn’t the case. I didn’t know about his tribe as a whole, but at the very least, Ruijerd was a killer. He’d been killing his enemies ever since the Laplace War era; this murder was just another typical entry in a long, long list. I couldn’t say for certain he’d never turn his spear on Eris or me. I wasn’t the sort of pure-hearted, honest person who could earn Ruijerd’s respect. Someday, somehow, I’d probably end up getting on his bad side. 

It was one thing if he got angry at me. Since we had different ways of thinking, sometimes our opinions would diverge—that was just inevitable. We’d probably get into fights every once in a while. 

That said, I wasn’t planning to fight him to the death . No matter what the situation, our disagreements couldn’t escalate into violence. I had to make Ruijerd understand that…here and now, before it was too late. 

“Please…listen carefully, Ruijerd.” 

Problem was, I still couldn’t find the right words. 

What was I supposed to say, damn it? How could I make him understand? Should I just plead with him not to kill the two of us at least? 

Now you’re just being stupid. 

Just the other day, I’d convinced Ruijerd that I was a warrior, fighting with him as an equal. I wasn’t under his protection; I was his comrade. I couldn’t start pleading with him now. A flat “cut it out” wasn’t going to work either. I needed to come up with something that would actually convince him, or this would be completely pointless. 

Think, man. Why is Ruijerd with you in the first place? He wants everyone to know the Superd aren’t really bloodthirsty devils. And if he goes around killing people, he’s only going to make their reputation worse. 

That…sounded right. It was the same reason I’d told him to avoid fights with other adventurers. The public already had an awful impression of his people; no matter how many good deeds he did to change that, all his progress would go down the drain if people saw Ruijerd commit a murder. Everyone would revert to their original assumptions about his kind. 

Okay, this was why he couldn’t kill people. We didn’t want everyone getting the impression that the Superd were a tribe of mindless beasts, right? 

“If you keep killing people, it’s going to make the reputation of the Superd even worse.” 

“…Even if the people that I kill are evil?” 

“It doesn’t matter who. If you’re killing anyone , that’s a problem.” I was speaking deliberately now, and choosing my words with care. 

“I don’t understand, Rudeus.” 

“When a Superd kills someone, it’s not viewed the same way as when someone else does it. It’s the equivalent of being slain by a monster.” 

Ruijerd scowled a bit at that. I guess it sounded like I was badmouthing his people. “…I still don’t understand. Why would that be the case?” 

“Everyone thinks of you as part of a tribe of vicious devils. They think you’re maniacs who kill at the drop of the hat, over even the slightest provocation.” 

Okay, this did sound harsh…but then again, it really was the general consensus. Our goal was to change that. 

“It’s easy to go around telling people that the Superd aren’t really monsters. But if you prove the rumors untrue through your actions, you might start changing a ton of minds.” 

“…” 

“On the other hand, you’ll ruin everything if you start killing people. Everyone will assume they were right about your race all along.” 

“Surely that isn’t true.” 

“Is this really not ringing any bells, Ruijerd? Have you ever helped some people out and started getting friendly with them, only to have them suddenly turn on you?” 

“…I have.” 

At this point, I could feel my argument finally coming together. “Well, here’s the thing. If you don’t kill anyone at all from now on…” 

“Yes?” 

“Everyone will realize that the Superd are normal, rational people.” 

Was that really true? Would simply refraining from murder be enough to convince the people of this world that his tribe was reasonable? 

This wasn’t the time to think about it. I wasn’t wrong either way. Ruijerd had obviously killed too many people. The general populace thought the Superd were killers by their very nature. But if he stopped killing, we had a chance to change their minds. 

It was logical enough, wasn’t it? 

“If you care about your tribe…don’t kill any more people, Ruijerd. Not a single one.” 

Normally, you had to make judgment calls about these things. Killing might ordinarily be wrong, but in certain circumstances, it could be justified or even necessary. But I didn’t know the standards by which the residents of this world made those calls, and Ruijerd’s personal criteria were probably…extreme. The man didn’t give you any room for error, and it was hard to know where he drew the line. In that case, it was simplest and safest to just forbid him from killing altogether. 

“What if no one’s watching? Wouldn’t it be all right then?” 

I had to fight a powerful urge to face-palm. What was he, a grade school kid? Had this guy seriously been alive for 500 years? 

“You may think no one’s watching, but people see things anyway.” 

“There’s no one else in this building, I assure you.” 

Ah, crap. Right. He’s got that stupid eye on his forehead. “There was still someone watching, Ruijerd.” 

“From where?” 

Right here, man. “Eris and I saw the whole thing, didn’t we?” 

“Hm…” 

“Don’t kill anyone from now on, please. We don’t want to be afraid of you, either.” 

“…Very well then.” 

In the end, I’d basically resorted to the “teary-eyed plea” approach. My words didn’t sound entirely convincing, even to myself. Still, Ruijerd nodded, and that was all that mattered. 

“Thank you, Ruijerd.” 

I bowed my head to him in gratitude, and noticed that my hands were shaking. 

Calm down. This sort of thing happens all the time. Deeeep breaths. 

“Hoo… haa… hoo… haa…” It was proving difficult to calm myself. My heart didn’t want to stop racing. I shot a glance over at Eris, wondering how she was handling all this; to my surprise, she didn’t look afraid in the slightest. The look on her face basically said, “You startled me a little there, but I guess a piece of trash like that deserved to die.” 

Okay, maybe she wasn’t actually thinking anything quite that cruel. But she was standing in her typical pose: arms folded, feet wide apart, chin in the air. If the girl was shaken up, she was doing her best not to let it show. 

And here I was, freaking out for everyone to see. Talk about pathetic. 

My hands finally stopped trembling. “All right. Let’s get back to the questioning, shall we?” 

Trying to ignore the smell of blood still hanging in the air, I forced myself to smile.