Chapter 3: Signs of the Pursuers?
Four days had passed since Rio and the others left Cleia. Today was the third day of the three-day cycle they had decided on for using their enchanted swords to move (though it was really thanks to spirit arts).
They departed from the inn at the post town they stayed at early in the morning, walking along the road until there was no sign of other people around. They then left the road, enchanted their bodies, and picked up the others, running just fast enough not to cause suspicion in order to put as much distance behind them as possible.
After moving roughly a two-day journey’s distance, they returned to the road and continued walking. By the time the sun was almost setting, the party had arrived at a post town along a road that stretched through a valley.
They came to a natural stop when the town came into view.
“Gah, we’re finally here!”
“It’s been tiring.”
Rei and Kouta relaxed in exhaustion.
“...Phew.” Celia also brought her water flask to her mouth to rehydrate herself, sighing tiredly. Christina took the chance to do the same.
With the exception of Rio, the spirit folk girls, and Vanessa the knight, none of the others were the outdoorsy type. Waking up every day before the sunrise and walking until the sunset naturally trained their legs, but the fatigue was accumulating a fair bit.
“Good work, everyone. We’ll be staying here as planned, so let’s find an inn and rest up,” Rio said. They passed the gate of the post town with heavy footsteps. The town was located at the top of the road, so the main street passed right through the middle of the town.
The benefit of staying at towns like this while on the run was the lack of permanently-stationed soldiers—and the few towns that had them only had a small number of personnel that slacked on their duties.
However, they also had the disadvantage of easily becoming unsafe. Because of this, there was no need to worry anxiously about the presence of officials, but—
...Hmm?
The moment Rio passed the gate, he looked up.
He had been on high alert for the presence of their pursuers, so he periodically activated a giant wind barrier with a radius of several hundred meters to secretly detect any enemies. Now that they had entered the town, he was doing the same just in case. It was how he noticed a winged creature flying several hundred meters high in the sky. It was probably some kind of bird... But just as he thought that, he sensed a gaze on him from the side.
He turned to see several adventurers loitering about, one of them looking carefully between Rio’s group and a piece of paper in his hand.
Adventurers, huh? Rio guessed at the background of the men ogling them.
Adventurers were practically everywhere, so it wasn’t an odd sight for them to be gathered at the entrance of a city or post town at the end of a day of work. Local adventurers would obviously be curious if unfamiliar adventurer-like groups appeared in town fully armed, too.
“...What are they doing? Staring at us so closely.” Sara had sensed the same gaze as Rio and pouted sullenly.
“They seem to be adventurers. It’ll be a chore to get involved, so don’t make eye contact. Let’s head to the inn quickly,” Rio said plainly and started walking swiftly in the lead, wanting to proceed quickly further into the town.
“Hey, hold on a minute there.” The adventurers approached them briskly, calling out to them.
“...” Rio ignored them and continued to walk in the lead.
“Hey, I said wait. I’m talking to you guys, the group of nine in the hoods! Yeah, you, with the gray-haired kid in the lead!” He yelled out their specific features to get them to halt.
“...What?” Rio came to a reluctant stop and responded on behalf of the group.
“Are you all adventurers?” the large man asked.
“We’re just travelers. Sorry, but we’re tired right now,” Rio said in annoyance, wrapping up the conversation. However, the men didn’t back down, quickly moving around them to block their way. They seemed to underestimate Rio for his youth, mocking grins on their faces.
“I said we were tired,” Rio repeated, glaring at the adventurers coldly. The men took half a step back from the light pressure they felt, but—
“Tch... Unfortunately, our livelihoods are on the line here. We’re looking for someone.” Unable to stand the thought of a brat half their age looking down on them, they replied in an intimidating tone.
“Looking for someone? Then you have the wrong people. I don’t recognize any of your faces.”
“Hah. Yeah, we’re not looking for someone we know. I said our livelihoods were on the line, no? The ones we’re looking for are wanted criminals with a bounty.”
“...I don’t recall having a bounty placed on us.”
Considering they were currently on the run, suspicion immediately ran through the back of Rio’s mind, but he tried to play it off as doubtful ignorance.
“Yeah, you would say that. Especially if you were the wanted criminals.” The large adventurer laughed scornfully.
“Are you saying we’re criminals?”
“I called out to you to confirm that.”
“And how will you confirm it?”
“It’s written on the wanted notice that one of the criminals is a gray-haired boy in his mid- to late-teens. Exactly the same features as you, it seems.” The large adventurer stared at Rio.
“Those features are extremely commonplace.” Rio shrugged without any change in his expression.
“But there are other features that match too, y’know? The number of criminals is around ten, most likely a group of nine young men and women. There are nine of you. From what I can see under your hoods, you all seem quite young. There are women among you, too.”
The large man stooped over, waving the wanted notice as though to show it off. He leered at Celia and the others to try and peer under their hoods, and the group ducked their faces in displeasure.
“Being one-sidedly accused of a crime I have no recollection of isn’t something I can let pass. Show me that wanted notice,” Rio said boldly, extending his right hand.
“Yeah, sure. Don’t rip it up.” The man handed the notice to Rio obediently.
“...” Rio read the notice silently. Interested in the contents of the notice, Christina also approached him from behind to peer at it.
The notice first detailed the appearance of the wanted criminals, and—
“The abduction of an important figure... and murder?”
That was what was written there. It also included other details about the criminals, as well as the things Rio and the others were under the suspicion of.
“...What a joke,” Christina mumbled, her anger simmering.
At the same time, Rio up spoke in a calm voice. “I see. Indeed, there are a lot of similar points between us and what is written on this notice. I understand your suspicions, but you have the wrong people. I don’t know anything about this.” He returned the wanted notice.
“Ah...” the large adventurer hummed as he took back the notice. Rio had acknowledged how their features matched with the notice so boldly, he couldn’t find the right words to say next.
“You’re free to continue suspecting us, but we’re free to decide not to associate with you any further. As I said in the beginning, we’re tired. If we continue arguing with you here, all the inns will be occupied and we’ll have to camp outdoors. So excuse us,” Rio said, starting to walk past the men that had blocked their road. Behind him, Christina and the others slowly moved their feet too. However—
“Hold on!” the large adventurer suddenly yelled.
“What now?” Rio replied in annoyance.
“The wanted notice says there are three men and six women. Remove your hoods and show me your faces,” the man ordered high-handedly.
“...I don’t believe that’s how you ask someone a favor,” Sara said sullenly.
“Indeed. I wonder what right he has to be ordering us?” Christina agreed in exasperation.
“Huh? What did you just say?” The man furrowed his brows unhappily.
“Try asking again with the word ‘please,’” Rio ordered the man.
“...Uh?” The adventurer froze, a vein bulging at his temple.
“Isn’t it infuriating being spoken to like that? There’s a better way of phrasing your words when asking someone to do something. It’s only natural to feel repulsion to being spoken to like that by an unknown stranger. That’s what the girls are saying,” Rio said, boldly presenting his logic.
“Hey, hey, are you trying to preach at me? You’ve got guts, brat.” The large man’s face twitched.
“We have no intention of arguing with you. Since you’re not giving us a choice, we’ll show you our faces. But this is the last of it. If you still think we’re the criminals, then provide some concrete proof of it.” Rio turned around and addressed the others. “Everyone, please remove your hoods.”
Those wearing their hoods silently moved their hands and revealed their faces.
“Wh...” All the men had their breath taken away, because the most beautiful girls they had ever seen in their lives were standing before them.
And so, after the men had remained speechless for several seconds—
“I believe that’s enough. Farewell.”
Rio started walking once more. Christina and the others also covered their heads again and followed him. The adventurers watched them leave without calling for them to stop again.
After that encounter, they secured a place at the inn in town.
Rio ordered the others to wait at the inn before leaving alone to investigate the town, believing it was important to gather information calmly first.
He stopped at food stalls to buy snacks and chat with the store owners, confirmed what the wanted notices at the town bulletin board said, and then returned to the inn 30 minutes later. Everyone gathered inside one of the rooms they rented to discuss.
“First, it seems like a soldier drops by from the nearby city once a week. But today isn’t that day, and it doesn’t seem like the search party arrived here before us either,” Rio said.
“Which leaves the problem of the wanted notice, and those rude men,” Sara said with a pout.
“There’s something I realized about the notice, and it bothers me. The notice the man had didn’t exist on the bulletin board in town.”
“...Isn’t that because that man had it?” Alma cocked her head.
“That’s exactly what bothers me. That wanted notice didn’t have a publication stamp. A mere adventurer in a town like this shouldn’t have the original copy of a wanted notice, so it was probably a transcribed copy. But if so, don’t you think it’s strange? There’s no original in town, yet there’s a copy.”
“Indeed. Removing an original notice from the bulletin board is considered a serious crime for assisting criminals in avoiding arrest. The only ones allowed to be carried around are copies,” Vanessa explained.
“Yes, which means there is the possibility the wanted notice is forged.”
“The forgery of official documentation is a capital crime...” Vanessa said, pursing her lips solemnly.
“It’s also possible that all the copies prepared were taken, so the original was temporarily removed to make new copies. Well, there’s no way to confirm that at present, so let’s go through some of the other points instead.”
“Do you mean the contents of the wanted notice?”
“So you noticed as well, Your Highness,” said Rio. At that time, the only ones who glanced over the notice were Rio and Christina.
“Was there something strange about it?” Celia asked.
“If that wanted notice was really for us, then it was too well-informed about our numbers and the details of our ages and genders. Charles Arbor, the leader of the search party, shouldn’t have realized that five other people have joined up to escort Her Highness.”
Rio, Celia, Sara, Orphia, and Alma. These five had yet to be witnessed together with Christina by the search party. And yet, the wanted notice had stated there were around ten of them, most likely nine.
“Ah...” Celia understood.
“...Do you believe that wanted notice was prepared for us, Sir Amakawa?” Christina asked Rio.
“To be honest, I can’t say for sure. The number of people, genders, and ages fit perfectly with us, but the names of the criminals weren’t written down. The only person who had their appearance noted in detail was myself. Based on this, it seems like the notice was written by someone who didn’t know the background of who they were writing about... so it could just be a coincidence. The fact the crime was listed as the abduction and murder of an important figure also bothers me,” Rio answered.
“Right, that makes sense. But it bothers me how there’s too much information that matches up.” Christina looked a little uneasy.
“I’m also stuck on that point. There is one person I can think of who could have made such a notice, but I may just be overthinking things.”
“Could that person possibly be...”
“Reiss. Not even Count Claire is aware that Sara, Orphia, and Alma are accompanying Your Highness, and Reiss is the only one who witnessed the nine of us together after the battle in the woods. He would have been able to confirm our numbers and genders.”
“D-Don’t tell me... Did that man appear at that moment in order to make this wanted notice?” Vanessa stammered.
“Could Reiss be cooperating with Charles...? He’s the person that may be the Proxia Empire’s ambassador,” Celia added. Both had anxious faces.
“Who knows? If Reiss is working with Charles, it’d be strange for there not to be more detailed descriptions of Your Highness, Vanessa, Kouta, and Rei on the notice.”
On top of that, if Reiss was behind this, he would have touched upon Rio’s background—but he didn’t say that out loud.
“I am of the same opinion as Sir Amakawa. If Charles and Reiss are collaborating, then that should make the important figure mentioned in the notice myself, but I don’t believe Charles would fabricate my death even in a false crime—not unless I were actually dead, that is. If he tried something so impertinent and ran into a contradiction after, he’d be unable to explain himself,” Christina said in agreement with Rio.
“...Which means Charles wasn’t involved in the crafting of that wanted notice, and it was simply a forgery made by Reiss?” Celia asked in confirmation.
“Yes, that is possible. However, we have no means to confirm that at the moment, and it’s still possible that this notice is completely unrelated to us. It’s extremely troubling,” Rio answered.
“But isn’t that bad? If it’s true, then we should leave this town as soon as possible...” Celia suggested with a stiff look of fear.
“I wouldn’t recommend that right now. After we put the men behind us at the town gate, they ran after us and followed us here. I’m sure there are people standing watch outside the inn right this moment. Isn’t that right, Sara?” Rio said.
“Yes. They aren’t the people who came up to us at the gate, but there are two of them,” Sara said while peering out of a gap in the curtains.
“Reiss wouldn’t use such obvious men to purposefully raise our guards, so we can assume he isn’t in this town for now, at least. In that regard, there’s no need to leave town right away.”
“Which means our present problem is the adventurers of this town who suspect us,” Vanessa said with a frown.
“Indeed it does. The sun has already set, so if we leave town now, we’ll be suspected for acting shady. Instead, we should just leave boldly first thing tomorrow morning,” Rio suggested. Then, he added, “However, we won’t leave through the east gate towards Galarc, but the west gate that we originally came through.”
“W-Wait, hold on a minute. Wouldn’t it cause more suspicion if we go back down the road we came?” Vanessa interrupted in a hurry.
“They have people standing watch on us outside the inn, so they already suspect us one way or another. I also want to confirm whether they’re associated with Reiss, so it’d be all the better if they strike. Although I can’t imagine Reiss would use anyone who made a move so easily.”
But it was possible that was what they wanted him to think, too. However, once he started scrutinizing the possibilities, the limits were endless, so he made a note of it in his mind.
“What if they don’t make a move?”
“In that case, we’ll keep going west until we lose them, then leave the road and return east. It’ll result in a time loss, but we can climb above the valley surrounding this road and go around the town instead. That way, they’ll think we retreated west.”
“I see... It’s bold, but effective,” Vanessa hummed.
“I have no objection. Let’s go with that plan,” Christina approved. Thus, they ended their discussion and went about preparing meals and resting for what was to come the next day.
Meanwhile, at a pub in the same town, the group of adventurers that had called out to Rio and the others were gathered together in a group of roughly twenty people.
“Fuck that cocky grey-haired bastard!”
Among them was a large adventurer, reclining in his chair as he cursed hatefully at the memory of his encounter with Rio. He slammed his wooden mug of cheap beer against the table, causing the plates nearby to bounce slightly.
Try asking again with the word “please.”
He was infuriated at how cocky the sudden command had been. Just who did that brat think he was? The man pigeonholed himself, making his unreasonable anger grow more intense.
“Calm down, dude,” said a smaller adventurer who hadn’t been there.
“Can’t. It pisses me off.”
“No use asking you.” The smaller man shook his head, turning to the others who were actually there. “...So how did it actually go?”
“Well, their features matched exactly with what was written on the notice,” one man said, looking rather grim.
“What, did something happen?”
“No, it’s just hard to pin down whether they’re the same people or not based on the information on this notice alone. We were too shocked by the bounty to notice at first, though.”
“Well, yeah,” the small adventurer agreed.
“It has to be them! Their age, gender, numbers... Three young men and six young women in their mid-teens? It’s just too perfect! There’s no way anyone else fitting the requirements so precisely will pass through!” the large man holding a grudge against Rio yelled.
“In other words, those kids are the criminals on the wanted notice?”
“Yeah, they’re the dirty criminals! They should know their place! Damn it, I can’t forgive them.” The large man raged in a firm display of affirmation.
“You say that, but what can you do? All we have to do is report to the man that gave us this request and we’ll be paid a bonus, you know? We even received a hefty advance payment.”
“Those brats are no big deal! Three boys and six girls, versus the twenty of us physically adept adults! Even if we receive a bonus, it’d only be a few gold pieces at most. That’s nothing once it’s split between all of us. Instead of accepting such a pittance, we can tie them up and hand them over to the officials ourselves for 500 gold! It’s obvious which is the better choice.”
500 gold coins. The number was indeed tempting. Tempting enough to abandon reason, even.
“Right? I thought the same. If it isn’t a job we have to go through the town to accept, then there won’t be a penalty from the guild either.”
The small adventurer seemed to be waiting for the conversation to take this direction.
“Hehe.”
“The women were all fine beauties, too.”
“Yeah, that was insane.”
“If they’re criminals, then it won’t matter what we do to them.”
“Right. They’re just criminals.”
And so on. Voices of agreement emerged loudly.
“Heh, looks like it’s decided.” The large man smirked in satisfaction. “Which means we need a plan. If we’re gonna do this, then it obviously needs to be outside town. How about we carry this out tomorrow, once they’ve skipped town?” the small man suggested with a wicked grin.
“You’ve been planning on ditching the request from the start, haven’t you?”
“Why, that goes for the both of us.”
“Hmph. Let’s teach those brats how scary the world can be.”
The next morning, Rio and the others left the inn and headed through the west gate as planned. Upon checking out of the inn, they spotted two adventurers standing at the dead end across the street from the building, but they feigned ignorance and headed for the west gate.
“Do you think they were standing watch there all night?” Alma asked tiredly.
“No, they were probably taking turns,” Rio replied, similarly exasperated. He continued just loud enough for their party to hear. “Everyone, make sure you don’t turn around.”
Everyone looked at Rio.
“As we expected, they’re tailing us. Several people joined up along the way, so there’s quite a few of them. They probably have no intention of hiding that they’re following us. I’m certain they’ll try to pull something as soon as we leave town.”
Everyone’s faces stiffened immediately.
“Let me handle them. If we end up fighting them, I’ll lead the counterattack. Everyone else should be on full guard and on the lookout for projectiles and ambushes from every direction, in case they’re just a decoy for Reiss. There is absolutely no need to assist me.”
“Roger that.” Sara, Orphia, and Alma all nodded straight away with no hesitation. They had full trust in Rio’s ability; there was no way he would be bested by people who couldn’t even tail someone properly.
What was more worrying was an attack from Reiss. The scariest possibility was a surprise attack from beyond their field of vision, just like the one he fired outside Cleia. Thus, they would leave the fighting to Rio and focus completely on defense—this, they understood implicitly.
At any rate, the party finally left the post town. The adventurers followed from about fifty meters away, maintaining that distance as they walked. However, Rio and the others stayed firm to their course. Thus, after ten or so minutes had passed—
“We’re going to stop at that flat area beside the road. Please head to the back of that field and pretend you’re looking for something. We’ll see what move they make next.”
Rio pointed at a field stretching beside the road. Once they arrived, everyone began looking around the ground as though they had dropped something.
At that, the adventurers behind them became slightly confused. They had been certain that Rio and the others were the wanted criminals when they doubled back on the route they had come from yesterday, but once the party stopped to begin searching for something in such an open space, they began to question their intentions.
“What are they doing?”
“They’re looking for something.”
“Did they turn back to look for something they dropped?”
The questions led to confusion, slowing down the men’s walking speed. Perhaps they really weren’t the criminals? At least a few of them had that doubt swimming in their heads.
“Calm down! Nothing’s changed in the plan! They’re criminals with a bounty of 500 gold coins, wanted dead or alive,” the large adventurer said, inciting the others.
“Right. We have enough of a basis—don’t chicken out now.” The smaller man nodded, stepping forward in high spirits.
The distance between them closed little by little, until they were close enough to overhear each other’s conversations if they listened carefully. There was no turning back now that they had come this far. Whatever happened would happen. Such mass psychology was at play as the other adventurers resolved themselves, their footsteps losing their hesitation.
After that, the large and small adventurer pair in the lead stopped on the road right before where Rio and the others were pretending to search for something.
“Hey, what are you all doing there?” the large man asked.
“...We’re looking for something, as you can see. One of my companions realized they dropped something last night, so we came to look at the last place we rested,” Rio answered boldly. It was a very reasonable excuse to turn back down the road they came from.
“And what are you guys doing, standing over there?” Rio added calmly, as though he had seen through them.
“...You’re the ones on the wanted notice, aren’t you?” the large man asked back coldly.
“Even if I tell you we’re not, you probably won’t believe me. Since you’ve gone and brought all your friends with you, after all. Following us all the way here, where there’s less people around.” Rio sighed tiredly.
“Hah, at least you’re quick on the uptake. With how perfectly you lot match the features on this wanted notice, we can’t just let you pass. There’s a 500-gold bounty on the line, after all. So we’ve decided to tie you all up. As long as you don’t resist, we’ll spare your lives. Just your lives.” The large man looked at the women standing behind Rio with a vulgar gaze. Their faces were covered with hoods, but the glimpse of their hair and shape of their figures made them obviously women. The other men were also smiling lewdly. They probably noticed the wicked gazes being directed at them, as the women in the group all pursed their lips unhappily.
“T-That’s absurd. What would you do if it turned out we weren’t the criminals?” Kouta couldn’t help but yell out, his voice high-pitched.
“Huh? That’s why you should just turn yourselves in quietly. We can arrest you with the perfectly rational reason of suspecting you of being criminals. No one will punish us for killing you if you resist. Dead people can’t speak and all that. We can make up as many excuses as we want afterwards.” The larger man sneered and Kouta’s objection and brushed him aside.
“No way! How can anything so barbaric be acceptable?! You could kill as many people as you wanted with a false accusation like that!” Kouta rejected the situation that completely opposed his own common sense.
“There’s no point in arguing. The system that issues the wanted notices itself doesn’t account for the unfortunate people who are mistakenly accused of being criminals. They’re simply covered up as unlucky accidents. There’s nothing we can do but solve this by force,” Rio informed Kouta plainly.
“That can’t be...” Kouta fell speechless.
“Hah, it seems you get it. So, which will it be? Will you turn yourself in quietly? That said—and I’m sure this feeling is mutual—but I don’t like you. I’ll be nice to the women, but I’ll make sure you see a world of pain. If you want to blame someone, you can blame your cocky attitude yesterday.” The large man was clearly trying to provoke Rio. The other men were also sneering giddily.
“I don’t particularly feel any dislike towards you,” Rio stated flatly.
“Uh?” The unexpected response made the men furrow their brows.
“Your lives don’t matter to me. I won’t harm you if you back away quietly here. But I will respond accordingly if you don’t. That’s all,” Rio stated.
The men looked taken aback for a moment, only to follow with a howl of delighted laughter. “...Ha. Bwahaha! Hey hey, this one doesn’t understand the situation at all. I’ve never heard such arrogance begging to be spared. Ain’t that something, huh?”
“I see. Then I have no choice.” Rio placed his hand on his sheath and pretended to use his enchanted sword to enhance his body before adopting a battle-ready stance with his bare fists.
“...Ah? You doing this barehanded?” The men all looked confused at how Rio grabbed his sword, but didn’t draw it.
“I don’t want my companions to see me kill anyone, unfortunately. Fighting with my bare hands is enough for you people. If you’re going to come at me, make it quick.” Perhaps he wanted to be able to claim legitimate self-defense, as Rio clearly beckoned at the adventurers with his right hand in provocation.
A vein bulged in the large man’s head as he laughed dryly. “Hahaha... This bastard really doesn’t know his place. Grab these brats already! Go!”
The twenty-odd adventurers on the road rushed at Rio and the others in the field. Rio, Kouta, and Rei aside, they probably wanted to apprehend the women without harming them. Because of that and the fact that Rio had no weapons drawn, none of them drew their weapons either. The most motivated of them was the hot-blooded smaller adventurer.
“Die! Haha!” He ran at full speed and leaped, meaning to punch Rio with that momentum. But before he knew it, the small man’s vision was rolling in circles. Rio appeared upside down. No, not just Rio, but the other adventurers—the whole world—was upside down.
The incomprehensible floating sensation he felt was due to the fact that he was flipping through the air—Rio had probably parried him. The right fist he had thrown out was bent past the movable limit of his body, and standing before him was the boy himself.
“...Huh? Wha? Eek!!” Chaos, confusion, and fear came upon him in succession. The man witnessed Rio spinning his body before his very eyes. It was some kind of attack, but he couldn’t evade it. Instead, he watched on in slow motion. It was almost like a flashback of his final moments—but it didn’t go on forever.
Rio had twisted his body and used the flow of his strength from his back to his shoulder to aim a tackle and the man that was temporarily upside down in the air.
“Ugh...?!” The small man’s body was sent flying towards the road behind him. He crashed into several men behind him and rolled along the ground. The cushioning of his blow meant he didn’t die, but he did have difficulty breathing.
“T-Tetsuzanko...?!” Rei yelled with his eyes peeled. The attack Rio made just now was very similar to the movements he had seen in games and online videos in Japan.
“Amazing...” Christina also muttered in a daze. Part of the reason was because Rio’s attack had landed so splendidly, but she was also awed by how smoothly he had moved on to his next action already. Rio used the body of the man sent flying as an obstacle to close the gap between him and the other men in the blink of an eye.
“...Guh?”
When Rio suddenly appeared before their eyes after being several meters away, the man who unfortunately became the next target froze stiff. The point of an elbow was being stuck against his solar plexus, sending his body flying through the air.
At the same time, Rio was already attacking his next target. There was nothing wasted in any of his movements as he rendered the adventurers incapable of action swiftly and with certainty.
One after another, adventurers fell to the ground in spans of only one to three seconds. Before long, the number of men still on their feet was down to the single digits.
“W-What?! What happened?! You bastard, what did you do?!” the large man that had been standing towards the back ranted, unable to process the situation.
“...Gah!” Rio made no move to answer the question sincerely and instead knocked out another adventurer.
“W-Wha, what are you all doing?! Surround him! Seize him before he gets you!” the large adventurer yelled at the remaining men, who stood in shock. His terrified comrades moved to surround Rio.
However, Rio had already reduced their numbers this far—he wasn’t about to be defeated by an attempt like that. The difference in their power was so great, it was as though the human wall wasn’t even there.
“E-Eek! Augh!” Rio approached the closest adventurer with no hesitation and easily toppled him off balance before throwing him against the ground.
“Raaargh!” The large adventurer charged at Rio from behind, swinging the sword in his hand overhead with all his might. It was clearly a strike intended to kill.
“Watch out!” Christina yelled reflexively.
Rio twisted his body, firing a roundhouse kick right into the guts of the man swinging his sword, sending him flying into the distance. “Wha?!”
That one blow was enough to obliterate their fighting spirit.
“D-Does he have eyes on the back of his head?”
“Wasn’t this supposed to be an easy win against some brats?”
“This is impossible...”
“There’s no way we can win in this lifetime...”
The remaining men mumbled under their breaths as they backed away, then immediately whipped around and started dashing for the road as fast as they could.
This wasn’t how it was meant to go. His strength was far beyond the standards of a human—they had provoked the wrong opponent. Feelings of regret overwhelmed them.
“W-Wait! Hey!” The large man who had lost his weapon snapped back to his senses, then clumsily scrambled after his fleeing comrades.
“Did you think you could run away?” Rio’s voice echoed quietly in his ear, filling him with a fear that nearly stopped his heart.
“Ugh!” The man’s body trembled reflexively as he tripped over his own feet, falling spectacularly. Rio pinned down the man and poured his essence into him, using his spirit arts alone to reap the large man of his consciousness.
Rio left the unconscious man lying there and began pursuing the other men who had fled. The men were sprinting as fast as their legs would allow, but Rio could run at a speed far surpassing any human.
There was no way for the fleeing men to get away.
“Eeek!”
“S-Save me!”
They all screamed, before Rio caught up to another one from behind and knocked him unconscious.
“Gah, I’m starting to feel bad for them...” Rei watched the scene on the road from across the wild plains and gave the adventurers a pitying look.
“Don’t—they brought this upon themselves. There’s no need for compassion. If anything, they should be grateful to Haruto for not taking their lives.”
Sara sniffed as she looked around at the men lying unconscious on the ground. Indeed, all the men scattered about were only knocked out—none were dead.
“...Indeed. Their motives for attacking us were what they were, after all.” Christina had watched the events happen with a blank expression on her face, but at Sara’s statement she returned to herself and agreed with a huff of laughter.
“Yes. And it seems there are some people who are still conscious as well,” Sara said, looking at the small man Rio first sent flying and the two men that were caught up in that exchange.
“...?!” The three men had been feigning their unconsciousness on the ground and flinched when Sara saw through their act.
“Haruto’s on his way back, so let’s have a nice, long chat,” Orphia said, looking at the road. There, Rio was walking along, dragging the men who had fled earlier behind him.
Several minutes later, Rio gathered all the unconscious men into one spot and removed their weapons, then tied their feet together with rope so they couldn’t run away.
Meanwhile, the three men that remained conscious had completely lost their will to fight, kneeling on the ground beside the others and huddling to themselves.
“All right, let’s hear what you have to say. We were attacked for a charge we have no recollection of, so this has been quite bothersome to us,” Rio stated, looking down at them.
“Of course, Sir! We’ll answer any questions you have!” the small man said cooperatively, looking to win Rio’s favor. The dramatic change in his attitude made the others—mainly the women—look upon him with pitying gazes.
Rio looked at the man in exasperation, but having him in fear was more convenient, so he began questioning him about the wanted notice in a flat tone. “Where did you get that notice in the first place? I checked the board in town, but I didn’t see anything like that.”
“Of course it wouldn’t be in town—it was only issued in Cleia a few days ago. An adventurer working for a nobleman brought it here,” the small man answered with a laugh.
“From Cleia... An adventurer working for a nobleman? What kind of man was he?” Was it Reiss? Rio had that suspicion in mind as he asked.
“He was around 30 or so. Confident, muscular... He had the aura of a veteran adventurer. Well, he’d still be no match for you, Sir.” That was a very different impression of Reiss, whose slender build was clear even through his cloak.
“...What was his name?”
“Ah, as embarrassing as it is to admit, everyone was too blinded by the bounty to ask... Oh, but one of the criminals on the notice—who obviously isn’t you, Sir—is probably related to the nobleman that hired the adventurer, I believe.”
“Someone on the notice is related to the noble?” When he heard that, the first person that came to mind was Celia.
“Yes, that’s what he said. The nobleman didn’t want his relative to die, so he hired the adventurer to find them before the notice made its rounds in the general public. When the adventurer arrived at this post town, he asked us to report to him if anyone matching the features on the notice passed by. He said he’d be back in a few days to check. Ah, but he hasn’t shown up yet, by the way.”
“...And you accepted that request.”
The small man laughed awkwardly. “Yep. Received a hefty advance payment for it.”
“If that’s the truth, then you attacking us doesn’t make any sense. Your job was just to make a report, right? Wouldn’t attacking us be a complete contradiction to the man’s request?”
“W-Well, you see, we were blinded by the reward of 500 gold coins. You also went and made an enemy out of the big guy knocked out over there, plus you have so many pretty ladies in tow with you, Sir... Right?”
The small man turned to his two accomplices, awkwardly passing the baton to them.
“Hehe...”
Both men tried to laugh it off awkwardly as the stares of the women grew increasingly cold.
“...In other words, you attacked us out of your own self-interest?” Rio confirmed.
“Y-Yes, I guess that would be the case. We’re very ashamed of ourselves, yes.” The small man nodded, nodding his head over and over.
Rio thought for a few seconds. “I see... That’s enough. You do what you want. We’re not the people wanted on the notice, but you can report whatever you believe.” He had memorized the text already, so he returned the wanted notice to them too.
“...Huh? R-Really?” The men blinked in confusion.
“I already said I don’t want my companions witnessing anyone dying. That being said, we don’t want to get involved in any more trouble, so we’ll be leaving now. Let’s go, everyone.” Rio left behind those plain words before looking around at the others and prompting their departure. He took the lead and began to walk down the road to the west, with Celia and the others in tow. They glanced at the men as they left, but no one said anything as they walked.
“...H-Have we been saved?”
The men looked on blankly as the party disappeared down the western road.
Meanwhile, as soon as Rio stepped off the field and back onto the road. He beckoned Orphia away from the others and over to him. “Orphia, do you have a moment?”
“Yes, what is it?” Orphia cocked her head and asked.
“Is Ariel watching our surroundings right now?” Christina’s group didn’t know about Ariel, so he asked in a quiet voice.
“Yes. Ariel’s flying in physical form and watching the ground from above.”
“Have there been any reports of suspicious people in this area?”
“Nothing in a one-kilometer radius. Sara and Alma have Hel and Ifrita in their material forms nearby, but they haven’t reported anything either, so I think we’re okay.”
“...If there’s nothing on the ground, what about the skies? Is there anything in the air above where Ariel is patrolling?”
“Let me ask... There’s nothing resembling a person, it seems. There are some flying animals around, but it’s too cloudy to see them clearly.”
“...I see.”
“Shall we widen our search range?” That would result in the accuracy of their search being reduced, but—
“Please do, just in case. It may just be me overthinking things, but I’m worried.”
“Of course. I’ll ask right away.” Orphia shook her head happily and sent a message to Ariel immediately. Rio went up to the others while she did so.
“There are some things I’ve realized through that conversation with them, so let’s share some information before we step off the road and turn back east,” he said. “I first thought the features on the wanted notice were similar to us by coincidence, but the more details I hear, the more I think it’s too similar to be dismissed as a mere coincidence. Which is why I currently suspect either Charles or Reiss had a hand in that notice.”
“...I agree,” Christina said with a thoughtful look.
“If we consider either Charles or Reiss’ involvement in the notice as fact, then there’s three new points that we have to take note of. The first is that the wanted notice was drawn up in Cleia. The second is that someone related to nobility is included among the wanted. And the third is that the noble hired an adventurer to secure their relative as soon as possible in order to save their life.” Rio folded a finger on his right hand each time he listed off a point.
“When added together, those three points seem to be pointing to Professor Celia,” Christina noted truthfully.
“It does seem that way...” Celia said worriedly.
“Yes. However, I felt the third point was clearly something that Count Claire would never do.”
“...May I ask why you think that?” Celia asked worriedly.
“Count Claire would have placed his bets on you running away safely. There’s no way he would drag you back in front of Charles, whom he hates quite a bit,” Christina stated plainly.
Indeed, he did say he’d rather see Celia spend the rest of her life single than give her to that bastard. Rio recalled Count Claire’s radical remark with a huff of laughter.
Celia also chuckled happily in relief. “Yes, that’s true.”
“For the same reason, I cannot imagine Count Claire would leak information about us to Charles. That’s why I don’t believe Charles obtained the information for the second point through Count Claire. He wouldn’t know about Sara and the others either,” Rio added.
“Right. If anything, it’d make more sense for Reiss to tell Charles about Professor Celia’s presence. But...”
“If Charles had our information, that wouldn’t explain why the wanted notice was written so vaguely, would it?”
“Indeed. As the head of the search party, there would be no reason for Charles concealing information and putting such a half-hearted charge on the notice. Which leaves only one of two possibilities.”
“Either the wanted notice matches us by coincidence or Reiss fabricated it alone. Is that correct?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Christina nodded, satisfied at how smoothly her opinion matched up with Rio’s.
“...It’s impressive how you determine that so certainly with such a small amount of information.”
“Yeah, I only understood half of what was said just now,” Kouta said.
“Maybe you need to try a little harder there...” Rei noted.
“Her Highness has been famed for her sharp insight and prodigious intelligence since she was young. This much is only natural,” Vanessa said proudly.
Christina thought for a moment, frowning. “It’s no big deal. Supposing that the wanted notice was Reiss’ fabrication, there are still vital points we don’t know. For example, why Reiss knew Professor Celia is accompanying us right now, when he realized this, and so on.”
“...If the Reiss we know is the same person as the Proxia Empire ambassador, he may have attended the wedding where I took Celia through Charles’ invitation. It wouldn’t have been strange for him to witness that then,” Rio guessed.
“I see. Then it wouldn’t be strange for him to know that Sir Amakawa is traveling together with Professor Celia, and he could be familiar with your faces that way. It’s definitely a possibility,” Christina nodded with a hum.
“Yes. The reason why the notice was so vague may be because Reiss doesn’t want Charles to know that his aim is you, Your Highness. And he didn’t write anything about our real names because he didn’t know them. Such an explanation would make sense,” Rio added.
Christina’s expression twisted bitterly. “That means Reiss is aiming for my life for an unrelated reason to Charles.”
“Most likely,” Rio nodded.
“...But what can we do?” Vanessa asked with a look of unease. “If the possibility of Princess Christina’s life being in danger has increased, then...”
“Nothing will change with what we’re doing. The increased risk of being targeted by Reiss means we’ll have to exercise more caution, but we have no choice but to continue moving towards our destination.”
They couldn’t relax and allow Reiss to catch up to them, so they didn’t have the time to be standing around. As they were on the run, they could only move forwards. That was what Rio thought as he wrapped up the conversation.
“Right, of course. We can only keep moving,” Vanessa agreed with a sigh.
“Then as planned, let’s continue going west before making an about-turn east,” Rio suggested.
Using adventurers like that and writing such a vague wanted notice... It seems rather sloppy, almost like traces of him keep coming in and out of view...
Though he’d summed up his thoughts, he still felt a strange sense of restlessness. But he didn’t want to jump to conclusions based on assumptions, and thinking about it wasn’t going to get him any answers. It could just be him being overly cautious.
“Yes. Let us hurry.”
Christina seemed to feel a little uneasy, but she understood the need to move forwards. Her expression was tense with determination.
Thus, the group stepped off the road and headed above the valley in order to turn back towards the eastern border.
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