At the city gates, where we had agreed to meet, were Walter, the unshaven man and his party. They had rented fast horses from the livery stables. It looked like everything had been prepared.
「……Noel, can you fight against Lloyd and Tania?」
After I had finished my errand and rejoined with them, Walter asked me with a serious expression.
Was he still having doubts even after things had gone so far.
Well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t sympathize with him. It had only been one year, but in that one year, Blue Beyond had been through thick and thin together.
But, so what? A betrayal was a betrayal.
If we didn’t fight and get the money back, we would have no choice but to suffer it in silence. And we would have had to live with the hatred from the betrayal haunting us from then on.
That was why, even if they were allies, it was important to properly punish them. Once punishment was dealt, the problem would be settled and it would be possible to take a new step forward.
「I’ll be able to fight. Without a shred of mercy」
「…….Even if it means killing them?」
「Of course. If it becomes a fight to the death, then all the more you need to beat them down mercilessly」
It wasn’t a resolve that was all words. If necessary, I’d kill anyone, no matter who they were.
In the first place, Seeker was one of the professions that took the lives of others. Be it Beasts or bounties, I had ended numerous lives already.
It was too late to hesitate just because they were former allies. I had lost that convenient kind of naivety when the tears of sorrow I shed at Grandfather’s death had dried up.
「Are you heartless?」
I laughed at Walter’s inappropriate remark.
「Walter, I’m always anticipating what will happen when I get betrayed by my allies. Because it’s easy for people to stray from the straight and narrow. Especially in a profession like Seeker or Yakuza. So when I learned of Lloyd and Tania’s betrayal, I wasn’t surprised. I simply thought, Oh, the time has come」
「It’s your allies, you know!? Are you saying that you never trusted your allies!?」
「Trust, does not mean blind faith. It’s necessary to doubt. Moreover, to be allies, the condition needed is simply whether or not you can depend on each other」
And, those two betrayed us. It was what it was.
Walter looked like he still had something to say, but was in no mood to continue. I turned away and climbed onto the horse that was rented from the livery stables.
「If you can’t fight against the two of them, you should wait here. I’ll take back your money for you」
A Warrior who couldn’t fight would just be a hindrance. Our fighting strength would drop drastically without Walter, but it should be alright. There were any number of strategies that could be used.
「……Don’t look down on me. I haven’t become so fair-weathered」
Walter got on his own horse and went out the city gates first. The unshaven man and his party, who were a distance away, followed him.
「Naive, too naive」
I couldn’t help but mutter.
「As long as you keep taking half-measures, you’re only making things even tougher for yourself」
†
†
It had been three hours since we started pursuing Lloyd and Tania.
The location where they were found, was the Carnot village that the unshaven man had talked about. It was a quiet, rural village, half a day’s walk from the imperial capital. When we saw the two of them leave the village’s eating house, we started our capture operation.
With that said, it was not like we did anything special. Observing them from a distance, we could tell that they had let their guard down.
「Hey, having a date in such a rural village? What refined taste you have」
When I called out from behind them, they turned around with a start.
「N, Noel!」
With his face twisted in shock, Lloyd reached for the sword on his waist, just as I had expected.
But, it was too late.
「Don’t move!!」
Talk Skill: Stun Howl
The instant the two of them were stunned, the unshaven man, who had been hiding in the shadows, attacked Tania and pinned her to the ground. Her scream distracted Lloyd and that opening gave Walter and the others, who were also hiding nearby, the chance to surround both of them.
The duration of the stun on the two of them lasted merely two seconds. Despair clouded their faces once they realized that they had been completely suppressed within those two seconds.
If it was only the unshaven man’s party, there were still many ways for them to turn the tables.
For example, Lloyd could throw the knife that he usually hid in his sleeve at the unshaven man’s head, then have the freed Tania blind everyone with her Light skill. Lloyd would then be able to cut everyone down in that instant. It was questionable whether they could have come up with that strategy in an instant, but they definitely had the ability to execute it.
But as long as Walter and me were there, there was no chance for them to try anything.
Lloyd gauged the difference between our respective fighting strengths and realized that there was nothing he could do. He dropped his sword and surrendered quietly.
And so, the two of them were captured successfully, and were now hanging their heads at my feet.
In order to capture them, I had anticipated numerous patterns of attack and defense, but to think they would be caught so easily. As I had expected, they had thought that we were probably not going to pursue them. They also would not have expected that when we did pursue them, we would have the help of other Seekers as well. It served them right for being so full of themselves.
「Lloyddd!!」
At the limit of his patience, Walter grabbed Lloyd’s shirt by the collar.
「Why!? Why did you betray us!?」
「……Sorry」
「Don’t tell me you’re sorry!!」
I restrained Walter, who looked like he was about to hit Lloyd.
「Lloyd, I understand what happened by reading your letter. But what about the reward for the Lesser Vampire from two days ago? What about the money that was set aside for the party?」
「……Sorry, it’s already been used up」
「Investments again?」
「……No, to repay debts」
That meant that even though he betrayed and ran away from his allies, he still honestly repaid his debts. That was definitely weird. In that case, there was only one possibility.
「The bad investments were a lie, weren’t they? In reality, you gambled, didn’t you? Cards? Dice? Roulette? Arena? It doesn’t matter. You lost while gambling, borrowed money from bad people, and then laid your hands on the party funds, right?」
In the first place, if he was investing, he should also have known that the prices of the materials for the Lesser Vampires was soaring. But from what I could remember, he showed no indication at all that he knew that.
Investing was like gambling, but if you had the right knowledge, you could make money. Therefore, there were many who became rich because they were successful as investors.
On the other hand, gambling was made so that the house would always win. In other words, the betting side were all suckers. Putting money there was the same as throwing it away.
「Answer me, Lloyd. Did the money we left with you all disappear through gambling?」
「……Sorry」
「Don’t mess with me, you big idiot!!」
Walter lifted Lloyd off the ground as he screamed in rage.
「That money was something we risked our lives to earn!!! What were you thinking, using it to gamble!!!」
「Y, you guys have no idea how much pressure I was under as the leader!!!」
That was a surprise. It seemed that the cornered Lloyd had decided to take a defiant attitude and snap back at us.
「It's not like I wanted to take the party's money either! My debts had piled up before I knew it, and there was nothing I could do about it…… You can criticize me all you want. But do you really have the right to? You pushed all the responsibilities of a leader onto me and only asserted your rights when it was convenient for you and… Gufwooo!」
When I kicked his solar plexus as hard as I could, Lloyd flew out of Walter’s grasp and rolled across the ground. While he was suffering and writhing in agony, I added a kick to his side.
「Gugyaaa!」
「Do we have the right? Of course we obviously do. In the first place, the one that wanted to be the leader, was you!」
I aimed my third kick at his back, around where the kidneys would be.
「Gugyiii!」
Not heeding Lloyd’s screams of pain, I kept on kicking his body.
「The pressure you were under as leader? Did you think that if you have that excuse, you'll be forgiven no matter what you did or something? Stop acting spoiled. The only reason you gambled and drowned in debt was because you’re a garbage, incompetent idiot!」
「Gahaaa! Gehooo, oeee…」
It appeared that I had gotten a good kick in as Lloyd puked out bloody vomit.
「……I, I’m so sorry, so, so…… please stop……」
Covered in mud, tears, snot and vomit, Lloyd’s face looked horrible as he pleaded for forgiveness. If any of his fans saw that dirty face, they would surely faint.
「I beg of you…… I can’t take…… any more……Buberaaa!」
Oops, I had kicked his face. Even though he dared to snap back at us, he ending up babbling about forgiveness, so my foot must have unconsciously slipped and kicked him in his face.
However, it isn’t a problem if it’s only to this extent. On one hand, I’m a Talker with barely any modifiers to my physical strength. On the other, Lloyd is a Swordsman, a Job tied with Warrior as being the best vanguard Job.
He won’t die from being kicked by someone like me. So it’s fine.
「Don’t conveniently pretend to have a weak body, you piece of shit. If you really want forgiveness, endure another thousand kicks. If you do that, I’ll at least listen to your apologies」
「Hiii, hiiiii!」
As I moved to kick the frightened Lloyd, Walter grabbed my shoulder.
「Let’s leave it at that……」
「Why?」
「Why, you say……」
「I, I beg of you too! Please forgive Lloyd already!」
Tania took the opportunity to speak out.
It’s fine if you want to defend others, but does this woman even realize her own position, I wonder? No, probably not.
「Then will you take his place to be kicked? I believe in gender equality, you see? I’m not going to add an ounce of consideration just because you are female」
「Eh? ……W, wait, that’s not my intention!」
「I’ll say it clearly because you don’t seem to understand your own position. Tania, you’re just as guilty. You were also gambling with Lloyd using the party funds, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have needed to run away together」
「Y, you’re wrong! I just thought that it would be bad to leave Lloyd alone……」
She’s going to stick to her claim of innocence till the end, huh? What an idiot.
「I’ll ask you one more time. You gambled together with Lloyd, right? Confess everything」
「Yes, I did. But the one at fault is that idiot, Lloyd. I told him that I would definitely win if he would lend me more money. But it’s because he kept gambling by himself, that things ended up this way」
Tania, who had confessed everything in one breath, grew red with anger once she returned to her senses.
「Noel! You used a Skill on me, didn’t you!?」
「Yes, I did. What of it?」
Talk Skill: Confess
A Skill that forced the target to tell the truth. However, not just Confess, all Skills that controlled a person’s mind had the danger of causing chaos in society, so if I used it selfishly, I would end up in jail immediately.
「Do you know what you’ve done!? That’s something that will never be forgiven!」
「Normally, I would agree. But you guys are criminals who embezzled party funds. Mind control type Skills are allowed when used to make criminals confess their crimes. In other words, I won’t be blamed of any crime」
「No, no way……」
Blood drained from Tania’s face. It seemed that she had not thought of herself as a criminal.
「The punishment for embezzling is ten years of forced labor. Congratulations, the two of you have become outstanding criminals. As a former ally, I’m so proud of you both」
The two of them remained pale and silent as I clapped sarcastically.
The two should have known what implications the crime of embezzlement had, but they didn’t realize that they were in that position until it was pointed out to them.
When people committed crimes, it was always during a moment of foolishness. And the foolish, were blind to their own foolishness.
「Looks like the discussion is over」
The unshaven man, who had been watching silently, snorted with contempt.
「You’ve shown me something nice. Thank you. I’m very satisfied. But hurry up and pay us the reward. You won’t say that you’ve forgotten about the one million Fil, will you?」
「I’ll pay the reward. So wait here obediently」
「Nope, not going to wait any more. We’re also busy. Hurry up and pay us what we're owed」
If you were really that busy, you won’t have become the loser that you are.
「It’s not like I’m asking you to wait till tomorrow. I’m just asking you to wait for a little while. The money will come very soon」
「What kind of nonsense are you spouting? If you have no money, then hand that over!」
The unshaven man’s hand swiftly reached for my Silver Flame.
Silver Flame was a very expensive item. Even a second-hand one would cost three million Fil. Having anticipated the unshaven man’s intentions and movements, I grabbed the hand reaching for Silver Flame and twisted it upwards.
「Don’t touch Silver-chan with your squid-stink hands」
「Y, you…… tricked us, didn’t you……」
「Please don’t slander me. I told you that I’ll pay the money. –—Hey, don’t move. Is it fine if your precious Scout dies?」
I took my knife from the pouch on my thigh and pressed it to the unshaven man’s neck in order to restrain his allies, who were about to help him. I wanted to show them that I was willing to kill if they made any strange movements.
「Did you think that if you're up against a rearguard, you could steal it even from the front? That’s a shame. I may have lower fighting strength overall, but in terms of hand-to-hand techniques, I’m even better than Walter or Lloyd」
「Guuu……」
The unshaven man had been looking for a chance to free his hand, but sensing the difference in our strengths, he stopped struggling.
It was a pain, but I had no choice but to let this stalemate drag on for a while. Walter, who couldn’t understand what was going on, turned and faced the unshaven man’s party with his axe at the ready.
Eventually — the neighs from several horses could be heard.
「Here at last」
I sent the unshaven man in my grasp flying with a kick.
What came, at a tremendous speed, was a majestic carriage painted in a gaudy purple color. The carriage stopped in front of us and a tall, svelte man stepped off.
The man was in his early thirties. He wore a pompous outfit worn by aristocrats — a justaucorps and culottes, the color of which was the same unpleasant purple as the carriage. His hair was gray and center-parted. He had extremely good-looking features, but had a thick layer of makeup applied.
The man twisted up his face as he brought a handkerchief with purple lace to his mouth.
「Eewww! It’s so dusty in the boonies! Or rather, it stinks of horse shit!」
That exaggerated tone and gestures. It was indeed a stereotypical drag queen.
However, the air was frozen with fear upon the arrival of this drag queen.
Someone spoke his name in a trembling voice.
「Slave merchant…… Finocchio Bargini……」
Finally, what everyone had been waiting for. But with that ending, the revenge is probably not yet complete. 2 more chapters till the end of this arc. Thank you for reading and commenting so far and stay tuned to find out how it ends. (ᵔᴥᵔ)
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