by Hiro Ainana
And for some reason, I even heard some rumors about myself…
“Did you hear about that noble who got mixed up in the chain rampage?”
“Yeah, the kid who travels with a bunch of girls, right?”
“I heard the guildmaster arguing with some angry lady about it. Since they all survived that rampage safely and brought back garnet-level numbers of cores, they think there might’ve been foul play involved.”
“It is crazy that no one was hurt. What kinda foul play, though?”
“Yeah, if there’s foul play that can keep you from being injured, I wanna do it, too.”
“The angry lady was sure he must’ve used tons of demonic potions while hunting.”
“Yeah, right. Demonic potions only strengthen you and stop you from feelin’ pain, plus they make it easier to level up. They don’t let you fight without gettin’ hurt.”
“Are you talking about that young noble? Let me join in!”
Another explorer pushed his way into the conversation, beer stein in hand.
“…Yep, goblin beer is still gross.”
“Don’t ask to join and then change the subject!”
The rest of the group groaned as the carefree explorer chugged his beer.
“Right, right. What was I saying? Oh yeah… What’s his name, Penpen? I heard he’s the lover of some big shot in the old capital.”
Don’t go spreading baseless rumors about me.
I wanted to sock him in the face, but that would probably be a bad move. The last thing I needed was for him to start spreading even worse rumors out of spite.
Instead, I stood up and strolled over to the relaxed explorer with a smile.
“That’s a misunderstanding. I just happen to be friends with the viscount’s younger brother.”
“S-Sir Penpen!”
That name makes me sound like a penguin.
I didn’t know where we’d met, but apparently this guy knew my face somehow.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Satou Pendragon, a hereditary knight and new explorer. Since you’re all more experienced than I am, I hope you’ll share some of your wisdom.”
I smiled and bowed courteously as the bar fell silent.
The explorers were all staring at me, aghast, so I motioned to the barkeep.
“Excuse me, barkeep! To celebrate our new friendship, I’ll pay for everyone’s drinks tonight. Let’s have another round for my fellow explorers, and let them drink till morning!”
Since I was already standing out, I decided to treat everyone to drinks. At a cheap bar like this, it shouldn’t cost more than ten gold coins or so.
It was essentially a calculated publicity stunt, but now I could ensure I didn’t have any enemies and hopefully even get some positive rumors started about me.
“Sir Knight?”
As the bar erupted into cheers, the waitress addressed me inquiringly.
I hadn’t noticed because of the suggestive barmaid outfit she was wearing, but she was a friend of mine.
“Good to see you again, Miss Ayaume. Is Mr. Kajiro well?”
It was Ayaume, the female samurai who’d trained my vanguard group in the old capital along with the samurai Kajiro of the Saga Empire.
Considering that she participated in the martial arts tournament in the old capital, what was she doing waitressing in a bar? If she was short on money, she should be able to earn some in the labyrinth easily.
“I’m afraid Lord Kajiro injured his leg… I’ve been temporarily going into the labyrinth with an all-women party called Silverlight and working here at the bar on my days off.”
She explained that the money she earned exploring the labyrinth went to paying off Mr. Kajiro’s medical bills, so they were covering their cost of living with her earnings as a barmaid and money from Kajiro’s side jobs.
“Ayaume! I’ll pay ye a silver coin if ye’ll give me some private services!”
“Get out of here, you bum! And don’t come back!”
Ayaume shouted at the drunkard with uncharacteristic harshness.
Clearly, the virtuous samurai refused to take part in the prostitution that often accompanied a barmaid’s job in the Shiga Kingdom.
Incidentally, Kajiro’s side job was making paper parasols.
It was so fitting that I could easily picture it, but I didn’t want to comment given the circumstances.
Oh, I know!
“Actually, I’ve just bought a house in Labyrinth City. If you like, perhaps I could hire you two as security? It can just be until Mr. Kajiro is able to practice martial arts again, if you wish…”
“R-really?! Yes, of course, we’d love to!”
Excited at my proposal, Ayaume zoomed so close to me, I thought she was going to kiss me, grasping my hands as she agreed.
If I hired these two as live-in security, the mansion would definitely be safe while we were away.
Depending on the condition of Kajiro’s leg, it could probably be cured with a lesser elixir, unless he’d lost it or part of it. And if he had, I could probably make him a prosthetic leg so he could return to his practice.
I thought about the sprinters at the Paralympics. If I could make him something like that, maybe in time, he could return to the martial arts he loved.
In the meantime, he could probably teach self-defense to the kids who came to the house requesting work.
“I don’t suppose we could start tomorrow?”
“Yes, of course. You’re always welcome.”
The drunkards around us raised a fuss when I told her where I was living, but Ayaume simply said, “Exorcising evil is part of a samurai’s job,” a statement that would probably get her in trouble if any Japanese samurai were to hear it.
Once I’d finished chatting with Ayaume, I left out the back of the bar to return home.
“““Pendragon.”””
I thought I’d shaken the people tailing me, but when I stepped into a back alley, I found three thugs waiting for me with unsheathed swords.
I’d seen them approaching on my radar, but there were some ladies of the night between them and me, so I decided to change my route to avoid getting them involved.
“““Found you.”””
The hoodlums came charging at me recklessly.
It would be simple enough to beat them, but there was a bit of a problem.
Part of it was that the three thugs were actually young nobles of the viceroy’s faction, but even more suspicious was the fact that Sokell was leading a band of guards this way.
Between all this and the people trailing me earlier, someone was definitely trying to catch me in a trap.
“““Die!”””
Their swords moved faster than I expected.
However, there was no skill behind their swings, and their swords crashed into the ground or nearby walls.
They were just normal iron swords, too, so they wound up getting chipped and bent in the process.
But the three attackers didn’t seem to notice.
“May I ask why you’re attacking me?”
“““Die!”””
They spoke in stiff, robotic tones as they swung their swords at me.
That was to be expected, though.
“So this is the effect of corpse potions?”
They had all taken a dangerous illegal drug.
It blocked all feelings of pain and enhanced the user’s strength beyond their limits.
Unlike any body strengthening skills or spells, it completely overrode their bodies’ physical limits, so when the effect wore off, they would experience intensely painful recoil.
According to some old documents from the old capital, the drug was developed by the crazed king Gartapht during the demi-human wars four hundred years ago.
It was said they forcibly administered it to prisoners of war, stealing their free will and forcing them to fight on the front lines as corpse soldiers.
“““Die!”””
Dodging several attacks at o
nce, I opened my map and finally found the kind of person I was looking for.
Happily enough, he was even with another person of interest.
“So long, would-be assassins.”
I used the “Taunt” skill on my words as I fled, running slowly enough that the three men could keep up with me.
Opening my map, I picked an alley without any prostitutes or drunkards around.
Along the way, I saw an old man chasing off some young drifters fishing through garbage and some other kids slumped in the corners of alleys.
I was a little worried about them, but I couldn’t get them involved in this situation, so I kept running without calling out to them.
Finally, I arrived right where I wanted to be.
“Hey, watch it!”
“Good evening, Captain.”
“Hmm? It’s Sir Pendragon.”
Strolling through the business district were the labyrinth army captain, the foxfolk officer, and one other soldier with his face hidden.
The three of them were wearing dark cloaks over their uniforms, suggesting that they were on their way to enjoy some nighttime entertainment.
“““D-die!”””
The three men chasing me closed in to attack, out of breath.
“Oh dear, that won’t do.”
“Hmph, what kind of fools swing their swords around in the middle of the street?!”
The captain and the foxfolk officer knocked two of them out easily.
The remaining one ran at me with his sword raised, but a flash of red light from beside me blocked the attack.
“Did you piss off some noble brats or something?”
The wielder of the “Spellblade”-clad mithril sword was the third member of the incognito trio: General Erthal.
The final attacker was flung backward by the parry, and the captain knocked him to the ground with a brain-buster-like move.
It was rare to see someone so skilled at hand-to-hand combat in a world where monsters were the biggest enemy.
“Far from it. I don’t even know who these people are,” I answered.
General Erthal stroked his beard, deep in thought.
Just then, the sound of countless hooves and footsteps echoed from the direction of the alley I’d come from.
“There they are! Capture those bastards who attacked young nobles!”
At Sokell’s shout, the guards readied their short spears, breathing heavily.
“Just a moment, guards! These men on the ground are the only attackers here!” the captain roared.
“What?! I recognize these young men. They’re from distinguished noble families!” Sokell shouted exaggeratedly, like a bad actor. “You’re the ones wearing black, with your swords out in the street, harming these young men. You must be the attackers!”
“Is that right?”
Underneath the shadows of his hood, General Erthal grinned savagely.
One of the soldiers noticed the red light on the general’s blade and tried to call out to Sokell.
“L-Lord Sokell!”
“Silence! If you must speak to me, do it later!”
At this brusque response, the soldier retreated, bringing a few others with him.
They must have noticed that it was General Erthal they were dealing with.
Standing behind Sokell, they took poses that suggested we don’t want to fight.
“Come now, guards! Don’t hold back—capture them! If they resist, cut them down!”
The oblivious Sokell kept shouting orders, but none of the guards responded.
“Hmmmm? This is strange, Captain.”
“What is it?”
The foxfolk officer smirked unpleasantly, addressing his captain loudly with convenient timing. “These attackers seem to be under the influence of corpse potions.”
“Corpse potions?! The forbidden drug that forcibly controls people like slaves?!”
The captain’s thunderous bellow echoed through the streets.
The brothels shut their windows and faces peered out from the bars.
The foxfolk officer was doing this on purpose, but the captain seemed to be genuinely angry.
“Wh-what?!” Obviously shaken, Sokell responded instinctively. “You accuse my friends of having used corpse potions?!”
Uh-oh. Way to dig your own grave.
In his panic, Sokell had just acknowledged that the attackers were his friends.
“Oh-ho? So these scoundrels who drank corpse potions are friends of yours, Acting Viceroy Sokell?”
At the foxfolk man’s deliberately loud declaration, the nearby drunkards started murmuring Sokell’s name.
“How dare you make such a baseless accusation to these well-known nobles!”
At this point, it seemed like Sokell was in too deep to back out.
I noticed that he wasn’t calling them his friends anymore.
“It’s not baseless. He may seem a fool, but Kinkuri is actually our army’s deputy analyst, since he has the ‘Analyze’ skill.”
At the word analyst, Sokell turned deathly pale.
“Don’t call me a fool, Captain,” the foxfolk officer complained, and he got another bop on the head for his troubles.
“Fine, then! I’ll use my authority as acting viceroy to arrest you! Drop your weapons!”
Getting desperate, Sokell started shouting near-incoherently.
It was entertaining to see him act like the bumbling minor villain he was.
If this were a game, he’d be the kind of mini boss who you beat early on.
“You think you have the right to arrest us, eh?”
“Silence, fool! You’re all criminals!” Sokell shrieked at the general. “Guards! Seize them!”
Sokell sprayed spit along with his orders, but the guards still didn’t move to obey. Instead, they looked at one another, as if trying to silently decide which of them should tell Sokell who he was dealing with.
“What are you doing?! Useless men! Who do you think is paying your salary?!”
The men simply looked away, their faces unreadable.
They were probably all thinking, Well, it certainly isn’t you.
“Enough foolishness, brat.”
General Erthal lowered his hood and stepped forward.
“B-brat, you say?! Who do you think—?”
Sokell’s shout faded away mid-sentence.
He had finally recognized the general’s face.
“So you’re the scum who’s been borrowing the viceroy’s power.”
“S-scum…? General or not, I’ll have you rescind those words at once!”
General Erthal snorted at Sokell’s bluff.
“The labyrinth army will take care of these scoundrels until the judicial police from the royal capital arrive.”
“Preposterous! Apprehending criminals is the viceroy’s duty! The army has no such authority!”
The general glared at Sokell, who was yapping like a tiny dog.
“Have you forgotten? You stated yourself that this would be a conflict of interest.”
“Right, since the guys who attacked us were friends of Lord Sokell’s and all…”
The foxfolk officer, Kinkuri, seemed to be enjoying this immensely.
“Besides, these criminals raised their swords against General Erthal, a commanding officer of the labyrinth army. Noble families or no, they won’t get off without a punishment.”
The captain’s words seemed to finally get through to Sokell, who let out a little growl.
The three of them were backing Sokell into a corner, and it looked like his mental hit points were running out.
Just as the foxfolk officer opened his mouth to torment the man further, a new figure arrived on the scene.
“That’s quite enough, indeed.”
I couldn’t see him past the crowd of people, but judging by that peculiar sentence ending, the noble in green, Counselor Poputema, had arrived.
“Hmph, so you’re behind this?”
“Whatever do
you mean? I was just out for a stroll when I heard a commotion, indeed.”
“Lord Poputema! Pendragon there is the culprit who assaulted General Erthal and unjustly injured these young nobles!”
Oh dear. Now Sokell was coming after me.
“Is that right? But Sir Pendragon is unarmed, indeed.”
Poputema smiled at Sokell like a devil.
It almost seemed as if he, too, was enjoying having Sokell cornered.
“But a demon slayer like Pendragon could surely defeat three youths unarmed.”
True, I could have taken three or three thousand of those guys, but still.
More importantly, thanks to Sokell’s unnecessary jabbering, now the onlookers were starting to murmur things like “Pendragon the Demon Slayer”…
I guess I didn’t mind being a little famous among ordinary people, but still.
“Well, Sir Pendragon, you have heard Sir Sokell’s accusation, indeed. Did you injure these men, indeed?”
“I did not. In fact, I did not lay a finger on them.”
“What he says is true. This I swear on the name of the ancestral king Yamato and on the Erthal family name. Though perhaps I should share on the family name of Duke Vistall as well?”
“That will not be necessary, indeed.”
General Erthal’s testimony seemed to have cleared my name.
“Sir Sokell, go home and calm yourself awhile, indeed. Guards, carry these unconscious ruffians to the jail at the viceroy’s offices, indeed.”
“…That won’t do.” The noble in green tried to take advantage of the confusion and make off with the men, but General Erthal stopped him. “I can’t have you disposing of the evidence.”
“How preposterous, indeed. I intend to investigate the source of the corpse potions.” The noble in green shook his head.
“You swear on your family name?”
“On the name of the ancestral king Yamato and the house of Duke Poputema, indeed.”
“Very well.”
General Erthal nodded.
I guess corpse potions were just that dangerous of a drug.
“Corpse potions are quite troublesome, indeed. I wonder if the remnants of the Cannibal Snakes group have resurfaced, indeed.”
Despite the grave nature of his words, the noble in green was smiling, as if he’d gotten his expressions mixed up.
“Time to drink this off! Let’s go, Sir Pendragon.”