by Yuu Tanaka
This was Linford’s strongest mercenary, a former C-Rank adventurer held back only by his temper. In truth, he was as strong as a B-Rank. He sparred with one of my men, a C-Rank adventurer himself, and beat him to submission in an instant.
The giant was named Theraclede and had earned the moniker of the Mad Warrior. He was a blood knight, interested only in fighting the strong in the name of becoming stronger himself. Fighting his companions was a given, and he killed his sparring partners more often than not.
When Theraclede was expelled from the Adventurers’ Guild, he wandered the continent of Chrome and racked up quite the bounty for himself. He was once employed by a certain country, but when he got to the battlefield he slaughtered everyone, friend and foe.
One of his victims happened to be the prince of the country that hired him. Having lost its commander, the army was thrown into disarray. Inevitably, they lost their claim on the territory. A huge bounty was placed on him then, but it seemed to please the Mad Warrior… Now he had a guaranteed stream of strong opponents.
I could never understand him. He seemed to relegate the task of thinking to his muscles, but I knew that he was immensely strong.
“I have a job for you.”
“Been a while since I let loose. I hope this job of yours will give me that chance.”
“Worry not. It’s not like you’re good for anything else.”
“Ha ha ha! You’re smarter than you look.”
Theraclede laughed, though I knew not why. His capriciousness was the main reason I’d avoided using him. But I couldn’t afford that anymore. If this adventurer was as strong as Zelyse said, maybe they would kill each other.
“Woof!”
“Hm? What was that…?”
I heard a barking noise after Theraclede had left the room. Strange. I didn’t keep pets.
“Perhaps the stress is getting to me.”
It sounded like a large dog…but it must be my imagination.
Chapter 5:
Demonic Metamorphosis
After dealing with our uninvited guests, I got back to preparing the bread.
I felt some people coming toward the shop, but neither of us were alarmed.
“Teacher.”
Looks like Jet’s back. Who’s with him, though?
“Whoever it is, there’s four of them.”
Jet brought four other people with him. Who were they? And what did they want at this hour? I didn’t think they were enemies, but these were still legitimate questions.
“Bark! Bark, bark!”
“Coming.”
We opened the door, and in walked our four employees.
Colbert was leaning on Judith, limping as he struggled to stay upright. His right leg was a mess. Blood seeped through the rags they’d used to stop the bleeding. What the hell happened?
“You’re hurt,” Fran said in surprise.
I could imagine why she was shocked. Colbert was as strong as B-Ranks could get. I didn’t think we could beat him in a fair fight. It was unthinkable that Colbert could’ve been so badly injured in the city.
“Well, this is embarrassing. I made a misstep was all.”
“He was hurt trying to protect us!”
“I think he would’ve won if he were alone…”
“We’re sorry for holding you back.”
Taking off his bandages, we saw the gash running from his right calf all the way to his thigh. It exposed raw flesh and was deep enough that we could see the bone. On Earth, such a sight would have made me faint.
Their attacker initially targeted the Crimson Maidens and injured Colbert when he tried to protect them… Whoever this attacker was, they must’ve been strong.
“We drenched the wound in potions, but I don’t think that’s enough.”
“His foot was only torn to begin with!”
His injuries were much graver than we thought.
“It’s a good thing Jet showed up when he did.”
“He rushed in just as our attacker was about to deal the killing blow and countered him so hard he ran away.”
“He came from the shadows like some kind of assassin.”
So that’s why they came here together.
“Let’s fix you up. Greater Heal.”
“Whoa… I can feel my wounds closing up.”
Fran’s Greater Heal instantly stopped the bleeding. Fortunately, it hadn’t been too long since the attack. Colbert had still lost a lot of blood, but at least it wouldn’t get infected.
“To think the Swordceress could use such powerful Healing Magic… I feel like even more of a loser now.”
We ignored Lydia’s rambling and sat Colbert in a chair.
He couldn’t walk straight. His leg was still numb from the initial shock, and he needed the help of the three girls to sit down.
It wasn’t exactly the time for a meal, so I told Fran to get them something warm to drink. The four of them thanked her for the tea, which eased some of the tension in Colbert’s body.
“What happened?”
“We had just finished eating dinner and were on our way to the lodge when it happened.”
“I thought I’d be a gentleman and walk these three home.”
It was then that a giant of a man blocked their way.
He asked for the girls by name and made it plain that he was no stranger.
“He was clearly after the three of them.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. He even asked us if we worked at the Black Tail.”
“We barely had time to answer before he attacked us.”
“I almost peed myself. But don’t tell anyone.”
The hitman knew their names and faces. It wasn’t much of a stretch to say that he would know where they stayed. That’s why he knew where to strike.
“Do you know who did it?”
“Yeah. He introduced himself, after all.”
“Really?”
Why would an assassin introduce himself?
“The Mad Warrior Theraclede. I always thought the rumors about him were made up.”
“He’s a lot worse than they say.”
“Thera—who?”
“You don’t know him, Swordceress?”
“Hm.”
Fran nodded, to the shock of everyone present. He was apparently quite notorious.
“All right, let me fill you in.”
Lydia explained who Theraclede was. He gained a bounty on his head in the most horrible ways. He would lose himself to bloodlust on the battlefield and massacre both friend and foe. During one of his blood-addled frenzies, he accidentally killed the prince of the kingdom employing him. He didn’t sound like someone we wanted to get involved with.
He was a C-Rank when he got kicked out of the Adventurers’ Guild but had grown far stronger since. I hoped Lydia was only telling tall tales, but given what had happened today…
“It’s all true.”
“Jet saved my life. A Darkness Wolf’s ambush is deadly no matter how strong you are. He got some good hits in before chasing him away.”
“Good boy, Jet.”
“Arf…”
The fact remained, however, that Jet couldn’t beat Theraclede, despite having the element of surprise. Jet knew this, and although he was happy for the compliment, he was still annoyed.
The three girls looked glum. Even Maya, who always seemed to be smiling, was affected. The self-proclaimed cool girl, Lydia looked wracked with worry. I didn’t blame them, considering what just happened… I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to quit.
However, my anxiety proved baseless. Judith looked more determined than ever to come to work tomorrow. Seeing that fired up the injured Colbert, and he chimed in with a proud affirmation of his own.
“Then can I count on you to show up tomorrow?”
“No problem!”
“We would love to.”
“Let’s do our best.”
“We’ll show that giant gorilla what we’re made of.”
Good thing we got adventurers to man the stall. The average person would’ve bailed on me already, if Theraclede hadn’t killed them outright.
Colbert took us to one of the Knight Guard’s stations to report the assault. At first, I was worried whether the officer would believe us.
“Are you sure, Mr. Colbert?”
“Yep, he almost did me in.”
“By the gods… I’ll file the report right away!”
Colbert was a bit of a celebrity, and the knight on duty believed his testimony right away.
The assassins sent by Phillip Christon also mentioned Theraclede during our little talk. The Knight Guard hadn’t been sure about the rumors about the Mad Warrior being in Bulbola, but tonight’s incident was proof.
The Knight Guard would tighten security around the city, making it more difficult for the other side to try anything funny.
Judith and the others decided to stay at the Adventurers’ Guild for the night. It was a good call. Any assassin would think twice about attacking a building full of adventurers.
“What about you, Swordceress? Will you stay with us?”
“Hm? I’m good.”
“But…”
“Besides, I have a lot of chores to run tonight.”
They couldn’t expect us to sit it out now that things had escalated. Jet had returned with the intelligence we’d waited all day for. It was time to take out the trash.
“Hold on! Are you gonna go looking for him?”
“No. I have somewhere else to be.”
“Well, all right…but it’s dangerous to go alone.”
“I won’t be. Jet’s with me.”
“Woof!”
Colbert tried to stop her but ended up shaking his head in resignation.
“Okay…but remember we still have a cooking contest to win. Whatever business you have to settle, make sure you wrap it up by morning.”
“Sure. No problem.”
Fran nodded and climbed onto Jet’s back as he shifted back to his original size.
You found something, didn’t you, Jet?
“Woof!”
“Take us there.”
“Bark, bark!”
Ride on, boy!
“Awooo!”
Jet howled, crouched into position, and leapt into a full sprint. A couple of Air Hops later, he was sprinting across the rooftops.
“Feels good.”
Fran squinted through the night wind. It was cold, but the Black Cat Set she wore provided ample Cold Resistance.
Good thing it’s late.
“Arf?”
Jet was running at full speed and full size in the middle of a populated city. If we tried this in the afternoon, it would create a panic. Even at night, not all the townspeople went undisturbed. I heard screams coming from windows, undoubtedly from people who were stargazing. I silently apologized to them.
Are we headed for the YTA mansion?
Jet was running in that direction.
I was mistaken, however. Jet passed the mansion and instead landed in front of the smaller residence next to it. It appeared small by comparison, but it still stood out in the middle of the residential district.
We started out by concealing our auras, but Jet decided we needed further concealment before going in. He used his Dark Magic to kill all traces of our presence. If our direwolf was being this cautious, we should be really careful. Fran and I further deadened our auras.
Once we were completely concealed, Jet jumped silently onto the rooftop.
“Woof.”
There?
Jet shrank himself, and quietly stalked the roof.
We followed him along and stopped when he did. We crept along and looked down through a window.
This room right here?
“Woof!”
Two men were in the room. I Identified them both and discovered one of them was Brook Christon.
Christon? Is that the Count’s middle child?
“Arf!”
He was talking to a man called Facinas Tormeo. Who was this guy? All we could do now was watch and listen.
“Theraclede failed? That useless brute!”
“He has gravely injured Colbert in the process. The girls will be helpless without him.”
They were talking about the attack. So this was our puppet master.
“Then send someone else to finish the job! We have to stop the sale of that accursed curry bread! It’s cancelling the effects of the Fiend Water in Weint’s cooking! It’s ruining my plans!”
“R-right away, my lord!”
“Be quick. We’re too far in to back out now. I don’t care if you cause a riot. I don’t care what you do to their employees. All that matters is that you take care of that Fran girl tonight!”
That Fran girl was right here.
I couldn’t understand the finer points of their conversation, but it sounded like they had mixed some sort of poison into Noble Dish’s menu. A poison whose effects were nullified by eating our curry bread.
Damn, I guess we unknowingly got in the way of his plans.
“Shocking.”
So that’s why he’s targeting us…
How did the Count raise his sons?! The eldest was the only one that came out right. The second son was plotting terrible things underground, and the third sounded like he was helping!
“Damn it all… Does she know how much effort it took to procure the Cure Turmeric…!”
“Is Fiend Water impossible to manufacture without it?”
“That’s what Zelyse says. We wanted to reverse its properties to create the ultimate poison. But to cook such awful food with it and sell it at a mere ten gold… She might be stupider than my brother.”
Fran tensed. Awful food?
Fran, calm down! You’re letting your murderous intent show!
Her aura was enough to make Brook and Facinas shiver. They stopped, noted the odd draft, and continued their conversation. It was a good thing neither of them were fighters.
It’s okay, Fran. Just stay calm.
Hm…
“The YTA has made mistake after mistake. They might be too dangerous to keep around.”
“Then dissolve it and create another association. I’ll take care of the paperwork.”
“As you wish.”
Brook was the mastermind behind the YTA. The trade association was a front to cover his illegal activities.
But what should we do? We might be eyewitnesses to this conspiracy, but we needed solid proof if we wanted anyone to believe us. Should we apprehend Brook? Scum that he was, he was still the Count’s son. Apprehending him without any evidence would be reckless.
We could start with Tormeo…but the disappearance of one of the YTA higher-ups was likely to raise suspicion. As I mulled over our next step, I felt Jet’s aura disappear.
Uh, Jet?
He was going after Tormeo, who was now by himself in the room. Jet attacked the man from the shadows and knocked him out without a sound.
Damn it, Jet, what are you doing?!
Well, no turning back now. I used Silence to mute everything in the room and opened the window with Telekinesis. Jet jumped out, holding Tormeo in his mouth. His actions might have been drastic, but this was probably the only way we could start gathering evidence. They seemed to have their Fiend Water stocked and ready to go, so we needed proof by the end of the night.
Good job… I guess.
“Arf.”
But don’t go running off before I tell you next time, got it?
I yanked his tail to show him I meant business. Jet nodded sheepishly.
“W-woof.”
Jet must’ve taken evidence gathering as his personal mission, apprehending a known witness as soon as he was all alone. I really wished that Fran and Jet would think a little more before they acted…
Anyway, we’re booking it!
“Woof!”
Right!
We headed to the Count’s estate.
We were
going to turn Tormeo over to the Count. Extracting information from him was easy enough. He couldn’t fight at all and spilled everything when he saw how big Jet was. Of course, it was part of his plan to fool us, so we still had to be on our toes. It was a good thing we had Essence of Falsehood.
Jet had been feeling slightly down since we reached town. Everyone was afraid of him. It would’ve been worse if not for the kids at the orphanage. He deserved a pat on the back for putting up with it.
Despite Tormeo’s efforts to trick us, we got the information we needed. Just when he thought he had us fooled, we revealed that we knew his plans. His face went a ghastly shade of blue.
He was confident it wouldn’t take much to trick a young girl and that there was no way he would lose a battle of words. Having his entire scheme exposed was like a bucket of cold water to his face. Tormeo looked resigned.
I’d expected to find a smart mob flunky installed in the upper echelons of the YTA, so I was surprised to find out he was more than that. He was the head of the Tormeo Trade Association, a large association affiliated with the YTA. He had Trade and Calculate, but most of his points seemed to have gone into Lie and Threaten. He was one hell of a merchant, one way or another.
Brook, the Count’s second son, was a shareholder of his influential company—which sold beauty products to the nobility of Bulbola. But the scope of his trade association was nothing compared to Brook’s plans. The Count’s son planned to mix Mana Water into his brother’s cooking, making people go berserk for the sake of his coup d’état. Thousands of lives were at stake. We needed to put a stop to it.
Linford, and an alchemist called Zelyse, were responsible for developing the Fiend Water. Zelyse was Eugene’s former apprentice, the one that got him expelled from the Alchemists’ Guild. He’d stayed in Bulbola to continue his illegal research under the protection of the Ythra Trade Association. Now that we had Tormeo, it wouldn’t be difficult to get him testify against Brook and Zelyse.
We stuffed Tormeo in another sack and carried him, still struggling, to the Count’s estate. Sebastian came out to greet us, as was protocol.
“Again…?”
“Hm.”
His gaze immediately locked on to the burlap sack. The butler seemed to have given up trying to part Fran from her luggage and asked no further questions.