by Ryota Hori
Her expression was surprisingly lacking in fear, despite her little sister having just been abducted. And even as Ryoma eyed her dubiously, she continued speaking clearly.
“Yes. My apologies, but would you mind cutting the ring finger on your left hand?”
“Sorry to ask, but what for?” Her words made Ryoma doubt whether Laura actually understood the situation they were in.
“Please. There’s no time.” Laura’s expression did seem grave in its own way to Ryoma.
The urgency in her voice spurred him to do as he was told, and he nicked his left ring finger against the tip of his sword.
“Is this good enough?”
“Yes!”
Laura then took Ryoma’s sword and used it to cut her own left hand’s ring finger, then knelt before him.
“Exalted God of light, Menios. Lend your ear to my pledge.”
Is she... praying?
“I offer up my body, my heart and my soul to my master.” Laura continued speaking, even as Ryoma stood there dumbfounded. “All shall be as my master wills it! Now, Master Mikoshiba, present your left hand.”
Guided by Laura’s words, Ryoma stuck out his finger before her.
“By mingled blood, my oath is forged.” Laura said as she brought their ring fingers together, and their blood mixed together.
A sharp light emanated from Laura’s neck. Her collar crumbled away soundlessly, and the shackles on her limbs were released as well.
“Good, I can move! Come, we must hurry!”
Laura’s limbs filled with strength. Ryoma could almost feel her muscles harden like steel within her supple, feminine body.
“My Master, please permit me to make use of my power.” Laura said.
Ryoma didn’t understand what was going on, but was spurred by the intensity of her gaze to nod. Seeing that, Laura began chanting.
“Spirits of wind, gather at my side and grant us speed to stride as a gale! Wind Protection!”
As Laura called out, concluding her incantation, a green light enveloped both of their bodies.
“Come, Master. We must take Sara back!”
“Take her back?” Ryoma’s gaze wandered to the distance. “We can’t catch up to a horse from here...”
The bandit riding on the horse already had a two hundred meter gain on them.
“We can still make it!” Laura called out, and began chanting yet again. “Spirits of wind, gather at my side. Abide by my will and cut down my foe. Wind Slash!”
As she concluded her incantation, Laura swung both arms horizontally, and blades of winds emanated in their wake, which then took off in the direction of the bandit. The bandit heard the sound of the wind slicing through the air, and felt something cut into his flank.
“What... Shit! She’s using thaumaturgy! Is that guy a thaumaturgist too?!”
As he spurred the horse to gallop faster with one hand, suppressing his wounded flank with the other, the image of Ryoma’s face surfaced in the bandit’s mind.
Still, cursing under his breath wasn’t going to change the situation any. With each horizontal swing of Laura’s arm, a blade of pressurized air burst forth and flew in his direction.
“G-Goddammit!”
One of the blades finally mowed off the horse’s hind leg, and with its right leg gone, the horse collapsed to the ground.
“Now, let’s go.” Confirming from afar that the horse had collapsed, Laura took Ryoma by the hand.
“H-Hey, wait a minute.” The moment he took after Laura, who was pulling him by the arm, Ryoma realized something was off.
His body rushed onward with feather-light nimbleness. It only took them ten seconds to catch up to where the bandit had been incapacitated. Looking back at the distance they’d just covered left Ryoma shocked. It was a distance and speed that would be impossible even for a sprinter who held the world record.
Is the wind she used earlier... the same power that geezer had? It definitely was. So what is this...?
“It is wind thaumaturgy.” Seeing Ryoma’s confusion, Laura regarded him suspiciously. “Do you not know of it?”
Who is this man? Could one so skilled with martial arts not know of thaumaturgy? No, that shouldn’t be possible. But...
In this world, those who held power had a close relationship with thaumaturgy. It was a necessary technique for the strong to remain strong. Most everyone would know that. Even if they lacked the aptitude to use it, it was common knowledge to all.
I can’t say I don’t know about it... Ryoma was stumped by Laura’s words. But if I say too much, she’ll see through my lie. What do I do?
A deafening silence lingered, only to be dispersed by a voice calling out to them.
“Laura.” It was Sara.
“Are you alright, Sara? You’re not hurt?”
“Not at all! I braced myself for the fall, so I’m fine.”
She braced herself? I suppose it might not be impossible, but getting up without a scratch from falling off a galloping horse...?
Just as Ryoma had assumed, these sisters were extremely skilled.
“I see. What about the bandit, Sara?”
“His leg was squashed under the horse and he can’t move. What should we do with him, Laura?”
“That is for my Master to decide.”
Understanding the situation, Sara gave a small nod, and the two turned their gazes to Ryoma.
“Me?”
Well, not like there’s much to think about here.
Ryoma saw little merit to be had in keeping the bandit alive.
“Fine, I’ll decide what to do, but no complaints, got it?”
Seeing the two of them nod, Ryoma pulled out his sword and approached the horse.
“Fuck! My leg! Get off me, you shitty horse!”
Ryoma could hear the sound of the bandit cussing and kicking as the horse neighed loudly.
“Y-You...” The bandit’s features washed over with terror as he noticed Ryoma approaching. “S-Stay away! Back off, stay away from me! Don’t come any closer!”
Ryoma kept on walking, though. All the color drained from the bandit’s face when he saw the sword in his hands.
“H-Hey, l-let me go, please. How about money? You want money? Or maybe women? I can get you women, too!”
But Ryoma continued his silent advance, his countenance unmoved by the bandit’s words. With his face as expressionless and unmoving as a mask, he did nothing but draw ever closer.
“Why, you...! Where do you get off being so quiet and stuck-up?! The Crimson Moon Brigade has more than a hundred members! You think you can make enemies out of us and get away with it?!”
Ryoma raised his sword, as if he hadn’t heard the threat at all.
“W-Wait! We’re not just ordinary bandits. We’re privateers, approved by the kingdom of Xarooda! If you lay a hand on us, you’ll be picking a fight with them, too!”
The bandit shouted on and on, and then, Ryoma finally parted his lips to speak.
“Are you fucking dense?”
“What?” The bandit simply asked back, surprised by Ryoma’s breaking of the silence.
“If I kill you here, who’ll be left to tell anyone it was us? What’ll you do, snitch on us to that Xarooda kingdom of yours from beyond the grave?”
As Ryoma stated the obvious, the bandit merely stared at him dumbfounded.
“The dead can’t do anything. Not that I was planning on letting you stay alive anyway.”
“S-Stop.” The bandit said, his face pale with realization. “Please, don’t. I’ve got a little girl at home!”
It seemed villains acted the same way in reality as they did in fiction. They accosted the weak, but begged those stronger than them for mercy. If this were some sort of fictional story, the bandit’s words may have struck a chord of sympathy with the protagonist, making them hesitate. But unfortunately for him, Ryoma was not that naive.
“Maybe you have a kid, maybe you don’t. It’s all the same to me.” Ryoma said, his expre
ssion refusing to change. “But don’t worry. Unlike you shitstains, I’m decent. I won’t go after your daughter.”
“No...” The man’s face contorted with terror. “Doooon’t!”
A merciless blow of steel rained down on the bandit’s head.
“Are you sure disposing of him so quickly was wise?” Laura called out to Ryoma as he sheathed his sword.
“Is there a problem?”
It seemed that, of the two sisters, Laura was the one more primed to do the talking.
“No, but there was a lot you might have wanted to ask him.”
There were quite a few significant things the bandit said. Ryoma, however, shook his head.
“No. Honestly speaking, I didn’t really care. Besides, there wasn’t any basis to judge if anything he said was true.”
“Basis to judge...?” Laura regarded him quizzically.
Perhaps, Ryoma wondered, she was the naive type, who tended to believe everything she heard. He left that unsaid, though.
“I’m not enough of a softie to swallow any old story a bandit like that would try to feed me. And honestly, I don’t care if he was telling the truth, either... That said, I’m glad we got your little sister back safely.”
“Thank you very much, Master.”
The sisters bowed deeply before Ryoma. He’d saved them twice in one day, and any person would be grateful for that. But as he accepted their gratitude, Ryoma asked about something that had been bothering him.
“Well, you’re welcome. But more importantly, what’s with this ‘Master’ business you’ve been going on about?”
Ryoma wasn’t the sort to get excited at other people calling him ‘Master.’ To be frank, it made him uncomfortable.
“You made a blood pact with us earlier, did you not? You’ve become our lord and owner, and so we naturally refer to you as Master.”
As Laura made her proclamation with her chest puffed up in pride, numerous questions popped up in Ryoma’s head. After some thought, he recalled how Laura had asked him to cut his ring finger earlier.
“Blood pact... Was that the thing from earlier, with the cut fingers and the blood?”
“Yes.”
As Laura nodded staunchly at Ryoma’s question, Sara stepped forward.
“Master, would you exchange a blood pact with me as well?”
“Yes, that’s right. Master, you should form a blood pact with Sara, too.” Laura nodded at her sister’s words, as if it was a given.
Well, then... What the hell did I get myself into here?
It felt like the conversation was moving ahead regardless of Ryoma’s will, leaving him in the dust. He found himself looking up to the heavens.
“Sorry, but can we not? I mean, you don’t have to serve me or anything.”
Ryoma’s words probably came like a bolt out of the blue, because the girls’ faces filled with sadness.
“Wh-Whatever for...? Do you find us that loathsome?”
Sara’s eyes filled with tears, and Laura’s expression clouded over. But Ryoma wasn’t speaking out of affection, or lack thereof, for them. Anyone would naturally be taken aback if they were suddenly told they were the master of a slave.
“No, that’s not the issue here.”
“It isn’t?” The girls gazed up at Ryoma.
Having two girls of unparalleled beauty looking at him like that certainly was causing a conflict in Ryoma’s heart. He pushed that aside and asked, while swallowing his words of consent.
“Weren’t you waiting for your owner here earlier?”
“Now that I’ve formed a blood pact, I no longer need to listen to that man’s orders.” While that was certainly what had happened earlier, Laura shook her head in denial. “However, Sara is still bound to his thaumaturgy, so she cannot move from here. That is why we asked for you to form a blood pact with her.”
“Which would mean we could go back to town?”
““Yes. Only if we form a blood pact.”” The two said concurrently, nodding strongly.
Well, guess I don’t have much choice. I’d rather not leave the girls here, after all.
Ryoma couldn’t help but feel spiteful at his tendency to get himself caught up with some trouble when he was already a man on the run. Still, he couldn’t leave them to die if he had the means to help them.
Especially when they were such peerless beauties.
“Fine.” Ryoma heaved a heavy sigh. “Let’s do that blood pact thing. After that, we’ll sift through the carriage, take everything of value and head for Alue. If we set out now we should get there at eight in the evening. But when we get there, could you give me an explanation that’s a little more convincing?”
“As you wish.” The sisters’ relieved voices echoed against the trees.
After Ryoma made the blood pact with Sara, they returned to the carriage and started sifting through the items the bandits had taken.
“Oh, wow. There’s some expensive looking stuff in here.”
Aside from the chest full of gold coins, there were also several crates full of hair ornaments and bracelets decorated with what seemed to be rubies and sapphires.
“Slaves are dressed up for when they’re sold. Doing so makes them more appealing, and also increases their price.”
“Hmm...”
Judging by the size of the carriage, there had likely been ten or so slaves.
“These gold coins were gained from selling the other slaves.”
If they were as pretty as Laura and Sara, Ryoma could see how they’d fetch such a sum. The girls eyes’ filled with tears as they remembered their friends who had been sold.
The sudden sound of footsteps from across the trees cut into their conversation.
“Laura, Sara!”
Ryoma’s voice prompted the girls to pull out the swords they’d retrieved from the dead bandits. They stood on either side of Ryoma, with him taking the center of this effective, if impromptu, formation.
Is it monsters? Or are there still more bandits left?
But contrary to Ryoma’s expectations, it was an ordinary person’s voice.
“Boss! Over here!” One man pushed his way out of the trees and onto the highway.
Looking to and fro, he spotted Ryoma and the twins. With surprise in his eyes, he turned around.
“Oh, we finally found it! What about the luggage? The goods?!”
Following that man, three men in armor appeared. And the voice they’d just heard came again from behind them.
“Looks like the bandits got away. But the carriage is wrecked, eh...? The goods seem to be fine though, eh. Everything’s right here.”
“What? Laura and Sara! So they are alive! The bandits didn’t defile them, did they? Their value would be quite depreciated if they became used goods, you know!”
“Don’t think you gotta worry about that, but we might have another problem, eh.” The man fixed his gaze on Ryoma.
“What? What are you talking about?!”
“Boss, it looks safe, so just come out already.”
“Is it really safe?!” As the voice spoke, they could hear the sound of someone stepping over the grass.
That’s a person?
Ryoma’s question was, sadly enough, a natural one to ask. What came out of the greenery was a pig 170 centimeters in height and over 200 kilograms in weight. His physique was akin to that of a potbellied sumo wrestler, except it didn’t look like there were any developed muscles under all that fat. All that lard was the result of insufficient exercise and overeating.
He wore nothing on his torso save for a sleeveless vest, with a turban bound around his head and white Arabian pants. He looked like some kind of merchant ripped straight out of the Arabian Nights.
So that’s the slave merchant. I can definitely see him running off and leaving the twins behind...
Seeing this pig made everything click. They’d likely been ambushed and, not caring for appearances, the pig took off with his bodyguards. Ryoma couldn’t see his obese f
orm evading the bandits’ blades otherwise.
“Oh, so you two are all right! I was worried the bandits had defiled or killed you, or at the very least taken you away!” The pig said, as he approached the twins.
His carefree attitude made it clear he was confident they couldn’t lift a finger to harm him.
“Stay away!” Sara brandished her sword at the slave merchant.
“If you get any closer, we’ll cut you!”
But the girls’ threats were only met with mocking snickers from the merchant and his bodyguards.
“Say, boss. The girls are being awfully indignant, eh?”
“Indubitably so. It seems they’ve forgotten their place as my slaves. Perhaps I haven’t disciplined them well enough.”
“Hey now, missies, maybe you forgot, but this man right here is your owner. You belong to him. What makes you think you can point a sword at him?”
“Shut your mouth! We don’t belong to you anymore!”
“Gahahaha!” The pig man’s face contorted with ugly lust at the sound of Laura’s threat. “I don’t know what put that idea into your heads, but you belong to me. You’re my precious merchandise that I spent a good five years polishing up.”
Each time he laughed derisively, his fat stomach undulated.
“You left us here to die and ran for your life!”
“Of course I did. What’s the point of me clinging to my merchandise if I end up getting killed for it? But I’d also go back to pick up any merchandise I left lying around. What’s wrong with that?”
There was certainly some sort of logic to the slave merchant’s words. The act of picking up something you dropped made sense... so long as said ‘something’ wasn’t a slave.
Seeing the merchant and his bodyguards not showing a hint of remorse at Laura’s shouting, Ryoma felt his anger flare up. They only saw other people as objects. They had the sort of ugliness one had to see with their own eyes to truly understand.
“Now, now, boss. Leave this to us.”
“That’s right, eh. They might be strong, but without a master they can’t use their thaumaturgy.”
It seemed the men didn’t think Laura and Sara could use their power. The situation was five against three. They were at a disadvantage, but depending on how things went down, they were capable of overcoming this. If they could just kill the slave merchant, the head of the group, the rest would work out.