Karma

After leaving the massive tent that reminded me of a circus troupe, I dragged the still-invisible bastard along, tying him up once more, and began wandering the encampment in search of a tent that a leader-type might have used.

Obviously, I wasn't moving with any real knowledge. There was no information to be gleaned from the people locked in the iron cages. I had just bolted because the atmosphere was too suffocating to stand around blankly among those people while just waiting for Asilie, and on my way out, I was simply hoping to stumble upon a plausible-looking tent.

The sound of the invisible man being dragged and my own footsteps echoing through the quiet night air created the exact atmosphere of a serial killer on his way to dispose of a body, but I decided not to care too much since there was no one around to see anyway.

After wandering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a short while, I soon bumped into Asilie again, and she looked at the invisible man behind me with a quizzical expression and asked.

"Eldi? What are you dragging behind you?"

"An invisible man. He was hiding inside that tent earlier."

"Ah! How did you know and catch him? Hang on. A dispel should work."

"I think they put some kind of sound suppression on him too. Will that be lifted at the same time?"

"Yeah. It works by cutting the flow of externally applied magic to stop its function. So, unless they took special measures, it'll all be lifted."

I'd been dragging him around because I could sever active spells but didn't know how to cancel ones that had already been cast, so this saved me the trouble. Unlike projectiles, buff-type magic felt like an extra layer of skin had grown, and I just couldn't get a handle on it.

Anyway, with Asilie's help, I dispelled the magic, and an extremely ordinary-looking man appeared. I scrutinized his face, which looked around thirty unless he was prematurely aged, but it wasn't a face I recognized.

"Mister. Wake up. The grim reaper's looking for you."

I slapped the bastard's cheek three times at equal intervals and speed, and he came to with his eyes half-open.

"Huh? Huhh... where... Aaaargh! A monster!"

"Who the fuck are you calling a monster, you slave-trading bastard? And where in the hell do you see a monster this handsome, you son of a bitch? If anything, aren't you the real monster spawned by society?"

"Aaaargh! I won't be fooled even if you wear human skin! Save me! Someone help! A monster in human skin...!"

"What the fuck is wrong with this lunatic?! Is that something that should come out of the mouth of a bastard who kidnaps, confines, forges documents, and sells perfectly good people into slavery?!"

I tried to just listen quietly, but I absolutely couldn't stand it, so I deactivated my Magic Power first and started stomping on him with all my might. Asilie joined in too.

"How dare a human hunter call someone a monster?! You're the monster, you son of a bitch!"

"Aaaargh! A, an elf?! Why is an elf here?!"

The bastard, who had only noticed me until then, seemed even more disoriented when he suddenly found himself being trampled by two sets of legs instead of one. But what we needed right now wasn't a forum for rational conversation. It was hate-o'clock for two minutes. Not only was he failing to grasp the situation and treating a normal person like a monster, but the guilty bastard was actually begging for salvation!

"Aaargh! Stop! Sto-o-op! S, save me! Please!"

"That depends on you! Don't worry! You won't die from this!"

"Aaargh!"

After dishing out what felt like roughly two minutes of violence, the utterly exhausted bastard was gasping for breath and clinging to my pant leg.

"S, stop! I was wrong! I admit I was wrong, so stop!"

"I already know you're wrong even without you saying it! What kind of moron dishes out violence just to get answers he already knows?! Talk about what I don't know!"

"Ughhh... Wh, what do you want. I swear to God, we're just ordinary slave traders..."

"There is no god for slave traders!!"

"Aaargh! I was wrong! Please, stop hitting me!"

The bastard, lower than a beast, was trying to tell a heartfelt lie while invoking God's name. Well, in a world where gods actually exist, I guess if he had the gall to sell out a god, he'd sell out people too. Intending to scare him further, I drew the sword at my waist and brought it toward the tied-up bastard's hand.

"To think you'd dare sell the name of God and try to lie so brazenly. I doubt you'll live to see tomorrow's sun. Before you repent for your sins, let's start by cutting off some fingers."

"Nooo, no!"

The frightened bastard thrashed, trying to escape, and I suppressed him with force, thrusting the sword in as if I were really going to slice them off. His face turning deathly pale was quite a sight.

"Too bad if it can't! God shall watch whether your confession about forging slave documents and your connections to the Itisel Noble Faction comes out first, or your tongue gets ripped out first!"

"Y, you are right! We forged them!"

"You keep talking all proper to me, you arrogant shit? You're not even fit to lick the dirt, and you're preserving your dignity?!"

Deciding it was about time, I raised my voice, and the bastard immediately slammed his forehead to the ground, knelt, and shouted.

"I have done wrong!! The holy knight is right! I! I kidnapped innocent subjects, forged documents, and turned them into slaves to sell!"

What? Holy Knight?

I momentarily lost control of my expression and nearly burst out in genuine laughter, barely holding it in. Looking away from the back of the bastard's head, I shifted my gaze to Asilie, and she, too, was struggling desperately to suppress her laughter with an expression similar to mine.

It seemed this guy, who looked scrawny at a glance, had absolutely zero tolerance for physical pain, fitting his frail body. He must have been incredibly desperate to jump to such a conclusion. I had no particular intention to impersonate a holy knight, but I also had no intention of correcting this misunderstanding, so I spoke with a moderately sarcastic tone, acting incredulous.

"Just moments ago, you tried to ambush and kill me while hiding under magic, and now you call me a holy knight? I see you've committed so many sins that piling on a couple more barely registers anymore?"

"I am sorry! This unworthy one failed to recognize a noble personage! I never imagined you would travel all the way here from the Holy Kingdom. Please, forgive me!"

So this is... the taste of a misunderstanding-based premise?

Whoa. Experiencing this firsthand is really fun. Asilie was already more than three steps away, scared she might get caught, covering her mouth and squeezing her eyes shut as she laughed. I felt I had to be careful too, so I straightened my slightly hunched back and put some distance between us.

"Did you believe that doing this kind of shit and then just begging for forgiveness would end it all? You're rotten from start to finish."

"I, I will tell you everything! This time, truly, I will confess everything without lies and repent!"

"We'll find out later whether those words are true or false. At least, it's not for me to judge right here and now! Guide me to the forgery workshop and the documents you bastards created!"

I forced the bastard to his feet and shoved his back. Standing behind the bastard, who didn't even dare to look back, I shrugged my shoulders at Asilie and shot her a double thumbs-up.

Apparently the double thumbs-up was just as cross-dimensional a gesture as clasping one's hands to beg forgiveness, because Asilie once again had to fight back a burst of laughter.

◈

"Th, this is the place. All important transactions and other document work were handled here."

Coming to this so-called workshop, I felt truly fortunate that I hadn't killed this particular one. I had thought it was just a simple encampment, but the workshop turned out to be a completely separate, deliberately created secret space.

The sight of a wooden trap door in the floor of the ordinary tent we had just passed through was something that would stir childhood wonder, but at the same time, it came across as deeply unpleasant proof that these crazy bastards had indeed been established here for a very long time.

"How many years have you been doing this abominable shit?"

"W-we have only been here for about three years. We merely filled the vacancy left by the hunters who were here before us, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who died in a failed deal. Because if we pay the fee, we can be guaranteed a kind of safety money normally couldn't buy."

To have lived for three years selling people, yet use the word 'only'. This bastard's mind is well and truly gone.

Still, right now he was a very useful information mule. Asilie and I put him at the front and began sweeping up any important documents we could easily grab from inside.

Among them were records revealing collaborators not only within the Noble Faction but also inside the Royal Faction itself. While I considered this part nothing new, it did make me wonder: With things at this stage, shouldn't the Royal Faction have stepped in directly to do something by now?

Perhaps they'd already taken action through other means, and I just happened to annihilate these guys faster. I'd have to find a chance to ask Sir Ekaf about this later.

"Eldi. I think at this point, we've picked out and packed the important things without overdoing it."

"Same here. Let's head out soon."

"A, are we going all the way to the Holy Kingdom like this?"

The bastard, who had been carefully reading the room, threw out the question, inserting himself between us. But naturally, I had no sense of obligation to explain anything, so instead of bothering to move my mouth, I just opted to knock the bastard out. He was a blabbermouth anyway, so whoever took him would know how to make good use of him.

What mattered to me right now was the content of the documents. Even though there was nothing that would serve as a direct link to Count Bosha, the list of things I needed to destroy because they were all in the same boat was more than overflowing.

"The war has truly dragged on. To think thieves and slave traders would be conspiring together to this extent."

Though they were called thieves, the documents recorded transactions and locations of groups that were practically being used like hidden private soldiers. As I was looking at them, Asilie came up beside me and spoke.

"Hmm. If this really is Count Bosha's handiwork, could he have been planning to build an army out of bandits?"

"That's why I want to smash them all, but the distances are a bit much."

"Let's see... here, and here. And this forest here, we could probably cover them all in two days, right?"

Saying that, Asilie pointed out the forests suspected to be the bandits' hideouts. Each one was located at a distance that would take at least three days to reach.

"There? I can't use a wyvern; we might get caught."

"It's okay. This is something I can negotiate with the spirits. Once we enter the forest, distance becomes meaningless."

"There's a way like that?"

Startled by a story I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠never heard despite all our time together, Asilie nodded as if it were nothing and answered.

"Basically, to them, bandits are just a malicious presence that harms the forest and spirits. If I propose a deal under the pretext of removing that nuisance, the spirits will gladly help. Of course, it's only possible because you're with me, an elf. I don't quite remember exactly since it's been so long... but it cuts a full day's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠walk down to about an hour?"

"Like a spirit-type gate? That's incredible."

"The concept is different, but you could say it's similar."

I should have been tired after using my strength and wandering around all day, but hearing Asilie's story suddenly made me feel revitalized.

My heart started pounding at the thought that tomorrow would be another rewarding day.