Ragnis Lien da Levien
Ragnis Lien da Levien
"What the hell is going on?!"
It was more than ten minutes after we'd sorted out the whole situation that the city patrol finally showed up.
They hadn't come with the guard force, just six of them rushing in, as if they'd had some kind of scheduled time. Judging by their expressions, they were pretty flustered by the unexpected outcome.
Well, originally, instead of me, who should've been dead or beaten to a pulp, they found eight adventurers trussed up like dried fish, so of course they'd be. After clearing the area with Alisha and the kids' help, I told everyone to go inside and sat outside with those bastards.
The interrogation was already over. Abnam and the rest hadn't even dared to lie. What they confessed was, thankfully, not far off from what Ragnis and I had guessed.
Neutralize me, kidnap Ragnis, then escape the city with the patrol's help. Once they reached the rendezvous point in the nearby forest, their job was done. Whether they had a wyvern or were going on horseback wasn't certain yet, but that was something I could see with my own eyes later.
The employer had just given them a high-handed order to get it done without mistakes because it was extremely urgent, then went ahead to the rendezvous point, so there probably weren't any separate watchers. If I handled this place well, leaving Ragnis at the inn would be fine.
The good thing was that not a single patrolman was a face I recognized. If any of them had been someone I knew, I would have been really pissed off.
"V-violent conduct has been reported. By the look of it, there's no need to ask further. Throw down your weapons and surrender. We'll take you in immediately—"
"Bullshit. Since when do patrols arrest people? Quit talking shit and call the guard force."
"W-what?!"
Taking criminals into custody wasn't within the patrol's authority. The guard force was military, but the patrol was nothing more than a paid civilian watch issued city equipment. All they were supposed to do when something happened was handle the initial response and notify the guard force so a rapid-response squad could be dispatched.
That they were trying to take me in was nothing but bullshit to somehow cover this up. That was why I could stand my ground and throw that threat right back at them.
"Better hurry before I tie every last one of you up."
"Are you daring to ignore a patrol order and resist arrest?"
When the guy in front said that, the others drew their swords. I got it. They had some armor on and fancy-looking swords, so they were feeling confident. They wouldn't want their corruption exposed either.
But unless what they were holding was a spear—a weapon civilians weren't allowed to carry around the city—they were no threat.
A spear was the symbol of law by itself. There was a reason the kingdom banned anyone but regular soldiers from carrying that weapon. If the guard force had come with spears, even with proof those bastards had taken bribes, I couldn't resist. That would be the act of turning the entire city into an enemy.
But a sword you could buy with enough money. It was the most common weapon carried by adventurers you saw everywhere. Standard-issue armor, too—poke around any weapon shop and you'd find something similar.
That was the difference between the patrol and the guard. The only way those punks could prove their status was a single patrol badge issued by the city.
A patrol badge that anyone with the means could forge.
"I just stated a legally sound point and you draw your swords? You motherfuckers, are you real patrolmen or fakes impersonating patrolmen? You pulling this shit to get them off?"
"Don't talk nonsense! Can't you see this patrol badge—?"
"Anyone can forge shit like that. The clear evidence is that you're not doing your job, so what does that matter?"
The guys who'd been full of bravado faltered a little. They'd been swaggering under the name of the patrol, but it wasn't landing, so they must've been confused. Honestly, if they didn't attack, it would just be more trouble for me. My goal was to tie all of them up too and catch the mastermind at the rendezvous point. Bribe-taking bastards—who knew what they'd do if I left them alone?
So I didn't draw my sword. I deliberately pretended to be exhausted and waved my hand as if I had no strength. I had to put on an act like I'd used up all my energy taking down eight adventurers, so they'd get cocky and believe they could overpower me and overstep their authority.
"You're not listening! Since you refuse to be arrested, we'll subdue you by force!"
Just like that, they worked up their courage and stepped forward.
"You bastards walked right into it."
"What?"
I wrapped my body in Magic Power, rushed in, and socked the nearest guy in the face. They were so pathetically sloppy that I didn't even need to raise my Magic Power output much.
There were many reasons why patrols lacked arrest authority, but one of the biggest was that they simply didn't have the ability to do so in most situations. The armor they wore and the swords they carried were little more than decorative threats.
These guys were just civilians who could use a bit of strength. Resisting city authority was stupid, so even with just a show of uniform, citizens complied. So they just handed patrol badges to out-of-work civilians with too much energy and hired them cheap as patrol forces.
That was why they were so complacent.
"You impostor bastards who don't even know the law! I'll tie you all up and hand you over to the guard force!"
"Aaaagh!"
Even the swords they swung were shaky and slow, posing no threat at all. Compared to these clowns, even adventurers would be elite soldiers.
Leaving the guys whose jaws I might've broken behind me, I shouted.
"Alisha! Levi! Tie these bastards up with the kids. Jin! You go report to the guard force."
After I'd sorted things out, the kids came out of the inn and followed my instructions. Jin asked me once, looking seriously at the patrolmen.
"Will it be okay, big bro? They're still patrol."
"There's more than enough reason. How dare patrolmen try to arrest a citizen? If I tell the guards, they'll probably confiscate these guys' patrol badges."
"Hmm... still, it's a bit..."
"It's fine. I'm going to catch the bastard who bribed them anyway. As long as they're alive when I'm done, it'll work out."
Unlike the other flustered kids, Jin calmly sized up the situation and helped out. After getting my confirmation, he ran toward the guard force. Seriously, what the hell had that guy done before coming here?
"Eldmia. What on earth is going on?"
Alisha asked me with an infinitely serious face, unlike usual, but I thought it was better to leave this to Ragnis's judgment.
"Levi will explain. I still have cleaning up to do, so I'll be right back."
Alisha didn't bother to grab me and ask. I thought it was because, as she'd said, she'd once been an adventurer and was fully aware of what still needed cleaning up in this situation, and I ran toward the location I'd gotten from the bastards. The biggest problem was that I had to leave the gate at such a late hour, but once I arrived, there was no need to worry.
"Huh? Halt! Who... what. Eldmia? What are you doing here at this hour?"
"Alec?"
Surprisingly, the ones guarding the gate were Alec and a guard I hadn't seen before. I didn't know that guy, but I definitely knew how to sweet-talk Alec.
"I was worried about how to explain, but this works out. Some fuckers tried to kidnap the girls at Alisha's inn, and I beat the shit out of all of them."
"What?! Re-Remiri?! Are the others okay?!"
Well, that worked out nicely.
◆
Of course, their target was just Ragnis, but what did I care?
Faced with the danger to the girl he liked, Alec exploded with fury and granted me permission to leave with a very cooperative attitude.
"Just beat the living hell out of them!"
Leaving that enthusiastic support behind, I slipped into the forest. Finding a path in the forest just as night was falling wasn't easy, but the same went for those bastards.
"Three steps in from the entrance of the forest facing the gate... at the base... this is it. Luminous spore."
The trail left by rubbing luminous mushroom spores on things wasn't hard to find. Normally, spores lose their glow within an hour of being dug up, but these were still shining clearly, probably because they'd been magically treated. I followed the arrow-shaped markers in silence, and before long a clearly man-made campsite and firelight came into view.
Suddenly, anxiety surged.
Was this an established campsite that had already been here, or one they'd built themselves?
Neither looked good. If they'd prepared in enough detail to pre-survey the surrounding terrain, didn't that mean they'd been onto Ragnis for a long time?
Then they moved so shoddily and hastily at the last minute? I kept walking while sorting through the tangled thoughts, and in the silent forest, an unfamiliar voice reached me.
"...how's it gonna go?"
I suppressed my anxiety and closed the distance, and the bastards' ongoing chatter gradually started to come through.
"...honestly, the brat wasn't as easy as I thought. Sir Delt said he'd be about apprentice knight level."
"If that's for real, those morons are all gonna get chopped up."
"That's what you get from adventurers hired for pocket change. They're probably spilling our location right about now."
It felt as though the blood drained from my hands and feet. At the same time, my instincts screamed that there was no time to hesitate. I'd thought I was one step ahead, but these bastards had already anticipated that I would come looking for them.
It was a trap. Someone smarter than me had been one step ahead.
I wrapped my entire body in Magic Power and launched myself out at full speed. The noise from brushing through the undergrowth began dragging their gazes toward me.
"What, an animal—"
"Fuck! It's him!"
"How the hell already?!"
A wagon built to transport a wyvern, with the wyvern on it. One guy was turning as if to run for the wyvern. Three were gathered around the campfire, eyes wide as they reached for their swords. One more still had his back to me and hadn't fully turned his head. So far, none of that was far outside what I'd expected.
But their conversation proved I'd been wrong.
They had outplayed Ragnis and me by a step. They had assumed the adventurer bastards would fail and that I would come all the way here. Judging by their attitude, their goal must have been to kill or neutralize me when I showed up.
Which meant someone was still targeting Ragnis, who was defenseless back at the inn.
I ignored the cold sweat running down my skin, drew my sword, and drove it into the nearest man's back. Maximum-output Magic Power layered over my tensed muscles, and the point shot forward far faster than usual, piercing his heart in an instant.
Everything could still fall apart. Sorry, Asilie, but my own inexperience had made killing unavoidable.
"That little fucker's an aura user!!"
"Shit, he came way too fast!"
The one running toward the wyvern was surely the pilot. If that bastard untied the wyvern and mounted, I couldn't catch him.
I couldn't spare even the time to pull my sword free. I charged with the corpse still skewered on it, twisted the blade, and cut sideways from inside the body until the sword tore out through his flank.
Three swords were almost fully drawn. Two men stood close together, while a third was separated from them. What should I do?
My body moved before my thoughts. I shoved the corpse at that lone bastard, then leaped straight at the other two.
"Fuck...!"
To gain even a little more reach, I gripped the pommel instead of the longsword's handle and stretched my whole body out as though casting a fishing line. I swung with everything I had, trying to take both men's heads at once, and for that instant the blade flashed like lightning.
"Aaaaaagh!"
The scream came from behind. Without even a moment to appreciate the two heads flying off from a horizontal slash that relied more on prayer than skill, I corrected my twisted stance and stabbed the guy struggling under the corpse I'd thrown, piercing him and the corpse together. Forcing my balance cost so much strain I half-thought my big toenail might rip off, but it worked.
"Gurk...!"
Because I'd thrown my whole body into that thrust, I toppled over with them.
But I was sure I'd at least neutralized him, so I rolled upright, and even as I did, I hurled my sword at the bastard who was nearly at the wyvern and yelled.
"If you don't want to die, take your hands off right now!"
—THUD!
The sword flew like a javelin and lodged itself in the wagon carrying the wyvern, and the startled wyvern thrashed. In the process, the wyvern pilot took a tail to the torso and came tumbling head over heels toward me. At that, I had no choice but to let out a genuine sigh of relief.
"Hrrrk! C-cough! Cough!"
I forced myself not to show that relief, strode over, and managed my expression while I pulled out the longsword I'd thrown. Then I stepped on the solar plexus of the wyvern pilot, who was still down and in agony. Since my aim was just to pin him with weight so he couldn't move, it wouldn't hurt much.
"If you don't tell me what the hell is going on right now, I'll never—"
"I-I'll talk! Please, just spare my life!"
I never thought there'd come a day I'd like being cut off. Today just had to be that day.
"Quick thinker. I like that. Untie the wyvern. Now."
"Huh?"
"I may fucking well have been fooled up to here, but I've got enough brains to deduce the rest, you see? Unless you're willing to bravely throw your life away for that diversion operation that bastard Delt cooked up, I'll hear your explanation on the way, so get ready to fly. Don't try any stupid tricks. Since I need you to pilot the wyvern, I won't kill you, but I can remove your fingers one by one."
"I-I'll do it right away!"
The plan had failed. I'd bragged to Asilie, and now I'd even killed people. If my guess was right, Ragnis was probably in the middle of being kidnapped by someone I knew nothing about.
I forced down the mounting panic and kept myself calm. Once I'd climbed onto the wyvern behind its pilot, only one thought came to mind.
Tonight was going to be one shitty night.