How Much Karma Is There?
Derigan clicked his tongue. “Tsk.”
He leaped backward with great force. At the same time, the specially crafted wire on his body responded to his master’s aura and unfurled widely.
Dozen strands of wire tried to swallow the enemies like a net, but they were not so easy to catch either.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
One of the enemies fired a concentrated aura from the tip of his sword, and Derigan’s net was instantly shattered. While the aura control was impressive, what was even more surprising was the insight that allowed him to find a technical weakness in an instant.
It was clearly not the kind of combat power that would be used in a simple duel.
“Kyu!?”
“Gina!”
“I-I’m fine!”
Gina was barely holding on, teetering like she was walking a tightrope. The enemies were three. Among them, Gina was fighting two alone.
Derigan had outstanding combat power objectively, but his essence was that of an assassin. If he engaged in a fair fight with enemies of similar level, he would naturally lose.
'I made a mistake. I should have reported it to the boss right away when I was being followed last night.'
To protect Coyle, who had taken the bait’s place, the boss had asked Derigan and Gina to provide protection.
Given that he was sensitive to approaches and changes, including the pursuit, and even Gina, an excellent swordsman, was assigned, it was definitely the right judgment.
Therefore, the misjudgment that led to this situation was the decision Derigan made last night.
'I was worried about calling the boss and running away, but I didn’t expect them to be strong enough to overpower Gina...!'
Excluding their boss within the Hounds, Garel and Damus were naturally the top two in pure combat power.
But Gina was also an excellent swordsman, and the gap between her and Garel and Damus was not that large to begin with.
Even if it was two against one, overpowering Gina so clearly suggested that the enemies were not ordinary organization members.
'Be happy, Coyle. The fishing was successful. And...'
While they were holding the enemies, Derigan, who had gone to congratulate his fleeing colleague for seeking help, wrapped his wire again.
'...I hope you return as soon as possible.'
Derigan’s wire danced in response to the enemy’s swinging sword slash.
--
“Hmm?”
As I approached the empty lot where the battle was taking place, I saw the subordinates fighting with the enemies. I tilted my head in confusion.
I had heard the location from Coyle, who was waiting with Haria, and rushed ahead, leaving the two of them behind.
Even if Derigan, the assassin, was unavoidable, if Gina was struggling that much, it meant they were significant opponents.
My thoughtful subordinates had lured the enemies to an empty lot on the outskirts of the city where there was no commotion, so that the battle would not affect the capital.
Thanks to the haste, arriving on time was fortunate, but the moment I saw the enemies’ swords, I felt a sense of unease.
“This is bad.”
When that unease turned into the worst possible imagination, I felt a chill run down my spine.
“Boss!”
“Huh? Boss is here?”
Upon noticing me approaching, Derigan called out. Gina also reacted. Despite wearing the mask, her expression seemed to show joy.
Just looking at the wounds all over her body made it clear she had not escaped unscathed. It was understandable to be happy.
Since imagining it would be meaningless anyway, asking directly would be faster in many ways.
“Reinforcements?!”
“How many bastards came...!”
Since I was wearing the Hound mask, calling me a bastard was appropriate, and since there was no damage, I was not particularly angry.
“But.”
I could not forgive being called a bastard, even if it was just that.
“...! No, retreat!”
With three of them, it was fine if one was clever, but even that was too late a reaction.
Even if it was fast, it would not have changed much.
“Kuk!”
“Kik?!”
Concentrating aura on his legs, he rushed in a flash, bending his index and middle fingers on both hands to stab them into the necks of the two fighting Gina, and with a sound of bursting breath, they fell.
Leaving the falling one, Derigan went to the one he was fighting. This guy must have been the clever one from earlier.
“Damn it!”
Thanks to the two who came with me becoming my targets first, I was able to secure a moment to swing my sword.
Responding to my probing, he swung his sword. It was a good sword slash, one could even say it was excellent, but it was meaningless.
Grabbing the sword blade with his left hand, then feeding the same thing the previous two had eaten, he fell helplessly again.
Perhaps because I had taken down the enemies who were struggling too quickly. Derigan and Gina, staring blankly at the collapsing enemies, muttered one by one.
“Boss, are you really human?”
“I didn’t even see the movement.”
I wanted to say that it was embarrassing how much, but I could not. They were not enemies that could be lightly dismissed.
I looked down at the ones I had knocked down and explained to the two.
“No, these guys were possible because they were from the country. They were not ordinary people. The moment they realized they could not block or dodge my attack, they concentrated aura on the hit area to reduce damage.”
Because I pierced even that aura and hit them, they fell. If not, they would have counterattacked at that moment.
“Even just holding out against such strong opponents is amazing. Both of you worked hard.”
“...Yeah, well. We’re not weak.”
“...Right. The boss is crazy.”
They seemed a bit embarrassed, as if they had been humiliated by the enemies, but when I honestly praised them, they seemed to feel more at ease.
After that, when Haria and Coyle arrived, we captured the three fallen enemies and moved them to the old Hound headquarters.
Here, it would be used in this way.
“If these guys wake up and die immediately, it’s troublesome, so hide some poison and have it removed. Haria, where is Selemin who went to the magic academy?”
“I called her on the way, so she’ll arrive in a little while. Since I knew this would happen, I told her to come this way, so we won’t miss each other.”
Good. Selemin had gone to the magic academy to request medicine according to my command today. Because the Hounds had many dangerous tasks due to their mission characteristics, like when Gilbert was there, they felt the need to keep treatment medicine on hand.
Selemin, who was eager to leave the imperial palace, was happily going out and still had not returned.
Since I knew the circumstances, I could not understand her not understanding the mind, but since the contract magic was placed on the captured ones, we needed Selemin who could undo it.
“No, there was poison hidden in their teeth.”
“Looking at the method, it’s a bit crude, so it’s not the work of an assassination organization.”
I wished it was the Sika’s, but it was not. Since it was Haria and Derigan’s words, it was definitely not.
“Why did you call to the old headquarters?”
Selemin, who arrived a little later, released the contract magic on the three. After removing all the binding power that could make them unable to speak, we slapped their cheeks to wake them up.
The awakened ones immediately tried to burst the poison and die, but upon realizing the poison was removed, they shouted at us as if in desperation.
“Kuk! Kill us!”
“A man like you should tell me that.”
It is a personal opinion, but even if a woman tells me, it does not work. Besides, I did not like forcing things, and I had not treated prisoners roughly either.
Of course, if they insisted on being killed, I would kill them. Among the other races, there were quite a few like that. They were the kind who feared being captured as prisoners and living longer more than dying on the battlefield.
What kind of group are these guys?
“Kill me quickly...!”
“What are the knights of Runtas, Elios, and Garvaldi conspiring together for?”
The reactions of the three captured men to my question were impressive. They erased their expressions in an instant, and that reaction itself was the most definite answer.
Really? How deep is the karma, Vlata Empire.
“Three countries competing for the next position after the empire have formed an alliance?”
No matter how ignorant I was about the continent’s situation, I knew that much. Recently, I had been studying too.
Holy Runtas Kingdom.
Elios Coalition.
Garvaldi Republic.
These three nations were countries boasting the next strongest power among human nations after the empire, as I just said.
One by one, there was a clear difference from the empire, but when the three nations combined their strength, it was unknown.
At best, it might be extermination. That is why my subordinates were tense and hardening their bodies in an instant.
“If you do not speak, I will torture you?”
Torture was not my specialty, but with two assassins, it would somehow work.
Although they did not speak, they knew they could not do that forever, so the cleverest of the three, who seemed like a rough leader, opened his mouth.
“Hmph. I do not know what you are talking about. What grounds are you using to say such things? We are just ordinary mercenaries...”
“Since I am looking at you, I feel ashamed. Stop the awkwardly acting. What mercenaries in the world learn military tactics and wander around?”
This time, none of the three could hide their expressions. The face of how do you know that.
How do I know? Because I am from the Mayer Kingdom. I know my hometown and family, the Mayer Kingdom, does not have any greed beyond necessity, but there was one exception.
Exactly, the technology for fighting. If it was something that would help in battle, thanks to the ancestors who greedily collected everything, I also know most of the martial arts existing on the continent.
Except for those systematically organized and known.
“It seems they did some training to hide it while fighting, but even so, they could not hide the origin of their own technique.”
What I just said was half boast. I did realize that it was the origin of the technique, but that did not prove that their swordsmanship was really the military tactics of each country.
Even with the same swordsmanship, adventurers or mercenaries would modify it in the direction they thought was better and pass it on to others.
In short, even if I found the hidden origin, it was difficult to accurately guess what the current swordsmanship was.
Actually, this was the first time I saw someone using the swordsmanship of another country as a swordsman of that country.
The reason I kept saying it with certainty was because it was based on the initial guess that if a traitor targeted the Hounds, they would pull in outside forces.
If this did not work, I would have to torture them to make them talk, but fortunately, he opened his mouth.
With a horribly distorted face, he smiled and looked at me.
“What will you do if you know that? Start a war? With the current empire? Or are you scared? Are you afraid? Do you regret it? It is useless! The responsibility for all this lies with the empire, and the price will be paid with the blood of the empire!”
The next action of the man who shouted with a voice mixed with hatred and madness was surprising.
He, in a state of being captured, twisted his body in an instant and bit the neck of his nearby colleague.
To add, that action was not to protect information.