I'm Coming to Get You
Richel was being held captive in a mansion. Located on the outskirts of the territory, near the slums, the abandoned mansion looked as though it might collapse at any moment. It was a place where the occasional homeless slum dweller came to sleep. Even in its dilapidated state, it was a fine house for the people of the slums. It had a roof. It kept out the cold wind.
“Haa……”
In that mansion, Richel let out a deep sigh, bound by ropes. When she had first been kidnapped, she had been alone, but now she was not. Her gaze shifted to the side. There, Abel was also tied up.
“Abel, I told you. I said not to get involved in this……”
Richel had made it perfectly clear beforehand. “The Alchemy Guild will definitely make a move, and if such a massive guild is involved, even a mercenary like you, Abel, won’t be able to do anything. So please just stay put this time…… And yet……”
“I’m sorry……”
Abel hung his head in shame. He had heard her words, but the moment he received news of her kidnapping, his reason had been paralyzed. Somehow, he had managed to find the place where Richel was being held. Abel had been confident. ‘I’m not weak either! There’s no way I’d lose to a bunch of kidnappers!’ He had seen it as an opportunity to impress her. He planned to rescue her and show her just how strong and reliable he was.
“Lady Richel! I’ve come to save you!”
He had entered the mansion with such bravado, but the result, as could be seen, was that he had been captured instead. He had not let his guard down. Though his mind had been clouded with personal motives, he had entered with the utmost caution, yet he had been subdued in the blink of an eye.
“……I’m sorry.”
“The reason you were able to find me was probably because they deliberately left a trail. To catch anyone who might come to rescue me.”
Richel let out a small sigh. Just then, two men entered the room where they were being held. One of them was someone Richel recognized by face at least. He was the branch manager of the Alchemy Guild in Landolf Territory. He had narrow, sly eyes and a mustache of questionable taste.
“……Bamil……”
Richel ground her teeth as if overcome with revulsion. Bamil chuckled and gently stroked his mustache.
“Heh heh heh, how about it? Ready to tell the truth now?”
“Haa…… I already told you, didn’t I? The one who made the Flower Soap is Lord Albert, and he recruited the dark elves……”
“Heh heh heh.”
When Richel spoke, Bamil cut her off with an unpleasant laugh. He stared at her with his narrow eyes, which were filled with deep distrust.
“You expect me to believe that? You’re saying the fallen Legrian family recruited dark elves and used them to make Flower Soap?”
“Yes! That’s exactly it!”
“Heh heh heh, you seem to think this situation is some kind of joke. Do you not understand how serious this is?”
“Haa……”
Richel was frustrated. She had told the truth without adding a single lie, explaining everything she knew. Yet, infuriatingly, the other party refused to believe her. Bamil glanced sideways at Abel with his narrow eyes and clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“Tsk, I left a trail on purpose, thinking the people behind this woman would come to rescue her if I kidnapped her, but it looks like I caught the wrong guy.”
As expected. The reason Abel had been able to find Richel was entirely because Bamil had left a trail. He had probably thought the real person behind the Flower Soap would show up.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. Whether what you say is true or not, it doesn’t matter. Soon enough, we’ll know for certain if it’s true or not.”
“……What did you do?”
“I sent someone to the Legrian Territory you mentioned. To verify the truth. Of course, it’s obviously a lie…… It’s too late for regrets now. The man I sent has an extremely nasty personality. If he finds out it’s fake, who knows what he’ll do there……”
Bamil spoke in a threatening, low voice. He intended to intimidate her into telling the truth. However, a strong sense of incongruity appeared on Richel’s face.
“……Why are you smiling?”
She was smiling. In a situation like this, she should have been terrified or anxious that her lie would be exposed. That was how it had always been until now. But she was different. She was smiling brightly.
‘Has she lost her mind?’
He wondered if she had snapped, but that was not the case either. She was smiling from the very depths of her heart.
“Why am I smiling? Isn’t it obvious? Because that person will soon come to rescue me.”
“Come to rescue you…… Heh heh heh, what an amusing thing to say. Who’s going to rescue you? You’d better give up on such empty hopes.”
“Are you planning to kill me?”
“Why should I keep alive someone who refuses to cooperate and rebels? In the first place, because of you, we’ve suffered far too much damage. I can’t let you live.”
“Refusing to cooperate? I’ve cooperated so sincerely!”
She felt wronged. If she had lied, she wouldn’t have felt this wronged. But Richel had cooperated actively. She had told them everything about Albert, about the dark elves, and all sorts of other things. Yet they refused to believe her and now claimed she hadn’t cooperated, so they would kill her. It was maddening.
“Do you know how strong that person is? If it’s him, he’ll……”
“Heh heh, no matter how strong this person you speak of is, it doesn’t matter. Do you know who we have on our side?!”
Bamil looked at the man standing behind him and curled his lips into a smile.
“That man’s name is Budok.”
“B-Budok!?”
At that moment, Abel, who had been tied up beside her, cried out in shock. Seeing him react as though he had heard a name that should never be spoken, Richel asked,
“Abel, do you know who that man is?”
“I don’t.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t know him.”
“Then why were you so surprised?”
“It’s the same name as the dog I raised when I was a kid, so I was surprised?”
“……”
Richel was speechless with disbelief. Why had this man, who used to seem so reliable, suddenly become like this? It had started around the time he was taken away by that person named Aiden. Whatever he had been through, he had developed this airheadedness ever since. ‘Did his brain wrinkles smooth out a bit? Why is he acting like this……’
“……My name is Budok. I was once called the Blood Warrior who swept across the battlefield, an S-rank mercenary.”
As he spoke, he stroked his head. His luxuriant scalp made one want to reach out and touch it.
“Heh heh, Budok is a mercenary under exclusive contract with our Alchemy Guild! As long as he’s guarding us, you lot won’t be leaving here alive.”
“Wait a moment.”
Just then, Budok’s expression, which had been faintly smiling until a moment ago, turned cold. He stared intensely toward the door.
“What’s wrong?”
When Bamil asked, Budok silently drew his sword and made Bamil step back.
“Someone’s here.”
“Someone’s here? Don’t tell me a beggar wandered in……”
“That’s not it.”
Budok continued to stare at the door. ‘They appeared suddenly.’ The presence that had entered his senses had literally appeared right in front of the door. If it had been a slum dweller, he would have detected them the moment they entered the mansion. But it was not that either. ‘It was as if they had been standing there from the very beginning.’ That meant someone capable of deceiving his senses was standing before the door. It was no weakling. They could have controlled their presence perfectly and entered quietly, but they had deliberately revealed themselves. As if it did not matter if they were discovered.
Creeeeak.
The door opened with a sound unpleasant enough to make one frown. When it opened, Albert stood leisurely in the doorway.
“Hey, if you’re going to be in a place like this, at least oil the hinges. The noise is too loud. You’ve got plenty of money, so don’t be so stingy.”
“……Who the hell are you? How did you get in here? What’s your purpose!”
“You’re in a hurry. How am I supposed to answer if you ask everything at once? And you should already know who I am, right?”
“We should know?”
At that moment, Bamil’s gaze turned to Richel. Her eyes were sparkling like stars.
“Don’t tell me…… You’re Albert Legrian?”
“Bingo.”
“……How did you find this place?”
“How did I find it? You sent someone, didn’t you? When I asked, they told me the location.”
“You asked and they told you?”
That could not be. The man he had sent to Albert was not the type to answer questions so readily. His brutality was among the worst in the Alchemy Guild, and the mercenary sent with him was also notorious for being vicious. Yet he claimed he had simply asked?
“What did you do……”
In response to the question, Albert smirked, like a villain plotting something sinister.
“What did I do? I just talked it out nicely. After I persuaded them, they understood my feelings and told me the location.”
“……”
He could tell instinctively. The conversation and persuasion this man had used were different from what he knew. Then, with a snap, Bamil turned his head and looked at Richel.
“The fact that he came here like this means…… Don’t tell me everything you said was true!?”
Only then did Richel’s face light up with relief.
“I told you! It was true!! You didn’t believe me!”
“Huu……”
Bamil could not believe it. If someone said a fallen noble house had recruited dark elves to make Flower Soap, who would believe it? He had thought it was obviously nonsense meant to divert attention. To think it had actually been true. In the first place, who would tell everything just because someone asked? As a matter of principle, out of loyalty and trust, one should protect the secret, yet they had spilled everything.
“Whatever, now move aside. Those two are my companions, so I need to take them with me.”
When Albert waved his hand as if annoyed, Budok blocked his path.
“Who do you think you are, trying to take the hostages?”
“Because I want to.”
“You think it’ll go your way?”
Budok gathered his energy, infusing his voice with killing intent and mana to pressure Albert heavily.
Analyzing……
Seems to be around A-rank hunter level.
At Budok’s threat, Albert grinned.
“Why wouldn’t it? I’m strong enough to do whatever I want. But you’re not.”
Albert’s gaze locked onto one spot with almost obsessive intensity.
“A weakling like you can’t do whatever you want. Just like how you can’t do whatever you want with your hair.”
“You bastard!! I’ll kill you!!”
Whoa, you really pressed the berserk button, huh!?
Provoked by the baldness taunt, Budok charged forward as if his berserk button had been pressed. Budok swung his sword, thick with killing intent, intending to kill Albert. His speed was fitting for an A-rank hunter. There had been a reason Abel had been subdued, and now Albert could somewhat understand why the Alchemy Guild had acted this way. However—
“The weaker the dog, the louder it barks. You shouldn’t say such strong words so lightly.”
Albert lightly dodged the sword and, at the same time, slipped into the man’s guard and grabbed his face.
“You look too weak like this.”
Then he slammed the man’s head straight into the floor. Budok tried desperately to break free, but he could not escape an EX-rank hunter’s attack. In an instant, Budok’s head was driven into the ground.
“Huk!”
Bamil’s pupils dilated as he witnessed it. No matter how strong the opponent had been until now, Budok had always won without a single scratch. Yet that same Budok had been subdued after swinging his sword only once.
‘This guy…… is dangerous……. He’s really dangerous……’
While Bamil trembled in fear, Albert looked at Richel and Abel and used a skill.
Using Telekinesis skill.
He easily cut the ropes with telekinesis. At the same time, Richel, who had been sitting, shot forward as if she had been waiting for this moment and struck the back of Bamil’s head.
Thud!!
“Kuhuk!”
“I told you clearly!!! I told the truth! And you didn’t believe me!? Do you have any idea how frustrated I was!!?”
She must have been holding it in for a long time. Richel’s fist, striking the back of Bamil’s head, was filled with intense anger.
“I!! Told you!!! Why didn’t you believe me!! You bastard!!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Richel began stomping on Bamil. Her merciless kicks rained down on his body as if she intended to vent all the pent-up frustration she had accumulated.
Impressive.
……Lady Richel is wearing high heels, aren’t they?
Whoa, she’s not just stepping on him—she’s deliberately stomping with the heel?
I didn’t know this world had high heels too……
“Huu!”
After stomping to her heart’s content, Richel wore a wide smile. It was such a refreshing smile that it looked as though someone who had long suffered from constipation had finally found relief. She looked as if she possessed the entire world, as clear as the morning sky after rain.
“That felt amazing!”
Smiling like that, Richel looked at Albert and flinched! Then, belatedly, she fixed her hair. Clearing her throat, she spoke calmly.
“Lord Albert, I’m sorry you had to see such an unsightly sight.”
“It’s fine.”
Albert did not mind much. He had seen Han Yeseul throw hysterics several times back in the other world. Richel’s kicking did not particularly move him.
‘At least she didn’t use hellfire. That’s good enough.’
Thinking about that time is terrifying.
( •́ ̯•̀ )
“So, what will you do now?”
“What do you mean, what will I do.”
Albert had no intention whatsoever of ending things here.
“They kidnapped someone claiming to be assassins, right?”
“How did you know?”
“A kind gentleman who came to our territory was so moved by our conversation that he told me everything without even being asked.”
“……”
“Anyway…… If they touched us, we need to make it clear what happens as a result, don’t we?”
After crushing the Assassin Guild, they would move on to the Alchemy Guild and collect compensation. The course of action was set.
“Wait just a little.”
I’m coming to meet you now.