Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Slum Rescue
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"You damn brat. Didn't I tell you I'd kill you next time I saw you?"
Brandon smirked vilely. With an exaggerated gesture, he pointed to the merchants behind him.
"Look at this, you filthy little shit. Do you have any idea how many people are suffering because of a punk like you? Trash like you is just filth."
Miron's jaw dropped at Brandon's antics. All he'd stabbed was that damn pig Brandon—nothing more.
"You're the scum defiling this glorious city of Jaun!"
Brandon cleverly painted Miron as a threat to every merchant there.
But despite Brandon's words, Miron just gripped his dagger tighter.
They had all come here believing Brandon anyway.
No matter what he said, they wouldn't trust him.
'Water under the bridge. All I can do is thrash around as best I can.'
With that thought, Miron charged at Brandon. He'd make sure to punish that bastard today, at least.
"Wh-what?"
Brandon froze for a moment as Miron barreled toward him without a hint of fear.
Smack!
"Guh!"
One of the crowd smashed a club down on the charging Miron.
Still just a kid, Miron staggered from the simple blow.
The moment he faltered, the crowd began clubbing him one after another.
Smack! Smack!
"Miron, you little bastard!"
"After all we've done for you!"
"You tried to cripple Brandon?!"
The crowd was simple-minded.
Miron had stabbed the leg of Brandon, one of their own merchants. That fact planted a seed of fear in them, conscious or not.
What if this kid stabbed them next instead? That fear made them grab their clubs.
As more blows rained down, the crowd grew drunk on the atmosphere.
That was when a red glint stained Miron's eyes.
"Raaargh!!"
Crack!
"Aaaagh! Fuck! Miron's biting my leg!"
One merchant stopped his swings, howling from the pain in his leg. Miron grabbed a nearby rock and smashed the man's other foot.
Thud! Thud!
"Aaaagh!"
The merchant collapsed, unable to bear it. Miron mounted him without hesitation and bashed him with the rock.
"Fuck! You fucking bastards! What the hell did I do wrong?!"
Splat! Splat!
"Th-this little shit!"
"What are you doing? Pull him off!"
The merchants recoiled in horror at his ferocity and pummeled Miron all at once. But Miron focused solely on the first one who'd hit him, ignoring the blows. They shuddered at the sight of a mere market seller beating one man relentlessly despite the beating he was taking. When had these goods-peddlers ever seen such savagery?
"H-hurry, hit him!"
"Uwaaaagh!"
How much time passed?
Brandon limped toward the bloodied, collapsed Miron.
Hawk!
"Urk...!"
Battered all over, Miron was hoisted up by his hair—yet his eyes burned undimmed.
"Miron, you bastard! Apologize now, and I'll forgive you. Say it loud for everyone here!"
Brandon shouted for all to hear, then leaned his ear close to Miron's face as if eager for the apology.
In a whisper too quiet for others, he added,
"Of course, your apology will include your big sister too. Heh heh. She looks frail and sickly, but that beauty is to die for."
Miron's eyes rolled back at the whisper.
"That's part of Misha's charm, isn't it?"
Miron could take no more; his ears felt like they were rotting.
As he mustered his strength to bite off that filthy ear—
"Wow... what a real piece of shit."
An unfamiliar voice echoed through the slums.
"Wh-who's there?!"
The crowd whipped their torches toward us at the sudden voice.
There I was, dressed in unmistakably noble finery, with the still-mending Mimi and Nene, Saladin exuding an eerie aura beside me.
And Ash, shouldering a longbow as big as her torso.
Merchants who lived by their wits wouldn't mistake us for ordinary folk.
And sure enough—
Tension crept into the crowd's faces as they sized us up.
Step, step.
"Does it matter who we are?"
I spoke calmly, walking slowly toward Miron.
The merchants blocking my path parted as if entranced.
"What matters is that a bunch of adults gang-beat this child in the dead of night. And so mercilessly, too."
I checked Miron's condition on the ground.
"Heh, heh... come... at me... you dog... bastards...!"
I'd worried he'd passed out, but Miron was Miron, young as he was.
His body was wrecked, but the venom in his eyes hadn't faded a bit.
'He's on the verge of awakening.'
Left alone, it would've happened soon. And then? Obvious.
He wouldn't have let any of these guys off, especially that Brandon prick.
It would've ended without real danger, but only I knew that.
So here, I needed a little theatrics.
I gently set Miron down and turned to the merchants.
"As a noble, I can't just walk past this disgraceful behavior. Or can I?"
"H-he attacked Brandon first!"
Excuses poured out starting with one man's retort.
"Y-yeah! The brat stole from Brandon and stabbed his leg—he nearly crippled him!"
I raised a finger to my lips, silencing their defenses.
"Pretty ugly excuses for grown men. Anyway, I'd say he's paid enough. And that guy's always seemed like a cripple."
As Saladin and Ash flanked me, the merchants shrank back.
"Uh, um..."
"Th-that should be enough... Miron's reflected, right?"
Most calmed, willingly or not.
But one harboring filthy desires raged on.
The apple seller called Brandon.
"No way! Even nobles can't ignore the law like this! I'm the victim here!"
"...Hmph."
True to form, a lowlife. How to shut him up?
Misreading my contemplation, he grew bolder.
"You don't look like any Jaun noble. Butting into local business is overstepping..."
Ah, couldn't listen anymore.
I glanced at Saladin. He met my eyes, asking,
"How should I handle it?"
"Don't make a fuss. No killing. No killing."
"Got it."
Saladin twitched his fingers. Mimi's repaired mouth opened, firing her tongue-blade.
Squelch!
"Gaaaaah!"
It nailed the wound Miron had made in Brandon's leg. He screamed in agony.
"Such a wimp."
Saladin smirked and flicked his fingers again.
Squelch!
"Aaaaaaaagh!!"
One of Nene's fingers launched, piercing Brandon's crotch.
"Still one more shot left. Don't tap out yet."
Saladin's icy words mixed with Brandon's sobs, freezing the other merchants solid.
Of course—non-fighters like them rarely saw blood.
"No more to say? Then scram. I've got a kid to heal."
"Y-yes, sir!"
The merchants who'd rallied to Brandon supported him and fled, glancing back suspiciously.
Ah, that.
"I'll take the kid. No revenge. Rest easy."
Only then did they relax, vanishing from the slums like they'd never been.
Alright then.
Time to lay the groundwork.
"Oof, you're hurt bad."
I scooped up the fallen Miron and headed slowly into his shack.
"This your place?"
"Wh...o...?"
"Just someone here to help."
I eased his wariness with a calm tone.
"Hooking whatever you can now, kids or no."
Saladin muttered behind me, but it was probably nothing.
Inside Miron's shack lay a girl pale with illness, her beauty undimmed.
Sensing us, she laboriously turned her head our way.
"Ona, what hap—?!"
She gasped at the bloodied Miron.
"O-Ona!"
Her body too weak, she couldn't rise despite her shock.
She must be the 'precious one' Miron mentioned in his past life.
And the reason he gained infamy in the Holy Empire.
'In that case.'
I gently placed Miron before her and met her eyes.
"Hi. If it's okay with a stranger, can I heal you both?"
Save her, and Miron came free.
Treating Miron didn't take long.
Mostly bruises from the beating—he mended fast after chugging healing potions.
Plus, his Heterogenous Power was on the cusp of awakening, speeding recovery even more.
Not that he knew.
The problem was his sister, Misha.
Having run a merchant group in my past life, I prided myself on knowing herbs and ailments.
But I couldn't pinpoint her issue.
"Hmm. Should I take her to Banten? But she's too weak for the trip."
That frail, she might die en route.
She needed some recovery first.
"Step aside, human."
As I racked my brain, silent Ash nudged me forward.
She pressed an unidentified leaf to Misha's belly.
Slide—.
"...!!"
The leaf melted into Misha's body naturally.
Misha's face visibly relaxed.
"...As I thought."
Ash, watching Misha, turned to me with realization.
"Mana reversal."
She stated it with certainty.
"Mana reversal?"
"Happens when mana affinity is too high. Like an unfinished vessel overflowing—the vessel stops functioning."
Mana reversal. A real phenomenon? I'd thought it only in books.
"Damn, of all things."
A blessing and curse.
Genius intellect and magical talent, but death before it bloomed.
No cure for mana reversal.
So in his past life, Misha hadn't died to Empire soldiers.
Probably succumbed to the grueling evacuation, her frail body giving out.
'What now.'
To take Miron, Misha had to come too.
But mishandle her fragile state, and I'd lose Miron forever.
Ash tossed out a line as I pondered.
"A world tree leaf from our forest could cure her."
"What?"
"One of our kin suffered mana reversal. Long-term ingestion of world tree leaves healed her. Normally not for humans, but..."
Ash glanced away.
"Thanks to you, we saved the princess. If needed, I'll ask Her Majesty."
I couldn't see her face, but her ears were red.
'What's with her, acting all soft... ah.'
"You're helping me out?"
"Ahem! No! Your house helped our kin, that's all!"
Cute.
"Sure, sure. Thanks."
"Kyak!"
Enjoying Ash's Saladin-like freakout, I brought Miron and Misha back to our Jaun lodgings.
I settled them in the next room, then planned our Jaun escape with Ash, Saladin, and Millia.
"There'll definitely be Empire assassins outside Jaun. Fighting's inevitable. No avoiding it."
I spoke with conviction.
"Hmm... but nothing's happened so far, and it's too quiet. Maybe they've given up...?"
Millia tilted her head, still hopeful.
"They can't infiltrate here, obviously. Jaun's a key Dalton Kingdom city. Storming it means instant war."
"So, what's the plan?"
Saladin asked.
"Sure, they're low-tier, but we wiped a whole paladin order. If that princess is as thorough as you say, we might struggle without backup."
Fair point. But.
"If the 'princess' formed that pursuit team."
"Huh?"
I spread a map and jabbed the Empire capital, Vatican.
"Even the Third Princess wouldn't predict us dawdling in Jaun. So where would she send pursuers?"
Saladin stared at the map.
"...I'd pick Ballista. Closest to Dalton Kingdom."
Saladin was Ikenian nobility. He knew basics.
"Right. So Duke Kamil's forming it."
The fastest of the Empire's three swords.
"Even if he reveres the princess and obeys..."
I was confident.
"Opponent's me. Shield Family bug."
"......"
"No one escapes preconceptions."
"......"
"Kamil's heard the most rumors about me. No worries."
"......"
Yes. Even Kamil would underestimate me subtly.
Even overestimating, he'd send an elf-focused team.
We could break through that easy.
Or so I thought.
"......"
What.
"......"
The hell.
"...Sorry."
Saladin apologized suddenly. And his apology pissed me off.
Ah, shit.