Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Side Story - Coincidence
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Time passes.
Days accumulate into a week, weeks line up into a month.
This happened around the time a month had passed like that, when the girl in Leo's memory had begun to fade.
"Is this the place?"
Holding the horse's reins, Leo checked the map. With the wanted poster and request form spread out, it was definitely here.
"...Tch... No work, so he sold his daughter?"
This job was to catch human traffickers—a farmer who had lost his son had poured his entire fortune into the request.
To top it off, those traffickers were known as the assassin group 'Hydra' with a bounty on their heads, making it a perfect commission for Leo, whose income had dipped due to injuries this month.
'Guys like that... I kinda want to beat them down myself.'
Thinking that, Leo urged his horse toward the city.
"...Halt. We need to inspect you."
Mid-ride, a guard stopped Leo. It was a far cry from the attitude of the guard he'd beaten a month ago.
Leo expressionlessly handed over his mercenary tag and underwent the inspection.
"You look young... A mercenary?"
"...Let's just say I had my reasons."
It was a complicated story involving his mother, and above all, he didn't want to tell just anyone.
"I see. You're good to go."
"Kids these days are huge."
Hearing the nearby guard grumble, Leo said nothing and entered the city.
"...Not bad."
The city had a decent buzz. Merchants haggled fiercely at the market, lovers and families ate together or laughed at the sights.
If only there weren't human traffickers, it would be perfect.
"Leon!"
"...Huh...?"
Leo whipped around for a moment.
"Mommy!!"
The kid named 'Leon' next to him hugged his mother. Naturally, it wasn't Leo being called, and he had no one to call him anyway.
"Where were you? I was looking for you!"
Leon's mother stroked his head and checked his body, making sure there were no scratches.
For some reason, the scar on his chest throbbed anew. Using fire magic like that had been too reckless after all.
"Um... I saw a really pretty big sister on the road, so I got distracted..."
"A pretty big sister?"
"She had white hair and blue eyes, like a fairy from a fairy tale!"
Leo paused at that. But he soon let out a hollow laugh.
'There are tons of white-haired, blue-eyed people in the world... I'm just being oversensitive.'
Thinking that, Leo distanced himself from the mother and son. For some reason, sticking around felt like it would distract him from the job.
"Lady Ariasfil!! No, where on earth did you go!?"
In the streets, a burly knight was shouting while searching for a missing child.
'Human trafficking it is, then.'
The missing child wasn't a coincidence. There had to be some connection.
'...Time to check the back alleys.'
With that thought, Leo moved on.
The city's back alleys were closer to abyssal depths than mere shadows cast by light.
The sick and diseased, begging beggars, orphans abandoned by parents, elders discarded by their children.
If asked for a museum collecting human suffering by category, Leo would always point to back alleys.
'...Still, this one's pretty tame. No cannibals at least.'
As Leo scanned the alley, an old woman called out.
"Flour for sale...!"
A frail old woman holding a small sack, calling out to buy her flour alone on a street where no one paid her any mind.
'...She'll end up trafficked like this...'
Was it idle worry? Leo approached her anyway.
"How much flour do you have?"
"...This... is all...!"
The old woman handed over a sack of flour with trembling hands, as if she knew exactly how much Leo needed.
"...Just the right amount. Nice and fine too. How much?"
"One... copper coin..."
Even for back-alley flour, it was dirt cheap. Even if mixed with sand or cheap drugs, it would cost more.
"Isn't that too cheap?"
Leo slipped her the copper coin and subtly probed.
"...That flour holds the key to your fate... so I can't charge much..."
"...A fortune teller?"
Caught off guard by her insight, Leo's voice faltered.
"...Fortune telling... could be... but... I hate fate... don't want to see it..."
"Then just don't give me the flour."
"...Can't do that... Even without a key... you'll hoist sails or row oars to move forward..."
Thinking she was a bit off in the head, Leo turned to leave, but the old woman spoke again.
"...The place you seek... will vanish the moment you give up... Fate is like a sea made of air... You'll be pushed endlessly by unseen waves..."
On a whim, Leo glanced back.
The old woman had vanished. The air itself seemed like it might be her, an illusion that strong.
"Better get to work."
Shouldering the flour sack, Leo thought.
Was it fate's prank? Not long into the alleys, Leo spotted men carrying a sack over a child's head.
The child wasn't struggling—likely knocked out by poison.
'Definitely not amateurs.'
Even veteran mercenaries would struggle against assassins using such precise poison.
"...Alright then..."
He tailed them discreetly. That way, he could find their base. As expected, they stuffed the child into a barrel and moved out.
Hunting had made him adept at tracking without detection, and he successfully reached their hideout unnoticed.
'...Something's off.'
For human traffickers, it felt weird. Normally, they'd have routes set up to sell for profit...
'...These guys don't care about their customers.'
Even black market dealers were merchants—they needed to think of buyers. But trafficking in some remote deep forest? Kidnapping in the alleys would be far quicker.
'...Unless it's something else...'
Just then, the kidnappers with the child barrel entered the hideout. Luckily, it was just a simple lock.
'...Easier infiltration than expected.'
The group went inside; eavesdropping suggested an underground secret space.
"...Then..."
Leo looked around with a slingshot in hand. On the most suitable target—a tree branch—a bird perched casually.
Thwip, chirp!
Hit by the stone, the bird's leg snapped, and it began wailing. No kill, no knockout.
A loudly crying bird was perfect.
'...Decent distance, so there's a window.'
"...What the hell's that noise?"
Soon, one emerged for recon. Couldn't kill him—if he didn't return, they'd know of the intrusion big time.
So.
Creeeak...
Slip in as the door opens and closes. Steps quiet and swift.
'...Good hiding spot here.'
He ducked into an empty barrel. Sleeve loaded with hidden weapons for counterattack if needed. His boyish build made it possible.
"...A bird fell? A sign to eat?"
Surprisingly dim for an assassin, he picked up the broken-legged bird, pondering dinner.
But they'd be dead or captured before dinner.
'...Or I'll be dead.'
With that, Leo quietly exited the barrel. Infiltration success—now, stay hidden.
'...Burn the place down?'
That's why he'd brought the flour. Burn the hideout wholesale, then pick off survivors. Simple.
'...But assess first.'
The kid they brought, and likely others. Burning with captives inside? Bad karma for nightmares.
'...Let's go in.'
Basement first. No sentries visible, narrow path—quick and quiet should work.
'...Worst case, light it up.'
If his life was at risk, self-preservation first. Anyone complaining was a hypocrite.
'...Why's it so huge?'
This wasn't just kidnapping—it was like a slaughterhouse pen for livestock.
'...Is it really kidnapping...?'
"Uwaaa... aaah..."
Someone squeezed out a pained scream. Whip cracks followed. Leo marked his path discreetly and headed toward the noise.
"...Uwaaaa... aaah..."
"Shut up and eat...! Eat!!"
One had language; the other, nothing but screams, not even a word mixed in.
'...Like it can't speak at all.'
Just in case, Leo wetted his hood with canteen water. Preparing for the worst.
"...!"
At the alley's end, Leo froze. Two things came into view from that angle.
'...What the hell is this...'
Children bred like cattle, eating feed from troughs mindlessly, locked in cages, even animal-like cries.
"Auu... eung..."
"Keng... krung..."
And around the corner, a trembling girl clutching a sword. Too young to be with them, yet her white hair and blue eyes were strikingly familiar.
'...Why the hell are you here...!?'
The girl who had pierced his chest.
"Th...!"
Unable to hold back, she drew her sword to charge, but—
Chin
"...!?"
Leo clamped her mouth and sword. Mouth close, he lip-synced silently.
(If you go, you die.)
Did she remember him? She nodded, face bewildered.
"Let's go now. You're eating well these days."
They left satisfied with the kid force-fed despite the whip. The jailer's keys jingled amid the children's sloppy eating—a eerie harmony.
(Why are you here?)
As Leo released her mouth, the girl spoke. Good she mimicked the lip-sync.
Leo silently showed his mercenary tag. And sacrificed a precious consumable.
He pulled out a string-bound notepad and cloth-wrapped charcoal—ideal for writing.
Learning to read and write was impressive for a mercenary. Leo's effort to avoid contracts and traps.
She wasted precious paper and charcoal on the most pointless question first.
Once intruders were known, alarms would blare. Even for a kid.
Even a monster like her would struggle to break out.
'...Especially someone who can't kill.'
Meanwhile, she kept writing.
A meaningful question at last.
She paused, lips sealed, then wrote.
Worrying about others even here—true to the Hero Family, playing the apostle of justice.
Leo drew Ariasfil's sword and wrote.
Of course, not referring to himself.