A Healer’s Fiendish Trap
A man’s voice thundered through the Adventurer Guild in Carpe.
“It’s true! It’s really true! There was a lizardman!”
The speaker was a haggard wreck, body caked in mud and sweat, clothes torn and filthy. He dragged himself like a wounded animal, slamming his way across the guild’s reception desk with a limp that made every step a struggle.
“Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to investigate this? It’s because of you lot—your pathetic, half-assed reports that killed my teammates!”
Adventurers inside the building stirred restlessly. Everyone knew the man’s name: Karl, a Bronze-rank ranger.
Many had also seen him traveling with Er, the same Bronze-rank adventurer, on request after request.
“Er… why should that kid have to die?!”
“…Please calm down and tell us the situation. Without concrete evidence—”
“Evidence? It’s your fault! You people—YOU people killed the kid!”
His voice cracked with genuine sorrow as tears welled in his eyes. The surrounding adventurers grew uneasy.
“The guild’s doing it again. That’s so unfair.”
“Our party got a request from the guild too…”
“What’s the guild going to do about it?”
A broken man was mourning his dead friends, and the mood inside the guild hall felt thick with suspicion. No one was willing to overlook the possibility that they, too, could one day find themselves in the same nightmare. The atmosphere crackled with quiet questions: What would the guild do if it happened to them? Would they even be protected?
The reception staff noticed.
“I understand,” he said, voice tight. “Please come inside. I’d like to discuss the full details of the incident and any compensation the guild can offer.”
Those words were exactly what Karl had been praying to hear.
Even to prove the guild’s mistake, they owed him a substantial reward. If the guild’s negligence had wiped out an entire party and the survivor started badmouthing them, they would never survive the backlash.
Plus, there were already too many witnesses.
In this situation, the only way to silence him was to give him a reward he couldn’t refuse.
After all, the other party members were all dead.
Even if the guild sent investigators, the only thing they could possibly recover were the lizardman’s tracks and Karl’s testimony.
Everything had gone exactly according to his plan.
“Whoa, you’re actually trustworthy, senior. So I get my share too, right?”
The sarcastic voice Karl had been dreading until now suddenly rang out right behind him.
His spine went ice-cold. He whipped around.
The faces staring back at him were the last people he ever expected to see again.
“You ran quite well, Karl.”
“E-Er…?”
“Of course I did. We made sure there was no escape.”
Both of them looked like they’d been dragged through hell. Karl was beyond filthy; Er’s shield was on the verge of cracking.
And Ahin’s arm hung limp, barely supported by some makeshift sling.
“Thanks to you, I had quite the adventure, senior.”
Ahin casually tossed something onto the floor. Karl’s eyes widened in horror as he recognized the severed head of a lizardman.
“Eek!”
“Huh? You don’t look like you’re limping anymore.”
“Exactly. At first glance you looked like death warmed over, but up close… there’s hardly any dirt on you?”
Karl’s cloak was indeed filthy, but his skin beneath showed no wounds at all. The sudden shift in the crowd’s gaze told him everything.
“You’re alive! Thank God, really!”
Karl quickly changed his tune.
“W-we killed the lizardman? How…?”
“You don’t need to know the details.”
“W-what do you mean…?”
And then—
Er’s sword slid out of its sheath with a lethal hiss.
Schlunk.
It took Karl only a second to realize the sound was coming from his own leg.
“AAAAAHHHHH!!! My leg!!”
“Don’t play innocent. I just sliced a muscle.”
“E-Er!!! What the hell is this?! Attacking a party member?! Even if you do that, you still—!!”
“So does that mean what I said to you back there was a lie?”
To bring her face-level with Karl, Ahin crouched, golden eyes flashing with mock sympathy.
“You were so happy about blocking the exit then. Did a new friend show up while we were heading to the guild?”
“I-It was an accident! The cave entrance just—!”
“An accident? Considering what we witnessed…”
Er swung her sword again. This time it didn’t cut flesh. Instead, it sliced the edge of Karl’s cloak. Moments later, several small pouches clattered to the floor.
“If those pouches have bomb markings, we’re in trouble.”
“They do. And there’s an alchemy guild seal too.”
“No way…”
“N-no! I—I planted them as a precaution! The lizardman… it must have tripped my trap! I didn’t know! I thought you were all dead already, so I—”
“Ah. So the lizardman was your trap?”
Ahin tilted his head in exaggerated surprise.
“This bastard thinks he’s a genius or something.”
KRRRACK!
“Ugh…!”
Ahin gripped Karl’s hair, forcing their eyes to meet.
“Stop babbling and come outside. We’ll finish this conversation out there.”
“W-wait! We’re on the same party! If you’re going to be this violent—!”
“Party? That was never in the cards.”
Er stepped forward next, voice ice-cold as she addressed the guild receptionist who had been watching silently.
“This bastard—cough, what was he saying?”
“That the party was wiped out by a lizardman.”
“Wiped out? He almost died because he blocked the entrance.”
“…That seems likely.”
“H-hey! There’s no evidence! To kill a lizardman you’d need bombs, right?! How can you trust this kid over me?!”
“The man who claims he didn’t even know a lizardman existed is now saying he brought bombs to kill one?”
Er smiled sweetly.
“Shut up before I kill you right here.”
“Er, should we drag him out?”
Ahin still had a fistful of Karl’s hair and looked at Er for confirmation. She glanced at the receptionist, then back.
“If the guild stops us, we stop. But… whose word do you trust more—the one who brought us the lizardman’s head or the one who claims the party was wiped out by him?”
“T-that’s…!”
Even if Karl’s story were true, the fact that he abandoned his teammates hadn’t changed.
Er and Ahin had defeated the lizardman together—covered in blood and mud, bringing back the trophy of a monster far above their rank.
If it had been a trap meant for the party, why wouldn’t he have warned them?
And if the party had almost died in it, why hadn’t he told them?
There were suspicious circumstances. There were suspicious evidence.
And decisively—
“Understood. Bronze-rank adventurer Er, we at the guild will not interfere with whatever happens next.”
“W-wait! How can you—?!”
“The person who tried to cover his own mistakes by holding the guild’s trust hostage doesn’t deserve protection.”
The receptionist’s gaze was glacial as he stared at Karl.
“Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Karl. Please return your plate at the counter.”
Returning the plate meant the end of Karl’s adventurer status.
“Let’s go,” Ahin said, grinning. “I already found some nice spots to look around. You’ll like my senior, too. You’re gonna love it.”
“N-no! Stop!!”
“Shouting won’t help. No one’s coming to your rescue. So shut that mouth.”
He was finished. No one would help him now.
Ahin kept dragging Karl by the hair out of the guild hall.
Even with that strength, the hair should have been ripped out by now, but Karl was pulled away completely unscathed. Something felt horribly wrong.
“I’m leaving too. I still have things to do.”
“Yes, Miss Er. We apologize for the guild’s mistake. Please contact us if you want to discuss the investigation and compensation later.”
“Sure.”
Er sheathed her sword and followed Ahin’s back.
Revenge time.
●
In the forest just outside Carpe’s borders.
Ahin hurled Karl onto the ground and dusted his hands.
“Here we are. Fresh air, right? Feeling better?”
“Y-you little—!”
“Oops, wait. Er hasn’t shown up yet.”
Ahin plopped down on Karl’s back as he lay face-down on the dirt.
“I was surprised too. I figured you had some scheme cooking, but I never thought you’d try to kill us.”
“It was an accident! I swear! Just look into it and you’ll see! So—!”
“Still spouting that nonsense?”
Er’s cold voice cut him off.
Despite being caught in an explosion and fighting a lizardman, Er looked untouched—except for the shredded clothes and damaged shield. Karl’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“E-Er! You’re mistaken! I was just—!”
“Shut up. I told you to keep your mouth closed.”
Schlunk.
Er’s sword pierced the back of Karl’s hand.
“AAAAAHHH! AAAAAAHHH!!!!”
“Don’t be dramatic. Ahin’s shoulder is broken and he’s fine.”
The trap meant for the lizardman had backfired on him. Ahin had flipped Er’s shield to protect himself, but the final lizardman charge shattered his shoulder completely. He quickly retied the makeshift sling and continued.
“Oww, it hurts so much.”
“S-shut up!! You two are still alive after all that?! I’m—!”
“Oh. Really. Shut up already.”
The sword came down.
This time it severed Karl’s ear.
“AAAAHHH, AAAAAHHH!!!”
Er’s brows furrowed at the scream, as if the sound itself was unbearable.
“Let’s finish this quickly. Ahin, what are you going to do?”
“…Leave it to the party leader.”
“Me?”
Er’s eyes widened in shock. Ahin was the one who had been burning with anger moments ago.
“Yeah. After all, I can’t hit you, right? That bastard’s head should have been ripped out by now if it weren’t for me.”
“…”
Er hesitated, then shook her head.
“Er. O-one more time. Please, please spare me…”
Karl’s bloody hand reached for Er’s foot, tears streaming down his face.
“I-I did it for money! You know I have debts! If I don’t pay them on time, I—I might die! So—!”
“Don’t waste my time. So because of you we’re allowed to die?”
Er let out an involuntary laugh at the ridiculous excuse.
“You—you don’t understand! You don’t understand someone like me! How miserable it is to be a lifetime Bronze-rank! How much I get ignored and laughed at every single day! How painful it is—!”
“This bastard’s lost it.”
Ahin picked up a rock and hurled it at Karl’s head.
But the rock never even came close. Karl kept talking.
“A-anyway, I’m finished. I can’t live as an adventurer anymore. I’m leaving Carpe. I’ll never show my face in front of you again! S-see? I’ll give you everything I have! I have hidden money! There’s a bag under the apple tree behind the Blue Breeze Inn! That’s enough! So—!”
“Someone with debts is hiding money? Are you even sane?”
Er’s expression turned almost sympathetic. Yet she couldn’t make the decision.
The pitiful sight of a young woman—younger than her—clinging to her feet and begging through tears tugged at Er’s heart.
“Er.”
Ahin noticed the struggle on Er’s face and spoke gently.
“If you don’t want to kill him, we don’t have to.”
“…Ahin.”
“Even if it’s true that he almost killed us, we got a mission clear for it. And this guy will never be able to adventure again. From the look of it, he probably has enemies besides us. If you don’t want to dirty your hands, there’s no need.”
Ahin dusted off his butt and stood.
“Just cut his tendons roughly and let him go.”
“W-what are you—?!”
“Shut up. Before I kill you.”
Karl fell silent the moment he realized the man holding his life was Ahin, not Er.
“P-please… I won’t do it again…”
“I don’t feel like killing trash today. Er, what do you say?”
“…”
Er kept quiet, struggling internally.
“…Fine. Ahin, do as you said.”
She yanked the sword from the ground and swung.
Red blood sprayed across the leaves.
Screams echoed.
Er watched Karl roll across the ground clutching his severed ankle, screaming in agony.
“You wanted to be a cripple, so I cut one tendon. Don’t show your face in front of us again, you trash.”
“AAAAAH, AAAAH!!”
“Aren’t you going to thank me? Should I cut your head off too?”
Ahin crouched again, still gripping Karl’s hair, and waited.
“T-thank… ugh… t-thank…”
“…Kid, if you’re that grateful, shut up.”
Ahin hurled Karl away.
“We’ll use whatever money you hid however we want. So never show yourself to us again.”
“Khh… khh…”
“Let’s go, Ahin. You need to get treated too. I don’t know why you don’t heal yourself—!”
“…I can’t. I blocked it.”
“…Huh?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s my ability, it doesn’t work on me… I can’t figure out what kind of nonsense it is.”
Of course, if he could heal himself, he would never have become a healer in the first place.
“If I could heal myself, I’d have to be a wheel of fortune. Yeah, that fits.”
“What the hell is that gibberish…?”
They walked away, chatting away, while Karl’s lips spilled curses behind them.
“Fuck. You bastards… you think you can just—!”
No remorse. No repentance. Only raw, burning hatred.
“Revenge. I’ll get revenge. You bastards… I’ll peel your skin off… I’ll—”
“Huh? What are you saying?”
“Hiiick?!”
Karl jolted at the voice, head snapping up.
Golden eyes smiled down at him.
Ahin.
“N-no! I mean—!”
“No need to lie. I understand. You’re angry, right? Unfair, right? Even I think we went a little overboard, don’t you agree?”
Ahin’s easy, mocking tone cut through Karl’s outburst.
He smiled again.
“I feel really bad too. So… I brought you a gift.”
“A g-gift?”
“Yeah. The forest nights are cold, right? So I thought you might want something to keep you warm.”
Ahin peeled off his cloak and draped it over Karl’s shoulders.
A terrible, nauseating stench hit him instantly.
Karl realized it was the smell of a kobold’s urine and thrashed wildly.
“S-stop! Wait—too strong—!”
“Too strong? It’s fine. You’ll get used to it soon. Human noses aren’t that sensitive. Hold on a little and it’ll be okay. I’m speaking from experience.”
Ahin looked genuinely relieved, as if he’d finished his work.
“This is my goodwill. That cloak is pretty good, isn’t it? I stole it from my teacher’s wardrobe, so it cost a pretty penny… I’m giving it to you with big intentions. Probably won’t ever get the smell out, though.”
“Kk… khh…!”
“Live well from now on.”
Ahin buttoned up the cloak himself, then waved cheerfully and walked away.
In the distance, Er’s voice called something. Karl realized they had truly left.
He gnashed his teeth in fury.
I’ll definitely get revenge.
I’ll definitely make them pay for this humiliation.
There were countless ways to punish those bastards.
If I just go back to the city—
—Ke-erk…?
And then—
Karl’s world froze.
The sun was already setting behind the trees.
As soon as he saw the pack of kobolds emerge from the underbrush, his mind shut down completely.
Why?
Why here?
This was the forest’s edge. Kobolds didn’t come this far in.
They would die the moment they appeared, so they usually avoided populated areas.
Yet here they were—right at the edge, where the population was thickest.
Then a reeking, familiar stench filled the air.
Karl’s nose, still not used to the smell, screamed in terror.
And in that moment, someone’s voice echoed in his mind.
“Probably won’t ever get the smell out.”
“That bastard… no way…!”
—KRAOOOOAK!!
The kobold that had followed the smell of its own kind all the way to the forest’s edge roared in rage.
It realized the bloody lump on the ground was not its kin.
The creature roared again, recognizing a dying human.
The scent thickened.
Two, three, six, seven, twelve.
The entire pack converged on Karl.
“N-no… no…”
No matter how much he begged, nothing changed.
—KRAOOOOAK!!
“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
The reeking stench filled the air.