Chapter 16 - It’s Familiar For Some Reason

Chapter 16 : It’s Familiar For Some Reason

===A Certain Middle Aged Merchant===

My name was James.

My father was a man who established a small company, and he raised it up until it became the biggest enterprise in this city, Dari, in just one generation.

And then, if we combine that with my managing skill, it was only a matter of time until our family’s company became the biggest company in this country.

「Nevertheless, this magic tool called a car is really useful.」

Even though it was really expensive, it was a good bargain for me, since my job required me to traverse the city on a daily basis.

Car.

It was the name of a new, ground-breaking magic tool that spread rapidly around the world a few years ago. It replaced the coach, the previous main method of transportation.

Although the maintenance costs weren’t cheap since it used mana as its fuel, its pros far outweighed its cons, seeing as it didn’t require a horse and coach.

Using it was relatively simple; even someone like me could drive it with just a little bit of practice.

Even today, I was driving this car from my home toward our family company’s office.

「… Um?」

There was someone walking RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.

Although he turned around to look in my direction when he heard the sound of my car, he just stood still for some reason.

Pu~n!!

I rang the horn of my car to warn him.

But since he didn’t step aside to the pedestrian walkway, I had no choice but to lean on the car windows to show my face and yell at him.

「THAT BLOKE OVER THERE, YOU’RE BLOCKING THE WAY! STEP ASIDE!」

「Ah… ry…」

Even though I didn’t have a clear look of his face that was hidden beneath his hat, he seemed to be a young man.

After whispering some words that I couldn’t hear, that man stepped aside obediently.

I couldn’t help but wonder who the h*ll was this country bumpkin. But then I saw the face beneath his hat.

―I saw HIM.

「Pure… white hair and red eyes…」

The first that came to mind was a certain article in the newspaper that I read while having breakfast in my home just a while ago.

【The Appearance of Disaster Rank’s Undead】

Emarina Great Wasteland, otherwise known as the most dangerous demon den. On the 24th day of the month, a white-haired, red-eyed undead appeared right outside of Coastal, the closest city to Emarina Great Wasteland.

According to the Adventurer Guild, the Disaster Rank was assigned to that unknown undead after he came out unscathed, despite receiving an all-out attack from Platinum and Gold Rank adventurers. In addition, even though that undead was eaten by the great disaster monster, Tarrasque Lord—which had already arrived a little bit away from Coastal—he surprisingly escaped by breaking through Tarrasque Lord’s extremely hard carapace.

But then, he disappeared for some reason. In addition, there was no damage to Coastal.

The Adventurer Guild’s temporary code name for this mysterious undead was “Smiling Reaper” due to his ominous smile that shook the adventurers to their core.

Moreover, the government was extremely cautious with this case; it could be seen from the fact that they assigned him the Disaster Rank instead of Great Disaster Rank because there was almost no damage, save for several adventurers whose bladders went out of control.

The Guild Master of Coastal’s branch of the Adventurer Guild, Barud—who also confronted that undead alone—said, 「The reason we’re still alive is simply because we were lucky. That undead could even destroy humankind if he felt like it.」

「C-Could it be the one who was mentioned in the newspaper… was real?」

I shuddered in fear.

… No, I must be mistaken.

He was just a normal youth who dyed his hair white, and those red eyes could just be a trick of the light or contact lenses.

That moment.

Smile~

「I-Is that the ominous smile that was mentioned in the newspaper?!!!」

Smiling Reaper.

What an appropriate name; it was the kind of smile that shook you to the core.

The next moment, my hand grasped the thing that I always carried around with me.

I only realized much later that my bold actions at that time might be equivalent to suicide, but I was extremely scared back then.

The thing I pointed toward the reaper was an enchanted revolver.

I always carried around this revolver with me for self-defense against the rival company who might try to assassinate me. It was a compact yet powerful enchanted tool.

The latest enchanted revolver was the result of much trial and error, the most powerful gun that could even injure an orc.

Although orc subjugation normally required the power of Copper Rank adventurers, I was extremely fascinated by the terrifying progress of guns since they could transform someone as weak as me into a powerful killer.

PAAN!

That explosive sound came along with the discharged bullet.

Naturally, the speed of the bullet was too fast for my eyes, but I knew that it hit that undead right in his forehead.

Even though I looked like this, I was quite confident with my marksmanship.

「…?」

However, all the bullet did was make the undead’s head tilted lightly.

He was literally unscathed.

D-Death…

I felt the premonition of my own death.

He might have let me live if I didn’t do anything stupid like fire my gun at him.

And yet, of all things, I ended up doing just that.

I… I didn’t want to die!

There was still a mountain of things I wanted to do.

I wanted my company to reach even higher heights, and I wanted to teach my son—my successor—so many things.

VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The moment I thought that I didn’t want to die, I stepped on the accelerator.

The car suddenly accelerated and―DON!

It sent that reaper flying.

Even so, I paid no mind to the thundering sound of my car.

The people dodged in a hurry.

Was he… chasing after me?

I peeked into the side mirror to see the situation behind my car.

There, I saw the figure of the reaper looking in my direction. He stood stock still, as if it was nothing, but―

Smile~

「HIIIIIIIIIII?!」

I instinctively realized the meaning behind that smile.

―Don’t think you can run from me, I will chase you down to the end of the earth and kill you.

「N-No… I don’t want to die! I DON’T WANT TO DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!」

Wailing like a child, I felt something warm spreading in the area around my nether region. That was when my survival instincts kicked in and I stepped on the accelerator.

◇　◇　◇

===A Certain Undead With Communication Disorder===

I heard the sound of something exploding.

And then, I saw a pebble-like thing fly from the L-shaped item in that plump man’s hand.

That pebble-like thing hit me right on my forehead.

「…?」

What happened just now?

When I tilted my head,

VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The mysterious coach suddenly sped up along with that thunderous sound.

The edge of the coach crashed against my hip, sending me flying.

Of course it was neither painful nor itchy, but speeding up like that was dangerous, you know.

I could be wrong, but it seemed to be driven by that plump man inside.

He just runing away without even stopping to apologize to me.

But well, I was not a petty human who would be angered by something like this.

… But of course that was true… I wasn’t human; I was an undead right now.

The people in the surroundings looked at me with worried looks on their faces.

Feeling the need to tell them that I was alright, I smiled at them.

Smile~

「「「HIIIII?!」」」

Eh?

Why did everyone suddenly step back like that?

In that moment, someone amongst them shouted in a loud voice.

「T-That white hair and red eyes… Could it be that he is…?」

「I-I read about him in the newspaper too. He is… The Smiling Reaper!」

Then, I noticed that my hat had already fallen to my feet.

It might’ve slipped off when that pebble-like thing hit my forehead.

In addition, that paper-thing again.

Although the plump man from before had said the same thing, unfortunately, I had no idea about this paper-thing.

「I-Is he, going to kill us?!」

「R-RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!」

After a few people started to run in panic, everyone else followed suit.

「P-Please wait… I-I… I’m not suspici–」

With my poor communication skills, I had no idea what to do in this kind of situation.

Nevertheless, why were they so frightened? Was it just because they saw my white hair and red eyes?

However, some people clearly reacted as if they knew about me beforehand.

「Has the information about me reached this city? How in the world does that news travel faster than me?」

Come to think of it, I heard there was magic to travel a long distance in just a moment.

Maybe there was a mage who happened to be able to use that magic in the previous city, and that said mage teleported to this city.

「… Anyhow, it seems that I’m not welcomed in this city too.」