CH 77

[Shadow of the Royal Guard Knight Order]

“Are you guys the ones who were attacking and hunting people in the surrounding villages?”

Wearing a cloak low over my eyes, I ask the man before me.

“What, who are you? When did you appear?”

The man who notices my existence after I called out, asks me with a suspicious look.

The man’s complexion is bad, and the men behind him, who are sitting and resting on the stumps in the clearing of the forest, are also doesn’t seem to be adventurers.

“Sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you could answer my question. Are you guys the one who were attacking and hunting people in the surrounding villages?”

“Haaa? Wearing a cloak over your eyes, you are one creepy guy, aren’t cha? I’m not obliged to answer, you know? Get lost.”

Putting his hand on his sword, the man presses me to leave with intimidating eyes.

As expected, typical.

It was difficult to discern when I found them from the sky on Dimol.

Their looks and atmosphere are quite bad, and they also have a wagon that seems to be used for carrying people.

The rest depends on the contact from Cinzia who is checking that wagon.

We spent the night in Devon village, and spent the next several days searching around several villages in the surrounding to find the group of people hunter.

Then today, I finally found dubious people resting in the forest, and now I’m working on confirming whether they are really the lot of people hunter.

“Hey, are you listening? If you don’t want to get hurt, then scram!”

Probably so that I don’t get close to those who are sitting and resting on the stumps behind him, the man pokes my body and pushes me back.

At that time, I see Cinzia flying out of the wagon and circling around on the spot.

A hit, huh.

And the villagers said that there weren’t many adventurers coming here after all.

“My bad, but it seems that you guys are the ones I’m looking for. I’m sorry, but I’ll capture you.”

After I said that, the man’s face tightens and he pulls out his sword.

“If you go away silently, you won’t have to die. Curse your own stupidity.”

After the man said so, he quickly swings the sword in his hand to cut off my head.

Something that looks like my head is blown away and rolls on the ground.

Unexpectedly, his sword skill is quite good.

To think he could easily cut my neck off.

I watch my neck rolling, and judge the other party’s ability.

“Uwah! What’s with this guy! He’s turning into soil—bufu!”

Taking the chance when the man stands still at the place where I had my head flying, losing my body shape and became a lump of soul, I hit the man from behind, making him fainted.

Golem is surprisingly useful for scouting.

I can share voice, hearing, and sight with them after all.

I have the golem I newly created carry the man and send it to Noelia and the others waiting behind, and approach those who are sitting and resting on the stumps.

It seems that they are letting their guard down because there’s someone standing on lookout.

If this is the case, it seems that I can just use the sleeping magic to put them to sleep, suppressing them all at once.

The resting bunch are making merry, drinking alcohol while laughing vulgarly.

“Hah, this job is seriously a gold mine. As long as we deliver those guys to the mine, we’ll get money to spend our time playing for a few months.”

“If the villagers cooperated silently, they would have made a lot of money.”

“We’re making money because they were against us, right? We have to thank them.”

“But we are to send them to the mine, right?”

“Ahh, a lot of crystals are being dug in the mine. And some people are being taken to somewhere else, but it seems that they are no longer going there these days. It seems that a problem had occurred.”

In the midst of the drunk talks, I hear the leader sitting in the middle started talking about the whereabouts of the villagers they had caught so far.

The place different from the mine he said is probably the place where the villagers who had accepted the higher paying job went to.

They’re not being send there these days, huh.

It seems that I will not know the detail unless I ask the people occupying the mine.

“Well, it has nothing to do with us. We just have to gather people and send them to the mine.”

“Ahh, that’s right. Even so, although the Vigilante Corps were asked by the lot of the Royal Guard Knight Order, to think they would push the dirty work to us.”

“Is this job requested by the Royal Guard Knight Order? I heard that it was requested by the lot in the mine though.”

“That’s only the surface story. Those who occupy the mine are funded by the Royal Guard Knight Order. In other words, the people of the mine are the minions of the Royal Guard Knight Order.”

“For real!? Talking about the Royal Guard, Gile-sama who became the lord of Inbahanes two years ago is their leader, right? I thought that the lot of the mine have been there for a long time though.”

“Don’t snoop further than that. You’ll lose your life, y’know. As long as we get the money doing the dirty work, either way’s fine, right?”

Saying that, the leader man makes a gesture like closing his mouth to the young beastman.

The Royal Guard Knight Order are involved, huh…

Does Gile have a long relationship with the lot from the mine…?

Or is it that the Royal Guard Knight Order who is associating with them? I wonder which one it is.

Remembering the figure of the nobleman who was always looking at Alfine with a smirky face, I couldn’t think of him as a person who could do such an inordinate thing no matter how I think about it.

But I’m able to confirm that there is a sign that the Royal Guard Knight Order of Inbahanes are involved.

My intention of searching for Abyss Walker may have led me to a big scandal.

But I can’t just leave it alone.

After collecting information to some extent, I decide to cast magic on those guys who are still drinking and making marry.

[Become a cloud that invites one to sleep, manifest in the surroundings. Sleep Cloud.]

A thin cloud spread around the lot who are sitting and resting on the stumps; those guys, who fall asleep and lose consciousness, collapse to the ground noisily.

Afterward, when I finished apprehending the collapsed people, Noelia and the others arrived, and we succeeded in rescuing the villagers who had been captured in the wagon.