Chapter 412: Street Murderer

After we promised to cooperate with Count Bailleys, in the night of royal capital, we walked towards our inn.

As expected, there are many people at night in the royal capital. Especially around the red-light district, it will be more crowded than during the day. On our first day, we got into this place and got lost, but now I have grasped the way to some extent, so no problem.

「Nom Nom」

「Munch munch」

There were many food stalls aimed at drunk people in red-light district, Fran and Urushi enjoyed buying and eating as usual. However, they don't have much taste variation huh.

The royal capital is a landlocked city. So, it seems the seasonings are more expensive than Barbra. Neither spices nor salt can be used in large quantities due to high transportation costs. Therefore, most of the seasonings here are based on miso produced around here.

That's why we are doing research in this red-light district, but it seems we unexpectedly won't get bored of it. Fran and Urushi were even aiming at a stall with miso-based seasoning in the middle.

But when a child like Fran walks in the red-light district at night. She really stands out, so today we used our covert skills. With this, a thug level won't even notice Fran, so it shouldn't develop into destruction of the red-light district to the ash, like what Kalk was worried about. But if something happens, it can't be helped right?

Well, we'll be close to our inn soon, and it's unlikely for something to happen. After this, if we go through underground passage there, we will reach our inn in a straight line.

Fran descends to a slope leading to a dim underground passage. As expected, there are no food stalls here. Rather, the traffic suddenly disappeared, and I felt the noise of the red-light district was strangely far away. I thought it was because we simply went underground……

(…Master)

『What's wrong?』

(I felt something strange)

『What? something strange?』

(Nn)

What does she mean? I didn't feel anything.

『What exactly is strange?』

(…it's just felt strange)

『E-to, did you feel unpleasant?』

(Nn! unpleasant!)

So that mean, she felt unpleasant sensation? Moreover, only Fran?

『Is it magic?』

(Nn…?)

It seems that Fran hasn't grasped the true nature of that sensation.

『But, why i can't feel it…?』

I don't fully open my detection skills on a daily basis, but if it was a magical anomaly in our surrounding, I should feel a sense of discomfort. But why i hasn't feel it?

『How about you Urushi?』

(woof!)

It seems that Urushi also felt it.

『…Let's get away from here for the time being』

I don't know what Fran and Urushi felt, but it's better to stay away from here. If the two feel something is wrong, we can't ignore it.

But it seems that we were a little late.

「Master」

『Yeah, i know』

Strong killing intent and intimidation. A man was approaching us from the front without even trying to hide his hostility toward Fran. Is that a magic sword in his hand? A strange magical power is released from the long sword held by the man.

It's not just magic. He was also in a strange appearance. But no matter how you look at it, the sword was half destroyed. After all, the blade broke in the middle, and the remaining part was also deeply cracked. The handle has a sabre-like hand cover, but the surface is engraved with a face of a man with a look of agony.

『He seems to be a skilled ones, don't let your guard down』

He has Sword Skill: Lv 4 and Sword Technique: Lv 2, he even has intimidation, covert skill, and flame magic. Maybe he's an adventurer, he's certainly on rank C or above.

The man's name is Hamuls, I’ve never met him. Maybe he's the street murderer? Or is he going to defeat Fran and make a name for himself?

(Note: Street Murderer [Tsuji Giri: killing passerby to test a new sword], and also, any better suggestion for ハムルス (ha mu ru su)? Hamurus, Hammuls, Hammulus, Hamrus…)

As I continued the appraisal, I noticed the condition i had never seen before. Fanaticism? If you look only at the letter, does it mean a fanatic or something like that? This is my first time seeing it.

In any case, even though it's a strong enemy, Fran didn't lose in terms of both status and skills. The only thing that bothers me is the ability of the magic sword. Even though it's broken, it still emits strong magical power. Moreover, whether it was originally a high-ranking magic sword, it was not possible to appraise it.

『Fran, watch out for the magic sword, i don't know it's abilities』

(Understand)

『Urushi waits in the shadow in case of emergency』

(woof!)

Well, anyway, I wonder what this feeling is. When i look at Hamuls, it makes me feel uncomfortable. It feels like when my chest is rustling or my stomach is stuffy.

In a single word, disgust? Anyway, it's not physically, but I couldn't help feeling unpleasant about this man. I wonder what this feeling is.

『Fran, when you look at him, do you feel unpleasant?』

(It's not unpleasant, more concerned about how strong he is)

『Urushi?』

(woof)

Apparently, it's only me who felt it now, opposite from a short while ago.

『Uhmm』

It was probably since I felt terrible disgust for Serdio that i thought others so badly. No, it's far worse than that time. But, did I hate this Hamuls-like face? But he's just your average looking man, they're everywhere……

Fran readied herself to pull me out anytime and called out to Hamuls as he approached.

「…Who?」

「―」

Hamuls didn't answer anything to Fran, and proceeds to walk silently. The distance between the two was already less than 10 meters.

「If you get any closer, I'll consider you as enemy」

「―」

As expected, Hamuls moves forward without answering anything. He wields the sword as it is. He's clearly hostile.

After confirming his action, Fran moved, run with her body as low as if crawling on the ground. The aim is his foot, we intend to deprive him of his mobility and neutralize him.

As the result of continuing our training to control our skill since the integration of skills, the strengthening of physical ability has worked. The enhanced agility was already been considerable. To be frank, even if we just slashed at this speed, we can already beat an ordinary opponent.

However, Fran is on alert. Immediately before the slash, she puts in a feint with her eyes and pretends to aim at his neck. Hamuls got caught of her feint and moved to guard his neck with his sword.

It seems that he soon realized Fran's aim, but it's too late. It was already impossible to prevent this attack.

Yes, it seemed impossible―

Clank!

「―」

「Ugh」

The magic sword that Hamuls held is protruding and slashed to the ground. Seriously, it seems to do better than I expected. Besides, the magic sword is also unusual.

Currently, I have consumed about 500 magical powers and have greatly increased my attack power. If it's a mass-produced sword that's sold all over the place, we should be able to cut it along his legs. We should be more careful with this magic sword.

And there's one more thing I noticed. I did feel uncomfortable about Hamuls, but I seemed to be even more disgusted with that magic sword. The moment we exchange our slash, I thought I’d get goosebumps. There's sign of magical power emitted from that sword, it seemed to arouse my disgust.

Is this a familial disgust? But I have never had such a feeling with other magic swords and swords.

『Uhmm…』

(Master, what's wrong?)

『No, nothing. It's just that his magic sword is strangely irritating』

(Is that, Master's enemy?)

『No, how to put this…But I'm sure i don't like it』

(Understand, Master's enemy is my enemy)

Oops, it seems that Fran is fired up. But, I’m sure i don't like that sword. I want to destroy it here if possible.

『Yosh, Let's do this seriously!』

「Nn」

Either way, he's the one who's been slashing, if he doesn't want to speak up, that's fine. I will slash both the user and the sword as it is.

I put more magical power into my blade and fully opened my skill. It's still not at fine control, but it was possible to use it with the determination to waste magical powers. This could be an overkill, but it doesn't matter if you're against this opponent.

Now, I just wanted to bury that magic sword as soon as possible.

「Hyaa!」

「―」