CH 18

Mother, father, and brother, I have two reports to share with you today! 

I have finally become a civil servant this time! I am not sure if calling my job a civil servant is correct. However, it is a prestigious position directly under the jurisdiction of the government, and I am currently working hard for the people in the region.

You would have never guessed that I could get a job at such a place. Neither did I. In fact, I never imagined being hit by a motorcycle and transported to another world. Furthermore, I was surprised to discover that this foreign world is the same world from an RPG game called “Change the World,” which I had previously played in the original world.

In addition, as a result of the potion development I casually performed in this world, various events in “Change the World” were altered…!

Oops, I got a little off track there. Now, let me get back on track and report something else!

I was confronted by bandits who had taken a child hostage.

*Flashback

“Drop that weapon, brother!”

“I do not give a damn what happens to the kid!” A muscular guy with a scruffy beard yelled, spittle flying. 

The man held a scimitar blade in his hand, pointing the tip of it at the boy he was holding hostage. The boy paled, brimming with tears.

“Hiiiiiiii!!!”

“Shut up kid! I’m telling you, don’t even think about calling your friends! Unless you want to see this kid’s nose get chopped off!”

“Tsk…” 

Ah~ why is this happening? Forcing myself to resist the urge to cradle my head in my arms, I instead braced my shaky legs and glared at the man in front of me.

Now. This occurred because the Black-winged knights for whom I worked, had been tasked with subduing the Wasso bandits, who were allegedly attacking merchant caravans on highways.

After learning that the bandits’ hideout was in the mountain’s forest, the scouts were able to track them down. Following that, at the crack of dawn, the Black-winged knights, led by Commander Gazelle, launched an assault on their hideout.

Ah, the knights are like civil servants, aren’t they? Yay, it’s the number one stable job you’ve always wanted! 

“Now drop that sword in your hand! Or this kid—”

“—I understand. Is this okay?”

Hmm~ in truth, this job is far from stable!

Seeing the man suddenly nudge the tip of his scimitar into the boy’s cheek, I hurriedly threw my sword away together with its scabbard. 

Pang!

Perhaps due to my haste, the sword flew almost straight up instead. When I finally saw what had happened, it was already too late. Above my head, the sword became entangled in the branch of a large tree that was at least three meters in height.

Huh~ I can’t reach it without climbing the tree…

“Well, aren’t you a smarty-pants bloke? Well then, no matter what you do now, it ain’t gonna be in your hands no more,” the man grinned, baring his yellowed teeth. 

I’m—really—an idiot. What are you going to do if things get worse?!?! If you had at least thrown it on the ground somewhere, you could have taken advantage of the opportunity and gone for the sword! You can’t get it now! You no-con!

Cursing myself inwardly, I looked squarely at the man. Then, in an attempt to save the day, I opened my mouth.

“You’re a bandit, aren’t you, Wasso?”

“Hmph, to be known by a knight order’s member, seems like the great me have become famous. That’s right, I’m the great Wasso!” 

My eyes widened as I heard the man’s words..

Eh? This oji-san isn’t one of the underlings from Wasso bandits but Wasso-san himself?!

Actually, I was about to ask, “Aren’t you one of Wasso’s men,” but I accidentally bit my tongue and left the word, ‘one of men’. So, I ended up asking in a strange way…

Ah, is this the definition of “when a joke becomes true?” Not quite… No, this is not the time to bring this up! So, this person is in charge of the Wasso bandits. Why is this man alone in a place like this?! 

“Why are you alone in a place like this?”

“That’s a stupid question. This bandit group has already been destroyed, but if I use this hostage as a shield, you can’t touch me that easily, right? It’s frustrating that I can’t avenge Badrud aniki, but I’ll survive no matter what!”

Apparently, as soon as this bandit Wasso saw that he had no chance against the knights when they raided his hideout, he took the hostages he had captured and fled this far alone.

Hmm? That’s strange. There should’ve been another person in the hideout who called himself Wasso, the bandit. 

After successfully capturing all the bandit members, including this guy, I felt relieved and said, “Hehehe, I’m glad we ended up waiting in the back for today! Although it looks like there’s still some cleanup to do, but I need to go to the bathroom for a minute so I’ll get it over with as fast as I can! And in a good mood, I secretly left my unit and went to do my business by myself.

Then, on my way home, I got lost and saw someone and wondered, “Is he a woodcutter? Let’s ask for directions!” I called out to him, and to my surprise, he was actually the bandit, Wasso-san.

Well, this should teach me a good lesson about not acting alone! Seriously, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again!

“…So, the guy in the hideout claiming to be Wasso is your substitute?” 

“Ah~~, that punk is a bit slow-witted. I said to him, ‘Go ahead and call yourself Wasso and fuss around for a little while. The knights will not easily kill a man who claims to be the boss. Meanwhile, I’m going to get weapons and gunpowder.’”

“Hmm, I see.”

For a bandit, this guy is kind of smart! At least he’s a lot smarter than me who’s lost in the middle of nowhere!

“But, I didn’t think that there’s someone who saw through my tricks and track me down…” 

I-I’m sorry. This is just a coincidence… If only you hadn’t taken a hostage, I would have said, ‘Are you a woodcutter? Thanks for your hard work early in the morning!’ and ask for directions…

At the precise moment when I felt the urge to clutch my temples, inspiration struck.

Didn’t this Wasso guy just mention ‘Badrud aniki’?

“By Badrud, do you mean pirate Badrud, the Combo fighter?” 

“Hah! That’s right. We are the survivors of Badrud’s pirate crew. We hold a grudge against you and your Black-winged knights for sending our aniki to prison… Tsk, in a situation like this, I guess I’ll have to make run for it after revealing my tricks.”

Pirate Badrud—that was a name that left a deep on me. After all, that battle with him was the reason I met the Black-winged knights in the first place.

But… Are these Wasso bandits the remnants of that pirate crew? Come to think of it, this area is quite close to that port town, isn’t it?

“I guess, I might as well avenge my brother’s death by cutting your beautiful face into pieces. Either way, I’m in trouble if you ended up following me. First of all, I’m going to dug out your black eyes—” 

“You are a disgrace.”

“What?”

When I heard the bandit Wasso coming toward me and saying something deeply unsettling, I opened my mouth as fast as I could. Wasso stopped dead in his tracks and gave me a suspicious look.

Yes, I’ve grabbed his attention. If I stall for time like this, maybe the other members of the order will notice my absence and come looking for me! Also, drawing his attention to me in this way will make it less likely that he will hurt the boy… 

“Phew… As a subordinate of pirate Badrud, you’re a disgrace.”

“What the hell did you say?! You know nothing about my aniki!”

“That man was a scoundrel, but at least he didn’t take a child hostage.”

“…!” 

“And he would never have left his men behind and fled alone. Even when there was no hope of victory, he fought until the bitter end. All by himself.”

“That, I…”

Wasso’s lips quivered and his eyes darted, belying the confidence he once exuded. His quivering lips mumbled phrases like, “Aniki, but he,” and “wasn’t cut out to be a boss in the first place.”

I was hoping the boy would flee at this point, but he just stared at the scimitar in front of him with teary eyes, and it seemed unlikely that he would be able to flee. 

Damn, I guess I don’t have a choice…! Let’s see, let’s see, what else can we talk about that might buy us some time…?

“…Hmm? Hold on,” Wasso said, seemingly to notice something. “How did you know about aniki’s last fight?” His voice resounded and clear.

Uh-oh.

“Tsk… You’re the one who caught him!” Wasso, enraged all at once, shouted angrily with a look of indignation on his face. 

He is right… But this is a good thing.

When Wasso saw the enemy of a man he admired standing before him, his blood rushed to his head, and he pushed the boy to the ground, freeing the hostage. Following that, he lunged forward with his scimitar in his hand in my direction. Perhaps he was mimicking the way Badrud had fought his last battle, as I had told him earlier. However, there was no time to confirm it in a situation like this.

Wasso’s face flushed with rage as he charged at me with his scimitar. I ducked just as his sword was about to strike me. Soon after, the moment arrived. Whether it was the force of Wasso’s strike or the will of my sword—the sword I had thrown, which was caught in the branch above my head, slipped and fell from the tree.

Eventually, it fell onto my hand. 

“What the…!” Wasso’s eyes widened in surprise.

But I was just as surprised as he was. In fact, I think I was even more shocked than he was. It was too good of a coincidence to be true!

This sword is really scary!

Due to the recoil of the fall, the blade effortlessly slid out of its scabbard as soon as it slid into my hand. As soon as the sword was free of the scabbard, my right hand swung it down, revealing its shining blade. 

“Haa~!”

“Hukk..!”

Wasso’s upper body was slashed by the unsheathed blade. He then groaned in agony after being slashed in the chest and clattered his scimitar to the floor. Greasy sweat poured down his forehead as he pressed his hands into his own injured chest. Despite his exasperated stare, it was clear that he could not fight any longer. Then I heard a voice from behind me calling my name.

“—Takumi!” 

Afterward, I heard the rustle of approaching footsteps through the trees. From the sound of their voices, it was probably Gazelle, commander of the order. He must had come for me after realizing that I was not around, or that the boss at the hideout was a double.

Nevertheless, I could not turn my head facing his direction. The reason for this was due to the sword I was holding in my hand. This sword is one of the “Cursed Collection” series of cursed weapons that were familiar in “Change the World”. Although its characteristics vary, besides bestowing immense power on the wielder, this cursed sword brought two types of disadvantages.

One of them is movement restrictions during battle. While the sword is drawn, the wielder cannot act of his own volition, and the sword guides the wielder attacking by attacking the enemies. The sequence of movements I just performed to slash Wasso in half were not the result of my own volition but rather were directed by the sword in my right hand. However, because this disadvantage is advantageous to me, I use this sword on a regular basis.

Because I, after all, only an ordinary, recluse civilian who can’t fight at all. As a result, I could not be happier if the sword uses my body to fight on its own. That is why I could not turn around and see all the knights approaching behind me. Since the enemy is still in sight, I am at the sword’s mercy until I can safely sheathe it. So, I have no choice but to keep standing with my sword pointed at Wasso, who is crouching on the ground. 

If Wasso attacks me again, the cursed sword will manipulate my body as it did before and begin fighting with glee, “Hahaha!”…Then, it’d be nice to put this sword back in its scabbard as soon as possible, but there’s another kind of demerit, so this can’t be done either.

Ha…

If it weren’t for the demerit after the battle, there wouldn’t be such a good weapon as this…