“It's about time.”
I got up from my stone-hard bed. The reason I stayed at the Mirage Inn this evening was not to regret leaving this place.
『Huh?』
Wake up, it seems we have a long-awaited guest.
『Aren't you a little dirty? Even though I was in the middle of a booze-fest with a bunch of hot girls.』
Ignoring the sword who was buzzing in a complaint, I stretched out from the bed and strained my ears.
The sound of the wooden floor creaking that was approaching this room.The sound finally reached my door, and the sword pierced through the keyhole precisely.
With a creak, the door of the room opened slowly and three people rushed into the room.
“Hi.”
“Ack!!
I raised my right hand in greeting to the three ridiculous rats.
They panicked greatly and looked around to confirm the surroundings.
“Don't worry. There's no one in this room right now.”
“You seem to have a lot of margins!”
The faces that were overflowing with uneasiness took a turn and now with a triumphant expression, they pointed their swords towards me.
“Aniki, is it really okay to cut off all the limbs of this kid?”
[T/N - aniki: elder brother]
A buck-toothed mercenary looked at me with a gaze similar to licking my whole body, then looked back over his shoulder at the short-haired mercenary, Zeuk, to confirm.
“That's right, tear him.”
“It's a waste of money, this beautiful-looking brat could be worth a lot of money if we sold him off to a pervert with a taste for young children.”
An obese mercenary with an unhealthy belly shook his head exaggeratedly.
“It can be sold. What does a toyboy need limbs for, right?”
“indeed.”
Two mercenaries approached me with an unpleasant smile. I was sure they’d been doing this sort of thing to the weak for a long time now. I was losing more and more of my sense of guilt.
『Master, can I kill these people?』
Mura asked me with a sharp voice full of anger and irritation.
What's wrong?
I knitted my eyebrows and asked Mura.
『Red, these guys are red.』
I didn’t know but probably what Zeuk and the others had just said must have violated one of Mura's own rules. Even if he didn’t seem so, he was full of anger.
However, this was my last job as Grey Millard.
“No, I will do it.”
Saying that, I kicked the ground, jumped into the chest of the bucktooth mercenary, and slammed my right fist into his armor. Together with a sound like glass shattering, the armor shattered into pieces and I felt several of his ribs cracking. The buck-toothed man bent his body into the shape of a く and crouched down with the whites of his eyes.
“Hiiii!”
“Gahhh!!”
The sound of a crushed nose.
I gradually increased the force on my leg, stomping on the back of Zeuk's head as he screamed and flailed his hands in a desperate attempt to escape.
“Are you an idiot? You guys wanted to attack me. Where is the reason to hear such a plea?”
“Forguve.....me.........”
[T/N - not a typo; kind of expression to show he is pressed down and can't talk clearly.]
Finally, a puddle of scalding water seeped onto the floor around Zeuk.
“Die. Die just like all your victims did before.”
“Kuhiiiii!!”
I started to put more force in crushing Zeuk’s head in my half-crazed state, but Count Hartwig gripped my shoulder and pulled me back.
“What are you doing?”
“They still have the responsibility to confess their crimes in front of Baron Reiss and his wife.”
“If it's about a witness, we two are already enough. I don't see any significance in leaving him alive.”
“I agree with you”
“Then why!?”
Count Hartwig drew his shoulder back at my exasperated exclamation.
“It's not worth Lord's hand getting dirtied by those low lives.”
He proclaimed.
“Is it because I'm a kid?”
“I won't deny it.”
“You are too naive.”
“That's right. By nature, adults are sweet to children.”
“A selfish person.”
Shaking my head slowly, I sat down on the hard bed.
“I will take care of everything about this event.”
In any case, once Count Hartwig-dono had made up his mind, he would not budge even an inch. If you wanted to stop him, you would have to use force, but I had no intention of doing that. I had no choice but to leave it to the Count-dono.
“I understand. I will leave everything to you.”
“Oh. As soon as I'm done negotiating with the Millard wife, I'll return to the village of Toto. To soak in the hot water, to eat, or to purchase goods. I never expected it to be the number one place in the Empire as a tourist spot. My wife and child are very happy.”
“That is good then. I will show my face tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
From the room of Count Hartwig-dono, several soldiers who seemed to be his subordinates carried the three guys out of the room.
A few tens of minutes later, a dozen carriages passed along the road in front of the inn. They were probably the carriages of the Count's subordinates who had been waiting for him in the forest. I'd be sure to express my gratitude tomorrow.
With this, I had freed Stella from the Millard family and at the same time, exterminated the mercenaries who were bullying the servants. Now I didn’t have any regrets in this place.
I finished my final greetings to the innkeeper in the outbuilding, and transitioned to my room in Strahaym.