Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Self-Imprisonment

“Hmm......”

A small murmur slipped out from my lips.

Judging by the number of people, every underling in the vicinity had gathered here.

Among them were Harun and the bandit who had pushed me here.

I can tell just by looking at them.

Seeing how he’s half naked, it seems that he was about to get cuddled by the minions.

‘Lucily, none of them seem capable of using mana.’

After spending so many years on the battlefield, I could tell by just a glance.

However, although they were just some mana-less small fry from the countryside, it’d be difficult for me to take on all of them in my current state.

It was an objective judgment made after assessing my current physical condition.

Twenty or so enemies.

My mana is at rock bottom, and my new body still feels unfamiliar.

Moreover, unlike this body, all of them were full-grown adults.

“......I warned you, didn’t I? That you wouldn’t get second chances.”

Flinch.

As I glanced to the side, the pig, who had been sitting there with a smirk on his face, stiffened.

It seemed that the comment about the ‘candle’ or whatever was apparently a secret signal for distress.

“Who are you? And just what is your identity?”

“Actually, that’s what I want to ask you.”

“What?”

“Do slavers these days just grab whatever people they can without checking their identities?”

“......!”

Seeing one of them flinch, I went on.

“That’s why you idiots can’t even get out of this backwater place.”

The bandit quickly frowned and promptly turned to the polite bandit.

“Hey, Becker! Are you sure you checked that slave’s identity before you brought him here? You said he was a good one without any problems!”

“That’s....... I-I apologize, sir.”

“What?”

“He’s a slave that Groom handed over to me for a very low price, and as you can see, since he was of such high quality....... I-I just couldn’t pass him up!”

“Groom? Isn’t he the one who mostly operates in the Duchy of Meeke?”

“Th-That’s correct, sir.”

The face of the man at the front contorted into an angry frown.

“Hey, you bastard! Didn’t I tell you that if you want to stay in this line of work for a long time, identification is a must. No matter how good a product is, if something goes wrong, would you take the responsibility?”

“I have committed a sin worthy of death!”

“Be honest. That Groom bastard paid you to do this, didn’t he?”

Whatever was going on, I calmly spun my brain.

Now.

There’s no point in crying over spilled milk, so let’s think of a solution.

One.

Knock out everyone here and brazenly walk out of the tent.

The outcome wasn’t certain, but if I pushed myself, it might be doable.

However, this wasn’t a good idea.

Not only would I be risking my newly earned life, but it would be in direct violation of my philosophy of ‘let’s at least pretend to be normal.’

Then, two.

I take the pig next to me hostage.

Then, after getting to a safe place, I release it.

......It’s just as bad as the first one.

Above all, it’s a pain in the ass.

And that’s not the only flaw in this plan.

Even if I manage to escape the net, there’s no guarantee that the pursuers won’t follow.

‘In the end, would wiping them all out be better than leaving a trail of ashes behind?’

Amidst my thoughts.

‘S-Save me.’

“......!”

My nonchalant gaze snapped to one side.

It was Harun. He was being held captive by the polite bandit.

I couldn’t get him off my mind. Maybe it was because he was the first person who I met in this body.

‘If Andy had grown a little older, would he have been around that height?’

As I was watching that scene, I felt a sudden surge of irritation.

“Hmph. And you call yourselves human?”

“What?”

“You should be ashamed of yourselves. This is the kind of bullshit you grown men do to little kids? It’s because of trash like you, who act as tools to satisfy the desires of perverted kinkos, that this stupid, backwater country hasn’t progressed.”

Tremble.

It seems that even slavers had some patriotism in them.

I prodded him gently, and immediately got a response.

Just look at the guy.

Shnng.

The first thing he does when he thinks he’s been insulted is draw his sword.

“This sissy ass looking fucker, talking shit! What the fuck did you just say?”

“......Okay, I’ve decided. I guess I’ll go with the third way after all.”

I smirked and jumped to my feet.

“What are you planning? How do you expect me to believe you?”

“And what if you don’t? Do you want to watch your young master turn into pork on a spit? Didn’t you say he was important?”

“......!”

At that, Ben-Hur’s winced in a ‘dammit’ expression.

“You and your bullshit, I swear I’ll....... At the very least, shouldn’t you at least give me something that’ll make me trust you?”

“Alright. Once a day, you come in by yourself and make sure your young master is alive and well. How about this?”

“......Once is too short. Let’s make it twice.”

“Fine. Then once every twelve hours, so twice a day.”

“Now that I think about it, one every twelve hours is a bit....... Let’s make it three.”

Look at this guy?

I agreed to his conditions nicely, and now he’s trying to make a deal with me.

“I changed my mind. Let’s do it every other day.”

“What? What kind of bullshit is that......!”

“Should I stab him?”

“.......”

Ben-Hur’s face soon crumpled like a sheet of paper.

“Even if you don’t believe me, there’s nothing you can do about it, right? Since I’m not going to kill your young master immediately, why don’t you give me a week?”

“What if you don’t let him go after a week?”

“You’re full of worries, aren’t you....... Don’t group me together with dishonest scumbags like you.”

“Hmph.”

Ben-Hur snorted.

The look on his face seemed to sneer, saying, ‘You’re no different.’

“There you go crossing the line again. Should I stab him?”

“...... Fuck. Alright. I apologize.”

“Whatever. Just listen carefully.”

With a loud ‘ahem,’ I cleared my throat, and continued.

“I, Andrew, swear to you that I will release that pig in a week!”

“......What are you doing?”

“You didn’t know? That’s called an oath.”

“My point exactly. Why an oath? Are you a knight or something?”

Ben-Hur gave me an incredulous look.

Despite my playful demeanor, ‘oaths’ meant a great deal to knights.

It was closely tied to their character.

Knights lived and died by their honor.

They valued their honor. Even more than their own lives, sometimes.

Therefore, a knight’s oath must always be honored.

If word got out that a knight hadn’t honored his oath, he would never be considered a fellow knight in that region for the rest of his life.

“I am a knight at heart.”

If I could, I would’ve even liked to reveal the identity of this body.

No matter how weak a country is, if you’re a prince, the slavers in charge will prostrate themselves before you, trembling with fear.

However, that’s the worst thing I could do.

I don’t even know the exact situation I’m in yet.

It’s dangerous to reveal my identity at this point.

“......Fine. If you’re a man, I’m sure you’d keep your word. One week. I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’ll take it.”

“Works for me.”

Just as I had expected it to turn out.

Ben-Hur stared at the unconscious pig for a moment, then left the tent.

“Just how do you plan on getting out of this?”

Harun exclaimed, as if he’d been waiting.

“What?”

“You’ve practically imprisoned yourself!”

“But that’s what I wanted.”

“You’re crazy. You’re actually crazy.”

“Tsk-tsk. Since I’ve saved you, you should do your part, instead of cursing me out.”

“My part?”

“Watch over this.”

I nudged the pig with my toe.

“Nothing’s going to change from that! What, are you going to burrow out of here?”

“A week from now.”

“What?”

“If they just give me one week, I’ll be able to beat the shit out of those guys you just saw.”

“You’re a lunatic! Completely out of your mind! I shouldn’t have gotten involved with you in the first place!”

Harun sat back in his seat and began to sob.

“Why did you call me? At least I would have lived if you had just pretended you didn’t know me!”

“Don’t make me laugh. If I had let you be, you would have definitely died. In fact, you would have even been tortured. Didn’t you look at me like that back there because you knew this?”

“They might have let me live!”

“Didn’t you hear what they were saying earlier? They don’t know my identity. In that situation, wouldn’t they torture you, who’s been locked in the carriage with me for quite some time, to find out who I am?”

“That’s.......”

“But you don’t know anything about me. The question is, would they believe your answer of ‘I don’t know?’ In return, that would raise doubts about your own identity.”

“.......”

With this, I looked at Harun, who remained completely silent, and with that, I shrugged.

“At that point, you’d be as good as dead. Since those in power kill anything that feels a bit off. Keep that in mind.”

I’m saying all this from experience, you bastard.