Chapter 82: Festival of the Acrobatic Horse Riders: Eyes of a Bat

Chapter 82: Festival of the Acrobatic Horse Riders: Eyes of a Bat

Translator: Adam Seacord

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I wasn’t sure what exactly House Lambert was up to. The streets above ground are flooded with soldiers and adventures already. Some astute ones would be noticing the underground waterways, too. I would have to compromise, of course, but I tried my best not to get close to my dungeon in Old Town.

There were a few moves I could foresee myself taking at this point. The first, and best if I could pull it off, was to falsify that Nubia had escaped from the underground waterways.

I had a row boat hidden in the exit of one of the underground waterway that was somewhat clogged. On the boat, I had placed some knick-knacks under a blanket to simulate Nubia’s body. At some point, I just had to release the flow of that waterway, and create an eyewitness account that Nubia had escaped through the river.

However, doing this too late would cause another problem, and I wasn’t sure how quickly Nubia would come to me.

Another move was to use illusion magic to create a wall, that would make it look like an underground waterway had been manipulated with. I wouldn’t be able to hold up this one for long as it drained a lot of magic, so it would only be a bandage to a situation where I knew that someone was coming.

I still had a few tricks up my sleeve, but I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to use them.

I opened the map to the underground waterways, next to the map of Abram. All I knew was where my audio-transmitting devices were. …While it was still a major advantage to know Nubia’s rough whereabouts… Since I wasn’t a god, I had no idea who was where doing what in this city.

「It seems fruitless to overthink this. I guess I’ll call Nubia.」

I mumbled, almost to myself, and Nem smiled with glee, hearing the name of the man she loved. Of course, her smile was crooked slightly by her compounding ecstasy and appeared quite tantalizing. It did cross my mind that Nubia might beat me to death if we witnessed this scene.

I recited the preset activation spell to turn on the audio-transmitter.

「Do you hear me, Nubia? I know you’re on the run from the law. I’m sure you recognize me by my voice.」

Faintly, I could hear Nubia’s voice. After a few moments, I continued:

「This device only sends our voices to each other. I can hear your voice too.」

「I recognize you, Elliot… What do you want.」

That was a natural reaction.

「…We’ll talk later. First, I need you to not get caught. Anyone chasing you know?」

「…Is Nem safe?」

…I thought you might ask.

「…She’s not hurt.」

I gave Shiro a look, and she nodded.

「Nem, let Nubia hear your voice.」

Nem, who had been looking to and fro to find the source of Nubia’s voice, seemed to notice that it was coming from the sea shell on the desk.

「Nubia… Hrm!」

I didn’t want Nubia to know more than I wanted him to. Shiro picked up on my cue to cover Nem’s mouth.

「Elliot, you bastard…!」

「I don’t blame you for making the mistake, but I’m not interested in your bounty. That being said, My intentions to help you are not entirely selfless, either… I want to make a deal.」

A few moments of silence.

「…Well. What do you want.」

His voice lowered even further. It wasn’t hard to imagine wrath on his expression.

「First, I’ll have you move through the underground waterways as I direct you. Since you might have company on your tail, I’ll have you take a longer route with that in mind. It all starts with getting you to a safe location.」

「Fine. I’ll do as you say. But if you lay a finger on Nem… I’ll tear you to shreds.」

???

For a while after that conversation, I navigate Nubia through the underground waterways. My first intention was to rob Nubia of his sense of direction. My other intention was to see if anyone was in pursuit of Nubia.

To be honest, I only considered this as insurance. I was only going to make two rounds or so through the waterways before navigating him to us, since I didn’t have all the time in the world. But, what Astarte told me next from above ground, chilled my bones:

「Master Elliot. The soldiers of House Lambert are headed down to the Old Town waterways. 」

Astarte said through the transmitter. Her tone was a mix of wariness and curiosity.

「…Nubia’s in the Old Town area now. Do you know where exactly they are headed to?」

The location that Astarte described to me was too close to the mark for me to dismiss it as a lucky guess on their part. I had Nubia suddenly change directions, and made him head toward New Town. There, the waterways were fuller, and there was a row boat used by the Assassin’s Guild to navigate the underground waterways.

「Master Elliot. The House Lambert soldiers changed their course and began moving toward New Town. …Do they know where he’s headed?」

Astarte came to the same conclusion after reading my silence.

「Yes, almost certainly. They know Nubia’s whereabouts somehow.」

Think, think, think. I’ve never had the clear upper-hand in any of my battles. This is nothing different. You have no advantage. You’ve only prepared the bare minimum. They’re always one step ahead of you.

How were they tracing Nubia?

It was possible if Nubia was in possession of a similar magical item as mine. While I was Nubia’s sponsor, he may have been given something from someone else, as well.

「Nubia. Recently, have someone given you… Other than the sea shell transmitter, do you have anything on you that someone else has given you?」

「…What happened?」

Nubia seemed to grasp the worsening situation from my tone. He had sharp intuition.

「I would like for you to answer me first. Things aren’t looking good.」

「Other than food and water, I only have what I normally wear. And my wallet and money.」

Implanting a tracker into his food would have been effective, but seemed improbable at this point. If they had found Nubia and put something into his food, Nubia should have been caught already. That left money, perhaps a coin… But it seemed unlikely that they would trap an object that could exchange hands at any time. The soldiers could have easily found themselves at Spider’s Web. This meant that, it was much less likely that they were tracking a magical item. Then…

「Nubia, is there anyone around you?」

「No.」

「Then, how about… A small animal? A cat, maybe?」

「…A bat ‘s been flying over my head for a while.」

…A bat?

There were a few mice and stray cats in the underground waterways, and I knew that there were a few bats’ nests down there as well. For the time being, that was my only lead.

「Nubia, I want you to observe the bat, without being obvious. Are there many of them?」

「…No, just one of them here. But, I noticed something. That bat has some kind of necklace caught on it.」

「…That’s it.」

There was no mistaking it. The bat was a familiar. Its user was most likely controlling the bat which had been given an Eye to transmit footage. I just remembered what Sara had said… There was someone placing Eyes in court. Undoubtedly, the bat belong to this figure.

「What should I do?」

Nubia remained calm. At the same time, Nem poked my back in boredom. …With the interjection of Nem, who didn’t understand the situation, I regained some of my wits.

「For now, pretend not to notice it. Walk a little more slowly to the boat. While you do, let me know if more bats come in, or something like that.」

With that, I took out another transmitter to call another person.

「Change of plans. I want you on the move, now…」

???

「…I’m by the boat. The bat goes in and out of view, but tis the same one.」

「Okay. We’re almost ready. Get on the boat, and drift along the current… So, can you shoot the bat down?」

If he didn’t have some sort of a projectile, I would have had to call back Diana, or resort to my other option.

「That shouldn’t be a problem.」

All right, then.

「Once the boat starts moving, the bat should follow you. That’s when I want you to shoot it down.」

「Should I take the necklace that the bat has?」

「No. Leave that behind.」

「Understood.」

After a few moments, I heard an impact, and something falling into the water. Nubia must have shot down the bat. I assumed that he threw a rock or something, but even a rock thrown by his monstrous strength could definitely kill a man. I spoke new directions into the transmitter that didn’t lead to Nubia.

「We’re ready. How are you? That’s right. I want you to carry the boat, a large man named Nubia is on it, up stream… Yes, close to the room. …Thank you, Miyabi. 」

Then, I immediately explained this to Nubia:

「Soon, the boat will start moving against the current, but stay there.」

「What are you… Woah… I see. Something’s under the boat…」

Nubia seemed to have noticed Miyabi, and he sounded more on edge.

「That’s one of my subordinates. It’s all right.」

「…Elliot. Who in the world are you?」

Nubia decided to ask me outright.

「I’m not omniscient. What I know for sure is that I’m more of a villain than you’ve come to know me.」

「…No way can a mere criminal control a monster.」

…He seemed to have noticed that MIyabi’s wasn’t human. Although I decided that I didn’t need to hide that part any more, Astarte called to me before I could say anything.

「Master Elliot, the soldiers of House Lambert are headed back to the Old Town waterways.」

Good.

The soldiers headed to an area downstream… Where the boat would naturally end up. This was why I had purposefully allowed the bat to witness Nubia on the boat before shooting it down. I could finally catch a breath as there should have been no one on the pursuit anymore.

「I am just a criminal. I’m just a criminal, and a magical item merchant… Except, I’m only half-human, and the other half of me is apparently monster. But, Nubia. That’s the criminal who has your precious Nem right now. 」

Nubia answered with his silence. The signal of the item on him notified me of his arrival.

「Get off the boat there, Nubia. There is one alley with the lights on, so follow those lights. Then, you’ll find Nem.」

With that, I dropped the communication. I had planned a long route to wear him down a bit, but considering Nubia’s physical endurance, it might have been futile. I had directed Diana to shoot a flaming arrow into the boat if it was about to be apprehended by anyone. All pieces were in order. Now, I just had to wait for Nubia.

I ungagged Nem, then mixed aphrodisiacs and alcohol with warm water, and put in her mouth.

「Nem, are you tired? Nubia will be here, soon.」

「I’m okay. Nubia’s coming, so I’m okay…」

Within Nem, her desires curdled that time could not satiate. After being stopped just short of climaxing over and over, my semen and magic pooled in her colon. I sat down on the chair, and pulled Nem over to sit on my lap. I penetrated Nem’s anus. And as I gave her a little bit of pleasure, I lifted her legs and turned her toward the entrance. …When Nubia enters the room, he will see Nem’s anus being ravished by me.

「Master, I think he’s here already.」

Shiro called over from the corner.

「Okay. Go back inside. I don’t want you to be here if something happens.」

Shiro trotted over, and crinkled Nem’s hair before hiding in the back. Then, I turned on the audio transmitter in the room, and spoke to him.

「I know you didn’t have a choice, but welcome, Nubia. This is the Man Eating Dungeon… My lair.」