Just as Sensei said, I was the one who destroyed the dark guild.
Though I didn’t act out of any sense of justice.
This happened just the other day. I had been spending time leisurely with Sena at Hidden Mountain as usual when I received a message from the old Chancellor.
「Ichiro, could I ask for your help?」
Right off the bat, he starts pleading with me.
「Again…? What happened this time? I’ll decide whether to accept after hearing the details.」
Though by the time I was listening to the story, it was practically already accepted. I knew it… I knew it.
Lately, taking advantage of the political turmoil caused by the aftermath of the Ryūgūin incident, criminal activities had become more prevalent. I’d heard numerous reports of thieves appearing throughout the country, and even some dangerous new cults were gaining influence. Now, with the Arcana Kingdom’s public security deteriorating, a certain dark guild had boldly and rapidly expanded its power in the royal capital, the heart of the nation.
The name of this dark guild is 「Bite Off.」 They had previously operated in towns far from the royal capital with its strict regulations, dealing in illegal drugs, forbidden magical tools, kidnapping, and human trafficking. But seizing upon the unstable situation, they had begun operating openly in the royal capital.
If they were just an ordinary dark guild, we could have left it to the soldiers protecting the royal capital, but here a major problem arose.
I have no way of knowing how it came to be, but recently two individuals who had supposedly joined Bite Off and two weapons the dark guild had allegedly acquired by chance were causing problems.
The two were a former S-rank male swordsman and female mage, both adventurers. After causing repeated problems due to personality issues, the two were expelled from the adventurers’ guild. Even so, they continued causing trouble everywhere, eventually becoming known as the Murderous Swordsman and the Murderous Mage.
True to their names, their madness only grew more intense with time. What started as excessive violence and intimidation evolved into murder and robbery, as they changed jobs to become notorious wanted criminals.
Then, by some twist of fate, the two joined Bite Off and simultaneously acquired weapons perfectly suited for them.
The weapon the Murderous Swordsman obtained at Bite Off was a sword called 「Blood-Stained Demon Blade.」 It had the troublesome property of becoming sharper the more people it cut and strengthening its wielder.
The weapon the Murderous Mage acquired was a staff called 「Soul Drinker.」 This one had the property of absorbing people’s mana and souls to grow stronger while enhancing its wielder’s magical power.
Sensing the crisis, the nation couldn’t ignore this and set up an encirclement to eliminate Bite Off. However, the aforementioned swordsman and mage became their fangs and tore through the encirclement completely. Several soldiers who confronted them were massacred, and many mana-wielding sisters and mages were abducted.
In less than a month since they allegedly acquired their respective weapons, the reported victims alone were said to number over thirty.
According to the Chancellor, since there was a possibility that those who were taken away were still alive, he wanted to resolve this today if possible.
I feel like I’m being used as conveniently as a blue tanuki with a fourth-dimensional pocket, but I readily agreed, saying 「Then I’ll head over there now. We can talk more after that.」
Though I’ve explained at length, to cut to the conclusion, Bite Off was destroyed that same day. While I didn’t completely crush every last member—that’s the nation’s job, after all—I completely destroyed the aforementioned duo and the main bases in the royal capital. It was a multi-pronged operation. I left several bases to the nation’s officials, and timing it together, had Siesta and other powerful sisters surround the main base with a barrier while I stormed in alone.
Due to unavoidable circumstances, I’d lately been completing missions wearing a fox mask. When I tied the mask securely with string, the mission began.
Once inside, I found it crawling with bad guys who were just a bit stronger than normal. Reading their presence, I went into stealth mode. Each time I found them, I knocked them out with a punch to the gut before they could call their companions and restrained them with items. After finally finishing up the small fry hunt, I encountered the two particularly troublesome individuals.
However, as expected, no matter if they were former S-rank or wielders of super ultimate weapons, they were just former S-ranks who had been controlled by their weapons. They were no match for No-Skill or Angel, and I beat them to a pulp with my bare hands.
Then when they started screaming things like 「I need more blood!!」 and 「If only I had more souls!!!」 in voices close to shrieking while crying, I stripped away the demon blade and staff that were the root cause and collected them in my magic bag.
After another punch to the gut to incapacitate the deranged duo, I sealed their movements with restraining items.
Then, when I left the base, I informed the waiting soldiers that there were many captives inside.
With this, the mission was complete and the matter was settled.
There were various memorable moments—like Siesta worriedly patting my body to check for injuries, sisters calling me 「Lord Fox」 while kneeling with clasped hands, and having cliché exchanges with rescued ladies like 「Please tell us your name」 「It’s not worth mentioning」 (with a cool pose)—but now they’re all just good memories.
○○○
At that time, Anon had seen through that the destruction of Bite Off was my work.
「There are limited people near the royal capital who have the ability to capture two S-rank individuals without killing them. But for you, distance is irrelevant, and you certainly have the capability.」
「But that alone isn’t enough evidence—」
「This is the most basic principle. When something happens, I consider who benefited the most from it. In this case, who benefited the most from Bite Off’s destruction?」
「…」
「The answer is Princess Puffy, Lord Fox.」
Right, this was how this guy talked.
「It’s been the talk of the town lately. A man wearing a fox mask almost single-handedly destroyed Bite Off’s main base in the royal capital. Moreover, they’re saying he’s Princess Puffy’s direct subordinate adventurer.」
This was a rumor actively spread by the Chancellor. The reason I didn’t use Light Magic or a sword this time was to make people think there was an adventurer who fought bare-handed while wearing a fox mask.
「Besides, you were probably the one who accomplished Princess Puffy’s previous achievements of destroying six bandit groups and clearing the ‘Flower Dungeon,’ one of the recent Newly Constructed Most Challenging Dungeons. You’ve been wearing the fox mask since then, right? Both incidents are causing quite a stir in those circles as being done by the same person. With these two incidents, Princess Puffy’s once-fallen reputation has greatly improved.」
That was exactly my goal.
—No matter what happens, I will help Puffy
Those were the words I conveyed to her that day. To make that reality, I spare no effort.
○○○
「You understood well, Sensei.」
「Of course, who do you think I am?」
I bow playfully, saying 「Yes, yes.」
「Hahaha, show more respect, more respect!」
Sensei plays along with my joke.
「By the way, how did you know that the dark guild’s destruction was my doing?」
「That’s simple. On the day that incident supposedly happened, I sensed son-in-law’s presence from the direction of the royal capital.」
「Eh, where were you at that time, Sensei?」
「I was in a town called Lemone, I believe.」
Lemone was a town far from the royal capital. To sense my presence from so far away—
「No need to be alarmed. It’s natural, I am your guardian after all.」
Guardian? Can guardians sense presence from so far away? Though it felt like having a GPS implanted in my body, I decided not to inquire further. While this conversation continued, I had already started cooking, and we all kept sharing recent updates. Then we heard a gentle knock at the door. Mika says 「I’ll get it」 and slowly opens the door. And there stands,
「Everyone, it’s been a while.」
Puffy.
「Hey, food’s almost ready, come on in.」
When I call out to her, she steps into the cabin with graceful movements, saying 「Then, excuse me.」
If you enjoy it and wish to see more, please consider giving it a 5-star rating for the series on NU. Click Here.
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Chapter 257
○○○
Just as Sensei said, I was the one who destroyed the dark guild.
Though I didn’t act out of any sense of justice.
This happened just the other day.
I had been spending time leisurely with Sena at Hidden Mountain as usual when I received a message from the old Chancellor.
「Ichiro, could I ask for your help?」
Right off the bat, he starts pleading with me.
「Again…? What happened this time? I’ll decide whether to accept after hearing the details.」
Though by the time I was listening to the story, it was practically already accepted.
I knew it… I knew it.
Lately, taking advantage of the political turmoil caused by the aftermath of the Ryūgūin incident, criminal activities had become more prevalent.
I’d heard numerous reports of thieves appearing throughout the country, and even some dangerous new cults were gaining influence.
Now, with the Arcana Kingdom’s public security deteriorating, a certain dark guild had boldly and rapidly expanded its power in the royal capital, the heart of the nation.
The name of this dark guild is 「Bite Off.」
They had previously operated in towns far from the royal capital with its strict regulations, dealing in illegal drugs, forbidden magical tools, kidnapping, and human trafficking. But seizing upon the unstable situation, they had begun operating openly in the royal capital.
If they were just an ordinary dark guild, we could have left it to the soldiers protecting the royal capital, but here a major problem arose.
I have no way of knowing how it came to be, but recently two individuals who had supposedly joined Bite Off and two weapons the dark guild had allegedly acquired by chance were causing problems.
The two were a former S-rank male swordsman and female mage, both adventurers.
After causing repeated problems due to personality issues, the two were expelled from the adventurers’ guild. Even so, they continued causing trouble everywhere, eventually becoming known as the Murderous Swordsman and the Murderous Mage.
True to their names, their madness only grew more intense with time. What started as excessive violence and intimidation evolved into murder and robbery, as they changed jobs to become notorious wanted criminals.
Then, by some twist of fate, the two joined Bite Off and simultaneously acquired weapons perfectly suited for them.
The weapon the Murderous Swordsman obtained at Bite Off was a sword called 「Blood-Stained Demon Blade.」 It had the troublesome property of becoming sharper the more people it cut and strengthening its wielder.
The weapon the Murderous Mage acquired was a staff called 「Soul Drinker.」 This one had the property of absorbing people’s mana and souls to grow stronger while enhancing its wielder’s magical power.
Sensing the crisis, the nation couldn’t ignore this and set up an encirclement to eliminate Bite Off.
However, the aforementioned swordsman and mage became their fangs and tore through the encirclement completely. Several soldiers who confronted them were massacred, and many mana-wielding sisters and mages were abducted.
In less than a month since they allegedly acquired their respective weapons, the reported victims alone were said to number over thirty.
According to the Chancellor, since there was a possibility that those who were taken away were still alive, he wanted to resolve this today if possible.
I feel like I’m being used as conveniently as a blue tanuki with a fourth-dimensional pocket, but I readily agreed, saying 「Then I’ll head over there now. We can talk more after that.」
Though I’ve explained at length, to cut to the conclusion, Bite Off was destroyed that same day. While I didn’t completely crush every last member—that’s the nation’s job, after all—I completely destroyed the aforementioned duo and the main bases in the royal capital.
It was a multi-pronged operation. I left several bases to the nation’s officials, and timing it together, had Siesta and other powerful sisters surround the main base with a barrier while I stormed in alone.
Due to unavoidable circumstances, I’d lately been completing missions wearing a fox mask. When I tied the mask securely with string, the mission began.
Once inside, I found it crawling with bad guys who were just a bit stronger than normal. Reading their presence, I went into stealth mode. Each time I found them, I knocked them out with a punch to the gut before they could call their companions and restrained them with items. After finally finishing up the small fry hunt, I encountered the two particularly troublesome individuals.
However, as expected, no matter if they were former S-rank or wielders of super ultimate weapons, they were just former S-ranks who had been controlled by their weapons. They were no match for No-Skill or Angel, and I beat them to a pulp with my bare hands.
Then when they started screaming things like 「I need more blood!!」 and 「If only I had more souls!!!」 in voices close to shrieking while crying, I stripped away the demon blade and staff that were the root cause and collected them in my magic bag.
After another punch to the gut to incapacitate the deranged duo, I sealed their movements with restraining items.
Then, when I left the base, I informed the waiting soldiers that there were many captives inside.
With this, the mission was complete and the matter was settled.
There were various memorable moments—like Siesta worriedly patting my body to check for injuries, sisters calling me 「Lord Fox」 while kneeling with clasped hands, and having cliché exchanges with rescued ladies like 「Please tell us your name」 「It’s not worth mentioning」 (with a cool pose)—but now they’re all just good memories.
○○○
At that time, Anon had seen through that the destruction of Bite Off was my work.
「There are limited people near the royal capital who have the ability to capture two S-rank individuals without killing them. But for you, distance is irrelevant, and you certainly have the capability.」
「But that alone isn’t enough evidence—」
「This is the most basic principle. When something happens, I consider who benefited the most from it. In this case, who benefited the most from Bite Off’s destruction?」
「…」
「The answer is Princess Puffy, Lord Fox.」
Right, this was how this guy talked.
「It’s been the talk of the town lately. A man wearing a fox mask almost single-handedly destroyed Bite Off’s main base in the royal capital.
Moreover, they’re saying he’s Princess Puffy’s direct subordinate adventurer.」
This was a rumor actively spread by the Chancellor.
The reason I didn’t use Light Magic or a sword this time was to make people think there was an adventurer who fought bare-handed while wearing a fox mask.
「Besides, you were probably the one who accomplished Princess Puffy’s previous achievements of destroying six bandit groups and clearing the ‘Flower Dungeon,’ one of the recent Newly Constructed Most Challenging Dungeons. You’ve been wearing the fox mask since then, right? Both incidents are causing quite a stir in those circles as being done by the same person. With these two incidents, Princess Puffy’s once-fallen reputation has greatly improved.」
That was exactly my goal.
—No matter what happens, I will help Puffy
Those were the words I conveyed to her that day.
To make that reality, I spare no effort.
○○○
「You understood well, Sensei.」
「Of course, who do you think I am?」
I bow playfully, saying 「Yes, yes.」
「Hahaha, show more respect, more respect!」
Sensei plays along with my joke.
「By the way, how did you know that the dark guild’s destruction was my doing?」
「That’s simple. On the day that incident supposedly happened, I sensed son-in-law’s presence from the direction of the royal capital.」
「Eh, where were you at that time, Sensei?」
「I was in a town called Lemone, I believe.」
Lemone was a town far from the royal capital.
To sense my presence from so far away—
「No need to be alarmed. It’s natural, I am your guardian after all.」
Guardian? Can guardians sense presence from so far away?
Though it felt like having a GPS implanted in my body, I decided not to inquire further.
While this conversation continued, I had already started cooking, and we all kept sharing recent updates. Then we heard a gentle knock at the door.
Mika says 「I’ll get it」 and slowly opens the door.
And there stands,
「Everyone, it’s been a while.」
Puffy.
「Hey, food’s almost ready, come on in.」
When I call out to her, she steps into the cabin with graceful movements, saying 「Then, excuse me.」
If you enjoy it and wish to see more, please consider giving it a 5-star rating for the series on NU. Click Here.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
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