When I saw Mika after such a long time, I held my breath. Her expression was dark, and it seemed she hadn’t been eating properly—her complexion was far from healthy.
From what I’d heard before she left on her journey, she was traveling with Sensei to revisit the towns they had previously toured as a hero party, with the purpose of making amends.
That was supposed to save her—save Mika. However, compared to her expression that day—
I couldn’t ask what had happened. I also sensed an atmosphere from Sensei saying, 「Don’t ask her yet.」 And so, prompted by Sensei, Mika stepped into the cabin.
「Well, that’s unfortunate.」
I’d been so busy these past few days that I hadn’t prepared anything to welcome them. Hmm, what should I do? As I was racking my brain, the Contact Pearl made a sound. Again? Who could it be this time?
「Yeah, who is it?」
The response came in a cynical voice.
「Ichiro, it’s me. Anon. I’m sorry. I apologize for the sudden request, but—」
It was a request from her.
○○○
Due to her line of work, she (Anon) has many enemies, and in this incident, she lost her hood, which could be called her lifeline. To be precise, it wasn’t completely destroyed, so repair was possible, but it seemed to take time.
「I told Chloa to repair it at full speed with top priority, but… it might depend on his work situation.」
「You asked Chloa… I heard he was supposed to go see the ocean with Chloe, but before they knew it, they were assigned new work as guild members, and he was crying about never being able to quit being the vice commander… and you…」
「Ku-ku.」
Through such conversation, Anon’s wish was essentially to take shelter at our cabin in Hidden Mountain for a while.
This was something I absolutely wanted to help my friend with. So before leaving the cabin, I pleaded with Sena, and she agreed with 「Ah, the hood person… can’t be helped… if anything happens, I’ll just crush her skull,」 which was somewhat violent, but I had secured her permission.
Then, several hours later, I finally brought her back to the cabin in Hidden Mountain, where Sensei put her index finger to her lips and said 「Shh.」 I saw Mika sleeping on a futon.
「It seems she hasn’t been able to sleep lately. Looks like she’s finally sleeping soundly.」
Sensei’s eyebrows formed a figure eight. Sena sighed and shook her head.
「Perfect timing. I’m sorry, me too. I haven’t slept for several days either. It seems I’ve reached my limit as well.」
Anon, sensing the situation, rubbed her eyes. And just like that, she quickly finished her preparations for bed and was soon breathing softly in sleep.
○○○
Anon, who finally got to sleep after several days, woke up around noon. In contrast, Mika woke up early in the morning (though she had gone to sleep before sunset, so she should have slept plenty) and began some sort of construction work with Sensei.
And that brings us to the present.
「So, Ichiro. Let’s exchange information about the attack.」
Anon stated right off the bat.
「Right. Got it. Let me start by asking. What happened to the Darkness Hound and the Unknown after that?」
This is the heart of the matter.
「Yes. I was planning to start with that too.」
It seems Anon had the same intention.
「First, regarding the Darkness Hound, the group you dealt with at the royal castle is called ‘Numbers.’ The group that faced Angelica and her friends at Wiseman Duke’s residence in the royal capital is called ‘Colors,’ and the group that faced Ashley and her friends in Boldaf is called ‘Parts.’」
「You mean code names?」
「Exactly. The Darkness Hound isn’t very large, but they’re all elite members, totaling just under thirty people. They probably named their members using ‘numbers,’ ‘colors,’ and ‘body parts.’」
I didn’t say 「how chuuni,」 but thought it. Despite everything, they were formidable.
「The Wiseman ducal house became a battlefield. We suffered some casualties on our side, but thanks to Angelica’s efforts, we managed to thwart their objective.」
「I see, Angelica…」
「However, there was no room for leniency, and in the battle at the Wiseman ducal house, they had no choice but to kill most of them.」
It can’t be helped. It’s much harder to capture than to kill.
「Then, this is about Boldaf, but apparently a semi-transparent girl suddenly appeared and threw the battle into chaos.」
SENAAAAAA!! When I looked at her, she turned her face away with a pout.
「Specifically, when this mysterious girl suddenly appeared, she beat the living daylights out of those who harbored hostility toward her, thinking she might be a new enemy—regardless of whether they were friend or foe. Well, thanks to that, remarkably, there were zero deaths on our side.」
As I sighed in relief, Sena turned her face toward me and snorted with a 「Mufuu.」
「But here’s where the kingdom was at fault—when they tried to forcibly extract information from enemies who should have been unharmed, some sort of magical formula must have been set up, because they all died in a chain reaction. It was probably some kind of curse. I think they had some sort of spell cast on themselves before taking on this job.」
Death is close, death is light. Many people dying in human conflict was also a first-time experience for me.
「With that in consideration, the ‘Numbers’ you captured were first meticulously cleansed of curses, then fitted with new collars, and will now be kept by the politicians who dealt with them this time—namely the King and Chancellor.」
「Kept?」
「Yes, ‘kept.’ That said, through strict judgment, those with dangerous ideologies will be eliminated, but those who had no choice but to kill for a living will be bound tightly by Vow Magic and will live for the kingdom from now on.」
I can’t bring myself to say that being alive means good things can happen. Even if the leadership changes, what they’ll be made to do is—no, this is something that’s pointless to think about.
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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Chapter 296
○○○
When I saw Mika after such a long time, I held my breath.
Her expression was dark, and it seemed she hadn’t been eating properly—her complexion was far from healthy.
From what I’d heard before she left on her journey, she was traveling with Sensei to revisit the towns they had previously toured as a hero party, with the purpose of making amends.
That was supposed to save her—save Mika.
However, compared to her expression that day—
I couldn’t ask what had happened.
I also sensed an atmosphere from Sensei saying, 「Don’t ask her yet.」
And so, prompted by Sensei, Mika stepped into the cabin.
「Well, that’s unfortunate.」
I’d been so busy these past few days that I hadn’t prepared anything to welcome them.
Hmm, what should I do? As I was racking my brain, the Contact Pearl made a sound. Again? Who could it be this time?
「Yeah, who is it?」
The response came in a cynical voice.
「Ichiro, it’s me. Anon. I’m sorry. I apologize for the sudden request, but—」
It was a request from her.
○○○
Due to her line of work, she (Anon) has many enemies, and in this incident, she lost her hood, which could be called her lifeline. To be precise, it wasn’t completely destroyed, so repair was possible, but it seemed to take time.
「I told Chloa to repair it at full speed with top priority, but… it might depend on his work situation.」
「You asked Chloa… I heard he was supposed to go see the ocean with Chloe, but before they knew it, they were assigned new work as guild members, and he was crying about never being able to quit being the vice commander… and you…」
「Ku-ku.」
Through such conversation, Anon’s wish was essentially to take shelter at our cabin in Hidden Mountain for a while.
This was something I absolutely wanted to help my friend with.
So before leaving the cabin, I pleaded with Sena, and she agreed with 「Ah, the hood person… can’t be helped… if anything happens, I’ll just crush her skull,」 which was somewhat violent, but I had secured her permission.
Then, several hours later, I finally brought her back to the cabin in Hidden Mountain, where Sensei put her index finger to her lips and said 「Shh.」 I saw Mika sleeping on a futon.
「It seems she hasn’t been able to sleep lately. Looks like she’s finally sleeping soundly.」
Sensei’s eyebrows formed a figure eight.
Sena sighed and shook her head.
「Perfect timing. I’m sorry, me too. I haven’t slept for several days either. It seems I’ve reached my limit as well.」
Anon, sensing the situation, rubbed her eyes. And just like that, she quickly finished her preparations for bed and was soon breathing softly in sleep.
○○○
Anon, who finally got to sleep after several days, woke up around noon.
In contrast, Mika woke up early in the morning (though she had gone to sleep before sunset, so she should have slept plenty) and began some sort of construction work with Sensei.
And that brings us to the present.
「So, Ichiro. Let’s exchange information about the attack.」
Anon stated right off the bat.
「Right. Got it. Let me start by asking. What happened to the Darkness Hound and the Unknown after that?」
This is the heart of the matter.
「Yes. I was planning to start with that too.」
It seems Anon had the same intention.
「First, regarding the Darkness Hound, the group you dealt with at the royal castle is called ‘Numbers.’ The group that faced Angelica and her friends at Wiseman Duke’s residence in the royal capital is called ‘Colors,’ and the group that faced Ashley and her friends in Boldaf is called ‘Parts.’」
「You mean code names?」
「Exactly. The Darkness Hound isn’t very large, but they’re all elite members, totaling just under thirty people. They probably named their members using ‘numbers,’ ‘colors,’ and ‘body parts.’」
I didn’t say 「how chuuni,」 but thought it.
Despite everything, they were formidable.
「The Wiseman ducal house became a battlefield. We suffered some casualties on our side, but thanks to Angelica’s efforts, we managed to thwart their objective.」
「I see, Angelica…」
「However, there was no room for leniency, and in the battle at the Wiseman ducal house, they had no choice but to kill most of them.」
It can’t be helped. It’s much harder to capture than to kill.
「Then, this is about Boldaf, but apparently a semi-transparent girl suddenly appeared and threw the battle into chaos.」
SENAAAAAA!!
When I looked at her, she turned her face away with a pout.
「Specifically, when this mysterious girl suddenly appeared, she beat the living daylights out of those who harbored hostility toward her, thinking she might be a new enemy—regardless of whether they were friend or foe. Well, thanks to that, remarkably, there were zero deaths on our side.」
As I sighed in relief, Sena turned her face toward me and snorted with a 「Mufuu.」
「But here’s where the kingdom was at fault—when they tried to forcibly extract information from enemies who should have been unharmed, some sort of magical formula must have been set up, because they all died in a chain reaction. It was probably some kind of curse. I think they had some sort of spell cast on themselves before taking on this job.」
Death is close, death is light. Many people dying in human conflict was also a first-time experience for me.
「With that in consideration, the ‘Numbers’ you captured were first meticulously cleansed of curses, then fitted with new collars, and will now be kept by the politicians who dealt with them this time—namely the King and Chancellor.」
「Kept?」
「Yes, ‘kept.’ That said, through strict judgment, those with dangerous ideologies will be eliminated, but those who had no choice but to kill for a living will be bound tightly by Vow Magic and will live for the kingdom from now on.」
I can’t bring myself to say that being alive means good things can happen.
Even if the leadership changes, what they’ll be made to do is—no, this is something that’s pointless to think about.
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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