Chapter 21, Disturbance - 10
The building was located in an obscure part of town, not far from the center of town, with three stories of sturdy construction and light leaking from the boarded-up windows, even though it was nearly five o'clock. They could tell it wasn't a store because there was no entrance to invite people in, but it wasn't a house either.
However, there were a few rude men hanging around the building, and not even the average drunkard would dare to go near it.
This is the headquarters of the Thieves' Guild of Galhassan.
Anyone who would approach such a place would have to be a competitor, or even worse, a daredevil. As if to match the bad atmosphere outside, they could hear the vulgar laughter coming from inside the building.
A group of men and women approached the building. Walking ahead of them was a girl wearing a short poncho-like cloak with a hood covering her face. Her legs were bare and her thighs were brown and slender. Her body language is light, and the hoodlums hanging around the building don't seem to be paying any attention. What they were paying attention to was the large man walking behind the girl. The man, dressed in a leather cloak and carrying an incredibly heavy-looking sword on his back, was looking around curiously. It's a face they don't see around here.
The girl ahead of him stood in front of the wooden door and knocked in a unique rhythm. The peephole opened, and then the door opened.
A frown appeared on the young man's face as he smelled the stench inside the building. Inside, he could see seven or eight men making a lot of noise, even though it was almost midnight. The word "elegance" was not in the dictionary. A hairy man with a stocky physique turns his attention to the rare visitor who has come to see him so late at night.
「Oh, Rico! ......Who the hell is this guy?」
The one who came to visit was their fellow pickpocket, Rico. She's a pretty face in her own right, but she's an oddity who chooses to work as a pickpocket instead of a prostitute. The girl, who rarely showed her face at the guild's hideout, was accompanied by a large man he had never seen before.
「A drifter」she said. 「I showed him the sign. He said he wanted to make a face for the head.」
Time is not of the essence in banditry. The hairy man only replied, "Heh" Recently, the number of traveling bandits who come to the Galhassan Thieves Guild to seek employment has been decreasing.
「That's unusual. If it's the head, he's in the back of the room. ......, but now he's busy.」
"He's in the back," he said aloud, and then the hairy man gave him a bland look. Rico's brow clouded.
「Why?」
The hairy man gave a sly grin when Rico asked him back.
「It's obvious. He's having fun...... I'm sure your brother is having a good time.」
The guildmaster of this guild, Zareth, is a pervert (shota-con) who loves only slim boys. And all the members of the guild know that it is Rico's younger brother who is currently the recipient of this favor. The hairy man's vulgar voice caused a stir around him, but Rico's expression remained one of furrowed brows.
「Rico, you need to stop being a pickpocket and become my woman.」
The biggest man in the group - though not as big as the traveling man - tries to hug Rico's shoulder in a friendly manner, but Rico picks up the back of the man's hand and replies smoothly.
「I'm sorry. I don't have any interest in being hugged by a monkey.」
「Bastard.」
The large man became agitated, but his heated voice was stopped in mid-sentence. The young man Rico had brought with her pulled a large sword from his back and swung it between Rico and the large man with one hand. Of course, it didn't hit him.
The guild was momentarily quieted by the strength of the man who handled the huge sword with such ease. The man resumes carrying the sword on his shoulder and snorted.
「I'm sorry, but I'm running out of time. Let me through.」
「H-hey, so now is not the time.」
Totally ignoring the stillness of those around him, the young man strode into the back of the room and kicked open the door at the back.
It was a small room, and in front of the back door stood two burly men with small swords, who suddenly became excited at the unusual guest.
「Who the hell are you?」
「Where the hell do you think you are?」
The big men direct their intimidation at the young man who has just entered, but the young man, Satoru, shows no sign of being upset. In normal circumstances, most people would be intimidated by their threats, but this is not the case with Satoru, who is carrying a large sword on his shoulder.
Satoru looked at Rico standing behind him. Rico nodded silently. Satoru huffed, regrasped the large sword on his shoulder, and pointed it at the two men. The two men were horrified.
「H-hey, what would you do with that big swor-gyaaaaa!!」
He couldn't say a word until the end. The big man who was struck in the arm by the belly of the sword swung at high speed was blown into the wall with great force and fainted. The other man, stunned for a moment, tried to turn to face Satoru, but was unable to do so. He was knocked down from above by the belly of the sword.
「B-bastard!!」
The men who had been watching the scene at the entrance started screaming at once. Rico quickly got to Satoru's side and glared at the area with a stern gaze. As Rico moved, Satoru gave a sharp look to the men behind him, intimidating them, and then kicked open the back door with all his might.
With a tremendous bang, the door is blown open.
「What the hell is going on!!」
A rumbling voice echoed from the back room where the door had been kicked open. Satoru frowned. Inside was an older, bearded, muscular man, bigger than any of the previous men. However, he was completely naked. Underneath him is a thin, brown-skinned boy in his early teens.
Satoru let out a small "Yukkkk" at the sight he didn't want to see.
The man, Zareth, immediately pulls out his prized small sword that he kept by his side. It's a gem from the ancient magic kingdom, the Kiribakimaru. It is with this sword that he has risen to the top of the thieves' guild.
「...... Who the hell are you?」
The boy who had been clasped in a knot put on a sheet and fled to a corner of the room in a panic. Perhaps he is Rico's younger brother. His skin color is the same as Rico's - maybe a little lighter. He is a moderately beautiful boy with thinner lines.
「I'm just a foreigner who happened to be passing by.」
Satoru said smoothly.
Recognizing the familiar figure of a girl behind Satoru, Zareth raised his voice.
「Rico! You betrayed me, you bastard!」
「Who's the one who betrayed you! You're the one who's ignoring Threnody-san's wishes and doing whatever you want!」
Threnody is probably the name of the previous guild chieftain. Zareth bristled at Rico, who hadn't lost her temper at the sound of Zareth's voice.
「You ...... oi! Come here!」
At the sound of Zareth's voice, the men at the entrance came in pieces. Each had a weapon in their hand. Rico drew a dagger from behind her waist as she closed in behind Satoru.
「Heh, there's this many of us. I don't know if that big sword is useful in such a small place.」
Including Zareth, there were about nine of them. The hoodlums hold their weapons in their hands and narrow the circle of encirclement. They won't be touched easily. Because they had seen the scene where Zareth' protégé, who boasted of his physical strength, was quickly knocked down.
Satoru didn't show any sign of being upset, but glared at the surroundings and breathed, "Fumu".
「Rico, also just in case, Leia.」
「Heh.」
「Cover your ears.」
When he said that, Satoru inhaled as hard as he could and shouted as loud as he could to make people faint with his voice.
「 URAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!」
The air shivered and the vials in the room cracked. The walls also shuddered and cracked.
Some of the men surrounding Satoru and the others were dizzy from the sudden deafening shouting, some had their eardrums ruptured and were in a panic.
「Oh, that went better than I expected.」
It's nothing so much. He thought that maybe his voice could also carry magical power, so he tried it. Satisfied with the results, a resentful voice came from within Satoru's shadow.
『Oh, my Lord ......, that's 'roar' .......』
「Y-You are really ......」
He can hear Rico's complaint from behind him. Leia seemed to have failed to cover her ears, but Rico had succeeded in covering her. However, since she was closest to Satoru, even though she was behind him, her ears were ringing badly and her head hurt.
Anyway, according to Leia, the three of them were incapacitated by the "roar" art. The men who were not incapacitated seem to have been damaged as well.
「All right」
Satoru took advantage of the opportunity and randomly swung his large sword at the nearest man who was still alive. Of course, he attacked with the belly of his sword.
「Gyaaaa!」
「M-my arm is...!!」
Two of them were blown away by Satoru's hard sword. After three men were suddenly KO'd and two were blown away, the men regained their composure and attacked Satoru at once.
「Watch out!」
The sound of a sword fight echoed behind Satoru. The one who's attacked Satoru was aimed at his back, but Rico dealt with it. However, her opponent had a small sword and Rico had a dagger. The distance between them was too great. She managed to handle it, but the small sword scratched Rico's bare thigh, causing fresh blood to run.
「Kkuhh!」
In a four-on-two situation, it's dangerous if you don't have a solid backing. In this case, he should also take the risk... Satoru was a bit blunt as he called out to Rico, who was standing behind Satoru with such grim determination.
「Stay back.」
「But...」
「Just do it. Listen to what I say? Ok?」
As Satoru smoothly blocked Rico's rebuttal, Zareth jumped into Satoru's bosom with a burst of energy. With an agile movement that didn't match his physique, he slashed upward diagonally from Satoru's armpit...
*ka-ching*, the sword was flicked.
「Wha」
Perhaps Zareth was surprised but, Satoru's back fist, delivered quickly, hits Zales in the shoulder. The impact was so great that Zareth was blown into the wall like a leaf, rubbing his cone.
Satoru didn't pay any attention to the blown up Zareth, but instead aimed his big sword at another man, hitting him like a baseball bat. He managed to catch Satoru's sword with his small sword, but the impact was so powerful that the man was helpless, and he was sent flying through the wall like a white ball hit by a foreign player who boasts of his monstrous strength..
「Wh-What the heck with this guy ...... this guy's so strong」
The other two were also frightened by Satoru's insane strength.
「Ohh, that's enough!」
Zareth, who had been blown to the wall by Satoru's back fist, slumped his right shoulder, holding his sword in his left arm and pressing the tip of the cut against the neck of a boy near where he had been blown away.
「N-nee-san. ......」
「Kai!」
In response to Rico's impatient voice, Zareth's face twisted into an ugly mess as he tried to turn the tide.
「I'm not sure where you picked up that monster, but drop your weapon! Or else...Ooooohh ......」
Zareth's voice suddenly became quiet, and he fell into a stupor on the spot with his eyes glazed over. A beautiful girl with pale skin peeks out from behind the fallen Zareth. It's Leia.
「It's just as my Lord said.」
The moment Zareth took a hostage, Leia appeared behind him without a sound and use "Absorbed Life Force" with a certain amount of power. The reason for a certain amount of power is simple: if she used it at full power, she would have killed him easily.
Satoru was aware of the possibility of Zareth taking Rico's brother hostage, and had told Leia what to do in case that happened - at the time when Rico was being ignored.
「Well, that was to be expected.」
He then turned his sharp, almost guttural gaze on the two remaining men. Rico raised her voice in response to that gaze.
「Zareth is done! And you're all his cronies, well, look at your surrounding! Is there anyone who still dares to stand up to us!?」
At the sound of Rico's voice and Satoru's gaze, the remaining men threw down their weapons, raised their hands, and shook their heads from side to side with teary eyes. Zareth, who had overwhelmed this guild with his overwhelming power, was now overwhelmed by a force far greater than even his cronies. There's no way they can stand up to Satoru and others.
Rico snorted and jerked her chin toward the two who were safe.
「Zareth and the fallen ones, keep them all in line.」
As if in a panic, the two start to move. The two who had survived by chance were not Zareth's loyal cronies, so they easily obeyed Rico, who was accompanied by a man who had shown more strength than Zareth.
Watching the scene, Rico turned his gaze to her brother.
「Kai! Are you okay!?」
「I'm fine. ...... more that that, are you okay Nee-san?」
Satoru felt uncomfortable there. Rico's demeanor was regal. If you look at it another way, it looks like she is trying to be tough. However, in this situation, there was no one who would oppose to her. There was no reason to be uptight.
Satoru felt uncomfortable with Rico's reluctance to approach her brother, even though he had been safely released from his hostage position - not that he wanted to see a touching reunion scene.
The younger brother, also called Kai, just wrapped a sheet dexterously around his waist to cover his lower body, but never approached his sister.
Something was wrong.
Then, Satoru noticed a laceration on Rico's thigh. It was a wound she had received when she had covered up for Satoru.
「Leia!」
Satoru called out to the magical slave who had been hovering behind him, and squeezed her with his chin. Leia, who had guessed his intentions, said, "Good grief".
「My Lord is naive......」
Kai was clearly surprised by the sudden appearance of the [Immortal Family], and gave her a frightened look. Leia completely ignored his gaze and approached Rico.
「"Cure ."」
Leia muttered the art and held her hand out lazily at Rico's feet. Slowly, the lacerations on Rico's thighs began to heal. After finishing the treatment, Leia gracefully hid herself behind Satoru again. While patting her head, Satoru looked back at Rico.
「And?」
Rico, realizing the intent of Satoru's question, smiled smugly.
「It looks like some of them aren't here, but with this many of them, it won't be a problem. We've got Zareth's beloved sword, and they can't do anything without him. I'll take them to the authorities. They'll be forced to work in the coal mines for the rest of their lives. ...... OI, you ever there!」
「EEekkkk!」
「Go get Jim-san. Rico wants to see him.」
「A-All right.」
After giving the survivor her instructions, Rico turned to Satoru and bowed her head.
「You're really saved me and my brother. I thank you.」
「I don't care. At any rate, I'll be at the inn until the morning after tomorrow, so I'll ask for my reward as soon as possible.」
As for Satoru, he only thought of it as a passing fancy, an afterthought.
When he had captured Rico, her attack with the dark weapon had caught Satoru completely by surprise. However, the attack with the needle did not even pierce Satoru, but was repelled - at that point, Satoru fully realized the extraordinary power he possessed. No matter how much he was taken by surprise, now that he knew that ordinary human attacks would not work, he did not have to worry about defense. I just wanted to see how well my offensive abilities would work.
It was just a good opportunity for him to use it, and he didn't expect much from the information about the labyrinth that he demanded from Rico as a reward. He was just thinking that bandits have their own information network, so maybe there is something to it.
「Oh, okay.」
Rico's answer was a bit strange, but Satoru didn't care if the information wasn't there, he just needed to know that the information was there.
"See ya", Satoru raises his hand lightly and leaves, leaving Leia to hide in the shadows.
Rico, who was left behind, was bewildered, but took care of the scene before the acting chief came.
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