Foreigner Volume 8, Chapter 166

Volume 8 Chapter 166, Steady Advance ~ 19

　One hour (40 minutes) later.

　Satoru was confronted by the sight of a tied-up checkpoint deputy and about 80 soldiers with their heads hanging down.

　Perhaps intimidated by Satoru's power, the checkpoint moved as if to raise the drawbridge again and shut it down. There were 150 soldiers stationed at the checkpoint. Of the 150 soldiers stationed at the checkpoint, 33 had been eliminated in one fell swoop due to the uproar, so it was understandable that they were upset. The basic strategy against sorcery is to jump into Satoru and prevent him from concentrating on his sorcery. The soldiers were planning to respond from a distance with a bow, but no archers were lining the walls of the checkpoint.

　Satoru saw the raised drawbridge and immediately jumped into the checkpoint with one leap. The guard station was taken by surprise and tried to respond in a hurry, but of course, it was no match for him, and the scolding of the guard captain only echoed in vain. After crushing some minor resistance, when they entered the room of the deputy, the situation had been settled. The reason for this was that the captain, terrified by Satoru's extraordinary power, had tied up the deputy in charge of this checkpoint and offered to surrender to Satoru.

　The deputy, who had been betrayed by his allies in the most shameful way in the world, was now a pathetic prisoner of war, his face bright red and howling about how he was a great man, but a single slap from Satoru blew out his teeth and he was silenced ― well, just fainted, but that was all.

「F-forgive us!」

　Satoru is throwing a contemptuous glance at the captain of the garrison, who is stepping forward and bowing his head on behalf of the others. It may have been the deputy who had taken the initiative in committing the small misdeeds at this barrier, but the captain of these soldiers was just as guilty when he failed to stop the deputy. Moreover, instead of stopping him, they were being given the benefit of the doubt, but at the first sign of trouble, they turned in their deputy. They are the very model of a shameless people. Satoru doesn't even want to talk to the captain, but that's not going to happen.

「You guys who are left are the ones who should do the job! If you do your job, we won't kill you!」

　The captain's whole body trembled and he fell flat on his face. He is a small-time villain, plain and simple.

　Satoru does not want to correct the world or make sure that the people at the checkpoint are in the right. The problem is that they showed unreasonable power in front of Satoru's eyes and disregarded the right path. If they would return to the right path and fulfill their duties fairly, there would be no problem at all.

「In exchange, if you make this kind of thing happen again and I hear about it, I'll kill you all, including this fortress.」

　But the captain of these soldiers is a small-time villain and an opportunist. If Satoru is gone, there is a strong possibility that the situation will be back to the way it was. He could at least warn the captain, who is shaking as he prostrates himself.

「For the time being, all of us who are present now will go through.」

　No reply. Huh, Satoru sighed and raised his voice.

「Where is your reply!?」

「R-right away! Please go through!」

　Immediately, the captain gave orders to his men. The drawbridge was lowered, and the gate to the checkpoint was opened wide on both the Liese and Clatta sides.

　There were no people waiting at the checkpoint on the Clatta side. They were probably not making any big deal about people leaving the country, even if they were suffering from an epidemic. Rico was right.

　The captain, glancing at Satoru, ordered the soldiers not to do anything, and silently let the people passing through the checkpoint by. Satoru, too, is standing there and watching. For the time being, he intends to watch over everyone until they all pass.

　The people who had been uncomfortably waiting at the checkpoint through the line of soldiers. Many are skeptical. The soldiers who had suddenly come out of the gate, selling black bread at a huge profit, and demanding money for bribes, were suddenly knocked down, and then a group of soldiers jumped out of the gate and were blown down to the bottom of the valley by a tornado. A large man who seemed to have blown away the soldiers suddenly flew toward the gate, and shortly afterward, the gate was opened.

　From the line of people advancing solemnly, a small man came up close to Satoru.

「Satoru-san」

「Oh, Dahl-san」

「You've done something ridiculous. The country will be watching you, that's for sure.」

　It is Dahl who talked about mayonnaise last night. He is smiling bitterly and looking at Satoru with a worried expression on his face.

　Breaking a checkpoint is certainly a serious crime. Normally, those who break the checkpoint would be killed. The people who passed through the gate would also be targeted, but he doubt they would go that far ― except for Satoru, who is the main culprit.

「What? All we need is for the idiots here not to leak the information.」

　Satoru stares at the soldiers as if he is about to make a "GIN" sound. The soldiers only looked at him timidly in response to his strong gaze. There was not the slightest sign that they were going to challenge him.

　Satoru lowered his voice and gave Dahl a small earful.

「I don't intend to stay in this country for a long time. I'm going to go straight through and exit to Arsweta.」

「Oh, so Arsweta is your destination? If you are going to Arsweta, the southern road is the fastest way. We're going northbound, so this is where we part ways.」

「I, see.」

　Satoru, who had not paid attention to the direction of the street, gave a small nod. Dahl pulls out a piece of parchment from the bag at his waist and writes something on it.

「I'll check with the others who have passed through to see if I can disturb the information about what happened here.」

「Oh ......that's helpful」

　Satoru showed his gratitude to the voice that murmured to him as he lowered his gaze to the parchment. The checkpoint is a national facility, after all, so if the people at the checkpoint spun a tale, the commotion would soon become known. Of course, to obtain this information, the national authorities would have to hear from the people who had passed through this checkpoint. Disrupting information is a small but effective measure.

　Dahl blew on the parchment, made sure the ink was dry and held it out to Satoru.

「If Liese is still messing with you after you enter Arsweta, try to rely on a dwarf named Vance in the town of Deligrande. I can't give you a formal letter of introduction, but if you show him this, I'm sure he will be able to help you.」

「Well, basically, I'll just kick their ass, though.」

　With a small bow, Satoru accepted the parchment. Even if a small country like this were to go after Satoru with the whole country, it wouldn't be much of an obstacle, but he'd accept the favor without saying a word. It would be a fool's errand to refuse.

　Dahl smiled a little bitterly.

「It will take 5 days to get to the checkpoint to Arsweta through this Liese, even with a horse-drawn carriage. I pray that nothing is going to happen to you.」

「Oh, thank you ...... ah, wait」

　Satoru stops Dahl, who is about to turn on his heel. Suddenly, a thought occurs to him, and he calls a nearby soldier to bring him a bag of water.

「Your wife was sick with an epidemic, right?」

「Yes.」

　Satoru accepts the water bag offered to him fearfully by the soldier, removes the string, creates a ball of water, and pours it into the bag. When the water was somewhat full, he put his finger in the water, sent a little reminder and magic power to freeze the water, then hastily covered the water bag with a string and presented it to Dahl.

「When you get back home, please let your wife drink this water, thinking you have been tricked.」

「Uhh ......」

　Satoru continued to spin the words as if to block out questions as Dahl received the bag of frozen water with a curious look on his face.

「However, these two conditions are that: do not open the bottle until you return home, and give it to your wife as soon as you open it.」

「I-I understand. You have my thanks.」

　At Satoru's expression, which seemed to have a certain seriousness to it, Dahl held the water bag firmly as if he was pushing it and bowed to Satoru, then lightly clenched his fist and placed it on his forehead and chest in turn, and hung his head with his fist lightly clenched on his chest.

「May the Earth Mother Goddess bless you.」

　This must be the greeting of a believer in the Earth Mother Goddess. Satoru nodded his head in a composed manner, even though he did not understand. A small voice echoed in Satoru's head as he watched Dahl's small back as he returned to his carriage, bowing his head again and again.

『That's very kind of you.』

(It's nice to be able to afford to give a little charity to someone you happen to know.)

　Until now, Satoru has not had much contact with the people of this world. This is because Satoru has avoided the negative reactions that can occur when humans with Leia's presence, excessive power, and advanced knowledge of other worlds come into contact with such people.

　However, it has been a cramped experience, even for Satoru.

『.....You're right. It is not good for my Lord's mind if you are too constrained.』

　　If Satoru's mind can be a little more relaxed, it would be nice to have some goodwill once in a while―Leia thinks so again. What Satoru gave to Dahl was water filled with pure magic power, made by Satoru himself. The frozen water would last for the time being. If Dahl's wife can recover by drinking that water, there is nothing better than that.

「Onee-chan, Onii-chan, bye-bye!」

　From Dahl's carriage, his daughter, Hannah, leaned forward and waved at Satoru. While waving back, "Onee-chan?" Satoru glanced behind him. Isolde was there with a difficult look on her face.

「Milord」

「Mmh」

　Isolde, in response to Satoru's curt reply, knelt down on one knee and hung her head on the spot, reverently offering the sword sheathed at her waist to Satoru. Satoru silently turned around and faced Isolde.

「I apologize for the trouble I have caused you. I would like to make my apology by having my head chopped off.」

　Isolde must have thought she had caused trouble when she stood up in a fit of righteous indignation against the soldier who had assaulted the old man. Certainly, that was the reason Satoru decided to commit the crime of breaking the checkpoint. However, Satoru returns to Isolde in such a way that she seems uninterested.

「......Hmph, don't say anything boring」

「But」

「I didn't stop you. Rather, I told you to go ahead and do it. I am responsible for ordering you to do so, but are you satisfied with that?」

　Isolde could not reply to Satoru's voice.

　Even if Isolde had not stood up, Satoru would have saved the old man. There is no doubt in his mind. On the other hand, Satoru was glad that Isolde was a chivalrous person who was willing to help the weak. The female swordsman, who was released from the difficult position of being the head of the Holy Sword Clan, had always shown a straightforward nature. The woman's sharp good looks, who stood up to an incident that she probably would have ignored when she was the head of the clan, made Satoru glad that he didn't kill her again.

「Look up.」

　Isolde looked up in response. Her face was tinged with nervousness.

「You are my magical slave, aren't you?」

「Yes. I must repay Milord for the rest of my life. When Milord dies, I will be ready to follow him into the abyss.」

　She was a samurai, but she had no more than a samurai's temperament. Satoru was in disbelief.

「I don't want you following me into death by committing suicide. First of all, I can't just stand by and watch a nice girl like you die.」

「But then...」

「Shut up. 『Command』, I forbid you to kill yourself if I'm dead or gone.」

　Isolde's body trembled at the force-generating 【Command】. Strictly speaking, if Satoru dies or something, Isolde will be 【Emancipation Slave】 automatically, so he doesn't know if the current order will be effective or not. However, she probably thought it was unbecoming of a magical slave to disobey the Lord's command, even in the form of an 【Command】, which Satoru rarely used. Isolde pulled her chin back a little.

「.....No other choice. Then let me at least be a shield to protect bodhi.」[TLN: 菩提/Boudai = Bodhi, in Buddhism, the final Enlightenment, which puts an end to the cycle of transmigration and leads to Nirvāṇa, or spiritual release]

「I'm not talking about that. First of all, don't kill yourself without my permission.」

　It was outrageously rude, to begin with to talk about protecting Bodhi or cutting off her stomach or assuming that Satoru would die, but Satoru brushed off the rudeness with a wry smile. Isolde definitely means it. She is prepared to do so, so she will not be tactless enough to condemn rudeness.

　Satoru retracted his wry smile and looked down at Isolde with a straight face. The fact that Satoru's physique is large and she is kneeling on one knee makes him incredibly intimidating to Isolde. As Satoru looked at Isolde with a straight face, all she could feel was that she couldn't escape.

「What are you to me?」

　Isolde immediately answers Satoru's slowly spun line.

「Your magical slave, a sword, and a shield.」

「Then, what is a magical slave?」

「It is a being bound by a contract with magic who follows the Lord. Everything belongs to the Lord, from birth to death.」

「Good answer. Then isn't it strange for you to say to kill or die when I didn't order you to do so?」

「Ah, ......」

　Isolde was at a loss when Satoru pointed this out. If you think about it, that's right. It is only self-satisfaction to say that she has caused trouble and humiliation to her Lord, so she should have her head chopped off. The Lord owns the magical slaves, even their life and death. It is wrong for the magical slaves themselves to want that.

　Satoru smiles.

「You're not even allowed to die on your own anymore. This time, too, I ordered you to do it. You just followed my order. You just did what was natural for a magical slave. I don't blame you for that.」

「Milord ......」

　The impression was all over Isolde.

　She thinks again. She is convinced that her decision to follow this man was not mistaken. She shudders at the degree of this man who accepts her even though he stood up on his own.

「If you understand, answer me!」

「Hah! Milord's kindliness, I gratefully accept it!」

　Isolde replied cheerfully and bowed her head. Before bowing, Isolde's expression was somewhat radiant. This will be all right. Satoru looked at the line of people in an advancing posture.

「Go and watch them so they don't go out of control and attack the soldiers.」

「Right away!」

　Bowing deeply once more, Isolde stood up and stood between the line of soldiers and the people passing the checkpoint. Her figure is roaring. She looks confident.

『Splendid judgment.』

(Don't make fun of me.)

　Satoru smiled a little at the sound of Leia's voice echoing in his mind, and Haah then sighed. He scratched his head, looking at Isolde standing between the line of soldiers and the people passing by with a sharp look.

「How should I put this.......She's kind of like a dog.」

『Pfft, hahaha! Dogs... that's an odd way of putting it!』

　The current Isolde is the very image of a woman who is praised by her master, wagging her tail and doing her job to the fullest. When she gets angry, she shuts her tail and dips down, but when it comes to something that interests her, she goes out with joy. Leia's unreserved laughter echoing in his head caused Satoru to raise an eyebrow. It was a little too loud and echoed in his head.

　Fufu, turning her laughter into a gentle one, Leia continues.

『It's the owner's duty to train the dog, right?』

「...... It sounds like you're telling me to train her, doesn't it?」

『If my Lord wants to do it, I won't stop you. Isn't it a man's ultimate pleasure to subdue a proud woman with such high self-esteem?』

　Ugh, Satoru was at a loss for words, and even if he was neither S nor M, he was certainly aware of that aspect of himself.

『As it was done to me』

「...... no comment.」

　Satoru, astonished at the fact that he had been told so casually, finally replied only that.

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