Foreigner Volume 8, Chapter 170

Volume 8 Chapter 170, Steady Advance ~ 23

　The town of Ares is so large that many people do not sleep even in the middle of the night. At a certain inn and bar, a group of adventurers who may have made it back alive is making a big fuss, and the people staying at the inn are yelling at them, causing a small commotion.

　Whether the Royal Castle was destroyed or the Chalk Tower was blown up, it had no effect on the lives of ordinary citizens.

　People are such thick-skinned creatures.

　Laughing bitterly at the bustle leaking from the bar downstairs, the man stood up after noticing a sound coming from the window. Inside the inn in the middle of the night, a normal person would have dressed comfortably and gone to sleep, but the man had not even taken off his long robe, which seemed to be used for traveling. He opened the glass window with a squeaky sound, and a small bat came into the room with a flapping sound of its wings.

　As soon as the bat lands on the bed, it begins to glow faintly.

　Its black wings become supple arms, its short legs become slender, shiny legs, and its torso is transformed into the body of a bewitching woman.

　Her long, silky black hair is lightly brushed back with a shake of her head, and the bat woman slowly opens her red, glistening lips.

「I'm back.」

「So? How did it go?」

　The man wanted a report first and foremost. The woman ― Yuki ― tells the man, while still naked without any clothes on, exposing her bewitching limbs.

「A Foreigner calling himself Satoru has appeared.」

「Foreigner. Heh.」

　The long-robed man's voice wavers happily. The man knows that people from islands a little far from the continent call themselves foreigners with a sense of pride that they are different from the people of the continent. However, the people from the islands rarely come to this continent. However, they are a different race from the people from those islands. The pattern of their names is different.

「He is less than six feet tall. He is caused a mysterious explosion in the Dark Green Forest, conquered the Labyrinth of No Return, crushed the Chalk Tower and the Strahltraun, and threatened the Royal family and nobles of Ares for not messing with him」

「Six feet, he's big. But, yeah, almost, no doubt about it..」

「Also, I heard he was using a 【Giant Killer】」

「A sword that big? That's impressive. But it's confirmed.」

　The man knows. He knows where that great sword has been lying dormant.

　About 100 years ago, the great sword that had been handed down among the Dwarves belonged to the hero Blowes, who was said to be the strongest at the time. It was believed that no one knew the end of the hero Blowes, but the man does. He and his companions challenged the 【Deepest Labyrinth】 and never returned.

　The man looks up when he notices that Yuki is still holding her tongue and looking at him.

「...... you still have any information?」

　Yuki pulled her thin chin lightly.

「The previous High Mentor of the Academy of the Wise, Graham Coogan, had colluded with the Holy Sword Clan to challenge that Satoru.」

「Ah, man......... Holy Sword Clan, huh? Pulling out the troublesome thing again.」

　After muttering that much, the man also realizes.

「...... But, did they lose? I mean, that Satoru stomped two of the symbols of this town, and now Coogan is」 dead.

「Is that so?」

「Very」(?)

　The man ran a hand over his chin and began to think carefully.

　The Holy Sword Clan, the ultimate weapon against Demons that had been in continuous use since the mythical days of the Holy Sword Clan, and the High Mentor of the Academy of the Wise. Even with the two greatest powers that humans in this world can possess, they could not reach the Foreigner Satoru ― the death of Graham Coogan more than anything else speaks for itself.

　Why were the Chalk Tower and the Royal Castle Strahltraun destroyed, and why did the destruction stop at just those two? The man read the situation almost exactly.

　Combined with the fact that he threatened them not to mess with him, it was probably retaliation for Satoru's anger and a threat.

「But still, he also took a swipe at the Holy Sword Clan? That's pretty outrageous.」

　The man knows. He knows how troublesome that clan can be.

　Fortunately, he has never had the opportunity to fight the head of the clan, so what he knows about them is at the level of talk. But even so, he doesn't want to fight them.

　Even so, he is surprised that he did not destroy the town and only destroyed the Royal Castle and the Chalk Tower, even though he was dealing with the head of the Holy Sword Clan and the High Mentor of the Academy of Wise Men, who is such a troublesome and annoying opponent.

「I wonder if that Satoru-kun has a sense of restraint.」

　The man muttered with a bitter smile. If the man was in his shoes, he would have destroyed the town of Ares without question. To limit himself to the destruction of symbols and threats without doing so would have been an impossible proposition if he had not been able to control himself.

　Yuki walked up to the man in her bare skin and hugged him with her arms outstretched in a pleading gesture. She brings her red lips to his ear.

「One last thing. It was difficult to get the information out of my informant because he was so scared, but I heard that a daughter of a family called Maylander is left as a spokesman for the Demon King Satoru and to act as his watchdog.」

「Oh, that's good information. Hmmm... ......」

　The man who had been letting Yuki go free, without doing anything, carefully gathered his thoughts.

「Direct contact is quite dangerous, huh? Now then, what can we do about it ......」

　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊

　As evening approached and Satoru began to think about setting up camp, he heard the faint sound of horses' hooves. Perhaps there are three of them. The group was quick to recognize that they were approaching from the rear at a fairly high speed. Minerva, Leia, and Isolde seemed to notice immediately afterward, in that order, and the slaves all turned their nervous gazes toward Satoru.

　Satoru shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the driver's seat with the Giant Killer in his hand. Could they be survivors of the bandits we defeated around noon? In any case, they would be no match for Satoru.

　However, Satoru's prediction was wrong.

「Stop that carriage!」

　Three horses caught up with them from behind, and riding on them were knights in sheet metal armor. The figure of the knight with a large shield on his back and a spear in his hand looked like a gallant knight himself, and Satoru inwardly exclaimed, "Crap!" It was a man sent by the state.

「Do you need something?」

　The knights looked at Satoru, who had stopped the carriage and complied with the request, with a distrustful gaze.

「I heard there was an outlaw who forced his way through the Haivan checkpoint. We are looking for him. I would like to investigate your carriage.」

「......there's no need for that」

　Judging that it would be no use lying and trying to mislead the situation, so Satoru wrapped the reins around the stand and jumped off the driver seat with a flutter, holding the Giant Killer in his hand.

「I am what you guys call an outlaw」

「Nuh!」

　Three knights quickly maneuvered their horses into position to surround Satoru. However, even when surrounded by three knights on horseback, Satoru did not lose his attitude. Even to the eyes of the knights, the weight of the huge sword in his hand looked real. If it is real steel, then this man has tremendous physical strength. Understandably, the soldiers at the checkpoint were helplessly beaten.

　The top of the carriage is slightly opened, and inside they saw several women ― one of them has her foot on the driving seat, ready to draw her sword at any moment. It seems that this man is not the only one.

「The "whatever is called at the checkpoints" were doing something very bad. I had no time to waste, so I just pushed them away.」

　The knight raised his voice at the hulking young man who said that so casually.

「Even so! The law of the land judges the law of the country! To push them away just because they are out of your sight is an act of outlaw!」

「......Well, of course. I'm sorry about that.」

　Satoru smiled honestly and bowed his head in a small bow. The knights were also caught off guard by this unexpected response. However, Satoru's indignation has not changed in the slightest.

「But we can't get caught here, either. Do you think that only three of you can defeat the outlaw who pushed through the checkpoint, which had about 100 people, by force?」

「Murgh......」

　Satoru, carrying a large sword on his shoulder and tapping it on his shoulder, lifted the corner of his mouth and grinned, showing his surprise. The fact that he is not showing any sign of backing down even a single step against the three knights on horseback makes him seem genuine. In fact, there were certainly more than 100 soldiers in addition to the fortress at the Haivan checkpoint. If he was capable of forcing his way through them, it is hard to believe that only three people, even knights, can win.

「We have no intention of doing anything about this country. We just want to pass through.」

　This is Satoru's true intention. Even if it is called arrogance, if he can avoid unnecessary battles by acting arrogant, he will do so. And if that doesn't work? That's easy too.

「If you guys stand in my way, I'll push you through, even if I have to smash you.」

　He swings his huge sword, which is of terrifying size, sideways as if it were nothing. The speed is unbelievably fast. Moreover, this man wields that great sword with one hand, and even after swinging it out, he is not even shaking his stance.

「Kuh!」

　It seems that Satoru's demonstration was effective. The knights bite their teeth in recognition of Satoru's ability. They maneuver their horse dexterously and don't break formation, and poof, they're in the gap. But they cannot step in. The woman who is keeping the position to jump out of the carriage at any time has no gap. This one has the air of a hawk that has caught its prey in its sights.

　However, the sense of intimidation felt by the large young man is not unusual.

「Y-You really just pass through?」

　Satoru nodded his head in affirmation. Suddenly, he tilted his head slightly.

「If you and the others from the checkpoint ahead of us get together and try to fight me off, it won't work.」

　Satoru raised his left hand above his head, still holding the Giant Killer in his right hand.

「!!」

　Instantly, a fireball appeared above Satoru's head. A huge fireball with a radius of at least one major (9 meters). The heat emitted from the fireball was so intense that it could be felt on the skin despite the distance. Satoru's face did not change at all even though he produced a fireball that would have had tremendous power.

「This fireball's ......well, its heat is more than four times more powerful than a normal fireball. As long as you don't mind getting hit by it.」

　The half-encircled corner collapsed as Satoru laughed again, this time gruesomely.

「P-Please, come on through!」

「Hey!」

「You idiot! I only have one life you know!?」

　The knight who had been the first to shudder and blamed the knight for his rebuttal also kept his mouth shut. A knight is supposed to be loyal to his country and his lord, but this response was so pathetic. Even if he showed an absolute difference in power.

　However, the knight who is to blame is standing in the center of the siege, directly in front of Satoru, looking quite disgruntled. It seems that he is the leader of these knights, a knight in his own right, a man.

「......It's not that I want to take life either. I just don't want you to get in my way」

　Satoru canceled the 【Fireball】 with the 【Dispel】 spell, and then he thrust the Giant Killer to the ground as if to show that he had no intention of fighting. If a fight can be avoided, he's willing to concede to some extent. [TLN: Change Remove Spell to Dispel]

「I can understand your shame, though. I'm sorry I pushed you into this. But you know, if they had done their job properly, even the checkpoints wouldn't be in such a mess. It's funny that I should say this as a mere traveler, a stranger, and an outlaw. If the country doesn't get its act together a bit more, things will only get worse.」

「Nugu!」

　The knight in the leadership position held his spear in a waist-high position, but the two knights on his left and right held him back until he broke the encirclement. It seems somehow it will work out, Satoru thought with a sigh in his mind.

「If it's not convenient for you to be empty-handed, just go about a mile from the exit on the west side of this wooded area, a little to the south. You'll find the corpse of a group of wild bandits, an Idiot(Baka) clan, or something like that, buried there.」

「It's not Idiot(Baka), but it's Baki. Well, it's hard to deny that they were idiots.」

　The brown-skinned girl in the carriage pointed out, and the knight, who was the first to yield to Satoru, turned his eyes.

「Baki clan you say!? That group of ruffians... ......」

　The leader of that clan is said to be on par with the leader of this country's knighthood, and his great-axe blow is reputed to shatter even rocks―Satoru shrugged and looked back at the carriage, leaving the surprised knights aside.

「There weren't more than 30 of them, were there?」

「Twenty-six, to be exact.」

「...... Almost, but not quite all of them.」

　The knights shudder even more at the response of the female swordsman, who had her feet on the driver seat. The female swordsman had contained the too-sharp killing intent she had been releasing. The knights shudder as they realize that the swordswoman is also very skilled, although it was difficult to notice because they were overwhelmed by the intimidating presence of this large man.

「Maybe there was a bounty on their head, but I don't know. You guys do whatever you want.」

　The knights were still blindsided by Satoru, who said so casually. The bounty is 5 L for the leader and 1 L for each of the other members, for a total of 30 L. The money is on the line. The country had sent out an army to defeat them three times before, and each time had ended in failure. Who is this man who not only defeated them but also boldly claims that even the bounty is unnecessary?

「Who are you?」

「Just a passing traveler. Just that.」

　Satoru said casually.

　In the end, these knights accepted Satoru's words, let Satoru and the others go, and went to dig up the corpses of the members of the Baki clan. However, they also asked Satoru not to force their way through the checkpoint ahead.

「If that checkpoint doesn't do anything wrong, we'll get through normally.」

　The knights had no choice but to hand over a piece of parchment to Satoru, who arrogantly said so. If the fortress was destroyed, it would be a big deal. Even the 【Fireball】 that he had just demonstrated floating in the air would probably reduce a fortress to a tiny speck of dust.

　The knights left, biting their teeth at the sight of such extraordinary power.

　It was a small incident, but even Satoru could not realize that it would later lead to a major uproar.

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