Chapter 18 - R*pe in the Act
Last night I couldn't sleep a wink because I was so worried about Alec and Ione.
"Okay, I guess I'll have to go ask around again today!"
『Uhmm, I think we already have enough information about Ione, but...』
『Heruko, what are you talking about? I still don't know why Ione became member of Alec's party』
『Well, I guess so. The fact that the middle-aged man with a gloomy attitude made friends with the beautiful and skilled swordsman is a bit disturbing』
『Right?』
I asked around and overheard something that caught my attention.
"It seems that the bandit group Blood Shadow is raiding the capital as they please. Men are being killed and women are being raped."
Murder and rape, they are really terrible people.
"I'm the Hero here."
I have to punish the bandits.
I immediately decided to walk around the city and patrol. I may not find them right away, but I have a handy skill called "Enemy Counter" that allows me to detect the presence of enemies. If I use this .......
『Oops, Serina-san, I got one strong reaction right away. It's probably a boss-level one. It's on the back street on the right!』
I don't need Heruko to tell me. I pulled out my sword in a spirited manner, and without hesitation, plunged into the narrow alleyway that wound between buildings. As soon as I drew my sword, my opponent noticed my presence and immediately slashed at me.
I flipped the sword back at them from below. Iron clashed violently with iron, and sparks ran down the edge of my sword.
I knew it they're strong.
I ran across the alleyway in a single bound, twisting my body in half to counterattack.
――No, I was about to move.
"Ehh? You're――"
"Ara~, you're――"
We saw each other, me and her, and only our unsteady voices intersected. There was Isabelle, a young lady with blonde hair in a vertical roll. I stopped the sword that I was about to use. She was wearing high-grade gold and shiny armor, so she couldn't be a thief, no matter what.
"Isabelle-san, what brings you to this place?"
It's hard to believe that the daughter of a marquis would go to a slum that looks unsafe, even if it is in the royal capital.
"I just heard a rumor about an evil bandit group called Blood Shadow, and I wanted to get rid of them."
"I see, it seems that you have come for the same purpose."
When I put my sword away, she smiled and put hers away as well. In this world, if you slash at a nobleman, even if it is a mistake, you will be punished, but Isabelle seems to tolerate it.
She may be a surprisingly good person.
"Serina, wasn't it? According to my information network, the Blood Shadow will be active in this area today. But Royal Capital is indeed a big place. How about I search north of here, and you search south?"
"Yes, I'll take care of it."
"Then, be careful, Serina. Well, I'll take care of the bandits, and you can just play a supporting role at best."
"Yes, I'll let you know after I've defeated them."
I gave Isabelle a sarcastic smile in return, and decided to look for the next alley.
I don't know how Isabelle got the information about the Blood Shadow, but I'm pretty sure it's accurate. If it wasn't, I'm sure that the young lady with the good information network wouldn't have taken the trouble to look for it herself. If that is the case, it would be better to search quickly. Before there are any more victims.
Broken walls and houses covered with cloth cluttered the alleyways, making it difficult to run. Even so, I rely on the [Enemy Counter] to search for the bandits.
But as Isabelle had said, the Royal Capital was huge. I regretted parting with Keiji-kun and Erwin. It's times like this when it's better to search together.
But still. Even if I'm the only one, I'm still a hero.
"Stop it!"
I heard a woman's scream from the back.
『This is it! Serina-san!』
"Yeah!"
I had a feeling that there was no doubt about it. I don't need to use the Enemy Counter. I ran in the direction I heard the scream. However, the end of the alley was blocked by a house.
"Eh? A dead end!? Geez!"
I used [Auto-Mapping] to display the map, and this time I went around to the other side. In the meantime, I heard a man's scream, and things were not going well in the back. With frustration in my heart, I hurried on.
Just then, I saw Alec at the house.
"Whoa!"
As soon as he turned around and saw me, Alec let out a funny voice and was upset.
"Hmm? Hey, what were you doing in that house?"
"No, no, no, wait, don't misunderstand me, Ah, Hey!"
I let Alec go and went into the house.
"Wha!?"
There was a man lying there bleeding and a woman with her clothes torn.
No way, this is the man who attacked me――?
I snapped in anger. I can't allow a Japanese person, even so a heroes, to be involved in such an evil act.
"Stop it! Owahh!"
I pulled out my sword and slashed at Alec.
Alec pulled out his sword as well and tried to defend himself, but before he could, my quick blow was cleanly dealt.
"!!!"
"You outcast!"
I tried to follow up with another attack, but this time Alec blocked it with his sword.
"I told you it wasn't me! Kkuh! Listen to me."
"I don't want to hear it!"
In a fit of rage, I attacked in rapid succession, never letting up. Alec has less power and speed than I do. If I continue like this, I can win, but I knew from [Intuition] that he was trying to escape. Naturally, I go ahead of him to the doorway.
"I won't let you get away."
"Ugh, damn it. Oi, woman over there, explain the situation, kkuh!"
Alec spoke to the crying woman, but he've been suckered into trying to make excuses in this situation.
"Are you trying to scare me? I won't let you."
I swung my sword to check him.
"Eei. What happened to Erwin and the others!?"
Alec shouted as he looked around.
"Murghh........I don't think that's relevant right now."
I don't really want to say that I disband the party. Partly because Alec and I had argued about cooperation before, and I felt like I was losing.
"Hmm? I'm not the culprit. Meena's calling for the soldiers right now. Wait a minute."
Alec says, holding his injured left arm and frowning.
"You're lying――
"I'm not lying. Anyway, wait. I'm not going to run and hide."
"Then what was that thing you were trying to run away from earlier?"
"That was just because I couldn't bear to look at her naked."
"Ehh? He's the culprit, isn't he?"
The woman there is either grieving or not responding to me.
"Over here! Ah!"
The dog-eared girl, Meena, came with a soldier.
"Murghh"
"P-please wait! That's person is not a culprit."
The soldier also seemed to think that Alec was the culprit and was about to slash at him, but Meena stopped them.
Ehh? What does this mean?
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