“H-Hurry up! What’s taking you so long!?”
As the man shouts, the boys flinch in surprise and tremble.
The magic is soon completed, and the boys, with tears in their eyes, cast their spells.
“Flame Arrow…!”
“Rock Shot!”
The moment they’re activated, a ball of flame and a rock appear in front of the boys and are launched towards me.
There’s only one of each, but they’re quite fast. I nod slightly and swing my hand without the stick from left to right, neutralizing both spells.
“…Huh?”
“…W-What was that…?”
The boys forget their fear and mutter in astonishment, looking back and forth between their hands and my face. It was just a palm strike, nothing more than body enhancement magic.
Seeing the three men in black suits freeze with wide eyes, I immediately spring into action.
“Wind Bind”
The moment the magic activates, the men in black suits stiffen as if an iron core had been inserted into their bodies.
“I-Impossible!?”
After glancing at the three men who are staring in shock with wide eyes, I turn around.
The tips of two swords were already closing in right in front of me. The speed, aim, and timing are perfect. Even the way she concealed her presence is admirable.
However, the slight leak of killing intent was fatal.
When I lived with Owen, there were many medium-sized magical beasts in the mountains and forests where large magical beasts like dragons lived, and they were exceptionally good at hunting. When dealing with such beasts, one becomes sensitive to even the slightest sense of unease or killing intent.
That said, this is probably the most excellent assassination technique I’ve encountered among all the people I’ve met so far.
“…Impressive.”
Muttering this unconsciously, I deflect the two blades closing in on me almost simultaneously with my stick.
“Tch! Not bad!”
The woman who had her swords deflected nearly lost her balance but quickly pulled back and readied her swords again. Her movements were efficient, leaving no opening for a strike.
“You’re quite skilled as well.”
Honestly expressing my impression, I close the distance in an instant.
“Damn it!”
The woman swung both hands at my face as I approached in one leap. A silver light comes straight at me. I’ve been careful not to let the stick break while defending, but it finally snaps in half.
“Ha! Serves you right!”
Perhaps certain of victory, the woman smiles and launches her next attack. But maybe due to impatience, the speed and angle of her sword are sloppy. This should be manageable even barehanded.
“…You’re getting impatient, aren’t you?”
Muttering this, I let go of the stick and grab the two approaching blades with my bare hands.
“…!? Y-You’re not really the Demon Lord, are you…!?”
The woman’s eyes widened in shock as she blurted out the rude question.
“What else could I possibly look like besides a teacher?”
I muttered with a sigh, crushing the woman’s twin swords in my hands.
“W-What kind of teacher can do something like that… ugh!”
As the woman tried to counterattack, I struck her chest with a backhand, sending her rolling to the ground.
“…Now then, shall we restrain her?”
After confirming there were no more threats around, I said this to Rocks, who had come up the stairs.
“…Ha, hahaha. All I can do now is laugh.”
Rocks muttered only that before giving instructions to his two guards.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
In a dimly lit room, about ten men sat in a row. Sitting still in formal seiza position on the hard floor, they somewhat resembled ascetic monks.
And in front of these ten men, sitting on a chair and bound with rope, was a single woman. It was the tall woman with those assassination skills.
The woman clenched her teeth, closing her lips tightly and glaring at us with her chin lowered.
Some who needed treatment were taken to the academy’s medical facilities, but the rest were all brought to my research room.
I had insisted to Rocks that I would extract the necessary information, so he let me take custody of them.
I was concerned about Rocks’ pale face as he saw us off, but for now, I was glad to be able to talk to those who seemed to be the main culprits of the incident.
Everyone’s faces were darkened due to the overhead light, but I asked in a deliberately normal, calm voice.
“Now, I have a question. You are the Nevis family, correct?”
“…Yeah, I guess so.”
The woman answered. Surprisingly straightforward.
“Then, your position and name, please.”
When I asked this, she crossed her legs while still bound and raised her face to glare at me.
“Kalila Nevis… I’m the boss of the Nevis family.”
“If you lie… things won’t be very pleasant, you know?”
I thought she couldn’t be the top of the organization, so I threatened her a bit, but Kalila, who had introduced herself, furrowed her brow in displeasure.
“You’re saying I’m lying?”
She asked back in a low, menacing voice. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.
“I would have thought that the mastermind of a great evil lurking in such a large city would be older and more powerful.”
When I pointed this out, Kalila and the men behind her drooped their shoulders and hung their heads.
“…We’ve been operating as a small but elite group. We’re actually quite capable among the big shots in this city…”
“Huh?”
Thinking I might have misheard, I tilted my head. Kalila’s face turned bright red as she opened her mouth.
“You’re the weird one here! You even grabbed a sword… I’ve never seen anyone block magic with their bare hands!?”
“I’m using body enhancement magic.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about! If that were the case, all of our guys should be able to block magic barehanded!”
Kalila shouted, breathing heavily.
“You can do it if you try hard enough. It’s just a matter of training.”
I said that with some encouragement, but Kalila just dropped her shoulders dejectedly.
“…Forget it. I understand that you’re abnormal. Tell me why you didn’t hand us over to the guards. If you’re not going to kill the guys behind me, we’ll cooperate with anything.”
Kalila muttered tiredly, with a hint of resignation. She seems to have a surprisingly strong sense of camaraderie, shielding her subordinates.
Hmm. If she’s willing to say that much, it’s in our favor. Just as planned.
I smiled gently and took a step closer to Kalila.
Kalila shrugged and held her breath.
“W-What!? What are you planning!? Smiling such a cruel smile…!?”
“…Cruel is quite rude. No, I won’t say anymore. You’re scared because you’ve been captured, right?”
“No, what’s scary is your…”
She seemed to want to say something, so I looked at her face, but Kalila shut her mouth and averted her gaze.
While observing her profile with half-closed eyes, I moved on to the main topic.
“…Let’s get back to the matter at hand. So, let’s assume you’re the boss of the Nevis family. As the top of an organization with a stronghold and that much crowd-pulling power, you must know about other organizations and their whereabouts, right?”
“…Other organizations, we don’t really have any horizontal connections…”
As Kalila hesitated, her eyes darting around, I furrowed my brow and tried to intimidate her.
“I won’t tolerate lies or deception. If you lie, what will happen…”
I said this, gradually lowering my voice. Additionally, to give a sense of intimidation, I used ice magic to generate cold air from behind. I overdid it a bit, and immediately the ground started to freeze over with cracking sounds.
Then, Kalila let out a strange cry in the middle of my warning and shook her head several times.
“Ah, aah! I remembered! Come to think of it, just a few months ago, the big shots gathered to discuss territories!”
“B-Boss! That talk is…!”
As Kalila suddenly started talking honestly, the subordinate men lined up behind her raised voices that sounded like screams. Kalila frowned at this and turned her profile to shout.
“Your lives are at stake here! Shut up!”
“Ugh…”
Kalila said she was doing this for their sake, and the men couldn’t say anything more and hung their heads.
I nodded at that and looked at Kalila and the men in turn.
“A wise decision. Now then, please continue.”
At my words, Kalila nodded with a serious expression.
“…This city is a money tree. If we wanted to, we could get a foothold to reach out to the six major countries and neighboring small countries. But right now, there are many folks thinking the same thing. We’ve ended up in a situation of mutual restraint, and we’re not making as much profit as we thought. Well, it’s still like heaven compared to other cities.”
She prefaced with a snort of laughter.
Then, Kalila slightly lowered her chin and opened her mouth.
“…This city is being meddled with by big organizations from various countries. Among them, the ones with the most influence are…”
Saying that, she revealed the names of the organizations in order.
Organizations from large countries seem to have many members. And, as expected, it seems that all organizations are making huge profits using gambling, illegal slavery, stolen goods, and so on to varying degrees.
Among these, is gambling the only thing that’s having a bad influence on the academy students?
“What kind of business is this illegal slavery you mentioned?”
“…It’s simply forcibly enslaving orphans or kidnapped people and selling them. Skinny poor people could die at any time, so merchant’s children or noble’s children are the most profitable. There are many nobles from other countries in this city, you know. If you sell them off quickly, it seems it often goes undetected.”
“…These nobles from other countries, you mean those attending our academy…”
“W-We’re not doing that stuff!? It’s the guys from neighboring countries with routes to their own countries who do that! The story is that it’s harder to detect because they’re sold to different countries!”
As Kalila hurriedly started making excuses, I glared at her while considering.
If a child who had gone to another country was kidnapped, you’d think they’d come storming in with a group of knights or something, but I haven’t heard any such stories yet.
I’ll ask Rocks about it later.
“…I see. Then, what’s left is the locations of these organizations, right?”
“N-No, that’s really the one thing I don’t know. Only the territories are decided. The content of the business is basically non-interference. There’s more than enough money to be made. So, what we discuss at those meetings is just confirming territories, resolving disputes, and information about the knights and guards.”
Kalila answered with a sigh. I suppose she wouldn’t lie at this point after telling me so much.
“I see.”
When I said this with a smile, Kalila shuddered and shrugged her shoulders.
“W-What is it!? I cooperated! Keep your promise, please!”
As she pleaded with a face that looked like she was about to cry, I furrowed my brow and narrowed my eyes.
“I’ll keep my promise, of course. But only after I confirm that your words are true.”
When I said this, Kalila held her breath with tears in her eyes.
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