Ch. 165 Tale of a Certain Brave Man 8 (side story)
Ah, really, this has already become stupid.
Absurdly so. Even though I already had no chance of losing, I didn’t think that it would become like this.
After clicking my tongue, I point towards Adofu.
“[[Grovel]]”
At the word I lower my finger to the ground. The longsword leaves Adofu’s hands. The sword loses its momentum and nails to the ground as is without resistance.
“Guhwaa!?”
I fix the sword to the sheath and rise while sweeping the sand.
“Haa, so boring”
Its an effect of the prisoner engraving which the priest put on. If you add in some magic and give orders then its possible to control them to a certain extent. This is insurance, since I took the role of watching him to make sure he doesn’t escape during his temporary release.
It seems that it doesn’t always work depending if they hear it or the content of the command, but it’s easy enough to use if it’s only used to stop movement for a moment.
However, I did not expect to rely on this, as I was going to kill you after showing you your incompetence. This really makes me white.
“Co-coward…you bastard….”
Adofu says while looking at me.
Is he foolish or stupid, just what exactly is he misunderstanding.
“No, even if such an attack were to hit there wouldn’t be much of a problem, but since your petty mind thought that it would I took the liberty to show you just how foolish you are. The title of knight is crying.”
Even if Adofu’s attack just now hit, it could be solved with [[High Rest]]. Adofu is also in no state to try to run, even if he could, I could just deal with everything using magic.
However, even with [[High Rest]] there is still a chance for scars to remain if there is too much damage. Can I really risk a scratch on my beautiful face? and by Adofu? What a silly idea.
There was already no chance of winning against me for Adofu to try such an underhanded method. I even went as far as limiting myself for a better fight, but I will not go so far as taking such a stupid strike. How dare he not realize this and attempt such a crude method on me.
“Now then, goodbye, you have suited your purpose here.”
I step on Adofu’s shoulder and pull out my curse sword from its sheath. I stabbed the vicious crimson blade into Adofu’s back.
“Ahhaaaa!”
It’s not a vital point, but it will still hurt.
The cursed sword, blood sucking princess.
It’s a sword built for war and torture, which was said to be created by the former demon kings subordinate. A sword which inflicts a curse and siphons the life force from the opponent and returns it to the owner. All the while, slowly eradicating the opponent due to the powerful curse and poison.
I wonder if leaving Adofu alone here will be alright? There’s no need for me take further action. After he suffers severely he will die.
“Well then, escape prisoner Adofu”
I take my foot off Adofu and tap his back lightly.
Adofu screams while groaning, as I spit on his face.
Oh no, I’m feeling a little ill.
I thought that I could make a clean break from Adofu but my feelings have become odd in the end. Is this what they call dragonflies in the stomach, or is it indigestion?….well, it’s nice either way. This fuzzy feeling, maybe I should settle it with that evil plague dragon.
The plague dragon can move its limbs but it doesn’t seem like it could move them steadily yet. It’s not amusing that it could already move but then again it is a pretty hefty dragon. If the paralysis stays for a bit then that dragon wont be able to drag that big body around
.
Also that peach ball rabbit….did it escape? Well, of course it did. Even if I try to track it down there are too many monsters around to do so, especially if it dives in the ground. I don’t really need to find it anyway, since even a surprise attack from it will be easy to deal with.
There’s also that slave woman at the shallows. Strange things were said between her and Adofu a while ago and her relationship with the plague dragon seems good. If so, then something should be done.
After taking a glance at the plague dragon I advance towards the slave woman.
“…..N-Noo!”
The slave woman shouts with a trembling voice as I approach.
Hearing the woman’s voice, the plague dragon raises a roar. It was a roar thirsting for blood. Bingo, looks like this did the trick. You were provoked enough to try to move even with such a paralysis on you? I can understand the full extent of its abilities as well since I could see its status. Looks like this dragon is not very wise.
Oh, that slave woman has characteristic cat ears. A Felis Huma?
After looking at her status I found that her name is Nina Nifa. She has little ability to fight properly, at the most enough to hunt E rank monsters.
That one slave merchant certainly worked with felis huma. So did she survive from being feed for the sand centipede? It was reported that the plague dragon chased after the sand centipede after all.
I could bet that the slave merchant wouldn’t have even dreamt that the dragon was trying to help humans. This evil plague dragon is quite good in nature.
I realized that I was instinctively liking out my tongue.
Oops, that’s bad. I need to fix this habit especially if I want to go in public.
However….looking from near, this beast slave has quite the well balanced face. But maybe since she has been beside that plague dragon for some time there is a [[Curse]] status abnormality, which makes her face pale. However such a thing does not cover up natural beauty.
Big inclined eyes and pupils peculiar to a cat, a small mouth that draws out the desire to protect, and an ideal shape for a nose that draws emphasis but not too overwhelming. Its beautiful and completely unnatural to make it a slave and stuff it into a large carriage. The seller should not have usually bothered transporting across the desert and instead arrived elsewhere. So was this beast woman for the purpose of negotiations to lower the tariff? or was it promised to an executive of the church in advance?
What an unexpected find.
This woman is a flower. Just killing her wont do.
I have something else to think about while tormenting that plague dragon, it may not be bad to sell it. It now has a moderate value. However my involvement could be easily traced back to me with my position even if I had someone meditate. It will certainly be heard by that slave merchants ears and even if I could seal his mouth, I’m not too sure if I can seal the rumors from spreading.
However, even with such a situation it still seems wasteful to kill. If I were to defeat the dragon and help the slave then it could be presented as a favor to me. If I advertise myself as the Brave man, the Hero, I can take care of that annoying priests mood. Especially if I take care of Adofu for them then I can have this souvenir.
I planned to leave Haranae in the near future and it won’t be to bad to add another traveler. It will be worthwhile to have her stand at my side. Such a beautiful woman can be used for negotiating with a nobleman. I can lend her overnight and if they get in the way I can just sell her at that time. Among the rich there are many with weird tastes of sub-popular hobbies, so it will be worth the trouble. If I don’t sell it along the way, I can just kill it and throw it away.
“Now Now Now, calm down won’t you? I only came to help you, now how do you say your name?”
I brighten up the tone of my voice and reach out with a giglish smile.
I already know the name, but if I ask a simple question then their alertness somewhat softens. Even if it doesn’t it will still be an opportunity to read the intentions of the other.
If you were to look at my state earlier you wouldn’t think I was human.
But that doesn’t matter at the moment.
At any rate, its a woman that’s been accompanying a plague dragon.
Even if there are no others to rely on, its impossible she has ordinary nerves. This fellow seems like the kind to do anything it takes to survive. Perhaps that was the reason all the other slaves that were left as bait died while she was the only one who survived.
She may perhaps jump at the chance to go with the most reliable one here. Actually, if this woman wants to live then there is no other choice then to try to flatter me. No matter how uncomfortable she may feel.
“Ni…..”
The woman says with a shaky voice.
Then it sounds like she swallowed her saliva as she dug her fingernails into her thighs to suppress her trembling.
“Ni? What starts with Ni?”
I ask back gently.
At that moment the woman’s eyes opened wide.
“Hinyaa!”
Although she was kneeling on the ground in suffering just a moment ago, she kicked off the ground and rapidly closed in on me.
I did not know what happened. But I was at last able to understand after the woman’s nails tore the thin skin of my cheeks.
Ah, this woman, slashed at my face with her claws.
“fu, fufu….fu….”
I did not think my gentle gesture would be returned to me with a claw. I trace the injuries with my finger.
“To be scuffed with the claw of a dirty beastman, no, it was a great show of courage, yeah….really, Right”
Plans have changed. Let’s kill it after all.
This is easier, that way I don’t have to think of anything extra, it will be very refreshing.
“Nya…..ahh!”
After the back of my hand strikes the jaw, she falters and I grab her by her delicate neck and lift her.
“Guuruooooooo!”
At that moment, the dragon roared out.
When I look, its facing the sky as its roaring. Is this the appearance of finally being able to shake off the paralysis?
I let go of the woman’s neck.
She kneeled down and fell on the spot.
It seems that she was considerably weakened from the curse to begin with. Even if not by my own hands she will die.
But that plague dragon, as soon as it escaped paralysis it launched a surprise attack of what was it? [[Kamaitachi]]?
Wasn’t it foolish to inform me of it by getting up and roaring? Well, such a move won’t be able to hit anyway.
Perhaps because I was squeezing the woman’s neck, did you purposely reveal yourself to make me let go?
“…..fu, fufufu”
Laughter, I couldn’t bear it.
This plague dragon, I may be able to use it. Its interesting, a funny little chap.
It is regrettable that I will kill you here.
I like it. I will place my attention on you for now since I’ve already dealt with Adofu. Let’s prepare a more suitable place of death for an evil plague dragon who likes humans.