Chapter 19 TrapI started becoming an adventurer, and thanks to the AK-47, immediately got to level II.
Then I met some nice seniors and went to challenge a quest together.
I guess I was lucky. I wonder if this is because of my good behavior. No, maybe my natural charm?
Weeell…… there was a time when I thought like that.
“Th, the h.e.l.l is thiiiiiiiiiiss!!!”
I woke up to find my limbs being tied together.
H, how did it get to this point?
I was sure I met up with Akent (a quiet human man) and the other 2, then went out the west gate and moved along the forest together.
We encountered garugaru several times along the way, but as soon as they saw our numbers and equipment they turned away. Being in a group of 4 sure makes you feel safe, or so I recalled.
Without encountering any particular danger, before the sun went down we set out to make camp.
Akent and the others skilfully dug the earth and made wooden supports for pots with the branches they used for digging.
Then they planted stakes with boxes attached on the ground in all directions as if to surround the camp.
The boxes were magic devices to let us know when invaders were to enter the s.p.a.ce they surrounded. It seems to be an essential item for adventurers.
Thus the camp preparations finished and we ate dinner prepared by Misha (the brown-skinned demon race woman).
Barley bread and red soup.
Barley bread is half the price of wheat bread. They were hard and not very tasty, but they become softer when put into soup, so it’s recommended to eat them that way.
I did as they said, breaking the barley bread into small pieces, putting them in the soup, and ate them.
Despite its red appearance, the soup was creamy and sweet like stew. I didn’t know what meat she used, but the stock was used well and it was delicious—I do not remember anything afterwards.
Then when I opened my eyes I had been stripped of my cloak and shoes, my limbs had been tied and I was rolled down on the ground.
Judging from the wood that was burning, we hadn’t moved from that place.
“It looks like you woke up.”
Alcedo (the cat-eared blonde-haired beastman) approached me wearing a frivolous smile.
He was holding the AK-47 in his hands.
Akent and Misha followed behind him.
They were each holding the “S&W M10”, a banana magazine, and 9mm bullets.
Alcedo continued his talk, smiling frivolously.
“Well, Lute’s magic device is really something, huh. Bringing down garugaru and goblins so easily like that.”
“But still, you were too hilarious. Going “bang bang bang” like a kid. What are you, an idiot?”
“That’s all right, wasn’t it? It was fun after all.”
“Ain’t it.”
The 2 men let out a vulgar laugh, “kyahahahaha.”
I know this feeling all too well.
It was just like the feeling of the three dumba.s.ses during the days when I was bullied.
While being aware of fear welling up from deep within, I asked the three who seemed to have changed characters.
“D, don’t touch people’s magic devices without permission. That’s thoughtless!”
“Ha? You still don’t understand where you stand?”
Akent crouched down, looking at me who was rolled down on the ground.
“We dosed up your food and bound you up with rope. Rather, we tricked you, get it already.”
“!?”
I kind of expected this, but…….
“We are all former adventurers. We’re a group of people who broke the guild rules and got banished. We dress ourselves as adventurers like this, and prey on dumb beginners like you.”
“Then yesterday we saw your magic device’s power. All we did was see but it was so awesome, we thought it would make us quite a bit of money. We could get our hands on it safely, oneesan is happy.”
“But still, we didn’t think that you would believe us and eat the food so easily.”
“Right? So we made lots of traps to catch you in, and yet, all those were for nothing. I would have never thought that simply the first sleeping pill would work. On the contrary I thought it was some kind of trap.
Alcedo breathed a sigh, his cat-ears twitching.
Then Akent continued.
“Normally you wouldn’t take an offer of food from someone you just met, since you don’t know what kind of person they are. Generally when you join a team, first you check the adventurer tag, and see if their level is really what they claim. That’s common sense. Just what kind of country b.u.mpkin are you, to not know something like that.”
In Hoad town, where the orphanage was, adventurers rarely ever came.
In the first place, I almost never had any business to go to town, and immersed myself in experimenting and making my guns, so I don’t have any knowledge of that.
Of course, now that it had come up, I never even once confirmed or even saw their adventurer tags.
Why didn’t I realize it, I wonder.
I was supposed to understand that this world is a dangerous place. I had told Snow to be careful since she was easy to trick, as if it was other people’s problem’s.
Thanks to that, it became like this.
This was because I came to this town and wasn’t able to become Elle-sensei’s sister’s student.
If it’s like this, I should have immediately left town and chased after Snow.
“Then, was that dwarf one of your comrades!?”
“That guy, we employed him. Paid him as bait to make us look reliable.”
“It was hard to suppress our laughter when you look at us like we were “good guys” after being helped.”
Misha laughed happily, being reminded of that.
“Kuu——”
I clenched my teeth in regret, until my molars seem like they would break.
“……Now what, what do you intend to do with me? Kill me?”
“We’re going to sell you at the Demon Continent. Human children fetch a high price on the Demon Continent. We can get quite some money out of you.”
Akent says, the ones being sold to the Demon Continent were mostly adult men who had fallen into debt or went bankrupt.
They were used as miners to get coal, gems, magic stones, iron ore, gold, silver, or copper.
It’s like being in a tuna fishing boat in j.a.pan in my previous life.
They mostly meet with accidents there and lose their lives.
There were very few people who could save money and buy themselves back.
If they sweep up children from villages or towns there is a high chance of being tracked since there were so many witnesses. For child adventurers, however, if they went missing everyone would think they got eaten by monsters because of not enough experience.
Lute is going to be a boy toy in the beginning, then once you grow up you’ll be sent to the coal mines—so they declared.
“If it’s you, we can sell you for 100 gold coins♪”
Misha admired me, looking happy. I’m not happy at all!
(Gimme a break! I’m still a virgin and you want me to surrender my a.s.s!?)
I judged escape was my first priority. So I immediately concentrated magic power in my hands and legs.
It’s unfortunate about the AK-47 and M10, but going against three armed adventurers was too much for me.
I thought, once I could cut this rope, I’d concentrate on running away.
――But that hope was immediately dashed.
I could not control my magic power.
“It’s no use. As long as you’re wearing that choker that prevents magic, you can’t use magic power.”
Akent coldly further said.
“Even adventurers without magic talent would try to use body strengthening for a moment once or twice. That’s why it’s obvious that we’d come up with countermeasures like that. We’ve been hunting people for so many years, y’see.”
G.o.ddammit!
There’s nothing I could do.
I was receiving my just desserts for getting c.o.c.ky and saying “being an adventurer is easy”.
I never thought of any methods to get out of crises like this.
“We’re going to sell off all of Lute’s things, so will you teach us everything about these magic devices?”
Alcedo waved the AK-47 in his hands.
I glared in defiance with all my might.
“Hey, hey, hurry up and tell us. If we don’t know how to use it, it’ll only sell for cheap.”
“Who would tell you something if he knows you’re gonna sell him.”
“Haa? You still don’t know where you stand, do you?”
Alcedo narrowed his cat eyes.
He stretched his hand towards my tied-up finger.
“Eh……?”
*cr――ack*
Without any hesitation, he broke my thumb.
“Don’t get carried away you d.a.m.n brat. You got too spoiled because we went easy on you.”
“AAAAAAH!”
He broke my index finger next.
Again, I sensed cat-ears’ hand reaching toward my middle finger.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’ll tell, so forgive me!”
My face that had been glaring up until now was saying sorry while covered in tears and mucus.
“You went too far, Alcedo. We’re gonna sell him after this, what if he gets injured.”
“He’ll be fine. If it’s just this kind of injury, he’ll be back to normal once he gets healed by a magician at the slave trader. In fact, should I break his legs too so he doesn’t run away?”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please stop!”
“Tch, so noisy. Shut up. You only got some fingerbones broken. This is why brats are…. If you understand, quietly listen to what we say.”
Being tch’d at by Akent, I kept my mouth shut and silently nodded.
Alcedo asked the question once again.
“Tell us how to use these magic devices. Misha, take notes.”
“Got it. Wait a bit.”
“If you lie…. you know what happens, right?”
With tears in my eyes, I nodded several times.
Once Misha was ready with the memo, I explained the use of the AK-47 and M10.
“―― aha it’s that kind of thing.”
I answered everything Alcedo asked while bearing the pain in my fingers.
“So we’ll sell the AK-47 and M10, but what about this?”
What Akent held in hand was Snow’s engagement bracelet.
“It’s not like it’s got gems in it, might be made of magic liquid metal. Nothing more than trash. Just throw it away?”
“Right.”
Akent nonchalantly threw the engagement bracelet into the fire that was still burning.
(G.o.ddammit! G.o.ddammit! G.o.ddammit! I’ll kill you! I’ll definitely survive and kill you!)
With my insides boiling hotter than magma, I carved their three faces into my brain.
“I’ll definitely come back and kill you”, I vowed.
“We should break the tag and bury it somewhere here. We can’t cash it in at the guild anyways.”
Alcedo took one of the two knives at his waist and struck the tag on top of a rock with the handle until it broke.
Akent smiled lightly and raised his heel.
“Well then, go sleep until we sell you to the slave merchant. Or rather, go sleep until you become those perverts’ toy.”
He drove his heel to the pit of my stomach.
Then I lost consciousness.
Like this, I was sold to the Demon Continent as a slave.
Volume 2 end.
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