Chapter 112
Eve has night vision .
But her ears are more amazing than her eyes, especially when she’s focusing on it .
It actually feels more of a sensor when she does so .
It seems to be one of the traits of a were-leopard .
At that time when the second team had been approaching…
I had her check out the second team while hidden in the dark .
After that, she put her ears against the ground and listened for footsteps .
The number of people that she had estimated based on the number of lights carried and the number of footsteps she heard .
There was a gap between the two .
She had inferred that there were around 30 people from the number of lights she sees .
Though, she estimated there were approximately 45 people based from the footsteps .
There’s a measurement error of about 15 people .
These measurement errors must have been a detached force .
En route, Eve reported that there were some footsteps that separated from the main group .
It seems the detached force finally left their main unit .
After giving instructions to Seras, I entered the forest together with Eve .
I asked Seras to earn me some time…
From that unit who carried lights .
If it’s that girl, I can rely on her .
However, I don’t really expect her to do it perfectly .
Excessive hopes on someone could end up just pressuring them instead .
She someone who’d always do her best .
I thoroughly know that .
Therefore, I will never complain about any kind of results that happen .
That’s what it means for me to “entrust” something to them .
That’s what I’m trying to convey to her .
I separated from Seras and went through the forest…
Towards the direction where the detached force went into .
Along the way, I brought along Eve and Liz with me .
Eve is fully concentrated on her hearing .
[There were about 14… no, 15 people that were heading here through the forest… I’m sure of it from this distance…]
Eve whispered into my ear .
It seems that she had grasped the number of people just based on sound .
…………………
I may have acquired quite a bargain without my knowledge .
[I understand . Go back and hide together with Liz . ]
[Are you alright facing all of them alone, Touka?]
[You know you can’t leave that girl alone, right?]
[But…]
[Don’t worry . There would be no problem . ]
Currently, the moon is hidden behind the clouds .
It’s really dark inside the forest .
Really deep darkness .
It’s quite a good stage for me .
I tap a finger in my temple .
[I may not be as good as you, but I’m quite receptive when it comes to using this . In that certain place, I spent a couple of days standing beside death . Thanks to that, I’m also quite sensitive to their presence . ]
I put my hands on my robe .
[Besides, I’m not alone . ]
Pigimaru squeaks out a small reply .
[Pii . ]
After Eve and Liz went back, I also hid behind the shadows of the bushes .
The detached force were finally approaching .
Because the moon is hidden behind the clouds, the darkness in the forest deepened .
And that was the moment I was waiting for .
[]
Taking advantage of the darkness, I activated my skill .
I also made sure that most of the people were inside the range of my skill .
[What… the…?]
Immediately, I used afterwards .
It’s so that they wouldn’t be able to make out any kinds of sound .
Taking out my dagger from its sheath…
I cut down each of their throats .
One…
Two…
Three…
Four…
Five……
While quietly counting in my mind, I quickly disposed of them .
[And with this—]
Hiding my body back into the darkness…
[Fifteen . ]
I killed all of the members of the detached force .
Just as I planned, I didn’t miss a single one of them .
I think these 15 people were fairly capable .
However, they were nothing compared to the Five Dragon Warriors .
There’s also the proper protection of the darkness .
Moreover…
[…You really are quite great . ]
Currently, there’s a thin layer of Pigimaru’s protrusion clinging under the soles of my shoes .
His protrusion is quite flat .
It feels like a cushion that absorbs the sound of my footsteps .
Thanks to this, the sound of my footsteps were almost non-existent .
Aside from that, Pigimaru would take care of the sound that may come out while I’m moving .
Thanks to that, I could do my job quite easily .
I gently pat the protrusion under my coat .
[You’re really a great partner, Pigimaru . That helped me quite a lot . ]
[Pinyyuuu~♪]
Pigimaru looked like he’s in quite a great mood as he lightly purred .
Now then, next would be…
I heard the voice of a man just now .
I’m not exactly sure what he said .
However, I know that he speaks in quite a loud voice .
It’s someone from the main unit who were carrying torches .
Perhaps, he’s that aforementioned Muaji .
I don’t know if Muaji is within that detached force I’ve just killed .
I skipped interrogating them because I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible .
Whatever the case it may be anyway—
[This would only end with Ashinto’s complete annihilation . ]
I’ve confirmed that there were no other presences nearby .
I check my position based on the information I had in my head .
After remembering where I am, I returned back to where Seras was .
Currently, the Ashinto fellows have stopped their advance .
It seems they’ve noticed a broken branch along the way .
A man who could easily see through that something’s out of place with Eve .
Observation .
Insight .
I think he’s quite excellent with these two points .
If that’s the case, I expected that he will notice that branch .
After that, Muaji would feel that something suspicious may be nearby .
Then, he will antic.i.p.ate the situation as there might be a trap if they were to step inside .
In that case, they wouldn’t step into the forest .
However, on the contrary, that’s my real aim .
This is to keep them from stepping into the forest .
The leading voice had spoken that all of them shouldn’t move .
Don’t approach that place .
In other words, they wouldn’t enter the forest .
And with this, our plan would be successful .
I kept on moving .
As I got closer, I could gradually hear their conversation .
The leading voice is telling something to someone .
It must be Muaji saying something to Seras .
It looks like Seras revealed her true appearance .
Or perhaps, Muaji realized the true existence Seras was trying to hide?
“As much as possible, try to show them that you’re pulling them over into the forest . ”
That’s the instruction I have given here .
I left it to Seras on how she would earn time .
As I listened to the conversation, it looks like she’s doing quite well .
[………………]
Muaji really is an excellent scammer .
He’s wise and alert .
There is a trap waiting in his path .
At first, Muaji must have felt something was out of place .
And Muaji would solve the mystery of what he felt .
Seeing that he solved the mystery, he would be satisfied .
He’d gain self-confidence .
He would get the feeling that he’s omnipotent and what he’s saying is absolutely right .
And that is where he stopped thinking .
The next part is his turn .
He has already seen through the plans of this pathetic loser of a woman in front of him .
What else could he be afraid of?
He had a strong army within his disposal .
There’s also that detached force he sent behind the woman .
There’s no way she could escape .
Everything is all according to his plans .
Muaji probably is in that kind of situation right now, huh?
I could clearly understand it based on how he’s speaking .
Muaji currently feels like he’s filled with omnipotence .
And that omnipotence would turn into a poison that paralyzes his thoughts…
I started climbing a tree .
Pigimaru could also morph and act as a rope .
With his a.s.sistance, I could easily climb the tree .
He really is quite a handy guy .
Furthermore, there was no sound that came out even while I’m climbing the tree .
It was a bit far, but I’m in a position overlooking Seras and the others .
They weren’t in the maximum range that could be reached by .
However, I could now see all of my enemies .
Muaji is standing quite far away from the forest .
It seems they’ve thought it’s dangerous to approach the forest .
On the other hand, they don’t look like they’d retreat a few distance more .
At this distance, the enemy’s trap wouldn’t be able to reach them .
They probably believed something like that .
[……………… . . ]
I’m sorry .
If I have enough time, my abnormal state skills would be able to reach all of you .
The moon comes out of the clouds .
I whispered to my partner…
[Pigimaru… Connection start…]
[Pii . ]
From the back of my head, I could feel his roots stretching out to both sides .
While listening to Seras and the other’s conversation, I connected my magic energy with Pigimaru .
——————Creeaaakkkk—————
I looked over the conversation I’ve heard so far .
The leading voice is Muaji’s .
Muaji is revealing each of his tricks to Seras .
As I thought, the true ident.i.ty of their curse is just poison .
Something unexpected happened though in the middle of their conversation .
Seras revealed her true ident.i.ty .
The effect immediately appeared .
All of Ashinto’s members had their attention completely shifted to Seras .
Now, all of them lost their vigilance to their surroundings .
Even at this distance, I could clearly see that they were quite distracted .
Everyone’s attention had been drawn towards Seras .
Towards the Seras Ashrain who’s bathing in moonlight .
Based on what I heard from his words, it seemed that even Muaji was fascinated by her beauty .
The whole area began to be enveloped in darkness again .
——————Crackleee————–
Seras is also wrapped in the darkness .
[…………… . . ]
Even though she did that so that she could distract them and earn me some time…
That’s quite rash of you, Seras .
As the corner of my lips lift up, I mutter .
[Even when she’s alone, she really did it quite well . ]
——————Creeaaakkkk—————
Enshrouding power into my voice, I spoke my signal .
[———————Connection complete——————-]
▽
Immediately after, a cl.u.s.ter of light appeared between Seras and the Ashinto .
It’s the ability of the light spirit .
A light that resembles a flare appeared in front and illuminated towards the Ashinto .
And with too much light, everyone weren’t able to see .
Spla.s.shhh!
Tens of protrusions flew out towards the Ashinto .
Even though there were signs of restless within them, Ashinto still looked quite firm .
It seems they’ve never caught up with the idea that they may suddenly be attacked .
I could also see Muaji’s expression warping into surprise .
However, it’s already too late .
I won’t let you escape .
To produce the best outcome for our sake, I can’t let you escape .
Even if you’re just an ordinary person .
I won’t let a single one of you escape .
Therefore, it was necessary for us to crush the detached force earlier .
I just wanted to avoid the situation where the detached force would notice that their main unit had been crushed and they fled in all directions as a result .
If that were to happen, it would be really difficult tracking all of them down .
I open up my status and displayed my remaining amount of MP .
[Status Open . ]
Ashinto .
[I’ll show you the curses that you clearly don’t understand . ]
Catching everyone of them…
[]
▽
Going down from the tree, I walked next to Seras .
I look towards the paralyzed members of Ashinto who have fallen to the ground .
Even the strongest siblings were also paralyzed .
Of course, that includes Muaji .
[You must have not expected that my attack reached even this far, huh?]
If they’re within my reach, I should have attacked them long ago .
I think it’s reasonable if he thought like that .
Because there was no attack so far, Muaji must have antic.i.p.ated it as they were outside the range of our trap .
However, he didn’t think that we’re also trying to earn some time .
I needed her to earn some time because of two reasons .
Some time to get rid of the detached force .
And some time so that I could connect with Pigimaru .
[I need to spend quite some time just to prepare this power . ]
Connection release .
[Where… is the… detached force…?]
[I’ve already crushed them . All fifteen of them while you’re busy running your mouth here . ]
[Ngghhh…? That form you had earlier… What the h.e.l.l… are you…?]
[]
[Guggaahhh… ggghhh… . !?]
I’ve invoked to Muaji and the others .
I quickly began counting all of them .
[All of the 30 people were present, huh . ]
As for other presences nearby…
They’re somewhere behind my back .
There were two people at a distance .
Eve and Liz .
There were no other presences that I should get bothered with .
I exhaled out a deep breath .
[How should I say this . Eve really…]
I’ve mentioned earlier that all of her reports were just “about” or “approximately” .
Isn’t the number of people exactly the same as her reports?
All of her conjectures were right .
That’s really amazing… Were-leopard’s hearing ability .
[Now then… Should we wait for some time for these Ashinto fellows to die from the poison?]
I don’t really have anything I need to talk about with the Ashinto .
Besides, they don’t look like they would listen when we talk with them .
They know themselves their own wrongdoings .
Even if they were to die, my heart wouldn’t be ruffled at all .
It’s enough for me to know that these people were trash .
[Umm…]
Seras called out .
[Hmm?]
[Have I met your expectations?]
[Yeah, that’s a certainty . You did really well . However, revealing your true ident.i.ty so that you’d attract their attention, that’s a really daring plan you did . ]
Seras looked like she’s reflecting on it .
[Please forgive me… I arbitrarily revealed my true ident.i.ty…]
Why did she suddenly look like she’s self-reflecting?
[No, I’m actually praising you though?]
[Uuuu…]
Seras quickly covers her mouth with the back of her hand .
Subsequently, she awkwardly looked away .
[I’m sorry, I quickly jumped into conclusions…]
The smile on my face distorted .
[Well, putting that aside… You did really well . I made the right choice, leaving it to you . ]
Seras’ expression loosened up a bit .
[Y- Yes… I’m glad that I could be of help . ]
Seras looked really glad as she placed her hand on her chest .
I then spoke .
[Could you go and inform Eve and Liz about the situation? It would also be better if you and the others would return as soon as possible . ]
[Yes, understood . ]
Trotting, Seras runs into the forest .
[………………… . ]
The first stage is clear .
[…Now then . ]
They’ve arrived huh…
The first team who had been following the decoy horse .
I could see a cl.u.s.ter of lights at the distance .
They’re approaching this place .
That light Seras used at my signal .
Perhaps, they turned back after seeing that .
[Fuuuunnn…]
I felt relieved .
It seems that they diligently returned back .
[If they didn’t come back, my plan would have been incomplete . ]
The sketch that I’ve imagined is finally approaching its completion .