Last part of chapter 4! Hooray ~
Enjoy
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[Arnold]
Even though he was in public, Arnold freely moved his tail while surrounded by enemies.
(Did Hiiro succeed…?)
He was anxious because he hadn"t heard anything from Hiiro yet. He also hadn"t heard Muir"s voice for a while now so he looked over to where she was, it seemed that things had gone well on Hiiro"s end. Arnold just needed to attract a bit more attention.
Folse: "If you"re a beastman, then it"s simple. Abel-dono, do you need a male beastman?"
Abel: "Nnnoooooo! I don"t need dirty men! I even received this kind of treatment… No, Folse-dono, teach him a lesson!"
"That"s how it is. Seems like you"ll die here. Certainly there aren"t many buyers for male beastman in this era. Don"t blame me, if you want to blame something, blame it on the fact that you were born a beastman." Folse sneered and drew his sword.
"Heh! I won"t lose this time around!"
Arnold also held out his sword and glared at Folse. But Folse just smirked, looked down at Arnold and laughed scornfully.
Folse: "… Says the race that can"t even use magic."
Folse quickly raised his right hand and the people around him turned towards Arnold.
Folse: "I don"t even have to do anything."
When Folse lowered his hands, the surrounding people released their magic.
Arnold: "What?!"
Elementary magic such as, fire ball and wind cutter went flying towards Arnold.
Arnold: "《Explosive Wind Claw》!"
Arnold promptly pushed his sword up and down to create a tremendous updraft. He used that to avert the magic coming his way into the sky.
"Hoh, 《Trick Art》, is it? Not bad, but how long can you keep this up?" Folse smiled coldly while spectating.
Arnold: "I"ll engulf you too!"
Arnold planned to engulf Folse with his Art but Folse had took a big step backwards. When Abel saw that, he also followed him.
Folse: "Try it, Beastman."
Arnold came to a halt.
Folse: "That is, if you can."
Folse was standing near the wagon that Muir and co were in. If Arnold was to put his all into attacking Folse, the scale of the attack would no doubt engulf the nearby wagon as well.
Arnold: "Yo-you coward!"
Folse: "Muahah, I would call it strategic."
"Us.h.i.+s.h.i.+! As expected, Folse-dono. You"re not the type of man to be defeated by a beastman!" Abel triumphantly laughed. Arnold got irritated upon seeing his face.
Arnold: "Da… Dammit…!"
The enemy"s magic continued to avert into the skies around Arnold.
Folse: "Well, how long before your Art stops?"
Arnold: "*pant, pant, pant, pant.*"
《Explosive Wind Claw》used the user"s physical strength to activate so it wasn"t something one could keep using. On the other hand, the enemy used a small amount of MP to activate their elementary magic. If this dragged on any longer, it was obvious who would be at a disadvantage.
Folse: "He"ll soon reach his limit."
Abel: "Us.h.i.+s.h.i.+, seems like it."
It was obvious that Arnold was getting tired. Arnold looked at Folse and judged that he could use his Art one more time.
Folse: "Well, if you"re unable to prevent it, the next attack should be the last. Don"t you agree? After all, it seems like that"s your limit. Don"t worry, your companion will be taken care of by Abel-dono."
Abel: "Us.h.i.+s.h.i.+, she"s the cutest beastman I"ve ever seen. Ah, I can"t wait ~ to see her innocent face twisted from grief! Us.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+!"
Arnold inhaled and stared at the two with a thirst for blood. To his enemy, he already looked like he was at death"s door, feeling overpowered, he sneered.
"Hahahahahahaha…!? Hehehehe…" Arnold laughed. Folse became dubious upon seeing that.
Folse: "What"s so funny?"
Arnold: "… Don"t you think I"ve been behaving myself?"
Folse: "… What"re you trying to say?"
Arnold: "I mean this!"
Arnold charged towards Folse and readied himself to use《Explosive Wind Claw》.
Folse: "Id-idot! You"re going to hit the wagon, too?!
Abel: "Us.h.i.+!"
Arnold: "This is 《Explosive Wind Claw》at full powwweeerr!"
*Whoooos.h.!.+*
A frightful wind current built up around Arnold. It engulfed the surrounding 《Beast Cage》members and forced them into the sky, the wagon was also caught up in the attack and everything was cut up by the wind blades. It was the same thing that had happened with the Barbarous Bears.
The mangled figures of the men came raining down from the sky and the wagon pieces scattered all over the place.
Arnold: "Hahahahaha… Che! You aren"t a normal guy, after all…"
Arnold"s desperately tried to support his body which had collapse from fatigue and looked at the person in front of him vexingly.
"To think you would do that, I take my hat off to you." It was Folse. At the moment of the attack he had stuck his sword into the ground and braced himself so that he wouldn’t get dragged along in the attack.
The wounds on his body were caused by the wind blades but he was still far from being incapacitated.
(He dealt with it calmly… His commander t.i.tle isn’t just for show.)
This time Arnold dropped to his knees. He"d reached his limit. He"d put all his power into his last attack but it still wasn"t a match for Folse. Folse looked down at Arnold and said,
"Muahah, but you"re a barbaric beastman, after all. To engulf your friend just like that."
Arnold: "… Are you half-asleep?"
Folse: "Hah?"
Arnold: "I didn"t hurt a single beastman in that attack."
Folse: "… What?"
Arnold: "Carefully check the wagon, b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
Folse quickly turned around and checked the wagon and was at a loss for words when he found out that there was no one inside. Muir and co, whom were supposed to be inside the wagon, weren"t there.
Muir: "Unncccle!"
Folse came to a realization upon hearing that voice. Folse couldn"t believe it so he slowly turned towards the voice.
Folse: "Im-impossible… H-how…?"
There stood Muir, Hiiro and the mother and daughter pair.
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[Hiiro]
Hiiro secured his first objective, the books, and once again used 『Hide (隠) 』. This time he was headed to the wagon that Muir was imprisoned in. Muir and co were surprised at the sudden appearance of Hiiro.
Muir: "Hi-hiiro-san?!"
Ur: "…Eh? Hero?"
"Be quiet."
Muir: "Ah, y-yes."
Hiiro looked at the shackles on Muir"s ankle, restricting her movements; there was a lock on the shackles. He"d confirm that the effects of 『Hide (隠) 』had disappeared and wrote 『Open (開) 』onto the lock to unlock it.
The lock had unlocked without a key and Muir couldn"t contain her surprise at Hiiro"s action. She then pleaded with Hiiro,
"A-ah Hiiro-san, could you please remove the shackles from these people as well?"
He promptly glanced at the mother and daughter and saw that they were the same pair that had been caught at the plaza.
While staring at them, he could tell that they were anxious. In order to save them, Muir continued pleading.
Muir: "Hiiro-san… I know that you don"t save people unless you receive a fee, Hiiro-san. B-but, please! Please, please save them!"
Hiiro stared at how desperate Muir was. It didn"t take much time to save them so Hiiro thought it was fine to rescue them as well. But before Hiiro could move, the mother spoke up,
"A-ah, please take this girl to a safe place, I beg you. I will give you anything you want."
Ur: "Bu-but! If you"re staying then I will too, Mum!"
Hiiro shrugged his shoulders at the beautiful display of family love. If Hiiro was going to receive something for helping them out, then he might as well do it.
"Then, treat me to a feast later on."
The three were dumbfounded at Hiiro"s request and the mother began to smile.
"Fufu, Yes, I will cook you my best dishes!"
Ur: "Ur will help out too!"
"… Then let"s get out of here."
Hiiro couldn"t write the same character twice so instead he wrote 『Break (壊) 』onto the mother"s lock and activated it. The lock broke just like he"d imaged.
Ur: "Mister… Are you a hero?"
Ur stared at Hiiro as if she was studying him. He was concerned about the p.r.o.nunciation of his name but a.s.sumed that Muir probably told her his name so he nodded.
"That"s right." Hiiro simply answered. This time he wrote 『Open (開) 』onto Ur"s lock.
"I knew it! Ehehe!" Ur said happily. Hiiro couldn"t understand why she was so happy, so he scrunched up his eyebrows. For some reason there seemed to be a disgusting atmosphere floating around.
"I don"t know what you"re going on about, but let"s get out of here."
Hiiro used 『Hide (隠) 』once more and grabbed onto Muir"s hands.
"Eh… Eeeh?!" Muir yelped with surprised when Hiiro suddenly grabbed her hands. There was nothing Muir could do even if she was aware that she was holding hands with Hiiro.
Muir: "I, I"m sorry… Bu-but uhm… Hi-Hiiro-san…!"
"Hey, you guys, hold this child"s hand."
Hiiro ignored Muir"s embarra.s.sed expression and told the pair to hold onto Muir"s hands.
"Hurry up. There"s no time."
Hiiro was in a hurry. The three people didn"t know what was going on but still held onto each other"s hands. Then just like that, Hiiro left the wagon.
The three thought that they would definitely be found out since they were surrounded but strangely enough no one paid any attention to them.
『Hide (隠) 』also affected the people connected to Hiiro.
With that Hiiro accomplished his rescue mission splendidly.
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Hiiro and co had managed to slip out of the wagon and was outside of the scope of Arnold"s attack. When Arnold had seen that, he had put all his power into his attack.
"… Mhm? Who"s that boy?" Folse finally notice Hiiro and frowned.
"Hehe…" Arnold"s laugh reached Folse. Folse grinded his teeth and glared at Arnold.
Folse: "What is this!? Who is he?! How"d he escape from the wagon in the first place?!"
Arnold: "… Hehe, how would I know? I simply believed he would succeed. That"s all!"
Folse: "What… What is that, Brat?"
Arnold: "I"d also like to know… Anyway, you"re the only one left. Looks like the tables have turned."
Folse showed a vexed expression then started laughing,
"Muahaha, you sure can talk for someone in your condition! I"m more than enough to handle the likes of you!"
Folse released a tremendous amount of killing intent which caused the atmosphere to tremble and Arnold"s body responded to it. Folse held out his sword and prepared his finis.h.i.+ng move.
"Uncle!" Muir suddenly rushed out in front of Arnold and spread out both her hands in front of him.
Folse: "… What"re you trying to do, you beastman, Brat."
Muir: "Now it"s my turn to protect you, Uncle!"
Folse stared at Muir"s determination and something inside of him snapped. The atmosphere changed once again.
Folse: "Puh, just looking at you irritates me. And you"ve even blown away the client… I"ll kill you all now."
Folse looked at Muir"s fearful figure in anger and directed his murderous intent at her, then he held out his hand and shouted,
"Flame Bullet!"
A ma.s.s of flame clumped together like a bullet, shot out from Folse"s hand and headed straight for Muir.
Arnold: "Watch out, Muir!"
Muir: "Uncle!"
Arnold grabbed onto Muir and escaped sideways by a hair"s breadth. The flame hit the house behind them and bursted upon contact.
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[Hiiro]
(That"s pretty strong magic. It could easily take down the Old Man if it hit him.)
Hiiro had his arms folded while watching the battle in front of him.
(The others have already fainted from the Old Man"s Art, it"s just the Topknot left.)
Folse definitely looked like a samurai with his topknot and Hiiro"s bad naming sense remained the same.
(Topknot must have some kind of special power.)
Hiiro decided to check Folse"s 《Status》so he wrote『Peek (覗) 』to find out.
Folse WagnerMP: 479/576
NEXT: 11001ATK: 417 (453)
AGI: 245 (255)
INT: 219 (223)《 Magic Attribute》 Fire
《 Magic》Crimson Spear （Fire・Attack）
Blazing Mist （Fire・Attack/Support）
Flame Bullet （Fire・Attack）
Burn Strike（Fire・Attack）
《 t.i.tles》Adventurer・Beastman Hater・Member of Beast Cage・Killer・The Man Who Hunts Beastman・Vindictive・Snake Attribute・Killer of the Beastman with Compound Eyes
After confirming Folse"s 《Status》, Hiiro began to calculate the level difference between Folse and Arnold.
(Old Man"s level 31 and Topknot"s level 58… Old Man"s being led on.)
Even though level wasn"t everything in this world, it was still an important factor. It indicated one"s experience. Folse was also an adventurer so Arnold couldn"t win against him in experience.
The plan was for Arnold to find an opportunity to escape as soon as Hiiro had freed the prisoners. But judging from the current situation, it might be difficult.
Hiiro had told Arnold to try and escape by himself and Arnold had agreed but Arnold seemed to be in a very bad position right now. Hiiro just stood and watched the scene in front of him. While Hiiro was thinking, he could feel sweat dripping down from his forehead.
(Still, it"s really hot around here with all the…)
Hiiro noticed something and froze.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!"
An anguished scream resounded through the area. Everyone in the area looked towards the voice; what they saw was Hiiro, with his mouth gaping open in terror.