Chapter 24 - (Chapter 78): Bernadett Koloil
Year 7442, Month 6, Day 4
Zulu is almost like the wind while running with powerful strides holding a two-handed sword in one hand, after advancing for a bit let alone keeping up with him I"m starting to be left behind. Even though we"re still only halfway, there"s already a distance of more than 30 m between us. I don"t have the leeway to turn around but I"m sure that there"s a similar distance between Ralpha, Zenom, and I as well.
The Wolf-race hunter family in Bakuddo was equal or a bit lower than me in terms of physical abilities as well but when Sonya would chase after game she would show off a frightening level of hand-eye coordination and physical ability. It"s a way of running almost they already know exactly where every rock or the ideal place to step is before hand.
Even though I"m wearing my self-made boots with rubber-soles I still have to pay attention to the rocks and uneven ground on the hill path but Zulu is completely barefoot and running almost like it doesn"t matter at all. What"s going on with that hand-eye coordination? In the first place, after running up the hillside for over 1 Km and going wherever else Semayousuke went which we only know the rough direction we might end up having to fight.
I know it"s partially my responsibility for saying to run as fast as possible to as far as you knew but, you, if you collapse the moment we get there I"ll be seriously p.i.s.sed. Not just that but whatever injuries you take from stepping on stones I"ll put off for later, this b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
However, putting aside my worries Zulu kept running without lowering his pace at all, and after arriving at what probably was the location that Semayousuke and the other person met up at and he turned around to face me. After confirming me as I"m still breathing with my shoulders running at a distance of close to 100 m behind him and he gestures pointing to a path going off the road to the left and starts descending the hill. Since the sun is still barely out the western slope outside of Baldukk still barely has some sunlight as we descended it.
Zulu"s appearance quickly disappeared into the trees on the side of the hill and I couldn"t see him anymore. s.h.i.t. Even though I thought about taking a short-cut without going to the peak where they originally met up. In the end it would be faster to just follow the same path Zulu took. After I somehow arrived close to the area where Semayousuke used to meet up and there was a < symbol="" written="" on="" the="" ground.="" also,="" there"s="" a="" bow,="" quiver,="" short="" sword,="" and="" a="" bag="" on="" the="" ground.="" i="" guess="" it"s="" this="" direction.="" the="" symbol="" arrow="" like="" mark="" points="" in="" the="" direction="" zulu="" just="" disappeared.="" while="" descending="" the="" hill="" i="" glanced="" ahead="" and="" i="" could="" see="" zulu"s="">
In any case there"s no choice other than to follow him. Along the way I thought there would be another arrow but I couldn"t find one. There might have been one I could have just overlooked it. It doesn"t particularly matter though. Because I found Zulu 150 m or so down the hill hiding behind a tree.
Since he doesn"t seem to be searching I guess he found Semayousuke. According to what I heard he was carrying a woman as he moved so his speed must have been considerably slow. I lower my speed to a walk and after reaching the tree that Zulu is hiding behind I whispered to him.
"..Zulu..Did you..find them?"
My breathing still hasn"t stabilized.
"Yes, they seem to be about 200 m below here. I think it"s probably a tent but I see something like a hut covered in branches so it doesn"t stand out. I think they"re probably there."
As expected Zu
lu is breathing a bit heavily as well but he still clearly replied. I looked in the direction he pointed his finger but I couldn"t find anything suspicious. I"ll try looking using Identify. I carefully sweep over the direction Zulu pointed. And I found it. It"s probably that.
From a glance it just looks like a bunch of bushes but there"s some unnatural light coming through the gaps in the trees gathered there. It"s probably a large tent that several people could rest in. It"s not a triangle roof one. It"s the type you tie to trees on all four sides for the roof. And it seems he"s hidden it by covering it in branches. It doesn"t seem he could completely cover it but if you weren"t looking closely while trying to find something then it would be pretty difficult to find. After Identifying just like that after all it was a tent.
After turning around I couldn"t see Ralpha and Zenom. Ah, there they are. It"s just Ralpha though. I wave my hand high to gather her attention and whispered once again.
"Zulu, after Ralpha comes we"re moving ahead. We"ll go over to there. I think we"re on just the right side to be on the side of the tent."
"I understand. What should we do after arriving?"
"First we"ll check what"s going on. When I say "Now" you should somehow try to knock down the tent. If you cut two of the ropes holding the roof up I"m sure it"ll fall. Until I give the signal just stay hidden. If there"s any inconveniences then I"ll give instructions appropriate at that time."
I told Zulu while glaring at the tent. Zulu immediately replied that he understood.
Before long Ralpha arrived as well. I told her when she was breathing heavily that Zulu and I would go ahead and check things out and that she should quietly come when she"s caught her breath, then Zulu and I walked off towards the tent.
After getting within 20 m of the tent it"s about time we start proceeding carefully. I can"t hear any voices at all. Although if they"re normally talking in a tent then unless you"re pretty close it"s difficult to hear I"m sure. I can"t hear any sounds of a struggle but this is probably because the woman was given poison so she can"t resist at all.
We"ve gotten even closer to the tent. There"s already only about 5 m. After all the direction we were approaching from was the side of the tent, there"s no slit for entering, and it"s just got branches for camouflage. I only noticed after getting closer but there"s a net along the outside of the tent and various things stuck on that net. It"s started to get considerably dark. If there"s a lighting magic tool in the tent then I wonder if we"ll be able to see shadows? In the next moment,
"Why are you doing this!? You-chan, untie me!"
I could hear that sort of impatience female voice in j.a.panese from inside the tent.
"Who"s You-chan? Your man?"
A man"s voice sounding like he was making fun of her.
"Eh!? You deceived me!! Who are you!? Where"s You-chan! Untie me."
Going off the situation the woman seems to be tied up I guess.
"Hi~hhi~hhi~ I thought I could deceive with how much you were saying semayousukesemayousuke, but you, you"re way too easy. I know it"s not something I should be saying but, it"s best if you don"t believe in other people so simply~!"
Though what he"s saying is quite true, it p.i.s.ses me off.
I still can"t tell if it"s just the two of them that"s inside. I"ve already confirmed that there"s no shape or sign of a lookout nearby but there"s no way I"d have enough visibility to see inside of the tent. There"s no shadows on the tent as well. There must be either no source of light inside the tent or it"s something really small. I need to get a bit more of a grasp on the situation.
"Hey, who in the world are you!? Where have you hidden Yousuke? Do you know him?"
It seems that she"s tied up but a considerably strong woman. There"s still power in her voice.
"Ah~ hhi~hyayhyahya..Like there"s any way I"d know something like that~ idddiii~ottt!!"
What"s this..this guy is irritating.
"You, do you think you"ll get off easily doing things like this!?"
"I~ think sooo~ After all I spent close to a month making preparations after seeing you. Even this tent was expensive~! And I"m a veteran as well. What number were you again? How about it? Asuka-chan~ Or what was it again? Right, status open..Is Bernadett-chan better? Or would it be better to call you Koloil?"
I strain my ears to listen to the conversation across the camouflaged tent. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d..he"s crazy. But, I"m sure I"d be able to hear if they were yelling in a loud voice but even with my ear right next to the tent most of the sounds are reduced. So tents we"re pretty soundproof.
"Hey, untie this. Why in this shape.."
The woman"s voice sounds like it"s about to disappear.
"There"s no way I"d untie it. You"ll just resist right? Just be grateful I gave you the antidote for the paralysis. It"s been a while since I last talked in j.a.panese, let"s enjoy the conversation with a bit more spirit!"
What do you mean with spirit, you trash. However, I wonder if it"s just these two in the tent? Going off the conversation it doesn"t seem like there"s anyone else though..just in case if there"s anyone else captured, or if he has any allies it wouldn"t be strange. I guess I should keep an eye on things for a bit longer.
"Untie me! Untie this~!"
The woman is demanding in a loud voice. I can hear the man"s voice sneering. I"m straining my ears to see if I can hear the laughing voices of anyone else but I can"t tell. At that time Ralpha quietly got close. And with a voice as if she squeezed it out said,
"How are things?"
And asked that.
"It seems she"s still just tied up. It also seems she was paralyzed. Though the paralysis on the woman already seems to have been removed."
"What are we going to do?"
"I still don"t know how many are inside. Also, it seems that after all the two of them were j.a.panese, well just keep listening."
We whisper in a low voice. Judging off the voices inside I"m sure our voices weren"t heard.
"I~ woooooon"t~ untieeeee~ you~! You"re beloved Semayousuke won"t come! Gyahahahaha! It"s fine if you call for him, I"m sure he won"t hear you though!"
This voice hurts my ears.
"Gu! You-chan, save me! You-chan!"
The woman"s voice has started to get tearful.
"Youchaaaan! Save me~ I"ll be rapedddd~! Is it!? Fu..fffefe...Ah, come to think of it you"re a Bunny-man as well right, Asuka-chan? Just as you can see, I"m a Bunny-man as well. Do you know what this means? Huh?"
Like I know, you a.s.s!
"So what if that"s the case! That doesn"t matter so untie me already!"
Her voice still sounds tearful.
"Ho~e~ You still have quite a bit of composure right, Asuka-chan~ If we"re the same race, then shouldn"t we cooperate in order to increase our race~? Look, with this."
!Thi..This b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
"Hi..It can"t be..What"s that? Don"t show that sort of thing to me."
Unfo..
"Hahha~! With this, and Asuka-chan..I"ll enjoy myself greatly~ You need to dislike it more~ Since it makes it irresistible~"
Unforgi..
"Stop it..Hey, please stop. I"m begging you."
"There"s no way I"d stop at this point~ you r.e.t.a.r.d! Well~~ then, I need to start get Asuka-chan"s clothes off~ It"s unfair for just me to be naked right~?"
Unforgivable..
"Please, stop it!"
"For starters I"ll let out plenty inside of you. You can get impregnated with the child of a man you don"t like! I won"t tell you to give birth to it~! Since we don"t know if you"ll still be alive by then~! Hey~ you need resist and hate it more! Scream out some more! It"ll make me more excited!"
Unforgivable! I can"t hold back anymore! I don"t give a s.h.i.t how many there are anymore! Even if there are if they"re this guys allies then I"ll take them all out!
"I can"t hold back anymore! I"m charging in. The two of you wait here!"
I say that in a low voice behind me and run towards the entrance on the other side of the tent. I"m sure I"m making noise but I don"t give a s.h.i.t anymore! The blood is running to my head, I"m aware I"m agitated but I can"t hold back the feeling of wanting to beat the s.h.i.t out of this guy. It"s something I haven"t felt in a while.
I let out a roar from the entrance of the tent and enter as I hold my bayonet as the ready and I saw the two of them shocked by my sudden entrance. There"s a woman laying face up further in the tent with her limbs tied to a stake in the ground. And then a man showing his bare a.s.s as he crouches down to the woman"s crotch with a knife about to cut her pants away though he"s trying to stand up in a panic.
Without reducing speed I charged in just like that hitting the man aside with my gun-stock and after that I kicked him in his exposed crotch with my full strength. Gushryt~ I felt a sensation like something was crushed.
At the same time as I kicked him I glanced to the sides but I couldn"t see anyone other than them and it was just an empty tent. I look at the man who"s pa.s.sed out from the pain and is laying on his side and step on his chest with the heel of my foot before yelling out.
"Zulu! Ralpha! Come inside!"
The two of them immediately jumped into the tent. There"s something to do before explaining the situation in the tent. Furthermore, there was no sign of a lightning magic tool inside of the tent but there was something like a small wax candle. Since the light is too small I guess it couldn"t pa.s.s through the material of the tent. Since it seems this tent is a reasonably good-quality one, the material seems pretty thick.
"Zulu! Watch over this guy. If he resists then kill him. Ralpha untie her legs, I"ll untie her arms."
Zulu switches the two-handed sword that he was holding in one hand to the reverse direction and looms over the man with the sword to his throat. The man has started to foam at the mouth. Ralpha crouches to the ground near the woman"s feet with her axe in one hand and after placing the axe on the ground starts untying the rope. I,
"You can relax, it"s already fine. Are you hurt anywhere?"
While saying that I crouch down near her left arm and started untying the rope.
The woman says,
"Eh? What? Who?"
And it seems she"s confused but after Ralpha said "Everything is fine now, that man can"t resist anymore." it seems she was relieved a bit and just watched as we untied the rope. I had some trouble getting the tightly tied rope off so I grinned but "hi.." it seems I scared her. Isn"t that too harsh?
Several minutes later, after untying the rope together with Zenom who arrived the woman was thanking us. It seems that the man is still unconscious after fainting in pain. For the time being I tie up the man with both arms and legs to the stakes like the woman was. I had Zulu do this. I didn"t want to touch him after all. After letting the woman who had calmed down a bit out of the tent the sun had set and it was already dark out.
"Let"s do introductions and that sort of stuff later, for starters, what should we do with that man? I charged in thinking it would be fine to kill him but in the end he"s still alive. If we throw some water on him I think he"ll wake up but you should decide."
I said that to the woman. Ralpha is nodding to my words.
"Eh? Umm..that is.."
She seems to be confused suddenly having such a thing brought up to her but she should have calmed down by now. She"s probably hesitating.
"It"s fine if you kill him, we won"t tell anyone. The only ones who know about this are probably us after all."
Ralpha is saying that but if she actually tries to kill him I"d stop her. Well, it won"t be too late to wait and hear what decision the woman makes here, there"s no need to hurry her. During that time I"ll try using Identify on the woman.
【Bernadett.Koloil/4/4/7429】
【Female/14/2/7428 · Rabbit-People Race · Koloil Sub-Baron Family Second Daughter】
【Status:Normal】
【Age: 14 Years Old】
【Level: 5】
【HP: 72(72) MP: 63(63)】
【Strength: 10】
【Speed: 16】
【Dexterity: 10】
【Endurance: 9】
【Special Ability: Small Magic】
【Special Ability: Super Hearing】
【Unique Ability: Shooting Intuition (Lv. Max)】
【Experience: 27239(28000)】
! Shooting Intuition!? Her other ability levels are the average for a Rabbit-person but her level is high as well. She"s already almost level 6. I"ll start looking from the Unique Ability.
【Unique Ability: Shooting Intuition; an ability which makes the intuition of the user sharper and raises their accuracy when shooting. At level 0 it gives a correction of 5% to their normal shooting capability but for every level after that the correction increases by 5%. Correction is a general term used to cover the talent and experience one gains in shooting ability through normal shooting and it does not add any sort of special ability. This ability only takes effect once on any projectile fired within 60 seconds of using the ability. Make note that this ability is limited to only making corrections to the Shooting Intuition of the user. Therefore, it has no effect on the abilities of the device used to shoot or the distance or force of the projectile fired with it.】
..This is.. you could say a rare talent. No matter what I want her as my subordinate. I want you! I guess that"s different. Also I know that she"s from a Sub-Baron family. Since I"ve never heard of the Koloil family I checked the sub-window and it seems she was born in the Kingdom of Devas. There"s no way I would know it. But, since she"s the second daughter then it doesn"t seem like she"d have any problems with inheritance, it"s very possible that she can work together with us. I"ve started to get excited. Calm down, me. Let"s go with this in a {cool} manner.
In the next moment the woman finally opened her mouth. Well then, I wonder what kind of verdict she"ll give, I"m looking forward to it a bit. I can understand a bit of her personality here.
"Let"s report this to the knight group."
Yeah, that"s good. It"s fine to kill him as well but in that case it"s possible that we could be found out from the messenger guy he used.
"Is that fine? I think it wouldn"t even be enough to kill a b.a.s.t.a.r.d like that though."
Ralpha, let"s think things through a bit more. However, I don"t hate that way of thinking.
"Stop it, Ralpha, she"s the direct victim and she decided on it. Now then, let me ask one more thing. What should I do about the treatment of that man? I crushed his b.a.l.l.s. Also, there"s probably at least a crack in his ribs. If it"s now I think I can still treat it with magic. IF you want it"s fine for me to heal him."
I continue to say while trying to act {cool}. The first impression is important.
"What do you think?"
She says painfully.
"It"s fine if you decide. There"s no meaning in saying my opinion."
I said it with a kind expression but the details are pushing her away. But, my opinion really doesn"t matter even if it"s said. Ah, I"m in the faction that leaves them on their own.
"If the injury isn"t something that will effect his life then I think it"s fine to leave it as it is. If we don"t at least leave him with that much he probably won"t reflect on his actions.. and, I want to talk to him. Why, he did something like that, and how much he knows, I want to confirm."
I see. By the way, since I think I crushed his b.a.l.l.s so I think it will effect his life. It"s necessary to secretly use the simplest healing magic, no, healing spell. But I don"t want to touch his exposed b.a.l.l.s so I"ll just use it on his body.
"Got it. If it"s just talking with him then I can probably make it so he can talk right now but, is now good..otherwise if we just leave him like that he probably won"t open his eyes anytime soon. Should we do it tomorrow? But, in that case we"d have to spend the night here. If we report it to the knight group then I"m sure we won"t be able to talk to him after that."
Honestly, since I think it would be troublesome I think it would be better to talk to him right away.
"Then, is right now fine? Can you help me with that?"
"Got it, before that let me send someone to report to the knight group. Wait just a moment." "Hey, Zulu, go to the knight group and explain the situation and bring a couple of them here. If you use my name it"ll probably be fine. And I"ll start a campfire here so use that as a sign to find your way. The crime is..I guess, abduction and attempted rape."
In reality I think it would be perfect if I let Zulu hold the Marquis Wbedos plate but even if it"s Zulu I can"t give it to him. And then Zenom opened his mouth. Sorry for leaving you outside of everything.
"I"ll go with him as well. I"m sure that would be better. Also, where your inn? If you haven"t taken one then if it"s alright with you I"ll add one at ours though?"
Zenom bluntly asks. I wonder if he"s being careful for her.
"Please do."
The woman said that and lowered her head to Zenom.
"Ah, Zulu, make sure you gather the bow and sword and everything that was on the ground at the peak."
I"ll call out to Zulu saying that as he walked off with Zenom and then I went through the entrance of the tent. Ralpha and the woman are following behind me but I tell Ralpha,
"Ralpha, started a campfire. Since it"s dark."
After saying that and Ralpha obediently left the tent. I put my right hand on top of Dereonola"s head as he"s still tied down and use a healing spell, after that I used water magic to make about a bowl of water and threw it on his face. He woke up right away.
He cursed at me for a bit but after lightly kicking his side where he"s most likely got a cracked rib and he started complaining about the pain. I"m sure that"s the case. Since I"m trying to make it hurt. I intentionally make sure he can see as I take the sword out of my bayonet and stick it in front of Dereonola.
"Answer my questions, you piece of s.h.i.t. And answer them honestly. The one who will be deciding if it"s the truth or a lie is me, so it"s fine if you lie. However, if I think that it"s a lie then you"ll suffer some more pain. It would be good if you can live to see the sunrise tomorrow."