Publishedat 22nd of May 2020 10:41:16 AM
Chapter 118
Translator: KellEditor: Weasalopes
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The Peddler
Indigo, a peddler who sold goods in various Ponsonian settlements, realized he made a huge mistake . He regretted his actions . His wife—also his partner in peddling—even told him it was dangerous . But he believed it would be all right . And now they were in deep trouble .
「Don’t move . If you try anything funny, you’re dead . 」
A dagger was pointed at his throat . Although rusty, it would be enough to kill Indigo .
Indigo lived his life peddling outside of town . He was confident in his abilities, but not against nine people .
They were in the plains by the main road, but he never expected bandits to show up . Indigo had been using this road for ten years and not once had he encountered bandits . They just happened to leave town a little later than usual, so they had to make camp . Then they were attacked .
On the opposite side of the bonfire, Indigo’s wife—who was five years younger than him—wailed as the bandits pinned her down . It was she who said camping out was dangerous . And now the men were gagging and undressing her .
「Stop it!」
「I said don’t move!」
The dagger pierced into Indigo’s arm and he cried .
「We gave you our money and goods, everything! You said you’ll spare our lives!」
「We will . Only your lives, though . 」
The man flashed a nasty grin . Indigo loathed them . His beloved wife was about to get defiled by these filthy men .
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I’m sorry! This is all my fault for valuing time too much! I didn’t even think of the danger!
Indigo clenched his teeth in frustration . Should he strike back even if it meant certain death? Or should he just stay quiet, glad that they’d be spared? What do I do?
His wife shrieked, and he quickly glanced at her . The man mounting her fell forward . At first he thought the bandit lunged at his wife, but the way he fell was like a puppet that had its strings cut .
「Hey, what’s wrong?」
One man pinned his wife’s arms and another one, her legs . Both men saw blood—illuminated by the bonfire, it looked blackish—dripping from their companion’s forehead who suddenly stopped moving .
Then they collapsed the same way .
「We’re under attack! Keep your eyes open!」the bandit pointing a dagger at Indigo shouted, glaring at the peddler who held his bleeding arm .
「You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! So you had friends, eh?!」
「W-We don’t!」
「Why, you…!」
The bandit swung the dagger towards the unarmed peddler, but the blade never reached Indigo . With a clang, the dagger flew into the distance .
「Wh-Who’s the—」
The bandit realized something hit his dagger . But that was all . A blow came to the back of his head, and he lost consciousness .
「Honey!」
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「Are you okay?!」
Freed from her restraints, Indigo’s wife came running to him and embraced him tight . In the meantime, the rest of the bandits went silent and motionless .
「Wh-What happened?!」Indigo asked .
「Look! Over there!」
His wife pointed at a figure slowly walking towards them . Too slender for a grown man, they were either a young boy or a lady . Indigo couldn’t tell as a hood was pulled over their head, and they wore a silver mask that covered all but their mouth .
「I’m glad you’re alright . Or not completely all right, I guess . You’re injured . 」
It was the voice of a boy .
「Th-This is nothing . An ointment should be enough for it . So, who are you?」
「It doesn’t matter who I am . Anyway, are these guys just ordinary bandits?」
「Probably…」
「Do bandits show up here often?」
「Not at all! I’ve been a peddler for a long time, and this is the first time I encountered bandits . 」
「Hmm…」The silver-masked boy kicked the bandits’ heads lightly . No reaction .
「Are they dead?」Indigo’s wife asked .
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「Shh . 」
Indigo stopped his wife from asking too many questions . It would do them no good to agitate this boy .
「I don’t think so . Or maybe they are, but I can’t really look after them . 」the boy said as if it was of no concern to him . 「Anyway, as for the reward for saving you… or not really a reward . 」
「O-Of course! Y-You may take the money over there . 」
「I don’t need the money . I think you need it more than me anyway . They destroyed your goods . 」
Their wagon horse was killed during the bandits’ attack . A heavy loss . How much would a new horse even cost?
「That… is true . 」
Indigo nodded as he gestured his wife to hide behind him . The boy didn’t need money . Which meant he didn’t want the goods either . Indigo peddled daily necessities like salt and sundries—things that settlements in the mountains couldn’t get . So he thought his young and lovely wife was in danger .
「Ah, you don’t have to worry about your wife . I won’t do anything to her . 」the boy said in a friendly tone .
Indigo was caught off-guard . 「Oh, okay… What do you want, then?」
「I just helped you because you were in trouble . Is there something wrong with that?」
「I’m a businessman . I don’t trust work without compensation . 」
The boy smiled . 「All right . I’ll just take a reward equivalent to the amount of work I did . 」
Indigo gulped . This boy was strong enough to quickly suppress the bandits . He didn’t need money, either . Plus there had to be some reason he was hiding his face . What would someone like that ask of Indigo?
「Give me information . Everything you know . 」the masked boy said .
Hikaru heaved a long sigh .
「I can finally take a breather . 」
He waited all night to enter the town of Satin Elka, the capital of Margrave Grugschilt’s domain . Although inferior to the royal capital, it was much bigger and more prosperous than Pond .
A line formed outside of town . Apparently the strict identification check took quite some time . Normally, Hikaru would just use his Stealth to sneak inside, but he patiently waited in line because of what Indigo said .
「They’re keeping records of everyone who enters town using guild cards . The inns check people’s cards as well . So anyone who has no entry record to town will get busted . 」
He was able to use the information he got right away .
「The good you do for others is good you do yourself, I guess . I’m glad I helped them out . 」
Hikaru threw himself onto the bed . It was mere coincidence that he ran into Indigo . He was simply going with a caravan that moved even at night when he found the couple being attacked by bandits . The caravan turned a blind eye, just glad that they weren’t the victims . Only Hikaru got down and dashed to their rescue .
The couple probably tied the bandits up to some trees and reported them to Satin Elka’s guards . The bounty for capturing bandits should be enough to get them a new horse .
「All right, then . I got a lot of things to think about . This town that’s on high alert, and the overall kingdom…」
Hikaru stared at his guild card . An item that displayed a soul’s records, and can’t be reproduced . Only its owner can use it . And from it, a person receives the blessings of the G.o.ds through job cla.s.ses .
「I just wanted to land a punch on the king’s face and then go back…」
Hikaru tapped the “job cla.s.s” field on his card . New ones had appeared .
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