“I see… did he mentioned which nation he was from?”
The members of the Sword of Darkness looked at each other, feeling that Nfirea was very concerned with this matter.
“We didn’t ask with that much detail…”
“Is that so… Ah, no, if he came from a far away nation, the potions he uses might be different from the ones used in this region. As a pharmacist I am very interested in it.”
“I see… indeed, he and Nabel-chan seemed to be from the same place, but their appearance differs so widely… he would never be considered as a handsome man. Will anyone like him?”
“Appearance is nothing, since he is so strong there must be plenty of girls falling for him.”
Indeed, strong men were more popular because there were monsters in this world and humanity was considered an inferior race. Stimulated by their instincts, most women would prefer strong men.
“Sigh— Won’t my love ever bear fruit…”
“Impossible. It had no signs of bearing fruit at all.”
Ninya remembered Narberal’s reaction and replied with an awkward smile.
“No such thing. Anyway, I need to chase her. I need to be proactive for it to work. She is a super beauty okay? If she treats me just a little bit friendlier, I will be a winner in life.”
“… She is really beautiful, indeed…”
Dyne said with a heavy expression and noticed Nfirea seemed a bit uneasy.
“Nfirea-san, is something wrong?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing…”
“Eh?” Lukeluther made a sinister smile and said: “Did you fall for Nabel-chan?”
“No way!”
Nfirea answered in an unnecessary loud voice hastily. His intense reaction made Peter felt uncomfortable to continue asking and he relaxed the tension:
“Lukeluther, that’s too much. Think before you speak.”
After Lukeluther apologized sincerely, Nfirea looked troubled, not knowing how to react to the apology:
“No, it’s not that. Well… I feel uneasy… is Momon-san that popular?”
“… Appearance aside, with his strength, the possibility of him being popular is high. And from the looks of his armor and sword, he is probably rich…”
“Ah…”
Nfirea looked gloomy, Peter asked with the concern of a senior taking care of his junior:
“Is something bothering you?”
Nfirea was hesitant to speak and his mouth opened and shut like a goldfish. Peter and the others didn’t press him, they won’t force him if he doesn’t want to say it. Shortly after, Nfirea steeled himself and opened his heavy lips…
“Erm- Because I don’t want the person I like in Carne Village to fall for Momon-san.”
Sensing the emotions behind these words, the Sword of Darkness entourage smiled.
“Alright then, let big brother teach the young one some tricks-”
Peter gave Lukeluther a punch, making him scream weirdly. The Sword of Darkness group ignored his pained expression and continued to console the stunned Nfirea.
Under the shine of the campfire, the youth finally smiled.
─── At the same time.
The forehead was pierced along with the iron helmet.
His comrade shook wildly for a moment before falling like a kite with its string cut. The metal armor made a deafening sound in the dark night. He prayed for someone to hear this sound and rush over, but no one should be stupid enough to do that.
This impoverished region was filled with abandoned zones. That was why he met with his client here.
The man glared at the woman before him. But he couldn’t hide the fact he was just putting up a brave front. His morale was gone after seeing the woman killed 3 of his companions consecutively with ease.
The woman who killed his comrades flicked the short Stiletto that was dripping blood. The blood splattered in the surroundings, leaving the Stiletto shining coldly like before.
“Hmm hmm hmm- You are the last one pal-”
The woman bared her teeth, showing the smile of a carnivore.
“You, why are you doing this?”
He felt this question was dumb, but the man really doesn’t understand why he ended up in this state.
The men were not adventurers, they are known as ‘workers’ or twilight workers, accepting jobs bordering on being criminal, or even committing crime directly.
It was possible for others to bear grudges against them, but they had never worked in this city or seen this woman before.
“Ah, why am I doing this? Ara- I just want you pal-”
Unable to understand the woman, the man blinked for a while and asked:
“What, what do you mean?”
“The grandson of that renowned pharmacist is not home right now- I need someone to keep a look out for me and tell me when he returns. I don’t want to do something that troublesome-”
“Then just make such a request! That’s not what you are trying to do!”
These workers were willing to even break the law, so he doesn’t understand the reason why the woman wants to kill him.
“Ara ara ara, you might betray me-”
“If we receive the agreed remuneration, we won’t betray you!”
“Hmm? Let’s change that a bit okay? I like killing people, I love it, I can’t help myself.”
“Ah, I like interrogating too”, the woman added with a smile.
After listening to this abnormal reason, the man made a serious face:
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“What exactly is the reason? Because I had to keep killing for my job? Because I was always compared to my excellent big brother? My parents devoted all their love to him? Or perhaps because I was toyed with before becoming strong? Maybe because after messing up and getting captured, I was interrogated for days? Having to eat a scorching pear is really painful, yo.”
Before him was just a young girl. But that vanished in an instant and the woman smiled again:
“Just kidding, all of that was a lie. Fake, fake~ I didn’t experience any of that. But even if everything was true, knowing the past won’t change anything. I turned out like this because of accumulated experiences~ Ara~ Speaking of which, this is thanks to Kaji-chan collecting intelligence for me, allowing me to contact you guys immediately~ You know how long it takes just to find help these days-”
From her hand she released her Stiletto, letting it fall. It stabbed deep with the aid of only gravitational acceleration. This sharpness meant the Stiletto wasn’t made of mere steel.
“This is orichalcum. Or to be more exact, it’s mithril covered with orichalcum. It’s amazingly good stuff.”
Having such a rare weapon proved the strength of this woman, which meant he had no chance of winning.
“Now then… time for the next step. If you get heavily injured, pal, you won’t be of use… But no matter how much I hurt you, Kaji-chan can mend you with faith based spells- This means I can enjoy torturing endlessly?”
As the woman said something creepy, she took out another Stiletto from under her robes.
“Using this should be good… Sorry if I miss-”
The woman stuck out her tongue and apologized, looking really cute. But her heart was still clearly black.
The man turned his back to the woman and sprinted. Although he heard the sound of the woman pretending to be surprised, he just focused on escaping. In the darkness without light, he ran with the sense of direction he was so proud of.