Chapter 16: Tasan of the Ring, Part 2

I looked at the two of them and spoke.

“Excuse me, but who are you two?”

“Huh!?”

“Oi, oi, Piece, what’s going on here? This kid —”

The drunken squirrel-man spoke.
Even though he was of the squirrel race, his height was nothing small.
In fact, the guy was tall — close to 190 cm, about the same as Megadia-san.

His outfit wasn’t particularly strange, just typical explorer’s gear.

“Ah, well, Leoldo-san, this guy — hey, you! We met yesterday at the garbage dump, remember? Already forgot? That’s some next-level stupidity!”

“…Sorry. I tend to forget unimportant and forgettable people right away.”

“Wha—!?”

The boy in the military-style uniform turned bright red and went silent.
Ah, right — now I remember.

He was the leader of the group that was hassling Juicy-san at the dump yesterday.
I think he was some hired thug from Coon Hunt, the clown-something guy.

If I hadn’t shown up, Juicy-san probably would’ve wiped them all out.

Speaking of which, what happened to the others?
Those two who weirdly knew a lot about me…

“Tch, can you believe that, Piece? He said you were unimportant.”

“And you are?”

So it wasn’t “Pierrot” but “Piece,” huh. Confusing name.

“I’m Leoldo. An explorer — affiliated with coon hunt, more or less.”

“You are?”

“Well, I’m a bit of a dropout, though. Tahaah.”

For some reason, he laughed. Strange guy.

“You fool! How dare you forget me — Piece, captain of coon hunt’s 37th hired squad! Unforgivable, you brainless worm!”

He suddenly shouted and pointed at me.
“Unforgivable” — what is this, a manga villain?

The people around us started glancing over, murmuring.

I could hear them whisper:
“Hey, isn’t that coon hunt?”
“Ugh, it’s them.”
“Go away.”
“What a pain.”

Their voices were tinged with clear disgust, like they were looking at trouble.

Piece looked frustrated and gripped the hilt of his sword.
Leoldo sighed and scratched his head.

“Piece. Calm down. This isn’t coon hunt territory. We’re outside.”

“Tch. Damn peasants.”

Reluctantly, he let go of the sword.

Seriously, what the hell is he thinking?

“So, Wof, was it?”

“What is it?”

“Sorry to spring this on you, but could you come with us for a bit?”

“…No, thanks.”

“Yeah, figured you’d say that.”

“You lowly, trashy peasant scum! Acting all high and mighty — just shut up and come quietly! Or I’ll kill you right here, you brainless idiot!”

“Shut your mouth, Piece.”

Leoldo’s voice dropped low, intimidating Pies.

For someone who claimed to be a dropout, the guy seemed more capable than he let on.

“But, Leoldo-san!”

“Don’t make me repeat myself. This isn’t coon hunt. We’re outside.”

“…I know that.”

“Then don’t say another word like that again. Coon hunt’s reputation’s already bad enough — we can’t afford to make it worse, especially for the top-ranked clan in this city.”

Coon hunt was indeed the strongest clan in this city.

But also, by far, the most hated.

Especially lately, with that incident involving the death of some hired members, their reputation had hit rock bottom.
It was bad before, but that pushed it to a whole new level.

If I kept standing out around them, I’d probably get dragged into it too. Sigh.

“Fine. I understand. So where are we going?”

“Ah, thanks, kid. This way.”

“Should’ve done that from the start, trashy dumbass.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Piece sure loved calling people “brainless.”
He’d probably been called that a lot himself.

People often use the insults that hurt them the most when trash-talking others.

Where I was taken was — just as expected — an empty, deserted lot tucked away in an alley.

Hydrangea (the city) was full of these empty lots if you took a few steps off the main streets.

Now that I thought about it, when Bob-something and his crew vanished, it was in a lot just like this.

I glanced up at the sky. Clear blue, with white clouds drifting by.

“This spot should do.”

“…”

I instinctively put a little distance between us.

These two were, to be blunt, enemies as far as I was concerned.
Of course I’d stay on guard.

And since it was bothering me, I decided to ask.

“Hey, Piece.”

“Don’t you dare call me by name, you brainless worm!”

“Piece-san, then. What happened to your lackeys?”

“Those guys? They tried to stop me, spouting some useless crap.”

“They told you not to go through with it, huh.”

“Like I care. A bunch of cowardly morons. You can die too, you brainless worm!”

The moment he yelled that, Pies suddenly drew his sword and charged at me.

“Huh?”

“Wha—?”

“Diiiieeeeee!!”

Leoldo and I were both momentarily stunned.
Guess talking wasn’t an option.

I caught Piece’ blade with my knife.

I had drawn the plain, newly-bought knife out of reflex.

“What the hell was that for?”

“If I kill you, the connection to the Marquis Tasan will be mine! The glory will all be mine!”

“…Huh?”

How does that make any sense?
That can’t possibly be true.

Confused, I parried Piece’s sword.
He backed off, keeping distance. Then Leoldo spoke.

“Hey, Piece. What the hell are you—”

“Shut up! Just think about how we’re going to handle the body after I kill this idiot!”

“What!?”

What an outrageous thing to say.

Piece raised his sword high, and I caught the strike with my knife again…
But the moment I did, I instantly let go.

A sharp snap! sound rang out as the knife hit the blade and fell to the ground.
I leaped back, putting distance between us.

“…Tch!”

Damn it. My knife! I have to pick it up—
Piece muttered.

“Tch, you dumbass — you actually noticed, huh.”

His sword crackled, snapping with energy.
Electricity. The blade was charged.

I only avoided it because I caught that brief spark when it first flared up.
That was close — if I’d kept holding the knife, I would’ve been electrocuted.

“…So it’s lightning-attribute, huh.”

“That’s right. A power you’ll never have, you brainless worm. My power.”

“…”

He charged at me, sword raised, and then leapt into the air.

“Take this — Lightning Slash!!”

I braced, half expecting a bolt to strike the moment the blade came down —
but that wasn’t it.

It was just a straight attack, using momentum with the sword still charged.

Well, if it’s a relic’s power, I won’t deny its strength.
I calmly activated my relic, [Silent One], and summoned [Vanish] into my dominant hand.

Just as the sword was about to strike, I timed it perfectly —
and erased the charged blade with [Vanish].

It was a tough maneuver, demanding both precision and speed,
but in [Silent One] mode, I could manage it.

“Wha—!?”

Piece froze, wide open in shock.
As he stumbled on landing, I seized his arm and slammed him down.

“Witch-taught technique — Flip Smash!”

It was a move where you flipped your opponent over and drove them into the ground.
On solid earth, it was painful enough to knock someone out cold.

So — go to sleep, Pies.

“Gahhaaaaahhh!”

Slamming into the ground back-first, Pies’ body bounced once from the force… and then lay still.

I pulled out Agaro-san’s knife, ready to finish him off —
but a voice stopped me.

It was Leoldo. I had half-expected that.

“Wof… the fight’s over.”

So what? I clicked my tongue inwardly, annoyed.

Even if I hadn’t meant for it to happen, he had seen my [Vanish] ability.
Now what?

“…”

“That relic of yours…”

“!”

“I didn’t see a thing.”

“What’s your game?”

“Let’s just say the fight’s settled, and leave it at that.”

“…”

“You probably don’t trust me. I wouldn’t trust me, either, if I were you.”

“Hah… hah… you’ve got to be kidding me.”

At that moment, Piece slowly began to stand back up.

The technique must’ve been too shallow. He hadn’t blacked out.
Damn — careless.

Leoldo let out a dry, exasperated laugh.

“Tahaah, Piece. You lost.”

“Lost…? Don’t mess with me! Don’t screw with me! You brainless trash… who do you think I am…? I’m the captain of the hired squad… I’m not brainless!!!”

He roared and pulled something from his pocket.

A small, sinister-looking horn. An amulet, maybe?
Without hesitation, he swallowed it.

Leoldo shouted.

“Hey, you bastard! Piece, what the hell did you just swallow!?”

“…Shut up. Brainless worms… all of you… every last one… ugh — GAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”

Piece let out a bloodcurdling scream as the small white horn on his forehead began to grow, cracking audibly as it stretched.

“…What the hell…?”

What was that, really?

I’d never seen a Faun’s horn grow like that before.

“That thing… it’s…”

“What is it?”

“Demon Horn Fragment… No, this is beyond abnormal. Amalthea!”

“Amalthea?”

“Yeah. That freakish growth… there’s no mistake. Amalthea. A forbidden item that makes a Faun’s horn grow without limit. Must’ve gotten it during his last dungeon run.”

“Forbidden…?”

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Piece’ horns grew to an impossible size, branching out like antlers.

At the same time, dark clouds swirled into the sky overhead, lightning flashing across them.

What the hell was going on?

Leoldo clicked his tongue in frustration.

“Tch— damn, this is bad. Hey, give me a hand.”

Dark clouds spread overhead as bolts of lightning rained down around us.

“GAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

Piece’s horns kept branching out wildly, still growing.

His entire head was nearly swallowed up by the twisted mass of antlers, splitting and spreading in every direction.

Unable to bear the weight, Piece finally buckled and dropped to his knees.

“What should we do?”

“We kill him. That’s the only way. I was just supposed to be a witness to this, but… well.”

“…Is there really no other choice?”

“If we don’t stop him, the damage will only get worse. He’s gone berserk. Look at the sky — people are dying under those lightning strikes. Are you okay with that?”

The sky was completely shrouded in black clouds, flashing with constant lightning.

“…Understood.”

“GAAAHH… BRAINLESS… BRAINLESS FOOLS… Brainless… Brainless. Brainless. Brainless. Brainless… Brainlessbrainlessbrainlessbrainlessbrainlessbrainlessbrainless— GAAAAAAAHHH!”

Piece, looking tortured, swung his arm — lightning burst forth.

The walls of nearby buildings shattered under the blast.

That power… a single hit would definitely kill.

“I’ll act as the decoy.”

“Will you be okay?”

“It’s my responsibility for bringing him here. So I have no choice.”

The swirling black clouds grew even larger, and lightning rained down across the area in thunderous strikes.

Leoldo moved. Now that I thought about it, he wasn’t even carrying a weapon.

(Tch, can’t believe it’s come to this… What a messed-up clan this has turned into.)

I heard his thoughts. Complaining about Coon Hunt, probably.

Leoldo reached into his coat and pulled something out. A sword hilt?

“Well, no helping it now.”

With a casual flick of his wrist, a blade extended from the hilt.
Seriously? A hidden sword — like something out of a sci-fi movie?

No, wait. It wasn’t steel — it was crystal.

The jagged, irregular blade formed a straight sword made entirely of crystal.

“GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!”

Piece swung his arm again, lightning and bolts crashing toward Leoldo.

But none of them hit.

I could tell — thanks to [Silent One].
Dodging lightning at the last second isn’t something humans can do.

Unless you’ve got some kind of relic… which, clearly, Leoldo did.

He moved just before the strikes could land, perfectly timing each dodge.

His precision was beyond what even [Silent One] mode could manage.

So much for calling him a failure.

While dodging the lightning, Leoldo slashed away at Piece’ horns, cutting them down.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

Piece howled in agony.

“Now! Go! Stab him!”

“GAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

Amid the crashing thunder and bolts of lightning, I charged straight at him.

Piece locked eyes with me, his bloodshot pale-violet eyes burning with rage.

His antlers shot toward me, like a forest of sharp white blades.

I erased them all with [Vanish] — striking them as I erased them.

It slipped out of my mouth naturally, like it had become instinct.

“Vanish Knuckle!”

Every antler vanished the moment it came close to my fist.

I’d embedded [Vanish] on the back of my knuckles —
a simple trick, but its destructive power was as great as always.

Until now, I’d always held [Vanish] inside my palm.

But fighting the Clown had taught me something:

Even if I couldn’t throw it, there were other ways to use it.

I enlarged [Vanish] from my palm, let my fist pass through, and transferred it onto the back of my hand.

Then I punched. And punched. And punched.

And finally, I reached him. Piece.

What a sight.

His wildly overgrown antlers looked like a mane of white hair.
His bloodshot violet eyes seemed… inhuman.

“Gaaah… Brainless…!”

“Piece!!”

I drove the knife Agaro had given me deep into his body.

His antlers got in the way, but I stabbed without hesitation.

“Aaaaahhh… brainless… brainless… gah…”

Piece stopped moving.

His antlers slowly crumbled away.

The dark clouds cleared, vanishing like fog, and as I pulled out the knife, Pies collapsed like a lifeless puppet.

“…Phew. Somehow, we managed.”

“…How did it come to this…”

When I looked up, the sky was clear.

Blue skies and white clouds, as if the dark storm had been nothing but a lie.

Piece.

I don’t hold any particular grudge against the person I killed.
No real hatred, either.

Honestly, I can’t say I feel good about it. But I don’t feel any deep disgust, either.

This world isn’t kind, but if I could help it, I’d prefer not to kill people.

The moment I stepped into that back alley, I knew things wouldn’t be settled peacefully.

I figured I’d probably end up fighting Pies.
But I never thought it’d turn into a fight to the death.

And yet — he was the one who came at me intending to kill.
So I had to respond in kind. I had no choice but to try and kill him first.

And in the end… it all turned out like this.
There’s not much else to say.

I let out a long, tired stare.

“Leoldo-san… why did it come to this?”

“…Piece told me he could secure a connection with the Tasan Marquis family. But to make that happen, he said there was a pest in the way. He asked me to help him deal with it.”

“And I’m the pest, right?”

I couldn’t help but give a bitter smile at that.

“Yeah. That’s right. But listen — I never agreed to let him kill you. Even without thinking too hard, it’s obvious: murder inside the city is strictly forbidden. On top of that, Coon Hunt’s standing in Hydrangea is already shaky. And the target was a kid, too. I was there as a witness precisely to prevent things from turning into a bloodbath.”

“But still…”

“Tch, never thought the idiot would come swinging at you out of nowhere.”

“…What is Amaltheia?”

“That’s not a question I really want to answer, but… I dragged you into this mess, so I guess I owe you an explanation. But first — do you know what a ‘Demon Horn Shard’ is?”

“No, I’ve never heard of it.”

“Didn’t think so. It’s not something you’re supposed to use, anyway. Demon Horn Shards are a type of relic — a consumable legacy that can make a ‘Fawn’s’ horns grow. And the thing about those horns is, the longer they are, the more they enhance the power of any relics the Fawn holds.”

“So if their horns grow longer, their strength increases too?”

“Exactly. But there’s a risk. The more the horns grow, the stronger the power becomes — but the body and soul can’t keep up with that kind of strain. That’s why it’s banned.”

“So basically… it’s a dangerous drug, right?”

Probably similar to narcotics or stimulants.

“Yeah, you could put it that way. As for Amaltheia, despite being classified as a legendary-grade relic, it’s not actually that rare. Not common, of course, but not impossible to get. And since it’s a ‘Legendary,’ you know what that means, don’t you?”

“The horns can grow without limit… endlessly, right?”

Leoldo gave a small nod.

“Just recently, Piece led a hired squad into a dungeon along with a group of explorers. Word is, the place had a floor connected to the Fawns. He must’ve found it there. And then he kept it a secret — that kind of thing happens all the time.”

“…If the body and soul can’t withstand the power, does that mean he would’ve died if we’d just left him alone?”

“Without a doubt. But the damage would’ve been far worse in the meantime.”

That much was clear.

But still, why does this so-called failure of Coon Hunt know so much?

Leoldo popped open a hip flask and took a swig.
Hey. Seriously?

“Pah… how did it end up like this, huh.”

There was an odd kind of sorrow in his voice. But the answer was obvious.

“Isn’t it because you gave him a fancy-sounding but powerless title like ‘Captain of the Hired Squad’?”

“It’s not a powerless title. He could give orders to the hired hands under him.”

“But not to the explorers, right?”

“Of course not. Even as a captain, he was still just a hired hand.”

“So in the end, the title was pretty much meaningless.”

“…Yeah. I suppose it was.”

I looked down at Piece’s corpse.

It was a pitiful, miserable sight.
Definitely not what you’d call a ‘good death.’

But maybe… this was the reality of being a hired hand.

This world is harsh, soaked in the constant scent of death.
Sometimes I almost forget that. But this is the truth of it.

Still… I can’t help wondering.
What is Leoldo, really?

No matter how you slice it, he’s no ordinary failure from Kuhn Hunt.

That strange, impossible way he moved —
Leoldo met my gaze.

“Wof. I didn’t see anything.”

“…Huh?”

“And you didn’t see anything either. Let’s leave it at that — for both our sakes.”

“…Got it.”

And with that, there was nothing more to say.

I nodded, and Leoldo tossed something my way.

I caught it with one hand.
A single gold coin. 10,000 Oro. About ten thousand yen.

“That’s for the trouble — and for my apology.”

“…”

“Sorry about all this.”

“…Yeah.”

I turned on my heel and started walking.

It felt like I’d just witnessed the fate of one hired hand.

A boy who was proud to be the captain of Coon Hunt’s hired squad,
who kept calling others ‘brainless’ to protect his own pride.

A boy who looked down on others, clinging to a hollow title — and in the end, died as nothing more than a hired hand.

I’ve never been one myself.
But if things had gone a little differently, that could’ve been me.

I couldn’t shake the heavy feeling from my chest.

I let out a sigh, feeling just low enough to be annoyed at myself, and finally arrived home.

But right there, in front of my house, sat an unfamiliar carriage.

A pitch-black coach with golden trim, dripping with luxury.

Now what…?

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter