Chapter 66: Heartfelt Bracelet ⑤ – Megadia  Megalopolis

There were about ten men. Maybe a little more.

You could call them thugs, but you could also call them explorers.

Well, there’s not much difference either way.

When I threw Haiyaan at them, they panicked.

Of course they did.
You’d be surprised too if someone suddenly hurled a rabbit at you.

“Y-you bastard!”

The shaved-headed man who got hit by Haiyaan shouted angrily.

He raised a dull-looking saber.

By the way, Haiyaan ran away. Like a rabbit escaping for its life.

“Why are you guys targeting me?”

I don’t remember giving anyone a reason to…
Well, maybe I do? Or maybe I don’t?

Hmm. If we’re talking reasons, maybe Kuhn Hunt…
But these guys don’t look like them.

Coon Hunt explorers might be weak, but at least they have good gear.

They’re still the top clan in the city after all.

But these men—neither their appearance nor their equipment looked high-end.

“We’ve got a grudge against you.”

“A grudge?”

I really have no idea.

“You. Is it true you’re the witch’s apprentice?”

“It’s true.”

“Don’t screw with me!!”

“Ehh…”

Why am I being yelled at?

“You’re telling me you are the apprentice of that huge-breasted, big-assed, thick-thighed, sexy-tail super-erotic witch?! Unforgivable!!”

What is this guy even saying…
No, wait, technically nothing he said is wrong, but still—

“Ohh? I hear you’re close with Torquetam.”

“…Well, yes.”

“Close with that tail-swinging Pakira, that naughty Liv, and… Lupinas too!?”

What is this guy talking about?
Also, poor Lupinas-san got nothing?

“And I hear you’re close with Mineha-san too!”

“That’s true.”

“With that voluptuous, dripping-with-seduction, oozing-allure, overflowing-sex-appeal, sultry Mineha-san… You’re CLOSE with her!! Unforgiveableeeeeee!!”

This muscular middle-aged dude…
Why is he seriously screaming that at a 10-year-old?

What are these guys? They’re disgusting.

“You’re clearing the ‘Impenetrable Fortress, aren’t you?!”

“That’s a lie.”

“You’ve already cleared half of it, haven’t you?!”

“I haven’t.”

“I saw you go to the second floor of Cidre Inn with the ‘Immortal White Rose Princess’!”

“That part is true.”

The moment I answered, they all cheered for some reason.

What is this, a press conference?
Are you guys reporters now?

But I was starting to get it.

Everything they said was jealousy—every complaint was about women.
In other words, that’s what this is.

They don’t like that I’m surrounded by beautiful women and girls.

I get it. I do get the feeling.
But there are things you can do and things you absolutely shouldn’t.

Besides—

“This is exactly why you guys don’t get popular.”

“What did you sayyy, you little—!?”

“There are things you’re allowed to say and things you’re NOT allowed to say!!”

“Don’t get cocky just because YOU’RE popular!!”

“You womanizer!!”

“Nighttime conquest king!!”

“Night king!!”

“Hopeless skirt-chaser!!”

“Damn you, I’m seriously jealous, I’ll stab you for real!!”

“Yeah! Stab him!!”

“Do it, do it!!”

“That’s right! We’re doing it, you brat!!”

“Prepare yourself for the wrath of the unpopular!!!”

And with that, the men all rushed me.

Well, of course it ends like this.

Also, I heard Haiyaan’s voice mixed in with the insults…
I won’t forget that. And I won’t forgive it.

Anyway, if I used Vanish all at once, it’d be over instantly.

Too easy. But I won’t do that.

There’s something I want to confirm—
The strength I gained fighting Alweld.
How strong did I actually become, compared to normal people?

Still, they all drew weapons and attacked a single kid in a group this big.

Don’t they feel ashamed?
Are they trying to kill me? They are, right? Definitely are.

This is why they’re unpopular.
And if they’re seriously trying to kill me, I won’t hold back either.

Battle start.

First, I moved right in front of the guy closest to me—Man A.
Just one step.

“W-whoa!!”

As he flinched, I punched him in the stomach, swept his feet, and dropped him.

Next, one step toward Man B.
I punched his face, grabbed him, and threw him.

“Gyaaah!?”

“Uwaaaah!?”

A few others got hit as he flew.
I heard Haiyaan getting crushed. Nice.

Immediately—one step to Man C.
A hand strike to the neck knocks him out.

That’s three. And then I suddenly thought—

This one-step technique…
Could I do it repeatedly?

It felt possible. Alright, let’s try it.

One step to Man D → punch.
Two steps to Man E → kick.
Three steps to Man F → punch.
Four steps to Man G → kick.

And then I discovered the fatal weakness.

“Hah… hahh… haaah… crap… I’m more tired than I expected…”

The fatigue was insane.

Of course—doing rapid instant movement and attacking repeatedly would burn stamina fast.

The remaining guys…
Still a lot. Oh well.

“— Rave Move —”

Let’s finish the rest with this.
Lightning-fast annihilation.

In my past-life memories, people called this “full throttle.”
Makes sense.

Then this is… “Accel Step.”

And so, using the witch’s full combo techniques,
I took down all the unpopular men.

A rabbit who’d been yelling “Kill him! Kill him!” got caught in the crossfire,
but that must’ve just been my imagination.

“Now for cleanup.”

Killing them would be a hassle, so I’ll leave them alive.

First, I Vanish their weapons, and I’ll keep the knives. Compensation for the trouble.

First knife—wooden handle, short blade.
Is this… a fruit knife?
Way to ruin the mood.

Second knife—hmm.
One side of the blade is serrated like a comb. A Sword Breaker.

A knife with ridges meant to catch an enemy’s blade and snap it.

“This is an interesting find.”

You don’t see these sold normally.
They probably got it from the dungeon.

Third knife—oh, a black-bladed knife. Rare.

And that’s all. Good.

According to the Goddess of Knives, touching a knife makes you its owner.

So I have to take these.
But even I have an inventory limit.

Now, after collecting some monetary compensation…

The real part begins.

Stripping their clothes off and using Banish… leaving them completely naked… this is rough.

But I don’t have any rope, and calling the guards would mean leaving this spot.

If they wake up and run away in the meantime, that would be even more trouble.

I have no choice but to make them all naked.

But… taking their clothes off myself… I really don’t want to.

“…Can I use pinpoint Vanish to remove only the clothes?”

Let’s try it. I focused the light point of the relic Deep Tranquil One onto their clothes and used Banish.

Oh, it worked. Only the clothes vanished. Good, good. I’ll keep going.

“Vanish… Vanish… Vanish…”

And so, one by one, I quietly erased their clothes and underwear.

After a while, I finally managed to make all of them completely naked.

Some of them woke up partway through, so knocking them out again was a pain.

And I’m mentally exhausted. Undressing men is rough.

And most of them are middle-aged guys. I can’t deal with this.

Ugh, I’m tired.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”

I was so hungry I felt dizzy.

I could probably finish a mountain of butter rice right now.

Leaving the naked men behind, I walked out of the back alley.

What will happen to them once they wake up?

Well, they’ll definitely get arrested by the guards.

After that, nothing happened, and I arrived alone at Cider Inn.

Strangely enough, the place was pretty empty today.

Looks like I can sit at either a table or the counter without trouble.

“Wof-kun.”

Someone called out to me. A familiar voice.

I looked around and saw Megadia-san on the second floor.

She was smiling bewitchingly.