Chapter 16: Our Journey: Travelogue⑨ – The Sword and the Garbage

Ducas glared irritably down at the knife stuck near his feet.

He decided that later, after stripping Mineha naked, he’d beat and kick her. Or maybe whip her.

“Huh? A knife?”

Then the knife vanished, and a single boy appeared.

It was a Changing effect of the relic [Knife Magic].

The one who appeared before him was a boy with blue hair and a red scarf wrapped around his neck.
Without a word, he immediately punched Ducas right in front of him—but something blocked it.

An invisible barrier. The boy’s fist stopped just short of Ducas.

But—

“[Vibration].”

“Hah… another nuisance. Enough already.”

Crack!
A fissure ran through the air, and in an instant the barrier shattered.

The boy’s halted fist drove deeply into Ducas’s abdomen.

“Guuuh—gaaaahhh?!”

Ducas let out an ugly groan, and the boy sent him flying with another blow.
Ducas bounced once and rolled along the ground like it was almost comical.

“…………”

The boy knelt by the fallen Mineha, pouring the contents of a small vial from his pouch over her battered face.

“Ugh… eh? Wof?”

Mineha blinked in surprise.

“You’re safe now. By the way, Mineha—what is that talking, moving piece of raw garbage?”

“Wof…?”

“Well, it’s about to become a real, non-moving piece of garbage anyway.”

“…………Wof?”

Wof was furious.

It was coincidence. Pure chance.

He had left Bid-san and the others to inform the witch staying at the inn about the Blue-Green Crystal.
Disliking crowded places, he walked along a quieter route—and saw it.

Anna Kreutzen and Hoss were down.
Anna Kreutzen was covered in blood.
And a wounded Mineha was being dragged by the hair by a man Wof had never seen.

The moment he saw that, he decided to kill the man— to kill that piece of garbage.

Whether he was a noble’s son or the child of some powerful figure didn’t matter.

He’d decided, so he would definitely kill him.
But not before making him suffer.

Taste every bit of the pain Mineha, Anna Kreutzen, and Hoss had endured.

“Haah… haah… haah… w-what happened… ubooooh?!”

Clutching his stomach, the garbage struggled to his feet and vomited.
Truly, raw garbage.

“Mineha, please take care of the other two.”
“Y-yeah. Got it.”

Wof handed her the vial and walked calmly toward the still-retching garbage.

“Geh—geh—haaah… th-that’s impossible… impossible… the barrier…”

“Hey.”

“That can’t be right… some brat like you… m-my sword!? Where’s Vinu!?”

“Answer me, garbage.”

“Shut up! I’m—”

Smack!
Wof slapped him.

The hit landed cleanly.
A sword… I see. Without it, he can’t deploy the barrier.

“Can’t even answer. That’s why you’re garbage.”

Another slap. A satisfying garbage sound.

“Y-you bastard—!!”

The garbage rushed at him in rage, but Wof easily dodged.
He countered with a straight right to the face.

The garbage screamed, blood spraying from his nose. Probably broken.

“Seriously. You’re trash. What’s wrong—aren’t you strong? Or can you only act tough against women and kids? No—only against women, huh? Garbage.”

“Bubeeeh… m-my… no-nose…”

Clutching his bleeding nose, the garbage staggered over and picked up his sword, pointing it shakily at Wof.

That sword… maybe an out-of-place artifact. He could feel something from it.
Well, whatever.

Wof punched again—and hit a wall. As expected.

“[Vibration].”
“D-damn it, you little piss—”

His fist vibrated like static.
Space shattered as if glass were breaking.

His punch landed squarely on the garbage’s cheek.

Two teeth flew out.

The garbage screamed and rolled around, so noisy that Wof kicked him in the stomach.

“Shut up, garbage.”

Another kick. More vomiting. Truly hopeless.

“Gueegh—gehheehh—”

Come to think of it, this guy wasn’t strong at all.
Weaker than an ordinary street thug.

Without the sword’s barrier, he was literally garbage.

Barriers… he remembered from his past life that they were weak against vibrations.
Strong against direct impact, but fragile when shaken as a whole.

So breaking it with [Vibration] actually worked—surprising, but convincing.
Normally, barriers must be nearly invincible.

If [Vibration] hadn’t worked, he would’ve gone [Generous] and smashed him with [Cosmic Arm].
If that failed, then [Generous: Rave Form].

[Vanish] somehow felt like it wouldn’t work.

He had no intention of holding back.

This garbage would suffer and be disposed of.

“Ah… my shoes are dirty with your puke.”

Wof said that and stepped on the garbage’s face.

He ground it under his sole.

He hadn’t forgotten the footprint left on Mineha’s face.

“I-it hurts—stop—guuuh—!”

“Come to think of it, stepping on garbage doesn’t make anything clean.”

He laughed despite himself—but didn’t stop grinding.

Then he noticed the sword lying nearby.

Long, thin, no guard—slightly curved, like a white horn.

By instinct alone, he felt it should be destroyed.

Just looking at it filled him with an indescribable revulsion.

A Sword Breaker would be best—

(No, Wof. If you intend to destroy that Vinu, use the Knife of the Other Sea.)

“Huh?”

A voice suddenly echoed in his head. One he recognized.

The Knife Goddess?!

(Only the Knife of the Other Sea can destroy the daughter of that sword goddess.)

The daughter of the sword goddess?!

Ah—so that’s it.

The daughters born from the fragments of the sword goddess shattered in the war of the gods.

Then… it’s okay to destroy it?

(It is fine. Rather, please destroy it. That sword—Vinu—is a calamity to this world.)

A calamity…
If it had a will, it was lending power to garbage like this.

Wof already felt it was dangerous to leave it.

He pressed his foot harder into the garbage’s face, drew the Knife of the Other Sea, and activated it.

The battered blade transformed into three octopus tentacles.

“Kyaaah?!”

A cute scream rang out.

Mineha and Anna Kreutzen were staring in shock.

“W-what is that… an octopus?”

Hoss asked timidly—yet somehow, when he said “octopus,” it sounded like he’d found good ingredients.

Wof moved the tentacles and wrapped them around the sword.
The garbage writhed beneath his foot, so he pressed down harder.

Next time he made noise, Wof considered vanishing an arm or leg.

Ugh—through the tentacles, the sensation of the sword felt… wrong.
Like touching living flesh, even though it felt like ceramic.

Disgusting.
Better break it quickly.

He tightened the tentacles.

The sword cracked and shattered—then dispersed into mist, leaving nothing behind.

At the same time, something happened to the garbage.

Sensing danger, Wof jumped back.

“Ugaaaahhh—why—why, Vinuuu?!”

The garbage began to melt.

Flesh, organs—everything dissolved into a skeleton, then dispersed into mist just like the sword.

Only his cloak and clothes remained.

“Ducas…”

Hoss murmured as he approached.

“You knew him?”

“…Back in the Heizen days, we were in a party together. Honestly, he was always a villain, so I figured he’d die some lousy death someday. But this… this was worse than the Ducas I knew.”

So the garbage’s name was Ducas.
Didn’t matter.

Mineha was tending to Anna Kreutzen—
Wait, her clothes—her maid outfit—

The cut was in a bad place.

Through the torn fabric, a blue swell peeked out.
Her bra must’ve been cut too. She was the type that looked slimmer clothed.

It was… fairly large.

No, no—don’t look. Wof averted his eyes.

Normally she’d have died, but being a Minos Doll saved her.
Even so, without the elixir, it would’ve been dangerous.

“Hm?”

For just a moment, Wof sensed three large presences.

Not nearby—far away.

Their presence felt close to the destroyed sword.

“………………”

Mineha looked at the garbage’s clothes, then at Wof—and quickly looked away.

“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
“……”
“……”

They left the scene.

No one spoke a single word as they walked.

Mineha kept her head down, and Anna Kreutzen’s smile was gone.

Back at the inn, Mineha and Anna Kreutzen went to their room.

Wof wanted to say something—but stopped.
Better to leave them alone for now.

Sensing it was serious, the witch received a brief explanation.

Bid-san returned as well, for some reason along with Gymnema and Shaldina, so Wof explained again.

He left out the part about the sword goddess’s daughter—it would only confuse them.
He’d consult the witch later.

Shaldina went to Anna Kreutzen’s room.

Since she was also a Minos Doll, it was best to leave it to her.

“………………”

Seeing them like that, Wof clenched his back teeth hard.

That garbage… he should’ve made him suffer more.

He should’ve sliced up his limbs, healed him with elixir, and repeated it.

It had been a long time since he’d truly despised someone as garbage.

Even by evening, Mineha still hadn’t come out of her room.

Not eating… that was worrying.

Wof stood in front of Mineha’s door and knocked.

No response.

“Mineha?”

He knocked again—nothing.

No presence inside.

The door… opened.

She hadn’t even locked it—far too careless.

Calling her name softly, he stepped inside.

“She’s not here…”

Mineha was gone.

“Th-this is bad! Anna Kreutzen is nowhere to be found either!”

Shaldina cried out.

Both of them were gone.

Where had they gone?