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Chapter 114 – The Hero, Battles With The Peddler Girl

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 Translator: Jay_Samuel      Editor: JackOFallTrades

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Now, 『what are you going to do with Minnalis-chan?』

(Minnalis’ acquaintance? I’d like to confirm that information directly from Minnalis but……)

Unfortunately, Minnalis is already dead exhausted in my arms.
I caused her to pass out, so at any rate she’s not in a state where she can hear anything.

「What a hassle」

The girl who is glaring at me with open hostility enough to come shooting an arrow out of nowhere.
She is not likely to hear nor listen to reason at all, and I cannot interact with her carelessly if she’s Minnalis’ acquaintance.
If perhaps she happens to be someone who knows about Minnalis’ past, she could be a clue as to Minnalis’ Revenge.

Minnalis, who was dragged along as a slave in a poor environment, said that she did not know the exact location of the former village she was in.
In the first place, other than the nearby forest, Minnalis seems to have never been away from the village. Even if I know that it’s a place where climate is harsh and therianthrope-hating villagers gather, it is difficult to find the village’s location with these details alone.

(If so, it’s either『Suppression』 or 『Escape』)

However, 『Suppression』 is regrettably out of the question in this situation.
The arrow strike from just now, contains enough power to rate it highly even among high-ranking adventurers.
If the girl in front of me and the remaining three people who are hiding in the shade possesses similar skills, then they are people I can not go easy on.
It will be dangerous to face them off with just me and Shuria while holding Minnalis at the same time.

(At any rate, even if they don’t want to, fighting to the death is intolerable. If they’re close friends of Minnalis, then it will be sorrowful)

In Minnalis’ memory of revenge, there was nothing about these guys.
In other words, they’re acquaintances of Minnalis who are not revenge targets. If so, no matter how I choose to deal with them, I’d have to confirm with Minnalis first.

Just like the weapons shop-owning old man in the imperial capital and the orphanage in the town of Dartlas, I only save those I would like to save. I cannot kill people who are involved with Minnalis without her say so.

(In any case, now is when to run. It’s not like we have to get the information from these guys right now. There is no need to be greedy and take the risk. To that end too, first of all……)

While thinking so, I cast appraisal on the girl in front of me, but it failed.

「Hey, what are you doing!!」

「Tsk, As I thought, it won’t work on this class?」

The girl frowning in front of me blocked the appraisal.

Just like with Nonorik, it was not repelled by a special characteristic or skill, but the appraisal was cut off by magic manipulation.
While thinking how troublesome it is, I move on to the next course of action.

「Shuria, I’m going to retreat!!」

「Roger that. Neko-san!!」

「Nishishi!!」

「Cry, out!?」

Shuria’s cat doll throws tableware knives, and my disposable throwing knives respectively.
Of course, the number is used to put the barrage on the three opponents who are watching the scene lurking in the shadow.

「Uwooo!? oops!?」

「Ugh, so we were noticed! 」

「『Magic Barrier Magic barrier』!! Hey, wait, damn it!!」

In the meantime, I carried Minnalis and attempt to escape without showing my back.
But, of course, there is no way opponents of this degree will allow us to escape so easily.

「Ugh, hold it right there!! 『Heavy Fang Arrow* ・ Special Formation』 !!」 TLN: “じゅうが重牙の矢” this is what’s on the raw but the Hiragana and the Kanji are the same which is Heavy Fang Arrow, so instead of representing it twice, it makes sense this way.

The blond girl who easily deflected the throwing knife using her seemingly magically reinforced bow releases an arrow that is flying towards me.
Maybe because I am holding Minnalis, I managed to accurately repel the one shot which was accurately aimed at my arm with my created spirit blade..

「So she can even use advanced magic shooting. What kind of acquaintance is that?」

At that unusually abnormal heavy shot, I threw such a question at Minnalis who is still not yet awake.
Because the knife was repelled like nothing, I threw a rock the size of a person’s head that had been lying around to possibly slow them down.

「Take that! 」

A red-headed swordsman jumped out of the tree and crushed the rock with a wide sword.

「It’s payback! 」

「『Wind Cutter Fujin Blade』! 」

In the same way, a black-haired looking light swordsman who jumped out of the shade throws a knife, and a pink-haired looking magician casts wind magic and send it over.

「Neko-san, Kuma-san」

A high metallic sound resounded, and Shuria’s Neko doll knocked down the throwing knives, and the Kuma doll absorbed the wind blade as if swallowing it.

「They’re quite skillful」

「Aah, We ended up casually having to deal with a troublesome opponent now」

I wanted to say that’s my line, but I couldn’t afford to.

「『Light speed ・ 【Arrow Demon Hail】』! 」

The blond girl who nocked five arrows onto her bow shoots them up at the sky.
The number of arrows that should have been five increased as if splitting in the sky, and falls onto the ground like rain.

「Tsk!　Shuria, put magic power into Metal’s umbrella!!」

「Leave it to me!!」

I held Minnalis in one arm, and drew my body close to Shuria while creating the 【Absorption Sword】 with the other hand. At the same time, Shuria’s Metal-san covers us like an umbrella.
The rain of arrows that is not visible within the dark and murky night, makes a roaring sound as they make contact with Metal-san’s umbrella as if each blow had more mass than it looked.

「『Kikyulu……!!』」

「Ugh, it’s quite heavy in spite of being just an arrow」

Shuria pours more magic power into Metal-san, and prevents the arrows that falls incessantly from hitting us.

(Great, now the condition has been met! )

I thrust the now-materialized Absorption sword into the ground.

「『Oh Sandstorm, Gather On The Surface』」

A semicircular yellow light spreads from the place where the sword was thrust upon, and a white sandstorm covers the ground’s surface.
Naturally, the power of the sandstorm is proportional to the number of arrows that fell from the sky onto the ground.

「Argh!! Is that supposed to be a smokescreen!?」

「Wait, I’m going to scatter it now!!」

The magician-like woman is tempering her magic power. A moment before she managed to finish her preparations though, two shadows pop out and jump into the shade while the clouds of dust covers the place.

「I won’t let you escape!! 『Wind Cutter Fujin Blade』!!」

The wind blade, which is released toward the jumping shadows, deeply scratches the trunk of the tree and fades away.

「Argh!! After them!!」

Following the blonde girl, the three other people jump into the forest.

After that, only the howling dense sandstorm remained.

「………… they’re gone, let’s move fast. Don’t undo the magic power concealment okay」

「Roger」

We leave that spot that has now become quiet by taking a long detour away from that place.
At last glance, I look towards the whereabouts of the substitute dolls that Shuria dispatched, and confirmed the appearance of the four people that were chasing after them with Chuusuke who was further sent to tail them.

「Chuu, Chuchuchu! 』」

(I’m leaving it to you, Chuusuke)

After that, I was preoccupied with just leaving the place.

☆

While running through the forest carrying Minnalis, I confirm Chuusuke’s five senses with one eye and one ear.

「『…… No way, to be deceived by such a trick……』」

「『It seems like you’ve been had, Leone-chan』」

Leone sighs in front of a mannequin doll made of wood rolling in front of her eyes.
The doll which had been only given the instruction to run away while hiding its body in between the trees in the forest until then, loses its minimum magic power which it had received from Shuria and turned to scrap.

「『Spinne, Xank, can you find them?』」

「『…… Through this doll, It’s impossible』」

「『You can’t find them even by concentrating and searching for their presence?』」

Spinne and Xank both shake their heads with displeased faces.

「………… All right, around here is enough distance-wise」

Judging from the information transmitted, we decided to halt our feet.
I want to make Minnalis rest well, and also want to obtain accurate information.

「Phew, I’m tired」

「Ah, Shuria. Look after Minnalis for a bit」

「Alright」

I leave Minnalis to Shuria as I put my back on the trunk of a tree and take out a flask using a bamboo-like plant from the round bag.
While moistening my dry throat with water, I concentrate on the information transmitted from Chuusuke.

「『~ ~ ~ ~ ~ —!! And after I was finally able to find Minnalis-chan……』」

「『Calm down, we know that she’s close. Besides, you were able to confirm that she is still alive. Knowing that is a step forward, isn’t it? 』」

「『Dan……』」

Dan put his hand on Leone’s shoulder who sank to the floor.
From the looks of it, it seems she really cares about Minnalis.
Is the reason she fell for such a decoy because she saw me repress Minnalis, and lost her composure.

「I do not think that Minnalis when she was still a slave could have built such a deep relationship, but she’s not a resident of the village. Hmm, I can’t read it at all. How in the heck is she related with Minnalis……?」

Shuria laid a thick cloth on the ground and placed Minnalis there then placed a futon on her. She then made a bonfire
While watching Minnalis who still hasn’t woken up and considering various thoughts, I am still probing into Leone and the others’ circumstances.

「『I’ve been looking for her continuously, but until now I couldn’t even grab her trail. Besides, that guy earlier was fighting while protecting Minnalis-chan. It is true that he repressed Minnalis-chan, but at that time, he prioritized Minnalis above all. Considering the position, shouldn’t you have at least asked about the circumstance』」

「『Well……』」

「『And that last 『Arrow Demon-Hail』 might have hit Minnalis-chan if it had gone wrong. I know you’re feeling impatient after finding Minnalis-chan who you’ve been looking for but』」

「『Moreover, he fought back and it became a battle earlier, but if Minnalis-chan sold as a slave was purchased through legal means, then we are the ones who’ll become criminals. And we are also the one who started the fight』」

「『…………』」

「『Anyway, let’s go back to that place again. We may be able to trace their steps from there, and you have to decide what to do when you encounter them next time』」

Having heard Xank’s words, they begin to head back through the road the left over two peaches came from.
Meanwhile, Leone murmurs while facing down.

「『I’m not the kind of opponent you can go easy on』」

So it was only myself and Chuusuke who was hiding behind the mannequin faux who were able to pick up Leone’s murmurred words.

「The hell, so she was this alert?」

I tried thinking a little as to whether it was achieved with a unique skill or something that measures the degree of threat a person can be, but I soon realized that it was a needless anxiety.

「『…… Wielding a sword with a multitude of abilities, and also, those black hair and black eyes, and those looks……, there is no doubt, that man’s identity is–』」

「Mm!? The, hell!?」

Making a “Bakii” sound, the water bottle that I had in my hand shattered.
And the water, running along my hand, falls onto the ground.

「Kaito-sama? What’s the matter?」

「…… Such a thing, impossible……, exactly, how come, how in the world……」

「Impossible, impossible, impossible!!」
How, do you know about that, about that existence.

I didn’t hear it wrong, that girl named Leone uttered it in a faint voice, but certainly,

…………She referred to me, as the 『Japanese Former Hero』.

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