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The Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter Chapter 153

Retribution 4

The inner lock is opened with a click, the knob of the iron door turns with a clank, and it starts to open.

What to do? This is a good chance to slaughter them all, but it’s also very risky. If I’m not going to do it, I should beat a retreat right this instant, but… Damn it, what should I do? I can’t make up my mind.

「Hey, you’re being too noisy, what in the world is… Hmm? Who are you?」

A fierce-looking man comes out from inside. Judging from his attitude and the fine clothes he’s wearing, he must be one of the executives. I hesitate and end up getting my face seen. There’s no other choice but to do it, prepare yourself, me.

「Huh… Gah?!」

I swing my sword at the man’s defenseless neck. The man holds the wound, but he’s bleeding profusely, so I don’t think he will last long. Normally, I should leave the door open so I can escape at any time, but the people downstairs might notice the abnormal event and send reinforcements.

I grab the man whose neck I have cut and push my way into the room.

I look around the room. A slightly overweight man sitting opposite the entrance in the center of the spacious room, that guy must be Bartalis. And then, there are three chairs on either side of the table, with three people sitting on the right and two on the left. The one sitting in the empty seat on the left is probably this man whose neck I have cut. And then, a man with long blonde hair sitting against the wall a distance away from Bartalis and the others, that guy is probably the bodyguard who is a former silver rank adventurer.

It seems that they don’t grasp what’s going on yet. The man whose neck has been cut off is unable to speak, after all.

My eyes meet those of Bartalis. The other five aren’t wary of me. There’s no turning back now, I’ll do it, I’m definitely going to kill him.

I throw the man I’m holding to the side and use instant step to charge at Bartalis in one go.

「You bastard, who are you…」

Bartalis stands up and quickly escapes backwards. Jumping onto the table using the momentum of the instant step, I then make another jump… or so I’d like to. The bodyguard man closes in on me with instant step and tries to block my way. That movement, he is no ordinary person. He pulls out his rapier and thrusts it at me.

Damn it, I can’t kill Bartalis. In that case…

I forcefully deflect the bodyguard’s sword, quickly move backwards, and decapitate the five executives who still don’t grasp what’s going on. I finish off the executives who are about to drink potions, then face the bodyguard man.

「You bastard! Who the hell are you?! The gall you have to do something like this, don’t think you’ll be able to get away with it!」

Bartalis yells from behind the bodyguard man, but for now I need to focus on the man in front of me. If I can kill him, all that’s left will be that guy. I can do it.

I use Appraisal, but it ends up getting repelled by the bodyguard man. He’s got a rather impressive magical energy manipulation skill. However, it looks like I’m superior to him in it. As the man tries to deflect my Appraisal, I forcefully activate my Appraisal with my high proficiency magical energy manipulation. Appraisal!

Dinos Zentrigers, Age 37, Level 40

Job: Swordsman

He has a family name. Is he of noble origin? There’s a good chance that he has a high proficiency level in swordsmanship.

「Tch, appraisal? This battle prowess and magical energy manipulation, you must be a knight…」

「Close but not quite there, I’m a magic knight. Still, for you to be level 40, despite your low-ranking job, you seem pretty good yourself, Dinos.」

For now, let’s bluff our way out. If at all possible, I’d like to avoid combat. I have no idea what status this guy has, but if he’s not a blood relative and is an employed bodyguard, I doubt he’ll risk death to protect his employer to the bitter end. If it looks like he’s going to lose, he might run away before he suffers any injuries.

「It’s not a low-ranking job, it’s a basic job.」

「What’s the difference?」

「You bastard…」

Ah, crap. It looks like I’ve taunted him too much. Even though he’s of noble origin, he became an adventurer instead of a knight, and now he’s working as a bodyguard for the yakuza. He may be a man with various complicated circumstances.

Dinos puts more strength into the hand that’s holding his sword. It looks like a fight is unavoidable.

「Hey! Dinos, I’m paying you a lot of money. I’m counting on you, alright?」

「…..」

I hold my sword at the ready and face Dinos. This feeling, it’s the air of a powerhouse that I haven’t felt in a long time. There’s no room at all to probe his strength or take it easy on him. If I don’t go all out, I’ll get myself killed.

Circulating my magical energy throughout my entire body and the blade of my sword, I activate body enhancement and also channel magical energy into my brain. It’s a short decisive battle. Victory goes to the one who makes the first move!

Without any preparatory motions at all, I use instant movement to swiftly close in on Dinos. I deflect the mithril rapier he is holding to the side…no, I can’t deflect it. He pulls his sword back, and mine cuts through the air. Ah, not good.

「Haaah!」

「Kuh!」

Dinos launches a thrust at me with his rapier that has been imbued with magical energy. It’s a super-fast thrust, but for me, who has enhanced my brain’s reaction speed, it’s possible to dodge.

「Ugh?!」

Dinos unleashes a series of thrust attacks at me mercilessly.

Not good, his sword strikes are so fast that, although not completely, I can’t counterattack. Dodging and defecting it with my sword, I defend myself against his consecutive thrust attacks. Ugh, not good, I’m channeling magical energy to my whole body, sword, and even my brain, so the magical energy consumption is too severe. However, his attacks never stop, so I have no room to take any other actions. Not good, he’s strong, I can’t beat him. What to do now…?

「Phew—」

If the attacks had continued for a few more seconds, I might not have been able to block them. Dinos stops his attacks for a moment and retreats backwards. As he takes a breather, large beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead.

It seems that not only me, but he too has pushed himself quite a bit to unleash those attacks.

What to do, can I beat him? From the way it felt just now, I’m superior in strength, and I may also be slightly superior in swordsmanship. However, I’m severely lacking in speed. It’s probably a correction as a swordsman, but his agility is far superior to mine. The reason I can barely keep up with his attacks is because I’m enhancing my brain’s reaction time using body enhancement and magical energy manipulation, in which I have a high proficiency level. And that’s putting too much strain on me.

This is bad, maybe the only option left now is to run away. I’ve come this far, but I can’t risk my life. I’ve even had my face seen. I need to leave the town as soon as the gate opens.

「Tch, looks like your claim of being a magic knight was not all talk.」

What to do? For the time being, let’s buy some time with a bluff and recover my strength.

「Naturally, and it just so happens that I was getting tired of fighting small fry. I’m relieved to find someone who can fight a little. So do your best to entertaining me, Dinos.」

「Phew, the heck are you talking about? Even if you’re a magic knight, there’s no way you’d be at a high level at such a young age. I know you have no room to spare either.」

「Good grief, a man with a low-ranking job only has this level of insight, huh.」

「What did you say?」

「I’ve been taking a lot of purple potions, so you might want to stop taking me as someone as young as my appearance tells. Now, come at me.」

「…..」

How’s that? I’ve been fighting and talking with a poker face the whole time, so he must have found it unsettling. He must be having trouble judging how much of what I say is true.

What to do, it’d be an all or nothing gamble, but should I try to attack? He shouldn’t have that much room to spare either. If I’m lucky, I might be able to take him down. I have strength restorative medicines and mid-grade red potions with me, so as long as I don’t take a fatal injury, I should be able to manage one way or another.

I’ve pushed Bartalis this far, let’s do it.

Channeling my magical energy into it, I unleash my intimidation skill at Dinos. Let’s go…

「Wait, I get it.」

「What did you get?」

「I give up, I’ll leave this room, no, this town. That’ll do it, right?」

「Hou, well, as long as I can kill Bartalis, I’m fine with that.」

I did it! That Dinos guy seems to have gotten cold feet. Alright, I have luck on my side. No, I can’t let my guard down. There’s a good chance he’ll launch a surprise attack.

「Huh?! Dinos! You bastard, do you know what you’re talking about? Got it, I’ll join the fight too. If it’s two against one, we’ll definitely be able to beat him.」

Crap, I have no idea how strong Bartalis is, but as expected, I won’t be able to take on the two of them.

「Boss, you see, I came to this town because I was tired of fighting on the front lines as a silver-rank adventurer. I was attracted to the idea of ​​earning easy money in this town filled with nothing but small fry. And yet, I’ve been drawn into another battle to the death with my life on the line, I’m so fed up with it. After clashing swords with him, I do think I’m stronger than him, but I can’t see the depth of his strength. Maybe he’s using a skill I don’t know about, or a magic item, but at any rate, I’ll be leaving this town first thing in the morning. Thank you for taking care of me thus far.」

「Huh?! Wha?! Hey, wait! Stop right there, hey. I’m going to kill you! Dinos, I’ll definitely find you and kill you!」

Dinos points his sword at me, cautiously walks to the iron door, and then leaves the room.

Hold on a second, maybe Dinos has gone downstairs to call for reinforcements… Nah, I don’t think there’s any bodyguard who would leave their boss and an assassin in the same room. I don’t think Dinos and Bartalis were acting or exchanging signals as they talked, either.

Well, when push comes to shove, I’ll take Bartalis hostage and make my way out of it. Even if he’s dead, if I make it look like he’s in a near-death state, I don’t think his subordinates will attack me to protect their boss. As long as I can get out of the building, with darkness shrouding the surrounding area, I’ll be able to run away however I want.

「Now then, are you ready to go to hell, Bartalis?」

The only ones left in the room are Bartalis and I. I’m going to kill him for sure.