Ascai Kingdom.
The capital.
The main streets were abuzz with talk of the commotion that erupted late last night, with soldiers pouring out of the royal palace.
“They say the bandits got away.”
“It’s terrifying!”
An assassination attempt on the King.
The theft of gold and treasures from the vault.
While speculation ran rampant on the main streets, on the back alleys…
The local underworld figures were gathering their executives to organize information, wondering who was behind the disturbance.
Soldiers were frequently seen on the back streets, making it difficult to conduct business.
“What’s the information broker, Rat, saying?”
Meanwhile, the bandit everyone was talking about, Rayos, had managed to slip into the capital, bypassing the searching soldiers. He was puzzled by his inability to use magic.
(But my possession ability still works.)
During his escape last night, his magic had been ineffective, and his internal magic power hadn’t fluctuated. However, he’d managed to evade the soldiers using cover and his own skills.
He’d also taken the opportunity to acquire the country’s currency using his possession ability.
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These three were the main currencies of this country, with value increasing from left to right.
The leftmost coins were worth about 80-100 yen, the central ones 300-500 yen, and the rightmost 5,000-10,000 yen.
Based on merchandise prices and the type of customers, he estimated his own holdings to be around 3,400 yen.
He’d found a building that looked like a brothel.
While his possession ability was useful, he was experiencing some glitches with possessing people and objects, even managing to steal small change.
If there was a god in this world, it was surely their fault. He was certain of it!
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
“Hey? Were you clicking your tongue at me?”
“No. I just click my tongue when I think of a song.”
He’d been cornered. His possession ability was acting up. These guys were using magic tools, which ordinary people in this country all possessed, infusing them with magic power for daily life. They probably saw him, a magic tool-less individual, as an easy target for a shakedown.
“Alright, alright, play us a song, will ya? Then I’ll believe you.”
They smirked, along with other customers, mocking him.
“Very well. One song. ~♪”
Rustle, rustle. Rustle, rustle.
Hmph. I can sing this much even without music.
Clap, clap.
“Wow, I don’t know what song that was, but it was a good one.”
“Well then, I’ll be going…”
A man grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned around with a grin. He knew he was going to be forced to sing until the man and the customers got tired of it. All the while, he’d been subtly assessing the women among the customers, unnoticed.
…There were people following him from the shop. He recognized one of them. Of course, he had no acquaintances in this strange country. It was the original owner of the clothes he was wearing. He’d intended to target homeless people with no fixed abode. Was this a revenge attack from their gang within their territory? Annoying.
“!!!”
When he started to walk faster, they panicked. The reason they didn’t call out to stop him was probably because they didn’t want the soldiers to get involved either.
“Hey!”
“Stop.”
They entered the back alleys, a territory they knew well. They tried to circle around him while calling out to stop him, assuming the soldiers would be slow to arrive. He didn’t stop walking, facing them directly.
“Give me back my clothes.”
“That’s right! You’re an outsider. Just because you can sing doesn’t mean you can steal other people’s things.”
Did they consider themselves righteous beggars? They had nothing outstanding about them. Jealousy was probably mixed in.
“What’s with that pitying look?!”
“We’ll teach you a painful lesson!”
“UOOOOOOOH!”
They attacked him with their bare fists. He wouldn’t let their numerical advantage work.
“So… strong.”
“Damn it.”
They retreated, vowing revenge. Were they planning to come back with more people next time? How troublesome.
“…Where should I stay for the night?”
He couldn’t make a living as a thief without magic tools. Pitiful. He missed women. He missed sex!
Afraid of a night raid, he spent the night on the roof of a house. The night wind conjured up visions of women. He was determined to have sex with a woman today.
There were many spots around the capital where he could “do it,” but getting a woman there was extremely difficult.
“…How many days have I been watching the road?”
Finally. Were they hunting wild vegetables? Mushrooms? Or perhaps monsters? A mixed-gender party. His mouth watered. Magic tools were troublesome.
“Hurry.”
“Yeah.”
“Leave the watch to me.”
“…”
Few words. They returned to the capital after getting what they needed. They planned to ambush him on their way back, with traps already set. If they chased him, more misfortune would befall them. If they didn’t chase him and went to the capital, he would shoot them with his hand-carved crossbow.
“Ugh…”
“Shhh.”
“Who’s there?!”
“Who are you?!”
“Notify the capital—”
“As if I’d let you!”
He knocked out the person furthest behind with a chokehold. Then, he quickly drew his crossbow from his back and shot the leg of the person heading for the capital.
“Guh.”
“Damn it, who is it?!”
They themselves had never engaged in any wrongdoing that would warrant an attack on their lives, nor had they achieved anything remarkable enough to earn someone’s ire.
Facing a life-threatening danger they couldn’t comprehend, the comrades of the attacker hesitatingly began to activate their defensive magic tools. While protecting their injured companion, they moved behind the cover of trees.
Whoosh, Pew.
He didn’t know how many arrows he had left. However, he knew his accuracy was poor. Deciding to retreat only after rescuing their comrade, the two able-bodied members used the trees effectively to approach the assailant.
“This way, clumsy! You call that an attack? ♪”
Rustle! Rustle!
“Don’t forget about me! Come over here! ♪”
They took turns making noise, making it difficult for the attacker to target them. The attacker, carrying his comrade, was surprisingly agile. They assumed he was using a magic tool for physical enhancement. They activated their offensive magic tools and extended the range of their swords.
“Adios.”
The attacker, narrowly avoiding being cut, escaped with his comrade, using his magic tool to ward off the crossbow bolts. He carried the injured man on his shoulder and contacted the capital’s gate guards. A search party was immediately dispatched. They tracked the footprints but were unable to recover their comrade.
“…”
“We’ll search again tomorrow. Ask the man with the distinctive features for cooperation.”
“Yes.”
They couldn’t let kidnappers go unpunished. Events continued to unfold following yesterday’s incident. The capital was abuzz with speculation of a conspiracy by someone, or some group, from somewhere.
