Chapter 76

“It’s been too long, Black Rabbit.”

The voice was from the man who had mocked me to no end in Fhiraldo. The result of which was him and his gang being sent to the mines by Russell.

I decided not to answer him. We had nothing to do with each other anymore. Yes, there was a history. But, Russell had put an end to all of it. Only an idiot would get involved with them now.

“You’ve got some nerve, ignoring me like that…”

I could almost hear his teeth grinding. Nighteyes allowed me to see well in the dark, and so I could see his tight grip on the pickaxe, see that he was readying himself to swing.

We were at the highest point. There were no bonfires, nowhere to run. The only way to escape this was the stairs that he was now blocking. I would have to break through somehow. However, I could sense that several others were climbing the stairs. It seemed like the other Adventurers that had been with him were monitoring me. Quite free for forced laborers, no? Who was in charge here?

“This is where you die.”

The pickaxe was raised and then swung down towards me. I didn’t have my equipment, which meant no AGI boost. But I could still dodge him. Thankfully, I didn’t survive all of this time by relying on equipment alone. General maneuvers were not a problem for me. I retreated to the side of the bastard’s pickaxe, then to his back. I had my opening, and I slipped away.

“You!”

I ignore him and run. With a vault, I fly over the heads of the former Adventurers who were hiding in the shadows. Then I kick the wall to turn around the corner. Shouts of rage come from behind me. But I don’t slow down for a second as I pass them, descend the stairs, and jump out into the main road. The sounds of hurried footsteps follow me as I dash back to the bar. I needed to ask the bar owner about the location of the guard house. They could take care of it from there.

“Where did he go? Damn it!”

I can hear their voices as they search, they were loud enough that I hoped someone would hear it and report this uprising. But I had to be sure, and so I would do it myself. And so I ran to the bar inn.

The door opens with my room 303 key. I don’t know how. The door swings open and the floor is empty. No sounds, no lights. Quiet. Had he gone to sleep? It was just as I was considering where to go and look for him when someone came down the stairs.

“Oh, it’s you, young man. What are you doing?”

“Busty broad!”

“Who are you calling busted!”

It was she who had come down the stairs. She was wearing very thin underwear and nothing else.

I was once again thankful to have the Nighteyes skill.

“I need to ask you something.”

“How about you call me by my actual name first!”

“But, I don’t know it.”

“Oh, I see. I am Lisa. And?”

“I’m Asagi. And uh, I need to ask you something. Where is the guard house?”

“Guard house?”

Busty Broad Lisa looked at me suspiciously.

“I’m being chased by slaves.”

“Well, the thing is…no, I do not need to tell you. Nothing good will happen by getting involved. Yes, the guard house. Go straight to the north of this road and turn to the right on the third crossing. There is a big building there that is the guard house.”

“Thank you!”

She was ultimately rather nice and helpful, and so I thanked her before rushing right out of the door once again. I was just about to head for the guard house, but stopped.

“Ahh, Black Rabbit. We meet again.”

“Tsk…”

“Get him!!”

The former Adventurers had surrounded the building. This was going to be hard to break through. They all came at me with their pickaxes. I could only dodge so many attacks. Without any choice, I create an ice sword and block the vicious attacks.

“Damn… He is using magic now…”

“It’s nothing! Surround him!”

And with that, several of them move behind me. I can barely keep track of them as I push back at the pickaxe from the front. This was not going well… But I could make it, as long as I could break through this wall. And so I pushed the former Adventurer who was in front of me back and attempted to make a run for it.

“Asagi! Look out!”

“!?”

Someone had rammed into a former Adventurer who was behind me. I can see that he had his pickaxe raised as he rolls to the ground. I would have been hit. And I also see that it was none other than Lisa who had saved me.

“Who the hell are you! Get out of our way!”

“Lisa!”

One of the former Adventurers throws his pickaxe at her. It would be more than a light scratch if it hit her. Her hands were covering her face, but she was not quick enough to move. I had to do something.

There were no other options. This had only happened because I was careless. I would use ‘Legs of the Forest Wolf’ and kick their heads in!

“GAAHH!!”

A violent wind of green and silver swirls around me, pushing the former Adventurers back. The speed of the Forest Wolf is faster than the pickaxe, and it is knocked out of its trajectory by my ice sword.

“Are you hurt? Lisa!”

“You, you…!”

“Get inside!”

“Ohhh!”

I push her through the door and slam it shut. All would be fine if she locked the door. You needed the right key to enter, or the security measures would activate. She would be safe.

“You… I would have taken it easy on you if it was just me. But if you harm other innocents, just like the first time, I won’t hold back!”

“Do you really think you can take on this number, Black Rabbit!?”

The slaves encircle me once again. I was almost sorry to say it, but their numbers meant nothing to me. It didn’t matter how numerous they were, this would end in a second. No one could stop the speed of the Forest Wolf. However, this skill wasn’t only about speed. There was a use that I had first discovered through Jack of all Trades, Master of None.

“If you’re in my way, I’ll break right through you!”

I throw a kick into the first slave who approaches. The wind cuts into him like a blade. This was the other thing that Legs of the Forest Wolf could do.

“Ggah! Aghh!!”

Blood sprayed over the ground as the wounded slave fell. Still, the others did not stop. They were like crazed boars. But their pickaxes would not reach me. There was no reason to even block anymore. With accelerated speed, I slip through them and cut at the tendons of their bare feet with my ice sword. Another falls to the ground, now immobile. Some seemed to have come to their senses by the time the fourth one fell. And they began to run.

But I wouldn’t let them go.

It was easy to catch up, easy to block their flailing attacks and move around them. And cut at their tendons like I did the others.

They scatter like the spawn of spiders, but they can’t outrun me. I catch up to each one and make sure that they can no longer escape before going to the next. Some tried to hide in narrow passageways, but I just kicked the air and searched from above. With my Nighteyes I search. Now, the last one. It was the bastard leader. Presence Detection tells me that he had run to the highest point on the east side. Legs of the Forest Wolf allow me to fly up, ignoring the steps.

And there was the leader. Somehow, he had found a double-edged sword.

“Damn, damn-damn it! What is he…he was just the Black Rabbit…damn!”

He was glaring at the stairs and cursing. He had not noticed that I was right behind him. I just needed to put him down and it would all be over.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this…! It was all his fault… His…!”

“It was entirely you and your men’s fault. This happened because you lay a hand on Daniela.”

“!?”

The bastard leader looked back in a panic. His shock at seeing me in the air is so strong that he cannot make a noise. His mouth opens and closes like a fish, but he is otherwise, frozen. It’s easy to strike the sword out of his hand. It flies away without resistance, bouncing off the wall and falling behind me. Which meant that it fell right out of the building.

“You, you…”

“The same fate awaits you.”

I reach out and grab him by the collar. He tears at my arm and flails, but it’s not enough to best my raised STR. Well, it wasn’t as high as Daniela’s, but I knew it was more than enough here. It was enough for this bastard Adventurer.

I turned around in the opposite direction, my feet land on the rim of the building. Now there is nothing beneath the bastard’s feet.

“You would have been free in ten years if you just worked here quietly. But you wasted your chance. You all did. If you have to hate something, hate your own stupidity.”

“Wa-wait. I was wrong! But…!”

“It’s too late. It’s all too late.”

I said. And then I let go.

“No-no, nooooooooooooooooo…!!!!”

It was a bungee jump without a cord. His scream echoed throughout the city as he descended head first. It was fear itself. He would truly understand it. How thoughtless his actions had been.

And so I too shot down towards the ground. Even if I wanted to kill him, I had no intention of doing so. Legs of the Forest Wolf can accelerate faster than anyone. The boost from the silver and green wind allows me to reach the ground before him, and kick up into the falling bastard leader. But this time the wind around my feet acts as a cushion. He had fainted from the fear and the shock. His limp body rolls to the ground.

And now that was everyone. All of the former Adventurers that Russell had sent here by my request. They were all a hopeless bunch. I had hesitated when it came to execution at the time. If that could be avoided, then I preferred that they were sent to the mines. Russell had warned me of this softness being exploited. And I feel like that is exactly what had happened.

And so I think, as I gather the slaves in the public square and bind them with ice magic.

Had I been wrong to make that decision?