Chapter 147 End of the Vacation ②

Part 2

　One of her reinforcements ―― A boy who looked younger than Tino looked up at the woman with a surprised expression on his face.

“Did you fail?” (Young boy)

“As expected of 《Strange Grief》, I would say.
She seems to have a very good…… Intuition.
Different from those peace-idiots1 from the Knight Order.
No, she did say………… Come back in ten minutes, right?” (Female assassin)

“To think you would attack while knowing who 《Strange Grief》 is ―― “ (Tino)

　They really don’t value their life.

　They were opponents even Tino could win against, so no matter how many of them there were, they would be subdued by Master by him just using his little finger.
　Sure, there are a lot of people.
There are a lot of people, but compared to the feeling of despair I felt the moment I saw the 【Castle of a Myriad Demons】, I can only see them as just regular human beings.

　Even Tino has gone through and survived multiple Infinite Trials.

　I made up my mind.
I have never dealt with this many people at once before, but even if there were ten of them, it doesn’t mean that all ten would attack at once.
Tino Shade should be able to do this.

　All my preparations were complete.
I put my right hand over my yukata and pulled out my dagger from the belt that was wrapped around my torso.
Until a few days ago, I wouldn’t have carried it with me, but the battle in the public bath had made Tino grow up.
　Tino is good at martial arts, but she was also trained in dagger fighting techniques.
Sharpness is a must when dealing with numbers.

　I don’t plan to interrogate them.
I am sure Master knows who they are anyway.
All Tino had to do was to get some tea and snacks and be back in ten minutes.

　The people who appeared in front of me were just obstacles in the trials imposed on Tino.

　The unidentified 『Enemies』 surrounding Tino didn’t change their expression even when they saw her draw her weapons.
On the contrary, the woman who was pretending to be a staff member ridiculed her.

“Poor girl who knows nothing ―― If it is only this much, 《Infinite Variety’s  (Senpen Banka)》 foresight isn’t that big of a deal.” (Female assassin)

’

“……” (Tino)

　What a useless provocation.
I am not going to ride on it.
　When Tino lowered her eyebrows in annoyance while being fully focused, the woman said something unbelievable.

“Let me tell you something good ―― We have already captured two members of Strange Grief.
No matter how famous your Party is, you can’t win if you are not all togeth ――” (Female assassin)

My extreme concentration sharpened my mind.
I see the others behind the woman moving their arms with very little to a minimum of movement.

“That’s impossible.” (Tino)

　Her words were made to upset Tino for a moment, but it quickly turned into surrounding noise.

　After evading four knives thrown at her from four different directions and flicking one with her dagger, Tino strongly stepped toward the rude people in front of her.

 

§

 

“Oï, oï, you dodged it from that position ―― My surprise attack should have been perfect, but Hunters really are monsters.
It was correct of me to aim for the strongest one first.” (???)

’

“Kuh…… Who are, you?” (Arnold)

　The man bent his lips into a smile and laughed.
I glared at him, but his expression didn’t waver in the slightest.
　He was a man of medium height.
He had few possessions and didn’t look like a Hunter, but his body language wasn’t that of an ordinary man.
While frowning at the pain in my back, I pulled out my sword from my back.
The men’s companions spread out and *niyaniya* smiled as they surrounded the carriage of 《Fallen Mist》.

　It was fortunate that Arnold quickly twisted himself and was able to evade the white blade away from his vitals.
The wound on his back wasn’t particularly a shallow one, but Arnold is a veteran Hunter.
It would be bad if it keeps bleeding for a long time, but this level of injury wouldn’t hinder him from fighting.

　His golden great sword was already in his hands.
He was certainly agile, but not enough to make a Level 7 Hunter have a hard time.
　Hay and the others were already in a fighting stance.
The man’s aloof demeanor remained unchanged as he drew his weapon and was surrounded by Hay and the others.

　I don’t know who they are.
I don’t recall having anyone resent us here in Zebrudia.

“You… Aren’t 《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》, right? I heard he was a man with delicate features ―― Damn, it’s not my luck…… To think we would find such a high-level Hunter in a city like this one…… But unfortunately, it’s our rule to not let anyone out of the city when we attack one……” (???)

　《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》, you say!? Don’t tell me it is that guy’s trick again? My anger erased the dull pain I felt.

　However, even in the midst of such anger, Arnold felt a strong sense of discomfort.
　It was strange.
The fact that he attacked us in broad daylight so proudly was strange, moreover, attacking Arnold and his companions was, in the first place, a stupid act to do.
　The man in front of me and his companions was certainly fairly decent, but they were far inferior to Fallen Mist.
They shouldn’t be so inexperienced that they don’t understand the difference in their abilitie ――.

　Just as I was thinking about it, my vision suddenly shook.
　For a moment, I thought it was an earthquake, but it wasn’t.

’
　I pointed the great sword I was holding downward, stabbed it into the ground, and somehow managed to hold on from collapsing.
An unknown shudder attacked my whole body, and all my strength was drained from my body.

“Arnold-san” (Hay)

“Oï, oï, it’s finally working ―― Even though it was one powerful enough to use against Phantoms, what a tough guy.” (???)

　It was 『Poison』.
Moreover, it was an extremely powerful poison that works against a Level 7 like Arnold.

　Treasure Hunters can easily increase their physical abilities with the power of Mana Material, but on the other hand, their ailment resistance tends to be easily neglected.
　Arnold was still able to neutralize any poison against humans that were commercially available, but the poison he received wasn’t something half-baked like those.

　The heat disappeared from my body.
It didn’t hurt, but it was just plain blood-curling.

　What did I get poisoned with? ―― Was he composed because he was waiting for the poison to take effect on me.
　I clenched my teeth, put all my strength into it, and raised my head.
The man looked at me as if he were looking at a rare and fierce beast.

　Before we knew it, the tourist around us had gathered around our carriage.
　There were more than ten or twenty of them.
Most of them carried no noticeable weapons and there were even some of them dressed like merchants.
　All of them looked at Arnold and his companions with great interest.

　Why, does no one raise a voice? For a moment, such a question flashed through my mind, but I soon came up with an answer.

　It isn’t that they won’t speak up.
These guys, they are all ――.

’

“Let me introduce myself.
Anyway, it’s useless to introduce ourselves as we live in the shadows, but sometimes just like you Hunters, we like to name ourselves.” (???)

　The man bared his teeth in a smile.
His eyes were arrogantly looking down at Arnold.
　Each of the people around me pulled out their weapons from under their clothes.
There was no sign of the guards who were supposed to be guarding the city.

“We are ―― Barrel.
We creep like shadows, robs people and their properties like flames, taking everything and everyone.
And to become the strongest bandit group ―― We are now going to kill the strongest.” (Man from Barrel Bandit Group)

 

TL notes:

Thanks for reading! And a huge thank you to Mohammad for his donation! There will be another chapter tomorrow!
Too bad it wasn’t the rest of Strange Grief, I also thought that it might have been them, but nope, it was the bandit group!
And as Cry “predicted”, he really didn’t have to chase after them, they came on their own! XD
Such a dumb group of bandits! They are so dead.
Tchao à plus!

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Footnotes

Peace-idiot: Peace-idiot is in short people who are too accustomed to peace and don’t know what to do in case of an attack.