Chapter 164 - Negligence

The first one to react to my words was Ren.

Ren: “Keep your hands off of Mein!”

Ren brandishes his sword.

It lets out sparks as it collides with my arm.

Of course, I don’t take any damage. It’s not like he learned the other reinforcement methods in this short amount of time.

At this level, I don’t even need to use my shield.

Naofumi: “You know. If you call her that, her punishment will only increase.”

Ren: “Shut it. Get away from Mein!”

Witch is also struggling. It’s become difficult to hold her with one hand.

Ren: 「Meteor Sword!」

Oh, a skill might be able to inflict some damage on me. I’m holding a relatively rare egg right now.

It will be a waste if it breaks, so I back off.

In exchange, Rafatalia and Firo step forward.

Even Motoyasu takes up a fighting stance.

We’re all prepared to capture Ren, Bitch and Woman 2.

Naofumi: “Ren, it’s better if you don’t trust that witch. She’s exactly as the Queen described.”

She can put false crimes on people without remorse, and she loves watching others struggle.

Ren will probably be tricked and discarded sometime soon as well.

Just like Motoyasu.

Naofumi: “Look closely at Motoyasu’s face. Doesn’t he look pitiable? Is this the face of a person who would do such things?”

Ren: “No, I heard Motoyasu was also coerced by the Queen! The Queen is the ringleader behind all of this.”

Naofumi: “And isn’t that single woman the only one telling you that?”

Ren: “Even so, I must fight for the people who believe in me!”

Naofumi: “Calm down. Think Logically. The normal you would have figured it out by now.”

Ren: “Shut up!”

Ah… this is impossible. He seriously believes he is in the right.

I can’t really blame him here.

In my case, I had the slight feeling that something was off, but I never realized I had been deceived until the end.

And the current Ren is mentally unstable. He sides with Witch, who offered him plenty of soft words.

… Should I kill her?

I should have enough power now. Unlike before.

Wait, a Shadow should be somewhere around here.

If the Shadow utilizes the slave crest, I won’t have to fight Ren.

Perhaps I will be able to teach him proper reinforcement techniques and add him to my fighting force.

… Though earning his trust won’t be that easy.

As if responding to my thoughts, Bitch’s slave crest begins to glow.

Bitch: “Ku…. Ren-sama! We should retreat for now.”

Ren: “Understood! 「Flashing Sword!」”

On Witch’s words, Ren unleashes a skill.

And as before, his sword starts glowing.

Naofumi: “Damn! Rafatalia, Firo!”

Rafatalia: “Yes!”

Firo: “Yeah!”

Right after I gave my warning, the sword releases a blinding light.

As if that will work forever!

Rafatalia: “I, who has understood the origin of power commands you. I shall once again read forth the truth. Bind this foul light that clouds us from knowledge!”

Rafatalia: 「Al Anti-Shining!」

Our eyes that were under the influence of Ren’s flashing sword start to clear up.

And Firo jumps into the air in preparation for a kick. But she is too late. Ren picks up Bitch and Woman 2, and brandishes his sword once more.

Ren: 「Transfer Sword!」

Just like when Motoyasu disappeared, Ren’s image starts to fade.

And so does Witch’s.

Naofumi: “Witch, it seems you were able to escape this time. But remember this: I’ll chase you to the depths of hell. All you have to do is wait in a corner, cowering in fear.”

Bitch: “Hmph!”

I hear witch snorting at my proclamation before she completely disappears.

This skill truly is annoying.

I need to find some way to seal it.

Naofumi: “Dammit! She got away again! That damn Witch, I’ll definitely slaughter her later!”

Rafatalia: “Naofumi-sama, please calm down.”

Naofumi: “Aren’t you frustrated? Has she begun corrupting you as well!?”

I’m madder then I’ve ever been in a long time.

What should I take my anger out on?

It’s immature, but I start to get angry at Rafatalia.

Rafatalia: “… Naofumi-sama, your words are enough to keep me by your side.”

Naofumi: “I see…”

If Rafatalia is okay with this, then I guess I should endure my rage for a little longer.

But I won’t forget this, Witch.

This rage greater than I can handle. Someday it will be embedded into your chest with a ten inch rusty nail.

As I slowly stomach my rage, Shadow appears.

Shadow: “…She has escaped out of my range-gojaru. I can only send out fatal punishment, but I cannot track her.”

I don’t think killing her would be that bad, but Shadow also has orders. We can’t kill her without due process…

And I kinda want her to suffer 100x more. Am I a bad person?

Naofumi: “So it seems.”

Shadow: “I never thought the former princess would be able to seduce the Hero of the Sword so easily-gojaru.”

Naofumi: “Just when I was looking for them, they suddenly appeared. Perhaps my luck is better than I thought.”

Shadow: “I see-gojaru… anyways I’m off to give a report to the Queen-gojaru. By the way, what should we do with the Hero of the Spear-gojaru?”

Naofumi: “…If we try something, won’t he just run away?”

If he has such a convenient skill, I don’t think we can apprehend him.

I can’t even begin to think of how convenient it would have been for me if I had it when I was on the lam.

Shadow: “I don’t think it seems that way-gojaru.”

Motoyasu has dropped his stance and is staring at the ground sighing.

So his heart has already given up.

Naofumi: “What’s up? Won’t you run?”

Motoyasu: “It’s fine… I wanted to find everyone. I believed in them, but this is all I get… The townsfolk all treat me coldly… I’m tired…”

His eyes look cloudy. If he were a magical girl, this is where he would turn into a witch.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

(Note: Madoka reference…)

Naofumi: “So will you take him in?”

Shadow: “I don’t think he will be punished that badly-gojaru. The world still needs him to fight in the wave-gojaru.”

Naofumi: “Yeah, that’s true… We can’t really give him overly cruel penalties, and we can’t kill him…”

If killing was all we had to do, then Rafatalia and Firo would be able to do it in one blow.

But then we wouldn’t have to capture him.

Naofumi: “For now, Motoyasu, you’re under arrest.”

Motoyasu: “… Yes, yes I understand. Take me wherever you will. Kill me if you want…”

Motoyasu seems to have given up all hope

But after what just happened it can’t be helped.

Motoyasu: “Everyone asks me to save them, and if I make the slightest mistake they throw stones at me… The Bitch and Elena that I believed with all of my heart turned out to be bad people… I don’t even care anymore…”

He had believed in his comrades, and had thus tried to search the globe for them, but those very comrades abandoned him.

There must be a reason it turned out like this. I’m not at fault. He must be thinking things like that.

And the sun is already setting.

Naofumi: “Should I take him to the castle now?”

Shadow: “It seems to be an urgent matter, so I’ll leave it to you, Iwatani-dono-gojaru.”

Naofumi: “Got it. Oy, Motoyasu.”

Motoyasu: “It’s fine. Just say I caused this disaster already… Will that satisfy you?”

What the hell are you giving in to. You’re definitely a cause of this disaster.

Why are you acting like it’s someone else’s problem?

Naofumi: “… Can you use that Warp skill to go to the castle?”

Motoyasu: “That’s not its current registered destination, so it’s impossible.”

Naofumi: “So it’s no use here. What material did you absorb to get that spear?”

Learning that skill will make transportation convenient.

It can be used for peddling, level grinding and many more.

I should probably have the ability to learn it.

Motoyasu: “… It’s the Dragon Hourglass’s sand.”

Shadow: “When were you able to take it-gojaru!?”

So that’s what it is. Isn’t that kinda illegal?

Ren and Itsuki probably already absorbed some as well.

Why didn’t I try it yet?

Motoyasu: “I didn’t steal anything. The sisters gave it to me when I asked.”

Shadow glares at him.

Shadow: “N-now that I think about it, there were some reports of that happening when the Three Hero church was in control… gojaru.”

Naofumi: “Say that ahead of time!”

Now that I think about it, there are a mountain of materials I have yet to try. I haven’t been feeding the shield much lately.

The Yggdrasil medicine was too valuable so I didn’t feed it to the Shield.

I should start testing more things.

Naofumi: “What sort of skill is it?”

Motoyasu: “It lets you teleport to a preset location…”

Naofumi: “Are there any conditions?”

Motoyasu: “No idea… In my game you could use it in any area that didn’t prevent skills.”

I still have no idea how to prevent it.

Though there may have been areas that limited it while in the game, I have no idea if this world has such places.

Can you set to anywhere you’ve been before?

Naofumi: “What can you set the destination as?”

Motoyasu: “You can set up to Three locations. If you try to set another, the oldest one will be forgotten. The most people you can take with you is 6.”

He’s being strangely compliant… Anyways, the castle is quite a distance away. If we can’t warp there directly, I guess we’ll have to stay the night in this town.

Naofumi: “Then we’ll find a place to stay the night here.”

Motoyasu: “Understood.”

Shadow: “Understood-gojaru. I will depart to relay the situation to the Queen-gojaru.”

Naofumi: “How do you contact the Queen anyways?”

Shadow: “Secret-gojaru. I’ll only tell you that I can’t carry anyone with me-gojaru.”

Shadow disappears as she says this.

Her response somehow annoys me.

Firo begins poking the depressed Motoyasu.

Even after he saw what that women did to me, he’s still this depressed?

Perhaps he is finally feeling the fatigue of the lifestyle he has been living until now.

I don’t really care, and I kinda like seeing his depressed face, but I notice Rafatalia glaring at me.

Rafatalia: “Naofumi-sama? What’s wrong?

Naofumi: “Nothing really. Let’s go find an inn.”

Rafatalia: “Yes.”

And that’s how we dragged Motoyasu with us, and found an Inn to stay at.