Chapter 75: City of Brainwash

After parting ways with Kuna and Punini, Shion had begun to pursue his enemy, Abarth, on Haku.

Maintain a distance that is not too close, but not too far, so as not to be noticed.

‘It looks like the damage is still too great. He seems to be resting a lot’

“Maybe he’s using so much Teleportation magic that he’s running out of magic power”

Anyway, they had to have him lead them to the Brainwashing Hero, so Haku continued to sense the magic of his own white hair.

After a night of sleep, Abarth’s magic power and strength seemed to have recovered somewhat, and his movement speed increased. On this day and the next, Abarth continued to move, and on the third day, he finally showed significant movement.

Around noon, he fled to a city in the northern part of the Kingdom of Valenciu. Shion and the other, who had been tracking him closely, spoke of the city from a distance from the top of a small hill.

‘That was a close call. If a little more time had passed, I would have lost the ability to sense magic power!’

“Nice work, Haku. But this is Kratoria, isn’t it? There’s a big clock tower in the middle of the city, that’s what they’re famous for”

Even from a distance, you could see the clock tower.

‘I wonder if the Brainwashing Hero is in there?’

“North of here, across the country, there is the Ostral Empire. I’ve heard that the Brainwashing Hero serve the emperor there”

‘So, it’s not surprising that he’s staying in that city. Let’s go’

“Yeah, let’s go”

The duo moved down the hill and to the front of the gate with the momentum of the wind.

Kratoria is a city of about 10,000 people, and other than the clock tower, there is nothing particularly remarkable about it. If anything, Shion only knew that the lord of the city was strong and hot-headed.

There were four guards at the gate, and as soon as they saw Haku, they held up their spears.

For a moment, they were alarmed, thinking that the Brainwashing Hero had heard about them, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He was simply surprised by Haku’s appearance.

“Wh…Who are you?!”

“I’m sorry to startle you. We’re travelers, and we came here looking for a place to stay for the night”

“That means, that’s your Familiar?”

“Yes, that’s right”

Haku pretended not to be able to speak to avoid useless confrontation.

After showing his adventurer’s card to prove his identity and paying the fee, Shion was easily able to enter. After entering and walking around a bit, Haku said to him with a small voice.

‘Don’t cause trouble in the city, they didn’t tell you that huh?’

The size of a Haku is astounding, and it is normal for a Familiar to be asked to prove that the owner can control it.

“Huh. Maybe there are a lot of others like Haku here”

Many people are coming and going on the road that stretches straight from the entrance. There, several wolf-type monsters were walking. They were about three or four meters long, not so different in build from Haku.

They all seemed to be Familiars, and people didn’t seem to be particularly concerned.

“Come to think of it, I’ve heard that there are a lot of wolf monsters around here, and a lot of wolf owners”

‘Hee~. I felt somewhat excited!’

“What are you doing, trying to rival him. Look, there’s our opponent”

‘Phew. You’re right. I can feel a slight reaction from my needle hair’

They followed the road to the location where Abarth was hiding. While doing so, they observed the city. At the end of the main street, there is a magnificent clock tower that serves as a symbol of the city. It’s a typical town, except for that and the fact that there are a lot of wolf owners.

There are few restaurants and tool shops, and almost no one is dressed in bizarre outfits.

It’s not surprising that there are heroes in the group, so he paid attention, but nothing special happens. The only thing that happened was the ringing of the bell on top of the clock tower.

They arrive in front of one of the inns without any trouble.

“Here?”

‘Yes-desu’

The name of the two-story inn facing the main street is the Black Leopard Pavilion. If Abarth is here, then there is a possibility that the Hero is also staying here.

“It’s kind of troublesome if we get into a fight inside…”

‘Even if we bring the fight outside, it’s downtown…’

“You said it. And it’s not like we can wait until they leave…”

Shion was wondering how to attack, but the first one to act is the opponent. A wooden window on the second floor suddenly opened, and Abarth came out of it and stood on the roof.

“I can’t seem to get rid of this hair that’s stuck in me”

‘Well, I made sure to stab it deep after all~’

“…… Oh well. It’s not that you’re after me, it’s Jin-sama that you’re after. That’s why you let me go”

Abarth insists that he is not so stupid that he does not even notice that he got let go. Shion asks, not looking away from his opponent.

“Even if he’s not inside the inn, he’s probably hiding somewhere in this city, right?”

“I guess so”

He can feel strange confidence from Abarth, who doesn’t show any particular wariness. It must be something that springs from having a Brainwashing Hero nearby.

There are shadows on the roof, on Abarth, who has his arms crossed, and on Shion’s feet, who is looking up. It’s easy to get close in an instant. The problem is that the opponent is skilled in Teleportation magic, so it is difficult to catch them.

‘Shion-san. We’re surrounded’

At Haku’s words, he checked the surroundings and saw that a large number of people had gathered around him and Haku as if they were surrounding them. Some of them were strong men, but most of them were mere residents, and even children as young as three or four years old had joined them.

The entrance to the inn opens and a man who looks like a customer and the owner comes out from inside, weapons in hand. They stand at the entrance, determined not to let Shion and Haku enter the store.

Everyone’s eyes are fixed on him, but he can’t read their emotions.

There’s no sign of emotion on them. The people that we passed back there have much more emotions in their eyes than the ones that are here, Shion thought.

“I’ll pass on the word from Jin-sama here. -- Welcome, you who came to visit me. Abarth has told me that you are an exceptional person. I’d like to speak with you alone for a moment”

To go or not to go. If they agree to the discussion here, they might be able to question him about the incident in the forest, the Reaper’s chain, and the fact that he was giving magical tools to the demon race. They can get some answers to these questions.

But, Shion shook his head.

“Can’t you at least negotiate on your own? A Hero is supposed to be a man of courage”

“That means you refused? What a shame, this will end badly for you”

Said Abarth, and then he shifted from the spot. It was obvious that he was headed to where the Hero is.

“Haku, can you still follow his presence?”

‘If it’s not his exact location, I can’

If that’s the case, we just have to get through this situation first.

The number of people in the street has more than doubled from the previous hundred or so, filling the street to the brim.

“No way, those clock tower bells are driving them crazy?”

‘It reminds me of the time with the …… demon tribe. But there doesn’t seem to be anyone to order them what to do’

During the demon war, handbells were rung and dozens of soldiers lost their minds all at once. This time, hundreds of people …… No, the order of magnitude would change if the sound of the bells that echoed through that city drove most of them insane.

“Eliminate those who disobey Jin-sama”

“Eliminate those who disobey Jin-sama”

“Eliminate those who disobey Jin-sama”

“Eliminate those who disobey Jin-sama”

All of them were talking in unison as they gradually closed the distance. Even the unarmed ones.

He doesn’t want to deal with the weak, it would take too much time. As Shion pondered whether it would be best to force his way through, a man …… held a child in his arms.

He threw the child at Shion as if he were throwing an object, while still expressionless.

It is easy to avoid it. However, he didn’t do so. If she hit the building, she would inevitably be injured.

“Are you okay?”

“Don’t defy Jin-sama!!”

The child, who must be no more than five years old, bit into Shion’s arm without hesitation. Her gums were borne and her brow wrinkled, reminiscent of the face of a fierce beast when it tries to kill its prey.

“……You’ve got me there”

Shion muttered as he tried to pull the girl away from him.

With that one attack, he knew.

It seems that they are not simply being manipulated - he thought.