Chapter 14 (Part 02) – Transport Preparations (Part Two)

Hikaru caught the smell of perfume the moment he entered the room. A woman lay on a gorgeous canopy bed. She seemed gaudy, with clear, distinct features. She was fast asleep.

The Count’s wife… Nah, she’s too young.

Rings and necklaces were scattered on the dresser.

A mistress? Or perhaps a second wife?

He took one of the rings. It had a gem on it, though it was too dark to ascertain its color.

I can easily steal this, but it’ll probably get traced back if I sell it. All the more so if it’s expensive.

When Hikaru decided to make money, he considered stealing from wicked people like Robin Hood. But there were three reasons as to why he couldn’t:

1. He couldn’t unlock vaults.

2. He couldn’t sell precious jewelry as it could be traced back to him.

3. Even if he could steal money, large amounts of coins would be too heavy for him to carry.

If it was only small amounts, he could just earn them from the Adventurers Guild and he wouldn’t have to risk himself by stealing.

He asked Jill while she was busy sipping her Twin Tornado Juice about Item Boxes or Dimension Storages which could help him carry lots of coins, but her answer was:

「I think those are natural treasures from some other country.」

Apparently they were not things one could buy in the market. If stuff like that were circulated, there would’ve been a huge revolution similar to the IT Revolution on Earth. This world could then develop into an advanced society that he’d only seen and read in science fiction. But clearly that wasn’t the case. Merchants transported goods by wagons and hired people to carry heavier packages.

The technology behind the soul card system that the man with the Wisdom God class created was clearly a special case – something beyond current capabilities.

Stealing was not an option. Hikaru returned the ring and stepped back out into the corridor. After checking the other rooms, there was only one that was unusual.

Books…

By the wall was a bookshelf filled with books, most of which were adventure stories. Judging from the size of the bed and the fanciness of the interior design, Hikaru guessed it belonged to a teenager.

Maybe it’s that girls’ room.

He opened the wardrobe and found familiar pajamas.

I knew it… Holy…!

Underneath were striped underwears. There was a loud bang as he quickly closed the wardrobe.

Oh, shit!

He trotted to the shadows behind the bed to hide.

「Is someone here?」

Instantly the door opened. A man with a magic lamp, which seemed to work like a flashlight, entered. He pointed the light through the entire room, barely inches away from touching Hikaru’s toes.

「…Oh, a book just fell.」he muttered to himself and left.

It’s that knight. The one who was displeased about the girl being charged for murder.

「He sure is hardworking.」

Hikaru left the girl’s room.

There wasn’t anything noteworthy on the second floor so he went back down to the first. As soon as he did, he heard the sound of people arguing.

「Now’s not the time for this. It’s simply improper.」

「You’re just too serious, East.」

The voices came from the direction of the back door. The knight who entered the girl’s room caught the other knight with the maid as they came back from outside.

「Our mission is still not over.」

「We’ll be heading back after our job. I was just saying my goodbyes now.」

「Do that when we’re off-duty.」

「All right, fine. You can have all the credit for this bodyguard mission.」

「What does that have to do with anything? Besides, what I’m saying is…」

Not caring less about their arguing, Hikaru explored the first floor. Several servants seemed to have been woken up by the ruckus as they were headed in his direction. He hid himself in a room. After letting them pass, Hikaru himself made his way deeper into the mansion.

Not this one. This looks like a servants’ room… Hmm?

Hikaru spotted a set of stairs that led down to the basement at the end of the hall. Beside it was knight – the one at the temple with East – sitting still, asleep.

This is a great opportunity.

A bunch of keys dangled from the knight’s waist. A leather strap was tied to a metal ring that held five keys together. Hikaru drew closer and tried to untied the strap.

What the… it’s too tight. I can’t untie it. Where’s it even connected to?

He checked to see that the strap went through the knight’s pants. He felt hopeless.

Do I have to shove my hand in there? No, wait. Maybe the door is not actually locked.

Clinging to a slim chance, Hikaru went down the stairs and found an iron door. It was locked, of course.

Saw that coming…

He climbed back up.

How do I take it out? Pull it by force? Nah, that’ll wake him up. Cut the strap, then? Sounds like a good idea. Although, if I failed to save the girl tonight, security would be tightened even more the next day. I could copy the shape of the keys with some clay. How long would it take to make a duplicate? There’s five keys too. If I asked someone to duplicate them all at once, would they suspect me and think something’s up?

「Hey, wake up. What are you doing, sleeping on the job?」

The knight arguing with East woke up the sleeping knight. Hikaru quickly hid himself behind the stairs, in the shadows.

「Hmm? Oh, I fell asleep, huh? 」

「Hehehe. You’re gonna get it from East.」

「Don’t tell him. Please!」

「All right, all right. So, how’s the girl doing?」

「Oh, I actually haven’t checked on her tonight.」

「Hey, now. That doesn’t sound good. We have to check on her.」

「Let’s go, then.」

Sluggishly, the knight stood up and started walking towards Hikaru.

What the…

He turned pale as a sheet. This is bad. The stairwell — wide enough for one person at a time — turned left halfway, but it was a direct path with only a door at the end and no places to hide. In other words, he’d get busted.

Crap. What do I do?

For the time being, Hikaru headed down the stairs, turned left and held his breath.

「Haa… my body gets dull when I’m doing nothing.」

「You should’ve come with me. Late night work-out with maids is fun, you know?」

「Please. I have a wife and a kid.」

Slowly, they went down the stairs.

I screwed up. I shouldn’t have checked this dead-end place. Now I’m cornered. Damn it… No, now’s not the time to regret my actions. I have to think of a way out of this.

A certain word sprang up in the back of Hikaru’s mind.

【Assassination】When the user attacks without the target noticing, the attack will have a lethal effect. Max: 3.

Anyone going down can’t see me here. I can therefore “attack without the target noticing”.

He grasped his Dagger of Strength tightly.

I’ll kill the one in front first. Fortunately they’re wearing plain clothes, not armor. He shouldn’t make much of a noise either. Then I’m gonna hide behind his body and pull it this way. The knight behind him will have no idea what happened and when he checks…

I’ll kill him as well.

His heart pounded in his chest. These were innocent men. But now he had to kill them because of his blunder.

「Man, when I think about how our work in Pond will soon be over…」

「What, you find it hard to leave?」

Doubt. Could he really do it?

Uncertainty. Would it go well?

Guilt. Could he really kill innocent people?

「No, you idiot. I feel relieved.」

「You can say that again.」

With sweaty palms, he gripped his dagger tight. Three more steps.

「Let’s drink all night at a bar once we get back—」

Now.

「Sir Knight!」

The moment Hikaru jumped out, a woman’s voice rang out.

「What’s the meaning of this?! Sir East told me you sometimes hit on girls at bars and stay with them overnight!」

「What? Ah, I, uhh… what are you talking about?」

「Was he lying?! Or you?!」

「Wait, wait. Hold on. Calm down. Just put the knife down, okay?」

It was the maid from earlier. One knight climbed back up the stairs.

「Whoa, whoa… She found out about your two-timing?」

The other knight followed.

…They’re gone…

Feeling every bit of strength leave his body, Hikaru flopped down on the spot. He was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily.

「I can’t afford to rest now. I’ll just end up in the same situation.」

Whipping back his limping body into life, Hikaru climbed back up the stairs.

「I can’t believe it!」

「You’re the only one I love! It’s true!」

The knight and maid the knife were arguing. The other guy with the keys followed them, leaving one key on his chair before approaching the maid. He probably removed it from the bunch to open the door below.

Now’s my chance.

Hikaru jumped out from the stairwell and took the key. No one noticed him as he did. He went back down the stairs, used the key, and pushed the iron door open. After checking to see it could be locked from inside, he stuck a towel under it so it would stay open. He then went back up and left the key on the chair.

「Stop swinging that knife around. It’s dangerous.」

「Hey, this is getting serious.」

「Waaaaaahhhh!」

It sounded like the commotion would not be dying down anytime soon. Hikaru went back down and entered the room with the iron door. He heaved a deep sigh of relief. That was so close. He reflected on his carelessness and his lack of resolve.

There’s a chance I’ll have to kill innocent people in the future… What do I do then? Should I prepare myself to kill?

…No. If I started killing people for superficial reasons, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop. If someone annoyed me, I’d probably think “I can just kill this guy”. I’ll have to put in every bit of effort so that I won’t kill unnecessarily. Every bit of effort. I would have to take every possibility into consideration beforehand and be as attentive as possible when I’m on the job.

All right. Here we go.

He quickly switched gears.

I can reflect on things properly later. Right now, I’m in the middle of something.

It was a storage room. Sacks and wooden crates – their contents Hikaru had no idea – were cluttered about. From where he stood, Hikaru could see iron bars farther inside the room. Ancient letters were carved into them, emitting pale light. A magic seal.

A prison. An extremely solid one. The inside was well-ordered, however. A painting hung by the wall. The cell was furnished with a chair with a cushion seat, a bed that looked to be of better quality than what Hikaru had in his hotel room, and a table with piles of books on top. Adventure novels.

「…Is someone there?」

Behind the bars was a girl with silver hair and blue eyes.

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