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At that time, in the Onigawara residence.
“Ho~ney~♪” Silvia was approaching Shouzou while clutching a pillow that said “YES” on both sides in her hands. However—
“We have guests at this late hour, it seems.” Shouzou stood up and focused his senses. There were numerous presences surrounding the house.
“What bothersome guests,” pouted Silvia as her mood deflated.
Shouzou lovingly rubbed her head, saying, “I’ll go ‘greet’ them. You stay here.” Then he lumbered over to the front door, still in his pajamas.
The nighttime visitors were spread out so as to encircle the Onigawara household.
(One, two, three............ ten, eleven. Four pairs are creeping up, each from one side. The final group of three is remaining stationary behind the pair in the front. That’s most likely the commander.) Shouzou reached the front door, still in his pajamas.
Without waiting for any particular timing or anything, he just opened the door and stepped out.
Amidst the falling moonlight, far away, the lights of the city shone like quietly blinking stars.
After softly closing the door, Shouzou kicked off of the ground. Up, up, up he flew into the night sky, over the house, then BAM! he landed in the back.
““?!”” The two masked men wearing black stumbled back at the large man who had suddenly descended from the sky. Shouzou closed in on them in a split second, then lightly brushed their chins with his finger.
For him it was light, but it was enough to cause the masked men’s heads to snap to the side. The shake to the brain caused both of them to crumble to the ground. Though they remained conscious, it was but barely. Their legs were like those of a newborn fawn, such that they couldn’t stand up even if they wanted to.
Shouzou immediately moved on. He closed in on one of the groups approaching from the side, and brushed their chins in the same way. Then jumped. Upon landing on the other side of the house, he robbed the last pair of their consciousness in once again the same way.
In no time at all, he had already downed 6 people.
The enemy commander did not know exactly what had gone wrong. However, he was aware that indeed something had gone wrong.
The battle plan was that the three groups from the back and the sides would attack simultaneously. Then the forces positioned in the front would get an easy kill catching the prey off guard rushing out of the front door. However, right before the plan was about to be put into motion, the large man who was their target came out from the front door. Right after he appeared, he disappeared. He had actually flown up, but the absolute lack of any preparatory movements made it impossible for the commander’s eyes to actually catch it. Instead, he mistakenly thought that the target had used some form of movement magic.
After that, the time to launch the attack came, then passed. But no matter how long he waited, there was no scream from the house.
Something had happened.
The commander looking on from the back could not believe it. The 11 men here tonight were the best of the best. What’s more, every single one of them were specialized in anti-personnel combat. They did not have the ability to deal with catastrophe-class magic beasts like dark dragons. However, they had every confidence of being able to kill a Platinum rank adventurer that could defeat said dragon.
If the opponent was a human, then they were invincible. Assassinations under the cover of darkness had an even smaller margin of failure. Or rather, it was their field of expertise. However—
The two who were positioned in front of the front door of the house lay on the ground, immobile. It looked like some large black figure had moved, but it was way too fast for the commander’s eyes to catch.
Thinking about it, it was a strange command that they had been given. Where this squad should have been deployed was not here, but there. Although they were overkill for a single girl, there was no surer way to ensure the job gets done than having them do it.
If the opponent was someone who had strength rivaling that of Platinum rank adventurers, such as Marquis Goldas, then it might make sense. They had been told that this target was on the same level as the marquis, but the thought “but it’s just a no-name guild employee” was strong in their minds.
Ahh, so that’s what it was. Surely they had misread everything. And so had that person as well.
This squad was specialized for killing humans. They were confident they could kill even Platinum-rank adventurers. However— “Are you the commander?” —they were no match against a superpowered magic beast in the guise of a human.
Before he knew it, standing right in front of him was a giant of a man, glaring down with eyes so sharp they seemed to be glowing.
His two comrades on either side were already prostrate on the ground. The pair positioned in front of the entrance were merely meant as a diversion. Then when the target ran off in a fluster, it was the duty of the three here, himself included, to ensure the target’s demise. And yet, two had already been done in within a split second.
“Are you all from the empire?”
Oh yes we sure are. Though there’s no way you would be able to determine our background. We’ve already erased every characteristic that would identify us as being from a northern country. We’ve also undergone training so that we can remain silent under any kind of torture, and loyalty to the empire has been battered into our very bones.
“Why did you target this place?”
There’s no way we would know that. Attack. Kill. Those were our orders, and we’re simply here to carry them out.
“This isn’t the only location, is it?” Of course not. The real target was the inn in Treia. The traitor in that inn.
The commander had no intention of answering anything. But even if he did, everything was already too late. This very moment, the hellhounds should already be tearing her throat to shreds.
“Ha, ha ha......” Pinched laughter leaked from his throat. Immediately afterward, his head jolted, then the commander lost consciousness—
Shouzou looked down at the fallen masked man, his mind whirring. He had not gotten any verbal replies, but for simple questions, Shouzou could read the answers from the way the other party’s eyes moved. These men were assassins sent by the empire, and they apparently did not understand what was going on. But more importantly—
Shouzou left the men where they were, and went back into his house. He called out to Silvia, who was still waiting for him in their bedroom.
“I’m worried about Sharlo-kun’s group. I want to head over there now. Can you help send me there?”
“Not a problem. Just in case, I’ll also tie up the scoundrels resting outside.”
“Yes, please.” Shouzou’s body became enveloped in light. It was teleportation magic. The destination was Sharlo’s location—to be exact, it was the location of the handkerchief that Shouzou had handed Sharlo before. That was the coordinate anchor that would allow Shouzou to reach him in an instant.
“Take care, all right?”
With a firm nod in response to his wife’s word of caution, Shouzou instantaneously arrived in Treia—