chapter 41

Fir, first, let’s check the situation . This seems to be a prison-like place .

Stone wall and stone floor . I was at least laid on top of a straw mat kind of thing though .

One of the walls is brickwork, on the opposite side is iron bars . The other two sides are made of wooden boards . Mh—m, an unfamiliar room . I really seem to have been kidnapped .

Oh wow, what [Let’s be careful not to be kidnapped]! I’ve been magnificently kidnapped after saying that! My damn all words and no action! Idiot! Stupid! Worthless!

Aaaah, that spicy stew served at dinner probably had something mixed in .

No wonder it was that spicy, it’s harder to tell if something was added if it’s spicy .

Whatever was added was probably something that will not trigger [Poison Resistance] . ……[Poison Resistance] is unexpectedly not that all-purpose .

And so, there’s also a chance that something happened to everyone since they also ate the same thing .

I need to escape quickly .

the weakest?

Now then, as for my condition, there isn’t any particular injuries . Just a slight headache . There are manacles on my arms, but they are quite loose . There are no restraints on my legs . I tried [appraising] the collar, doesn’t seem like it would explode or something if I tried to remove it . Okay . For now, let’s check if there is the [Teleport] hair clip . ……nope .

Cornered!

……actually, the feather duster and kitchen knife I hid inside my skirt are also gone . The maid-san puppets are gone too!

Aaah, after checking, the scarf clip that had the effect of raising defense is also gone!

It seems they didn’t have the key and couldn’t remove the collar, so the [Magic Voice] choker underneath the collar is still there .

Because of that, the new collar is of a very loose size . Well, it’s sad that it’s not loose enough to pull off .

And, the most worrying is……

“Hanter……you there?”

My shoulder is strangely airy . Yes . Hanter who is supposed to be there is not there! Could Hanter also have been confiscated!?

‘Nn, I’m he—re . Morni—ng . ’

……as I thought that, he poked his head out from between my second and third chest buttons .

Why there .

‘You see—, when I was curled around your arm, someone touched there and I was almost crushed, so I escaped here . ’

Aah, it’s a good thing he’s a clever child! I was laid down face-up, so if he was on my chest then he certainly wouldn’t be squashed . Good good, good boy .

‘It’s soft and springy here, I want to stay here from now on too!’

“No . ”

‘E—h’

“Even if you say it that cutely, no . ”

perv snake

After having Hanter return to the puff sleeve at my shoulder, let’s think of how to escape from here .

……currently, the skills I can use properly, are [Fire Magic] [Appraisal] and [Ballad] I guess……? Mhm, but well, it might work out with just these .

Mhm . First, let’s confirm their safety . Once I sang a little and activated [Prayer Song] and [Wish Song], a sky-blue pattern immediately appeared at my feet . Mhm, at the very least, Hagasaki-kun is safe .

Okay okay . Now then, this safety check was actually important too .

You see, Hagasaki-kun’s [Ballad] is [Water Mirror Song] right? It reduces fire damage right?

……so, I, can use [Fire Magic] right? So, so……the walls, the front is iron bars, the back is brickwork, but……the sides, are wood .

… . stop, rethink

Yes, arson . When I continued to patiently use the stove’s high heat on it, the wood wall started burning . Seems like the wooden boards were quite damp, there’s a lot of smoke . Uwah, it’s quite hot since it’s close, [Water Mirror Song] really helps .

Next I just need to shout loudly .

“Fire! Fire! There’s a fire! He—lp!”

After making a racket for a while, I heard heavy footsteps . Oka—y, good good .

And when those people came to the iron bars, they saw the fire and me cowering (acting) from the fire, and quickly unlocked the jail . good good .

“Help! Please help! The collar is connected to the wall!”

While acting like I’m in a panic and struggled, making the chain on the collar clang, they also panicked .

“Dammit! Why is there fire! If the slave dies then we lose everything!”

“The collar’s key, the collar’s key……”

“Oi, hurry up! Enough! You stay still too! If you don’t want to die that is!”

Seems the person that was digging around somehow found the key and removed my collar .

“Come, get out!”

Then they pulled me out of the jail . Mhm . Thank you . I’ve been waiting for this moment!

“Hanter, now!”

‘Shadou edj—e!’

The beautifully controlled [Shadow Edge] stabbed into their chests .

And the 2 collapsed just like that .

……[Shadow Edge] is a darkness magic and is a skill that attacks by launching darkness blades . For some reason, Hanter can use it, so I asked Hariu who can also use the same [Shadow Edge] about its effects and characteristics, somehow, it seems rather than the damage, it is more valued for it’s effect of stunning the opponent .

Hanter’s [Shadou edje] only produces 3 blades smaller than Hariu’s, but the effects are outstanding .

It properly stunned the two men .

Using this chance, I entered the door opposite the jail, and that was store for cleaning tools .

Super luck—y! I quickly located a feather duster in a corner and used that to [clean] the manacles .

I stuffed the feather duster in the apron pocket and went back out to deal with the two stunned men .

Man no . 1 had a knife inserted in his belt, so I will be making use of that .

I cut the man’s shirt and used that as rope to gag him and bind his arms and legs . Same for man no . 2 .

Then I peeled off their equipment .

……ah, I didn’t peel off their clothes (I did cut them though) just their equipment and accessories .

… . . scary maid

And so I gathered 3 rings, a set of ear rings the men possessed, 5 silver and 8 copper in their pockets, 2 knives and a large dagger .

I kept the 2 knives where I had kept the kitchen knife and held the drawn dagger .

……ah, seems the sun on the men has worn off . But they are probably tied up, so they can’t move .

Nn? They are trying to say something?

……ah, I see . There’s still the fire . Okay okay, if I’m leaving them like this, they would be pitiful if the fire was left there . Okay, can I extinguish it with [Cleaning]?

maye?

I could . I did it . This is no longer in the realms of [Cleaning] . No, in a certain sense, it is cleaning up afterwards so it is [Cleaning] though .

……now then, nothing can be done by staying here anyway, let’s get out of here .

stage 1 clear

For now, the floor I’m on only has two empty cells and the cleaning store just now, so I carefully went up the stairs .

I told Hanter to use [Shadou Edje] immediately if there is someone, and peeked my face out a little into the corridor at the top of the stairs . ……okay, there’s no one .

A door is visible at the end of the corridor . Judging from the light leaking through, that is probably the door leading outside .

If I had to choose, rather than escaping outside, it’s probably faster to recover my equipment which I would like to believe is still somewhere here, then [Teleport] .

And so, between the two remaining doors in the corridor, I opened the closer one .

I carefully opened the door just a little and turned my right shoulder towards the door . Basically, so that Hanter can see inside the room .

‘Shadou edj—e!’

“Uoh!? Is someone there!?”

‘Auu, sorry Maito—, I miss—ed’

……seems someone is there . Even though we got the surprise attack, since we missed we are at an overwhelming disadvantage .

But it’s not Hanter’s fault . Sorry, Hanter .

“Someone’s there right? ……don’t move . ”

Bad . Bad bad bad .

The presence of someone approaching! And the sound of metal ringing . Bad, he drew a blade .

I also braced myself and gripped the dagger . ……no, I don’t know how to hold a dagger though .

And once the presence came right by the door, I forcefully kicked the door shut .

There was a dull sound . Nice hit .

“Oww! You bastard! What’re you doing!”

And the door was forcefully opened, so I hid by the wall behind the door .

“……hm? Where did it go?”

And as the man was looking around, I popped my face out from behind the door .

The man stopped for an instant in shock, it is this close, there is no way to miss .

‘Shadou edje! ……ah, I did it, I hit! I hit time time! Maito—, praise me, praise me!’

“Good job good job Hanter, good bo—y . ”

While stroking Hanter’s belly with my thumb, I checked to make sure the stunned man was properly sunned .

And then I restrained him like I did with the previous men .

I recovered 1 gold 2 silver and 5 copper from this man .

Iya—, that was te—nse .

dangerous

I left the man lying in a corner of the room and quickly searched through the room .

Mh—m, there isn’t much .

Only 2 gold came out .

Where be my equipment?

no idea

While praying that my equipment is there, I opened the next door the same way as before .

……oh, there’s no one this time . Okay, enter the room .

The inside of the room is normal . Mhm, quite normal . About as normal as the room in the inn Dalia-san recommended .

Just that there are two conspicuous boxes on the table . one is big and the other looks like a jewelry box .

Oh, this looks promising!

When I looked inside the box, as expected, my stolen equipment was inside,

Okay, nothing missing . It’s a great help that even the feather duster was kindly kept with the kitchen knife . I had been most concerned about it being thrown away . Iya—, I really do have an attachment to this first feather duster .

the default equipment you never throw away

I quickly equipped the equipment I had recovered . Err, I had put knives in the place for the kitchen knives though……it’s fine, I’ll slot the knives obtained from the men into the apron’s waistband .

Then I [Appraised] the jewels inside the jewelry box . If there is anything good, let’s take it .

Eh? Robber? What are you saying, I was robbed . If I got kidnapped and just escaped, it wouldn’t hurt them at all . Plus just becomes a zero . That means a shoplifter got found and just paid .

Meaning, there should be a penalty for crimes, otherwise the one that commits the crime wins, and in this lawless world, I just happen to be in a situation to deal punishment personally, even thinking from society’s point of view, a penalty should be dealt to the people that stole me……

Well, to put it simply, I’m irritated, I’m not reconsidering, yes .

They kidnapped me, these bastards are unforgivable, they can find out what was gone and cry! Something like that, yes .

… . . mhm, scary

And so, [Appraisal] . And there was a wonderful bounty .

First, a brooch with a strange stone with light flashing around inside it . It has the effect of [Thunder] .

Second, a delicate, simple bracelet made of oxidised silver . It has the effect of [Stealth] . Mh—m, this is easy to understand .

Third, a jewel about the size of my palm, when I [appraised] it, [Broadcast Room] came out .

Eh?

……eh?

……but, I can’t set it up here and check either……

suddenly important thing

A, ah well, results are all right . I don’t really understand, but to make sure not to lose this, I carefully wrapped it in cloth and put it in a pocket . The brooch and bracelet……I can’t lose them, so I put them on such that they are hidden by my clothes .

And with this, I can [Teleport] from here, but I want to at least know where this is, so I opened the door a little a peeked outside .

……mh—m, a gloomy alleyway without much traffic, can’t tell much else .

Ah well, there’s no need to stay too long . Let’s hurry up and find ev