CH 2.2

There was a horse with a horn growing out of it in Faas Village’s marketplace. Next to it was the elf princess Tina. There were no envoys accompanying her.

“Ah, Ullr-chan!! There you are!!”

“Woof!?”

Tina hugged Ullr, fully enjoying his fur.

“Oh, Princess Tina.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Reito and Kotomin got down from the wolf-cart and asked Tina, “Why is Lady Tina here?”

“Like I said, just call me Tina. No one else is here today, don’t worry.”

“Oh, okay. In that case, why did you come alone?”

“Every time I went to the adventurer’s guild, you weren’t there. So, I asked the guild master about you and then I came here.”

“Whiine~”

Ullr whimpered.

It was true that Reito had told her to visit the Adventurer’s Guild.

Apparently, she had visited quite a few times. Every time, Reito wasn’t there. Not being able to wait she grilled the guild master Bal about his whereabouts before ending up in the place where she first met Reito.

Tina had shaken off the guards and came alone with only her lovely trusty unicorn steed.

“It was a real pain. I had to climb down from the fifth floor of the lodge with a rope before sneaking into the stable and releasing Uni-chan.”

“Uni-chan?”

“Oh, that’s my pet. She’s a unicorn so I named her Uni-chan.”

Kotomin approached the unicorn. The unicorn bowed its head before nuzzling its face on Kotomin’s chest.

“Nice to meet you”

Uni neighed.

Reito remembered the legend that unicorns only got attached to maidens.

He wasn’t sure if that applied to unicorns in this world as well, but at a minimum, the unicorn in front of his very eyes appeared to like Kotomin.

Tina talked to Ullr cheerfully, “you’re really fluffy!”

He whimpered.

“Don’t be so grumpy. I’ll give you some dried meat later, so put on a happy face.”

Reito sighed. How would the envy-filled Raikofu react if he saw his fiancee here? He felt uneasy.

Just to be safe, he communicated with Airis.

『Airis, Tina is now in Faas village but, where are her guards?』

『Things aren’t looking good. They had trailed her here without her noticing. They are coming to the village and chasing after a monster that has been released.』

『What?』

『They are chasing after it from the north. It’s a cyclops. One with the same rank as a Minotaur. A level four monster!!』

Reito was surprised at Airis’s reply and closed down communication.

He immediately put his “Leap” skill into action and jumped in the sky, peering out at his surroundings before seeing a smoke trail approaching from the north.

Compared to the Mamou from before, it was small, but it was certainly much larger than an orc.

The cyclops jumped over Reito’s moat and dirt wall into the village.

“Roar!!”

“Wha-!!”

“What?”

“Hah!?”

Everyone was surprised and frozen. Reito immediately came back to the ground and readied his saber.

The cyclops was a giant covered in blue scales. It had the characteristic one eye. It was over three meters tall and had razor-sharp claws on both hands.

Tina and Kotomin didn’t know what was going on and were startled. Ullr and Uni had sensed the danger and were already in their battle positions.

Ullr growled and Uni neighed.

Ullr and Uni stood in front of Tina and Kotomin. The bloodshot cyclops beat its chest like a gorilla.

“Roar!!”

Reito readied his Extermination Blade before Airis ran through his brain.

『Mr. Reito, use the chains from before. You can use the same bondage method as before.』

『Chains… Good point!!』

He promptly put his storage magic into action, pulling out the chains.

Using his alchemist ability, “Metal Transmutation”, he upped the durability of the chains before using “Shape Change” to control the chains.

He ran the chains around the cyclops’s flesh before it could respond, tying it up.

Reito held on tight, making sure to not let go.

He had succeeded in tying the cyclops up with chains but it was trying to tear off the chains with its arm strength.

Reito was being pulled in.

“Roar!!”

“Ahh!!”

“Reito!!”

Tina was worried.

At that moment, he used “Muscle Boost” to strengthen his body but the cyclops was stronger, and he was gradually getting pulled in.

Tina and Kotomin moved to help, pulling on Reito to stop him from getting pulled in.

“We can’t lose!”

“One, two!”

The two of them held Reito tight. Reito didn’t have the time to notice their large chests pressing in on him.

“Woah!!”

“Roar!”

The cyclops was stopped, perhaps because of the two girls’ arm strength.

Having its full body tied up in chains, the cyclops was unable to move. Being engaged in a kind of chain tug-of-war, Ullr and Uni jumped into action.

“Woof!!”

“Neigh!!”

The two of them jumped on the cyclops, knocking it over.

“Roar!!”

The cyclops was a level four monster but, when chained up, it wasn’t able to withstand being knocked over by the two of them.

The cyclops stayed on the ground, fallen over.

Reito took a sigh of relief. Tina and Kotomin also looked relieved. The two of them were still holding on tight to Reito, looking at the cyclops.

Reito looked at the cyclops beneath Ullr and Uni.

“Thanks. But, is this a cyclops?”

“Cy, clops? I’ve never seen one of these monsters where I come from.”

“They lived close to my home so I knew about them. They’re not a monster but more precisely a demon. But, cyclops don’t usually attack humans as they are a friendly race,” Kotomin added in. Reito looked confused.

“This is supposed to be friendly? But there was something strange about it.”

“Roar!!”

The cyclops glared with its bloodshot eye.

Airis opened communication.

『That cyclops was being manipulated. If you go to a Monster Controller, you ought to be able to release the contract curse.』

『Then it won’t attack us anymore?』

『Cyclops are the most friendly of the demon race. They almost never attack other living creatures.』

『Even demons can be manipulated by trainers. Got it. But where is this Monster Controller?』

『If you head southeast, you can find them hiding behind a boulder.』

After hearing about the location from Airis, he immediately jumped into motion to go capture them. He did some quick warm-up stretches and gave instructions to Ullr and Yuni.

“Ullr, Uni, hold down that cyclops. I’m going to go track down the Monster Controller who is manipulating this poor creature.”

“What? Monster Controller?”

“Tina and Kotomin, please keep an eye out together.”

“Hmph.”

Reito used his “Leap” skill to jump over the dirt wall and head to the grasslands southeast.

Because it was faster to continue using “Leap” to do jumps at low altitudes, he did so until he reached the location of the Monster Controller.

“So it’s you!!”

“Wh, how did you know where I was?”

There was a middle-aged human hiding behind a boulder. He had the outfit of an adventurer but there was no doubt he was the Monster Controller manipulating the cyclops.

Reito held out his hands using the beginner magic skill he learned the other day.

“『Photosphere!!』”

“Ahh!!”

The “photosphere” simply lit up the surroundings. But, given the strength Reito was putting into it, it was enough to impair someone’s vision.

“You little!!”

“Ahh!!”

While the man was being overwhelmed by the bright light, Reito gave him a jump-kick. If he was knocked out, he wouldn’t be able to release the contracted animal so he made sure not to make him lose consciousness.

“Release the cyclops!! I’m sure you know what will happen if you refuse”

“G-got it. Please spare my life,” the monster controller screamed for mercy while resignedly surrendering.

~

Reito dragged him back to the village.

He released the contract of the cyclops. In order to break a contracted curse, you had to kill the Monster Controller or break the contract with the person who made it.

After the contract was released, the cyclops suddenly became gentle.

“Roar!”

“Wow… It’s suddenly so personable.”

The cyclops was friendly to Reito. He picked Reito up and put him on his shoulders. Tina and Kotomin smiled.

“He’s kind of cute, huh.”

“He seems to like Reito.”

The Monster Controller had been tied up in chains and was surrounded by Ullr and Uni.

While still riding on the cyclops’s shoulder, he asked the Monster Controller, “Why did you attack Tina?”

“What? I was being attacked?”

“You didn’t notice…”

According to Airis’s data, the Monster Controller’s target should have been Tina.

However, the chain-binded Monster Controller refused to open his mouth, instead remaining silent and blindfolded. Reito strengthened his tone of voice and repeated his question.

“Hey, why are you being silent? Are you trying to cover for your client? Would you like me to report your attempted murder to the authorities?”

“Wait, no, you don’t understand. I had no intentions of murdering that girl. I was ordered to take her with me somewhere.”

“Dragged out? What are you talking about?”

“I-I received a request. Last night, an elf man told me to do so. Tomorrow, this lady will visit this village, use a contracted monster to take her with you somewhere.”

“An elf man. Where was he planning to take her?”

“A large tree near the city. It’s called the Bell Tree amongst adventurers. It grows nuts that chime like bells, so it was given that name. I was told to bring her there.”

“Bell Tree?” Tina sounded happy.

“Oh, I know about that too. It’s in a place with trees that have mysterious fruits, nuts, and berries. I went the other day. It was very interesting!!”

“I think you should feel a little more sense of danger…”

Putting aside Tina’s reaction, it appeared an elf man had been backing the Monster Controller.

“Do you know who that elf man was?”

“No, he was hiding his face with a hood. I could see his pointed ears though, so I know it was an elf for sure. He said I just had to bring her there and the contract would be finished.”

“But, how were you planning to bring her to the Bell Tree? Can you control contracted animals from afar?”

“I was planning to have the cyclops help me!! At my level, if I’m not near the cyclops, I can’t give it orders.”

“Are you an adventurer? What guild do you belong to?”

“I’m not an adventurer from this region. I originally came here just to sell this beast at the hunting festival”

Reito started to understand the situation.

Airis’s voice ringed out, 『This person isn’t lying, everything they’re saying is true.』.

The cyclops was being moved by the Monster Controller who was not a bad person but rather just commissioned to do a job. He wasn’t trying to harm Tina, that much was clear.

Reito wanted to know more about the elf who commissioned the Monster Controller so he asked Airis.

『Why was he ordered to leave Tina behind?』

『It appears this was not a mission to end Ms. Tina’s life.』

『Then, who in the world would do this?』

『It was Raikofu. That stupid elf was trying to lay a trap for you. That was his plan.』

『That bastard?』

According to Airis, Raikofu wanted to get revenge after being humiliated. So, he figured out what exactly were Reito’s capabilities and his usual whereabouts and then set up the plan.

Not only that, but he also took advantage of the fact that he knew Tina would want to see Ullr. He drove Reito in a corner and was planning to steal Tina’s heart. He also wanted to do some harm to the Baltros Kingdom in the process. It was quite the revenge plot.

Airis’s explanation about Raikofu’s plan went as follows.

~

At present, there are a lot of Monster Controllers visiting Adventure City Lunot. They are selling animals needed for the hunting festival.

Raikofu had to negotiate with a Monster Controller to put his plan into action.

To deviate a little from the main story, the hunting festival is held by Monster Merchants. If the Hunting Festival is a success, they receive a healthy sum of money from the king, tax free. They hire a lot of Monster Controllers to ensure success.

Raikofu tried to negotiate with a Monster Controller whose monster had been rejected for sale or a Monster Controller or who hadn’t sold their monster yet. This ended up being the man with the cyclops.

Adventurers in Adventure City can only accept commissions from the guild they belong to.

But, Raikofu found a Monster Controller who belonged to a different guild and commissioned him privately. These so-called “Designated Commissions” are not banned.

The Monster Controller accepted the offer because Raikofu offered quite a high commission.

His mission was to go to Faas Village and bring Tina to the Bell Tree. He was instructed not to put a hand on her until Reito showed up.

On the day the plot was to unfold, Raikofu made sure that Tina was heading for Faas Village, confirmed things with the Monster Controller and Raikofu made his way to the Bell Tree.

Raikofu had made it very clear to the Monster Controller that the moment Reito and Tina saw each other in Faas Village, he was to release the cyclops to attack them. The cyclops was to drive Reito and Ullr away and then he would come and scoop up Tina and take her to the bell tree.

But, there was something Raikofu didn’t explain to the Monster Controller.

Raikofu was planning to use a bow and arrow to kill the Monster Controller. He would drive the Cyclops away with a Decay Stone* and save Tina all by himself.

~

If successful, Raikofu would be able to kill three birds with one stone.

First, he would abase Reito.

He would possibly be killed by the cyclops. Even if he managed to survive the attack, he would have no future. He’d be forced to admit that he failed to protect the elf-princess and left her alone, losing all professional credibility in the process. In fact, there’s even a chance he would be punished for exposing such a treasured individual to danger.

Second, Raikofu would be praised for saving Tina from the cyclops. Tina would like him more too.

Third, he would be able to muster his troops for a battle with the Baltros Kingdom as they would be responsible for letting the princess be exposed to danger.

Not to mention he would be able to chastise Princess Tina for being so irresponsible.

After all, she was the one who was acting selfishly by doing what she wanted. She would reflect on her reckless behavior and improve as a person.

~

This was the truth behind the incident. Reito let out a big sigh after hearing about Raikofu’s scheme. He was surprised by how foolish Raikofu was.

『That dumbass exposed his own fianceé to danger, what in the world was thinking!』

『A real piece of shit. What are you going to do about it? He is waiting by the Bell Tree all alone right now.』

『I don’t have any proof that he did anything. He could just feign ignorance.』

That was the most annoying part about the whole affair, he had no evidence that Raikofu did anything.

He would only have the testimony of the Monster Controller as there was little chance Raikofu would come clean. Even if Reito tried to convince other people about what happened, they would never believe him.

『There’s nothing that can be done about it. Let me impart some wisdom. You became friends with a slime. Use that little fellow to get back at Raikofu.』

『You mean, Suramin?』

『You can use the slime’s camouflage abilities…』

In order to carry out Airis’s proposed plans, he had to share with everyone what had happened.