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Episode 5 “Marx Pietro Sandalphon”
Before the decisive battle with the Demon Army, relief supplies were sent from each country to the brave party.
The supplies were to be delivered via the kingdom that was closest to the area where the party was based… or it was supposed to be.
However, the unit that was transporting the relief supplies was attacked by the demon tribe.
“Amulet of sacrifice”, an equipment capable of protecting it’s wielder from one fatal wound.
Just by equipping it, it’s magic, [Wall of Sanctuary], will be activated, erecting a barrier over the user protecting at every instant.
A number of these and other kinds of national-treasure grade magic items from each country were lost during the raid.
At that time, the squad of sacred knights who were in charge of transporting the aid supplies had also mostly died out.
That’s why we hadn’t got the magic items that were supposed to be delivered, and had no choice but to challenge the Demon King’s castle without.
A really simple story,truly.
I’m sure that “God’s protection” and the “Amulet of sacrifice” I was going to use were in the way of Lucifina and the other trash’s plan.
If their target was equipped with something like this, it would only make it harder to kill him.
So George and Lily, who were captains of the Sacred Knights,decided to put their hands on it.
They took one of their men, who were assigned to the carrying unit, and disguised themselves as demon raiders to steal the magic items.
Their subordinate’s name was Marx Pietro Sandalphon.
He’s the current captain of the Second Squadron of the Sacred Knights.
It seems that Dionys and the others bought the magic items from Marx at a high price.
That’s why Dionys had the ‘Amulet of sacrifice’.
The other magic items are also currently in the hand of either Luzas or Lucifina.
That’s what I heard when I tortured Dionys in the Dead Swamp Labyrinth.
Honestly, there’s no direct connection between me and Marx.
While I was in the holy country, I barely speaked to Lily, George and Marx apart from the introduction, and only joined their training once.
(TN: TL might be wrong but sounds right to me)
Unlike the other traitors, they weren’t actually trying to kill me, I think…
Even if Marx hadn’t cooperated, Lily and the others would have taken the magic items by other means.
But because of his betrayal, a lot of people in the transport unit died.
Some of them were men I had fought with many times, others shared the dreams I had in my heroic days.
Marx killed them just to satisfy his greed.
I’m only frustrated by the fact that acquaintances were killed because of one’s filthy desires.
…Unpleasant.
There’s no need to give reasons for this or that.
I don’t need any reasons to take revenge on Marx.
–Marx betrayed me, for whatever reason.
That alone is enough of a motive to make him pay for it dearly.
I don’t need anything else.
Because I’ve made up my mind at the orphanage.
I would not compromise on my revenge.
I don’t need a reason.
I don’t care about repentance.
Every traitors, I will kill them, every single one of them.
I will make them pay for what they did.
No matter who they are.
◆
“huh? why are we here?”
“I’m sure we got rid of the target a while ago.”
“.. Well, I guess we should go report in then.”
The three brainwashed men walk out to report to Marx that they have completed their mission.
They seemed to know the geography of this city perfectly and proceeded without hesitation through the deserted back alleys.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Along with Elfi, we follow right behind the three of them.
“Are you sure you’re okay walking this close?”
“No problem. I’ve brainwashed them so that they wouldn’t even react to our presence.”
“You mean we don’t look supsicious to their eyes? … if you think about it, Olivia created quite the frightening magic.”
“…well. She was a piece of trash, but I’ll put her magic to good use at least.”
After more than a dozen minutes of walking down a back alley, the trio is still walking through the ‘Commercial District’ instead of going to the ‘Holy Light district’.
Instead, they walked into a deserted inn in the corner of the road.
“Get me a very nice room. A quiet room where we can get a good night’s sleep.”
“…Yes, sir.”
The innkeeper nodded and took a small key from the counter.
The three of them received it and walked to the back of the inn without paying any money.
“…oh! I’ve read about it in books. It’s a secret code or something like that, isn’t it?　There’s some romance in that.”
Says Elfie with sparkling eyes.
We follow the three of them in a way that won’t be noticed by the staff of the inn.
The men opened the metal door at the far end of the inn with a key and walked into it.
Soon, we followed suit.
“It’s too much trouble to go through here every time.”
“It can’t be helped. If you try to enter the Holy Light District, you’ll be seen by the knights no matter what.”
“Don’t waste your breath. Let’s get out of here.”
As the man channeled his magic into a part of the floor, a staircase appeared with a [Clang!].
“Since I started working with Iori, I’ve become strangely connected to the underground.”
“…It’s not my fault.”
We went after the men down the stairs, after which the passage becomes wider.
There were no lights, and the three of them proceeded to illuminate their surroundings with magic.
“…I see.”
Marx and the others must have used this underground passage to go back and forth between the ‘Commercial District’ and the ‘Holy Light District’ without being seen by anyone.
This passage has surely been used in the frequent missing cases in the Holy City.
“When it comes to hiding something, hidden passage and concealed rooms must certainly be useful.”
Every single one of my revenge targets were hiding things that they didn’t want to come to light.
It makes sense to take a closer look at the basement.
“…it’s fine.”
Elfi tightly clings to my body.
“Oh, sorry …”
Elfi is not good with the dark.
The next moment, I light the surroundings with magic.
Elfi’s body has stopped shaking, but she doesn’t move away from me.
“If we get separated, it will be troublesome. So Iori, stay close to me.”
“Yeah, I get it.”
We followed the three down the underground passageway for about twenty minutes.
After a while, a large barrier came into view.
An imposing door is incrusted on the surface of the barrier facing us.
“It’s a type of barrier that physically blocks the road.”
“How is it disarmed it?”
“There are 2 ways, either destroy it or open it with a keyword setup by the caster. Obviously, if you destroy it, the sorcerer will be aware of it.”
“It’s like a seal from the Kingdom’s treasure trove.”
After Elfi finished talking about the characteristics of the barrier that she could see with her evil eyes, the men began to chant something in a whisper.
They seems to be reciting the keyword which Elfi was talking about.
“Let’s let them have their way.”
When the men finished chanting, the barrier disappeared.
We followed the men inside the barrier before the warding is re-established.
“…the scenery has changed.”
Beyond the door was a small room, just like the one from earlier.
Probably, this place is already in the “Holy Light District”.
This could be the basement of Marx’s mansion.
“It’s dusty. They should at least do some cleaning. My beautiful body is covered in dust.”
Elfi grumbled about how dusty the room was.
However, this passage seemed to be used frequently as there was particularly little dust around the door.
In the small room there is a door that leads further.
The men used another password and opened the door.
The warding, this door, is pretty well thought out, isn’t it?
“…Hey, you’re late.”
As the men opened the door, a man’s voice could be heard from the other side.
We stay in the room and see what’s going on outside.
Apparently, there are two armed men standing in front of the door.
“I’m sorry. It took us a little more time than planned.”
“Marx seemed quite annoyed today. I heard he will have company coming in near midnight tonight, you better hurry up or you might anger him.”
“I didn’t know about that. Let’s hurry.”
Apart from the watch, there are no ties or traps.
With a good grasp of the opponent’s fighting power, we walked out the door.
“…?　What!?!”
The man on watch becomes flustered the moment he sees us.
“……….?　What is it?”
The trio is flattered by the effects of brainwashing.
The naturalness of the situation momentarily loosened the alertness of the men on watch.
“Huh.”
I took the opportunity to strike a blow at the two guards.
The two who had been attacked fell to the ground without a voice, falling asleep.
I lifted the two of them up and put them on a chair that was near the door.
Now, tadam! They’ll look like they’re dozing off.
Well, I’m going to get things done before the commotion happens, so it’s basically unnecessary.
“Well… it’s about time you met a guy named Marx. Have you thought about your reunion’s events?”
“Some of them, yes.”
“I’m sure you’re thinking of something terrible.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Well, I’m thinking of a couple of great ones.
There are a lot of ways to torment and torture someone for hours on end, but most of them aren’t possible right now as he will be near guards.
When it comes to what I can do with my hands, my options are reasonably limited.
I just have to pick the best one.
“….”
Suddenly, I thought about what would happen after I returned to my original world.
Subjectively and objectively speaking, I can’t possibly be called decent right now.
To the point where it seems impossible to live a normal life like how I was before I came into this world.
Maybe after I started killing demons and demon races as a hero, my resistance to killing creatures had waned.
And when I was betrayed by those guys, It completely wore off.
The brutal revenge methods I can come up with right now are probably influenced by the creations I’ve seen on Earth, but being able to think of them and actually pulling them off are widely different. It coming almost naturally to me is really abnormal.
It is quite possible that the sole fact of pulling off a revenge would be disgusting for an ordinary person.
“You knew what you were getting into from the beginning.”
Elfi’s words resounded as if to cut my thoughts short.
“…As usual, Elfi. You’re reading my mind, aren’t you?”
“Idiot. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but know that it is showing on your face.”
“…Is that so?”
I don’t think that’s the case…
“Oh, it’s messed up. Even when you look at me, your thoughts of ‘Elfisuuzaku-sama is beautiful and intelligent!!’ are leaking out.”
“I never once thought of that enough, did I?”
“Saying that so bluntly and with a straight face is kinda painful you know…”
“Anyway!” says Elfi.
“You can worry about these kind of things once you’ve finished what you ought to do, don’t you think?”
“…yeah.”
“We are alike, Iori, you have a strong will, but a weak heart. If you ever have any concern, make sure to consult me, I will assuredly lend you an ear when the time comes.”
Yeah…
I can’t say that my mentality is very strong.
“…Thank you.”
I gave her a small thank you, hearing that Elfi began to grin.
“Hmm, I can’t hear you?　You can say it again. come on, come on, say it again~.”
“It’s unbelievably annoying.”
“Okay…”
Shortly after having such a conversation.
Beyond the room the men went into.
A disgusting sight came to view.