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A malicious trigger
In the corner of a tavern, Munch slurped down a bottle of wine and slammed the wooden bottle down on the table.
“Ridiculous!! I’m an A-Rank adventurer, and by a newbie like that brat, I’m being!!”
He was humiliated in front of a crowd. And there would definitely be backlash from the adventurers who had been suppressed by force until now. If it was handled poorly, they might even sneak attack.
No, more importantly, he even knew about the brat that had wanted to leave the family, the one whose arm was cut off by Munch. If that was the case, he might also know that Munch had sold the brat to a slave trader affiliated with Laguna afterwards.
The only way to report this incident to Aku was that the brat had been severely injured in a battle with a monster and returned to his hometown.
Aku was exceedingly strict about combat. He didn’t raise an eyebrow when someone was injured or even killed in genuine combat.
But at the same time, he reacted violently to abandonment and especially to selling out comrades.
If Aku found out about this time’s incident, he would kill Munch before anything else. That was something Aku did without exception.
“That bastard!!”
He seemed to be a long time acquaintance with the subdivision manager, Willy, and the S-Rank adventurer called Caesar.
In the near future, the guild would definitely commence a full-scale investigation regarding the sanction imposed by Munch and others. When that happened, they would naturally ask the head of the guild, Aku, about the situation. Aku would definitely become aware of this incident.
In short, Munch was still in desperate straits. He was just one step before the ruin.
It was evident in the absence of all of the women who had been following Munch until now. They must have given up on him.
“Damnit!!”
As he looked up at the ceiling and screamed, he heard a voice from the front.
“You seem to be having a rough time, don’t you?”
When he dropped his gaze, a man who was completely concealed in a hood was sitting in the front seat. He was wearing a mask imitating a spooky smile.
“Who are you, bastard!!?”
“I? Let’s see
.”
After giving some thought while clenching his chin, he stood up from his seat and said, “Please call me Conductor.”
Then he bowed ostentatiously.
Every single move of the masked man looked deliberate, as if he was acting in a drama.
“You bastard, are you mocking me!?”
“No-no, absolutely not! I come here to present the finest plan possible!” he said in an extolling voice, spreading his arms and turning his face toward the ceiling.
“Finest plan?”
It just looked fishy.
First of all, it was absurd to think that a guy who had met Munch for the first time understood what kind of trouble he was going through.
“Also, I have been told to hand this letter to you,” he took a letter from his bag and put it on the table.
Munch frowned and took the letter in hand violently before opening it with great force and looking at the content.
“T-This is
.”
He was aware that the hands holding the letter were shivering.
That was natural.
The seal stamped on the letter was the emblem of a huge underground organization called [Laguna].
He had done a transaction with them once. There was no way it could be wrong.
And, the name of Poisonous Liquor was also mentioned in this letter. There were a limited number of people who knew about the Crest of [Laguna], and even if they did, there would hardly be any idiot who would use the name of Four Cardinals. [T/N : originally, the kanji means unification, control, supervision so for now I’m naming it as Four Cardinals.]
In short—
“It’s a great plan, isn’t it?”
“Is what written in this true?”
It was so convenient for Munch that he asked the obvious.
“Yes, of course. Would you like to accept it?”
“Why is [Laguna] aiming at him?”
It was a situation that was too convenient for him. Munch didn’t think he was so fortunate that [Laguna], who was called the Royalty of Darkness, would help a simple adventurer as a favour.
“Grey Ines Navarro, he has gone a bit too far. There are people who think that his existence in this world is inconvenient. That’s why.”
He seemed to be hated by the empire’s real ruling class. There was no room for lack of credibility in this case.
“I understand. I will accept this request.”
Finally, Munch’s luck also took a turn here. If he didn’t have the desire to destroy, he would not have used the name of [Laguna].
This man was a member of [Laguna].
[Laguna] was a huge underworld organization that had roots all over the world. In particular, the fourth in command, Poisonous Liquor, was said to be a genius in strategy who had annihilated multiple organizations.
He didn’t have any doubt about success.
“This is our aid for the execution of the plan. Please accept it.”
Conductor put a dagger on the table.
“This is
..”
No matter how he saw it, it just looked like your average and plain unremarkable dagger. But for some reason, just looking at it, he felt a sense of oppression, as if it was being held in the hands of a huge giant.
“Please take it in your hands. Once you do it, this will become the best trigger to change yourself.”
The Conductor’s delightful voice sounded as if it was from somewhere far away.
His knees were trembling and his body sagged. But still, Munch’s trembling hand reached out for the dagger.
“Gah!!?”
The index finger of his right hand touched the dagger. At that moment, his vision turned bright red, and the surrounding landscape dissolved into mush.
The table next to him collapsed while foaming out. The skin on the face of the dark-haired young man who was cheerfully pouring sake down his throat at the side peeled off, exposing pure white bones, and the next moment, it turned into a slime-like liquid.
And it was the same for all the tables, chairs and people around him.
“Hii, hiiii!”
He tried to stand up, screaming at the scene that could be synonymous with hell, but he stumbled and fell down on the wooden floor.
He extended his hand to get up but—
“Ahhhhhhh!”
A scream was released instead. That stood to reason as Munch’s arms were melting from the root.
“Congratulations, Munch-san! You can now be on the stage in my directing drama! Welcome to the show of Insanity and Despair!!”
Just as Conductor’s strange bouncy voice echoed in his eardrums, his consciousness fell into the darkness.
◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
“What an atrocious material
..”
A white-haired old man with a long beard and a ghastly pale and bloody face said rhetorically, as he looked around the slime-dissolving tavern.
“Yes, it’s my favourite antique.”
He picked up the dagger from the sole intact table and put it in his pocket.
“But it’s not at the level of antique.”
Conductor pointed his left hand behind the old man, whose cheeks were twitching, at the purple-haired young man lying on the floor, the only human form in the room.
“With this, now we have all the pieces under our control,” he declared.
“Shouldn’t we have used this material on this Gray fellow?”
“No-no, that’s not smart to do so, and above all, it’s not fun.”
“Fun, Oh Lord
”
And it’s not like you can kill him with a toy like this. Conductor muttered in a whispering voice.
“Did you say something just now?” the white-haired old man asked back.
“No, I was talking about this. Anyway, the plan is now in motion. I’m counting on you for the rest, Poisonous Liquor-san.”
“I understand. If what you say is true, that it was that kid Gray who attacked our base, he’s very dangerous. We must destroy him at all cost.”
With a very solemn look on his face, Poisonous Liquor spun his words of agreement as if he were chewing on them.
“Very well. Then I will take my leave from here.”
He put his right hand on his chest, bowed, and walked out of the nightmarish place.
“I don’t have the slightest bit of trust in him, but this is war. If you can use it, you must use it, even if it’s a demon.”
The smell of flesh and blood that stimulated his sense of smell to the point of turning his nose was enough to make him frown, but he carried the purple-haired young man on his shoulders and left the tavern.