Otoko Nara Ikkokuichijou no Aruji o Mezasa Nakya, ne?

Year 7442, Month 4, Day 28

My head is telling me to organize the situation but there's not enough time to think and summarize it all up. After leaving "Roberikk" I made sure no one was

observing me before running through the night city of Keel at my full speed.

While losing myself in running in order to arrive at Binsil's restaurant as fast as possible I knock anything in my way out of the way just focusing on running

faster. I'm sure I'll barely make it. The sun will set soon.

Make it in time!

............

I was able to get a sight of Binsil's restaurant before the completely finished setting. It's on the other side of the river but one of the only two bridges in Keel

is on the way so there's no problem. Thank god... It seems it's still before anything has happened. Including the bridge there's only about 300 m to the restaurant.

In order to prepare for a fight it would be best to catch my breath.

I stopped running and started walking. Simultaneously I started to observe the surroundings of the restaurant after it entered my field of vision. For the time being

I still don't see anything particularly suspicious. There's no group of hoodlums standing around outside and no sign that a ruckus is going on inside as well. It's

the usual scenery. There's citizens on their way home from their jobs and vagrant kids and elders laying around the sides of the street in the filth. My sight doesn't

reach far into the alleyway so there's no way I could find the position of anyone in there but while I'm walking if anyone were to start approaching me from out of

the alley it should be possible for me to deal with it.

After gaining a bit of composure my head cools down and I continue observing the surroundings a bit more closer. Somehow but I feel something is off with the

restaurant. If I think about it calmly I don't see anything different but it's true it's somehow different from usual. What is it? What in the world is strange?

I continued to observe it as I cross the bridge but I couldn't shake off the feeling something was off.

There's no suspicious looking people in the surroundings of the restaurant. I don't see anyone peering into the restaurant nearby as well. The people who are coming

out from the alley are just passing by as if nothing is wrong as well. There's tables outside of the restaurant as well and it seems there's no customers there but

the people who are passing in front aren't paying any attention to it. In other words there shouldn't be any abnormalities in the restaurant right now...I think.

I was about to start running but I move at a fast pace so as to not stand out from my surroundings and I got close to the restaurant. Just 50 m more or so. I stop

once and observe the surroundings of the restaurant again...Yeah, there's somehow a feeling if discomfort but I don't feel like there's any problem. There's no sign

that a disturbance is taking place in the restaurant as well. It seems the sun finally set. It was red until now but the sky is quickly getting darker.

I guess it was too impatience of a thought that Begulu would attack the restaurant. That's only obvious right, attacking a restaurant in operation in the middle of

the city would leave tons of evidence I'm sure. In that case, even if they were to attack it then I guess Begulu himself wouldn't participate? Just let the

underlings do it and he himself just made the plan, afterwards collect the underlings and deliciously enjoy the results I guess? Wait a minute, I'm thinking too

hastily again. There should be a method to attack it without leaving any evidence. As I thought, it's impossible for him to just make the plan and leave all of the

execution to his subordinates. They'll become unable to deal with unexpected situations. Otherwise there should be someone who is reasonably intelligent give command

on the spot who has prepared somewhat for unexpected situations.

I try organizing my thoughts somewhat as I head towards the restaurant with a quick pace but my head isn't functioning well. However, since there's no disturbance

with the restaurant and no one peeking in it should be before they've started the plan. If they were in the middle of carrying out the plan I'm sure yells and the

sounds of a struggle would leak out and the people walking by would pay attention. I take a look at the people wandering by...Ah, I see, there's no poor people

looking jealously into the restaurant. Come to think of it they were always there. Why aren't they there today?

I was astonished as the city of Keel starts getting dark. That's right! The guys that should always be here aren't around. It's not like they've directly entered the

restaurant, since I didn't think of them as anything other than an obstacle I was late to notice. There's light coming from the restaurant so there should be people

inside but.. depending on the situation it might be best to pass by while looking at the situation inside.

I lower the speed I'm walking a bit as I pass in front of the restaurant and pretend I'm just somehow looking into the restaurant as I pass by. Just as I imagined

there were people inside the restaurant. I hear voices talking as well. Mary and her parents are in the kitchen and I see Kuro standing in the gap between the

counter and the entrance to the kitchen. There's a bit more than 10 customers in the restaurant and they're all sitting. Other than the fact that Kuro is standing in

a weird place there's nothing that looks strange from a glance but there's a worn-out doorplate in front of the door that's always open with "Reserved for Today"

written on it.

It seems that Kuro, Mary, and her parents are all making a stiff expression and seem to feel afraid of the customers. Since they're paying attention to the customers

they don't realize as I pass by. It seems that there's customers talking to each other as well but fundamentally they're paying attention to Kuro and the Binsil

family. They're saying various things but "Sis~ Sis~ Bring it out fast~ I can't wait any longer~" I hear voices like that. Among the customers there was just one

looking outside and he looks at my face. I intentionally try not to make eye contact with that customer as I pretend to pay attention to the doorplate and then pass

by. I could only grasp that far from just passing in front of the restaurant. It's best to think that things have already started happening.

I know the guy that was paying attention to outside. It's the magician Begulu. If I remember correctly his name was Zakkwaiz. I haven't made direct contact so I'm

sure he doesn't know about me from his end. However, that face was something I properly engraved into my mind the other day. I couldn't afford to stare at his face

or body so I couldn't identify him but there's no mistake.

After passing by the restaurant I calmed down and started thinking at high speed. What sort of situation is this? It didn't seem like something was going to happen

right away so I should have some time to think. The old man of "Roberikk" said "the goal is to kidnap and sell Mary".

Is it a kidnapping for money-making purposes? No, even if Binsil had saved up some money it would at most be around a couple million zeni. I wonder if you can make

that much money from selling a slave? I've heard that serfs are at most 3-5 gold coins and combat slaves are around 5-7 gold coins. It's true that it's a lot of

money, it's an amount of money that 20 people can go for several months without trouble eating. If they add that together with the money saved up in the restaurant

then they could probably enjoy themselves for six months or so I'm sure.

If I think about it like that then it's true it's a "big job". Certainly all of the stories I heard about Begulu until now we're of his group committing all

different kinds of crimes. Pulling an idiot into an alley in the middle of the town and stealing from him is on the cute side and they've even gone so far as to

attack a small-scale caravan outside of the town so I'm sure it's a piece of cake to kidnap and sell a good looking girl. However, since you can't falsify status

that story won't completely work.

I'm sure they can forcibly kidnap her but even if they go just like that to the temple in Keel if the person them self doesn't consent to it then they shouldn't do

the naming ceremony. Even if they're killed the priests in the temple won't use the naming ceremony for their own profit. It seems that the moment they think of

doing something like that the special skill for naming is stolen or sealed by God after all. If there's no official procedures followed then they can't forcibly

perform the naming ceremony.

If that's the case then how do Begulu and the others intend to change Mary into money? I don't think it's impossible for them to forcibly sell her to somewhere but

since it's an illegal slave sale the other party is taking on a considerable risk as well so that limits where they can sell her. I'm sure it'll leave evidence as

well. However, it should be considerably difficult to kidnap Mary in that situation. If Kuro or someone were to make a fuss then it would all come to nothing after

all. In that case do they plan to get rid of everyone there other than Mary including Kuro? Without letting them raise a loud voice? Well, it's not something to

think about right now but if I can think of the method then I should be able to think up some method to prevent it, right I need to be careful to think of the {TPO}.

In the first place, the reason I rushed here was so I could beat down the magician Begulu and not so I could save Mary and Kuro...should be. If possible I do want

to save them as well but that's limited to a bonus...or should be. I twist my head from a place that can't be seen from inside the restaurant and think about how to

beat down Begulu.

There's no need...to keep Begulu alive even for a short period of time to gather any information.

I'll kill him without giving any time to make up excuses. I won't give him anytime to beg for his life. It's common for the advantages and disadvantages to reverse

while listening to the tedious talk of the opponent. It's particularly popular in stories of entertainment like drama and novels. Right now I'm assassin targeting

Begulu. The one who requested the job is me though. There's no need to question him, if he shows any chances I'll definitely attack there and finish him off. In any

case, if I kill that Begulu then I should be able to disturb the control a bit and depending on how it goes it might be the decisive action to save Mary from this

dilemma.

Alright, let's do this. If I'm going to do this then I want to settle things with a single attack of magic. And I don't want these guys remembering my face. Then it

would best to use a magic attack from a distance I'm sure. Hardening them in things like ice and earth isn't a good choice. They'll cause damage to the restaurant

and just because they've been hardened in place doesn't mean they can't use magic. If they can make eye contact then they can use magic. However using attack magic

that is fired from the hand is impossible. In any case, the risk of hardening him in something is too high so I need to kill Zakkwaiz.Begulu in a single attack.

Well, if I can just hit him with a serious attack then he shouldn't be able to use magic so that's fine as well.

If I think about the damage to the restaurant then something too flashy like {Fire Ball} is no good as well. If I cause an uproar by breaking the restaurant in a

flashy way then I could be made into a criminal for breaking the restaurant. The poison gas {Kill Cloud} might end up getting everyone inside involved and killing

them all...Ah, Mary might be fine. However, Kuro and Mary's parents wouldn't make it I'm sure.

Putting them all asleep with {Sleep Cloud} would work as well but since I haven't practiced this one much it would probably take at least a minute for the sleeping

gas to completely appear. Depending on how things it might take longer. If they just ignore me when I have my hand up facing them during that time then it's good but

I'm sure that's impossible. Then how about sniping with {Stone Arrow Missile} or {Ice Javelin Missile}? If I hit a human with that it might penetrate through and

injure someone other than Zakkwaiz. Even if the rest of Begulu's group other than Zakkwaiz are criminals and there's grudges against them strong enough to kill, it's

not like I took any sort of damage. It's probably best not to do it from a distance. If I use {Flame Thrower} then he might end up rolling around and setting a fire

as well. I wonder what I should do.

Ah, I guess it's fine if I just make him go into convulsions with "Lighting Bolt". I can probably kill him with just that after all. Let's go with this. There's a

chance they'll see my face but it can't be helped. Well it's fine. It's good to hurry.

I start walking towards the front of Binsil's restaurant again, just as I passed in front of the restaurant, I made eye contact with Zakkwaiz.Begulu. And

simultaneously raised my left hand towards him. He went into a panic and tried to yell something with his mouth open and aim both of his hands at me but it's already

too slow.

In an instant a high voltage electric current stretched from my left hand wrapped around Zakkwaiz's body. It was only a short period fo about 3 seconds that I

released it but Zakkwaiz is probably dead. Putting aside the high voltage it was probably a DC current that reached several dozen amperes. If it's a monster like a

Horned Bear, no it's different if it's a monster but it would be stranger if a human didn't die from that. Ah, it might be possible that he's still alive. If he

still is then at that time I'll hit him with one more or slowly cook him with a different magic. It's reliable if I stab him to death with a sword as well.

I did it, Myun. As long as I kill this guy the rest doesn't even matter much.

Just in case I use Identify but his condition has become death. This is good. From the sound of the electricity Kuro and the others look at me and the surprise of

them from Begulu B falling over the customers in the restaurant, rather, the Begulu group turns around. I take the sword off my belt and slowly unwrap the leather

string while saying

"Now then, your bag of wisdom has died."

And act cool as I continue,

"Jump up high!"

And after saying that in Japanese I use magic again against the guys that have started to run towards me. This time it's a combination of water and fire magic, I

just made adjustments to the amount. Immediately the floor was covered in ice 30 cm high and everyone's feet were frozen inside.

The guys who were in the middle of standing up and the ones who had already stood up and were heading towards me are all fixed in the ice. Ah, what's that, Kuro

landed on his ass on the ice and he's slipping on the smooth ice, it seems Mary failed on landing as well and can't stand up. Such an uncool ending.

They're all yelling something or other. Shut up~ I wanted to speak for a bit so I stop using continuation on the temperature of the ice for a bit.

"Hey, Kuro, Mary. These guys are loud~ Can I kill them?"

I lightheartedly try saying that. In an instant things quieted down. Everyone is dumbfounded by the sudden happening.

"Hey, how about it?"

I say as if it's troublesome while pointing my sword towards a guy nearby. Really~ reply already. I'll end up with no choice other than to kill them~

"Eh? A, Al. Wait just a minute. Hey, Mary."

Kuro finally manages to stand on the slipper ice with thanks to the counter and calls out to Mary.

"Eh..Kill..that can't be."

It seems Mary can't grasp the situation. She was saying while Kuro gives her a hand in standing up. I kick the corpse of Begulu B, Zakkwaiz.Begulu who died from

electricity and fell to the ground having half of his body frozen in ice while glaring at the rest of the Begulu group,

"Hmph, then, let's ignore these guys for a bit. Ah, that's right. Until I say it's okay, none of you say anything. If you talk I'll kill you. Also, if you don't want

to end up like this guy then don't move. You get it right?..Kuro, Mary what happened?"

I asked. And then continued,

"Ah, before that we should let out Mary's father and mother. Wait just a minute."

After saying that I get on top of the ice and go into the kitchen then use the left hand that doesn't hold a sword and expand a small {Anti-Magic Field} that I use

to erase the ice on Mary's mother and father's feet, and said to leave the restaurant together with Kuro and Mary. Ah, come to think of it, only Kuro isn't wearing

any sandals.

"Kuro, hurry up and leave the restaurant otherwise you'll end up with frostbite on your feet."

After saying that I push Kuro into leaving the restaurant. I give a glare so everyone can safely leave the restaurant. After confirming that Kuro went outside I was

going to continue as well. But, wait a second.

"Kuro, come to think of it you, were done in good on your stomach and back right. Who did it?"

After I said that everyone who has their feet frozen flinched. However, no one is opening their mouth. I point my sword towards Begulu A who is looking at me with

just his neck while he's still sitting at a seat in the back (in other words the closest to me) closest to the exit, and say

"Is it this guy? It's fine to burn him with the same {Flame Thrower} as well?"

And said that. Begulu A shakes his head while saying.

"I..I.."I didn't say it was okay for you talk.""

I stuck the sword a bit into the hole of his nose and made a 1 cm or so cut. The blood spurts out in a showy way but it's far from a fatal wound, the bleeding that

looks flashy isn't anything that will risk his life. Begulu A says "Bugya" and holds on to his nose quietly. There's blood leaking from the gaps in his fingers

holding his nose. I start maintaining the ice again before slowly walking outside of the restaurant. It still hasn't become an uproar but I guess they noticed the

incident onlookers are starting to gather.

I say to Kuro

"What happened?"

and asked.

"When I was in the restaurant these guys gradually started to gather. I wasn't paying much attention to it at first but when Begulu came in last I realized it. These

guys we're waiting for Mary to resist them touching her. It's a hand these guys use often. If Mary dislikes it and uses violence then that establishes the "crime of

assault". After that they reconcile it by making them prepare a tremendous amount of money and have them write a loan bond."

Kruo said the "crime of assault" part in Japanese. I guess he probably couldn't find the right word for it. I don't know the correct legal terminology for the

kingdom either. However, hmph. I see now. Touch Mary like a molester and forcibly get her to resist. If they can get injured skillfully then they profit. Then they

threaten with assault and injury. Since there's no proof of molestation, as long as these guys match their stories then I guess it's fine? However, isn't it still

poorly-prepared? Well it's fine.

"And, did Mary resist?"

I ask Mary.

"When I was about to resist I was stopped by Kuro.. It was dangerous. I was about to hit them with a frying pan."

Hmn, so Kuro was able to calmly deal with it? However, I guess that means Begulu B who has fallen over and is frozen must have been being cautious not to let any

excess customers in then? Isn't that the job of an underling...Ah, I see, if it's an underling they might focus on trying to touch Mary. You can't leave the job of

being cautious of the outside to an idiot after all.

I say to Mary

"Go and call the knight group. If you use my name they should come. Just, do it slowly."

said that, and made an expression that I wouldn't accept objections. Mary seemed to have some regrets but quickly nodded and started to head towards the knight

group.

"There's no need to worry about the restaurant. I'll erase all of the ice later. Please forgive me that it's a bit dirty."

I try to calm down Mary's parents and I faced Begulu and his group that are still frozen in the restaurant.

Now then, what should I start asking? Or else..