19 – inrush – 2
The city right before I left for the dragon’s nest was a place where I could feel human warmth. People were wandering around, and adventurers were lively.
But now it was completely different from then. I couldn’t see anyone out on the street. Only silence hung over the streets that should have been full of life with people just starting their morning.
The quietness made this city feel like an abandoned village that often appears in ghost stories.
Upon entering the city through the gates, the first thing that caught my eye was the dirty, messy street.
It was not, as usual, soiled by human footprints. All over the place were groceries and objects strewn about, showing signs of being trampled on by shoes.
I checked the distance and direction of the spill. There was no consistency in the type of groceries, probably because they rushed to pick them up. It seemed to be dropped about once in every three or four times when people jumped.
One side led to the city gates, the other to the shops. It was clear that it came from the other side.
It was a store I had been to several times.
I didn’t even remember the owner’s face because the place I used wasn’t here, it was a shop a little closer to the Adventurer’s Guild, but I didn’t have experience using it at all.
It’s usually when you go out to the castle gate to receive a request as a group, and one of the team members has forgotten something and needs to get it urgently.
The store looked like shit from the outside. As I entered, I had to be careful not to step on the door strewn on the floor and make unnecessary noises.
The gap with my memory was severe. Doors torn from the outside in, windows all cracked and shattered, the inside empty, and the floor littered with fallen and trampled groceries, just like the street.
It looked as if it had been robbed.
No, it would be more accurate to conclude that they were looted. my head hurts. Although it has passed out, it is definitely a city where the lord is alive and well. But what about looting?
If Charlotte was caught, the ringleaders wouldn’t know that it was a serious crime that would be nailed alive.
In that corner, a staircase leading to the second floor, which was no different from the shop owner’s house, stood out. I was going to go up, but I gave up because I thought it was a little too much to go into a private space.
It was like a chimney to grab hold of anyone and ask what the hell had happened, but no one seemed to even try.
I left the store and returned to the main street. Starting from the castle gate, the tiles along the road leading to the manor house were broken in places.
I got down on one knee and picked up one of the broken tiles. It looked like it had been beaten with a hammer or blunt instrument.
Who would bother hammering the tiles on the floor? It was hard to see because it was an accidental mark.
fight. That was my first guess. It’s hard to believe that a fight didn’t break out amidst the looting of stores and the rush to steal groceries.
If I took more and you took more, they would bite each other and fight, saying that it was mine or yours. There was no such thing as camaraderie for those who took advantage of the opportunity to loot.
However, it bothered me that there was not a single blood stain. They fought to the point of smashing the tiles on the roadside, but I can’t see any bloodstains. It’s as if he broke only human bones with a blunt weapon—
‘… … Is that him?’
Scarface. A name ran through my mind.
To put it in one word, he was a filthy vicious and cunning human being.
If you ask whether he is a villain or not, the answer will most likely come back that he is a villain. The rest of you who will answer no are his gang.
had the skills. Along with Ryan, Scarface was the only skilled person to reach the position of an advanced adventurer.
In addition, the huge figure that exceeded 2 meters and the hammer taller than the average person made me feel intimidated just by looking at it.
I saw the scene of him swinging that huge hammer like a sword and slaying monsters many times. It’s a problem because he uses his outstanding skills more against other adventurers.
Not only did they betray others, but they also often attracted monsters from the forest to endanger the adventurers who came first, and then attacked both sides to take advantage alone.
Also, what if that adventurer is a woman?
There were quite a few adventurers who went missing because they were eaten by monsters, but most of the ‘disappearances’ of female adventurers were a little different.
The reason why such a person openly acted as an adventurer was simple. Because Scarface never breaks the law.
It’s all done without evidence within the borders of the law or in the blind spot. From the outside, Scarface was simply a good adventurer with a bit of a bad personality.
There is a heart symptom, but no physical evidence. So it was natural that there was no way to stop it.
At the level of Scarface, the money earned by hunting monsters was far greater than the money earned by spurning low-level adventurers, but the reason he walked the tightrope above the line set by the law was simply because he had a bad temper.
I also had a few contacts. In a situation where I didn’t know where the dragon was right now, there was nothing to gain by being stamped by him, so I bowed down and went in.
‘By the way, why did he do this?’
The Scarface I knew, and at least in this city, was a man who never broke the law.
Taking advantage of the fact that it is difficult to properly find evidence only in the forest, he has been active as a person, but it was normal not to move around like this, at least in the city.
First of all, listening to the circumstances comes first. got up from the floor The broken tile was roughly thrown somewhere.
I headed for the Adventurer’s Guild along the familiar road I had been on for nearly 10 years. All the way, the scenery of the gloomy city and the messy buildings caught my eye.
It was a day at most. It’s only been a day since Serena caused the incident. Something was strange.
It was inconsistent that a city that had worked just fine turned into a lawless zone like this in just one day.
Adventurers are also a tribe with thoughts. No one would mindlessly commit the madness of plundering a city.
“How did things turn out like this?”
He moved his steps diligently and grumbled with his mouth. It wasn’t a place with only good memories, but it wasn’t a place where I didn’t feel guilty when I saw the shitty situation like this.
You can forget what you didn’t do to me. But, don’t forget what you did well. And there were definitely people who were good to me here.
Not me, the immortal being, but the people who were kind to me, the lowliest adventurer with no special features. Even if it didn’t do me any good, grace was grace.
And if you receive it, it’s polite to give it back.
I stopped in front of a familiar building. Adventurer Guild. Fortunately, the Adventurer’s Guild building looked fine from the outside.
At least that meant they weren’t looted like other stores. Because that place was a mess to look at. He put his hand on the doorknob and pulled.
Suddenly, the lock stopped movement. The door did not open. The accident came to a halt in an unexpected situation. you locked the door? in this situation? Adventurer Guild?
Panicking, I pulled the door once more, but once again an audible rattle only confirmed to me that the lock was working.
I hurriedly turned to the side and looked out the window. The windows were all broken and boarded up from the inside.
It was so carefully sealed that not a single gap was visible. The wooden boards attached to the windows were left intact with the traces of the destruction attempt to enter from the outside.
“Hey! Is anyone inside?”
Bang bang, knocked on the door three times. There was no answer coming back. It was quiet. Anxiety soared. I don’t know about other places, but the fact that it was quiet here was a real problem.
This place was strong enough to be given instructions to evacuate to the Adventurer’s Guild building in the event of a crisis that could not be handled with only the walls and guards.
There was only one answer I could think of. In fact, a crisis that they couldn’t handle hit this city, and that’s why they made this place a refuge.
The reason why they blocked the windows was to protect the people inside from something outside, and the reason they had to do this was that there were people around them.
knocked on the door again. Bang, bang, boom, the sound roamed the place once more. Just in case, I waited for any reaction from inside.
One minute passed, two minutes passed, and the waiting time had just passed three minutes.
“What, is there still a guy wandering around outside?”
He sighed and tried to head for the lord’s mansion, but hesitated. Is there a guy still out there? I turned my head and looked at the source of the sound.
The sloppy way of speaking, the sound of flirting with each other, the smirking smile on their lips, the knife in their hand as if they were ready to attack.
It was Scarface’s gang.
“Your name… Ah, yes. I remembered. You were an idiot who said that having no name was a name, right?”
Then, they laughed loudly, saying kyahaha among themselves. Some of them held their stomachs and laughed, wondering what the hell was so funny. Did intelligence degenerate as a group?
“What are you guys doing here?”
“What did you do? Hey, are you talking a little short?”
“I have a lot to ask you guys. I have to ask what you guys did here, I have to ask why this place is like this, I have to ask what kind of big guy has this plan. Anyway, I have a lot of questions for you guys to answer. “
He pulled out the knife at his waist. The blade and the scabbard rubbed against each other, and a squeaking sound resounded. The gang burst into laughter once again when they saw me with my sword drawn.
“Hahaha! Hey, look at that bastard with his sword out! It looks like he’s trying to attack us?”
“Oh, you’re so cute. Will this older brother give me a hit?”
“You don’t think you can wield it? You can’t wield it? That’s why you’re always digging for herbs and picking up trash, right?”
A man strode towards me. He’s holding a knife, but doesn’t seem like he’s going to wield it. The tip of the knife was pointing toward the floor.
Those guys were in an atmosphere that convinced me that I couldn’t wield a sword in the first place. Rather, if you point your weapon at me and approach me, that will be a joke.
It was clear that they were obsessed with useless pride.
“Hey man! Take it easy! Unleash your expression! What if you get scared and run away before you even go!”
“Look at him, he’s frozen and won’t move! Smile, bastard! If he runs away, will you catch him?”
Seeing that his body wasn’t even covered with mana made me laugh out loud. Do you seriously think that you can survive being beaten with a knife without wearing armor?
I couldn’t understand how much he looked down on me and did that to me. Even if a 6-year-old kid is holding it, if he is naked, he has to be nervous because he will get cut in one place unluckily.
He came right in front of me and exaggeratedly spread his arms. Really, sincerely, I wasn’t even wary of the slightest bit. I had no idea that my image would be so miserable here.
Of the 3 items of food and clothing, I didn’t need clothes and food, and I almost didn’t need a house, so I only took on cheap requests that didn’t cost money, and it seemed that rumors spread in a weird direction.
Of course, I was aiming for that to some extent, but I never imagined that I would act like that even though I had my sword drawn.
“Come on, kid. This older brother will teach you how to use a sword—”
“know.”
Phew, the blade dug into his carotid artery.
The sound of laughter from behind stopped. The expression in front of his eyes was contorted with shock. I stepped on the back of his right foot with my left foot so as not to stumble, and at the same time twisted my wrist to turn the knife.
The guy’s body trembled. His eyes widened and his eyes widened. A liquid mixed with blood and saliva flowed out from between her pursed lips.
He drew his sword and swung it into the air once, shaking off the blood. Seeing that his knee was about to bend, he removed the foot he had stepped on and kicked it.
It was a body that went beyond massive and even fat, but it was surprisingly easy to pass because the strength of the whole body had been released for a long time.
The body fell to the floor with a heavy thud. The skyward boat no longer rose and fell with the breath. Blood gushed out of the hole in his neck and soaked the floor.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The other three guys were staring at me with their mouths wide open. It’s not a crowd. Because the guy who doubted that he could even wield a sword and looked down on him killed a man by piercing his neck at once.
Obviously, it is impossible to strengthen my body through the process of putting mana on my body, and my muscles have not grown at all compared to the past.
Even if I compete with quite a few low-level adventurers, I will be pushed back with pure brute strength. Needless to say, if he was determined and even used mana.
He is a human who cannot use even simple physical enhancement, what more needs to be said.
However, that doesn’t mean that the swordsmanship he trained for over a hundred years won’t go anywhere.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you fighting?”
Those guys who clumsily use body strengthening and attack, can be dealt with only with swordsmanship, regardless of whether or not they are wrapped in mana.
“Or, should I teach this older brother how to use a sword?”
