Chapter 475

I Said Make My Abilities Average!

Annihilation [ 2 ] #

“Next up is the territory of a certain Earl.”

“Ah, yes. As expected, there are no heroes foolish enough to bring beastman children as slaves to the royal capital. They should be kept in their own territory.”

“In the royal capital, even if something were to happen, it might not be possible to cover it up. It would quickly spread to the ears of many nobles, merchants, and even the royal family.”

“On the other hand, in their own territory, they can do whatever they want.”

As Mavis and Pauline said, it was unlikely that anyone would bring such a dangerous item as beastman children to the royal capital. It would be like strapping dynamite all over their body and jumping through a ring of fire.

So, from now on, everyone will head to the territory of a noble who bought beastman children or to the mansion of a wealthy merchant in their hometown.

And of course, Mile and her companions have no intention of “negotiating with the enemy” or “buying back the children.” After all, except for a few countries, there are no slaves other than those who have brought it upon themselves, such as those who are in debt or have committed crimes and are subject to “limited slavery for repayment or punishment.” In other words, there are no slaves other than those who are enslaved for racial or ethnic reasons, or because their parents were slaves.

Moreover, according to the “Ancient Covenant,” it is forbidden to harm demi-humans, and it goes without saying that humans cannot do anything to beastmen for their own reasons.

…Of course, if the beastmen commit an obvious criminal act, they will be arrested and punished according to the procedures established by the “Ancient Covenant.”

However, it is impossible that “a young girl who lived peacefully in a village” is included in that group.

…Absolutely not.

So, Mile and her companions can crush their opponents with no hesitation, no hesitation, and no guilt, completely and utterly.

Of course, when crushing villains, it’s okay to lie.

Keeping promises or showing sincerity is only for “worthy opponents.”

There is no need to keep promises made through coercion or force. And likewise, there is no reason why we should be honest to our opponents who have already broken the rules.

“Well then, let’s go. ‘Crimson Blood is Good!’ Let’s go!”

“Ooooh!!”

And so, the demons set off on their journey once again.

…Demons?

They are more gentle and thoughtful.

“…However, it was very easy to understand the hint of the names of the people who bought them.”

“Well, we just put up a precautionary measure so that we can say, ‘We didn’t tell them our names!’ But in reality, it’s the same as if we told them everything. That way, they’ll think they can leave us alone…”

“That’s impossible, isn’t it?”

“Ahahaha!”

Mavis listened to the conversation between Mile and Pauline as they walked along the highway, with a complicated expression.

“Well, our goal is to bring back the beastman children. We’re not interested in being an intermediary who is neither the original requester nor the perpetrator of obtaining the beastmen. They probably thought that way, too. Of course, they used expressions that could be interpreted that way…”

Certainly, if Mile and her companions were a “hunter party acting on a request,” they would only do what was requested of them without doing anything unnecessary.

…If the request was to “rescue children,” then they would only have that purpose.

Of course, if it was necessary to fight the people the other side hired, they would do so, but they shouldn’t get involved with foreign merchants for no reason. Especially if they are claiming to be “helpful third parties” who cooperatively provided the necessary information and “plausible excuses.”

And, since the actual perpetrators will undoubtedly be caught and squeezed into confessing to the requester from now on, this route is as good as closed…

…However, formally speaking, this request is “a request made by a non-guild member and unqualified stray party that Mile has joined.”

It is a “free request” because it is a direct contract with the requester who did not go through the guild, as it is a request to an unqualified person.

Therefore, what binds “Crimson Blood is Good!” are only the request contents from the requester and the local laws. And both of these are hardly functioning as restrictions, as the former is the request of Mile and the latter is for “arresting criminals who have committed serious crimes.”

“Your Highness, it’s scary! Something is coming! Lots of people are coming to kill you…!”

“Again, saying incomprehensible things…”

“It’s me, Hiroko-chan! It’s my debut work! I’ll prove it!!”

“I told you, I don’t know anything!!”

Mile was saying something incomprehensible again, but everyone just brushed it off as usual and it ended there.

Oh well.

The joke has been altered too much that even modern Japanese people would have a hard time understanding it…

“Come on, let’s go already! It’s not like it’ll have a big impact if the fact that we’re investigating illegal slave trafficking routes in this town spreads a little… The trading company doesn’t want it to be known that they sold out their clients to save themselves, so they won’t contact their buyers. Plus, they’re not going to have time to do so during the upcoming interrogation… And even if rumors do spread, we’ll get to the location faster than they do. Rumors don’t spread in a straight line at full speed unless someone is intentionally spreading them. And our travel speed is much faster than the merchants’ carriages, which are the main way the rumors would spread to other towns. So, it should be “no problem,” but it’s still better to move as quickly as possible.”

Mile and the others nodded in agreement with Lena’s words.

They confirmed three trading partners at the store, which matched the number of victims they confirmed in the village. They were probably honest with them.

That’s to be expected.

If they didn’t come back, and if someone who had hired them for the job was in the public eye, a new hunter party would be hired, and it would be easy to find out when the previous party disappeared. If that happened, they would be suspected as the perpetrators of the mass murder of beautiful girls and would be punished before the interrogation of the kidnapping case even began. And even if they lied and drove the pursuers away, they would be quickly exposed and shouted at, and their own information would be reported to the security team, leading to a thorough investigation.

…They were completely done for.

That’s why the shopkeeper had no choice but to tell the truth, and that’s why Pauline didn’t keep questioning them over and over again to make sure they were telling the truth.

If she had done so, the interrogation method of “repeating the same question over and over again” by Pauline and Lena would have been implemented. Yes, to mentally corner them and to question their contradictions…

“…Well, we kept our promise, right? We didn’t lie. We just said goodbye to each department. So, there’s no need to worry… except for checking on the bad guys on the way back, of course. Let’s go to the rural lord’s place first. We’re going at full speed!”

“YEAH!!”

Although they were hunters known for their toughness and lawlessness, they still respected nobility and used polite language when dealing with them. They didn’t want to unnecessarily put their lives in danger or make enemies of those in power…

Of course, the same applied to the “Crimson Oath,” and even the foul-mouthed Lena spoke politely to the nobles.

…But that was only if the noble was “within the bounds of common sense.”

If angered, they would not hesitate to kill them, even if they were a member of the royal family.