Chapter 23

As I looked closely, I realized that several other men were also watching me, in addition to the man who had grabbed my shoulder.

The man was accompanied by a group of other men who seemed to be from the same party.

"I don't have it."

Seeing the appearance of those men, I decided it would be safer not to get involved and turned to walk away from them.

"Hey, wait!"

One of the men called out to my retreating figure, but I continued walking as if I hadn't heard his voice.

"Just hear us out, that's all we ask."

...However, even when I ignored them, the men continued to follow me, which made me frown involuntarily.

After all, I was already feeling uncomfortable from the lewd gazes of the men, and being followed was mentally exhausting, making me want to contort my face.

It was only natural that I almost pushed away one of the men who had come closer to me reflexively.

"Hey, we came to invite you to join our party."

But I continued walking, trying hard to remain calm.

Just a little more, I was confident I could escape these men if I could make it to the back alley.

The men chasing me were a group of people from various professions, but their formation consisted of two warriors, a mage, and a healer, none of whom seemed to have skills to increase their speed.

On the other hand, I possessed a highly effective skill to increase my speed, and I was confident that once I reached the winding back alley, I could easily outmaneuver these men.

And if I could run after getting out of this alley, I was confident I could easily outmaneuver them...

"Just listen! We're doing this out of kindness! If you leave that defective healer's party, we'll let you join our party, the Wolves of Calamity!"

"———!"

...However, when I heard those words, I couldn't help but stop in my tracks.

The Wolves of Calamity, the name of their party brought back memories of a story I had heard from my brother a few years ago.

It was the party that had bullied and beaten my brother, a defective healer, and had tried to kill him by deceiving a new party.

And I realized, belatedly, that the characteristics of the leader of the Wolves of Calamity matched those of the man, Mozeral, whom my brother had described.

These men were undoubtedly the ones who had bullied my brother.

The moment I realized this, I was overwhelmed by a rage that made my vision turn red.

"Have you finally realized? Yes, we are the Wolves of Calamity, the party closest to the lower levels..."

Misinterpreting my reaction, Mozeral smiled with satisfaction and spoke.

"What can you do, someone who can't even reach the lower levels? Your brother, who you mock for being defective, is in the lower levels, you know?"

"......Huh?"

But I didn't let Mozeral finish his sentence. I said this without listening to him.

The men froze at my words, but I didn't care and let my anger take over.

"Or what? Are you introducing yourselves as incompetent because you can't do what a defective person can do?"

"Wha—!"

The men turned red with anger at my words, but Mozeral didn't direct his anger at me.

"...He just got lucky. He caught the eye of a top-tier party by chance, and even after being expelled, he's making a fortune in the lower levels thanks to capable people like you."

Despite his trembling voice from anger, Mozeral tried to control his emotions and continued speaking.

As he became more excited, his words grew more heated.

"That's why being with him is a misfortune for you. He's a burden that prevents you from performing well. But don't worry. From today, you can join our party, which is on par with your abilities..."

"I get that you're good at deluding yourselves, but is that all?"

But I wasn't moved by Mozeral's words. Instead, I mocked him.

"Even if you delude yourselves, you can't reach the lower levels. Oh, I'm sorry, maybe you never had the potential to begin with. After all, you're small-minded people who can't accept that someone you mocked has become top-tier and are filled with jealousy."

"!"

Mozeral fell silent at my words.

While it seemed calmer compared to his previous reaction, his eyes were filled with more anger than before.

It seemed that being called out on his delusions had infuriated him more than expected.

"...Don't mess with me!"

In the next moment, Mozeral, who had exceeded his anger threshold, clenched his fist and lunged at me...

◇◆◇

"...Sigh, fighting among adventurers in the city is not allowed, you know."

Seeing Mozeral lunging at me, I couldn't help but say this.

It was a formal rule of the guild, even if it was just for show.

But Mozeral probably didn't hear my words.

He was that enraged.

His eyes, which glared at me with hatred, even had a murderous intent.

But I wasn't intimidated by Mozeral at all.

"What you did to my brother was far worse than this!"

Because I was angrier than Mozeral.

And I directed that anger at Mozeral, who had lunged at me.

I dodged Mozeral's punch and punched his abdomen.

"Ugh!"

At that moment, one of my skills activated.

The impact from my punch passed through Mozeral's armor and muscles, striking his internal organs directly.

This skill was the hallmark of martial artists.

Martial artists, who typically lack body enhancement skills, need to use magical items to assist their physical abilities.

However, even considering the cost, martial artists are still considered useful.

The reason is this skill, which can sometimes take down even the toughest of magical beasts with a single blow.

Moreover, my skill was special, as it also increased the power of my punches.

"Ugh!"

Mozeral writhed on the ground after receiving that attack.

I didn't attack him with full force to avoid any trouble, but I judged that he wouldn't be able to move for a while based on his writhing.

"...Is that all?"

I couldn't help but say this, as Mozeral was weaker than I expected.

Indeed, Mozeral, being the leader of the party closest to the lower levels, had a decent body enhancement skill and was quite fast.

However, he had become too reliant on his skills, and his natural movements were poor.

I could handle four or five people attacking me at once.

And I judged that the Wolves of Calamity would quickly leave after their leader was defeated in a fight.

So I looked up...

"Wha—!"

...But the next moment, I was speechless at the actions of the Wolves of Calamity.

"O Spirit of the Tree!"

Because the Wolves of Calamity had entered a combat stance, with the mage chanting and the warriors pointing their swords at me.

I couldn't hide my shock at their actions.

The Adventurer's Guild no longer intervenes in minor fights among adventurers.

However, they strictly prohibit killing.

The actions of the Wolves of Calamity were clearly excessive.

Worse, they showed no hesitation in their actions, which only increased my shock.

After all, the Wolves of Calamity had taken advantage of the moment I had caught my breath after defeating Mozeral.

This was a decision that couldn't be made on the spot.

Their actions led me to a hypothesis.

Could the Wolves of Calamity have planned to attack me from the beginning?

However, I didn't have time to think about it.

The mage's incantation was almost complete, and the narrow alley made the situation even worse.

The power and range of a spell increase in a confined space.

I didn't have time to turn around and run.

I wasn't confident I could escape the spell's range.

"Haah!"

So I judged that I could make it and lunged forward.

I decided that the distance between me and the mage was closer than the range of the spell.

My other skill specialized in speed, and my enhanced body quickly closed the distance to the mage.

"Wha—!"

The mage, startled by my approach, hesitated for a moment, creating a small opening.

At that moment, I was confident of victory and smiled.

Kicking off the wall, I closed the distance to the mage at a high speed, and that small opening was fatal.

I aimed to attack the mage, passing over the head of another warrior of the Wolves of Calamity who was guarding the mage.

...But at that moment, an unexpected misfortune struck me.

"Ugh!"

"Ugh!"

As I passed over the warrior's head, he reflexively raised his greatsword, and the hilt struck my abdomen.

The speed of my body was transferred to my abdomen, and I clearly slowed down.

"Ugh!"

Still, I tried to reach out.

But my hand didn't make it in time, and the spell was completed.

"Bind the enemy!"

In the next moment, the vines from a plant the mage had placed at his feet wrapped around my body, and I lost my balance and fell to the ground...

◇◆◇

"Damn, let go!"

After being restrained, I lay on the ground and desperately tried to break free from the vines.

However, the vines didn't budge, no matter how much I struggled.

I continued to move, but it was in vain.

"Looks like you're in a bind."

A mocking voice came from behind me.

Turning around, I saw Mozeral, holding his abdomen and with a twisted face, still mocking me.

"Your glare doesn't scare me at all."

I glared at Mozeral as a form of resistance, but it only made him more confident.

"Who would have thought you were really in love with that defective healer, you're an idiot!"

"He does have a good face, though!"

"We were preparing to capture you just in case that rumor about you attacking the receptionist over the defective guy was true, and it paid off!"

The Wolves of Calamity continued to mock me.

"Once you're gone, that defective guy will finally realize his position."

"Ah, I'm looking forward to it! ...And if we can separate you from that defective healer, we can do whatever we want, right?"

"Wait! Don't leave me out!"

"Don't worry, we'll eventually sell you as an illegal slave, but the timing is up to us. We have time."

"Alright! Still, how will that healer react when the parasite suddenly disappears?"

And they started talking in a way that was unbearable to hear.

I couldn't help but contort my face in frustration and humiliation, but I desperately looked around for a way out of this situation.

But the next moment, I looked up and smiled faintly, stopping my resistance.

"Hey, you."

"Kyaa!"

The Wolves of Calamity didn't notice my expression, but they were sensitive to my stopping resistance, and one of the warriors forced me to stand up.

"...What are you planning?"

Then Mozeral glared at me and said in a low voice.

It was a threatening tone filled with murderous intent, but I smiled at him.

A smile that mocked him and seemed genuinely amused.

"You can't beat my brother."

"!"

Mozeral's face clearly twisted.

Despite being in a dominant position, he was frustrated at being mocked.

The next moment, Mozeral raised his fist to strike me and opened his mouth to speak.

"He's just a piece of trash..."

"No, the trash is you."

But Mozeral couldn't finish his sentence.

"Ugh!?"

Because the next moment, Mozeral was punched by someone who had appeared from above.

The Wolves of Calamity, who had been caught off guard by the sudden attack on their leader, glared at the person, but they were intimidated by the intense killing aura the person emitted.

But the moment the person turned to me, the intense killing aura disappeared, and a deep sense of relief spread across their face.

"Sorry I'm late, Narserna."

At that moment, I almost teared up.

While I might have been in a critical situation, I realized I had been more tense than I thought when I saw my brother.

But the moment I saw my brother, that tension vanished, and I smiled to let him know.

"Thank you for coming to save me!"