Chapter 45

After leaving the tavern, Aldis spent the morning visiting shops that sold daily necessities.

He had brought the bare essentials when he left Tria, but the amount was limited.

For now, everything was just "for the time being," and he had no intention of buying a large quantity of items, but he planned to look for dishes, towels, and the like.

Most important of all was food.

He knew from experience that hunting in the forest would provide meat, but relying solely on meat would not keep him in top condition.

Therefore, he made sure to consume a certain amount of fruits and vegetables, but the variety of ingredients available in the forest was limited.

Moreover, the next most important thing after food was salt and other seasonings.

Aldis, for his part, did not place much importance on the taste of his meals.

As long as he could eat without dying, it was fine, and he had no intention of complaining unless it made him vomit everything in his stomach.

However, the twins and Nere would be different. The better the food, the better.

After going around the shops and deciding what to buy, Aldis returned to the inn.

It was already past noon.

The busy lunch hour had ended, and the tavern was empty, with no sign of Cesare.

(Did he take the bait?)

After confirming this, Aldis packed his belongings and left the inn.

When the tavern owner asked, "Where are you going now?" Aldis briefly replied that he was heading toward the empire, then shouldered his belongings and slowly walked toward the south gate.

He strolled leisurely through the city, peering into various stalls, and left the capital through the south gate.

As he walked southeast, he was stopped almost immediately after the gatekeepers were out of sight.

"Hey, wait a minute, buddy."

(Here they come.)

Turning around calmly, Aldis saw five men who looked like mercenaries.

The one in the middle, who seemed to have called out, was an ax wielder. The two on either side also held axes, and all three were heavily armed as if they were about to go to war.

The two in the back were men in robes, who appeared to be mages, but it was impossible to know for sure until they engaged in battle. After all, Aldis and Nere also looked like mages on the outside.

"Is it me? Are you sure you haven't got the wrong person?"

"No, it's you, buddy. Look, I'm not trying to do anything bad, so can you just come quietly?"

"At least I don't see any reason to be caught."

"Well, even if you don't, there are people who want to catch you, so there's nothing we can do about it."

The man hinted at the existence of a client.

The problem was who had hired them, but asking would not get a straightforward answer.

Moreover, it was clear from the start that a conversation would not prevent a fight.

(Then—)

Aldis cast a spell with an incantation as a response.

"The words cut through your form and guide you to the other side—"

(I'll capture them and interrogate them.)

"Sleeping Mist!"

"What! So fast!?"

The silver mist, which emitted a faint glow, enveloped the mercenaries, who had no time to prepare for the sudden attack.

Engaging an opponent who could use magic from a distance was a risky move.

Of course, they were not amateurs.

Given that one of their companions appeared to be a mage, they must have thought they were at a distance where they could handle Aldis's magic.

However, Aldis's incantation was much faster than they expected.

For a regular mage, the incantation was an unavoidable step, but for Aldis, who could cast spells without an incantation, it was just a pretense—a fake to hide his ability to cast without an incantation.

By the time the mercenaries, who were flustered, tried to attack Aldis, it was already too late.

Aldis's sleep magic, infused with his magic power, instantly took away the consciousness of all the mercenaries.

With the magic power that made Noris call him "out of the ordinary," the mercenaries had no means to resist.

After casting the sleep spell, Aldis ignored the mercenaries as they collapsed one by one and began to take out a particularly strong rope from his belongings, enough for all of them.

"I can't let them escape like last time and have to do this twice."

He tied up all five, gagged them, and dragged the leader into a nearby thicket.

Aldis removed the gag from the man and slapped his cheeks to wake him up.

The man, who was dazed for a moment, soon realized he was tied up and began to scream.

"What! What... Where are we! Hey! What did you do!?"

Standing in front of him, Aldis wore a cold smile.

"What did I do... I put you to sleep with magic. Don't you remember?"

The man frantically looked around and said, panicked.

"What about the others... What happened to the others!?"

"Already finished them off?"

Aldis said this with a cool expression. Of course, it was a lie.

Aldis did not show mercy to those who tried to take his life.

However, these men did not have a murderous intent. Even if he had to deal with the situation with all his might, Aldis had enough sense to handle them appropriately.

"Are you going to kill me too?"

The man's face turned pale as he finally understood the situation.

Since Aldis's intentions were unreadable, the man could only feel that his life was in danger.

"Do you think you'll be saved at this point?"

Aldis said this with a tone of exasperation.

"Damn!"

"However, you guys were pretty weak. Are you new to being mercenaries?"

Aldis taunted the man, who was at a loss for words in his frustration.

"You! Just wait!"

It seemed the man was the type who spoke before thinking.

This might work, Aldis thought with a smirk.

"You've got a lot of nerve. You don't even know how much you were sold for."

"What...! Sold! What do you mean!?"

Aldis laughed derisively.

"Still don't get it? You have a thick head. I was just asked to do it. They fed you false information and had you attack me, so I could turn the tables on you."

"False... information?"

Aldis pressed on with a mocking expression.

"Right. You were lured out by false information. You thought you were ambushing me, but you were the ones who fell into a trap. You must have a lot of enemies, don't you?"

"Me...! Who...!?"

We're almost there, Aldis thought.

"Still don't get it? Think about who told you to attack me. It's not that hard, is it?"

"......Right...! Cesare, that bastard!"

Got him.

"Finally got it, huh? You're slow."

While saying this, Aldis inwardly smirked at the expected name.

"Damn! That bastard!"

The man cursed Cesare with a look of rage.

After letting the man's curses flow for a while, Aldis said with a wicked smile.

"Well, don't be so angry. I'll make sure to tell Cesare for you."

"What are you saying! That bastard...! Damn! I can't die in peace like this!"

The man shouted, his frustration evident in his entire body.

"Come on, no need to get so worked up. Everything I said just now was a lie."

"......What?"

Confused by what he had just heard, the man looked up at Aldis with a bewildered expression.

"A lie... that Cesare, that bastard, sold me out?"

"Right. I didn't receive any request from Cesare, and he didn't give you false information. He didn't sell you out. Your companions are still alive over there."

"..."

The man's mouth hung open, and he was speechless, as if he had been hit by a beanbag.

"Well, I'll make sure to give Cesare a taste of his own medicine. I'm heading back to the capital, but you guys can stay here a bit longer. Oh, and this is a kind of compensation."

With that, Aldis took the helmet the man had been wearing.

After readjusting his belongings, he began to walk back to the capital, leaving the man and his companions behind.

"Hey, wait...! Hey...! Hold it!"

The man's voice, calling out to Aldis, echoed around.

Aldis paid the toll again at the south gate and stepped back into the capital.

He headed straight for the pleasure district and entered the inn he had vacated a few hours earlier.

The inn was preparing for the upcoming rush, with staff bustling about, and only a few guests were seated.

One of them was Cesare, sitting at the counter with a glass of fruit water in his hand.

Aldis walked up to the counter without trying to hide his footsteps, and Cesare, sensing something was wrong, turned around and froze when he saw Aldis's face.

Aldis threw the helmet the mercenary had been wearing at the pale-faced Cesare and said with a sinister smile.

"This belonged to one of your acquaintances. It looked like he forgot it, so could you return it for him?"

"A, a... w, why are you here? You were supposed to leave the capital..."

Cesare's voice trembled with fear.

"I intended to, but I ran into some low-quality stray dogs right after I left. I took care of them, but they seemed to have forgotten their helmets."

Aldis explained, referring to the mercenaries who had attacked him as stray dogs.

Cesare, in his current state, did not even notice the inconsistency in the metaphor.

"R, right... That must have been... a tough situation."

"Sure, it was a bit of a hassle, but nothing serious. I was attacked by thugs in a back alley yesterday, but it was no big deal. I'll just turn the tables on them every time they attack."

"Y, your skills are impressive—"

Just as Cesare, who seemed to have recovered from the shock, tried to talk his way out of the situation,

Aldis closed the distance and whispered in Cesare's ear with a voice devoid of emotion.

"But I'll only laugh it off twice. There won't be a third time."

A warning that there would be no third chance.

"A... a... y, yes..."

Cesare's voice wavered as he barely managed to respond.

Tapping Cesare's shoulder, who was frozen in fear like a frog caught by a snake, Aldis left the tavern.

Despite the minor trouble, he had accomplished his original goal.

Aldis looked up at the sky over the main street.

The sun was already low, but it was still not dusk.

Considering the time it would take to buy food and travel, he could return before nightfall.

Thinking about what to get as a gift for the twins, Aldis headed toward the street lined with shops.

2017/11/29 Typo correction: "in front of him" → "standing in front of him"

2018/03/20 Typo correction: "the man and his companions" → "the man and his companions"

2018/03/20 Correction: "the man, still tied up" → "the man, tied up"

2018/03/20 Correction: "headed to the pleasure district" → "headed toward the pleasure district"

2018/04/18 Typo correction: "fast" → "so fast"

2019/07/30 Typo correction: "asked" → "asked"

*Thank you for reporting the typos.