“…I see.”
At the same speed as his words, Sebas’ delivered a powerful front kick to Stafan’s stomach.
“So this is what it means for someone to not deserve to live.”
Stafan was assaulted by the unbelievable pain of several of his internal organs exploding. Although it wouldn’t have been strange for him to fall unconscious from the pain and die, he only felt faint while his consciousness still remained.
It hurts!
It hurts!
It hurts!
Even though he wanted to scream and thrash about, the pain was so intense that he could not even move.
“Die as you are.”
Stafan heard a chilling voice. Although he wanted to beg for his life, his throat did not move.
Sweat entered his eyes and his vision grew murky. Within it, he saw Sebas’ back as he walked away.
Save me!
Save me!
I’ll give you as much money as you want so save me!
The one who could respond to the silent voice begging for help was already gone.
In the end, Stafan died slowly with excruciating pain flaring from his abdomen.
Part 2
Lower Fire Month (9th Month), Day 3, 12:12
“Climb, I’m going to kill all of the guys upstairs. We don’t have anything to tie them up with and it’ll be bad if something goes wrong and they scream for help. Even if I knock them unconscious, it’ll be dangerous if they wake up when we’re going in blin… what, what’s wrong?”
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
Climb shook his head to rid himself of his unease. Although his heart was beating loudly like when he ran with all his might, he ignored it.
“My apologies, I’m fine now. I am ready to begin whenever.”
“Is that so? …Hmm, it seems you’ve changed the way you think. You’ve been different since we got here. Right now, you have the face of a warrior. I know you’re anxious. After all, there are a lot of people here that you can’t beat. But relax, I’m here and Sebas-sama is here as well. Just focus on staying alive for the person who supports you.”
He patted Climb on the shoulder and with his katana already drawn, Brain knocked four times on the door.
Climb also gripped his sword.
They could hear footsteps approaching from the other side of the door and the sound of it being unlocked rang out three times.
Like they planned, Climb threw the door open.
Before they could even hear any panicked voices, Brain charged. The sound of flesh being cut could be heard, soon followed by the sound of something dropping to the floor with a thud.
Climb followed him inside.
Brain who had gone ahead of him was already cutting down a second man. Other than that, Climb saw a man in leather armor holding a short sword. Climb closed the distance between them in an instant.
“Wha! Who are you?!”
In a panic, the man swung his short sword but it was easily deflected by Climb’s blade.
He then brought down his overhead swing in a single breath.
The man tried to block it with his short sword but it was just not enough to stop the slash that had Climb’s entire body weight behind it. Climb’s sword knocked away his opponent’s weapon and slashed through the man’s shoulder and through the nape of his neck.
As the man collapsed groaning in pain, an incredible amount of blood spilled out onto the floor; enough to make one wonder just where it had all come from. His body went into convulsions as he neared death.
Having determined that it was a fatal wound, Climb maintained his stance and remained cautious as he retreated to a corner of the room. Behind him, he heard Brain run up the stairs leading to the second floor.
Having confirmed that the only things in the interior were ordinary furniture, Climb ran for the next room.
A minute later.
Having searched around each of their respective floors and confirming that there were no more enemies, Climb and Brain met up at the entrance.
“I searched the first floor and saw no signs of other people.”
“Same with the second floor. The fact that there aren’t even any beds here probably means that this isn’t where they sleep… Like I thought, there’s a secret passage and they live on the other side.”
“About that secret passage, did you manage to find it? I doubt that it would be on the second floor.”
“No, I couldn’t find anything like that. Like you said, it’s probably the first floor.”
Climb and Brain looked at one another and searched the interior.
Climb didn’t have any thief skills and could not find anything by simply searching the area. If they could take their time and had fine powder like flour with them, they could have scattered them over the area and blown on it. The powder would have fallen into the cracks of the secret entrance and made it easier to find. However, they had neither the flour nor the time to spare. Climb took out a magic item from his pouch.
It was a set of small hand bells given to him by Gagaran of Blue Rose.
『Even if it’s dangerous to go adventuring without a thief, there’ll be times when you won’t have a choice. When that happens, this’ll make a world of difference. 』
That was what she said when she gave him this item. Climb compared the pictures drawn on the side of the three bells and picked out the one he wanted.
The name of the magic item that he had taken out was ‘Bell of Detect Secret Doors’.
He could feel Brain looking at him curiously as he shook it once. A refreshing tone rang out, a sound that only the user could hear.
In response, a pale light gathered at a section of the floor. The light flickered repeatedly, indicating the location of the secret door.
“Hoh, that’s a convenient item. All of mine are only for strengthening myself and things useful in battle.”
“But is that not obvious for a warrior?”
“A warrior huh…”
Having memorized that spot, Climb separated from Brain who was wearing a bitter smile and circled around the first floor once. The magical effects of this item had a time limit. It was necessary to investigate as many places as possible before the time was up. Although he did a lap around the floor, aside from the first, there were no other areas that reacted to the magic.