The SSR Spearman (Doesn’t) Hide His One-Shot Damage - Chapter 29

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 29

* * *

‘What on earth just happened?’

I froze in place, staring down at the innkeeper’s corpse.
The innkeeper had collapsed in front of the room Ailin and Rian had tied up, and nearby lay a glass bottle with a single candle rolling beside it.

“That’s Sleep Incense.”
“…”
“Care to check for yourself? To us, it would only make us feel a little foggy. But anyone ordinary who stayed in this room would most likely have lost consciousness.”

Whoosh!

In an instant, golden flames spread from the Iron Wood Sword Ailin had swung, engulfing the candle.
Crackle, crackle…
It wasn’t just the candle. The sound of the walls and floor catching fire echoed around us.

“Oops, I seem to have misjudged the flame. We need to get out of here.”
“…”
“Setanta, Rian, hurry up. We have to leave before the fire spreads.”

Ailin’s clear, violet eyes slid over to me.
They held not a trace of panic.

‘…Did she set this fire on purpose?’

Perhaps it was the Sleep Incense burning in the flames, for my thoughts were growing slightly hazy.
All at once, gooseflesh rose across both of my arms.

‘I have to deal with this body right now.’

Even if it burned, the innkeeper’s caved-in skull would remain as it was.
And if someone attempted a proper examination?
It would be obvious at a glance that this was a murder…!

“Cough!”
“…Huh?”

Obvious…?
No, wait a moment.
The innkeeper is still alive, isn’t he?

‘Isn’t it actually more dangerous for this guy to be alive?’

At the same time, another thought struck me.
I was certain that if the innkeeper survived like this, it would lead to an even worse outcome.

Even if his face didn’t end up on a wanted poster by some stroke of luck, it would still be a problem.
With the bombing attack at the Execution Grounds already souring public opinion, what if rumors spread that an Ailander had attacked a civilian of the Empire?
This would be nothing short of a disaster that keeps affecting the progress of the route from here on out.

‘This is awkward…’

If this were a game session, a choice like this would have popped up.

[Choose the behavior pattern that the Hero would take.]
-【Finish off the innkeeper once and for all.】
-【Use mind magic to erase the innkeeper’s memories.】
-【Render the innkeeper unable to testify to anything.】

Of course, the last choice is the sort of entertainment pick that plunges your Good-Evil Value straight into the basement.
No matter how much of a scumbag the man is, I’m not one to… well, go after a real person rather than some NPC in a game.
I don’t want to do something like that.

‘Maybe I should just cut his throat cleanly, make him a nice corpse, and then ask Ailin to reduce him to ashes?’

I was mulling it over when—

“Oh, thank goodness! That wicked innkeeper isn’t dead yet…! I’m so relieved!”
“Hm?”

Rian stepped forward, his eyes sparkling.

“Sir Setanta, I’ll turn this fellow into a jelly doll and store him right away!”
“A jelly doll… you mean that?”
“Yes! If I make this wretch into my doll, nothing will be left behind here!”
“…Ah.”
“I’m starting the Transformation Ritual this instant!”

With that, he began to chant.
Crackle, crackle…
Through the din of the burning timber, a gloomy murmur rose and filled the air.

…Gurgle!
Before long, purple Mana surged from Rian’s body and rushed at the innkeeper all at once.

“Gwaaah…!”

With a death rattle of a scream, the innkeeper shrank smaller and smaller…
Pwoing.
At last, he became a small jelly doll.

“….”

When I’d only heard about it, it hadn’t quite sunk in, but seeing it with my own eyes, it was truly a jaw-dropping thing.

“Perfect timing, too! I was just running short of jelly dolls for casting spells!”
“Ah, yes…”
“Gasp, the fire’s already spread this far…! Sir Setanta! Ailin! We must leave this place at once!”
“…Just a moment.”

I told the party to wait, then went back for the Hero Rat, still snoring away in the room, and stuffed it straight into my Storage Bag.

『Setanta! What is the meaning of this?!』
『I was in the middle of a lovely dream-!』

Jjwik! Jjwung-jjwung-jjwung!
Ignoring its flailing protests about being robbed of its sleep, I pressed the squirming thing firmly into the bag, then hurried down to the first floor with the others.
The fire had already spread quite a bit, and smoke hung thick in every corner.

“…!”

My eyes suddenly landed on the first-floor counter.
The very counter where I’d handed over Curse Resistance Potions to the innkeeper, one after another.

“Sir Setanta, the building could collapse! We have to get outside at once…!”
“You two go on ahead and wait outside.”

I rummaged through the back of the counter and reclaimed the potions I had paid for earlier.

[You have acquired [Curse Resistance Potion].]
[You have acquired [Curse Resistance Potion]…….]

I’d checked out without ever sleeping in the room, so it only made sense to take back the lodging fee, too.

…Ding!

[TIP – If there is a relatively legitimate reason for injury or murder, the Hero’s Good-Evil Value will not decrease.]

“….”

Right on cue, the notice recognizing Legitimate Self-Defense flashed up.
Thankfully, it seemed my Good-Evil Value hadn’t budged.

“Setanta-nim……!”
“Done. Let’s go!”

I stuffed my Storage Bag to bursting and bolted out of the building.
Crack, crunch!
Behind us, the building was going up in flames, collapsing piece by piece with every passing moment.

“Rian, Ailin! The road to the next town is that way! Let’s run for it!”
“…!”
“The fire’s so big it’ll be visible from far away, so we need to get as far from here as we possibly can!”

We turned our backs on the burning inn and ran with everything we had.

“Haah, huff….”

We ran and ran, until before we knew it.
Dawn had broken.

* * *

“Captain, here’s today’s special report! A fairly large inn along the road was completely burned down. They say no bodies were found, either!”
“….”
“With no witnesses to speak of, I think it’ll be closed as a simple fire. Oh, and also….”

The Captain’s Office of the Imperial 7th Knights.
Captain Lampad listened to his adjutant’s report with a vacant look on his face.

“About Sir James, the one who came back alive from the Labyrinth, he’s still insisting on the same story, apparently.”
“…What exactly is he saying.”
“Some monstrous, superhuman Ailander man single-handedly slew a giant spider that not a single spear or blade could pierce. Hmm, and then Sir James went on to say….”
“….”
“That the protective magic the Great Mage cast a thousand years ago is the true cause of the Labyrinth incident. But honestly, that sounds like nonsense to me-.”
“…Adjutant.”

The Captain let out a heavy sigh and spoke to his adjutant as if scolding a child.

“That information is forbidden to be spoken of. Say it wrong and you could be charged with Crime of Insulting the Imperial Family. Don’t you dare go blabbing it around, either.”
“…Hup?”

The adjutant scribbled something quickly into his notebook, then asked the Captain, his face shifting into something guilty.

“Captain, what if it’s already been said, though? Ah, not that I’m saying I did it, of course! B-but if someone did let it slip…?”
“…Hm.”
“Ah, th-the Crime of Insulting the Imperial Family… could I be punished, or disciplined for it…?”
“Just keep it to yourself from now on, Adjutant.”
“…!”

Only then did color return to the adjutant’s face.

“Ah, a-ahh, I see! Understood! From now on, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind!”
“…If your report is finished, you may leave. I’d like to be alone for now.”

Cradling his throbbing head, the Captain was about to dismiss the adjutant when—

…Click.
The door on the inner side of the Captain’s Office opened.

“…?”

From there, a girl with crimson hair stepped out, hesitant and timid.
She was missing one of her pinky fingers.

The girl moved her lips a few times, as if she meant to speak, then pulled the door shut again and slipped back inside, vanishing from sight.
No matter how long they waited, the door did not open again.

“….”

Beside the Captain, who had pressed both hands to his face, the adjutant asked with a puzzled look.

“By the way, Captain. How long do you plan to keep that Ailander street urchin under your protection?”
“….”
“And she doesn’t seem able to speak properly, either. Did she hit her head somewhere?”
“…Adjutant, watch your tongue. That child is a citizen of the Empire, plain and simple, and she will soon go through the adoption process under my name.”
“Hmm…”

The adjutant stared at the door where the girl had hidden with a sour expression, then muttered under his breath.

“Red hair that vivid… that’s a trait found only among Ailanders, you know.”
“….”
“And how exactly do you plan to handle the adoption? Even if you tried to use the family name, she’d likely be refused, wouldn’t she?”
“…Lampad. I’ll take my name and give it to her as her new surname. I won’t bother tying it to the family line.”
“Ah, yes… I see…”

The adjutant hesitated for a moment with an uneasy face, then gave the Captain a curt nod and left the Captain’s Office.
…Bang!
In the silence that followed the door’s slam,
the Captain, left alone, gazed into empty space for a long while.

‘…She hadn’t even told me her name, and yet I’d suddenly offered her my surname. To her, it must have sounded like a rather absurd thing to say.’

Out of all the countless people he had cut down with his own hands, he had saved only one,
and now he was treating it as if that alone were a lifelong pardon, isn’t he?
What a convenient form of self-consolation this was.

‘They said he was a man from Ailand with a monstrous, inhuman strength.’

The Captain looked at the door where the girl was hiding, his eyes bitter.
And then he thought.

If judgment were to fall upon him.
If that moment were to come crashing down upon him.

It was the long-accumulated grudge of Ailand, gathered into a single form…
A terrible execution, carried out by the hands of a monster that crawled up from hell.

But whatever form that death might take, I would accept it without complaint…

* * *

After traveling without rest through the whole of the dawn,
we finally managed to reach the vicinity of our destination.

“Here it is. In a few days, a Second Labyrinth will appear in that city.”

I pointed toward the city in the distance.
Across the open plains, a pale ivory City Wall rose in a straight line.
It wasn’t on the scale of the capital, but it was a commercial stronghold with rather well-developed facilities.

‘It feels a lot like what I saw in the game.’

For reference, this is a city that sees a fair number of merchants coming and going, and it also has a high proportion of non-imperial residents, such as people from the Rom Federation.
…Not that there’s no discrimination against Ailanders here, of course.

‘For now, should I wrap myself in Perception-Lowering Magic and try to slip past the checkpoint?’

But there was one problem.

“Setanta-nim, it looks like the Imperial Court’s mages have joined in on the checkpoint inspections…!”
“…!”

Because of the various troubles that had just erupted in the capital, the checkpoints had been significantly tightened.

“If they start running precise inspections like that, the Perception-Lowering Magic will be undone right away. What do we do now…?”
“…Damn it.”

What now?

I raised my head and roughly measured the height of the wall.
Sneaking over it at night… the wall is too high and too smooth.
And above all, the Imperial Court’s mages might have already laid alarm magic across it.

‘Then should I forge papers and pretend to be an imperial citizen?’

No, that’s the worst option.
My accent would give me away in an instant.
Then again, perhaps…

‘If some recognized figure would just vouch for us outright, that would make things clean.’

But I know better.
That we have no connections who could vouch for us under these circumstances, at least that much I understand.

I was racking my brain over it for a while when it happened.

Hihing!
Hihihihing-!

“Hm?”

At that moment, from somewhere far off, came the sound of hooves pounding, da-dak da-dak, as a horse came galloping closer.

“Someone save me! Heeeelp!”
“……!”

A black-haired woman with a familiar face came rushing toward us, urging her horse on in a frantic hurry.

“Krrk! Krrrk-!”
“S-s-someone! Help……! Eeeek!”
“…Huh?”

Trailing behind her, a whole line of demonic monsters.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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