Chance meeting
I think that road was really the path that the investigation team uses to go to the disposal ruins .
I traverse through the forest while being careful that I donât lose sight of the road .
On the way, the road had split up into two paths .
I canât find any signs that could tell the destination that each path would lead .
Now then, where should I go? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
I was about to try asking my partner, Pigimaru...
...but it was at that timeâ
I felt someoneâs presence .
Ever since Iâve been living in the disposal ruins for days, I have become sensitive to presences .
Did the keenness of my nerves became honed after my experience in the ruins?
Gasaaa...
[Hm? Who the heck is this? This is the wrong guy, right?]
It was humans who appeared in front of me .
Four people .
All of them were men .
Theyâre all wearing attire that looks like they came straight from fantasy .
However, I canât really classify their attires as something close to those beautiful fantasies .
All four of them had weapons .
I think over the words they said in my mind .
âHm? Who the heck is this? This is the wrong guy, right?â
Based on their response, are they perhaps in the middle of looking for someone?
Itâs definitely not me, but...
The air that these four had been releasing is making me uneasy .
At least, Iâm sure that they donât seem to be looking for someone just like those in a pleasant drama where theyâre in pursuit of a lost child .
An intrepid man who had a scar on his face looked at me .
Itâs as if heâs looking at garbage .
[Itâs just a dirty brat . Ugh, he looks unpleasant . ]
One of the men turned towards the man with the scar .
[What do we do, Zalash?]
[Letâs just leave it . Itâs just one of those countless irrelevant small fries . Why did I even go to this place? Itâs not interesting at all . ]
The man with the scar had an atmosphere of someone who is calm and collected .
That man should be the leader .
This man kinda resembles Kirihara a bit .
Another man who looks like a shark glanced at me .
[The robe heâs wearing is old, but its quality is good . ]
Next, the man with a greatsword who had an unusual behavior, relaxes his stance and turned to me .
[Well then, for the time being, how about you leave all your belongings in here? Ah, strip all your clothes and imitate a peeing dog? Weâre kinda in a hurry here . ]
[Noâ weâll kill this one . ]
A slender guy came forward .
Itâs that guy who said âThis is the wrong guy, right?â .
Heâs playing with the scimitar in his hand .
The man with a scar replied back to him .
[Youâd even bother killing such a small bug? Itâs just a waste of time . ]
The man gently brushes the edge of his scimitar on his abdomen .
...with a face full of affection .
[I realized that I have yet to test the sharpness of my new baby to a living human... So, Iâll try it on this trash . Anyway, itâs trash . In the first place, we came here to kill someone . ]
[Funnnn... If you want to do it, just get it done already, Magatsu . We have another goal to do in here, right? Well, I think itâs about time that she has run out of energy . I guess our job here is almost done . ]
[Kuku, I know this is a time that âyouâre looking forward toâ, but can you please get it over already~? Itâs not interesting to just kill him . Oi~ after we get the bounty from capturing that woman, letâs go to Abromâs brothel~ . ]
[I donât want to . Iâm tired of the well-trained women they have there... Iâd rather find some high-class prostitutes . Or maybe Iâll just go to the neighboring city and find a good-looking lass . Iâll have her accompany me for about half a year... or just until she breaks . ]
[Half a year!? Donât f*cking kidding me! By how you bastard break all those women, I doubt that woman would even last half a year!]
[Shut it . I know itâs my fault that they break . In the first place, weâre talking of me breaking a woman... when I havenât even met the woman in question . ]
[As soon as I saw that woman, I canât settle with just humans! How about you be my proxy for me while I go for a search for a woman in the neighboring town~!?]
The man with the scar looked at his left hand .
[But, as expected I couldnât put my hands towards the prey... itâs a request from our client, and we should fulfill it . ]
[Well, yeah . ]
[Anywayâ]
The man with the scimitar declared that heâs about to kill me as he took a step towards me .
[Donât even try of running in fear, okay...? I mean, where could you even run to?]
The men were closing in to me .
Please stop that, Iâm begging youâ as if saying something like that, I extend my arms toward their direction .
[I beg of you... j- just ignore me... in this place... having no meaning... I donât want to die...]
The face of the man looks like heâs filled with sadistic thoughts .
[Thatâs no good~⪠. I have to start trying out my sword already~ . We still have a job to do after all~⪠. ]
The man with the cursed sword prepares his stance .
Mishiii...
The manâs muscles became supple .
He raised his scimitar over his head, diagonally behind his back .
[Thatâs why, letâs finish this quicklyâ!]
Securing that thereâs a safe margin between us...
[âthat you have became this Magatsu-samaâs prey, Iâll make sure you understandâ!]
Heâs now within my range .
[]
[âwith... your... body...!? Ngh...?]
[Hm? Wh . . at...!? Guuhh...?]
[What... the...? My bodyâ]
[I canât... move...?]
The paralysis was successful .
It seems that all four of them have been successfully paralyzed .
Theyâre all treating me as if my trash, but Iâm confident with the powers that are held in my hands .
Thatâs why I stayed within a range where I could target all of them .
Well, theyâre way inferior compared to the oppressive feeling Iâve felt from the monsters in the ruins .
[Well then...]
I guess this confirms it...
[My abnormal state skills would be successful even against humans...]
Theyâre not just effective against monsters .
Theyâre also effective against humans .
It seems that the exceptional success rate of my skills also havenât changed .
[As I thought, that f*cking goddess must have something special...?]
[That... just... nowâ]
[Hmm?]
It seems the leader is saying something .
[Is... that... abnor...mal state... magic... just... now? Furth...ermore... theyâre... unrecor...ded magic...?]
Fumu...
He can still talk even when heâs paralyzed huh .
Itâs difficult to judge it when Iâve tried it with monsters back then . Itâs not like I can understand the difference between their roars anyway...
[More... over... to cast... it to... four peo...ple at... the same time...]
According to what the goddess had said back then, didnât she say that the system of abnormal state techniques in this world have no use at all?
A smile started lifting up on my face .
[Well, well . Do I look like Iâm a âfailureâ now?]
[What...?]
[Well, you donât need to reply... You tried to kill me and nobody in your group tried to stop you . Thatâs why donât mind me as I use you people as my âtest subjectsâ . ]
The mood of these four people changed .
Itâs as if they donât understand what I am saying .
[]
Pokopoko...
Powawawa...
[Ahh... . !? Guuggiiiieee...!?]
[Kuh... Guruuu...jiii... . ]
[Goooeee... This . . is... imposs...booaa... . ]
[What the... heck did you...ngh!?]
The four people began screaming in pain as their skin began to be dyed in the color of poison .
[Pigi!]
Pigimaru suddenly cried out .
Pigimaruâs protrusion came out from the side of my neck .
[Pigimaru? Are you perhaps... angry?]
[Pi!]
It seems that Pigimaru felt a strong displeasure against these four people .
Did my senses sync with him?
[Wellâ It would hurt my heart even if these guys were to die . Rather, I would even feel refreshed . ]
Facing killing intent with my killing intent .
Returning malice with malice .
Iâm just applying those simple rules .
These guys feel like theyâre brimming with dark yet familiar thoughts .
Itâs like them, just like how Kirihara and Oyamada speak .
[The point is, I can do it against someone like them . ]
I look at my hands .
I see .
It seems that I also felt no hesitation even up to the last moment .
[Even if theyâre my opponents, I can still do it . ]
I waited for the death of the four people .
They look miserable as they slowly died full of suffering .
They canât even struggle because of paralysis .
In the end, they begged for salvation .
But, I donât think they have ever listened to the plea of those who have asked them for salvation .
I donât think they can do that .
I donât think that they would ever do that .
Thatâs why I ignored their pleas .
[Giiiiii... . ]
After a while, the last person had finally died .
My level didnât even increase by 1 .
Was the experience value they give that low?
Or is it that...
[...You canât get any experience from human beingsâ That being the case is quite possible after all...]
While contemplating about this, I started fishing for things that I can use in their luggage .
It seems that thereâs no uniformity in their sizes .
Well, if I suddenly meet one of their acquaintance somewhere and they would recognize their clothes that I supposedly took...
. . Then, it would be really troublesome .
Thatâs also the case with their armor .
If I were to be traced because of these, it will be really troublesome .
Thatâs why I would only be taking their gold, silver and copper coins . I stashed them in my small pouch, which I put back into my leather bag .
Itâs hard to track of someone who just took their money .
In that sense, they could be considered safe for the taking .
I quickly finish rummaging their things and stood up .
[â-Piii . ]
The previously meek Pigimaru suddenly cried out .
[Hm? I see, so you felt it too? Yeah, I knowâ]
There are some targets that I had poisoned earlier with a poison that I had set into non-lethal .
But, I have also made sure to paralyze them just now .
An intimidating aura thatâs really unusual .
Itâs a mixture of killing intent and willpower .
[There is another person nearby, I wonder who that is...]