The Skill Collector

"Please, protect me!

As usual, gracefully tasting lunch in the dining room on the first floor of the inn, I was suddenly told this when I wondered if one man with a plump stomach had come running over.

He shakes his hair and bows his head over and over again.

I can see it stuffed with cutting feathers, but I don't recognize that face at all.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a grumpy pedestrian. If you want an escort, may I introduce you to an armed adventurer?

"No, you're good! You beat the most powerful champion in the arena! I need help with the strongest man!

It is true that we have previously won by fighting champions.

I don't know where you bought that information from, but is it impossible to get rid of it?

"Can I just talk to you first? whether or not to take that request."

"Ahhh! Thank you, thank you!

He shook his hand forcefully with his wet hands with a slight sweat.

I can understand the rough breathing and hand feel that has been running so hard so far.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to disturb you. At least as an apology, because I'll have all the money here."

A fuzzy man bowed his head to the store's customers and clerk, and the expression of the regulars, who were frowning when he proclaimed aloud, became much brighter. Cash people.

The man wipes his sweaty face with a handkerchief and moisturizes his throat with his mouth on the beverage he's been transported to, he looks at me from the front again.

"Washi is a village about half a day down the salt road from this town, and he is the village chief."

The path of salt refers to a street that runs straight west of the capital.

Is this man the village chief? I see. I was able to convince myself that I had a plump stomach and that I was wearing good quality clothes for the villagers.

The sweaty round face looks calm at first glance. I can't read my emotions from my expression because I always smile and have thin eyes like yarn.

I've been using 'psychology' for a while now, but I can't make a decision.

I guess I'm not interfering with it with my skills, I'm just the type of person whose emotions are hard to get on my face and who's good at abdominal arts.

Someone who gives a mild impression that bugs don't kill either, but now what do you think?

"Recently, there have been serial killings of villagers, one after the other, in Washi villages."

There was a rattling sound of a chair moving in the rear, so I turned my gaze slightly and the novelist looked at me with his hips up and cancer.

Its face is free of fright and fine dust, and its eyes shine with curiosity. Something like intrigue as the subject of a novel?

Speaking of which,

"I've had my deadline extended for a week and the manuscript is white! As it is, the person in charge will kill you! Do you know of any unusual incidents or something!? Whatever it takes to be a story.

You were screaming and clinging to me and the regulars and asking for a story.

Was it luck for the novelist to come down and gush?

I felt the other gaze, so when I circled my surrounding gaze as it was, most of the regular people seemed to be listening. The two waitresses are also pulling over closely.

Wild horse guts rounded out, but no harm so far, so don't pay attention.

"Is it serial murder? This is noisy again. Were you attacked by demons?

"No. All the victims were killed in the village, and the cause of death was due to the blade."

"Then it's reasonable to think of it as human work."

"... Yes. Unfortunately."

The scratch, and the sound of dragging the chair leg approached, so I stretched my arm toward the novelist and controlled it with my hand not to come over here.

In the middle of a serious conversation, I hope you don't let Ranlan's eyes shine and approach me.

And the other regulars were gradually packing their time, so I'll hand pay them to go that way.

"By the way, can you tell me the number of villages and the number of victims?

"Yes. Is the total population about three hundred? Victims… the number of dead has reached twenty-two"

The village chief who talks in a voice that seems to disappear even now.

"Huh!"

I heard someone breathtaking.

He seems to have noticed the seriousness of the matter in an unexpected number of people, shading his regular face, which was a hunk of curiosity.

"That's more than I expected. If it's that important, why don't you ask the country for help? The king of this land will help you."

"It was, in fact, taking the villagers hostage. They're threatening to kill hostages if soldiers come to this village."

"Really?"

Now, for a moment, I was upset and distorted my expression. 'Psychology' didn't miss that.

Is the hostage story a lie?

It's getting frigid all at once, but I'll try to follow a little more before I judge.

"I mean, you had contact with the killer. Does that mean the killer has a star?

"Yes, there was a former adventurer who had emigrated a few months before the crime occurred. Everyone in the village is rumouring that it might be him. The earlier threats were written in a letter that was placed in front of my house one day."

"Where is that suspect now?

"From the neighborhood where the fourth victim left off, he didn't even go home and disappeared."

The killer theory is intense if you ask only here, but there is no guarantee anywhere that this mayor of the village is not lying.

What a frigid but too noisy project to leave alone.

"So I'll get back to the beginning, but you're pretty sure my request is to escort the village chief?

"No, that's fine at last. I want you to come to the village and protect the villagers and catch the killer!

I don't think this rushing feeling is a lie.

Regardless of the killer or the reason for the murder, it seems true that the villagers are being killed.

"Okay. I don't know if I can help, but take me to the village."

"Whoa! Thank you!

A novelist is behind the mayor of the village who holds my hand and says thank you again and again.

Waving to get rid of the novelist, he returns to his seat reluctantly and so forth.

... That's a face you haven't given up. Let's mix the sleeping pills with water later.

He boarded the village chief's carriage and took the street west to reach the village in about half a day.

It's already dark around here because I left at noon.

"Fu goo mu goo!

"Collector, you know, is that person okay?

I'm guessing that person refers to an object that is wrapped around a rope in addition to a monkey groove and is bouncing on a carrier.

"If it gets any more violent, I'll definitely stun you."

When I say that with a smile, I shake my head hard and vertically with a frightened face for some reason.

You seem convinced.

I didn't expect a novelist who put him to sleep with sleeping pills to come after him by dictating champions he had no time to spare.

"You have to stop, too."

Speaking to the champion who is arranging the acorns on the carriage carriage carriage carriage, he laughs luxuriously without a chill.

"Isn't that nice? I'll protect the novelists and the villagers."

This guy's been free lately, hasn't he?

"Please protect me, too."

"Oh, leave it to me."

Another companion is smiling closer to the champion.

He's a former assassin and now he's in love with a champion, Lises.

These days it makes me look like a stupid couple without worrying about people's eyes.

"I want you to stop joining me in the mood for a date, but that's okay"

In fact, if I had these two, I'd be reliable.

Leave the escort to the two of us, and I'll be free to explore the village.

"Sorry for the noise"

"No. I'm thankful you even came to the champion in addition to the collector. The villagers are welcome, no doubt."

There is an expression of relief on the face of the village chief who says so.

As an escort, no one would be more comfortable.

At the entrance to the village is a villager with four weapons in his hand. They're all around twenty and fit.

Pine lights and lanterns hang all over the village, and the whole village is bright, I guess, a sign of vigilance against mysterious killers.

"Father...... Village Chief, are you home! The one at the end!

I rephrase, is one of the watchmen I've talked to the son of the village chief?

There is a slight resemblance around the eye area.

"Don't worry. I brought in two of the mightiest men, Jen. Looks like you're safe, too. Is Saira okay with this, too?

"Yes, my sister is safe too. And are you two of the strongest, that's the village chief!

Hearing the words, the face of the villager, who was frightened by tension, loosens slightly.

The village chief introduced me but gave me a bewildered look for a moment. But when I checked the face of the champion with his face out of the carrier, I heard a joyous voice.

Seeing as he seemed to bend over to see it, he seemed heartily relieved. I know how you feel.

"Since then, is everyone all right?

"That's... five new victims since the village chief left the village..."

"Right. All five of them, after all?

My eyebrows unwittingly react to things that seem to contain something from the village chief.

"Yes, it is"

Side by side the village chief who bites his lips and peeks at what's going on in the village.

It would be a hard time lurking because there are lights all over it. Three groups of villagers are patrolling, guarded by a group of four.

"Go to my house first"

"No, I'll have the village hanging around like this for a little while. There may be traces of the killer. The champion will escort the village chief."

"Oh, leave it to me."

The carriage, with the village chief and a couple wrapped around it, proceeds to the back of the village.

Even if you get raided over there, you can leave them alone because they're just gonna pay you back.

Well, suppose I talk to the villagers first?

"Can you tell me more about the murder?

"Are you the one the village chief brought in? Yeah, ask me anything."

"Don't hesitate, then"

When I heard the circumstances from the four people who were at the entrance to the village, there was no significant difference from what the village chief was saying.

I didn't, but I'm suspicious.

The villagers are not as thick on the skin of their faces as the village chief, and they don't seem to lie well and behave suspiciously.

Especially when I asked that question, there was a blatant bollocks.

So I'll check again. For once, set up "Speech" and "Psychology".

"The killer's mind is definitely a man with an adventurer collapse who came a few months ago, right?

"Yeah, yeah."

When everyone looks at each other, they nod at the same time as if they had measured the timing.

"By the way, I have been informed of all the circumstances by the village chief. I stand on my arms a little, but my main position is as a pedestrian. I signed an exclusive agreement with this village, so I won't do anything to my detriment."

But if I told you, my mouth would be a little lighter.

From there, he abused 'speech', 'intimidation' and 'fraud'... and succeeded in using them to break his heavy mouth.

Head to the village chief's house and visit the champion's room pretending to rest in the assigned room.

Clarify your ears and make sure you're not in the middle of something, then knock on the door.

Whoa, I've been waiting for you.

"Go ahead."

Champion and Lises, plus the novelist, are in the room too.

Apparently, he was expecting me.

"Did you hear anything interesting!?... Oops, excuse me. It was an imprudent reaction."

Exactly what you thought was a punishment for shagging on this occasion, the novelist set his collar right and lowered his back deep into the chair.

"Yeah well. I heard an interesting story. Something that the victims have in common."

Tell the story you heard from the villagers.

"- I mean, is the culprit theory the village chief was saying a bright red lie? The suspicious man is the fifth victim and already dead."

"And the villagers expect the culprit to be... the child of a sacrifice previously dedicated to demons"

"Sacrifice is a story again."

Everyone is frowning when they listen to me.

Here's what the villagers told me.

"Auga came to this village about ten years ago. He spoke one word, but he spoke a human language, and he said," Murakowa, Saretakuna, Kattara, Esada, Sekodo, Moniku, Gaumai. "

So, the villagers offered Auga a brother and sister whose parents died of an epidemic a year ago.

The next day, he said only his scratchy brother, who had been eaten by the village by his arms, had returned. I didn't want it because it tasted worse than my sister's, and I was thrown away and I picked up my life.

My brother had been healing wounds in the village for about two months, but one morning he disappeared neglectfully.

Then there was no tone out for ten years, but just before the murder happened, there was a succession of sightings of seeing a one-armed man near the village...... to this day.

"If you think about it in the novel Theory, it's reasonable to call it my brother's revenge play."

"If I were that brother, I would."

"Maybe you've learned the art of assassination in the last decade. Because a vengeful heart strengthens people."

I'm pretty sure the killer's a sacrificed brother, too.

How about the fear and resentment that Auga offered me, eaten my arms, and my sister eaten?

"Furthermore, all the victims are parents with children around their twenties. Ten years ago, grownups from the village gathered together to give away their children. He finally made a sacrifice with the consent of all his parents on the spot."

"I see. The people who decided to sacrifice their unaccompanied brothers and sisters without offering their own children. Other than that, I'm not aiming, am I? That's a decision."

Everyone nods at the champion's remarks.

"It must have been a dare to act when you showed up. Because it's a trick that assassins do when they spiritually hunt down their opponents."

Lises whines with a strange face. That's the former assassin, I'm familiar with those means.

"So, collector, what about you? You're gonna help the villagers?

I gaze at the champion I asked, but his eyes...

"You don't seem to think you should help."

"Sort of. You deserve it. There were circumstances in the village. Scratching your feet is not a bad thing because you don't want to die.... but offering someone else's child to help you is the way out. Not if you're offering your own child."

"I thought it was a natural thing to do with revenge. So shouldn't we be watching"

Do the two defend the killer?

I wanted to hear a few more third-party opinions, so I shifted my gaze from earlier to the silent novelist.

"I... you want to hear the story. So far it's all speculation. Shouldn't we catch the killer and listen to him before we judge him? Personally, I don't want you to sin any more."

That's a good point.

I'm pretty sure the killer was a sacrificial man, but there's no certainty.

If this killer is just a murderer, leave him alone and the damage will be not just to this village.

policy, and when you try to get back to your room,

Gashan!

and the sound of the window breaking.

"Hey, what's that noise now!

The novelist is panicking in surprise, but the three of us jump out of the room silently and walk to the point where the sound originates.

There was a man kicking through a large double-open door and poking a single-edged sword at the village chief as he jumped inside.

As the villagers testified, a man in black with one arm.

Sharp eyes on bossy hair. I see no muscles floating in my bumpy arms and no wasted luxury.

Quickly checking his skills, "assassination techniques," "sneaky feet," and "sign manipulation" existed at a high level.

All of that skill is acquired, but if you've risen to this level in just ten years, you've made an unimaginable effort.

"Ha, help me!

When the village chief turns his dirty face with tears and snot, he begs aloud.

"You're the guards hired by the village chief."

If you look only at the stern face, you look like you're in your thirties, but the faint voice felt young.

"Are you a serial killer? I'm pretty sure he was a sacrificed kid in this village back in the day?

When I asked, the young man's eyes became sharper.

The village chief is turning pale and staring at my face.

"Do you also know the circumstances? Kill him and my revenge will be complete. If you take the side of the villagers after you know what these guys are doing, I'll kill you too."

Ordinary people would hit me with enough killing to lose their hips, but both of us are gently flushing it.

"Honestly, I'm lost. I don't need to tell you that murder is a criminal activity, because I'm not a knight or a soldier. I understand your resentment toward the villagers."

"Oh, no! They don't protect me and the others, so it's awesome!

"I don't know if I can help, but you prefaced. Because pedestrians require responsiveness after instant understanding of the current situation."

When I speak of my understanding as a merchant, the mayor's face is dyed with despair.

The culprit at heart didn't expect our reaction to be too unexpected, or he wouldn't keep staring at us with a flashing face and twitching.

"... aren't you guys escorts?

"Well, if it involves children or irrelevant people, I'll stop, but it doesn't seem so."

"Same to the right"

"I agree."

Neither I nor they are saints.

No killing, I'm not in a position to say.

Already this hand is stained bright red with human blood.

"Huh, vengeance does not produce anything! It doesn't even bring my sister back to life where I killed a washi or a villager! My sister shouldn't want this!

The words of the village chief who tries to scream and complain.

The look of the young man who hears it changes into something cold.

"Shit, in the novel, it's a classic theory,"

I look back because I heard rough breathing noises and voices coming from behind me.

A novelist who came after me with all his might was breathing on his shoulders.

Classic honesty, huh? I have certainly seen similar dialogues over and over again in the novel. I remember hearing the same dialogue in that play that the Demon King does.

"How do you know what it's like to be a dead sister? You kept screaming," I don't want to die, help, "and you abandoned me and my sister!

The youth's body and voice are trembling with anger and willingness to kill.

"That's... but the people you killed and I have kids! You're going to have more kids in the same situation as yourself!

It sounded more like a sincere word than an escape to help.

"Revenge only generates revenge!

This has also been a long life and I have heard it many times.

Words that the avenged side or third party decides to say.

"I don't know. If you resent me, you can resent me. That's how I've lived. Besides, I just want to take revenge for my sister for myself, it's not what others found out."

Well, I guess so.

Because the very act of vengeance is my own idea in the first place.

"Kill me and I'll go to hell! You don't have to stop seeing my sister in heaven!

A village chief who desperately takes up words to help himself.

"Which side do you think you're going to get to see your sister now? You can go to hell or you can do what you want. Hell also has you and the villagers. Don't think that's it, I'll keep avenging you after I die! I'll smash you over and over again! It's not over when you're dead. There's no place for you to rest!

We decided we didn't need to listen any more. We're leaving the village chief's house.

Crying screams echo from behind, but never look back.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? The mayor and the villagers should regret what they did."

The novelist has looked back again and again to see if only one person can pull their hair back.

"What do you think? If you're repenting and reflecting, it's none of your business. It doesn't cover the fact that he was sacrificed."

People make mistakes. But it is prescribed by law that atonement for the sin will be forgiven.

But what if the party doesn't approve of that atonement?

But under the laws of this country, vengeance is permitted.

"If you think so, why don't you convince the youth? There's nothing you can do about what you said to us here."

"Right. I didn't even try to convince you on that occasion. Now I am."

Novelists are definitely well-rooted people.

And I also understand that his opinions are common sense and this one is more heretical.

"We offered other people's children to help ourselves. This act is never to be praised. But the powerless villagers had no other way to help. Can't you think of that?

It was surprisingly the champion who answered the novelist's query.

"The lives of two children, rather than fighting and taking many victims. If it is a position of village chief, it can also be understood as a bitter decision. But then at least one of the hostages should give away his own child."

"I think so too. If you decide not to fight, those who stand on top must take responsibility for it"

The village chief has one son who was the entrance to the village. And he said he had a sister too.

In the end, the parents of this village sacrificed their brothers and sisters to themselves and their children's cuteness. Whatever the language, it doesn't change that fact.

"In the novel, the main character persuades the avenger to give up his revenge, and the life-saving village chief repents... the flow is the royal path, but the reality is a tough one"

"He should have lived the last decade as a support for his vengeance. It is unfortunate that our voice, which we have just met today, will reach his heart."

It was possible for me and the champion to stop at all costs.

But it was impossible to convince him to overshadow his thoughts.

There is no power in voices that cannot reach even if they utilize the skills of 'Speech' or 'Psychology'.

Besides, he had 'revenge' skills.

'Revenge' Feelings of retaliation against certain opponents. Skills that arise for those with too strong a grudge.

That level had reached double digits. High levels to this point are rare.

- I can't buy that one.

- I'm not even in a position to buy it.

Because they possess that skill themselves.

"Do you want to make one thing in this village a story of a novel?

When I asked, the novelist looked sinister.

"You can't just spectacle those brothers and sisters. I'm just embarrassed that I've arrived just out of curiosity....... but what is true justice. I wanted to write a story about revenge."

"When you're done, let me read it"

From there we had no words for each other and stayed overnight in the village.

Just in case he runs wild and doesn't involve the irrelevant.

The next day, a body is found in the village chief's mansion.

We were the first to be suspicious, but we told them the truth.

He also raised his voice to blame, but he knows the killer without motive, so he is released immediately.

Looking back just before leaving the village, many of the villagers had dangerous light in their eyes.

"Does vengeance only produce vengeance?"

The villagers have a new 'revenge' skill.