Yomigaeri no Maou

The second qualifying round of the martial arts tournament is over, and the residents of Wang Du either drink it up at the tavern or go back to their bunks and prepare for tomorrow.

The Book of Darkness covered the king's capital softly.

The only thing that illuminates the area is the street lights with magic fixtures attached at the tip, whose lights glow like blurry and yang flames creating shadows and shaking of people walking the night lanes.

The number of people going on the road is quite small compared to the daytime, and the footsteps are just a few that can be heard from time to time.

Not to mention during the martial arts tournament, the Wang capital at midnight has few to walk out of the table.

Ortes, one of the lords of such footsteps, was walking the road to his home after a liquor store he had stayed in long after his defeat.

I knew at home that my sister and my mother were waiting for me to go home, but I even ran off to booze wondering which side of the heck I could get back home from losing.

But Ortes was not weak enough to lose sight of reality to the extent that he had drunk, and when the owner of the liquor store said it was time to close the store already, the drunkenness immediately pulled off, and, oh, he left the store, thinking that he had to go home.

The result of the martial arts tournament leaves Ortes' chest.

Reminds a young sorcerer girl yet of a battle where she was engraved with an almost complete defeat and an unmistakable defeat.

And I think.

I had to win.

If I won, I would have gone home early for tomorrow, surrounded the table with my sister and mother, and then had early sleep to feed my English chi.

Yet this is how I walk home, drinking in a liquor store until midnight like this, desperate for my weak self, but remembering that I have to live well from tomorrow.

I know I can't help but worry about it.

Forget it's over now, we have to look for another way.

Fortunately, my sister's body doesn't immediately do anything like this.

If you can increase the rank of this one and the adventurer and make money, you can do something about it.

However, I don't know how long it will take before then, but it is my fault for losing both.

I don't want to give up.

Besides, my sister will regret that she lost, but she also knows that it is because she wants to see her brother winning, and she doesn't want her to win for herself, and so on.

My sister at home will tell me that she has nothing to work for, comfort, and care about.

That's why it's hard, sometimes.

But since that's our own family, I'm convinced that's okay, and Ortes starts to go straight home by turning his stubborn footsteps into solid ones.

I couldn't get what I wanted this time, but if I were an adventurer, I'd have a chance one day.

For that reason, I decided I didn't have time to be depressed.

I guess that's why.

I immediately noticed the silver glow running in the dark, not suitable for the lively King's Capital of the Martial Arts Games.

- Phew, for a life-taking object, it looms with a slight sound like a feather, which turns out to be a dagger supported by definite skill.

Moreover, it is something that is clearly aimed at Ortes and responds by hastily pulling the sword out of his hips.

- Gin, along with the bumping sound of metal and metal, sparks scattered slightly illuminating the face of its raider.

I feel the impression that the person, wrapped in a black headscarf and costume, would probably be a boy, from the eye area slightly excluded from his body shape and headscarf.

It's understandable that the job behind the assassination would be a business.

The skill of blending firmly into the darkness and not letting its existence be noticed until it came so close is enough to make you want to say that it is full with enemies.

It's just a completely unrecognizable face nonetheless.

Ortes thinks it's not something he figured out about his professional pattern, when and what kind of person he buys resentment from, and that one day he suddenly gets attacked by someone he doesn't know, it's something he can't help.

Because it is a daily tea meal for adventurers, such as going to strange results with streams and causality that seem unreasonable, such as when a request received in a feeling of nothing is to the detriment of someone else.

However, even if I understand that it is, in fact, I can't help but feel the thought of why I am, when I am attacked by someone like an assassin with absolutely no idea.

Besides, I've thought about it.

No matter how much resentment I had against myself, I was wondering if it should be more certain and easier to aim for things like today, not when a large number of humans are hitting on the king's capital, but if Ortes is away in an unpopular forest or something at his request.

At least, if you're in the other person's shoes, you do, and that's definitely easier to work with.

That's how much I know when I'm an amateur.

You can't possibly not understand the real job.

Nonetheless, I don't know why I targeted you in a place like this.

It is certainly midnight, so it is less popular.

However, it is not unlikely that people will come and be adventurers because they are in the middle of a fighting competition.

So Ortez had deep doubts about the way the other person was doing it, which was too risky.

So Ortes responds to that raider's white blade while roughing up his voice and asking questions.

"Why the hell are you after me!? For what!?

But it should be said that the assailant silently gave the answer.

And only that blade was telling him what he was after.

Very sophisticated.

Perhaps I feel more powerful than Ortes.

But Ortez is still able to handle it because he doesn't seem willing to kill Ortez to the Raiders.

Whatever it is, the Raiders have enough strength to feel like they could have settled it sooner.

I couldn't find any other reason.

But Ortes thinks.

I wonder what the hell you're going to say by capturing Ortez.

Indeed, Ortes, as an intermediate adventurer, is better equipped for this year.

It's just that there are so many people in the King's Capital.

I can't think of a reason to go out of my way to target myself.

But anyway, Ortez couldn't have been willing to get caught quietly.

Taking the impending blade, avoiding it, and finding a flash of gap, Ortes cuts into the raider.

"... I got it!!

Perfect timing, Ortes was sure the raiders would sink in that blow.

Nor was it an avoidable state, nor could I comprehend that my sword completely captured that body.

But just before the sword reached the Raider, something like liquid lay on Ortes from the Raider's hand.

Ortez, who didn't do soft workouts or anything to confuse me with that.

But the moment it takes, I realize that my powers are rapidly falling out of my body.

And the speed of swinging down the sword was reduced, and the blade that was supposed to arrive was lightly avoided by the opponent, and by the time he realized, the situation had been reversed.

"... damn"

There is no point in spitting cursed words on the dagger of the opponent accompanied by a neck muscle.

Ortes' consciousness disappeared at the same time that he saw the mouth of a raider casting some sort of spell.

◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆

"... missing?

Lulu said that because we all told strange stories on our way to the venue of Preliminary Game III while Kyou said it was news.

According to this, some of those who lost in the contest have disappeared last night and are no longer known where they are, so the Games Secretariat is also conducting a search considering that there may have been some issues such as hate work in the contest, but they have not been found.

Apparently, they don't have much in common with the missing contestants in the tournament, so much so that they are just those who had more strength than intermediate.

That's all he had, but he's gone, so there could be some dangerous presence in Wang Du, and the Games Secretariat seems to be making a gentle noise right now.

Sooner or later, the contestants, and the audience, will be notified, but I'm in the mood to ask who the hell Kyou is grasping that information at the moment when nothing has been said.

Actually, if you ask,

"A regular from a liquor store I just ran into all over the city told me about it ~. Some people from the Games Secretariat!

"Isn't that usually an outside secret? I don't think you can tell me."

"To some extent, it seems like it's already been rumored, and it's not particularly a story to hide. I just haven't been able to sort out the whole thing, so I'll announce it when it's over, it seems. Besides, it seems that the families of the missing contestants are searching around, and he says he can't open a door in people's mouths ~"

Since it was inferred from that tone that quite a few people were missing, I would ask in detail how many people were missing and what kind of guys were missing.

Then, just to be able to confirm, fewer than twenty people are missing, and I'm surprised to say that they include that Ortez and even Anku.

Give up a hundred steps, Ortes may be able to do something about it, but Anku is not the kind of person who can grab it in an attempt to grab it.

Given that Anku is gone, if we consider this to be a kidnapping or something, we should assume that there are quite a few powerful people involved, and when we do, does that mean that the Wang Capital is now a considerable danger zone?

Yes, tell Kyou,

"What do you think? I don't know because I've never seen an adventurer named Anku, but there are a number of super-class prowess people in Wangdu. The advanced is gone, maybe that doesn't mean it's not seen so heavily. Plus you don't know why you're gone in the first place...... some parts would say you can't be vigilant or alert. Kidnapping or something seems to be the most likely thing because it's missing, but I don't know if it makes sense to grab it in the first place."

Yeah, sure, Kyou's right, assuming you grabbed it, I don't know what that means.

If you're asking for ransom, there 'll be more suitable people to kidnap.

Kidnapping all those who purposefully make battle their profession is just dangerous.

This means that if there is a main culprit who caused this incident, the purpose is not money.

So, what's the purpose?

The most convincing idea is that force is an end because you have taken a fighting human being, but you will not be able to use it where you are forced to grab it.

Yet what was the purpose of doing it….

"... you can't. Even if I think about it, I don't seem to be able to respond."

To Lulu, who said so, Illis said from the side.

"Really? For example...... brainwashing, can't you think of anything I said?

"Brainwashing... I can't say I don't..."

I can't even think about that possibility, but isn't it difficult?

It's not like that in psychic magic, but it's surprisingly difficult to continuously bind people's behavior.

For just a moment, the majority of things I said control your actions, such as making you fight as a soldier who protects you for a long time, cannot be done without excessive magic.

It's not impossible to be a lulu, but the cost and results don't match if you do.

If you manipulate intermediate or advanced adventurers enough to use enormous amounts of magic, it would be better to strike a single shot of massive magic for great results.

Turn around, the former may perform better in the sense of it, but shouldn't we educate those with professional skills enough to do it?

"You can't. I knew I didn't know. Well... we just have to be careful. If you say it's the middle-aged and advanced ones who are being targeted with strength, then Rusty and the others will be looking for them. Be careful."

With that said, Rusty and the three of them nodded and replied.

If, at any point, Lulu keeps an eye on him, he'll figure it out.

Don't worry so much, Lulu and the others headed to the arena.