Chapter One Hundred and Ten: The Cornered Rat and the Kittens 3 (Harald’s POV)
As Harald stood dumbfounded, not understanding what had happened, Tim shouted.
“Ah! I messed up! I was supposed to get information out of him!”
When Tim pulled his hand out, the man’s body collapsed to the floor in front of Harald. Harald’s heart raced, and the edges of his vision turned white.
“When I channel magical power into my hand, I can’t hold back.”
Tim looked at his blood-red arm and let out a dejected "Ugh…" But to Harald, even that seemed carefree.
“Y-Y-You, how dare you…!”
The other man was trembling violently, his face bright red. Harald felt no fear toward him. If anything, it was the man who was terrified. When Tim glanced at him, the man let out a frightened yelp and flinched.
“Hey, mister, you guys aren’t underworld pros, are you? You’re just failed adventurers for hire, right? I was told by an incredibly strong adventurer that I could defeat someone at least at the level of a failed adventurer. If I punch anyone I’m not afraid of with magical power channeled into my arm, I can kill them… since I can’t control it, would you mind surrendering?”
“How, how could an orphan brat have such power…!”
“That’s because I’m an orphan from the adventurer district, I guess. My parents were probably adventurers who climbed the ranks.”
Tim spoke of something Harald found incredibly enviable as if it were someone else’s business.
“Give up and surrender. Karen hates seeing dead bodies! So I need to clean this one up quickly, and if I have to clean up two bodies, there’ll be lots of blood and it’ll be a pain to clean!”
There was no sense of ethical concern about killing people. From Tim’s expressions and gestures, Harald could only sense that he found it troublesome. It was almost strange that he showed consideration for Karen.
“Y-You monster…!”
“That’s a compliment to someone like me, who’s going to be an adventurer someday.”
True to his words, Tim’s face genuinely beamed with pride. The remaining man, whose intended insult had been proudly accepted, slumped down on the spot. Tim tied the man up with rope, then looked at Harald. Harald’s body involuntarily flinched. Tim paused for a moment but approached Harald without saying anything and untied him. Once freed, Harald sprang up and rushed to the toilet to vomit.
After that, Tim contacted someone on his own, summoned some men who seemed to be his acquaintances, had the body removed, sent the captured man off somewhere, and began cleaning the bloodstained floor.
Harald, still overwhelmed by nausea and crying, could do nothing but stare blankly as Tim went about his work.
“Harald! Tim! Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine!”
“Alright, you seem okay, Tim. As for Harald…”
Perhaps someone had contacted her, Karen returned early in the afternoon. Harald composed his expression and answered:
“I’m fine too.”
“Your eyes are swollen. And your lip is cut… I’m sorry. It’s because I provoked them too much.”
“This isn’t your fault, Lady Karen!”
“That’s right! The attackers are the ones at fault!”
Seeing the guilt in Karen’s expression—something that felt eerily familiar—Harald quickly spoke up. Tim nodded in agreement with him. Despite this, Karen maintained a bitter smile.
“Yes, but I failed to take proper safety precautions for you two… I should have known that the Ehlertt knights only intended to protect me…”
“It makes sense that the noble knights guarding you wouldn’t protect us, doesn’t it?”
“That way of thinking is so normal to them, they didn’t even think they needed to explain it to me in advance.”
Karen gave a strained smile and let out a heavy sigh.
“I’m sorry for putting you both in danger.”
“We weren’t in danger at all!”
“Yes. I’m glad you were here, Tim. But… this wasn’t a situation children should have been exposed to.”
Karen apparently knew about Tim’s disturbing tendencies. Even so, she was upset about having put Tim and Harald in a situation where they could be attacked.
Harald felt his hair stand on end as he anticipated what would come next.
“Things can’t continue as they have been.”
Sara and Natalia, who had arrived after Karen, nodded at Karen’s words.
“It’s time for a change, Lady Karen. The Ehlertt family will introduce a maid who has combat training and can provide both self-defense and protection, so please use her services from now on.”
“We can also arrange someone from the Alchemists’ Guild, Karen. Since high-ranking alchemists often face danger to varying degrees, there’s a system in collaboration with the Adventurers’ Guild that introduces former adventurers as supporters. It’s a bit early for an E-rank alchemist to use this service, but given the precedent of an attack, you can use it without any problems.”
“So we’re no longer needed?”
Tim casually asked what Harald desperately wanted to know but was too afraid to ask.
Sara and Natalia nodded matter-of-factly. Harald’s vision began to darken.
No comments:
Post a Comment