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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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“Ha! The fucking kid is hilarious. Just because you bought a sword, you think you’re all that?”
With faces full of sneers, and some that were pissed off that I looked down on them, they waved their weapons – daggers, swords, axes, whatever they could get their hands on. It’s an extremely normal reaction.
No matter how incompetent, they are people who wear the adventurer’s badge. They must have some pride.
Adventurers.
With a grading structure meticulously divided into 8 colors that seem to have gotten ideas from a seven-colored rainbow, they wander without the obligation of direct taxation or the resulting protection from the state.
Among them, up to the third lowest grade, they’re just adventurers in name only, and most of them are close to armed robbers. The difference from robbers is whether they try to follow the country’s laws a little or not.
I can tell by frequently visiting the guild. Most of the requests they can take on are at a level that can be covered by numbers and equipment.
If you’re just a little calm and can properly swing a weapon to deal damage, you can solve problems by gathering comrades or buying good equipment. Of course, the income isn’t that great when you consider the risk.
Even with such requests, there are people who die. Rather, doing day labor like repairing the outer wall is much safer and pays better.
They’re like that too. Looking at those with their grade tags hanging around their necks like dog tags, most of them have iron or yellow tags. In other words, the 8th and 7th grades out of the 8 grades.
“Look at him flashing his sword. Have you ever killed a person, you delinquent bastard?”
In other words, they’re just runaway teenagers who have been wandering around foolishly for a long time and evolved into runaway adults.
I tapped Lagnis’s shoulder and gently pushed her back, and honestly answered the guy who was at the front, probably playing the role of the leader, and diligently running his mouth.
“I haven’t killed anyone with my sword.”
“A guy like you… what? Your sword?”
“Yeah. My sword.”
I really don’t know how much they’re looking down on me, but they were walking towards me leisurely within my range, so I didn’t even need to use the sword and just rushed in and kicked him in the solar plexus.
-Bam!
“Ugh!”
I don’t know why he was so confident when he only wore leather gauntlets and greaves without proper breastplates, but the guy immediately sat down and made a gasping sound.
“Huh? Huh?”
“Why do stupid kids always make similar sounds? First, one knife stab.”
It went in properly, so he won’t be able to move for at least a minute, and his hands and feet will be shaking even after that. Without even bothering to examine, I stabbed his thigh with the sword.
-Stab!
“Argh!!!”
“I stabbed you gently, you bastard! What are you exaggerating for!”
Frowning at the ear-piercing scream, I stabbed the opposite thigh. This should be enough to make me look crazy.
“Ahhh!!”
“T-that crazy bastard! What the fuck are you doing?! Kill him!”
Only after the second scream rang out, the guys rushed in with the reaction I intended.
It was clear to see that they were just running to swing their weapons without any swordsmanship or anything. Moreover, their sight of proudly running at their own pace in a disorderly manner was so frustrating that I unknowingly gave them advice.
“Hey, hey! The blade is still sharp. There are plenty of stabs, so don’t fight and come in line.”
“Die, you bastard!!”
“You’re getting advice from this bastard?”
The guy who boasted the fastest running speed raises his sword high above his head to slash down.
Not threatening at all. The sword he’s holding has a blade length of about 70 centimeters at a glance. For that to reach me when swung, he needs to take at least two more steps.
“If it’s a one-handed sword, you should stab instead of cut, you bastard.”
What was he thinking, coming at me holding a longsword? Without further ado, as soon as the guy took one more step forward, I also stepped forward and stabbed his thigh.
“Argh!!!”
“They only gathered morons. Did they spend all the money on bribing the patrol?”
There was no need to even properly hold the sword. Even though two guys already had holes in their thighs, the other guys were bravely rushing in without any preparation. At the very least, if they had the idea to throw their weapons, it would be threatening, but judging by their appearance, it was clear that was their trusted method and they wouldn’t even think of letting go of their weapons.
None of the guys had weapons longer than the two who went first. There was no point in pondering any further, so I held the longsword upside down like a throwing spear.
At this moment, this is not a sword. It’s a belief injector.
“Don’t worry. Those guys are just exaggerating. It won’t hurt if you get stabbed gently. Don’t forget to rub it after getting hit.”
There was no need to even draw mana. No need to dodge either. Just watch the guys running, momentarily leap forward about two steps, aim for the thigh and stab, and they’ll get hit. Even fish are smarter than them.
“Ack!”
“Ahhh!”
“Fuuuck!”
“Mom!”
“What the fuck, mom?! You’re getting extra punishment, you bastard! Give me your other thigh too!!”
“N-no! Please, nooooo!!!”
How dare a mere criminal bastard look for his mother when he’s in pain and having a hard time? Even I, who is diligent and innocent, don’t have a mother to look for.
It took less than 3 minutes to stab them all as if I was stamping a “well done” stamp. Listening to the wailing sounds made by the bastards who had fallen to the ground bleeding, I gestured to Lagnis.
“For now, go inside the inn. We don’t know what might happen. If something seems off, shout right away.”
“Ah, okay.”
As Lagnis ran into the inn, skirting around the guys with quick steps, I started disarming them by throwing or stomping on the weapons they dropped or were holding and tossing them towards the inn.
It would be quite profitable to sell them all. After finishing the cleanup and trying to take even their shoddy armor and pockets, one guy started screaming at the top of his lungs.
“You fucking bastard! You dog-like bastard! I’m going to kill you, fuck!”
It turned out to be the guy who had rushed at me first.
As I walked over to him leisurely, he struggled to somehow spit at me and curse me even while drooling.
“You fucker, do you know what you’ve done?! Do you know who hired us to do this?! You’re dead! We’ll tear you apart and kill you! Even that bitch next to you! We’ll burn down that fucking stupid inn and kill everyone!!”
“Yeah? Then there’s no choice. Since that shouldn’t happen, should we cut off one of your feet and both your arms? I won’t cut above the upper arm.
But if I leave the forearm, you might attach a prosthetic and swing it, so I’ll have to cut it off. If you die from blood loss, consider it bad luck.”
“N-no! No! Noooooo!”
It’s not difficult at all. Before the guy could struggle, I swung the sword and cleanly cut off his left arm. As I said, I left the upper arm.
“Aaaargh!!!”
The other guys who were lying down watched in ashen faces as the guy who had run his mouth wrong had his left arm cut off. Since I cleanly cut off the arm of their comrade down while assuming an awkward posture without even properly assuming a stance, they felt that something had gone terribly wrong.
It’s really interesting. Do they think they can escape unscathed because I’m not killing them right away? So they can take the next opportunity and take revenge? Was this world that merciful to them?
Even in back alleys, people die every other day, not to mention outside the city, and even murders due to duels between adventurers are so common that even the country doesn’t care.
It’s just that I don’t pay attention to such things and keep them by my side, but it’s a world where murder is rampant.
In such a world, I can’t understand why a guy living as an adventurer can casually make threats to kill someone while in a helpless state.
Thinking like that, I kicked the guy’s body to the side to cut off the other arm, and he started begging in a desperate voice.
“Ugh, p-please! No! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please forgive me just this once!”
“I introduced myself earlier, didn’t I?”
“Ugh, huh? Yes?”
“I’m Eldmia Egga.”
I quietly looked at the guy who was gripping his already cut left arm with his right hand and struggling to stop the bleeding.
Just by looking at his face, I could tell he was trembling in fear, unable to even guess what the crazy guy who cut off his arm and put holes in his thighs was trying to say.
It’s not like I enjoy this either. I’m a person with normal modern Earth sensibilities. In other words, I’m not a psychopath who gets excited by the sight of blood or can laugh at a severed arm.
Cutting people and seeing blood are far from pleasant, and in fact, severed surfaces make me nauseous every time I see them. Originally, seeing something that shouldn’t be seen brings a surprisingly large sense of dissonance.
It’s just that I realized this world needs such things due to the incident I experienced in the 8th year of my reincarnation.
“I have one lifelong wish. What do you think it is?”
“Ugh, sob… I-I don’t know.”
“My wish is to warn bastards like you to never mess with Eldmia Egga no matter what, and then make sure no one can touch me.”
That’s why I don’t laugh. I don’t get angry on purpose unless provocation is the goal. I know that each of those emotions can drive me to death in a world like this.
“Those who threaten to kill me. Those who touch the people around me to threaten me. Those who try to harm me. Those who try to use me. I have a grand wish to make an example out of all of them, so they can never lay a hand on me.”
I lightly tapped his remaining right hand with the sword, but as if he believed it would be cut off if he ran away, the guy didn’t move an inch, even holding back his tears.
When I casually wiped the blood off on the guy’s shoulder, he started trembling and even pissed himself.
“So now I’m in a big dilemma. If I trust your words and leave your right arm and two legs, wouldn’t there be at least one guy who thinks I’m an easy target and tries to take revenge? That’s what I think.”
“Nooooo!! Never! Absolutely not!! I-I was talking bullshit!! I’m sorry! Please spare me!”
“When did I say I’d kill you? I’ll just cut off your arms and legs. Of course, if you, with all your limbs cut off, get filled with rage and say you’ll kill me, I might kill you.”
“Ugh, sob. Please. I’m sorry. I’ll never show my face again. Please…”
Still, perhaps because it’s another world, even severed limbs can be reattached if you go to a temple and pay a proper price, as long as it’s not too late.
Of course, the proper price is ridiculously cheap considering the risk of losing body parts. If I don’t empty this guy’s pockets, he’ll probably be able to reattach his arm.
“What’s your friend’s name?”
“Huh?”
“Are you using your head? Should I start by cutting off your ankle? Or will you change your mind if your severed arm gets so mangled that it can’t be reattached?”
Even so, even if you have such conviction. Having a body part that normally doesn’t grow back get cut off is bound to be terrifying. Even I would be like that.
“I’m Abnam! I’m Abnam, a yellow-grade adventurer who lived in Guld Village in the western region of the Itisiel Kingdom before becoming an adventurer, Lord Eldmia!!”
“Your attitude has become commendable. You understand why I asked for your name, right?”
I’ll spare you now. But if you fuck around, I’ll find you and kill you.
Abnam seemed to understand that perfectly.
“I understand! I will never touch Lord Eldmia again! I won’t even come near you! If anyone even thinks of doing that, I will definitely stop them!”
“It’s fortunate that you’re smart. Take good care of your arm. You’ll need to reattach it later.”
“Th-thank you! Thank you!”
“You. Do you want to help stop his bleeding or have your arm cut off like him?”
“I’ll help!!”
The guy who got the second knife stab jumped up as if forgetting the pain in his thigh and rushed in to help stop the bleeding.
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Good to get his address