episode_0172

(The rating is R due to sexual depictions of extras targeting extras mid-way.)

000

Once, then once again.

In the dark cave, with each flash of silver and streak of red, the bandits fall without even a scream.

All cleanly sliced with a single blow to a part of their body or pierced through their vital points, losing their lives on the spot.

Considering they were alive just moments ago, Eustace swallowed hard as he looked at the bandits, now corpses, so futilely quiet as if they were born and lived only to die here.

“…Now that we’re here, I can say that both of you don’t hesitate to cut down people.”

Eustace said, returning his trembling sword to his waist.

Eustace also recalled killing a bandit with his own hands earlier.

Of course, as an active adventurer, there had been times when he faced thieves or robbers.

Regardless of the opponent, they attacked with the intent to kill, and in many requests, the life or death of the target was not a consideration.

The adventurer Eustace had come to believe that taking lives was unavoidable.

But Cleon and Iona’s actions were so clean, almost like a job, and their movements were so swift.

“Well… being an adventurer, you can’t help but become like this.”

Cleon said, shaking the blood off his sword.

The sword inherited from his master, stained red, showed that it had been swung at countless lives since its original owner.

Even if it wasn’t imbued with magic like Galatea, the number of lives it had taken made it undoubtedly a cursed sword.

Iona also looked back at Eustace as she returned her sword to her waist.

“Me too. As a knight of the kingdom, I’ve been through various missions… my father’s influence is also significant.”

What surprised Eustace the most was Iona’s swordsmanship.

Before, when he went into the dungeon with Leona, he had only seen her using magic as support from the rear.

Now, she wore silver armor and effortlessly wielded a custom-made longsword, made from a well-known alloy of steel and mithril used by the kingdom’s knights.

Her controlled movements seemed similar to the kingdom’s swordsmanship at first glance, but inside, they were mixed with ruthless and savage curved techniques, showing that she was using a modified version of Talchaker’s swordsmanship in her own way.

Her swordsmanship was different from Cleon’s; while Cleon almost perfectly imitated Talchaker’s swordsmanship, Iona’s felt like she was compensating for her lack of strength with technique in her reproduction of the swordsmanship.

However, one thing was certain: both of them `reliably cut down where they could to kill`, regardless of whether it was a person or a monster.

In that regard, they were thoroughly following Talchaker’s teachings.

“Do you hesitate to cut down people, Eustace?”

Iona quietly asked, looking at Eustace’s dark face.

Hearing those words, Eustace heavily nodded and clenched his fist.

“Well… it’s not a good feeling. Even if they’re evil. People are people.”

“It’s good not to forget that feeling. If you become insensitive to cutting down people, it’s the same as forgetting the weight of a human life.”

Cleon said, approaching Kuon, who was praying for the souls of the dead bandits, and took her hand.

The faint sacred magic spreading from her purified the resentful magic lingering in the fallen corpses.

If the vengeful spirits of the dead are not purified in this way, the remaining parts of their souls can create black magic and pollute the land or create monsters, so the demand for clerics is constant even in adventures or battlefields.

Cleon was helping her control her divine magic and preventing the reaction of any magical tools that might be in the bandits’ hideout.

“The bandits on Horsehoof Mountain sometimes attacked caravans passing near the mountain, killing or kidnapping people and stealing their belongings. Just looking at that fact, they are likely to be executed without a proper trial even if they are captured and sent to the royal capital.”

Iona said, as if trying to ease Eustace’s guilt in fighting.

In fact, the bandits had wielded their weapons while saying things like `Spare the women! Kill the men!` when facing the party, not hiding their desires.

Cleon and Iona frowned at that and quickly silenced them.

Kuon finished her prayer and let out a small breath, then, as if only now realizing that Cleon’s hand was on hers, she looked slightly surprised and gave a wry smile.

Eustace stared at the strange atmosphere between the two for a moment, then turned his gaze to Iona and quietly answered.

“… I know. Sorry. I made you worry.”

“It’s okay. You haven’t been an adventurer for very long, Eustace… rather, I think you’re the normal one.”

“… Is that so? You and Cleon are strong enough that bandits are no match for you. You don’t hesitate when facing enemies. Isn’t that the normal thing to be as an adventurer or knight?”

At Eustace’s words, Cleon and Iona looked at each other, shrugged, and turned back to Eustace.

“It might be normal as a human fighting to protect something. But think about Talchaker. Was he normal?”

Cleon and Iona’s lives so far.

Talchaker, who had lived longer than their lives with only a sword and cut down countless things.

Among them, he had cut down the most humans, and Talchaker was a human who had lived on the precarious tightrope between humans and demons.

Even when falling into a near-mad state of excitement in the heat of battle, he was more desperate than anyone to hold on to the reins of reason in order not to trample on human life or dignity.

“A sword is a tool to cut down enemies. If you cut down a person, no matter how you package it, the swordsman is a murderer. The more you repeat it, the closer you get to becoming a demon. But what prevents a human from falling into the path of a demon is bearing the lives you’ve cut down.”

Iona said.

Those were also Talchaker’s words.

Even after receiving the title of Sword Saint, throwing himself into life-or-death battles and creating a swordsmanship that could cut down any opponent in one blow were expressions of Talchaker’s determination for those who had fallen and would fall by his sword.

The karma for what he had cut down so far. Talchaker’s belief in wielding the sword was to bear that burden and minimize the other person’s pain.

“Please. If you continue to hold the sword to protect someone in the future, as Talchaker’s disciple… no, as a swordsman. Remember his words.”

At Iona’s words, Eustace nodded heavily.

For the rest of his life, Eustace chose the path of an `adventurer` to help those in need for his self-determined beliefs: `noblesse oblige`, the `responsibility of a human with authority`.

Even if he couldn’t regain his male body, his path would not change in the future.

Thinking that way, why was it? The pounding of his heart, which had been racing until just now, gradually returned to normal, and he felt more at ease.

It might have been his imagination, but his armor seemed lighter.

“…The story got too long. Cleon, which way should we go?”

Iona turned her gaze away from Eustace and looked at Cleon.

“The thread points to two forks. One with one person and one with two. The one with one person is deeper in, so I think the boss of this bandit gang is there, but-”

Cleon closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked back at the party as he spoke.

“…Their lifeforce is getting weaker. I feel multiple human reactions around them. Maybe… they’re being violated.”

At those words, Kuon gasped and looked surprised, while Iona and Eustace looked a little stiff.

“… Cleon.”

Kuon quietly called Cleon’s name. Her expression was a desperate one with a hint of sadness.

Cleon slowly nodded and turned his body.

“…It’s not that I pity the bandits… but knowing that someone unwillingly became a woman and is being humiliated in that state… I can’t just pass by.”

“Of course. Cleon. There’s still time.”

Iona also agreed with Cleon’s words, clenching her fist and turning her gaze in the direction Cleon was looking.

Eustace watched the two of them and felt like he could understand a little what humans who fought should not forget.

001

The bandit’s hideout in the cave was using a place that the imperial soldiers had made as a base during the past war.

Thanks to that, the inside of the cave was quite systematically divided into various sections, and there was also a place to detain and interrogate captured prisoners.

It would be impossible for the bandits, who couldn’t adapt to a peaceful society and were engrossed in living a life devoted to taking other people’s things with violence, to fully understand the value of this base.

However, if there is something that can be used effectively, it is human nature to use it somehow.

In a room where the sound of squelching water was constantly ringing, white smoke was spreading.

It was a kind of fog made from a drug, which was originally intended to be injected directly into the blood vessels in the form of a drug.

Of course, the bandits did not manufacture or obtain this with their own power; it was originally a stockpile of `stimulants` that the imperial soldiers used before battle, and they found it left in the base.

The name of the drug was `Black Maker`. As you use it, black tattoos appear all over your body, and humans who use it excessively turn black all over their bodies, including their hair, and eventually die.

However, the effect is certain, amplifying the physical abilities and magical aptitude of an ordinary imperial soldier to the point where they can stand up to an elite knight of the kingdom, as well as becoming immune to pain and entering a kind of trance state during the duration, making it possible to fight enemies in a trance.

If you dilute it and use it as a kind of incense and fill a closed space with smoke, you can use it as a powerful stimulant that allows you to continue the act no matter how many times you climax while inside.

Of course, there was also the disadvantage that if you inhaled the smoke for a long time, the side effects of the original drug would appear as they were.

Once they started to feel pleasure in the sense of omnipotence this gave them and the reactions of the captured victims, they became addicted to the drug as if they were in a sauna, as if they didn’t care about such things.

“Keuh, hoo, hee… hehe. This is great… What a treat…”

One of the bandits finished the act, sat down, and was replaced by the next person.

How many times has this been? The crazy women who claimed to be their companions had been forcibly aroused by the effects of the drug and were lying there, unable to even scream, accepting the next person.

“We haven’t been able to leave the mountain lately, so we haven’t been able to taste a woman… and these women rolled in on their own…”

“Hey! You just had a turn! Why are you doing it again!”

“It’s because this bitch won’t let go…!”

Humans who shared vulgar conversations and didn’t care about the state of the two humans, just for their sexual desires.

Several hours had passed since the act began, but they still weren’t satisfied and didn’t leave the room, waiting for their next turn to come.

“By the way, where does the boss keep getting these drugs from? The stock is replenished before we know it…”

“Well, that’s because of that red-haired woman who came before. She said she came to trade with the boss.”

“Ah~ that woman. The youngest one rushed at her on the spot and got his head pierced and died…”

“The guys watching outside are out of luck. These bitches will be dead by the time they switch with them, right?”

“Just bad luck, I guess. Hahaha!”

At that moment, as the sound of laughter mocking his comrades echoed.

Clang!

With a heavy sound that assaulted the ears, the prison door, which had been preventing the smoke from escaping, was neatly cut in half and collapsed.

The bandits who were raping the women didn’t even realize what the sound was in the blurry vision of the fog.

Without even realizing that a streak of red had rushed in and instantly cut them down.

Naked, they fell on the spot in an ugly manner.

“Cleon! Are you okay!?”

“Yes, I’m okay. Kuon. Keep using support magic to prevent us from inhaling this smoke.”

Cleon frowned and looked around.

Then, after confirming that the vents seemed to be stuffed with cloth, he roughly pulled them out to allow the smoke to escape as quickly as possible.

“Keuh….”

And his gaze naturally turned to the two women surrounded by men.

Bruises from being beaten. Traces of being soiled everywhere.

The fact that he could feel Anansi’s `thread` from them meant that they were originally humans who were companions of the bandit gang.

He covered the bodies of the two people, who had lost the light in their eyes and were barely breathing, with blankets that were nearby.

Soon, as the smoke slowly disappeared and the energy of the drug was no longer left in the air, he would allow the rest of the party to enter the prison.

“I never thought they’d even be using drugs….”

Iona muttered, approaching the incense burner that was thought to have generated the smoke, and picked up the bottle that had fallen next to it.

“… …”

“Kuon. Healing magic for the two of them.”

“Okay!”

“Ugh…”

Eustace, though covered in blankets, could easily imagine how terrible the acts that had taken place inside were, just by looking at the faces of the two.

Kuon reached out to the two of them and summoned healing power through divine magic, and slowly, the bruises on their bodies began to disappear, and their precarious breathing began to stabilize.

“Is it possible to use magic to stabilize their minds?”

“Of course I can use it… but you know? Whether or not they can recover depends on the person.”

“Of course… I have to listen to their stories, even a little.”

At Cleon’s words, Kuon nodded and added a recovery spell that stabilized their broken minds, in addition to their physical recovery.

Meanwhile, Iona, who had picked up the bottle, approached Cleon and showed it to him.

There was a familiar crest on the label.

“…Astaroth…”

“I don’t know why they have this bottle with this crest on it… but the identity of the drug is `Black Maker`.”

As Iona said with a serious expression, Cleon shook his head, saying he had never heard the name before.

“To put it simply, it’s a stimulant-type drug that was made in the empire. However, the manufacturing method was lost as the empire collapsed… all the humans with the knowledge to make it died. It was also used in the arena, so my father had seen it before… and he said that he had destroyed all the manufacturing facilities and manufacturers.”

“… According to Flarous, Ishtar and Lilim are from the empire. Maybe they have the manufacturing method.”

At Cleon’s speculation, Iona closed her mouth for a moment, then nodded as if agreeing that it was the most reasonable speculation.

“Ugh, eugh…”

At that time, among the two women lying down, the one with the long hair groaned in pain and regained consciousness.

“Y-you guys are…”

“… You don’t need to care who we are. Answer the questions I’m about to ask.”

As Cleon glared at the woman who had regained consciousness and spoke, she raised her voice with a `Hiek!`

“Cleon… If you glare at her like that, she’ll be scared and won’t be able to speak properly…?”

“…But these guys are victims, but at the same time, they were originally bandits… Even if there’s room for pity, I’m not going to show mercy.”

However, the woman seemed to feel fear from Cleon for a different reason, raising her upper body and retreating towards the wall.

“B-black hair. You, you… H-are you from the Black Magic Clan?”

“… I am.”

“T-the boss is from the same Black Magic Clan…! The boss said he was the last survivor…!”

At those words, a chill ran through the prison that momentarily stopped the breathing of everyone in the party, including Cleon.

Cleon wanted to rush to the woman right away and hear the details, but first, he calmed down and took a deep breath.

“Is your boss really from the Black Magic Clan? The bandit king?”

“Y-yes. Really. Black hair… I’m sure.”

Although she was terrified, information flowed out of her mouth smoothly, perhaps because of Kuon’s stabilization magic.

Kuon carefully grabbed Cleon’s arm, which was shaking with excitement.

When he met eyes with Kuon, Cleon nodded as if to say he was okay.

“What kind of person is your boss? Where did you get these drugs?”

“W-well… the drugs are sometimes brought by the red woman who the boss is trading with… the boss is literally the boss….”

Cleon clicked his tongue, as he thought, this bandit gang was related to Ishtar.

“The identity of the bandit king has been information that even the kingdom’s intelligence agencies have not been able to obtain until now. To think he’s from the Black Magic Clan. Is there any other information? Gender, age… name.”

“T-the boss is a man. And the age is similar to you guys or a little older… h-his name is `Cleon`.”

Once again, the air in the prison froze.

Kuon, Iona, and Eustace looked at Cleon with surprised faces and mouths agape.

Cleon had a dazed expression for a moment, then clenched his fist and stood up from his seat.

“Damn it.”

“And he’s also Talchaker’s disciple…”

Iona twitched her eyebrows at those words and looked down at the bandit with a cold face.

Then, after closing her eyes and opening them as if to suppress her anger for a moment, she turned back to Cleon.

“The Black Magic Clan, Cleon, and Talchaker’s disciple… Cleon, do you have anyone in mind?”

“No. …The only way is to meet him directly and confirm.”

At Cleon’s words, Iona closed her mouth a little and nodded.

“Wait. What about these two?”

“… You guys. What happened to the medicine you stole from the monastery?”

As Cleon asked the woman, she swallowed and answered.

“W-well, the other guys said it smelled strange and threw it away….”

`Strange smell…?`

At her words, Eustace felt a sense of incongruity for a moment, but soon shook his head. It could be a matter of people’s tastes.

“…The fact that men were turned into women by demons must never be known within the kingdom. If you quietly return to the monastery, I’ll take you out of here.”

“M-monastery…!? B-but….”

Before the words “Do I have to go back to such a boring place?” could come out, Cleon’s eyes pierced her.

“Decide whether to go back to the monastery or die here to be silenced.”

“C-Cleon…”

Kuon was slightly intimidated by the great anger she felt from Cleon.

“O-okay…. I’ll go back to the monastery and won’t tell anyone….”

“Good. That’s all… Come to think of it, you guys were uncooperative with the background check, right? What are your names?”

“G-Gisid. This is Sam.”

As Cleon said that and turned to Iona, she had already taken out her notebook and was in the process of organizing her thoughts.

“Gisid. Sam…. Those are familiar names. They were petty thieves who committed petty crimes with a human named Norman, but I thought they disappeared after a bounty was placed on them. So they were in the bandit gang… If the curse is lifted, they will be arrested and have to serve their sentences.”

“T-that’s…”

“Are you unhappy about surviving?”

As Cleon said that, Gisid hurriedly shook her head.

Cleon stared at Gisid for a moment, then let out a big sigh and stood up from his seat.

…The lifeforce of another person with a thread attached to them also felt like it was slowly fading away.

Perhaps the `Cleon` they were talking about was there.

“…Then. Wait here. I’ll go meet your boss.”

“D-don’t! The boss is a great swordsman because he’s a disciple of the Sword Saint Talchaker! If you guys die, we won’t be able to escape!”

“… …”

Cleon and Iona. The cold gaze of the two fell on Gisid.

“Too bad for you. I also, and she also. Would really like to cross swords with that `Talchaker’s disciple`.”

“I don’t know who is selling my father’s name from where, but…”

Through the magical pressure that unconsciously flowed out from the two, Eustace felt that their anger was real.

And, although not as much as the two, he was also feeling anger towards the human called the boss who was defiling the name of `Talchaker`.

Cleon and his party left the prison, leaving Gisid behind.

“Cleon. Are you okay?”

As Kuon carefully looked at Cleon and spoke, Cleon gave a wry smile and nodded.

“… To be honest. It’s a little hard to bear…. But, I’m still okay.”

“… Tell me if it’s hard. There’s not much I can do, but-”

“That’s not true.”

“… …”

Cleon quickly denied Kuon’s words, who was belittling herself.

“Just Kuon being by my side… allows me to feel the line I shouldn’t cross…. Thank you. Kuon.”

“… Okay.”

Cleon’s hand and Kuon’s hand overlap.

Cleon’s words that he needed her made Kuon’s heart beat.

“…Eup…”

And one more person.

Eustace also clenched his fist and looked at the two overlapping hands.

“…Eustace?”

His damn heartbeat was speeding up again. But it wasn’t as much as before.

It was a little painful, but.

“U-uh. I’m okay. It’s nothing.”

“… Please don’t overdo it.”

Iona said that and walked away from him and approached Cleon.

“…Eustace’s curse seems to be progressing due to Cleon’s actions and influence.”

“…I guess so. I don’t know why though…. I’ll be careful.”

Cleon and Iona carefully nodded and moved their feet towards the boss’s room.

To meet someone calling themselves `alumni`, `kinsman`, and `homonym` waiting there.