Chap 1-The Road to the Capital

 

Those guys weren’t originally like that.

No, they shouldn’t have been like that.

Well, of course. Aren’t they the Hero’s party?

Of course, I’m not such a pushover that I’d let myself be used by humans however they please.

But acting like that? They’re just arrogant thugs who’ve gorged themselves on privileges.

I am a thief.

Before joining the Hero’s party, I was compared to the Hero, Talon, whom I’d grown up with since childhood, because I did so much thieving.

I don’t deny that I stole.

However, at least I wasn’t the type to just rob innocent people of their belongings.

That’s why the kingdom’s pig nobles didn’t like me but couldn’t say anything.

Because I only robbed guys like them.

I even took all sorts of their corruption.

Well, I can’t exactly call myself a righteous thief.

Even if the target was a jerk, I still stole, after all.

So, what I want to say is this.

The hunter eats the hunting dog after the hunt is over.

Then, am I a hunting dog or not?

Of course, strictly speaking, I wasn’t eaten, but thoroughly used and then backstabbed.

The difference between me and a hunting dog is that.

I’m a thief.

At least I can steal the hunter’s assets.

Could the Hero really defeat the Demon King without the Holy Sword?

I don’t think so.

Thanks to me, he got right up to facing the Demon King.

Talon is probably just relying on the Holy Sword. He probably thinks that with the Holy Sword, he can definitely defeat the Demon King.

What this means is.

The Hero’s Holy Sword is in my Subspace Pouch.

Besides that, the Saintess’s Sacred Tome, an ancient Grimoire, and the elf’s Spirit Orb.

I just robbed the entire Hero’s party.

Come to think of it, I got all of that thanks to them, though.

The least valuable of those is probably the elf’s Spirit Orb.

I originally wanted to steal the World Tree’s Bow, but I figured the pointy-ears would foam at the mouth and chase me down if I did.

Even that would probably fetch a huge sum of money if I sold it.

Yeah.

I’m saying again, I robbed the Hero’s party.

On the day I left the party.

When Talon and those women held a small party, I swiped the Holy Sword.

Even though they looked at me suspiciously, they probably never imagined that a member of the Hero’s party would steal the Hero’s Holy Sword right before the Demon King battle.

How will he react when he finds out?

He might regret kicking me out.

Or at least think he should have killed me.

Clatter, clatter.

Inside the carriage heading to the capital, I was gazing at the night sky.

Are those guys looking at the same sky?

Probably not.

Those guys were always mixing bodies like beasts every night.

I wondered if they couldn’t at least rent an inn in the village, but they were passionately screwing anywhere and everywhere like beasts.

Yeah. They’re probably doing it right now.

Now that they don’t have to worry about me watching them, they’re probably doing beastly things so much that the Magical Creatures around them are running away.

It would be fun if the Four Heavenly Kings came and sliced their necks.

I was in the same party as those guys.

I don’t know how many nights have passed since I left the Hero’s party.

But since I came from the front lines of the Demon Realm, the Demon King’s territory, I finally felt that I was completely separated from those guys.

Somehow, I feel relieved too.

It means I don’t have to watch their backs anymore.

Originally, I should go to the kingdom.

But there’s no point in going there.

Even though there are a few people who welcome me, most of the kingdom’s higher-ups didn’t like me because I was a thief.

It’s not wrong, so I can’t argue.

So, I had no choice but to leave when that Hero kicked me out.

But I can’t just take it lying down.

I should do some thieving like a thief.

So, I’m thinking of taking this Holy Sword to the empire, the kingdom’s rival.

Not to give it to them.

If those guys are busy searching for the Holy Sword later, it’s better to be in a safe place.

Besides, I just happened to find a carriage heading to the capital.

Originally, it was going to pass through a few villages in the middle, but I gave the coachman a few gold trinkets that the Saintess had, which are now mine, and asked him to drop me off in the capital.

Thanks to that, the coachman, who had initially refused because of my hooded appearance, went wide-eyed and gave me a ride alone.

The Saintess really gives generously.

At the same time, now that she doesn’t have the Holy Sword, she’ll probably back down on her own. (tl: It says ‘holy sword’ here in the raws, but I’m not really sure what it means)

“Well, that’s it. A thief did some thieving, that’s all.”

Didn’t they call me gloomy?

Then I’ll have to be gloomy.

Anyway, that guy will probably be cocky because he trusts the Holy Sword and then collapse in front of the Demon King.

The Holy Sword is one thing.

I took out a book from my pocket.

It was a book that the Saintess always carried with her.

The Saintess called it the Sacred Tome, but when I asked her about the contents, she said she couldn’t read it herself.

She probably just didn’t want to tell me.

Let’s try reading it.

I’m an intelligent thief, so I learned quite a bit to rob the higher-ups, so I know most foreign languages.

That’s what I thought at first.

“What is this?”

I can’t read it.

I don’t even know what language it is, and it’s a script that I feel like I know but don’t.

At this point, there’s more credibility to the possibility that the Saintess is actually a moron.

Why is she carrying around a book she can’t even read?

It doesn’t even seem like it would be worth any money.

For a brief moment, these crazy characters that I couldn’t even recognize flickered slightly.

For a moment, I was mesmerized and stared intently at the characters.

It seems the Saintess is a Saintess, since it’s shining.

“I still don’t get it.”

I feel like I’m going to go crazy if I just keep looking at these meaningless characters.

When my eyes got tired, I closed the Sacred Tome again.

It seems I swiped something truly meaningless.

I can read the magician Helia’s ancient Grimoire, but it only has value as a rarity, as an ancient relic.

I put the Grimoire back in as well.

I can’t use the Holy Sword, and I don’t plan to use it, so it’s not even worth discussing.

Naturally, I took out the Spirit Orb I swiped from the elf and drank it.

Hmm.

It doesn’t taste that great.

It tastes like water with sugar? Honey? Something similar added to it.

If I savor the taste, it has a good refreshing feeling and a tangy taste.

“Still, this is more relaxing.”

They put me in the party, so I tried my best to avoid being looked down on as a party with a thief.

But now I don’t have to do that.

If I had known it would be like this, I would have embezzled the party support funds halfway through.

Those guys made me do all the annoying things.

Wasn’t I the one who stood guard?

Huh? Ah, really, I did everything from A to Z?

Wasn’t getting kicked out a benefit?

I wanted to take the Demon King’s head, but honestly, if you ask me if I can be sure of victory, I would shake my head a hundred times.

If that’s how I feel, how much more would those guys feel?

“Should I take a nap?”

I can stretch my legs and get some sleep for the first time in a while.

I gazed at the stars in the night sky and fell into a comfortable sleep for the first time in a while.

Hoping that those guys would show their incompetence by finding the Holy Sword late.

Without the slightest idea of what would happen in the future.

Contrary to Sien’s expectations, the Hero’s party moved quickly.

Well, they were about to face the Demon King.

The dark and gloomy abyss was beckoning them to come in quickly, so they had to go in and smash the Demon King.

If they dealt with that Demon King before the Four Heavenly Kings came, they would be defeating the enemy of humanity.

Everyone was already grinning at the thought of that and preparing to depart.

“Huh? My Sacred Tome is gone? Helia, have you seen it?”

“No, there’s no way I would have seen something like that. I wouldn’t even look at it if you gave it to me, huh? My Grimoire is gone too?”

“This is terrible. The Spirit Orb is gone too.”

The Hero’s party’s belongings had all disappeared.

No matter how much they searched, it wasn’t anywhere in the camp, and there were no other humans nearby, so there was no possibility that anyone had taken it.

Then, the Four Heavenly Kings?

The Saintess thought of that possibility, but immediately erased it from her mind.

If that were the case, they would already be fighting the Four Heavenly Kings.

Then, it was time to ask one question.

Then, does the Holy Sword still exist?

The Saintess, who was startled by the possibility that the Holy Sword might disappear before the Demon King battle, came out of the camp with the other women.

Sure enough. The Hero’s expression was serious too.

The fist he was clenching in one hand made her feel uneasy, as if the Saintess’s prediction was coming true.

“Damn it.”

“Hero, our belongings have disappeared. Perhaps?”

“Mine too.”

“Yes?”

“The Holy Sword is gone.”

The Holy Sword is gone.

This was the worst-case scenario.

There were records in the temples and around the world that the Holy Sword was necessary to fight the Demon King.

But if there was no Holy Sword, how would they fight the Demon King?

Who on earth stole the Holy Sword, and furthermore, the Hero’s party’s belongings?

There was only one being who had been near the Hero’s party recently.

Yes. That being.

The one who always scanned them gloomily from behind, shamelessly catching enemies and tarnishing the Hero’s party’s reputation.

There was only one person.

The Saintess, the Archmage, and the Divine Bow’s heads simultaneously had the same person in mind.

The despicable thief who twisted the corners of his mouth under his robe.

“Could it be?”

“I think it’s that ‘could be’.”

Talon handed the crumpled note he was holding to the Saintess.

When the Saintess unfolded it neatly and checked the writing.

-I’m robbing the Hero’s party and leaving.

Anyone with a sense of who this person was would know who it was just by looking at the handwriting that was making fun of them.

Yes. That damn thief.

Talon knew Sien well.

Therefore, he clearly knew Sien’s handwriting.

“How could someone who was once in the Hero’s party do this to the Hero right before the Demon King battle!”

“I and Kayla can fight since we haven’t had our weapons stolen, but what about the Hero?”

“At this rate, we’re doomed. Let’s go back to the royal capital for now.”

If there was no Holy Sword, they couldn’t even fight the Demon King, regardless of their skills.

Then they had no choice but to retreat.

The women were puzzled by the Hero’s unexpectedly calm appearance, but they followed him.

Clang, clang.

I opened my eyes slightly at the sound of metal clashing harshly.

It was probably the sound of moving weapons.

Hearing this kind of sound while riding in a carriage wouldn’t be a pleasant thing.

It probably wasn’t the sound of the Empire’s army moving their weapons to the front lines or anything like that.

It hadn’t been long since the Empire’s army had lifted their heavy asses and arrived at the front lines.

Then it was usually bandits.

It would probably be bandits.

Anywhere in the world, humans who were struggling to survive due to the war with the Demon King were bound to become bandits.

One, two, three, four.

Judging by the presence I felt, there were probably about a dozen of them.

Bandits on a carriage heading to the capital.

Honestly, it would be fine if the carriage just ran them over.

“What, trees have fallen and are blocking the road. Damn it. I’ll have to turn back!”

The coachman was muttering curses.

It seemed like it wouldn’t be that easy.

They had blocked the road with trees.

A typical ambush method of third-rate bandits.

First, they block the road with obstacles to prevent the carriage from passing, and then they ambush the stopped carriage.

From the outside, it must have looked like a carriage with no escort, so they probably underestimated it.

I said I would escort them as a condition for going to the capital, so should I take care of this much?

“Hey, you have to pay a toll to pass through here? Of course, you have to put down everything inside too. Kkhahaha!”

They were emboldened because there was no one around to beat them up.

The coachman was just frozen still.

I thought I would have a comfortable ride, but it’s become a hassle.

Soon, the bandits approached the compartment where I was.

The bandits stared down at me.

I just feel bad getting those kinds of looks from guys.

“Oh, it’s a woman. And quite a beauty too?”

Huh?

What the hell are they talking about? Are they all blind because they’re bandits?

A woman? That means I’m the only one riding in this carriage.

I was already in a bad mood because I had just woken up.

Maybe it’s because I just woke up, but I can’t even stand properly.

“Shit. What’s wrong with my body.”

I staggered forward when I tried to take out my sword.

My vision is also like that, and it feels like my height has decreased.

Maybe it’s because I relaxed after leaving the Hero’s party.

The bandits laughed at me when they saw that.

Ah, I’m getting angry.

How dare bandits laugh at me.

Calm down.

Anyway, it’s not that difficult to subdue bandits.

I stretched out my left hand, which was hidden inside my robe.

Towards the bandits.

I gathered fragments of mana one by one at the tips of my fingers.

Like gathering broken grains into one.

And.

I pulled out Mana Thread, a thread of mana made by delicately connecting mana.

“What, you want us to catch you? Come here. We’ll treat you well.”

“Hehehe. What are you doing? She’s asking you to take her.”

What are you talking about?

“No, just die.”

[Silken Thread]

They were talking nonsense, spouting disgusting words, but it was only for a moment. The bandits died on the spot, bleeding from their hearts.

It was simple.

I shot the Mana Thread I had just created and aimed at the bandits.

The Mana Thread pierced the bandits’ hearts or heads and killed them.

Just by stretching, swinging, and stabbing the thread, human flesh was easily shattered.

Each of the bandits’ bodies, having lost their strength, lay scattered on the floor.

“You bitch!”

Despite being a bandit, one of them held his sword tightly, showing loyalty to his comrades.

Yeah. That was it.

The Mana Thread I swung instantly slit his throat.

The last bandit who charged looked blankly at his own severed neck before dying.

“Hieeek!”

The coachman recoiled, as if he had never seen anything like this before.

I thought he had seen the horrors of the battlefield since he was hanging around the front lines, but he was just a coachman who had been playing around inside the Empire.

Eventually, after a long time, after dealing with the bandits in the corner, the coachman finally seemed to have come to his senses and looked straight at me.

“What, what is it? Were you a woman?”

“What are you talking about? Huh?”

At the coachman’s words, I felt a chill run down my spine.

While desperately feeling the identity of the discomfort I had felt in my chest a little while ago.