The path that the inspection team for the discarded ruin seems to use.
While being careful not to lose sight of it, I was walking through the woods.
Partway through, the path split into two.
There were no signposts indicating where each led.
Now then, what to do.
I was about to call out to my partner Pigi-maru.
That was when it happened.
A presence.
Ever since the discarded ruin, I've become strangely sensitive to presences.
Perhaps my nerves have been honed razor-sharp by the experience there?
Rustle.
"Hm? What's this guy? Not him?"
The ones who appeared were humans.
Four of them.
All men.
Dressed in typical fantasy style.
Though far from the neat and tidy kind of fantasy.
All four were armed.
I replay the earlier words in my mind.
"Hm? What's this guy? Not him?"
From the reaction and words, they seem to be in the middle of searching for someone.
It's definitely not me…
The atmosphere emanating from the four is thoroughly ominous.
At the very least, this doesn't seem like some heartwarming chase to find a lost child.
A sharp-featured man with a scar on his face fixes his gaze on me.
The look one gives garbage.
"A filthy brat, huh. Even having him in my line of sight is unpleasant."
One of his companions asks the scarred man.
"What do we do, Zarash?"
"Leave him. He's just an utterly ordinary small fry with zero entertainment value. At best, some novice mercenary wannabe. No idea why he's in a place like this, but I don't care either."
The scarred man carried the air of the group's leader.
He's probably the one in charge.
There's something faintly reminiscent of Kirihara about him.
Another man with a shark-like face lets his gaze crawl over me.
"The robe he's wearing is old, but the quality looks decent. Still filthy as hell, though."
Next, the man holding a greatsword shifts to an openly mocking attitude and relaxes his stance.
"Then for now, just leave anything valuable and get lost, yeah? We're not gonna strip you naked and make you do a piss-dog impression this time, so relax. We're in a hurry."
"No—we're killing this one."
The slender man steps forward.
He's the one who first said "Not him?"
He's fiddling with a curved sword in his hand.
The scarred man calls out to him.
"You're seriously gonna kill a worthless bug like this? It's a waste of time."
The curved-sword man strokes the blade with his thumb.
With an affectionate expression.
"I just realized I haven't tested this newbie's sharpness on a living human yet… So I'll use this trash meat for the job. It's trash anyway. Getting killed by us would probably be an honor for it."
"Hn… If you're gonna do it, make it quick, Magatsu. We have another objective right now. But it's probably about time that one's stamina runs out too. This job's end is near."
"Kuku, guys are nice 'cause there's no need for 'fun time'—makes it quick, right~? Torturing and killing 'em isn't that entertaining anyway. Hey, once we catch that woman and get the money, let's hit up Abrom's brothel—"
"No thanks. We're already bored of seasoned women… even high-class prostitutes. Instead, let's pick out some pretty little thing in the nearest city, drag her around for half a year, and have fun breaking her~"
"Half a year!? Screw that! The moment you start breaking 'em, no woman lasts half a year!"
"Shut up. If they break, it's their fault. Actually, I'd really like to get my hands on that woman… There aren't many who look that fun to destroy."
"I can't calm down as a male after seeing that bitch! Can some random woman in a provincial city really replace her~!?"
The scarred man gazes off to his left.
"But even we have to restrain ourselves from touching this particular prey… The client is who they are."
"Well, yeah."
"So—"
The curved-sword man who declared he'd kill me takes one step toward me.
"Back away trembling… Where exactly do you think you're going?"
I had been slowly putting distance between myself and the men.
I thrust my hands forward as if begging—please stop.
"Please… let me go… I don't want to die… meaninglessly… in a place like this…!"
The man's face stains with sadistic pleasure.
"No can do~♪ We gotta quickly test-cut you so we can get back to work~♪"
The curved-sword man takes his stance.
Creak.
His muscles flex supplely.
The curved sword is raised diagonally backward.
"So hurry up and—"
With a safe margin secured,
"—become feed for this Magatsu-sama—"
Within range.
"[Pa・ra・ly・ze]"
"—and… eh… no…!? O…?"
"Hm? Wh-what…!? Gu, o…?"
"What the—my body—"
"Won't… move…?"
Paralysis, successful.
All four appear to be in a paralyzed state.
They all gave off the vibe of being confident in their skills despite seeming like scum.
So I kept just barely within range while securing maximum distance.
Well, compared to the ruin's monsters, their intimidation was on a completely different level—far inferior.
"All right."
And then,
"Status ailment skills work on humans too, huh…"
Not just monsters.
Effective against humans as well.
Seems like the success rate hasn't changed either.
"So that shitty goddess really is just special…?"
"Id-iot… no—"
"Hm?"
The leader-type is saying something.
"Sta… tus… ail… ment… ma… gic…? And… with… no… chant…?"
Hm.
Even in paralysis, they can still talk quite a bit.
With monsters' cries, it was hard to gauge the degree of paralysis…
"E-even… so… four… peo… ple… at… once… im… poss… ible…!"
According to the goddess, status ailment-type spells in this world are considered practically useless.
The corners of my mouth lift.
"Mine seems to be a 'defective' one, though."
"Wha…?"
"Well, whatever. You lot tried to kill me, and none of you tried to stop it. So I've judged you as 'targets.'"
The air around the four changes.
They don't seem to understand what I'm saying.
"[Poison]"
Pop pop,
Powa〜…
"Agh…!? Gu, gi… e… e…!?"
"Ku, gu… ru… ji… i…"
"Goe… baka… na… a…!?"
"What… the… hell…!? Guu, e…"
The four turn poisonous colors and begin writhing in agony.
"Pigi!"
Pigi-maru cries out.
A protrusion stretches out from beside my neck with a *nyuru*.
"Pigi-maru? You… angry?"
"Pi!"
It seems Pigi-maru felt strong discomfort toward those four.
Does it have similar sensibilities to me?
"Well—whether these guys die or not, I doubt my heart would ache. In fact, I might even feel refreshed."
Killing intent meets killing intent.
Malice meets malice.
It's just the rules being applied.
I felt something pitch-black from these guys.
Something that resonates with Kirihara and Oyamada.
"In short—I can do it."
I look at my palm.
I see.
Looks like I don't have to worry about hesitating at the last moment.
"I can do it even against humans."
I waited for the four to die.
Their miserable forms writhing in agony as they perish.
Unable to even struggle due to paralysis.
In the end, they begged for mercy.
But I can't imagine these guys ever listened to someone begging for mercy.
No way.
Absolutely not.
I ignored their pleas.
"Gi, iii—!"
After a while, the last one ran out of strength.
My level didn't go up even by 1.
Their experience points must have been extremely low.
Or perhaps,
"No experience points from humans—is that a possibility too…?"
While pondering, I begin looting their belongings.
Their clothes are slightly off in size.
Well, if someone who knows them spots features of their clothing somewhere, that'd be trouble.
Could lead to complications later.
Same with weapons and gear.
If they can be traced back, it'll cause headaches down the line.
So I only take the small pouches containing gold, silver, and copper coins and put them in the leather pouch.
Money doesn't carry much individuality.
In that sense, it's relatively safe.
After quickly finishing the search, I stand up.
"—Pi, i"
Pigi-maru's solemn cry.
"Hm? Yeah, you sensed it too, huh. I know—"
There was also the option of setting the poison to non-lethal and killing them slowly.
But ever since earlier, I've been feeling it.
An abnormal, extraordinary pressure.
A mixture of battle intent and killing intent.
"There's one more person nearby."