The escort mission for the Caverick Company was completed without incident.
We safely arrived at the city of Bazun, a satellite city of the imperial capital.
It ended with just dealing with some weak, unintelligent monsters.
What I don’t want you to misunderstand is that, just by looking at this, you shouldn’t think it was an easy job.
The merchants of the Caverick Company didn’t seem to be that negligent, but there are some who might think they could get away with paying less for such a job.
But that’s not the case.
It was only such an easy request because it was us, Nia and the others. If it were people who couldn’t intimidate the monsters just by their presence, they would have been attacked about ten times along the way, thieves included.
And such people wouldn’t be able to get through all those attacks unscathed.
You have to pay for safety. That’s the rule.
Of course, I can’t say the same for the general citizens. I know their financial situation.
Looking at the group of citizens who entered the town later, it seems they made it safely.
Good for them.
Now, the bonus for this time is the real deal.
I quickly left the city and waited for Nia and the others.
After finishing the greetings with the Caverick Company and completing the request, Nia and the others came out of the city.
Normally, even with such a request, we would disband for the day and rest for about a day, but everyone was full of energy.
Beastmen love hunting, after all. It can’t be helped.
I love fame and money, so of course, I’ll join in.
Nia points to our destination.
“Alright, Sky Knight-Sama. Let’s go. It’s time to hunt thieves! We’ll lead the way, but it’s okay to run seriously, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll follow, so go ahead.”
“Okay, everyone, follow me!”
With that, Nia and the others started running silently.
When I turned around, they were already far away and almost out of sight.
Oh well.
Naturally, no matter how strong I am, I can’t keep up with them normally. I can’t move faster than a beastman, no matter how strong I am.
So I channel magical power into my thunder sword to draw out the power of lightning. I’m not good at magic, but I have magical power, and I’m actually quite good at this sort of thing.
By wrapping lightning around my legs and manipulating it in a specific way, I can get a super acceleration when I run.
The attribute of lightning is convenient for attacking, but it can also be used like this.
I don’t know the principle, but it’s a fairly well-known way to use it.
I caught up with Nia and the others, slowing down my acceleration to match their pace.
Nia, seeing the lightning wrapped around my legs, hugged herself with both hands.
“Ugh, being close to that makes my fur stand on end.”
“Beastmen are not fond of this, are they?”
It seems that when lightning is near, every single hair stands on end.
Beastmen are actually much stronger against lightning than humans, but they seem to dislike this sensation and typically react this way.
Well, there’s nothing to do but endure it at times like these.
We arrived at our destination in less than a quarter of the time it took to get there.
From here, we approach the thieves’ stronghold while performing hidden surveillance to catch them by surprise.
It’s time for the beastmen scouts to shine again.
I can do a bit of everything since I was the vanguard in the party, but I’m not as skilled as a professional.
There are a few traps, but no lookouts along the way.
We quickly disable the traps without alerting the enemy and soon a cave comes into view.
The entrance was camouflaged to be invisible from afar, but they picked the wrong opponent, buddy.
Two lookouts were sitting on a rock, playing cards.
They must be thinking it’s just bad luck to be on lookout duty in such a place during the day.
That’s exactly right.
Without a sound, two arrows were released, simultaneously piercing the lookouts’ heads.
Impressive. Quite the skill.
The scout goes to the entrance and beckons us over with a hand signal.
We can’t speak from here on. We’ll have to rely on experience, intuition, and prediction.
We silently take out the thieves in each room, one by one.
Each and every one of them dies without making a sound, their faces showing they never expected a surprise attack.
At one point, we come across a large room, and a foul stench wafts out.
Nia and the others don’t make a sound, but they grimace. It’s smelly even to me. It must be unbearable for them.
This is… a pleasure chamber.
Thieves are engrossed, swinging their hips at the women hanging from chains.
The women, either too exhausted to scream or in a daze, silently endure the thieves’ humiliation.
“Huff, huff, damn it, we let a carriage pass right by us!”
The thief is frustrated, and perhaps even more irritated by the lack of response from the woman, he hits her face.
Is it fun to hit someone who can’t resist?
“I’m tired of this one… Ah, that’s right, the one we caught recently—”
I quietly approach the thief from behind and snap his neck.
Then I toss him aside.
The woman doesn’t react, but she seems to be alive. Fortunately, her tendons in her legs and arms haven’t been cut.
Sometimes it’s better to put them out of their misery right there… but in this case, they can be rescued.
The thieves in the pleasure chamber are silently put to death.
For their cruelty, they got off easy in death.
Nia whispers in my ear.
“The only room left is the back one. …You have a scary look, so I’ll leave it to you.”
It seems my murderous intent is showing.
Then I shall accept the task. It’s a massacre.
If you insist on having your way with power, then be crushed by power.
I open the door to the back room.
It seems designed to make a noise when opened, and the thieves finally realize they’re being attacked.
Inside, there are four or five thieves and one who stands out from the rest.
He seems to be a fallen mercenary, a martial artist. He’s the only one who immediately draws his sword and is wary of me.
I hold my thunder sword in my right hand. When I grip it tightly, lightning overflows from the sword.
Return your life to the gods.
