As I prepared myself, the thieves finally turned their weapons towards me. Too slow. I could have cut them down before they even got ready.
Daggers, scimitars… is that a jamadhar? Quite a rare weapon.
“What were the guys outside doing? To let you get this far in…”
The thief wielding the jamadhar spoke.
He’s got a happy-go-lucky head. It’s because the guys outside couldn’t do anything that we’re in this situation.
Instead of words, I gave him a thrust with my thunder sword.
Closing the distance in one step, the thunder sword pierced the thief’s chest like a flash of lightning.
I burned him with lightning before he could scream.
After pulling out the thunder sword, I walked up to the scimitar-wielding thief.
“Stay back!”
In desperation, he swung his scimitar, so I grabbed the blade with my left hand.
“Ah!”
Pulling the scimitar with my left hand, the thief lost his balance easily, so I cut him down diagonally.
I then threw the scimitar at the dagger-wielding thief, and it not only stuck in his body but also pinned him to the wall with the momentum. He’s convulsing, so he doesn’t seem to be dead yet. If left alone, he’ll die on his own.
Just the mercenary-looking guy and one more left. When another thief tried to head to the back, I kicked a suitable stone at him.
He fell with a scream. It seems it only hit his shoulder. Was my control too lax?
“Ngh…”
Now, only this guy is left.
He seems somewhat capable, but he also seems to understand the hopeless difference in strength between us.
The man measured the distance between us and drew another sword, holding two swords at the ready.
“I am Apeiron, former vice-captain of the first army of the kingdom, wielding two swords. What’s your name?”
“Adventurer, Sky Knight Ahavain.”
“So you are… the infamous Angel Slayer. No wonder you’re this strong. Weren’t you supposed to be above falling in with thieves?”
That’s right. Besides, I didn’t actually kill any angels.
I gently stroked the heavenly sword.
“Repent in the afterlife. According to the church, God is equal to all the dead.”
“I refuse.”
Apeiron, or whatever his name was, came slashing at me with quick movements of his dual swords.
He’s not weak. He might have the strength of a veteran adventurer.
“Apeiron. Let me give you a lecture before you die. Give up on dual swords next time.”
I stepped back to dodge Apeiron’s dual swords, then raised my thunder sword high and swung it down roughly, yet with force.
“Ngh!”
Apeiron judged that he had no room to retreat and caught my thunder sword with his dual swords.
The sound of metal clashing echoed.
Hmph. That’s the end of the match. How anticlimactic.
There’s no way he could catch a sword swung with my strength with dual swords, which disperse the force.
My thunder sword only stopped for a moment before I swung it down.
Without even a death cry, the former vice-captain of the kingdom’s army died as a thief.
“Dual swords are for those who can win with a sword in one hand against a sword held in both hands. Hope you learned something.”
All the thieves in the stronghold were wiped out, except for one who was rolling around groaning with his legs crushed.
“Someone tie that guy up. Now, let’s inspect the place.”
“Sky Knight-Sama, as brutal as ever…”
Nia gave instructions to the party members while smiling wryly.
The rescued women were also being carried out. We’ll have to support them with some of the money we got from this stronghold. It’ll improve our image.
By the way, it would take me about ten minutes to defeat Nia with just the thunder sword.
The top adventurers are survivors because they’re beyond human.
“Did you just think of something unpleasant? You did, didn’t you? Stop it.”
While casually dealing with Nia, I looked around.
There was a passage leading to the back, so I went with Nia, and we found a woman tied to a chair.
She was blindfolded, gagged, and tied to the chair.
But she didn’t seem to have been treated roughly like the other women.
The dress she was wearing was a fine purple silk, indicating she was someone of standing.
When I removed the gag, she gasped for air as if she had been suffocating.
“Um, who are you?”
“We’re an adventurer’s party. We’ve come to rescue you.”
Nia looked at me with an “are you serious?” expression.
It’s all in how you say it. Learn from it.
“Is that so? Could you remove the blindfold as well?”
“Of course.”
After removing the blindfold, her well-featured face was revealed.
“Ah, that’s better. Thank you. My name is Satella. Satella Lanakeld.”
I know this young lady.
She’s the daughter of the Lanakeld Marquis family, a so-called tea-drinking friend of the princess.
The Lanakeld family is a long-standing pillar of the empire.
If their daughter was kidnapped, it wouldn’t be a peaceful matter.
They must be secretly searching for her now, fearing a scandal.
Maybe if I had returned to the imperial capital without any issues, I would have received a request.
“Lady Satella, I’m glad you’re safe. We’ll get out of here quickly and deliver you to the Lanakeld house.”
“Ah… I’m saved. If it was for ransom, I would have been safe, but they were talking about offering me as a sacrifice, and I felt like I was living on borrowed time.”
“Evil never prospers.”
“Ha ha, that’s true. May I have your name? I’d like to thank you when I return home.”
“My name is Ahavain. The person next to me is Nia Noa, and her party has contributed greatly to your rescue, Lady Satella. It would be an honor if you remembered us.”
The main credit goes to Nia and the others. I have to make sure to give them proper credit, or I’ll earn their resentment.
Nia, who had been hanging back, hesitantly greeted the marquis’ daughter when her name was suddenly mentioned.
Beastmen and nobles don’t usually get along well. But this young lady is fine.
I have some information about the princess’s entourage.
“Um, hello. I’m Nia Noa. Lady Lanakeld.”
“Just call me Satella. You’re a beastman, aren’t you? Don’t worry, I don’t have any prejudices. I even employ several as servants.”
With that, Satella took Nia’s hand and expressed her gratitude.
As long as we continue to thrive as adventurers, our ties with the nobility won’t be severed. This will be a good opportunity.
We’ll deal with the treasure later; we must deliver this marquis’ daughter to the Lanakeld residence in the imperial capital.
I left all the cleanup to Nia and the others and started on my last task before departure.
I sat down next to the surviving thief.
The thief was breathing roughly, perhaps enduring the pain, and crouching.
“Hey. I’ll help you if you spill it. What’s this about a sacrifice?”
It was undoubtedly a troublesome matter.
