Chapter 225 – Highwayman
“Ha… I was talking about something important. It sucks.”
“What is this bastard talking about? Can’t you figure out what’s going on?”
“You guys really want to grasp the atmosphere huh?”
The assailants hiding behind the bushes and hills reveal themselves. They were dozens of robbers whose faces were covered with masks.
When the big guys who introduced themselves as robbers beckoned to us, men with flimsy weapons such as clubs and hatchets shookly surrounded us.
Seeing this, the wolf sighed and drew a pistol so that it could not be seen from the outside.
“Princess, wait a minute. I’ll take care of it.”
“It’s okay. I’m not good at prenatal education. The other kids are the same, so don’t call them.”
“But…”
“I’m thinking about what you’re trying to say to me here.”
After stopping the wolf who wanted to say something more, and stepping outside, the robbers’ eyes are all at once.
I looked them in the eyes. Emotions commonly felt in the criminal’s eyes are tension, sticky and dirty heat, desire, and desperation.
But that’s not all.
Except for the fat guy and one or two guys near him, most of the robbers were afraid of us.
At least the few people in the forefront have trembling eyes, and it seems that they will collapse any moment.
In this situation, fear is the law for everyone. However, their immaturity was evident at the point of revealing it all in front of the enemy.
Strange. I tilt my head in amazement.
No matter how many of these guys gather, there’s no way they’ll have the guts to stop a military vehicle and rob them. What happened?
“Tsk! It’s a common tactic.”
The answer was given by the wolf dance.
Wolf Dancer, who rolled down his window and looked around, clicked his tongue.
“What are you talking about?”
“Even though they blocked the road and thoroughly prepared, they are poorly armed and look like beginners. They’re probably the scapegoats who took the lead as a cannon fodder. The real instigators are the pigs over there.”
“Then you’re being used by those pigs? No, these people have a lot more pages. Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he threatened his family while holding them back.”
“Kya, like a former robber, he has a lot of know-how. Is this why he’s looking for a career job anywhere?”
“…”
Oh. I reflexively snickered and teased them as if they were playing.
Normally, it was a wolf dance that would have been counterattacked by kicking at least one shin with a thick curse, but today it was only a gloomy nod.
This is the atmosphere when you accidentally cross the line while playing a joke and get wrapped up in it.
“Yes. I might be the same person as them.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
Why is my self-esteem so low today? Driving me crazy.
“You bastards, what are you doing! You came out on your own. Attack me!”
At that time, a pig shouted in a grim voice. When he shouted, me and the robbers who were hesitantly surrounding the wolf dance started to tremble.
However, the hand holding the weapon trembled, and no one was ahead.
Of course. If Wolf Dancer is right, these people are neither criminals nor ordinary people who are not used to such things.
Appearing alone in a military vehicle, there is no way I can’t help but feel uneasy at the sight of myself standing without any anxiety even though I’m outnumbered. Why is morale important on the battlefield?
If you step forward without thinking too hard, you will be stabbed with a high probability, but who would want to be in that situation?
“Hey.”
“Yes…Yes?”
“If you’re being threatened, just get out of here. I’ll just subdue that pig.”
“I… Really?”
Robbers who fall for a word thrown at a glance. It seems that the wolf’s prediction was correct.
Seeing them, the pig spat on the floor.
“Really me. Don’t you have the courage like this?”
“Will you be brave? A wild boar like you is the leader.”
“What? What did you say, bastard?”
When the verbal violence was inserted, the two pigs gnashed their teeth and raised their weapons menacingly.
It was a sharpened machete and a long, heavy iron rod. Proper weapon. Most of all, the pig doesn’t get caught in the provocation and observes what I’m doing.
After all, these three are different from the others. It looked like it had been prepared in earnest, and at the moment I caught a glimpse of bandages wrapped under the pants of the pigs and monkeys.
The bandages were wrapped in the same place as if three people had knitted them together. Yes.
“One wild boar, two monkeys next to it? Animals speak all human language, and this must be the countryside.”
“You madman!”
“Are we laughing at you because we won’t kill you?”
Did you say that if you give me what you have, I will send it to you. I didn’t intend to send it anyway, so I’m blaming others.
No idiot would leave a witness alive while robbing an army vehicle.
Even if these guys came to be like this, they probably aren’t really wild boars and monkeys.
“So?”
When I asked them as if they were laughing, one of the monkeys gave a nasty smile.
“She looks like that girl in the passenger seat. Her silver hair has been a while since I’ve seen her. Isn’t she a precious woman to you?”
“Pick your head and we’ll take it.”
“This crosses the line.”
I abandoned the idea of subduing these guys finely.
How dare you set your eyes on my girl?
You will have to pay a high price for making fun of your mouth.
As I took a step forward, two monkeys pointed their weapons at me. Judging from the fact that he didn’t show any sign of trying to use any other magic, it seemed that he was a body strengthening wizard.
Of course, the level has gone down beyond words. If it was a wolf dance, you could take them down with just two shots with your eyes closed.
“Stop. Are you idiots? Why are you fighting from the front? Just send them out and poke holes in them.”
Then the pig came out. He points with his thumb at the terrified robbers, or rather, the cannon fodder.
“No boss, but those guys get scared and don’t move.”
“You guys are really idiots. Do you not know what a hostage means, or do you just have udon noodles on your head? Look carefully, they are doing this.”
“Yes?”
Swoop- After. The pig took a deep breath and glared at the men, exclaiming harshly.
“Are you guys going to be quiet like that! I don’t miss my family that much!”
“…”
Of course, the robbers did not answer. But I am anxious.
He fell halfway at my words and lost his fighting spirit, but he was unable to completely abandon his weapon.
If I defeat the pigs, they are free, but otherwise they are doomed. It was natural to be confused because it was a matter of life and death.
As they still did not move, the pig continued to call out.
“Okay, let’s say he kicks us out. What do we do next? I am the only one who knows the location of the cave where your family is hidden. Are you going to search all over this vast mountain range? Until everyone is hungry in the empty cave?”
“Uh… Uhhhhh.”
“No. Our son is only six years old… If that happens, he won’t last more than a few days.”
“If you don’t like that, attack it. There’s only one person. You wouldn’t risk your life and even your family on someone you don’t know, right?”
Also a pig He roasted and boiled the robbers with quite skill.
Hearing his threat, the robbers grab their weapons. I could see that the scales in their hearts were slowly tipping toward the pig.
I don’t like it, but I have to. It just feels like that.
Although he was shaken by my words, his fear of the pig that he had felt before his eyes was greater than that of me seeing him for the first time.
The pig laughing meanly added a wedge to it.
“The one who moves first will have a special look at his family.”
“Ooohhhhh!!”
Those words became the decisive blow, and the robbers completely collapsed.
The robbers almost screamed and brandished their weapons with bloodshot eyes.
Even ordinary people can reinforce their basic strength through magic. If about 10 people wield a weapon, turning one person into porridge is a matter of seconds.
The pig stood behind the robbers who had lost their reason and smiled. Is sure of victory.
“Stop the violence.”
“Aaaaah?”
“Huh?”
Until I said the hypnotic voice.
“What, what happened?”
The pigs and monkeys stuttered in embarrassment. It was only because the movements of the robbers, who were foaming at the mouth and brandishing clubs, stopped in an unnatural moment.
The motion of swinging with all their strength was completely canceled, and the robbers showed performance art with their muscles hardened. The twinkling eyes are funny.
“Boss, how did this happen?”
“This, this…”
As soon as you take a step forward, the pig takes a step back. Her face is pale
Crisis awareness is quite good. The two monkeys don’t even know what happened.
I continued walking towards the pig.
“Are you slaves who ran away from Rome?”
“Uh, how…”
“All three of them have their ankles bandaged. Why don’t we advertise that they were our slaves?”
Rudy from before was also covering the slave mark on the nape of his neck with a bandage.
However, the difference between these guys and Rudy is the location of the imprint. Having an imprint on his ankle means that he is a so-called criminal slave who was sentenced to slavery for a crime that went beyond the limit.
Criminal slavery is worse than most death row inmates. A more despised class of slaves, making up no more than 4% of all slaves.
It is a complex question whether punishment that deprives human rights is ethically right.
It’s only been 15 days since the slave city collapsed.
As they approached the three humanoids, the pig pushed the backs of the two monkeys.
“Don’t let these bastards come!! Stop it!!”
“Two, boss… Whoops!”
“Keuuk.”
I lightly subdued two monkeys with two punches.
All that remains is the pig.
“Hey.”
“Huh… Help me! Because they threatened me! I had no choice but to follow!”
“It’s trash from start to finish, so I’d rather like it.”
– Puff!!
“ぅ.”
The guys who were hit in the head one by one are rolling on the floor. I thought about breaking the skull, but considering the insults these guys threw at the wolf dancer earlier, that’s a very comfortable ending.
Judging by the fact that he covered his inscription with a bandage, he must have been ashamed of being a slave.
I reached out and gave them status ailments that could never be dispelled.
Grants [Slavicity]: Learned Helplessness. A mentality that is afraid to act or think for itself and degrades itself as a slave. It’s the perfect quality to be used by those with malicious intent.
Grants [Magic Seal], [Muscle Seal]: Seals magic and strength. You cannot exert more than the minimum force necessary to sustain life. You will only be able to use child-level powers.
That’s enough. They will live their entire lives as slaves or less, and die somewhere. Trembling at the request of a three-year-old child, he would give up his liver and gallbladder.
Live as a tree generously spread, and atone for your sins by dying as a hogu. Sick people.
“Okay then.”
All that remains are the bullet trays, stiff as ice.
When I released the hypnotic voice and returned the freedom of the body, they all dropped the things they were holding.
I glanced over and saw that they were looking at me with fearful eyes.
“Ah… Ah… You…”
“Forget what just happened. I defeated the robbers in a normal duel. You are just victims.”
“…”
I erased the victims’ memories.
In fact, they are really only victims. The reason I listened to the pig’s foul voice until the end was because I doubted whether the robbers were really just innocent victims.
However, they passively resisted the pig’s words until they were half-deranged by their family.
Although it was for the sake of himself and his family, he hesitated to wield a weapon against an innocent tourist. That hesitation was proof that they were humans, not beasts.
When I snapped my fingers, they came to me with tears in their eyes.
“Thank you… Thank you so much for saving me…!”
“Th-those robbers… I was terrified.”
Memories are well erased. If there are witnesses of hypnotic ability left, it will be annoying for nothing, so you should clean up after yourself.
“Are you all tourists? Have you all been caught in a week or two?”
“I don’t know how many, but most of them. I was on my way to Rome…”
Rome. I heard that there are many imperials heading to Rome these days.
It was what Elroy intended.
It was decided to rebuild Rome in order to give jobs and a new home to the large number of runaway slaves and unemployed people who were created when a large city collapsed. This time to a bright and wholesome place, not a slave city.
Of course, urban reconstruction does not just happen, it requires a lot of hands and technicians, and it can be a new hope for those who have been rotting technology or those who have just been freed from slavery but have a hopeless future.
There is no longer a status as a slave in the Empire.
“However, a stagecoach was stolen on a deserted road, and this is what happened… Hehe.”
“Really? This pig has completely broken my heart. If you ask me where I’ve hidden my family, I will gladly tell you. I hope I can meet you safely. Then, goodbye.”
“Yes yes?”
When I stopped talking and gestured to leave, the people panicked and didn’t know what to do.
Know. They are now just barely coming out of a terrible experience. Everything will be uneasy
An existence you can rely on, I hope that you will accompany me. They couldn’t bear to speak and only looked at the ground with pitiful eyes.
But it’s not my business. Am I an errand boy?
I’m trying to shake my head…
“Princess.”
When I came out, Wolf Dancer was next to me. Wolf Dancer met her eyes and said.
“If they’re criminal slaves… I’m responsible for destroying the slave city.”
Do you want to help? Why is it your fault?
Status is no barrier to participating in the rebuilding of Rome.
It doesn’t matter if you were a former slave or if you set fire to the Roman government in excitement on the day of liberation. The past is in obscurity.
But there is one exception. This does not apply to criminal slavery. Because they are garbage as human beings before being slaves.
As active-duty escapees, they are still being pursued by the military and police. These guys were just one of them.
I also know that they are scum, so when I ordered the marquis to prepare to destroy the slave city, I told him not to touch the criminal slavery facility.
What freed them were their fellow slaves, who knew their danger better than anyone else.
This was done in hopes of their superior fighting ability. To run away from escaped slaves and to hang the guards and managers who desperately resist.
Why is it your fault wolf dance Why do you do good things and always rot your heart?
“I am…”
Hate. Bothered. It’s not my business.
But.
But the eyes of the wolf dance look at me.
She always called me a hero and looked at me with admiration. Such a wolf dance is looking at me with anxious eyes.
I immediately opened my mouth.
“…Yes, I’ll help you a little more. It’s not difficult.”
“Thank you so much, Princess…”
“Why are you thankful? Didn’t I change my mind because of you? I originally meant this.”
I grunted and kicked the pig to wake it up.
