Chapter 99 - Complete Defeat

TL:SummerPeanut

Ty for the support Myth666, Joshua Ramos, and all patrons.

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“There's about 20 of them hiding in the grass up ahead! They are out of our range from here but watch out!"

I alert everyone and Karen says.

“It's all right. With the Fire crest of Fresvald and the Book Crest of Regan. No one would be stupid enough to attack a carriage bearing these two emblems.”

Yes. Thank you for the flag.

As we were passing through the grass, all at once, 20 men attacked us.

Karen shouted as she gets off the wagon.

“Can't you see these fire emblems and book emblems!? Are you trying to make enemies of both the Dukes of Fresvald and Regan!?”

The bandits ignored Karen's words and attacked.

Reimei’s female members also went outside the wagon to fight back.

While fighting, the bandits were sizing up the female members.

“Hey, you guys don't hurt these girls! If you can offer them up to Sir Guster, you'll get a promotion and a rise in rank!”

Sir Guster? Their employer? I'm also curious about their promotion and rank increase.

The bandits were surprisingly strong.

And they attacked me intensively.

It was a pretty convenient development for me.

I fired a Tornado at the bandits when they had consolidated.

Of course, I was being careful. Maybe that’s why some of them could resist but they got rendered into a situation where they couldn’t make any movement.

One by one, the bandits who had been blown into the air were dropped in front of the girls with Wind, they tied their limbs with ropes and rolled them around there.

The resisting bandits were also few in number so they were all quickly rolled to the ground.

However, Clarice and her team made one mistake here.

They did not blindfold them.

The rolled bandits turned on their backs and looked up.

Naturally, the women were in uniform and…skirts, so it was only after they had tied and rolled all the bandits to the ground that they noticed their gaze.

Clarice sensed their gaze and, with a cold look in her eyes, took aim at the bandits with her magic bow and arrow. Naturally, there was only one place to aim.

The bandits were still scowling because they don't know what was going to happen but I know and thus I restrained Clarice with my hand.

“Clarice. Although it might not be force majeure... but this time you'll have to tolerate it. I don't think even I could look away in that situation. Of course, the bandits will be turned in to Count Mesalius and sentenced accordingly."

Then Clarice.

“Alright. I'll let you off the hook this time for Mars's face.”

Thank God. 20 men's lives could have ended here.

“Who are these guys anyway? I can't imagine them actually attacking us with the Lister Confederacy’s Fresvald Household fire crest right in front of their eyes...”

As Karen put it.

“We'll hear about that at Count Mesalius's place too. In the meantime, let's bring these guys to the wagons and get to Count Mesalius as soon as possible."

We headed for Mesalius, dragging the bandits in the wagon.

The bandits were acting a little strange by the way.

They are about to be condemned but for some reason, they seem to be at ease.

They did not reply when we spoke to them.

They just looked like they were in pain from being dragged by the wagon but there was no sense of sadness at all.

When we were almost to the territorial capital Mesalius, my Mana Eyes reacted.

The fog is thick ahead but apparently, it is not a natural phenomenon.

I dispelled the fog with Wind magic, and before I know it, a man stood next to me as he said below.

“Oh...that's amazing...you're pretty good at Wind magic huh...”

Hearing that whisper, I pulled out my Thunder Sword as quickly as possible.

I know it's not something I should point at people but I had a gut feeling that the foe was too strong for me to say such a thing.

That prediction came true, and before I knew it, a dagger was lodged in my stomach.

I don't know when I was stabbed. I just felt hot in my abdomen and only then I noticed that I was stabbed.

“Ggh! Who are you!?”

I shouted and the girls came out of the wagon to see what was going on.

“My name is Guster. I am the leader of the men being dragged there. I have come to negotiate with you. I'll let you off the hook this time so why don't you let my people go? I know they are a bunch of weaklings but we cannot abandon our own people.”

Then Karen said.

“There’s no way you can do that! It was you people that had just picked a fight with Fresvald and Regan Households!”

Clarice controlled Karen as she said frenziedly.

“Karen wait! Mars was stabbed!”

When Karen realized I got stabbed.

“Oh no...... how could there be someone at the level of being able to land mortal wound to Mars…”

Karen's words were followed by a man who identified himself as Guster.

“Picking a fight with the Fresvald and Regan Households? What do you mean? We are only here to disrupt the logistics and human flow to Mesalius... The crest on this carriage…I see so that’s what happened...I beg your pardon. It appears we have been deceived by our client."

A man called Guster bowed his head and continued his story, saying.

“As you can imagine, we definitely don't want any business with the Fresvald family. And we owe Duke Regan a great debt of gratitude. ...how can we be forgiven? Of course, I can't abandon my comrades. In the meantime, let us heal his wounds. Russe! Heal him."

When Guster said this, the fog that I had supposedly blown away earlier came back to life, and an adult woman walked over to me from within it.

The woman then touched my abdomen and chanted 'heal', and my abdomen recovered.

The dagger in my abdomen that had been stabbed had somehow been pulled out and gone.

Russe healed my abdomen with a Heal and disappeared into the mist again.

“Now answer my question. Who are you? Who is your employer? And why are you interfering with Mesalius territory?”

I asked Guster with my Thunder Sword at the ready.

“As I said before, my name is Guster. Even though like this, I'm an A-rank adventurer, the clan master of the clan ‘Phantom’ and the leader of the A-rank party ‘Phantom’. Naturally, I can't tell you who the quest client is this time. And I can only say that the interference with the Mesalius territory is because it's a quest.”

When Guster said that, before anyone noticed anything, the bandits who had just been tied on their hands and feet and chained to the carriage were already behind Guster.

“......when did he.......!”

Ellie raised an unusually impatient voice.

I was also impatient because the bandits were behind Guster before I knew it.

“It seems like there are no more questions as such we'll take our leave. We will no longer interfere with Mesalius territory.”

With that, Guster and the others disappeared into the fog.

I appraised Guster before he disappeared into the mist.

Name: Guster

Title: Dagger King, assassin

Status: Human race, commoner.

Condition: Good

Age: 28 years old

Level: 60

HP: 152/152

MP: 174/201

Strength: 76

Agility: 104

Magic: 50

Dexterity: 124

Durability: 48

Luck: 1

Special Ability: Knifemanship (Lv9/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv7/C)

Equipment: Dagger of Divine Speed

Equipment: Dagger of Illusion

Equipment: Robe of Illusion

Equipment: Shoes of Illusion

Equipment: Ring of Protection

So this is an A-rank adventurer... I didn’t expect I couldn’t even notice a single sign of his presenece.

To be honest, I felt more despair from him than even Barnes.

“Is everyone okay?”

I asked the girls after Guster and the others had left, and they said 'yes' and ran over to me.

“Mars, are you okay?”

Clarice asked me with tears in her eyes and I replied ‘I’m fine’.

“It’s my complete defeat... There's no chance to win at all... So this is an A-rank adventurer...... I suppose I had been overconfident...”

You might think that I could have used Lightning cloak and Kamui but I believe there was a more fundamental problem before that. I don’t even know when he attacked.

It’s not like I can deploy Lightning Cloak or Kamui all the time so unless I can detect Guster, there's no point.

“It's a matter of...compatibility...Papa can win...but Papa can't beat Mars... maybe…”

“That's as accurate as Ellie gets. I, too, agree. I'm sure Lord Barnes can definitely win. After all, Lord Barnes had high durability and HP. Even if Guster attacks him several times, he won't be affected. On the other hand, he will easily catch Guster and finish him off.

And you're giving me too much credit. I can't win against Lord Barnes. But I can't keep losing like this. Maybe one day we'll have another rematch. I'll be stronger."

When I said that, all the girls hugged me.

The girls' eyes were filled with tears.

“There was also a Holy magician. It's definitely not an A-rank party for nothing. And they must have been at a pretty high rank. No matter how amazing the A-rank parties are, there isn't always a Holy magician in every party.”

When Misha said so, Karen nodded and then said.

“I think that Holy magician Russe was probably from the Lister Imperial School. I've heard that there was a Holy magician by that name in the Lister Imperial School.”

“Anyway, let's be on the lookout and hurry to Mesalius. I don't think Guster will attack us but there might be a party on a similar quest. Ellie, I'm sorry but can you play the coachman role with me? It’s a fact that I can't spot them all on my own."

“......okay...... I didn't see any sign of Guster either......”

Ellie got on the coachman’s platform as she said this.

“I didn't think daggers were that strong. I'm going to try to be a Sword King by the time I graduate…no, by the time I reach my third year. Ellie, let's work together so you’ll become the dagger king too!”

“I'll...definitely...become a Dagger King!..."

Clarice and Karen that were listening to the conversation between me and Ellie on the wagon.

“I'll be the Bow King too!”

“Then I'll be the Fire King."

Misha who was listening to their conversation.

“I suppose I’ll be the Spear King? I'll have to learn a lot while Glenn is at school.”

With a new resolve, we headed for Mesalius.

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