Volume 5 - CH 7

Translator: vysio_seth

Volume 5 Chapter 7

Inside the office of the noble in charge of the municipal office, a man of nobility is looking at documents and making decisions.

This is the position that he has inherited from his late father who died in the recent war. He has since stepped up to fulfil his role.

The documents he has been busy with have already been checked by the senior official, and so far he has only been stamping them with the seal of approval. That was until his hand stopped at one of the application forms.

「Hey, is anyone there?」

「Yes, you called?」

An official comes rushing into the nobles office.

「Explain this to me」

He handed the application form to the official, who in turn looked at it and nodded.

「The superintendent is here, I will come him for you」

The official left the room and went to call the superintendent in question.

Shortly after, the superintendent walked in.

「I heard you wanted to see me……」

「Ah, it’s about this new orphanage. How are things proceeding?」

「Yes, we actually just came from auditing it, and although there are some concerns about the income, we did not see any another problem, so we have given the go-ahead」

「……. Concerns about income? Tell me more」

「Actually……」

The superintendent began to give details of the visit to the site. Listening to the explanation, the noble— Viscount McGrath looked somewhat pleased.

「This will mean that the adventurer’s demise would mean the end of funds for the orphanage, do I have the right idea?」

「……. This is certainly true. Although, he is still young, he could be of high rank and have some assets 」

「I see…… Our business, you see, has garnered some excellent reputation. I have received requests for more」

「Viscount…… Are you thinking of using this orphanage as well……? If we expand too much, there is a chance of being found out……」

「Shut up. So long as it remains profitable, there will not be any problem. I’ll leave the arrangements to you as usual」

「…… Yes, I understand. I’ll get on with it」

The superintendent bowed and left the office.

He went over to his seat and buried his head in his hands. Looking back on the past, he could not be described as ever being a decent person, but he also knew there were limits.

But he could not simply say no to the Viscount after he had been coaxed by him and promoted to his current position through various dealings.

He was well aware that if the matter came to light, he and the Viscount would both face the extreme repercussions.

However, once he was entangled in the dirty business, it seemed impossible to escape. Now, he is stuck having to respond to Viscount McGrath’s requests one after the other.

Surrendering to his predicament, the superintendent let out a sigh and left his seat.

Stepping outside the municipal office, he was on his way to make arrangements as instructed.

Because I am a Marquis without any responsibility to speak of, I could visit the orphanage every day.

Saya has informed me that the permit for the orphanage will be granted soon and that the subsidy will not be far behind.

The amount will not be enough to run the orphanage, but as long as I continue with my donations, it should be able to continue to operate without any issue for a foreseeable future.

I have just had dinner at the orphanage and was walking in the dimly-lit streets of the city, while having a thought about how I think it was time to take up a request at the Adventurer’s Guild, when I felt a gaze on me.

……. Someone is following me?

Using Search to refrain from looking back, I picked up on the number of people going about their business on the street.

I continued to feel the gaze behind me as I took the long way around instead of going straight back to the mansion.

There were five of them following me.

「I guess I can’t go straight home, can I……」

A few  people know that I am a noble, many only know me as an adventurer.

Besides that, I cannot ignore the fact that  they have been tailing me since I came from the orphanage.

Since I have no idea why that is…… I’ll have to ask them directly.

I take a turn from going to the noble district and head towards the slums. The streets are desolate, and I quickly dash into an alley I come across.

And I find myself at a deadend.

I can hear the sound of people running getting closer.

…… This is it.

The five adventurer-like people enter the alleyway. All of them are armed. They’re wearing armour made of leather, but filthy.

「You’ve been wandering all over the place. Only to end up in the place like this」

「Yeah. Let’s reward ourselves for the trouble he has put us through」

The two men leading the group were grinning at each other.

「What do you want from me……? I’ve never seen your faces before」

They seem to be low rank adventurers, nothing to worry about.

One of them furrows his brow at my demeanour.

「We’re about to give you an early retirement from adventuring」

「Hahaha. That’s for sure. A permanent retirement」

「「「Gyahahaha」」」

A sigh escaped me as they were mouthing off.

Either they have grown too accustomed to this sort of work or they already believe themselves stronger.

Despite how I may look…… I am still an A rank.

「I think you guys need to check yourselves……」

「Bossy for a brat, aren’t you? No wonder you’ve made enemies. Strolling in a place like this with no weapon. We’ll be taking what you’ve got on and all your money」

「Is it…… a request from someplace……?」

「Come on. Enough with the questions. Let’s just get the job done」

They all drew their swords. Three of them held longswords, two carried daggers. They slowly began to close the distance between us.

「Take out his arms first」

「To think we’d be dealing with an unarmed kid…… What an easy job」

There is no doubt about it being a request from somewhere…… I waste little time and pull out my Buster Sword from Dimensional Storage and point the tip at the brutes,

「Now, who did you say is unarmed? I have more questions for you guys”

The group took a step back from the sudden appearance of the Buster Sword.

「Where did you get that from……?」

「Don’t tell me he’s a Warrior type……」

「Doesn’t matter, if the five of us surround him, we can take him easy. Let’s go」

The five of them come running to me in an instant. The first one went down with a swing of my Buster Sword, the second crashed to the ground from an Air Bullet from my left hand. Positioning myself where the two had fallen, I swiftly boot the third one, leaving myself to face off against the two with daggers.

I hurried past them to block their retreat, the roles were now reversed.

「Just the two of you remaining now? You guys still have to spit the name of your client, so no one escapes」

Holding onto my Buster Sword, I close in on them. The two are shaking, they seem to have surrendered in a way, but I have no intention of letting them go.

They have to tell me about their client. And then after I can have them arrested.

In quick succession, I hit them both with a sword’s hilt in the stomachs, knocking them unconscious.

「Hmm, what should I do with these guys now…… I could go get the guard from the main street, but I don’t know…… I don’t think they’ll be safe here……」

These are the back roads of the slums. A person found passed out is either mugged or killed.

「There is no other way. I’ll take them with me……」

I take out a rope from Dimensional Storage and tie them up in a row.

I throw the weapons lying around in the Dimensional Storage.

Holding the end of the rope that ties the men, I use Body Strengthening magic and exit the alleyway dragging the men behind me.

Even though we are out of the downtown area, there are still a good number of pedestrians.

My figure dragging five men by the rope was bound to attract attention. As I walked toward the downtown area, feeling a little embarrassed, a few people came running toward me.

They were guards with swords in their hands.

I finally let go of the rope, feeling I could relax a bit.

「What the hell is going on here?」

The two of the four guards came to question me, while the other two went to check on the five unconscious men.

「I was walking along when I was ambushed by these guys, but I managed to turn the tables on them. Thought I should hand them over to the guards」

「…… Five of them, by yourself…..?」

「Yes, I know that I don’t look it」

「You look like an adventurer, do you have any proof of identity?」

「Oh, here you go」

I take out my A-rank adventurer card from my pocket and show it to him.

「A-rank……? Bet they found out late they picked the wrong opponent…..」

I guess if they had known my rank, they might have thought twice about attacking me.

By the way…..

「Come to think of it, these guys said they were hired by someone. There is perhaps a client involved」

When I said this, the man I assume to be the captain of the guards folded his arms and looked deadly serious.

「A requested attack on an adventurer……? But they did not know that the target was A-rank…… Ah!」

The captain’s expression changed and he straightened his posture.

「Um…… Are you perhaps Marquis Kisaragi, the hero of our country……?」

At the captain’s question, the faces of the other guards seemed to freeze.

I am aware that my fame as an adventurer has spread throughout the Empire. Being the guy who turned the tide of the war has that effect.

Not to mention the topic of me besting the Hero is on everybody’s lips in the Empire.

I suspected that they might recognize me when they noticed my name “Touya” and rank “A-rank”.

Already thinking of the inevitable, I took out my nobleman’s certificate and presented it to him.

「Oh, sorry for not saying sooner. I am Touya von Kisaragi. As you can see I’m dressed as an adventurer at the moment, so please take that into consideration」

The eyes of the guards lit up when it was confirmed that I am the country’s saviour.

「Oh, I can’t believe I’m meeting our hero! I am a fan!」

A young guard launched himself in my direction and was stopped by the captain grabbing him by the scruff of the neck.

「Show some respect. He’s Marquis Kisaragi! Marquis Kisaragi, I beg your pardon」

「No, it’s fine. If possible, it would be helpful if you could let me know the identity of the client behind this」

「I understand! I’ll personally question them. Take them to the station!」

I handed the weapons they were carrying to the captain and watched as they took the assailants away.

「But still, who could it be…… If they knew me personally, they wouldn’t have hired adventurers of that low rank……」

So it is not someone who knows me. Then who…..?

「I wonder if we’ll find out in time……」

With this thought in mind, I finally headed to the mansion.