EP.163 Lost Lamb (11)
”Finally caught you! You little rat!”
The game of tag ended more anticlimactically and quicker than expected.
Though I was skilled at escaping, I had no chance against their synchronized movements that worked as one.
They weren’t just random mercenaries hired with money.
Just putting them in different colored tights, they could easily be called an elite task force.
This must have been how the villain in a kids’ tokusatsu show felt when they were outnumbered.
Today, I learned another lesson.
”You can still laugh in this situation? Guess you’re tougher than you look, huh? Haha! I like you!”
The werewolf lifted me by my neck, squeezing it with a rock-like grip, and laughed heartily.
I wanted to thank him for the unexpected compliment, but with my neck firmly caught, that was impossible.
”Haha! Just for being a no-name, you’ve caused me all this trouble. Now you know what happens when you mess with me in this city, right, you idiot? Hey! Beastman! Drop him on the ground right now! I’m gonna stomp on his head personally!”
A child abuser, with his arms broken and X-ed across his chest, stomped toward me, breathing heavily.
Just looking at his bulging veins showed how agitated he was.
Is this it?
As the distance between the child abuser and me closed, the werewolf’s grip tightened further.
Every time this happened, I was pushed to use my last resort.
”Wait a minute.”
A calm voice interrupted, freezing everyone in the room.
”H-Hans? W-What are you doing…”
Just a moment ago, the child abuser had been filled with confidence, but now, trembling with fear, he turned to see who was behind him.
At the end of his gaze stood a man, presumably the leader of the mercenaries, arms crossed, glaring at us.
I thought their relationship was just a transactional one, but it seemed that was not the case.
I quickly readjusted the hierarchy I had in my mind.
”You there. If you want to live, join our side.”
”W-Wait! Just a moment! Hans!”
”Haha! I’m in favor!”
After completely subduing me, the heat of the situation reignited with the man’s single word.
The only one in complete agreement was the werewolf still squeezing my neck; the others were murmuring like a frightened herd of goats, subtly showing their dissatisfaction.
Still, the fact that no one openly opposed him showed how significant his status was within their group.
”Enough chatter. Look at this.”
Was he trying to quell the dissatisfaction among his followers?
Suddenly, the man pointed behind him, whispering.
”Five out of the twelve got taken down. If our strongest wolf here hadn’t been holding you, you wouldn’t even be here. We’ve already verified you’ve used your prayers six times. You’re going to be a great asset in the future.”
”B-But…!”
”Any grievances with my decision?”
”N-No…”
The child abuser, clearly unhappy, lowered his head and reluctantly agreed with the man.
Then, the man raised his index finger high, signaling down to the werewolf something.
”Wolf.”
”Haha! I got it, Chief!”
”Alright!”
BAM!
Without any warning from the man, the werewolf slammed my face into the ground.
”In this system, clergy are incredibly valuable. I heard a new priest had entered our territory, so I rushed over to see. I didn’t expect such a surprise. I’ll say it again: join my side.”
Struggling to lift my face, I now saw the authoritarian figure squatting over me, looking down.
Every time I encounter individuals like this, I think to myself.
How can they stomp on someone else’s free will without a second thought?
How come I can’t do that?
It’s a question I’ve debated countless times, but I still can’t grasp even a hint of an answer.
”You saw it well. Very impressive. We already have a priest on our side, but as you can see, healing broken bones is all he can do, and that’s limited to three times a day. But your healing power restores even the holes in your body at once and comes combined with some mystical chains. Though the name is a bit tacky, if it’s powerful, the name hardly matters.”
I hadn’t even said a word, yet the man began rambling, shrugging his shoulders like he owned the place.
”It’s impressive that one of our kids easily knocked down five adventurers, but it seems you’re not so talented in fighting though. They all dodged your vital spots. If you join me, I’ll personally teach you. You needn’t worry. I may not have received formal training, but I know better than anyone how to incapacitate a human body.”
With that, the werewolf’s grip on my head loosened just a bit.
Not an accident born from laxity, but a deliberate act.
This was clearly a move to give me the chance to answer their recruitment proposal.
”So, what’s your answer?”
As the man finished speaking, the werewolf elbowed me in the back, pressing against my lungs.
That was an implicit threat denying any response other than a ‘yes.’
Yet, contrary to his expectations, my heart was devoid of fear or pressure.
In a way, it was entirely predictable.
I had faced life-threatening malice tens, hundreds, thousands of times.
Would someone thrown onto the highway, faced with a speeding truck, tremble at a toy car in a shop?
I think not.
”Can I refuse?”
”…No.”
”Then I have nothing to say.”
My impertinent, almost audacious refusal sparked the first hint of bewilderment on the man’s otherwise calm face.
”Sigh… I’ll just have to break you down and drag you to the hideout…”
”Haha! Got it, Chief!”
In that moment, I noted a slight relaxation in their watchful gaze toward me.
”Bawngwi… tie him up…”
Rattle!
”Ugh!”
”Wha!? You still had the strength to use a miracle!?”
As I had feared such a moment might occur, I employed the last miracle I had saved, summoning Bawngwi to swiftly subdue the werewolf and their leader. I quickly made my escape route.
The only one who could pin me down here was that werewolf, in my eyes.
To ensure that priority threat was tightly bound, I pretended to remain captured, only to also tie up their commander. What a surprising gain indeed.
”Catch him! Don’t let him go!”
At the man’s command, three of his subordinates swiftly blocked my way.
Given I had exhausted all my holy power gifted by the saintess, their human wall looked pretty solid.
But that didn’t mean I was completely unarmed.
Whack!
”Huh?”
I swiftly grabbed the head of the child abuser, who was awkwardly flailing around next to me.
Before me stood a bowling pin, and in my hands was a bowling ball.
Shaking off any hesitation arising in my mind, I channeled just the right amount of force and hurled the guy at the human wall in front of me.
”Aaaah──!!!”
With a heavy object slicing through the air, the previously blocked escape route opened once again.
Choosing the child abuser as my human projectile was no conscious act, I swear.
It was purely coincidental; he was just in reach.
To be honest.
”Gah!”
”Cough!”
”Ugh!”
Leaving behind the echoes of pained moans in the narrow alleyway, I pushed myself off the ground with all my might.
Despite the holes all over my body, the choking of my neck, and my head feeling a bit banged up, considering I had escaped from mercenaries specialized in hand-to-hand combat with these minor injuries was a merry miscalculation.
The problem was how to explain this condition to my comrades.
I could easily solve this dilemma by hinting to Bigtim, who would join soon, to bring holy water and a change of clothes.
”Ouch…”
As the tension eased, an old ache flared through my body.
It had been so long since I moved this vigorously that my joints felt stiff, and my skin prickled with chills.
Why am I so cold?
Is it because winter is coming?
It was only then that I realized the chill wrapping around my body wasn’t from the cold weather but an ominous premonition of a ghost’s arrival.
”O… Saintess?”
”S-Saintess…”
The moment I spotted the Saintess standing like a mannequin at the corner where I emerged, lifting her eyes to examine the wounds scattered across my body intently.
”There they are! Get him!”
Pat pat!
The voices of those who were chasing me suddenly pierced through my muddled ears.
It was the unpleasant noise of gears that had been running smoothly suddenly being forced out of their alignment.
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