Chapter 122 - Chapter 121: It Was Broken From The Start
Mika began to release the Subjugation Curse from the women Zureept had captured.
"Phew... done."
"Thank you, Saint-sama!"
The women, freed from the Subjugation Curse, embraced each other, weeping with joy.
If this is what it takes to restore their hope of living, Mika thought, it's a cheap price to pay.
It was fine that they were grateful, but he wished they would stop calling him "Saint-sama."
It seemed the woman with black hair was a devout follower of the Church of Light, enduring her harsh days by praying to the gods for salvation.
Seeing Mika's curse removal, she claimed it was the power of a Saint, and finally felt moved that the gods had extended a hand of salvation.
That sentiment spread to the other women.
"Um, I really wish you wouldn't call me that. Also, if possible, please keep this a secret."
"Eeeh..."
Even when Mika asked them to stop, the women looked dissatisfied.
Still, it seemed they understood that Mika truly wanted them to stop, so in the end, they agreed.
Well, he noticed they were secretly bowing to him even if they didn't say it out loud.
For now, he decided not to stop them.
He decided to swallow his pride, thinking if this could serve as some comfort, it was worth it.
This was not the end of the suffering for these women.
Just as the Subjugation Crests disappeared, it would be nice if the women's memories vanished too, but of course, that wasn't going to happen.
From now on, these women would likely be tormented by memories of those nightmare-like days.
He hoped they could overcome those painful memories and live on.
However, there was a possibility they might exercise the right to die that they had finally regained.
There was no helping that.
Mika could not take that right away from them.
Not like Zureept had done...
Finally, Mika released the curse from a woman who was in a daze, standing beside the man Mika had crushed with his foot.
This woman with brown hair offered no particular resistance even when pulled away from the man to remove the curse, and showed almost no reaction afterward.
Of course, not even after the curse was removed.
(...She's on the verge of being an invalid, I suppose.)
Mika was not a psychiatrist, so he couldn't diagnose her, nor did he know any treatment methods.
Unfortunately, she would have to manage on her own.
(If I can't take care of her until the end, is helping her irresponsible? But surely, I can't just ignore something like this...)
The responsibility Mika should bear was to safely escort these women to the city.
That was the extent of his responsibility, he thought.
Mika switched his mindset and discussed the arrangements to head to Yaunasun with the women.
He proposed that he go to Yaunasun first to buy clothes for the women and procure food, but was immediately rejected.
The women had not been given proper clothes and were in a state resembling nudity.
Since cold days continued, going outside in such attire would freeze them.
That was why he made the proposal, but the women disliked the idea of him leaving here while the men remained.
"If you speak a single word, you can stab me with this, okay?"
Mika said, waving the knives the men held, yet they still disliked the idea of him leaving.
(Well, I understand why they'd be anxious.)
But with that, the journey would become quite difficult.
From this hideout to the highway was about three kilometers.
From the highway to Yaunasun was about ten kilometers.
With the weak legs of these women, it would likely take a full day to travel.
It was currently just past noon.
Even with a forced march, they would likely reach Yaunasun at night.
(Tsk... this place is really a troublesome location.)
If there had been a rest stop along the way to Yaunasun, they might have been able to get help there.
But it was about half a day from Yaunasun to the border.
The rest stop was located right near the border.
From here, heading there would mean going in the opposite direction of Yaunasun.
(Distance-wise, the rest stop is closer. But eventually, we'd have to figure out the arrangements from there to Yaunasun. If that's the case, isn't it less risky to just head straight for Yaunasun?)
It would be good if they could get help at the rest stop, but the possibility of it being a wasted trip was not zero.
In that case, the already difficult journey to Yaunasun would become unnecessarily long.
(I hope we can get help from people we meet on the highway.)
Well, he should give up on such faint hopes.
Mika steeled himself and chose to go with a forced march.
"There's plenty of food here, so just take that."
The women offered the food that Zureept and his group had brought.
So, everyone took a meal break.
There was no time to eat leisurely, but it seemed the women hadn't been fed properly either, and their nutritional state was poor.
Until now, the women had secretly shared food to avoid detection by the men, managing to survive hunger.
"What are you looking at? Do you think you get a share?"
While eating the food prepared by the women, Mika glared at the men who were seated against the wall, watching them intently.
(I want them to experience just a little of what we've gone through.)
Mika turned his left hand toward the men and fired a Stone Bullet.
The Stone Bullet hit the rock wall slightly above the men's heads, shattering into pieces.
The shattered Stone Bullet pieces struck the men one after another, causing them to twist their bodies in pain.
Mika had forbidden the men from speaking a single word.
Mika would never forgive these men, nor did he have any intention of listening to pathetic pleas for mercy.
So, he had threatened them that if they spoke, they would be killed.
Having already killed two men, including Zureept, right before their eyes and easily cutting off their own feet, there was no fool among them who would interpret his words as mere threats.
The men behaved quietly.
The woman with brown hair ate silently with an expression devoid of any emotion.
She hardly reacted even when spoken to, but if she could eat on her own, there seemed to be a chance of recovery.
Eating leads to living.
Doesn't eating with one's own hands imply a will to live?
The women had prepared dried meat and other items so they could eat while moving.
Mika put these into the Magic Bag and completed the preparations for departure.
It was said that a cart-like object was hidden outside the cave, so they used it to carry Zureept and the other corpse.
The two corpses were secured using rappelling ropes.
Mika made the men do this work.
Before untying the ropes that bound them, Mika lined the men up outside the cave.
"If you want to run, you can run. If you think you can escape, try it."
Saying that, he threw three fist-sized stones with all his might, far away.
"Stone Bullet."
Bang! Boom! Squish!
The three stones traced large parabolas, hitting the Stone Bullet mid-fall and shattering.
"I usually hunt magic beasts. I'm an adventurer. If you think you're faster than a Sou-Labi and can escape, go ahead and try."
Mika demonstrated once more, this time throwing two stones in opposite directions.
And he hit both simultaneously.
"It's easy to target all four of you if you scatter and try to run. The targets are big. ...Ah, if you're lucky, maybe just an arm or leg will be torn off. I don't really recommend it though."
After confirming that the men had lost their color and were looking at him as if he were a monster, he untied the ropes binding them.
The men pulled the cart, with Mika walking a short distance behind, followed by the women.
They had just passed the rocky area and were now advancing through a forest where leafless trees stood in rows.
The women were wearing the cold-weather gear that belonged to the men.
It wouldn't completely prevent the cold, but it was far better than wearing nothing.
For now, he had changed his mind to keep the men alive.
In the Cleiria kidnapping incident, killing all the bandits meant they couldn't get any information.
Reflecting on it later, he realized this was a very big mistake.
Well, he still thought that was the only method available at the time, but if possible, it would be better to keep them alive to get information.
Zureept had been active mainly within the Trade Alliance.
Obtaining information on the many hidden hideouts would likely work to their advantage in diplomacy with neighboring countries.
Diplomacy didn't concern Mika, but searching the hideouts might reveal crimes that hadn't come to light before.
Taking these things into account, he decided to make an effort to keep them alive and hand them over.
He would make the effort, but if the men attempted to escape, he would naturally not hesitate to kill them all.
"Hmm."
As he walked, Mika sent magic power into the Magic Bag he held to inspect it.
This Magic Bag belonged to Zureept.
There were three bags in total; two seemed to be shared without magic registration, allowing anyone to take items out.
However, the one in Mika's hand seemed to be registered by Zureept, so he could no longer take anything out.
Zureept had raided wagons and put notable items into these bags.
Indeed, with this, they could escape smoothly even after a raid.
It seemed they had returned to the hideout to organize the stolen goods, putting particularly valuable items into Zureept's bag and the rest into the remaining bags.
(...So, if the magic registrant dies, you can't take the contents out, huh.)
He wanted to return the stolen items to their owners, but if he couldn't take them out, there was nothing he could do.
(Well, the owner has probably given up by now. It's not a problem even if I can't take them out.)
Still, he tried tinkering with it just in case there was a way.
Well, if it broke by any chance, he could just say "It was like this from the start."
Whether it was because the registrant was absent or because it was broken, the result was the same.
For now, he was checking if he could interfere with it like a curse, but he hadn't found any point he could interfere with yet.
(But... something feels off.)
There was one spot that clearly felt different from the rest.
Overall, it felt hard, as if he couldn't interfere at all, but there was one spot deep inside that felt different.
However, it felt strangely soft, fragile, and it seemed it would break if he interfered too strongly.
"Hmm..."
While walking, Mika thrust his left hand forward and launched a small Stone Bullet.
Paaang!
As intended, the Stone Bullet hit a large stone diagonally in front of him, and the sound of it shattering echoed.
At the sound of the impact, the men pulling the cart flinched.
"What are you doing?"
The woman with black hair, walking right behind Mika, spoke up.
"I was just bored, so I played a bit."
Mika smiled brightly.
"But... shooting stationary targets isn't fun, unlike magic beasts. I wonder if there's a moving target somewhere."
He said loudly enough for the moving targets ahead—the women—to hear.
If they took it as "I'm itching to shoot," it would be a relief since he wouldn't need to worry about them.
The women seemed to understand Mika's intent and smiled wryly.
By the way, this was the third time he had fired Stone Bullets at trees or large rocks like this.
From now on, if he occasionally remembered to shoot at the men's feet, it might suppress their urge to run.
He hoped that by exposing them to such desperate violence, they would learn something about the feelings of those subjected to it.
Mostly, it might be too late for them to learn in this life.
In that case, he really wanted them to be given a chance to live in the next life.
If such a thing existed, that is...
More than an hour after leaving the hideout, they reached the highway.
They continued walking toward Yaunasun.
Wagons could be seen far ahead and behind, but there were no people nearby.
For now, it seemed best to consider reaching Yaunasun on their own.
"Hmm... okay."
Mika decided to try interfering with the Magic Bag he held.
He had been worrying about it while walking, but since he intended to hand it over to the Bounty Hunter Guild once they reached Yaunasun, he decided to just try everything.
The Magic Bag, for now, couldn't be interfered with at all except for one spot.
So, he would use that one spot as a breakthrough to breach the Magic Bag's protection.
Mika sent magic power, gathering his own magic at the only spot that seemed capable of interference.
(It looks like it might break easily, so I have to be really careful.)
Slowly, bit by bit, he pushed his magic power into the soft spot.
He didn't know what would happen.
He tried to interfere with delicate magic manipulation.
But soon, that soft spot was crushed, or rather, disappeared.
(...Hm?)
Mika felt a strange sense of unease at how the soft spot vanished.
At the same time, the movement of magic power within the Magic Bag, which had been moving until then, suddenly disappeared completely.
"Huh?"
The movement of magic power in the Magic Bag had completely vanished.
(Oh no!? Did it break!?)
Feeling a bit panicked, he put his hand into the Magic Bag, and it went in smoothly.
But it wasn't an expanded space; it was the bag part of the Magic Bag itself.
(...I broke it.)
Sweating a little cold sweat, Mika continued walking with a nonchalant expression.
(Hmm, what should I do...)
No matter what he said, there was nothing he could do.
(This was like this from the start. That's right. It was broken from the beginning, what are you talking about?)
He decided to cover it up.
The result was the same: he couldn't take the contents out.
Whether Mika did anything or not, the result was the same.
So, wasn't that the same as doing nothing?
He spun a sophistry by himself and convinced himself.
"Well then, let's take a short break soon."
Mika proposed a break as if nothing had happened.
Several wagons passed them during the break, and it was obvious from the loaded cargo that they were fully packed.
So, they passed without asking for any help.
Continuing to walk with several breaks, they somehow arrived at Yaunasun.
Night had already fallen, and the city gate of Yaunasun was closed.
"...I feel a bit of Déjà vu."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing."
The woman with black hair called out to Mika, who muttered involuntarily.
Mika showed a somewhat complex smile and shrugged his shoulders.
When the Cleiria kidnapping incident happened, the city gate was also closed like this.
Well, would they open it honestly this time?
Mika lined the men up against the wall next to the gate and made them raise their hands.
Keeping his gaze fixed on the men, he raised his voice.
"Open the gate!!!"
With a volume unimaginable from his appearance, he demanded the guards on the other side of the gate to open it.
During school sports days, they made him shout quite loudly.
He was used to raising his voice to some extent.
Noticing Mika's voice, a soldier poked his head out from the wall next to the city gate.
Before the soldier could say anything, Mika delivered his request first.
"I am a Bounty Hunter! I have captured Zureept and his gang! I want to hand them over! I also rescued the people who were captured! Please protect these people!"
When Mika shouted loudly, the soldier's face went blank.
But he could tell that the other side of the gate had become a bit noisy.
Soon, the gate opened a little, and several soldiers came out.
Mika showed his Guild Card.
"Those four over there are Zureept's subordinates. I couldn't capture Zureept alive. He's on the cart. One of his subordinates resisted, so he's on the cart too."
Saying that, Mika pointed at the cart.
The soldiers suddenly panicked, and voices calling for reinforcements could be heard.
"These women were victims captured by Zureept's group."
When Mika explained the women to the soldiers, the women collapsed into tears right there.
They must have finally realized that they were truly saved.
"You did well. It's okay now."
"...Tha...nk you. Really, tha...nk..."
"Sain...t...sama... will... never... for...get..."
When Mika spoke to the women collapsing in tears, they uttered words of gratitude in broken sentences.
The soldiers took the men away and checked the corpses on the cart.
They also spoke to the women, supporting them as they led them inside.
A middle-aged soldier who seemed to be the Captain came down to Mika.
He cast sympathetic eyes at the passing women.
"You are the one who caught Zureept?"
"Yes. I usually work as an adventurer in the Royal Capital. I recently registered as a Bounty Hunter here in Yaunasun."
"I see."
He accepted what this child named Mika said without much suspicion.
Well, perhaps he decided to set aside such trivial matters for now and focus on resolving the situation.
The Captain made a serious face.
"I'm sorry to bother you while you're tired, but I need to hear the details. I have to confirm if that guy is really Zureept, and I need to know what happened and how it turned out like this. I'll get scolded from above."
"I suppose so."
Mika smiled wryly.
"For now, let us hear a brief story inside. We will prepare a room for tonight. The formal interrogation will be tomorrow."
"Well, I guess I have no choice."
Mika shrugged his shoulders.
(Looks like I won't be able to go home for a while.)
Thinking of Amalia and Loretta, who would surely be worried at home, Mika let out a sigh.