Sword, Magic and Academic Society

Just as I had taken the pose to show that I was going to throw him out of the 4th floor window, Chabul, finally realizing where he actually stood, immediately changed his tune.

"H-H-H-Hold on! W-We can still negotiate! I won't put my hands on you! Of course, this also applies to your friends! I’ll pay too! So please, please put me down!"

No wonder he was an errand dog......

"And do you think I will trust your words?"

As I said that in a cold voice and tightened my grip on him, Chabul wetted himself.

I pulled him back in and tossed him down at my feet. He tried to crawl away like a cockroach, but I pinned him down by stepping on his back.

"......I nearly forgot the most important thing in all of this. Earlier, you were about to say that you would 'torture my companions brutally and make sure no evidence remains'... Don't think you'll get an easy death, understand?"

While stepping harder on Chabul, I analyzed my own actions.

I wanted to confirm if I was capable of killing someone. If I could kill such a sleazebag who thought nothing of other people's lives and tried to kill me.

Of course, I wasn't going to kill him for real. Maybe actually killing him might put a strain on my spirit, but knowing that I could kill if necessary meant it wouldn't be a hindrance that could cost me my life in a tight situation.

So why did I pull Chabul back in? Because I deemed him not worth killing, and killing him would make things more complicated. Besides, normally I should have given up on any hope for a middle ground considering I just thrashed their head figure, but this sleazebag was just a decoration.

I would have accomplished my first goal if I could shatter Chabul's spirit and get Red and Tomora to agree to my terms, a no intervention pledge from both sides.

Well, it would be a more preferable outcome if it could be realized, considering the Knight Order had been turning a blind eye to these guys.

"What the hell are you all doing there, standing like statues!? Just kill him already!"

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With tears and snot making a mess of his expression, Chabul hollered.

Hearing the commotion, young men started pouring into the room from downstairs and the surrounding area. But they were just amateurs with their weapons; not even a thousand of them would be enough for my warm-up.

I sent them flying left and right at the walls like a conveyor belt operation. Then, just as they had started showing hesitation, the two bodyguards, or so they looked, smirked and caught me in a pincer attack.

One with a spear on the right, and one with a sword on the left.

“Hahaha, you really do deserve your title, Mad Hound. But let's see how long you can stay calm. It has been like 10 minutes since you entered this room and started fighting. Surely, your mana should be reaching its limit now, eh?

This room makes for a narrow and exhausting place to fight one against many. And we only need to make an attack from a blind spot, and we could immediately take you down without your mana guard.

It's just a matter of time before other explorers from the western branch come here. Don't even think about escaping from here. Blame yourself for getting too carried away, Mad Hound!”

The swordsman, maybe a spy, preached with a smug face. But...... Why did he think I would be running out of mana in just ten minutes? C'mon, I ain't Parry-kun.

Also, I didn't know what kind of drug he was taking, but they weren't even strong enough to cause me to break a sweat. My mana was still in tip-top condition.

I casually closed the distance with the swordsman. The swordsman retreated in a circular motion while the spearman closed in from behind.

Heh, so they were fighting to earn time, huh? Well, at least they weren’t completely brain-dead...... Not that it was going to change the outcome though.

I moved forward, timing my movements with the spearman who was closing in from behind, and quickly spun around to close the distance with the spearman.

They were just hired muscle, the kind that gangs could afford.

I guessed that they might be barely higher rank if Chabul managed to gather them with his caliber, but I doubt people that gathered around following their greed for money would be any stronger than C-rank.

Besides, a person with better prospects wouldn't usually become hired muscle.

I sliced the spear in half with my dagger and immediately delivered a roundhouse kick to the spearman's face. As the spearman fell, the swordsman hurriedly closed the distance from behind.

However, his movement was extremely slow, enough to make me yawn. I let him get close enough, then dodged his overhead swing and aimed a backhand at his face—

At least that was my intention. But the swordsman suddenly increased the output of his Body Strengthening magic.

The swordsman dodged my backhand strike and, taking a low stance, stabbed at me.

"Haa!"

I jumped back to open some distance between us...... So he was hiding his strength, huh? Yup, I had no doubt this one was a spy.

"Ahahaha, how does it feel to be trapped? Now, time to end this charade!"

The swordsman kept thrusting at me persistently as I retreated. Not an elaborate plan I would say, but his persistent attacks were precise due to him sticking to only one attack, leaving little room for me to counterattack.

I deflected his thrusts with my dagger and body movements, waiting for an opening. And soon enough, an opportunity presented itself when the swordsman started to breathe heavily within two minutes.

I bet he must have abandoned basic training while working for hire.

“Haaa… haaa… Damn you, monster! Just… haa… just died already! You, you're nothing in front of me if you're not even ready to ‘kill’! Haaa… haaa… I’ll—”

If it was so painful to even speak, maybe he should just stop yapping.

Though of course, my reluctance to kill should be obvious to them considering they were professional in that regard.

……It wouldn't be good if they underestimated me too much, lest they get back at me with another scheme later on.

When the swordsman’s movements became sluggish, and he made a clumsy thrust, I leaped back, switched from my dagger to my bow midair, and shot a wooden arrow straight to his heart.

The swordsman must have had some strength left as I had aimed the arrow at his chest plate thinking he wouldn't be able to react to it, but it instead pierced through his right upper arm when he tried to twist away.

“Aaaarrrrghh!”

I approached the defenseless swordsman and flashed a noh-mask like expression, my lips curled into a smile without it reaching my eyes.

“Thank you for volunteering. I’ll kill you, just as you wanted.”

When I pulled out my dagger again, the swordsman, now with a completely broken spirit, staggered back, so I punched him in the face. He collapsed, unconscious.

Compared to the Knight Order's subjugation missions I was occasionally involved in, this was still mild... My master regularly assigned me missions where a single mistake meant death…

“Hahaha… That's as far as you go, Mad Hound. A pity you looked down on professionals too much…”

At that moment, one of the goons I had thrown against the wall stood up abruptly.

“How do you like the taste of a paralysis drug meant for large monsters?”

Smirking annoyingly as he approached, I decided to ask him a question in return.

“Paralysis drug? Maybe you are talking about this?”

I said, thrusting the dart into the goon’s neck. The almost invisible dart was shot at me a while ago.

From the start, I had sensed the last suspected spy faking his defeat and watching me thanks to wind magic.

Pretending not to notice his presence while he didn’t make any moves was quite a challenge.

He had aimed at my neck when I was focused on the swordsman, but I redirected the dart with wind magic and let it hit my leather vest instead.

The goon’s face became a drooling mess as he fell down.

I turned my gaze back to Red and Tomora.

Earlier, they still seemed somewhat composed, but now their faces were pale and covered in sweat.

E/N - I must say, quite a badass chapter. MC finally shows just how good he is. I've been waiting for this for such a long time too. No killing, but I expected that. This novel didn't really hit me as a murdery type, and I'm fine with that. How about you guys?