chase.
chase.
It cuts through the noisy crowd and advances. where the arrow flew.
Having slaughtered an entire family in broad daylight and now having the audacity and skill to fire arrows even at the lord giving a speech. It was clear that he was an unusual person. I don’t know what kind of story he might have, but it’s something like that. It’s not too late to think about it after catching it.
Behind this judgment was the calculation of the preferential treatment given to me for catching the culprit if the lord who was hit by the arrow survived. Judging from his appearance, he will surely give a huge reward or preferential treatment to the person who caught the culprit. If the culprit is saved and taken away, a greater reward will be given.
“Oops!”
“omg!”
“Be careful…”
“We are chasing the criminal now!!!”
Gently push and squeeze between them. Defying the crowd was not an easy task, but those who were pushed by me soon nodded to my words and the priestly uniforms I deliberately untied and began to move away on their own.
When he finally made his way through the crowd, another arrow shot through the air and flew toward the fallen lord.
kaang!!!!
The arrows were struck by the knights surrounding the lord. The enraged knights roared with angry voices.
“There!!! An arrow flew from there!!!”
“Catch it right now!”
Everyone was so excited that they didn’t notice it properly, but the second arrow was too weak and slow compared to the first one. In addition, the flying buildings were also subtly wrong.
The second is bait.
“Back off!!!”
“That building!!! Block the entrance right now!!!”
While the knights and men piled toward the second firing point, I proceeded calmly toward the first firing point.
The downtown of Ebedos was lined with 3 to 4 story buildings. The curtains covering the windows shook.
The culprit was still there. I got out of the crowd and ran faster.
Quaang!!!
kicked the locked door Throwing his body through the broken pieces, he quickly scanned the surroundings. From now on, those found inside this building were potential accomplices. It’s not too late to talk about it after breaking at least one leg.
Scattering dust and cobwebs clinging to the body. This house seemed uninhabited for quite some time. I held the froststeel sword in one hand and focused on the sound.
creaking sound.
About 3 floors. Someone was still on top. No the culprit was above. I quickly moved my feet and ran towards the stairs. After breaking down the door, it was a race against time.
bang!!!
All sorts of obstacles were placed here and there on the stairs, probably in case their location was discovered. They cut, kicked, and broke the huge wooden furniture and junk that blocked me with a single knife.
The creaking sound quickened.
I broke the obstacle, ran up the last stairway, and kicked the third floor door. Through the flying pieces of the door, I saw a man wearing a robe and covering his mouth.
The man whose eyes met mine slung the luggage he had just finished putting on his back and jumped out of the window without a moment’s hesitation.
“Stand there right now!!!”
I didn’t want to stand still, but when I saw the criminal jumping out of the window, I yelled at him to stop immediately.
thud!
The criminal landed softly on the roof of another building outside the window and ran between roofs with his legs busy.
thud!
Naturally, I immediately threw myself out the window and chased him. The culprit was very light and proud of his body movements, and went from roof to roof with a bag slung over his shoulder.
bang!
It was the first time I had jumped over a slanted roof and pursued someone, but my balance and reflexes found a perfect balance point on the slanted floor and sent me flying forward.
getting closer and closer I seriously contemplated whether to throw the frost steel sword I had in my hand and hit the criminal in the back, but I endured it because I would have to go pick up the sword if the criminal knocked me out.
I’ll have to bring some daggers next time.
Quaang!!!
The imminent pursuit came to an end. Kicking off the roof, I jumped and lowered my sword into the case. The plan was to subdue the man by hitting his side or legs with his sword blade.
Whoo!
One step before being hit by the sword, the offender gave up moving forward and threw himself onto the roof. The sword face struck the empty air and went out. He gave up landing on the obliquely tilted roof and threw his body. He fell down the roof without regaining his balance.
thud!!!
A very dull crash was heard. The offender, who fell to the ground starting with his left shoulder, rolled one wheel and jumped up and started running through the back alleys of the city.
“Where!!!”
I jumped off the roof after him. Seeing the criminal running through the alleys clutching one shoulder, he seemed quite shocked by the failed fall. Now it was as good as a rat that had caught it all.
“If you stop right now, I will listen to a special story!”
His response to my generous offer was very simple. He pushed the cart overturned against the alley wall and knocked it over.
squeak.
He drew his sword and cut the entire cart.
“It is useless!”
After that, he pushed and threw everything in the alley to pass the time. I calmly dodged the dirt and stones flying towards me and jumped over the spilled fruit on the floor to chase after him.
Probably because most of the citizens went to the plaza to listen to the lord’s speech, there were few people to be seen even after leaving the alley and running down the street. Those few people also quickly hid when they saw the scene of the fierce pursuit and my outfit.
Now the end of the chase, which was slowly becoming boring, was approaching. The culprit was very nimble and good at escaping, but since he had injured one shoulder and my strong legs were chasing him, it was impossible for him to escape from my grip.
You can never avoid it this time. When I drew my sword to put an end to the chase, the criminal who was running away threw something different at me.
“Aaaaaaa!!! Please save me!!!”
The little man rolled right into the path of my sword. Walking out of the alley, he was suddenly caught and thrown by the criminal, and he could not be cut. I reached out with one hand and caught the falling man. It was obvious that if I fell like this, I would get seriously hurt, so I couldn’t just let it go.
“Thank you.”
The perpetrator walks away. I quickly looked at the man in my hand. I saw now that he was not short, but rather a hunchback with a crooked back. A terrible stinky smell emanated from his whole body.
“Do you have anything to throw?”
“Oh no.”
“Then go on your way.”
I put the man down roughly and soon realized that I had something to throw besides the sword. With a momentary realization, my sword sheath flew through the air and struck the back of the fleeing pursuer.
Hit in the middle of his back, he rolled and fell to the floor. I was a little impressed when I found a new use for the scabbard.
I should have tossed it earlier.
I moved quickly toward the culprit, whom I finally managed to subdue. The one who brutally murdered the wives and servants of nobles.
The perpetrator didn’t even squirm after being slammed to the floor. I’m sure he didn’t die from falling. No, judging from his body movements so far, he wasn’t someone who would die from being hit by a sheath. Rather, I wanted to use this fall as an opportunity to fight back. I firmly gripped the handle of the sword in preparation for a surprise attack.
There was not even a slight movement. I pushed the cripple with my foot and turned it over. Contrary to expectations, the dirt-covered culprit did not offer any resistance. as if he had stopped breathing.
It would be difficult if he got hit and died. As soon as I had a chance, I promised myself that I would have a throwing dagger ready, then reached out and pulled down the mask covering the criminal’s mouth.
“hmm?”
But when I took off his mask, the criminal’s body melted in an instant and disappeared without a trace. The only thing left in the seat was a bag of loose clothes and a bag slung over his shoulder.
“omg?! Priest!!! Four people melted!!!”
The hunchbacked man who was spying on my appearance made a fuss. I listened to the fuss and calmly looked around.
This was neither magic nor divine power. If so, there was only one case as far as I know that such a bizarre phenomenon could have been created.
devil.
It was clear that the devil had something to do with this.
“Hmm.”
Things got more complicated than expected. I roughly packed the bag the culprit left behind and stood up. Now was the time to return to the party. The hunchbacked man who had been standing next to me all this time spoke to me as I woke up.
“Hey…”
“You can speak comfortably.”
Upon closer inspection, he was not only hunchbacked, but his left leg was a crude prosthesis.
“Ah, thank you for saving me earlier…”
“I just did what I had to do. Never mind.”
If I hadn’t chased the culprit in the first place, I wouldn’t have been thrown out like that. As I was about to leave, he called me over.
“Priest!”
“yes.”
“Is this man the main murderer?”
“At first it looks like that…”
“Bad guy!!! You bastard in the world!!!”
He got angry as he trampled the clothes on the floor with his intact foot. Judging from his angry face, he seemed to have a story, but it was unlikely that information about the culprit would come out if he asked.
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
“Yes yes! By the way, is there anything I can do to help? I would also like to help catch the culprit.”
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
This time I witnessed the scene, so I pursued it with all my heart and soul, but I had no mission to find the culprit. In addition, it was necessary to inform the party as soon as possible that the devil was involved in this matter and discuss it.
Humpbacked at my refusal, his shoulders drooped. Leaving him behind, I packed my bag and left the alley.
On the way back, I glanced back and saw that the hunchback was picking up the dirt-covered clothes he had trampled on.
The material of the clothes looked good, so if you shake off the dust and wash them clean, you’ll be able to make a lot of money.
I had no intention of chasing after and criticizing the author’s snobbish behavior. After all, it was all about making a living.
***
Returned to the inn and joined the party. Giselle was the first to dislike my explanation that the devil was involved in this affair.
“It would be better if we just search for the holy relic and sneak away. I’m the opposite of being entangled with the devil. complete opposite. If things get entangled with the devil, you can’t predict the future.”
To be honest, I felt the same way.
“I think it would be a good idea to first check what was in the bag I brought.”
When Giselle saw the bag I had brought, she slinked back as if she had seen something dirty.
“The moment you open it, doesn’t the devil come out from inside? Why don’t we just throw it away and find our holy relic?”
“Whoop whoop.”
Jamel laughed meaningfully to himself. She glanced at the disgusted Giselle and spoke in a very excited voice.
“Is Giselle a coward?”
“What’s a coward when I just said I didn’t want to get involved?”
“Creepy!”
“what?”
“I’m not a coward, so I can open it at once!”
Jamel, holding the bag, laughed at Giselle.
“Look! open right away! Like this…”
“Then what if it explodes with a bang? Will your hand fly right away?”
“What?!”
At Giselle’s words, Jamel opened her eyes wide and looked back and forth between the bag and Giselle’s face.
Klopp.
Jamel, who swallowed, glanced at me with trembling eyes. Recognizing that gaze without missing it, Giselle smiled triumphantly.
“What are you doing? Are you saying you’re not a coward unlike me? Come on, open it.”
“That’s right. I’m not a jerk…”
Fingers trembling. A drop of cold sweat ran down Jamel’s forehead. Jamel’s eyes kept calling for help as he reached for the button on his bag.
“W Open? Really open?”
“Oh, open it. Why don’t you open it sooner?”
To be honest, the probability of the bag exploding was extremely low, but Jamel carefully unbuttoned it as if the real bag were explosives.
“Yeah, open aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…”
The time when we were all watching Jamel’s jokes together. There was a loud noise as soon as the bag was opened.
thud!
“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! exploded!!! The bag exploded!!! my my hand!!! Priest Marnak!!! What are my hands doing!!! Now my hand… is it okay…?”
“It was just a knock on the door. Jamel.”
Dacia giggled and got up and opened the door. As I opened the door, the armed soldiers quickly scanned the group with their eyes, then their eyes stopped on my face.
“Are you priest Marnak, who entered the city today?”
“Ah yes. That’s right.”
The soldier was polite, bowed his head, and spoke briefly.
“The lord wants to see the priest.”
