Volume 2, Chapter 4.2: Unicorn’s Horn①
It wasn’t enough to completely cut through the unicorn’s tough hide, but her slash had broken the unicorn’s neck bone.
The unicorn fell to the ground.
「It was weaker than I expected. I mean, hunting it with our current manpower was basically overkill, right?」
「Just in case, but I’ve lost my turn to shine, huh.」
Tork smiled wryly as he lowered his sword.
「Hahaha, it seems I was too powerful for it. Well, it was just a medium-sized monster after all. The reason we brought so many people was to raise our vigilance on the way back. We’ve relied too much on his ability, meaning that we’d be screwed if something happened to him, right? Legge’s name has yet to become as famous as us after all!」
Fando said those words with a teasing tone, brushing Legge’s head who just descended from his horse.
The normal Legge would try to shake away from Fando’s hand, but he did nothing today.
「Is something the matter, Legge?」
「Some sort of noise that was not here before… fast approaching in our direction.」
「WUUUUT?」
Upon hearing that, Fando quickly realized what Legge was trying to say.
Fando raised his vigilance, trying to catch the incoming sound.
In short, that something hid its presence.
Legge, who realized that first, most likely picked up the traces with his detection magic.
An eerie pillar of light appeared inside the forest with a flash.
「EVERYONE, GET DOWN!」
Fando pushed his axe forward as he warned the other party members.
A sharp needle crashed against Fando’s axe.
The other party members reacted immediately to Fando’s warning and managed to dodge the incoming needle too.
「OIOIOIOIO~I. Nice reaction speed you got there. Even though I expected that attack to take care of half of you.」
A man appeared from the darkness of the forest.
He wore a thick layer of white makeup on his face with a red pattern.
His clothing was adorned with vertical purple and white stripes, making him even more shady.
Although the makeup made his eyes look big and cheerful, it wasn’t enough to hide the sadistic delight hidden within his eyes.
「You’re… the vice master of 『Slaughterer Circus Troupe』, Clown!」
Fando glared at Clown, clearly displeased by the latter’s previous action.
『Slaughterer Circus Troupe』 was one of many underground guilds. They didn’t have a base as their members wandered from place to place accepting commissions.
Although the majority of their members were hoodlums or from fallen guilds, their upper echelons couldn’t be underestimated since each of them were trained in their own unique battle art.
Worst of all, 『Slaughterer Circus Troupe』 had numerous members.
The majority of them were hoodlums who couldn’t find a job or banished adventurers.
That was why it was natural for them to have a large influence in the city.
Since they were originally just hoodlums, when one member died, they would eventually be replaced with another three.
This trend continued until their numbers surpassed one hundred.
The 『Slaughterer Circus Troupe』 had three vice masters due to the sheer size of their organization. Each one of them moved semi-independently.
The man named Clown was well-known due to his bad reputation and the fact that he appeared more often than the other two vice masters.
But no one ever knew Clown’s true identity since he often removed his peculiar makeup and slipped into the crowd.
Every single one of 『Slaughterer Circus Troupe』’s upper echelon were hiding their identities behind their unique makeup.
「I see… You were following us to avoid the『Great Horse of Nightmare』 and arrive safely at the unicorn’s location.」
「It seems he’s as petty as the rumor claimed. Now what will he do after his ambush failed? Will he leave?」
Clown bent his long legs in an unnatural direction, pressing his hand on his ear as if to hear Fando and Talmiya’s conversation.
「Ah? What? How dare you say that! First, we’re not petty, and shouldn’t you guys worry about saving your own a*sses?」
Clown’s loud voice and claps resounded in the vicinity.
「GUYS, COME OUT NOW! TIME TO FINISH OUR JOB! AS USUAL, KILL THE MEN, RA*PE THE WOMEN BEFORE WE KILL THEM! DO AS YOU LIKE TO THE BRAT, BUT LEAVE HIM ALIVE SINCE WE STILL GOT SOME USE FOR HIM!」
Clown raised a defeaning scream with his falsetto voice.
A group of men wearing hoods with crudely drawn faces on them appeared from within the forest.
The unpleasant air that drifted off from those men disturbed the horses, even affecting Fando and Co.
There was no sense of unity in their weapons as every single one of them was gripping a different weapon.
「W-Who the he*ll are they?」
Fando was surprised by their weapons.
Clown had forty subordinates, which was four times the number of 『Dancing Sword』’s member in this place.
Even a major guild wouldn’t dare to use so many people. However, that was of little concern to 『Slaughterer Circus Troupe』.
Fando surveyed the surroundings in a panic.
They were surrounded with no place to run.
「Surprised? These guys followed behind as I chased after you. We surrounded you guys while you were distracted by that unicorn. Now let’s start today, 『Slaughterer Circus Troupe』’s acrobatic show program to the audience, The Reverse Hanging Experience Corner!」
Clown shouted, pushing out his tongue.
That action became the signal for the masked army to make their move.
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