Chapter 20 - The Hunt Begins
"Put that monster down, and step back." Said the guy wearing plate armour while pointing his sword at us.
Hmm? These guys seem familiar.
Ah! They're the ones who brought me here and left after attracting those monsters to my position.
Looks like they came back to check whether I had died but only found the corpses of all those monsters.
As experienced hunters, they must have tracked us down to this dungeon and decided to wait outside in order to ambush us.
"You bastards!" Azell snarled.
The one pointing the sword at us donned a steel armour while the others had leather ones. At one glance, I could count 9 guys surrounding us.
The leader was in front of us while 4 swordsmen surrounded us. Two other swordsmen were diagonally behind the leader, watching our every move.
Finally, in the back were 2 magicians. I knew they were magicians by using my heightened mana sensing skills as well as noticing that they wore flamboyant robes and held big magician staffs.
There should be a 10th guy as well. He either got taken out by the monsters or he's a sniper and aiming at us from the shadows of the forest.
Now, how should I act?
Should I go for the classic victim play by asking Azell to put me down and leave? I could also act scared to get some bonus points.
However, I'm honestly too exhausted to act like a traumatised boi right now. It's also clear that Azell and Noelle won't leave me behind.
In fact, they might start spouting some bullshit about how life is worth living and all that, and that shit is annoying so it's gonna be a hard pass from me, chief.
"Are they…?" Noelle asked while inching closer to me.
Once again, while I do appreciate her dedication to protecting me, it's doing nothing but making me feel awkward.
"Yes, they are the ones who left Samur here."
"I see." Her tone was as cold as ice.
"Like I said, leave the monster, and back off." The leader of these hunters said again.
Um, bruh, can you not read the room or something? Even someone as insensitive as me can see that they have absolutely zero interest in abandoning me.
"You know what?" Noelle suddenly smiled. "Let's kill them."
"You know what?" Azell smiled as well. "You're absolutely right."
Isn't that a bit extreme?
Like what, they just want to kill a boy you literally met hours ago. Why do you have to be so hostile about it?
Looks like I need to do something about their over-the-top attachment to me while also teaching them the advanced technique called 'Talking things out like civilised men'.
"Heh, get a load of this guy." The hunters chuckled.
Well, they do seem like experienced hunters (or so I assumed given all the scars on their faces), so I suppose their confidence isn't unfounded.
The fact that Azell and Noelle have to protect me also favoured these hunters.
I wish I knew the standard power level of this world so that I could make predictions and form plans.
But because this body was apparently cursed, they kept me isolated in a tower in the backside of the estate.
I was like a Princess held captive by the Demon King, except that no Hero ever came to rescue me.
Hmm, but Azell did save me, albeit after I was thrown away by the Demon King.
So, he's like my discount Hero?
Wow, this is getting weird so let's just stop here and focus on the issue at hand.
"Can you defeat them?" I managed to eke out.
This shit body was already giving up. Wow.
"Of course." He scoffed. "We could beat a thousand guys like them."
Alright, stop flexing.
"You…" The leader's eyes narrowed. "You are Players, aren't you?"
Players? If by that he meant that they're playing with their own lives, then yes, they are the worst Players I've ever met.
"Yes."
Oh? It looks like Player is an entirely different category.
"Then let me tell you-"
"Before you start bullshitting about how going against you would invite the wrath of someone at a high position, just know that we don't give a fuck." Noelle interjected.
Wow, I'm proud of her.
"Wha!?"
"And let me also tell you. We're from the New Dawn Guild."
"WHA?!"
Geez, this guy really needs to go back to third grade and expand his vocabulary.
That aside, was telling them the name of the Guild they belong to really the most tactical decision?
I mean sure, the hunters do look intimidated but in case even one of them manages to escape, he'd inform my family that I was still alive and with the New Dawn Guild.
I'm not sure where Guilds stand in the political structure of this Kingdom, but I don't think they could just ignore the Eckart Ducal family.
Now that I think about it, even if we do successfully kill all these dodgy wankers, it'd be nothing but trouble for us.
I mean, they obviously won't be able to report back to my family after they die. My family would know that something went wrong and might send an investigation team.
Unless we pull off a 1000 IQ play, a talented investigator would realise that I had survived with the help of someone.
The investigators would report it back to my family who in turn will start hunting me down.
All in all, this situation has become more trouble than it's worth.
Maybe I should just die- hot damn, I really do need to stop with this suicidal thinking.
Dying is not the answer to all my problems.
Except that it actually is.
I really do need to see a professional psychologist.
How can I stop with these depressing thoughts?
Ah, right! I won't be able think depressing things if I'm dead-
…
Fuck this shit, I'm out.
While I was thinking such things, the hunters had started murmuring amongst themselves, but in the end, they remained where they were; surrounding us.
Assuming I survive today, I would need to give the Guild (or at least Azell) the same political power as the King.
But before that, we need to do something about the problem at hand.
The dilemma is that we can't just kill all of them as that would invite further action from the Eckart family. However, we can't just leave them alive either, especially after revealing that we're from New Dawn Guild (I like that name).
Also, I've already lost all feeling in my arms.
Hmmmmmmmmm.
"Noelle." I whispered and she brought her ears close to me. "On your own, how many of them can you incapacitate within a few seconds?"
"I can take out the 4 surrounding us."
Okay, let's look at their positioning and… hmm, this should be doable.
"Azell, can your kick send the leader flying towards the two Mages in the back?"
"Of course."
"After that, will you be able to block the two other swordsmen while also dodging an arrow?"
"I can take care of that arrow." Noelle whispered back.
"W-what the hell are you murmuring amongst yourselves?!" The leader shouted.
Can this guy shut up already? Can't he see we're busy planning his execution?
"Okay. Then at my signal, Noelle, you take out the Guards. 2 seconds after that, Azell would send the leader flying, but make sure to not kill him."
Both of them nodded.
Good. All our problems would be solved if things go well.
Well then, time to hunt the hunters.
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