Chapter 7: Square 6: The Truth is More Suspicious Than Lies
I ran down the main street, darting my eyes left and right.
I should have been thinking of a strategy for fighting, but as a layman I didn’t have the time or manpower for tricks anyway.
"...It’s strange. He should have been there earlier."
In other words, it wasn’t wise to try to solve this alone like a civilian.
The commoner’s privilege in this situation, when dealing with villains, was to rely on state power.
In this world, the police were probably the guards.
If that was the case, the grumpy old guard who yelled at me before should be nearby.
If I told them about a big shot like Nest, they should be able to do something.
"I found him!!"
I shouted toward the large man’s back.
When he turned around, that face was unmistakably the grumpy old guard.
"Hm? Who are you?
If it’s about directions, go ask someone else."
The guard made a disgusted face and "Shhh! Shhh!" while swatting the air.
But I couldn’t back down now.
I explained as loudly and dramatically as possible that I knew Nest.
"I saw the wanted poster!
The black-haired woman!
That extreme villain called Nest!!
Arrest her, or execute her on the spot, I don’t care! I need you to do something, please!!"
If Nest was as strong as she was said to be, asking the guards for help was risky.
But they should at least have some countermeasures against magic weapons or something.
...That’s what I thought.
"...Heh heh heh... Ahahahahaha!"
"...No? This isn’t a laughing matter.
What’s wrong with you!?"
Suddenly the guard started laughing while clutching his stomach.
In front of me, who was thoroughly panicking, the guard said something incredibly cruel.
"There’s no way Nest is roaming around town like that.
Honestly, you’re making jokes to make people laugh."
This old man... wasn’t believing a single word I said!?
"No, but the face on the wanted poster was the same... but..."
"But there’s nothing. These kinds of pranks come in every day.
We don’t have time to deal with every one.
Especially not for weirdos like you who dress so strangely, got it?"
My clothes were indeed different from everyone else’s.
So instead of ignoring or insulting a desperate citizen’s report, he was mocking me.
No matter how you looked at it, this response was too much.
"Wait, at least listen to me a little more..."
The guard turned his back on me coldly.
For some reason, I now understood why the town’s security was bad.
Anyway, talking to someone who had no will left would just waste time.
I glared at his retreating back and left that spot at a brisk pace.
"If that’s the case, the only way is to get the girl’s family out of the house..."
But how?
Even if I warned the guards, they wouldn’t believe me.
A stranger saying "It’s dangerous here, run away" and them following me seemed unlikely.
While walking and thinking up various ideas in my head, before I knew it I had reached the girl’s house again.
"For now, the front door isn’t broken and the windows aren’t shattered.
They probably haven’t arrived yet."
But if I stayed like this, those three would definitely come here soon.
Should I set a trap?
Well, I had no traps and no idea how to set them anyway.
"Damn it, what time is it?"
I wanted at least some time to think.
I looked at my watch, praying.
The time was 11:17.
"Um, when I first came to this house it was about forty minutes ago.
Considering they killed three people and searched the house..."
I glanced at the clock and roughly calculated.
It would probably take about fifteen minutes.
As I looked away from the watch, the shadow appeared.
"No way... This is bad... This is seriously bad."
A figure I would never mistake for anyone else stood ahead.
"...Nest."
I said her name with rage, but honestly my legs went weak.
As expected, behind her were the two scary-looking men. At this point, where everything was in plain sight, there was no time left to plan.
Instead of waiting for things to get worse in a situation with no ideas, buying time until things improved was a little better.
It was now an absurd, desperate gamble I could barely call a plan.
I wiped the cold sweat from my brow, swallowed hard, and approached Nest and the others at a jog.
"Um... Excuse me for a moment?"
If I jumped them, I’d be torn into pieces in a second.
So I had to talk. Create conversation.
The only way I could buy time as a powerless man.
"...Excuse me, is that you, Nest-sama?"
"Get lost. I’ll kill you."
The slim man threatened me.
I could have predicted this flow, but panic still rose in my chest.
Unfortunately, the one person I could talk to was Nest.
From the earlier fight, I knew this woman didn’t attack immediately even though she was calculating something.
But the problem was the two men surrounding her.
If I angered them, they’d attack without listening.
That was the most troublesome thing for me, who couldn’t block or dodge.
"Hey! I said get lost, did you not hear!?"
At all costs, I needed to keep talking here.
"No, I’m sorry.
But there’s no point going into that house."
"Huh? What do you mean, hey!
...How the hell do you know that!?"
When questioned like this, they would add information only they knew.
That way they couldn’t ignore what I was saying.
"No... Actually, the rumor that the house has a basement was false."
"Eh!? Then the dragon’s...?"
Sure enough, the fat man tried to say something.
But his words cut off.
It wasn’t because his mouth was gagged.
Before that sentence finished, the fat man’s head flew into the air.
I was stunned for a moment.
"Dapp!!?"
The headless giant body collapsed limply to the ground, blood spilling everywhere.
The slim man, who was trembling with despair, hugged the body of his friend who had lost his head and hadn’t even died yet.
"You said it yourself, right?
Don’t talk about it.
You have to read the contract carefully, you know~ Ufufu."
In Nest’s hand was the blood-soaked curved blade.
"Uooooooo!! Dapppppppp!!!"
I had no words.
From the situation, things were definitely in our favor.
One enemy was gone, and I knew what they were looking for was something named "Dragon."
But slashing my friend’s head with one slip of the tongue like that was insane.
I wanted to punch the version of me who had thought he could talk to Nest.
"Hey, sis! Even you can’t just ignore this!!!"
"Ignore what...?
I’ve just carried out my contract.
Or were you planning to kill me too?"
Nest readied the curved blade again.
The slim man also gripped his large knife, his face twisted in hatred.
But no one would think the slim man could win against them.
"For my brother’s sake, at least let me scar that pretty face of his...."
The man’s right arm swung up disappeared.
No, it was cut off by Nest.
It was so fast I couldn’t follow it with my eyes.
"...Like this, you’re done... I thought..."
"Yeah... You’re strong, but it’s goodbye."
The blade that seemed to swing up for a moment was already coming down faster than my eyelids could close.
The man’s body was sliced cleanly in half, blood splattering as he fell to the ground in two pieces.
It wasn’t even a fight anymore, it was just slaughter.
"So? Did that make it easier to talk, Nest?"
"N... What are you saying..."
Nest smiled while wiping the blood from her blade.
"You wanted to talk to me, right?"
Nest was getting closer, smiling like she was enjoying it.
She thought she was creating a conversation while making a horrific scene where the hair on your arms stood on end?
But if I showed panic, that would be her trap.
Stay calm, don’t shake, don’t look away.
"No, I came to tell you that the rumor about the basement was false..."
"So? Then where is your unit, you?"
My unit... I hadn’t thought that far ahead.
A group that executes people with one slip of the tongue, I couldn’t forget that.
But I couldn’t come up with an answer to that question either.
And staying silent would clearly get me killed.
...Should I gamble?
"What’s wrong? Answer quickly."
"I... don’t know."
I said the honest truth.
Bad lies didn’t work, and I couldn’t lie.
So I decided to say exactly what I was thinking.
"Ufufu, I didn’t catch that.
What did you say?"
"I’m sorry! I don’t understand what you mean!"
Was this choice a success or failure?
...If I guessed wrong, I died.
"Oh my... So that’s it? Ufufu, you’re joking~"
"Huh?"
"I’m sorry.
This way, stupid enemies get hooked.
Our organization doesn’t even have units, you know~
’I forgot’ or ’You’re from the same unit as me’ or something."
Nest was laughing, but under my clothes I was drenched in cold sweat.
From the "contract" she had mentioned killing my brother, I had guessed they were hiring people to strengthen their forces.
If that was right, I had concluded that Nest’s organization was probably small.
It seemed my wild imagination had hit the mark.
This woman was baiting me so badly.
"But it’s a problem.
I thought you were the enemy, so I killed two idiots."
"I’m sorry for that."
I deeply bowed my head.
Nest smiled satisfiedly at that.
"Hey, won’t you help me look for it as an apology?"
"...Look for what?"
"Boss’s direct order. Tha... that... Ufufu."
...Was I imagining it? The atmosphere felt off.
That was probably the dragon thing the fat man had mentioned earlier.
But since she was telling the hired man too, there was no reason to hide it from her own people.
Could it be that...
"...I’m getting bored."
The instant Nest spoke, my vision swayed.
The regular sound of water echoed in my ears, and suddenly my legs went limp.
My body felt like it had been poured with boiling water.
Only then did I understand.
There was a hole in my chest.
"It was a shame. Ufufufu."
"...Wh... why..."
"Our organization is small but elite.
We’re not that stupid as to forget just a few people."
I had been played.
Completely toyed with.
I tried to pour out hatred and rage, but I lost the strength to open my mouth, the colors of the scenery vanished from my eyes, the sound disappeared, the pain vanished, and my consciousness faded away.
——
『Return to Start』
The worst awakening I had ever experienced.
Nest and the others would arrive at the girl’s house in about an hour.
But in that time, I couldn’t think of anything I could do.
"What am I supposed to do!!"
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