VOLUME 3: INTERMISSION – VILLAINOUS THOUGHTS (1/2)
Status
Name Ryutanu Organdia
Race Human
Level 78
Job Expert Adventurer; Subleader
Possessed Skills Strong Arm; Axe Mastery B+; Bat Eyes; Kleptomaniac; Hundred-Demon Slayer
Divine Protection None
Attributes None
Damn it all.
We may not believe in god but that doesn’t mean we deserve this. We staked our lives and saved every coin we could just so we could leave that rotten alley, and this is how we end up?
Even Touri couldn’t escape alive.
Fighting with those heavy wounds really wasn’t a good idea, but he had to to help us escape. Those worthless quack doctors said they did their best, but what’s the point if they couldn’t save the guy!?
Gash was like an elder brother to me, Connery was like a younger brother… And now, after running for who knows how long, they’re gone… all gone.
Damn it! Why?
Why did everyone have to die and leave me behind?
It’s been 6 days since I led the survivors to the abandoned village of Fenis.
Who knows from where those Webrus whoresons will attack us.
There’s only 40 brats left now.
Just a year ago we were a clan of 300 elites, and now… All we have is this place, if we lose it too, we really won’t have anywhere else to go. Everyone here is just a brat, after all.
All the veterans died to help us escape, and I had to watch after these brats since elder sister (Pale) was no longer with us. The duty of teaching these kids ended up being pushed onto me.
Because of that I’m still alive. What a disgrace.
Shit, elder brother (Touri)… Why d’ya have to up and die, huh, Touri?
Every one of us is a feather headed to freedom, and what binds us is our mutual desire to fly toward that freedom. Isn’t that what you taught us?
So why? Why did you have to die before me?
You picked up the brats with no place to call home, raised them up, and helped them walk under the fire god’s body. We’ve been growing these past 10 years doing just that.
“Elder brother, I brought you your meal. Kirina made it.”
While I was fixated on the map, Sophia brought me a loaf of bread.
“Have you eaten?” I asked.
“Of… course.” Sophia replied.
What a horrible liar. Her eyes are all teared up.
“I don’t feel like eating. You eat.”
“But!”
“Shut up and eat.”
After being strongly chided, Sophia meekly bowed her head, then she took the bread and left.
Damn it, if Pale were here, she would have been able to tell her off more gently.
I really suck with kids.
I ignored my stomach’s pleas as I glared at the map.
Is the southern border being watched?
The public order should be good until the Holy Shushunu Kingdom, so our situation could turn for the better, but…
While it would be great if we could leave straight through the west, they’re probably watching the western border. Looks like we’ll have to keep our foot in some other country’s border.
The northern woodlands and the southern desert.
Unlike elder brother (Touri) or elder sister (Pale), I suck at using my head. It would be a lot easier to just swing my weapon in the frontlines, but by some odd stroke of fate, I ended up being the brains.
“Elder brother, the enemy are attacking!” Sophia came back and said.
“Wake everyone up! Use the buildings as shields! We’ll stop them!” I ordered.
Upon receiving my orders, Sophia nodded and ran away.
I took my axe.
Burn all them shitty bastards of Webrus! I’ll kill every last one of ya!
◆◆◇
Attacking during the night… Just the kind of tactic you’d expect from some cowardly assassins.
Unfortunately, for you bastards, you’re not the only ones who can see in the dark!
“Sophia, Kirina, cover me!”
“Understood!”
Under the cover of those with similarly good night vision, I took a step forward.
“…Looks like there’s still a big one left. Ryutanu the Strong Arm! 5 gold coins for his head!”
“Hyaha!”
As an assassin chuckled a stiff laughter, I swung my axe. There should be at least 20 enemies here.
“Hah! This is a piece of cake! Don’t underestimate the commanding officer of the Elks Clan’s shock corps!”
As soon as I stepped out, a throwing dagger was thrown at me, but I deflected it with my gauntlets and continued on my way. Enemies came at me from both my flanks, but I knew that the archers behind would be able to cover me, so I ignored them and swung my axe.
The enemy’s head split open like a pomegranate, but I didn’t stop moving. I took another step forward and claimed the headless corpse as my shield.
“Kill him!”
Think you small-time thugs can take me!?
Another dagger was thrown, and this time I deflected it with my corpse shield that I’d flung over my shoulder, then I went and rushed toward the tensed part of the enemy encirclement.
“Don’t tense up!”
“Eek—”
One of the small-time thugs cried out as I crushed his head, then I continued on to take out another 3 of the nervous enemies, cutting them down from shoulder to chest, then I threw my corpse shield to stop the enemy from moving.
In that instant, I took my axe out from the last enemy I’d cut and swung it toward a new enemy.
The future, my dead comrades… I don’t need to think about any of those right now. Right now, all I have to do is kill these bastards.
As blood sprayed onto my face, I bellowed out a howl.
“Damn it!!”
I used to hunt beasts, but before I knew it, I was already an expert at hunting humans. As I lifted up my head and eyed the approaching three assassins, I rushed out once more.
One of the assassins tried to cut me, but I jumped onto his chest and slammed my gauntlet into his face, then In almost the same time, I smoothly moved my axe with one hand to hold it with both hands and unleashed a sweeping motion, beheading the two cowering enemies.
Finally, I finished off the last remaining enemy that was powerlessly groaning.
“Tch… Useless.”
One of the enemies, who was raising hell, came to view.
“If you’re so tough, why don’t you come yourself!”
I shook off the fleshy bits stuck to my axe and fixed my stance. After a quick check to ensure that the archers from behind were continuing their suppressive fire, I bolted off once more.
I don’t know if it’s because I got drunk off the enemy’s blood or if I’d simply let my guard down, but…
“Go!”
Two assassins equipped with long swords ran after me, and I tried to sweep them away.
“Fool! Shoot!”
It was an attack coming from a blind spot, so I couldn’t react in time. The enemy shot their weapons without any regard for their own allies.
The two assassins in front died instantly as their bodies were penetrated, and unable to stop my own momentum, those two arrows buried cleanly into my body.
Fuck it all! These people aren’t humans!
One on my shoulder and another on my left flank, but I had to keep going.
The path was finally clear, after all! I won’t get a better chance than this!
“GURAAaAAa!”
Bellowing out a cry, I charged toward the enemy, swept with my axe, and crushed the head of the guy who looked to be their commander.
As soon as he died, the enemy ran away scattered and screaming, but I didn’t have the strength left to pursue.
Fuck, it’s getting dark. They poisoned their…
“So you’re Ryutanu? I heard you’ve been a bad boy lately.”
Ahh… I know this is a dream, but… it’s so nostalgic.
Elder brother, Touri.
“Hah? Who the hell are you?”
That must be me when I was just a little hoodlum. What a horrible face. My eyes are rotten… Well, I did spend everyday without any hope, so I was basically just rotting away.
Right. That time I was beaten black and blue… And I realized I could never win against him.
“…Are you ok?”
Ahh, what a sorry sight. This was also when I met elder sister (Pale). She called Touri elder brother and followed him from behind like a baby chick.
At that time, I… Right. It’s embarrassing, but at that time, I thought she was a princess.
Ridiculous, really. I’ve never even seen one.
“You’re a big guy.”
After being beaten black and blue by elder brother, she looked at me with an odd look as I laid sprawled over the ground.
I remember her face even now. Her golden hair fluttered in the wind as she looked at me curiously with those dazzling jewels she had for eyes and walked around me.
She was brimming with curiosity, but she also seemed a little scared of me.
Now that I think about it, that might be when my heart was stolen by the princess.
I lived a shitty life through and through, but that meeting is the one thing I take pride in. We may have lost everything, but the one saving grace was that she didn’t get caught up in this shitty war.
“As promised you’ll be joining us. Ryutanu… Oi, Pale! You’ll be looking after him!”
“Ehh!? I will!?”
“From now on you’ll be in charge of the new recruits.”
“You never said that!”
“Well, I thought of it just now!”
Elder brother laughed and elder sister made a troubled face as she rested my head atop her knees. A lap pillow, in other words.
I was red to the ears.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
A stupid question. Looking for a place that didn’t hurt would be easier than the opposite.
“Nah…”
Until then, the only women I’ve known were prostitutes. It was my first time seeing such a beautiful princess.
I don’t know how to put it, but boys have their pride.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Pale Symphoria. I started following leader 6 days ago.”
“…Ryutanu.”
Elder sister smiled at me just like a blooming flower. Who would’ve thought someone like me who has never studied poetry would think such flowery thoughts.
A few days later… I can’t remember where we were then, but the skies were clear that day.
“Ryutanu, you don’t have a last name?”
“For a ruffian like me, just having a name is plenty.”
“Really?”
By entering the Elks Clan I found a place I could belong. I was no longer in that rotten alley, but a bright place that the sun could reach.
“Then let’s give you one.”
“It’s fine, it’s not like it bothers me.”
“That’s not true. We elves put a lot of importance in our ancestors.”
Elder sister sat beside me and gently patted my good-for-nothing head.
“Ryutanu, one day you’ll find a wife and have children, and then those children will also get married and have children of their own… And what connects all of you is your last name. So a last name is very important!”
I didn’t have any parents or siblings, so to me, the only thing I could call family was the clan itself.
“Hmm… How about ‘a gentle person’ (Organdia)?”
“Erm, how about something cooler?” I said with much embarrassment.
Elder sister shook her head and laughed. “I know your secret, you know. You secretly use your salary to buy sweets for the young new recruits.”
“T-That’s…”
I panicked. I never thought I was being watched.
When our clan welcomed the juvenile vagrants officially, I saw myself in them, the old me who had nothing to eat and desperately endured the hunger, so I wanted to help them.
“That’s why Organdia. Because at the very least that’s how I see you.”
I fell in love with the princess. That might seem like such a weak thought for such a big man, but what can I do, I fell for her.
Unfortunately, she only ever had eyes for elder brother.
I wasn’t blind. I could tell. So I stopped thinking about it.
The princess and I were too different, anyway. I had to start calling her that too, because otherwise, I really wouldn’t have been able to keep my feelings in check.
Elder sister was really special.
You could call her a tactician. As long as we followed her, every battle could only end in victory.
That was the Soar to Freedom (Elks Clan) that we built up for the last 10 years.
Elder brother came to be known as the “Herald’s Wings” and elder sister came to be known as the “Silent Moon”. I also received an embarrassing second name: Strong Arm; but in truth, it was the two of them who supported the clan.
What she gave me was a warmth no one else could replace.
That’s why when she went back to the forest, although I felt sad, somewhere someway, I heaved a breath of relief. After all, I knew just how ugly a war between humans could get.
I wasn’t so foolish as to believe that our happy streak would continue forever. That’s why I happily saw her off.
Elder sister, please be happy.
I’m sure… everyone thinks the same.
I’ll do something about the remaining members. Maybe we’ll become bandits or something… I’m sure I can at least protect a bunch of brats.
So… I don’t mind even if it’s just in dreams, but just a little, let me hear your voice…
◆◇◆
“Tch…”
“Elder brother!”
“Shut it.”
I woke up my creaking body. When I saw the blood-dyed bandage wrapped around me, it finally hit me that an arrow had penetrated me.
“How long was I out? What’s the situation, Sophia?”
“Ah, you were out for a day. Dagger of Webrus hasn’t attacked at all since. Kirina is currently scouting.”
“I see… When is she coming back?”
“In 2 hours.”
“Good. Get ready. Since they’ve found our location, they’ll definitely come again. We should leave before then.”
“But your wounds…”
“Hey, hey, something like this is just a scratch. What do you think Master Ryutanu the Strong Arm is made out of, huh?”
It was cramping, but I somehow managed to squeeze out a smile.
Suddenly, something hit the door and everyone tensed. Glancing at Sophia, I signaled for her to see who it was.
She opened the door slightly, and…
“Kirina!”
“Ku… Sorry! They got me!”
Immediately after, Kirina jumped into the room. On her back were 2 arrows stuck to her body.
Seeing her grasping for her life, the flames of wrath burned within.
“They’ll pay for this…”
Very soon blood flowed from her back.
“We’re fighting back. Buy us some time!”
At my command, Sophia and the others started shooting arrows through the windows.
“Elder brother… I’m sorry. El, der.”
She probably couldn’t see anymore, but she reached out, and I grasped her hands.
“Don’t worry. A little blunder like this won’t faze this elder brother of yours. I am Master Ryutanu the Strong Arm. Everything will be just fine.”
Her breath gradually grew fainter. Damn it. Damn it all. She’s not even of age yet.
“El, de…er, I… El, er…”
Just like that another life passed in my arms.
Tightly grasping her cold small hands, I burned its warmth into my heart, then I put on my leather armor and took out my axe.
Bastards, all of you! You’ll pay for this! You will!
Tl Note: Sorry for the delays. Binged Overlord yesterday and my eyes really hurt afterwards. Should’ve probably turned down the brightness. Anyway, here’s the chapter. Enjoy!
Oh, and we have an extra chapter due this week, but I haven’t updated the bar and the patrons list yet. I’ll do that tomorrow.