TDADP chapter 221: Muss`s house guests

  Four beast gates. There are four huge gates towering east, west, north and south of Tencassi, the royal capital of Udon kingdom. Through those gates, many people come and go not only from within the Udon Kingdom but also from other countries every day. It is no exaggeration to say that they play the roles of the arteries and veins of the capital city Tencassi. One of the four beast gates. As you leave the Vermillion Bird Gate in the south and go down the royal road, you will find several cities, towns and villages at the end of the road that branches off from the royal road. If you go along one of the roads that stretches west, you’ll eventually see Comer City.

  Among the twenty cities in Udon Kingdom, Comer city, which has grown rapidly in the last few years, has grown rapidly enough to make a difference from other cities. As the population increases, things and money will inevitably move. Houses and food supplies are not falling and springing. Merchants who built housing and handle food offered jobs to gather people and many people from the surrounding villages and towns rushed to Comer city in search of work. Today, the streets that lead to Comer city can be seen as merchants who put a load that cannot fit into the item pouch on a carriage and adventurers and mercenaries aiming for a catch of money for families seeking a stable place of life. However, in order to escape from the eyes of those who traveled along such highways, there was a group of people traveling in the vegetation and forests instead of the roads that were maintained.

  「I wonder if it’s true. You know what happens when you don’t keep your promise, don’t you?」


  The man who walks at the head of the group asks the man next to him with great wonder. There are many scars on the body of the terrible man and if you look at his fighting attitude to the raised muscles and used weapons, anyone will notice that this man is good for every fight.

  「Yes, that’s true. We can get a lot of money just by rampaging around Comer City. Well, it’s not a big job. Once upon a time, when the lord sweated the aristocrats around, they had a great army. It’s a long time ago. Now, the son who took over after that lord is useless and it is good if there are as many as one hundred soldiers at most. Do you think they can protect this big city only with such a large number of people?」


  A man who is dressed in a single armor with no dirt, answers in a big manner as if he is reassuring to those who are listening around.

  「Well, that’s right」


  「I thought you would say that! How much advanced payment did we get this time?」


  「It’s 10 million Madoka」


  「Yes. It’s 10 million. It’s not normal to get 10 million Madoka in advance and the success fee is 100 million Madoka」


  「100 million……he, hehe. Understood. We can get 100 million Madoka just by rampaging to our liking!」


  「That’s not all. You can take whatever you want from Comer City. Gold, women, magical tool stores might be good. However, don’t make a mistake and attack Berun´s company. It will be troublesome because it belongs to the Finance Minister」


  「I know. We’re not that stupid」


  「Uhihi. I like women」


  「Baaga. We just have to take away the women and the money!」


  「That’s right. That’s right. We can go wild as much as we like!」


  「But, it’s Comer City. There are so many adventurers in Udon Kingdom that they’re competing for that place, right? If we put our hands in that place, the adventurers won’t be silent」


  「Th, That’s why I said you don’t have to worry」


  「Hee. I’m not scared. Adventurers are just talking」


  Although they were men of desire, they seem to understand that they are not good against strong adventurers and are a little scared.

  「It should be fine」


  One of the guys interrupts the conversation at the right time, as if to erase the men’s concerns.

  「Adventurers and mercenaries do not do anything that doesn’t make money. If some adventurers are on a trip, do you think there are hundreds of them there? It’s better to worry about Comer´s spoils than to worry about that」


  「What do you mean?」


  「Aside from this group, there are two other groups that attack Comer City」


  「I didn’t hear about that!」


  「They can’t do this! Hurry, we’ll lose our share」


  Dissatisfied voices rise from the surroundings, but the man calms them down and controls them with his hands.

  「Don’t be afraid. Did you forgot why we’re going to avoid the highway? Even though it’s a city with a small number of soldiers, as soon as the gate is closed and they start their defense, we will be caged by the troops from the surrounding towns and cities. In order not to let this happen we planned that we’ll avoid the human eyes until the last minute and we’ll sneak in as soon as we can see the gate. Comer is a city with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants so you don’t have to worry. Even if there are two other teams, our share won’t decrease」


  No one realizes that what the man has just said is different. On the contrary, he had an ugly smile on his face with a vulgar delusion.

  「I’ll tell you one more good thing. Even if you get caught, you won’t be guilty of death」


  「Guhahaa! That’s not true」


  「That’s right! If a bandit gets caught, everyone knows he will be hanged」


  「It’s a joke that can’t be laughed at. Now that you mention it, you thought we weren’t scared?I don’t want you to look back. Even if you don’t lie like that, it’s no fear of dying!」


  Mockeries falls on the man, but the man never changes his attitude. While thinking of the unchanging man, the robbers turned their eyes to that man.

  「It’s no wonder you think it’s a joke, but your employer is a person with so much power」


  「I know this too, but our employer is……」


  「We should have promised that I can’t say anything about the employer」


  「I know. I’m not even able to pay for it」


  「What’s wrong! Get up!」


  An angry voice echoes in the forest.

  「Hey, what’s wrong!」


  「Look, there’s someone sleeping in this place」


  There was a man sleeping with his arms and legs stretched out so as to obstruct the bandits. The man who has a stubble beard is wearing a robe and is still unaware of the thieves, as he is scratching his chin while snoring strongly.

  「Is it a vagrant?」


  「In a forest like this?」


  Certainly, in a forest that was far off the road, it could be said that a man who slept in such a place where monsters and beasts exist was abnormal.

  「Tsk. It’s too much trouble to talk about us elsewhere. Get him!」


  「Yes. Hey, you guys」


  Several bandits take their arms and approach the sleeping man, but suddenly the man wakes up and raises only his upper body.

  「Huaa～a～a～, Ah? Finally you came. Oooh, I’m always going to face such idiots」


  「What!」


  「Watch what you say vagrant!!」


  「Die!!」


  Their pride didn’t allow them to underestimate this vagrant. The fierce bandits attack the man’s head by swinging down their swords and axes. However, the blades never reached the man’s head. There are things that blocked it.

  「Wh……at is it?」


  Arms made of a lump of earth repel the swords and grab the axes tightly.

  「Go, Gogo, Golem!」


  「This guy uses golems!」


  As the soil continues to rise the lumps of earth will form human shapes while pulsating. Then, as if to protect the man, ten golems stood before the bandits.

  「This!!!」


  One of the bandits hits a golem with a steel spear, but the golem’s body, which should have been made of earth, could not be even damaged. On the contrary, the bandit´s hands are numbed by the impact and the weapon is dropped to the ground.

  「Guaaa……why is this earth golem so hard!」


  「Don’t attack the golems! If you defeat the caster, the golem will return to a lump of earth!」


  「Got it! Ignore the slow golems――」


  The bandits try to avoid the golem and go to the man who is the caster, but when the man strokes his stubble beard, he smiles.

  「Well, I don’t usually do that. But my golems are different」


  「Gyaaa!?」


  「Gohuu」


  「Fa, Fast! Those golems aren’t slow!」


  「What’s going on!`Hii, wait――gehuuu」


  Ten golems, as if they were as smooth as humans, turned around in front of the wild bandits and launch an attack. The face of the bandit who received a golem’s punch was destroyed. Even with armors and shields, the results were the same. The attacks of the Golems crushed, played and beaten the bandits one after another.

  「Haahaahaa!! You should hurry up~」


  When the golem caster raises his hand, new golems are created one after another from the ground. And the next golems created were not clod, but black golems.

  「Ir, Iron Golem」


  「H, He’s going to create a golem with what body!!」


  「Calm down. B, Bo, Bow! Yeah, let’s use bows and magic!! Lets attack him from a distance――he?」


  A flash of light passes through the eyebrows of the bandit who is instructing a long-range attack.

  「What’s wrong! He suddenly fell down!」


  「Hey, hold on!」


  No one noticed the hole in the ground. And――


  「Gyaa」


  The moment they think the trees in the back are shining, dozens of flashes pierce the bandits.

  「Wh, What!」


  「Li, Light, Light attacks!!」


  「Hold up your shields, those who have a shield, prevent it!!」


  Those who have shields hold their shields and those who have magic knowledge will spread their barriers. The bandits were in chaos. Even though the man who uses Golems is before them, they are exposed to an unidentified attack that cannot be prevented and their comrades are dying one after another.

  「Different! The true identity of the light are arrows! Someone is attacking us with a bow from the back of the forest, no, the number of arrows. Not one or two. A bow team was lurking in the forest!!」


  A bandit understands that the true character of the light attacks are just arrows, as they penetrate the shield, penetrate the heads of his comrades and still saw the arrows which went forward while twisting the ground.

  「Bow team? This is different」


  The golem caster nodded and asked.

  「Hii. No, Not good! We can’t prevent it with shields! We can prevent it with barriers!」


  「Don’t be stupid! Let go! Even a steel shield can’t prevent it, but what about my level of barrier――ggh」


  「Hyaa!? Di, Did he die?」


  The arrows surely took the life of a single bandit with every shot.

  「Every shot is one death……isn’t it? N, No way……『Murderous Shot』」


  In the midst of the chaos and uncontrollable wild bandits, only one man recognize it.

  「Ge, Get away! Can you deal with such a monster!」


  「Wa……Wait! I will also run away. Don’t leave me behind!」


  When one person runs away, all bandits begins to run away one after another like a chain.

  「Hurry up! We can still escape now」


  「Ah……」


  「What’s wrong! What? Suddenly the sky is dark」


  The area around the bandits who fled becomes dark as if the sun was blocked by something. In the eyes of the bandits who looked up at the sky――


  「Wh, Wha, What!」


  「I, It’s a mountain. Why is a mountain falling from the sky!!」


  「R, Run, aa……where?」


  It’s not a mountain that came down from the sky. It was a huge piece of ice that seemed to be mistaken for a mountain. The lump of ice crushed a lot of trees and the earth.

  「A mass of ice like a mountain……『Ice Block Gonroya』」


  「Haaahaaha! Yeah. How is it? Are you having fun?」


  Around the golem caster, more than a hundred pieces of earth and iron golems were lined up in formation like a knight order.

  「Kuu…… Then you’re 『Vanguard Ranpou』」


  「Oh? What is it? Did you notice by now?」


  「You! Muss dog-like house guest!!」


  「What are you angry about? You’re the one who’s so tight, aren’t you?We’re the ones you’re dealing with. The people who commited a crime dont receive any pity. If I were you, I’d be a good guy, no matter how much money I had to pay. Feel sorry that you were born」


  「N, No way……other places!?」
——

  「Aaaaaaaaaaaaa……」


  「Ga, my body melts, my body……」


  「Ta, tahyu, kete……itchy, itchy, scratching meat, hot」


  In the plains near Comer city, another group was fighting with Muss´s freeloaders. No, it’s not a battle. It was just a slaughter.

  「Oooohhhh, everyone. If you don’t do a little more work, you can’t get the drug data」


  Puriri’s disseminated poison causes the bandits to die out due to various poisonous symptoms, such as those who fall into dyspnea, those who die from suffocation, those who have their bodies melt, those who scratch their bodies and scrape off their meat. Not feeling sorry for those figures. Puriri calmly confirms the effect of her medicine and writes it down in her notebook.

  「Huh!!!」


  「Haa!!」


  Yakum shakes his huge axe suitable for a giant and Lauren also swings a huge axe. The giant weapons that the giant and his wife wield beat the opponents who raised their resentments or smashed them into fine dust. Their opponents turned into meat pieces shortly before screaming. Moreover, the virulence of Puriri is sprayed around here. It was like they were told to die, fighting against Yakum and Lauren in a state where they were poisoned and unable to move satisfactorily.

  「Mumumu. Why is it that you couple are ok even though my poison should have spread around here? Ah, I want to dissect those two one day」


  Puriri turns her gaze to Yakum and Lauren, who are supposed to be friends, as if she was seeing experimental animals.

  「Dear, Puriri-chan is watching us eagerly!」


  「Huh. She is thinking about something that is worthless」


  「Why do you say such a terrible thing to Puriri-chan!」


  「Ouch」


  Lauren hits Yakum’s head. If it is a normal person, that hit is powerful enough to cause the skull to collapse, but for Lauren, it’s the usual idiom and a little stronger. And in another place different from here――


  「Dance. Fifth Element」


  The spirit sword Fifth Element dances with Claudia while drawing a beautiful five-colored sword flash. She forget that the people around her are in battle and now are admired by Claudia’s sword dance. Her beauty was outstanding among the elves with beautiful shapes. As long as time permits, everyone will want to see Claudia’s sword dance. But the price is death.

  「Id, Idiots! Being fascinated in this situation!」


  Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Light spirits fly around Claudia. The unimaginable beautiful sight seemed like a dance of Claudia and the spirits. As Claudia smiles, the spirits respond to each other as if they were responding to the bandits.

  「Come!」


  「Don’t receive it! Dodge!!」


  Colorful blades such as red, blue, green and yellow pass through the bodies of the bandits.

  「Guaahahaaa…… What? Nothing happened!」


  「That’s true. Tee……you have a line on your body……」


  「He? Then you too――」


  As soon as the people who have been slashed by the spirit blades recognize that they have been slashed, their bodies are gradually cut apart.

  「We can’t win. Run away. I’ll run away!」


  「It’s good to run away, but where?」


  「Where……ah, bastard!」


  On the other side of Claudia, another god of death was waiting. A beautiful girl dressed in Gothic-style clothing, 『Cursed Sword Princess Lara Tumbler』.

  「Gram, you can play with them」


  Lara uses the dark sword skill 『Cursed Sword Unleashing』. When the power of Cursed Sword Gram was unleashed, the jet-black blade raised a cry of joy.

  「Help――」


  The moment of thinking that a black sword flash is coming out from Cursed Sword Gram, the bandits were torn apart in two without even realizing that they were dead.

  Claudia and Lara, who killed all the bandits in less than half a minute, walked when they saw each other. Their appearances confronting the earth where countless corpses are scattered was unusual and beautiful in a sense.

  「Your sword is still plain」


  「Claudia’s skill is only flashy and vulgar」


  「Haa? Don’t you know how many men want to see my sword dance?」


  「They are all crude and vulgar men from a bar in the slums, but they might suit Claudia」


  「Gloomy」


  「Exhibitionist」


  「I can say with confidence that this is a elf’s venerable costume. It seems that an uneducated idiot can’t understand it」


  「Flat-chested」


  「.……Ha?」


  「Claudia has a narrow heart with her poor chest」


  「Who is……flat-chested」


  「Claudia. Are those big ears a decoration that you can’t hear so close?」


  「My chest is not flat-chested. It’s just modest」


  Claudia began to talk to herself, wondering if Lara’s provocation was heard. Claudia in this state is a dangerous sign. However, Lara continues to provoke.

  「Flat-chested, you’re flat-chested」


  Lara roams around Claudia as she claps her hands in time.

  「He, Here……!」


  「What did you say?」


  「I said I’d kill you! You small gloomy child! I won’t forgive you anymore!!」


  「Waa, scary」


  It’s definitely a bar reading. It only fueled Claudia’s anger though Lara made only a gesture.

  「Wait!」


  「I can’t wait」


  Passing through Claudia’s hands which are trying to catch her, Lara escapes towards Comer City.

  「I’m telling you to wait!!」


  Lara who runs away and Claudia who chases her continues for a while——

  「.……Wa, wait, please……」


  A man whose body has been broken to the extent that he cant be kept as prototype begs Ranpou for his life.

  「Why are you still alive?」


  「.……I´m……not a……bandit」


  「I know. You’re pig guy´s underling」


  「Hey, he’s not pig guy´s underling」


  A bear beastman speaks from behind Ranpou.

  「Ah? That’s right. That pig guy was rude to pigs and orcs. He is that chubby guy´s underling」


  「I, It’s going to be a problem…… Muss, Count is……」


  「――Seven times」


  Ranpou intercepts the man’s words.

  「This is the number of times I killed all the dust sent by that chubby guy this year. How many times for you Gonroya?」


  「For me. I guess it was five times」


  「I’ve never had a problem until now. That’s right. It’s just……harassment」


  The man expresses a hopeless expression to Ranpou´s words.

  「Do you understand? If you understand, die quickly」


  「Wa――」


  Ranpou’s golem steps on the man’s head vigorously. The man’s head splattered as if a fruit dropped on the ground burst, leaving a red stain on the ground.

  「Where is Madari?」


  「He went back home. Maybe he is at Muss-sama´s place. We’re on a business trip, so now Muss-sama’s escorts are only Jos and Nung」


  「Are you serious? My golem is guarding Muss-sama」


  「Well, isn’t it good? Apart from that have you heard? It’s likely that an ambassador of the Finance Minister will come in a few days」


  「I know」


  Ranpou picks his ears unpleasantly. Gonroya makes a grimace on that figure.

  「It’s dirty. But I wonder what you’re going to do」


  「Udon Great Ribbon is awarded」


  「Ribbon? What is it?」


  「One of the medals awarded to higher adventurers by Udon Kingdom」


  「Haa. Is it a medal? I wonder who they’re going to give it to」


  「It’s decided. That stupid brat!」


  Ranpou, who had been frustrated until then, couldn’t stand it and raised his voice.

  「Stupid brat are you talking about Satou?」


  「Who else is there? That damn kid, there is no word of gratitude towards Muss-sama, who protects him from the aristocrats」


  「Well look. No matter how you look at it, it’s not like he is just grateful」


  「He is a B-rank adventurer and I’m patient because Muss-sama said that I’ll not put my hands out on him. Is there any limit of patience?」


  「Don’t get so excited. But isn’t it good. He is going to go to the capital city to win Udon Great Ribbon」


  「It’s obvious. The Udon Great Ribbon itself has no monetary value at all. It is an honor to receive it directly from your Majesty in the royal capital」


  「Then, Satou won’t receive it. Isn’t the capital the hideout of the Finance Minister. If you go to a place like that, it’s like going to a trap. That Satou wont go. Absolutely」


  Gonroya whispered alone with his arms folded.

  「But he has to go there」


  「Why?」


  「The ambassador of the Finance Minister is coming to Muss-sama. It’s not a greeting, is it? He told Muss-sama to bring that stinky brat Satou to the capital. But this time, that fat guy is also serious. He is not harassing us like playing so far. Muss-sama has been refusing the invitation to join that chubby guy´s faction until now. Do you know that?」


  「You should ignore that」


  「I was told that it was really serious, as they want to double the tax in Comer City!」


  「Double!? Is there such a stupid story?」


  「If it’s normal, it doesn’t pass. If it’s normal」


  In Udon Kingdom, tax rates in each city are decided by civil servants who serve the capital, including the Finance Minister, but there is no way to double the tax. If it is normal. Balue Voli Knox had the power to pass through something that was not normal.

  「Ah. So you sent a letter to Satou?」


  「Yes. That stupid kid, ignores all the letters I sent!」


  「He is too busy. You know that, don’t you? What about the guys who are surrounding Satou?」


  「That kind of thing, I didn’t know this. Yakum has the same opinion as me about this matter. I don’t want the stupid Joseph to walk around for this convenience. I need to go myself, now!」


  「Satou won’t see you, will he?」


  「Even if he doesn’t like it, I’ll meet him. Gonroya can help me, too」


  「Ah, no no. You’ll be in trouble when Joseph comes back」


  Ranpou walks towards Comer, feeling unhappy and doesn’t listen Gonroya’s remark. Gonroya who sighed from behind chased him.