“Heup~!”

I stretch my body, in order to confirm whether it had returned to its former state. I was at the inn, and am preparing to head out to the hideout after making some preparations. Since there’s a “Slayer” involved, and I’m pretty much a novice, I’m not sure I can beat the Slayer. Of course, there’s a good chance that it’s just a farce, but being cautious ain’t a crime, right?

“Alright. I don’t think anything feels wrong”

I comment, swinging the sword in an arc, just to confirm once again. Right.

I sniff the air. The drug is still present, although the smell is getting fainter by the second, with the wind blowing into the corridor. I had opened the window, so that I don’t get any nasty rebounds from inhaling the drug too much or anything.

I keep sniffing, trying to track down the source. It’s a flowery and fragrant scent, and just inhaling it makes me feel light headed. Kinda. I walk down the corridor, to the turn in the hall.

A dead end.

There was a window there, the hinges creaking in the night wind. I check, leaning out of the window.

As I thought huh.

A rope ladder was dangling down, swaying in the wind. This must be how they got in and how that squeaky voiced guy escaped. I cut the ladder, letting it fall onto the ground. I don’t need them to creep in this way.

I search around, and finally find something. A gray powder. Just a hint of it, near the wall. I rub it off and smell it. Ah. The same smell. Ash huh?

Some kind of incense? That’s what comes to my mind. I look towards the corridor in which the rooms are. A single window here, the others all shut. I guess those gas masks are to ensure that they don’t breathe in the drug. And seeing that this place was made airtight, it’s obvious that this place would be heavily filled with the scent, immediately knocking out adventurers and the lot.

I head over to Reginald, who was still sleeping. What a careless guy. His party member got abducted and he’s out like a light. Men should be like me~

I lift him up from the bed, and carry him downstairs. I cross the counter, and open the backdoor. The landlady’s room. I lay him down on the bed there. Yup, most people won’t think of checking such places.

Likewise, I bring Saki here, and lay her down too, on a separate bed. Can’t let them lie on the same bed. What if Reginald had sleep groping tendencies?! The various scenes from the manga I had read enter my head, so I decide to let Reginald sleep on the floor.

As to why I didn’t wake him up yet, I’m not really sure whether I should call him. It’s not a matter of his strength, it’s more of the Slayer part. What if he finds out I’m a slayer? They were nice guys. I wouldn’t want them hating me for stuff like my class.

After making sure the sleeping beauties were tucked in, I began my preparations. I head out of the room, and take out the stuff I need. Ten minutes at most. You guys will be ok for that long, right?

I sat down, cross legged, in front of the room. I survey the stuff before me.

A demon bird’s blood, the ash of a burnt silver wolf, the desiccated remains of a Chimpak. A champak was a monkey like monster, with huge wide ears. A great annoyance, thanks to their speed and their mobility, but quite weak.

I take the small bowl, and pour the blood from the vial. The thick red blood flows into the bowl. I take the ash of the silver wolf, and mix it with the desiccated Chimpak’s entrails. After mixing it, I heat it, all the while crushing it into a powder. Once it turns a bright yellow, I prick my finger, and let a small drop blood fall onto the powder. Then, I add the powder into the blood.

A deep green color spreads across the surface of the blood. I put in two fingers and mix it, slowly rotating my fingers. Two times clockwise, seven times counter clockwise.

I finish the ink I needed, and take out the parchment from my ring.

Dipping my fingers into the deep green mixture, and begin drawing the inscription circle. I pour in mana into my finger, and begin drawing, gently.

Sweat beads my forehead, as I struggle to complete the barrier inscription. My mana was almost dried up, but somehow, I finish it. With the last stroke, I cut the supply, and heave a sigh of relief.

I take out a towel and wipe my sweaty face. Drawing barrier inscriptions is simply too much for me. But Master had insisted that I learn it, and drilled it into me. She said it would be useful to make traps for monsters in order to weaken them. Almost 10 minutes have passed. I need to get going, soon.

I paste the barrier inscription onto the door, with some resin like substance I had collected in the forest. The ring kept it sticky, thankfully.

I deploy the barrier, and I can feel an invisible barrier surrounding the room. Yosh~ that should keep them safe for now. Only I can enter the barrier, so intruders will have some difficulty.

I meditate, closing my eyes, in order to let my mana replenish itself. Thankfully, the regen rate is quite high, compensating for my low quantity.

In a minute, I ascertain that I had recovered over half of my mana. I quickly change, wearing the coat Arcus san had got me. I take out Rebellion, and place the steel sword in the ring.

After a lot of deliberation, I take out the mask. It has been in the coat pocket all this time, and this would be the first time I wear it.

I remember the hood, so I brush my hair back, and attach the hood on. Alright, now no one can find me based on the hair color.

Chaos King sets off!

I race across the plains, the cold night air cutting into the coat, making it flutter. I use my full speed, since I wasted quite some time already. I headed towards those mountains, the pig said that there were caves there.

And about the pig, I tied him up, securely. But feeling insecure, put him in my room, covered him up, and hit him once more, to make sure he was knocked out.  I made a small trap outside, in case the squeaky voice or someone else came into the room to save their ‘Big bro’.

I quickly deploy Detect. I knew that it can be fooled, but maybe they won’t use illusions near their base.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

No luck huh.

The entire mountain gives off a no life sign reading, regrettably. But I intensify the energy, hoping for a breakthrough.

I vaguely sensed someone. Above the mountain, I could feel a presence.

I crouched down, and began sending dragon energy into my legs. No wait. Dust clouds get raised whenever I use that. I need to be inconspicuous now.

I jump onto the wall, and with a minor enhancement, quickly climb up.

Once I climb onto the cliff, I spot the presence immediately.

A small girl, wearing dark green clothes. She had dark green hair, tied in twin tails. Mili.

She was lying on the ground, and looking at the face of a mountain, expecting something. Hm? Is that where their hideout is?

I walk upto her, and poke her on the shoulder. Mistake.

She gets shocked and almost screamed, so I immediately clamped her mouth shut. She began squirming around in my hands.

In Japan, I would have already been arrested.

“Mili, it’s me! Yuuya!”

I whisper into her ear, and she calms down. Good. I let her go, and she suddenly turns and kicks me on the leg.

“Idiot Yuuya! How long does it take for you to come! They…they took Maria!”

She kept kicking and admonishing me. I stayed silent. It’s my fault after all.

After she vented out her frustration, she sat down on the ground, her cheeks puffed. Her eyes were swollen. I see, she was crying huh. I sat down next to her, and put my arm around her. Then I pat her head.

“Were you scared, Mili?”

At my question, she tears up, and hugs onto me, crying. She stays like that, burying her face onto my coat. I keep patting her head, saying ‘There,there’.

“It wabb sooww scawwy, you know? Bhey book Mawia! I wab sow scabbed!”

She kept crying, for five more minutes. And I kept patting her. She finally settled down. She’s a little girl after all.

“Don’t worry, Yuuya sama is here! “

I said to her, showing a thumbs up. She sniffles, and smiles at me. Poor thing.

“Then, what happened?”

“Um, it was at the inn..”

According to Mili, she immediately found out that something was wrong with the air, and stopped breathing. Maria got knocked out immediately, so scared, she hid behind the door of the room. Some men came in, and took her out, it seems. She followed them, and saw two more men, carrying out Niviel san. She said she couldn’t come to me, since she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to find Maria’s trail. She followed after them, and somehow, trailed them. Then only did she notice that the village’s residents were illusions. And they came here, and headed into the rock, passing through it.

“Oh…  Then Mili, hop on! We’re gonna get them, and wipe out these guys!”

“Un!”

“I’ll be depending on you for support fire, okay?”

She nods, and climbs onto my shoulders, straddling my neck. Then, let’s begin the bandit extermination mission. Of course, I won’t kill them. I’m a normal high school student from modern Japan. As if killing people is simple! Killing monsters is different though. The RPG mindset protects me!

I head towards the rock, stealthily from the side. I place my hand on the rock, and contrary to my expectations, it slips right through. I see, the entire entrance is blocked by an illusion, huh?

Mili stays low, pressing her head against mine. I slowly step into the rock, still feeling cautious. The scenery changes suddenly, and I’m in a cavern.

Woah! That was sorta like from that train station for wizards in the novel that I had read!

The walls of the cavern were dark, and the entrance was located at quite a height. The passage moved down, opening up into a huge room, for all I could see. There was some faint light coming from the room, which was what gave me some visibility. I looked at the guard near the entrance. Luckily, he was sleeping. I hit him on the back of his neck, tie him up, and leave him there.

When I look back, I can see the open air and the cliff. Hm… A one way illusion huh.

I stealthily move through the passage, and peep down.

The source of light in the cavern was immediately identified.

A huge pool of water was at the floor of the huge cavern. From its depth, a mystic light was emerging, filling the entire cavern with its luminescence. A lot of people were here, sitting around and chatting. Roughly cut stairs led down onto the floor from where I was standing. I was at a height of about 6 meters. The cavern roof was another 6 meters above me. Mili gasped at the sight, gazing at the pool of water.

Then I noticed. In the center of the pool, there was a small land mass. On it, sat a man. I couldn’t see his face properly, owing to the shadow cast by the landmass, but I could see his well built body. The boss character? He sat, there, unmoving. Was he meditating or something?

But crap, this is a problem. I have no idea where the others are, and I can see a passage heading deeper into the cavern. But, there were a lot of people sitting near it. Meaning, stealth was useless. Fighting like a madman was also a no go, since there’s a chance that something might happen to them.

Right! I used Detect again, and finally, finally, it worked.

I could see that there was a room beyond the passage, and something like a treasure room. The room had the girls. I could faintly see something like boxes, so I’m guessing those are cages.

Now, how do I proceed with the rescue mission?

The idea pops into my head almost immediately, and I smile mischievously.

 {Just a reminder, but Yuuya never uses the equipment he got from Baras, since they're quite good, no excellent equipment, and it'll make him conspicuous if he used them, as he's supposed to be a weak and naive adventurer. The kidnapping arc ends in the next chapter, or so i think}