Clock was surprised and looked back and forth between the scroll and Boyit’s face.
A villain who would kidnap the Holy Maiden for money was giving away expensive items for free.
A bad premonition rose.
"...Clock. Actually, the cargo on the ship is... that’s a magical beast summoning scroll. There are tons of them loaded. ...We were transporting them in cooperation with merchants on the Demon Continent to support the group that caused the coup in the theocracy."
"...Wait, Boyit. You..."
He didn’t want to hear anymore. No, it was already too late.
Boyit, the asshole merchant in front of him, had probably been a death bridge, and Clock only realized it now.
"The main client was probably a noble from the Demon Continent, or maybe the Demon King or someone around there..."
"You’re going to die, aren’t you...?"
Even if he was an accomplice in the same hole as Boyit, Clock was stunned.
Boyit himself showed he was uneasy about his future.
If he had been uneasy from the start, he wouldn’t have stuck his neck into extra things, but probably he got bitten by greed for money.
"The mediator sent a pigeon and told me the kidnapped Holy Maiden was taken back and the job failed. The magical beast scrolls must be destroyed before they’re found as evidence. The scrolls will be sent back to the Demon Continent via the Beast Continent."
"So that’s why the destination is Nushutei. Are you seriously trying to die? Magical beast scrolls are banned, and inciting or sabotaging is treason punishable by the entire family being executed."
"I know that. For now I had my slaves kill all the employees except the slaves. It would be troublesome if they slipped and talked about extra things. So I need people. Clock, come with me to the Demon Continent. I’ll pay you."
There was no way!! He wanted to shout, but he swallowed it.
Boyit’s invitation was not a joke; it was a dangerously dangerous case. The risk of being discovered was too high, and he didn’t even want to meet a demon. There was no reason to agree at all.
He wanted to pour the wine and go home, but the only thing he didn’t want was not being able to board the ship.
For now, he would play along and do a disappearing act when they reached Nushutei.
"Well, you’re on your own, huh? You’d die like that. This time I’ll go with you."
Since he was essentially a hostage, he couldn’t ignore it.
For now he decided to cooperate with Boyit.
"O, for real?! I thought you’d definitely refuse!!"
"You don’t want to go, right? I’ll tell you, when you get back safely, I’ll treat you properly!"
"Hahaha, sure! How about I give you a big-breasted slave? I have this really big-assed one—"
He continued the conversation in a way that sounded like he reluctantly agreed.
Maybe when he realized he had been tricked, he would rage, but this man who had dragged him into such a stupidly dangerous thing was the worse one.
On the contrary, he wanted to say "thank you for going to the Beast Continent with me."
After that, they continued with some detours and gross conversation, then boarded the carriage and returned to the ship.
At this point, he could no longer return to this country.
It might be possible someday, but by then he would probably have settled in a foreign land.
The town didn’t have much sentimental value.
While watching the scenery pass by as the carriage rocked, Boyit suddenly said they should get off here.
It was a connection between the commercial district and quasi-industrial zone. The distance to the pier was a little far, so it was too far to stop.
"Hey, what’s up?"
"Clock, look over there."
Boyit pointed to the front of the paved road.
A group of soldiers in unfamiliar armor were walking in regular formation.
"...The town security force."
Apparently they were knights. The unfamiliar look was because they were different from the capital knights.
It was an opponent he didn’t want right now.
"Are we getting off the carriage?"
"You don’t want to walk straight, right? It’s not a big distance, so let’s take a detour."
They got off the carriage and walked.
The strong sunlight on his back made him feel tired.
Only a few hours until the sky turned red, yet he was walking at this time.
"Boyit, actually I have a slave with me. Can I go pick her up for a moment?"
He realized it would be better to go pick up Adelina first.
Once they boarded the ship, they would just depart.
It was better to separate for now and bring her along than to go together.
There were other roads to the pier, but this was the closest.
The knights would be an obstacle if they went back and forth. It was also troublesome to take a long detour.
As time passed, they would probably move too.
"Did you have money to buy a slave? Good, I’m waiting. Come back quick."
He agreed with the extra remark.
He couldn’t complain because he was in the right.
More precisely, if he had brought her from the start, he wouldn’t have had to go back and forth.
If he had known it was just for directing, he would have brought her.
"Hey, look, Clock. There’s a little kid mixed in with the knights."
"Eh?"
He was about to go back when he was called and turned around.
In the knights pointed out by Boyit’s gaze, there was one who was taller than the others.
He wore completely different armor.
It looked like a child trying to stand on tiptoes had blended in.
He had thick gauntlets and greaves.
His thighs and arms were bare, wearing light armor of a type he rarely saw.
He carried a round shield on his back and had long beautiful blonde hair that covered half of it.
She was a very small female knight.
She looked more like an adventurer’s outfit than a public servant.
"Well, I’ll go for a bit."
He thought it was strange, but he didn’t feel curious, so he passed by.
If it had been an absolute beauty with adult charm, it would have taken ten times longer to stop, but as her small body shrank, she disappeared from his sight.
This was a matter of preference, so he couldn’t help it.
He tried to leave the pier again.
But the sight didn’t end with just being strange.
The small girl in light armor turned back toward them.
And then she said the words Clock absolutely didn’t want to hear.
"Ah, you’re here. Clock Rivorno."
Their eyes met.
A strong oppressive feeling he had felt before. The killing intent he had tasted just a few days ago struck his whole body.
For a moment, various thoughts flashed through his mind, but Clock’s reaction was quick because he had already been on alert from the encounter with soldiers.
"——!! Call for help!! Siren!!"
He took the scroll he had just received from his bosom and poured mana into it.
The scroll unfolded. The drawn magic circle glowed and activated.
Boyit was startled by Clock’s sudden strange behavior.
Before the two of them, huge wings appeared from the void.
The moment the wings appeared, Clock ran to the back at full speed.
In an instant, a destruction sound rang out from behind.
It was the sound of the female knight stepping forward and smashing the stone floor.
In Clock’s mind, the words "Hero party" flashed by.
The first battle of the pursuit had begun.