After calming down, Lloyd returned and sat in front of Henrik again.
Henrik gave a light smile and spoke.
“What do you think, now that you have had some time to think?”
“The leader of the Dark Order is my enemy….”
Lloyd wore an expression as though he could not believe it.
“For now, I'll believe what you say. But again, I don't trust you as a person.”
Yes, yes.
“So why did that bastard attack my house…?”
“I promised, did I not? That I would give you more information once you showed results from your training.”
Henrik drained the remaining beer in one gulp.
“…Fine. I need to build my strength anyway. Though I do not have much faith in the training method you taught me. What was it called again, squatu?”
“Call it whatever is easiest for you. The name is not important anyway.”
With his stamina exhausted, Lloyd's meal continued for a long time. Henrik silently watched him until he finished eating.
'Come to think of it, even after eating that much during the day, this bastard did not get sick?'
His digestive system was extraordinary as well. Since he was eating well, he would be able to put on weight quickly.
Such a prickly personality in such a frail body. Henrik could roughly picture how much the boy had been pushed around until now.
“Urk… Gulp… Gulp.”
“Do not overdo it until tomorrow. Though you will not be able to, even if you want to.”
“What do you mean?”
“You will know when you wake up.”
His legs would be wrecked and shaking.
By the time Lloyd finished eating, the sun had already fully set.
Seeing the faint smile that appeared on Lloyd's face only after a meal, Henrik gave a quiet chuckle and rose from his seat.
“I have a separate place to stay, so I will leave first.”
Lloyd raised a hand in farewell.
Wrapped in the fullness of his stomach, he quietly closed his eyes and seemed to melt into the chair as though they were one body.
'When will our protagonist start acting like a protagonist?'
Lloyd was weak not only in the beggars' den but even at the inn. Judging from his personality, there was no way things like that did not bother him.
'He must be piling up resentment inside. One day, it will explode. Once he has enough skill to explode.'
Leaving the inn, Henrik went straight into the forest.
Today, just as yesterday, he had important work to do at the hideout.
'When I go to the hideout this time, I need to meet Lucifer. I hope that devil bastard listens well.'
The moon was dark that night, and thanks to that, even less was visible in the forest than usual.
Henrik flinched several times at sounds as though wild animals were rustling through the brush, but when he lit the area with magic, nothing in particular caught his eye.
'…Do I have to come this way every time? It's scary.'
As it grew dark enough that he could no longer see an inch in front of him, Henrik was just about to rub the Ring of Dantalion and return to Hess's form.
WHOOSH—!
'Gah!'
Henrik instinctively and easily dodged the magic arrow flying at him from behind.
“Tch, have you got eyes in the back of your head? Hello there.”
When Henrik turned around, a large man had a glowing magic sphere floating in the air.
Thanks to that, Henrik could see the man's appearance and immediately realized he knew him.
'From his build, I thought he was a muscle-bound fighter, but he was a mage?'
It was the bastard Henrik had met in the beggars' den—the one who had taken gold coins from him and handed Lloyd over.
“Big guy, we meet again. It looks like you got lost in the forest?”
“I almost got lost. But I followed the scent of gold coins, so there was nothing to worry about. Heh.”
Ah, so he dared to rummage through Henrik's pockets?
“Have you eaten something bad?”
“Heh, the one who ate something bad is you. You are not a noble, and you are even less Henrik. What are you?”
“Hmm?”
“It does not matter. The only business I have is with the gold coins you have. Hand them over, and I will let you live.”
What was with this bastard?
The large man concentrated mana in one hand. It was so weak that it was not enough to see with the naked eye, but Henrik could detect it.
“I am not Henrik?”
“Henrik is dead, you dumb bastard. Do I look like a total sucker? That fake necklace of Henrik's isn't even funny.”
No wonder he had seemed to accept it so easily. The man had not believed him from the beginning.
And why was the rumor that Henrik was dead so widespread? Did they actually know what they were talking about?
“Then why did you not attack while your lackeys were there, and why cause a fuss only now?”
“Heh… If I did that, I would have to split the gold coins with the bastards in the den. The strong take all!”
The man narrowed his eyes like a snake and smacked his lips. Soon, a faint light spread from his hand.
'Long-range magic?'
There was quite a distance between them. The shockwave Henrik had used to break the hideout entrance was for close range. Even if he used it at this distance, it would not reach.
'…I cannot recall any long-range magic at all.'
Then there was only one way.
“Heh! I will put your money to good use. Die!”
The Ice Arrow that left the man's hand shot toward Henrik's forehead like a bolt.
But Henrik easily turned his body and dodged it.
“Haha, you are pretty good. How long can you keep dodging? This is fun! Keep struggling!”
The man fired Ice Arrows without pause. But,
'I can see all of them. Dodging them is nothing.'
What Henrik was paying the most attention to was not the Ice Arrows.
'Tch, he casts magic faster than I thought. I need to watch and learn quickly before I can counterattack.'
As he watched the man cast magic, Henrik was mentally rehearsing the movements.
'…Good, I can start to see the movement of his muscles. I can see the flow of mana too.'
Soon, the man stopped casting magic.
“Huff… What is this bastard's problem? Did you only practice dodging? You are a troublesome bastard.”
The man drew the sword hanging at his waist. Bloodstains had not yet been fully cleaned from its chipped blade. It looked perfectly suited to kill someone with an infection if it cut them.
But such words from such a man did not reach Henrik's ears.
'…I roughly understand what kind of magic it is. I think I can use it.'
Henrik began concentrating mana in his hand.
“Whoa, whoa… What is this? You can use magic? You must have learned a little magic to play at being someone else.”
The man even stopped approaching while twirling his sword and laughed leisurely, as though telling Henrik to go ahead.
“Will you even be able to cast that fast? I will dodge it the same way. Go on, do it. I said, do it. Hehehe.”
FWOOSH—!
“H-Huh…!”
The Ice Arrow flew at the man in an instant.
Henrik's casting speed was several times faster than the man's.
However,
'Aah… I missed it.'
The Ice Arrow grazed past the man and flew off to his right.
'Last time, I could not control the force. This time, aiming is difficult?'
How could he know without ever using magic like this? Damn it, was Lloyd not the only one who needed training?
“Hah… Hah, this is….”
Yet the large man froze in place and began trembling.
'……A perfect predictive shot!'
The man's breath caught in his throat.
'I was definitely planning to dodge right… I survived only because that bastard's casting speed was so fast that I could not react in time.'
If he had had enough time to dodge, he would have been hit by the predictive shot and would already be dead.
It was a casting speed he had never seen in his life. On top of that, the speed of the Ice Arrow itself was at a level he had never seen before.
He was a tremendously skilled expert. He was certainly skilled enough to hit with an Ice Arrow every time.
Yet even with such speed, the bastard had used a predictive shot.
'…Did he think I might be able to dodge? Did he see me as that skilled an expert?'
The large man's face felt as though it would burn with shame.
'No, I absolutely cannot dodge! I am not that skilled an expert!'
And what was this situation? After only dodging the entire time, an expert like him had finally counterattacked with nothing more than an Ice Arrow?
…The bastard had deliberately used an Ice Arrow.
First, he had shown that he could dodge magic like mine as much as he pleased.
Then, with the same magic, he had shown how quickly he himself could cast it, making me feel the gap in our abilities.
…It was impossible to imagine someone who had reached such a realm impersonating another person.
'It is undoubtedly… Henrik!'
The large man dropped his sword and threw himself flat on the ground.
“I-I am sorry! I did not recognize Lord Henrik!”
Henrik gathered powerful mana in one hand and slowly walked toward the man.
The man, who had been bowing his head, lifted it slightly and jumped at the sight of Henrik's blue-glowing hand. Yet he did not dare even beg for his life.
'Is this how I die…!'
Henrik walked right up to the man's face.
“Did you say you are the second-in-command in the beggars' den around here?”
“Y-Yes!”
The powerful mana gathered in Henrik's hand gave off a strange noise.
The man thought that if death had a sound, it would sound like this.
But soon, the sound faded.
'H-Huh?'
When the large man looked up, Henrik was standing with his hands behind his back, looking down at him.
“Kneel.”
“Y-Yes!”
Once the man knelt, Henrik squatted down and met his eyes at the same level.
“The reason I should not kill you….”
“Th-That is! I have a mother who raised me alone, and…!”
“Do not interrupt me. Who told you to give me a reason?”
“I-I am sorry.”
“The reason lies with me. From now on, listen carefully to what I say.”
The large man looked at Henrik with tearful eyes.
“Ordinarily, you would already be a corpse.”
“I-I know!”
“But if you act as my informant, I may extend your life a little longer.”
“How long will you extend it…?”
“I will keep you alive as long as you work for me.”
Of course, the Dark Order's intelligence network was incomparably better than that of mere beggars.
But to use the organization's intelligence network, Henrik was bound by the restriction that he had to be Hess.
He needed an informant he could use while he was Henrik as well.
Beggars would do anything for money in the first place, but if he could hold their lives as collateral, they would become far more useful.
“Then… If I work for Lord Henrik all my life…?”
“You will live out your natural lifespan.”
“Please entrust your work to me for the rest of my life!”
“What is your name?”
“Hope…!”
Henrik, who had been squatting, straightened his waist and stood.
“I need to use you, so I will not drive you hard enough to make you a cripple. But I will drive you right up to that point.”
When the kneeling Hope raised his head to look at Henrik's face, the moon had emerged from the clouds and hung over Henrik's head.
At that sight, Hope felt his heart swell without realizing it.
“Depending on how you work, I may let you live. If I feel like it.”
“S-Sob…! Lord Henrik!”
Hope threw himself down and began wailing like a child.
“Stay in the beggars' den until I come for you. If you run, you're dead.”
“Sob… Do not worry! I will devote this body and work for you all my life! S-Sob!”
Henrik left the man to cry or speak as he pleased and headed toward the hideout.
'Whew, every day is a crisis. I don't know what happened, but… Did he perhaps piss himself at my overwhelming presence?'
When the man's wailing had gradually faded until it could no longer be heard, Henrik rubbed the Ring of Dantalion and returned to Hess's body.
Hess lit the hideout entrance with magical flames. Unlike yesterday, a thick steel door stood firmly in place.
“…When Your Eyes Are Blurry.”
“Vitamin A.”
CREEEAK…
The steel door began to open slowly and laboriously. Peering inside through the half-open gap, Hess saw three men clinging to the door and pushing with grunts.
And four people greeted Hess.
“Have you returned, Lord Hess?”
Saya, looking the same as always. And,
“You have returned!”
“Give us a new punishment!”
“Kill us!”
The Three Idiots.
'……Why are these guys not dead?'