Chapter 202

After a while, Stomel returned from the guardhouse.
He had five others with him. Two guards and their subordinates.

the subordinates picked up the basin…Embrio the Gelman, and left.
One of the guards went with them.

The guard who remained wanted to question me.
“Eh?”

I bent the hexagonal club with an angry glare.
It bent easily when I imbued it with mana. I would have to straighten it out later.

While the guard shuddered, he would not budge. He had to follow ‘the rules.’
Still, there were times when I couldn’t compromise either. I wanted him to leave as soon as possible.

And so I stood up slowly and menacingly.
The guard grimaced, but I didn’t have time to waste talking here.
“Sir Golan?”

“Stomel. How many people in this town are stronger than Dobroy?”
“…Aside from the Demon King? Perhaps about ten.”

“That’s fewer than I expected.”
“Yes. The Demon King’s lands are vast, and so the others have spread out.”

“I see… So if I went all out, how many would die?”
“Among those ten?”
“Aye.”

Stomel thought about it for a moment.
I had the hexagonal club, and the shield made of Mana Drain Iron.
He then glanced to the dragon scale armor in the corner.

“Among them, I think there will be a few who cannot beat you, Sir Golan.”

My biggest weakness was magic attacks, but if I was able to block them with the shield or armor, then it was pure strength that would win the day.
Perhaps he had decided that races that mainly fought with magic could not beat me.

“…So, guardsman. Your persistence here might result in the Demon King losing some of his Generals.”
I said while moving my face close to his.

“Sir Golan. You should not threaten guards who protect His Majesty’s town…”
Stomel said in a troubled voice, but I ignored him.

“Stomel is my witness. This town will take heavy losses because of you. Now, think hard on that before you reply.”

“As I said… No, nevermind. We will question the prisoner.”

“Good. Now please leave.”
“Ye-yes.”

The last guard ran out of the room in a hurry.

“Sir Golan. This will definitely be reported to their superiors.”
“I have an important appointment. …Sorry, but I’ll need you to take care of things.”

“You want me to go to the guard house again?’
“Yes, thank you. You can take your time. There’s no need to rush back.”

“…Very well. I will go. I would have to do it eventually anyway.”
“I really am sorry, and appreciate your effort.”

Then I pointed to the door so he would hurry. Stomel stared at me for a moment and then left.

“…Phew. Finally.”
Now there was no one who could get in my way.

I exited my room and went to the one that was two doors down the hallway.
“…!”

The Shadow Ape held his stomach as he groaned. Then his eyes turned towards me.

“So you’re awake after all. I should have hit you a little harder. However, it seems like some of the damage has stuck.”
That was good.

Apparently, he had not heard what was happening in my room, and wasn’t aware that there had been guards here either.
I wasn’t sure what the laws were like around here, but I imagine it was a straight route to execution once you were arrested and taken to the guardhouse.

But I didn’t want that. And so I had to get rid of everyone.
Now we could have some alone time.

He had been bearing the pain until he was able to move.
“Now, there are some things I want to ask you. Serious questions.”

About Nehyor. And Nehyor. I wanted to know about Nehyor.
Seriously.

“Y-you bastard… Don’t think you’ll get away with…gaah!!”
“I’ll ask the questions, and you just have to answer. Nice and easy, isn’t it? Now, let’s start with your name.”

This Shadow Ape was a high-ranker.
If I was still an Ogre, I would likely die even though I was in the best condition and fully prepared. If I was lucky, I would be able to damage him just a little. That’s the kind of person he was.

But now that I had evolved and my mana had skyrocketed, even a Shadow Ape no longer felt like a threat.

Still, high-rankers were tough. A half-assed attack would not be enough to hurt them.
And so I firmly held the back of his head in place while I repeatedly smashed him in the face with my mana-aided fist.

“You see, I want to finish this before Stomel gets back. So we have to get through this first part quickly.”
If this wasn’t enough, I was prepared to bash him with the shield, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

The Shadow Ape’s face began to get crushed out of shape, and I knew that my fists were effective.

I learned that his name was Legis.
He was part of a gang that accepted illegal jobs. So I had been right after all.

These outlaws were led by someone called Lesser Demon King Betz. And Legis had been sent to this town as part of Nehyor’s request.

Lesser Demon King Betz had no country of his own, and so he spent his time moving from one base to the next.

In fact, there were many other gangs like this, who did not have their own specific land. The Wild Hunt was one of them.
They usually attacked villages, and when a price was put on their heads, they would flee to a different country. This would repeat many times.

As for this Legis. Surprisingly, he specialised in assassinations.

“Can someone as short tempered as you really be an assassin?”
“I’m light on my feet and can enter most places…”

Well, he was an ape.
They were known to be the physical types, and were very strong.
And they made less noise while attacking than magic types.

While most of the flying races were weak, he was both fast and strong.
So perhaps he really was suited for assassinations.

“…And so you came to this town in order to meet the informant.”

“Yes. I heard that it was an emergency so I came quickly. However, the person I was supposed to meet didn’t show up.”

“So that’s why you were so annoyed. …By the way, your friend has already been arrested.”

“What… How do you know!? When?”

“Shut up. I’m the one who’s asking the questions.
I punched Legis in the stomach. It was the second time today.

As Legis groaned, I smiled and asked him what I really wanted to know.

“Now for the main subject. Where do I have to go in order to meet Nehyor?”
Nehyor was going around and causing mischief. My subordinates and I were suffering terribly as a result. I would never forgive him for that.

“I don’t know. He always disappears without a trace. I have no way of contacting him.”
“Then just tell me what you do know.”

After a little pain, I finished getting all the information that I could out of him. And then Stomel returned from the guardhouse.
Well, it had been time well spent. But sadly, I would not be able to act right away.

“Sir Golan… Who is this?”
“Ah, him? This is the person that the Gelman was trying to contact. He was going to assassinate someone.”

“…Oh.”
Stomel looked at me with a very troubled expression.

“Stomel. I’m very sorry, but…”
“You need me to go to the guardhouse, yet again.”

“Yes. Thank you.”
This time, Stomel left without saying a word.

Next Chapter

Makai Hongi