Chapter 14 – Morning Attack

“You’re not as bad as you claimed.”

Euphie said. And then Tor replied.

“And you’re not that good.”

The battle on the board game was getting more heated than anticipated, and it was a back and forth of offense and defense.
The twins had given the impression of high intelligence, especially when ascertaining the method for smuggling, but it seemed that their individual characteristics came out more when the other was asleep.
If there was a reason that the battle was so heated, it was because Euphie tended to act by instinct. In spite of being quick to determine what would be the best move, she did not like to take her time and read too far ahead. In fact, she didn’t read more than five moves.
On the other hand, while Tor had been modest about his ability, he was a decent player. And so as long as he employed the standard tactics, he could make up for the difference through experience.
While Tor clearly had the weaker formation, Euphie groaned at the battle situation, which still left her on edge.

“I didn’t mean to insult you. But you make very precise moves, kind of like Mailey.”
“Standard tactics are the result of experience.”

Perhaps Mailey was good at building theories based on knowledge, while Euphie went by instinct.
When they were together, the two heads could construct two types of theories, and so his medium ability would be no match for them.
Tor could now see why she had been excited to play one against one.
As the game continued, Euphie would occasionally make unpredictable moves that changed the situation, and just before dawn, when it was the darkest, the game ended.

“It’s been a while since I used my head so much in a game.”

It was a good kind of tiredness of the brain that Tor felt. Though, the lack of sleep made his eyes glaze over, and so he looked out of the window in order to rest them.
As he gazed at the town that was illuminated in lamp posts, he thought he heard the hard sounds of carriage wheels running over stone streets, and he sat up in his chair.

“…What?”

The gates to the town wouldn’t even be opened yet. And so it was too early for the carriage to leave.
Euphie also heard the sounds, and her hands stopped as she was putting away the board game.

“The employees would all be asleep now, so it cannot be a customer. And it can’t be a merchant if the gates are closed.”

Feeling suspicious, Euphie got up in order to wake Mailey.
Tor looked at the street below the window.
There was a two-horse wagon that had stopped right in front of the Ubaz company. A young man jumped off of the driver’s seat and then looked up at Tor.
…Damn it!
Seeing that the man had strengthened his body, Tor immediately leapt back from the window.
In the next instant, a wooden box crashed through the glass and into the room.
The box shattered after hitting the ceiling, and the bag of salt that was inside now spread around the room.

“…Wh-what is this!?”

Mailey said with astonishment after waking up to see that the room was covered in salt. However, she quickly understood what had happened through her shared thoughts with Euphie. And she quickly got out of bed.
Magitec hands grabbed the rim of the window and the intruder pulled himself up.
It was the driver.
At the same time, they could hear a lot of noise coming from downstairs.
The invader looked at Euphie and Mailey and opened his mouth with a frantic expression.

“Ladies, you must come with me.”
“We refuse.”
“There is no time. I’ll use force if I have to…”

But the man did not continue his words.
Tor rushed out from his blind spot and closed the gap between them. Then he smashed his fist, which wore the chain glove, into the side of the man’s face.
It was so strong that the man’s jaw must have shattered as he flew out of the window.
Tor clicked his tongue.

“Really. Not even a ‘may I come in?’”

He joked as he turned to look at the twins.

“That one was from Magic Centipede, right? What is happening?”
“I do not know. He was clearly after us, but we don’t have enough information.”

Euphie and Mailey shook their heads.
As the clammer from below grew louder, they heard the heavy footsteps of someone coming up the staircase.
If they were after the twins, then there was only one thing for Tor to do as their guard.

“While I don’t know what is happening, there will be no end to it if we stay here. We’ll unite with the manager.”

Tor picked up the twins in his arms and ran towards the window.
The footsteps going up the stairs were now right behind the door.
He strengthened his body and put his foot on the rim of the window.
And at the same time as he leapt, the room of the door was kicked open.
Tor looked over his shoulder as flew from the window.
The intruders were Haran and an Adventurer with a magitec arm who was likely part of Magic Centipede. Haran must have been asleep until a moment ago, as he was wearing a rough nightgown.

“Damn it! Don’t let them get away! Get the twins!”

Haran shouted so loudly, as if forgetting that there were neighbors.
For them, this was likely a completely unexpected situation.
After flying out of the window, Tor ignored the Magic Centipede underlings waiting below as he landed in the wagon. Then he charged forward in spite of being surrounded.

“A charge? You have a lot of nerve for a B-Ranker!”

The Magic Centipede underlings moved to unsheath their weapons in order to catch Tor.
However, their expressions soon turned to shock as they realized that their blades were fixed to their sheaths and would not budge.

“It won’t come out?”

As they were left confused by the fact that no matter how much they tried, they could not unsheath their weapons, Tor held the twins in both arms and rushed past them.

“This isn’t a very gentlemanly way to escort a lady from her house.”
“I would give you more credit if you didn’t shake me so much.”

Tor ignored Euphie and Mailey’s protests as he entered a narrow alley and then put them down on the ground.

“I don’t see Wenz. Or any of the main members of Magic Centipede for that matter.”

Had there been B-Rank Adventurers there as well, they would not have allowed Tor to get through while still holding the twins. Even if they couldn’t unsheath their swords, Tor had his hands full, and yet they could not stop him. That showed how they lacked coordination.

“We’re going to the guild. I’ll get rid of anyone who tries to stop us. So calm down and run.”

Tor took out his chain chakram from his pouch, and then scattered caltrops on the ground in the alley.

“Are you a ninja, Mr. Tor?”
“I’m just the son of a common farmer. Now run.”

As they started running towards the guild, Tor perked up his ears.
It was just before the breaking of dawn, and the streets should have been quiet, and yet the town was buzzing.
Tor and the twins had the feeling that something big was going to happen as they ran towards the Adventurers Guild.

Next Chapter

On The 10th Year The Transferee Who Gave Up Returning Finally Becomes The Protagonist