Chapter 54: Severing Ties with the Past

Standing at the castle gates, it was a tense standoff between the beastman special forces led by Master and the adventurers under Cain’s command.

Meanwhile, Goran-san’s squad, “FOX,” was hidden up on the terrace, ready in their sniping positions. By the way, the gatling gun had officially been scrapped… or rather, forcibly scrapped. After all, mass-producing minced corpses through slaughter would only crush our allies’ morale.

“Yuria! We came to save you! Come back with us!”

Cain called out loudly, stopping in his tracks after approaching within a reasonable distance, pointing his sword at Master. Flanking him were four women, presumably his companions, all glaring at Yuria with seething hostility.

…Wait, aren’t there more women than before? This is bad enough to make Master look preferable in comparison.

“…………”

Yuria, the one being addressed, was rubbing her temple with her index finger, apparently suffering from a headache.

For me, Lulu, and Master—who all knew the circumstances—this was a complete “what the hell is this guy saying?” moment. With what mouth did he come here claiming to save her, when he’s nearly a year late?

“We heard it from His Majesty! You were bought as a slave by that man and forced to serve him! That’s why I’ve come to rescue you! I won’t make the same mistake again—this time, I won’t let you go… so come back with us!”

The strangest part of this whole thing was how genuine he sounded.

Oddly enough, there wasn’t even a trace of deceit or ulterior motive about him. He seemed dead serious, which honestly made it even scarier. I mean, even the worst ‘failed hero’ types these days would have the sense to think things through a little.

To think someone would shamelessly proclaim “I came to save you” about a girl he himself sold off into slavery… it was beyond laughable.

“I don’t know what delusions you’ve got, but I’m here because I want to be—with my husband, with Lord Shuya.”

“What are you saying?! That guy’s keeping other women around too, isn’t he? Anyone can see just by looking—he’s no good!”

Cain snapped back after briefly shooting glares at me and Lulu before turning to scowl at Master.

“…Says the guy who should be the last person talking.”

Kasai-san muttered in complete exasperation, and not just the beastmen, even a few of Cain’s own adventurers nodded in agreement. This wasn’t just a case of a boomerang coming back to smack him—it was like firing a laser straight into a perfectly polished mirror and having it blast back at full power.

Actually… does this guy even realize what he’s done?

That’s… honestly terrifying in its own way. Surely not… right?

“You’ve got some nerve saying that! You’re the one who sold me off as a slave in the first place! Shuya-sama and I are friends, and Master has always treated me kindly! I’m way happier now than I ever was with you! So stop getting in the way!”

Yuria completely abandoned her usual polite tone, yelling with raw anger on her face.

From what I’d heard during our girls’ chats, he was genuinely awful back then. Not only useless but tactless to boot—his only redeeming features were his looks and sword skills. Even so, back in his hometown, his good looks and swordsmanship apparently made him quite popular.

“I didn’t have a choice back then! There was this girl about to be sold off because of debt—I had to help her!”

“So I didn’t matter as long as you could save her?! Don’t screw with me!”

“That’s not it! I planned to come back and save you too! But—!”

Cain suddenly glared daggers at Master.

“—he got in the way so he could take Yuria for himself! I couldn’t scrape together the money in time because of him!”

“…How the hell do you arrive at that conclusion.”

That was a leap so massive, it made “the wind blew so the cooper prospered” sound reasonable. He skipped so many steps even a barrel maker would be left speechless.

Master, stuck dealing with him, already looked like he was about to keel over. Attacking someone’s MP directly—now that’s a rare skill.

“I heard it from Marf! That guy sabotaged my work from the shadows, made sure I failed, and blocked me from getting any decent jobs!”

I caught a brief, smug grin flash across one of the women standing behind Cain. …Ah, so that’s how it is.

“You’re way too gullible, seriously!”

I couldn’t help but cut in. No matter how you look at it, you’re clearly being used—or rather, completely duped.

“You’re the ones being deceived! That guy’s evil! Wake up, Yuria!”

Is this what people mean when they say ‘believe in yourself’? I just don’t get it.

Still… he’s seriously infuriating. Shamelessly shifting the blame for his own actions onto others—what a piece of work.

“You’re the one who sold Yuria off as a slave! Are you insane?! Do you have any idea how much it cost to buy her back?!”

Thanks to that debt, I’ve been forced into more than a few dozen cosplay outfits at this point.

Back when we were just fellow Japanese, he at least showed a little restraint, maybe even some consideration… but the moment he had an excuse, this perverted bastard went completely overboard.

“That’s not it! I didn’t sell her—I borrowed money in exchange for her helping out temporarily! I was going to come back and get her properly! But—that guy got in my way so he could take Yuria as his slave!”

…Yup, this guy’s hopeless. He’s not listening at all.

“Even so, I worked like crazy to make the money and went back for her, but by then that guy had already bought her as a slave! That’s why, this time for sure, I’m taking Yuria back!”

Even the adventurers around him were looking at Cain with “ugh, seriously?” faces. You sure you want to be associated with this guy?

“…That was human trafficking. You sold Yuria into slavery.”

It wasn’t a matter of buying her back before she got sold—it was him pawning her off for someone else’s sake. Selling someone off to cover another girl’s debt? ‘Scum’ isn’t nearly strong enough a word.

Judging from how he talks, it seems like he was sure he could earn the money, but when that didn’t work out, now he’s just desperately trying to save face.

“You’re the ones being deceived by him!”

“And what exactly is the basis for that ridiculous confidence…?” Lulu said, totally fed up.

Cain, full of misplaced confidence, dragged a man out from the crowd. Huh… I feel like I’ve seen this brown-haired guy somewhere before. For some reason, he was glaring at Master and me.

“He’s one of the people who told me all about this bastard’s crimes! This man was falsely accused by him and forced into slavery!”

“…Long time no see, you bastards.”

Hmmm… I couldn’t quite place him, wracking my brain in frustration, until Lulu suddenly gasped beside me.

“Wait, isn’t that the panty thief we went to the seaside with?!”

“Ah, the underwear thief guy!!”

Oh, right! Now I remember—he’s the idiot who, after hitting on Lulu and Yuria, got so obsessed with stealing underwear that he neglected lookout duty. I thought he was doomed to a life in the mines—why the hell is he here?

“Heh… hahahaha… I just happened to strike a rich gemstone vein. Thanks to that achievement, my sentence got commuted!”

Hmph. Is that really how debt slavery works? Well, people do work harder when there’s a carrot dangled in front of them… I guess this half-assed sense of ‘humanitarian fairness’ just backfired.

“Do you lot even understand!? The terror of old men sneaking into your bed every night! Sleeping on cold stone floors, barely fed, your body pushed to the limit every single day!”

“Ah—yeah, I mean… sort of.”

“Shut the hell up, you damn goblin!!”

“Yeah yeah, sure sure, cry harder.”

…And now I’m being yelled at.

Look, I’ve been through my fair share of miserable prison life, but it seems there’s no reasoning with someone who’s caught a case of ‘I’m the most miserable person in the world’ syndrome.

Honestly, he wasn’t even worth dealing with. At the very least, come back after you’ve expanded your vocabulary to the level of a black cutting board, you third-rate clown.

“So, after finally getting freed, you came back just for revenge, Panty Thief?”

“Don’t call me that like it’s my name!! You think I could just walk away after being humiliated like that?!”

Spare me. Your crimes don’t disappear. You’ll carry the title of “Thief” for life and ruin every heartfelt ending you touch.

“Also, it’s not a false accusation—he really did steal our underwear, you know?”

“That was all part of that man’s plot!”

He pointed confidently at Master, but the atmosphere around us was completely dead.

Why even the adventurers on his side looked fed up was beyond me. What did you guys even come here for? What’s the point of your existence?

“Calm down a bit. The only ones still following this nonsense are your little harem.”

“Watch your mouth! These women are my companions!”

Yeah, sure… whatever you say.

“And Yuria?”

“Yuria too is my companion!”

I didn’t even have the energy to respond anymore. This whole conversation felt like a colossal waste of time.

“I belong to Master now! I’m not Cain’s companion or anything!”

Despite Yuria’s firm denial, Cain kept desperately pushing his laughable persuasion tactics, going on about how she shouldn’t be with someone like Master and how he’d take her back.

“You’ve been disrespectful to Cain-sama, the hero of Strohf!”

“Cain-sama, hurry up and beat down that villain already!”

His entourage of women glared daggers at Yuria, shouting out brain-dead nonsense. Why the hell was this guy so popular? Honestly, I just wanted to go home.

…No, maybe it wasn’t brain-dead stupidity. More like they were being controlled. A strong man who unquestioningly believes whatever women say—yeah, I can see how he’d be a useful pawn.

“Isn’t this whole back-and-forth just a complete waste of time now?”

“…He’s always been like this,” Yuria said, her shoulders slumping with exhaustion. “Once he gets something into his head, he never listens to anyone.”

Seems like she had given up on reasoning with him through words.

“I don’t even know why I thought he was cool back then… I seriously don’t get it anymore.”

That was one impressively distant look in her eyes.

Well, love really is blind, after all. She still doesn’t seem to see Master’s extreme perverted tendencies either. She probably glossed over Cain’s flaws the same way… though in his case, the flaws were way too big to ignore.

“Just wait for me, Yuria! I’ll defeat that man and snap you back to your senses!”

“Can we just get this over with already?”

Honestly, I couldn’t help but feel like it was a complete waste of energy to even acknowledge this guy. Forget talking—let’s just wipe them out already.

“Yeah… you’re right…”

Master, utterly exasperated, was just about to raise his hand to signal the attack when Yuria quietly stepped forward, wielding a battle axe adorned with a lion’s crest.

“…Master, please… let me be the one to finish this with Cain.”

Her expression was deadly serious. It was clear she wanted to settle this herself. Master seemed to understand immediately, nodding silently, his sharp gaze giving commands to the others as he pointed toward the adventurers now bracing themselves.

“All units—commence the attack!”

◇◆ADVENTURE RESULT◆◇
NO BATTLE
◆【Sora Lv.105】
◆【Lulu Lv.43】
◆【Yuria Lv.46】
◇―
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Sora Lv.105 [1057]
Lulu Lv.43 [431]
Yuria Lv.46 [461]

【RECORD】
[MAX COMBO] >> 40
[MAX BATTLE] >> 40

【PARTY-1 (Main)】
[Shuya] [Lv.125] HP 3700/3700 MP 4060/4560 [Normal]
[Sora] [Lv.105] HP 70/70 MP 1285/1685 [Normal]
[Lulu] [Lv.43] HP 950/950 MP 22/42 [Normal]
[Yuria] [Lv.46] HP 2540/2540 MP 51/91 [Normal]
[Fere] [Lv.40] HP 445/445 MP 1350/1450 [Normal]
[Makoto] [Lv.85] HP 5500/5500 MP 100/170 [Normal]
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

“I hate those guys!”
“I hate them too!”