Vol 2 Chapter 51 – Deferring to Each Other【Vol 2 – The Condemned Knight Edition】

The slave trade. Hearing those words, a cold sweat breaks out on Klet’s face.

“In poor villages, there are families who cannot provide for their children. You buy the children from those homes and sell them off as slaves. With the abundant capital gained from that, you invest in your business. I see, now I understand the reason for your company’s rapid growth.”

“How awful…!”

Responding to Eleonora-san’s words, Miriam’s anger becomes plain to see.

She and I are from a poor village, after all. If things had gone differently, we might have been the ones sold as slaves, so this is no laughing matter for her.

…I, for one, would have preferred to be sold off as a slave.

“Wh-What proof do you have!? Do you have any proof that I’m doing that!?”

His panic is a far cry from the man who was smiling with余裕 a moment ago, trying to have his way with Eleonora-san and Miriam.

It’s not my place to say, but I think he might want to work on not letting his emotions show so clearly.

“I told you a moment ago, did I not? Oliver… I heard it from him. From the knight of the Royal Capital you were connected to.”

“Guh…! I was wondering why I couldn’t get in touch with him lately… So he betrayed me…!!”

Ooh, as expected of Eleonora-san. She already had corroborating evidence.

…It seems things would have gotten pretty ugly if she hadn’t.

Well, in that case, I was prepared to ask them to take their frustrations out on me in place of the women.

“We don’t yet have enough evidence to corner you… but his testimony is sufficient, and seeing your reaction now, I know you’re guilty. The proof will come out easily enough once we begin investigating your company.”

“Ugh…!”

Klet’s face twists in anguish.

I wonder if he didn’t bother destroying the evidence?

Perhaps he’d gotten careless, with things going so well for him lately.

“Well then, we will take our leave for today. Investigators from the Knightly Order will arrive on a later date, so we ask for your sincere cooperation.”

Eleonora-san said this and stood up.

We hurriedly follow suit.

…In the end, Miriam and I didn’t do a thing.

…No, it’s just getting started. The part where I get to enjoy myself… I mean, play an active role!

I look at Klet, full of expectation.

He… as if to meet my expectations, had a thin smile on his face, a greasy sweat beading on his skin.

“Please wait.”

“…Is there something else?”

At Klet’s words, Eleonora-san also stops and turns a cold gaze on him.

Heh… Here it comes…

“Now that you know about the slave trade, I can’t very well let you go home.”

Klet said this and snapped his fingers.

The next moment, a horde of intimidating men burst through the door.

Among them were the men who had guided us here.

Just as Eleonora-san said, this wasn’t going to end so easily…

I had Miriam step back and let out a faint smile.

“These are men from the Gray Guild. I’ve hired them as my bodyguards.”

“Was the fee for that request also earned through the slave trade?”

“Now, I wonder about that?”

Perhaps because he now had allies from this Gray Guild, Klet dodged Eleonora-san’s cold glare with a smile.

Now then, what is a Gray Guild…

“…It’s a guild that commits crimes. They take on the kind of rough jobs that aren’t requested of the official guilds. So, I doubt their work was limited to just being bodyguards.”

I see, so they may have been involved in other rough business besides being bodyguards.

It’s true that being a bodyguard is something the official guilds can handle.

“Still, it’s interesting that a classification like a Gray Guild exists.”

“…This is just a rumor, but apparently there’s also a guild called the Dark Guild, which is a step above… or below? the Gray Guild. They say it’s even more terrifying than the Gray Guild. I heard there was a clash between Dark Guilds in a distant kingdom…”

My… that sounds exciting.

Someday, I would love to meet someone from that Dark Guild.

But for now, let’s not worry about the Dark Guild and let the people from the Gray Guild entertain us.

“Laboy-san. What should we do with these guys?”

“Let’s see. The two women, of course, but that man is a Hero, which means he has connections to the royal family, so we can’t let him leave alive. We’ll sell all three of them as slaves. …Well, before that, I’ll be having my fun with the two women.”

“Hey, hey. You’re gonna share with us, right?”

“As a special bonus. You can have them after I’m done.”

“Heh heh. Glad to have a client who gets it.”

It’s just… such blatant evil.

As I was thinking that, I stood in front of Miriam and Eleonora-san.

“I won’t let you. If you want to do something to them, you’ll have to go through me first.”

“Erik…”

That’s right, it would be a problem if you didn’t mess me up first…

No, well, being ignored might also be nice, but I personally would be happier if the pain were inflicted directly…

“Kukuk, Lord Altruistic Charity Hero. It’s fine if you want to be a nice guy, but do you really think you alone can do anything about us?”

I don’t. I want you to beat me to a pulp as soon as possible.

However, Miriam and, presumably, Eleonora-san do not walk the same Path of M as I do.

I have to let them escape…

“Erik-san.”

As I was renewing my resolve, Eleonora-san came to stand beside me.

“I appreciate you protecting me, but I am a knight of justice. Such consideration is unnecessary.”

“…I see, I’ve overstepped my bounds.”

The cold killing intent Eleonora-san directed at Klet and his bodyguards was enough to make even me, who was not the direct target, tremble. With joy, of course.

She was saying that there was no need for me to protect her.

…Still, killing intent? I never thought a knight would harbor killing intent toward another person so easily, even if they were showing hostility.

“…! Y-You lot can handle this. I’ll be evacuating just in case.”

“Sure thing.”

He must have keenly sensed that killing intent; Klet slipped out of the room through another door at the back.

The bodyguards, who hadn’t noticed the killing intent, were still smiling, confident in their advantage.

The action I should take here is…!

“Eleonora-san, at this rate, Klet will escape. Please, leave this to me and go on ahead.”

I will take on their lynching!

This brings back memories of when I let Debora and the others escape…

However, Eleonora-san shook her head.

“No, I will remain here, so please, Erik-san, you chase after him.”

…What did you say?

I, too, was wide-eyed at her unexpected words.

“I am a knight of justice and one who serves the country. I cannot be permitted to flee from such a dangerous situation. …Besides, my armor is heavy, so I am not suited for pursuit.”

“If you’re going to say that, then I, too, am Debora’s Knight of Fealty. I may have been born a peasant, but I now serve the country. And besides, I can’t leave a woman behind in a place like this. Please, leave this to me.”

“No, I will stay here.”

“No, no, I will.”

“No, no, no.”

“No, no, no, no.”

Eleonora-san and I repeat the same words.

Kuh… She’s stubborn!

At this rate, we’ll have to keep saying ‘no, no’ forever over who stays behind.

Should I be the one to back down here?

…No, but I can’t miss this precious opportunity for a one-versus-many fight…

As I was wrestling with my decision, the men from the Gray Guild started to laugh mockingly.

“From our perspective, we’d rather the female knight stay behind… but that client of ours seems to have an ace up his sleeve. I wouldn’t recommend chasing him, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah, just have some fun with us!”

The men guffawed.

However, upon hearing the latter half of what one of the men said, my body reacted with a twitch.

…An ace up his sleeve? So Klet Laboy still has some hidden card to play?

………….

“If we keep insisting, we won’t reach a conclusion. It can’t be helped, so I will be the one to chase Klet.”

I proposed this to Eleonora-san.

Hearing that, she gave a small nod.

“I can trust you with this, Erik-san. Well then, I leave Klet to you.”

“Consider it done. When this is all over, let’s go for a drink.”

I had no particular hidden motive with this invitation.

However, Eleonora-san’s eyes widened slightly, and then she smiled a little mischievously.

“Are you planning to get me drunk and do something to me?”

“No, nothing in particular.”

“…That’s a little hurtful in its own way.”

When I denied it so readily, Eleonora-san puffed out her cheeks slightly.

Somehow, with that smile just now and this pouting look, it feels like I’m seeing a side of her I’ve never seen before.

“I don’t usually do this sort of thing… but very well. You’re not going to be a wolf, are you?”

“Heh, of course not.”

I returned a smile to the chuckling Eleonora-san.

There’s no way I could do something like that.

The look in Miriam’s eyes, watching me from behind, is far too scary.

“Well then, I’ll see you later.”

“Yes.”

After exchanging those words, Eleonora-san and I parted ways.

I slipped through the still-loose encirclement of the Gray Guild members, opened the door Klet had exited from, and jumped out.

“Ah! I’ll…!”

Miriam seemed to try and follow after me, but the encirclement tightened to prevent the two from escaping, and she couldn’t get out.

Perhaps they let me go because they had no interest in me, a man.

I think that’s being unfaithful to their request… but I suppose that’s just how the Gray Guild is.

Now, I wonder if it’s alright to leave Miriam in a place like that… but honestly, she’s probably better off near Eleonora-san than by my side.

From what I could see, there were no skilled fighters among the bodyguards.

On the other hand, if what they said is true, Klet has some kind of hidden card.

It might be better for her to remain there than to bring her to a place where I don’t know what might happen.

And besides, I think Eleonora-san is stronger than I am.

I haven’t seen her fight directly, so I can’t say for certain, but she wears that heavy-looking armor all day and doesn’t show a single sign of fatigue…

The only thing I can say for sure that I’m better at is my durability, and that’s only with my skill.

“Miriam! Do your best with Eleonora-san!”

And so, I said that and chased after Klet.