Vol 3 Chapter 78 – Abduction【Vol 3 – The Amazon Queen Arc】

“Ugh, uhhh…”

I felt consciousness gradually resurface. Well, my endurance was considerable, so I wasn’t the type to stay unconscious long from a single blow to the back of the head.

While savoring the throbbing pain in my head, I tried to gather information from my still-blurry vision. A rattling sensation shaking my whole body, and scenery flowing past.

Was I being transported in a cart or something?

“Jeez… you suddenly ran off somewhere and surprised me. Give us a heads-up next time.”

“Sorryyyy. But listen, the person I’d heard rumors about was right there, you know? As an Amazon, you can’t blame me for charging in without thinking.”

“Don’t blame everything on your race.”

I heard two women conversing nearby. One sounded exasperated, the other apologetic but not really sorry.

But that wasn’t the surprising part. Did they just say Amazon?

The ones I’d been wanting to meet and get thoroughly beaten by…?

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“!”

As I was getting my hopes up, a woman’s face suddenly popped into view. Large, round eyes and brown skin were her distinctive features.

Brown skin… that was precisely the characteristic of an Amazon.

“Um…”

“Ah, does your head still hurt? Sorry about that. But I wanted you so badly, I got a little rough.”

I had many questions. Like who she was, where we were, where we were headed.

But before I could ask, the woman apologized sheepishly. Her dejected expression was like a little girl being scolded for doing something wrong.

Hmm… if she was going to suddenly strike me in the back of the head and knock me out, I would’ve preferred a more unreasonably cruel personality…

“Anne. Apologizing out of nowhere won’t make sense to the Hero. You need to explain properly.”

“Ahh! Right, right. Sorry!”

So the girl before me was Anne-san. The woman who’d chided her was controlling the horse.

“Sorry about this, Hero. Right now, we’re in the middle of kidnapping you.”

“I see…”

She said it so plainly without any guilt that I could only respond with such a deflated comment. Then she looked at me with an exasperated expression.

Her skin was the same brown as Anne-san’s, but her face was sharper—she gave off a strong-willed impression. Anne-san seemed more friendly.

“You’re being kidnapped, you know? Shouldn’t you be saying something like ‘Stop this!’ or ‘What do you think you’re doing!?'”

“I’m used to unreasonable situations.”

Compared to King Rei’s orders, getting knocked out and kidnapped was gentle. This level of unreasonableness only brought me a little pleasure!

“Ugh. Enough with the pointless talk, Catarina. More importantly, I have something I want to ask.”

“Yes?”

Calling my kidnapping pointless… Anne-san also seemed to have quite an unreasonable streak… How grateful. And the woman controlling the horse was named Catarina-san.

“Hey, hey. Are you really the Hero?”

“Well, yes. King Rei appointed me, so I’m the current Hero.”

“I knew it!? Hmm… but still… You seem a bit different from the rumors…”

Her eyes lit up, but then her expression turned troubled again. Anne-san was very expressive. She reminded me of Debora.

“Altruistic Charity Hero, ‘Guardian,’ ‘Berserker.’ You’ve got all these grand titles, but you want to say he’s not all that impressive, right?”

“Yes! You didn’t dodge my attack at all, did you?”

Pretty harsh. Though I truly didn’t have the ability to live up to such grand titles.

I just didn’t die, that’s all—my combat ability was nothing special.

“That’s right. It was a sharp attack, and I had no time to dodge.”

“Ehehe.”

Anne-san laughed bashfully. What she’d done was dangerously assault me from behind, striking my head hard enough to make it bleed—a serious crime—yet her reaction was like a child being praised… how peculiar.

“What kind of carefree conversation are you having…”

Catarina-san sighed in exasperation. I could somewhat imagine the dynamic between her and Anne-san.

“Speaking of which, why did you strike me and kidnap me?”

“Hm? For combat, of course!”

When I asked, Anne-san smiled brightly and answered. The words that came from her mouth were far more dangerous than her sunny smile suggested.

“Take a look behind you.”

While I was a bit dumbfounded, Catarina-san prompted me to look back with a knowing laugh. When I turned around, I saw a cage being pulled behind our cart.

And inside were rough, tough-looking men imprisoned.

“Those people are…”

“Criminals! They’re being sent to a really great place full of blood and combat!”

Anne-san smiled brightly as she explained. Hmm… that sounds like a wonderful place…

“You haven’t committed any crimes, so normally you wouldn’t be taken to our place. But Anne caught you, so just accept it.”

“Ehehe, sorry.”

How… this was quite the pleasant unreasonableness. I felt a bit of pleasure.

“You might die, but I have really high expectations for you, Hero! With all those amazing rumors, you can’t be ordinary! Do your best not to die, okay?”

“I’m not as optimistic as Anne. You’re on the slender side, and you don’t look very strong at all.”

“Geez, you can’t say that, Catarina. You can’t judge people by their appearance.”

These two saying whatever they wanted sent shivers through me. Being sent somewhere I might die…

A place where criminals were sent must be quite harsh. And I, having done nothing wrong, was being unreasonably thrown in there… how wonderful!

“We Amazons like strong people. So I have really high expectations for you, Hero, okay?”

Anne-san leaned in close and smiled faintly. That expression had an allure completely unlike her usual cheerful, friendly self.

Then she brought her face even closer and whispered.

“Because I’d hate it if you were weak, you know?”

A chill ran down my spine. This was an Amazon. A warrior race that loved blood and combat.

…How nice…

“…Well, we’re almost there. Get ready to disembark.”

At Catarina-san’s words, I looked up. Ahead, I could see what looked like a sizeable town.