Volume 3 1.5
Chapter 1: Trying Out Talking with Demonic Beings – Part 5
Part 5
There were shadows of people looking into the sandbank.
It was five men.
They were Pantherians and Dwarves, all of them were wearing dirty clothes, and they were armed with swords and axes.
Adventurers that came gathering medicinal plants──was something that they didn’t seem to be.
Their eyes faltered.
Rem’s facial expression cramped up.
「......Kuh......They seem to be bandits. At a time like this.」
「No way!?」
Shera covered up her own body with both hands.
The girls still weren’t wearing their clothes.
Diablo clicked his tongue.
──Come to think of it, it’s because the public order was deteriorating that the quest’s reward had a steep price rise.
So these guys were the cause.
Bandits had also appeared in the game, but they were treated the same as monsters and not as NPCs.
Naturally, in this world, they didn’t have a distinct difference from the people of the Races in town.
The leading Pantherian made a vulgar laughter.
「Uhyahya! Look at that! We’re really lucky! Some real fine goods! Look at ‘em, those tits! This is amazin’!」
Rem and Shera were at the end of his sight.
The two of them covered themselves up with both arms, and cramped up their facial expressions.
「Kuh......To be seen by a bunch like them.」
「Ue, no.」
The bandits came onto the sandbank. They stepped on the gravel.
「What do we do? Should we wait fer the boss?」
「No no, we need ta catch ‘em properly. We’ll get yelled at by the boss if they get away. So ya see, kill the guy! We’ll take the women!」
One of the bandits pointed at Shera.
「Hn? Oi, I, I’ve seen this girl before! I’m sure she’s the Elven Princess! She had become a rumor in town! 」「Uhyahya! Are ya serious, that’s incredible! I’ve always wanted ta stick it in ta royalty at least once!」「Even the Pantherian, she’s a black panther! She’ll sell fer a whole lot!」
「And then, the other one is──」
The Dwarf that shifted his sight over to Edelgart made a doubtful looking face.
「She’s a really fine gem......but......A Demon? That’s not right? Her eyes look like a lizard’s......And it’s like scales......are on the surface of her skin? Eh? What......is she?」
Another bandit also noticed.
He stepped back.
「Uoh!? O, oi oi oi oi! C, could it be......she’s a Demonic Being!?」
「It’s a Demonic Being! A Demonic Being has comeee!」
The bandits started to run away.
The other party knew about Shera. And then, they noticed the Demonic Being. If they were to escape just like this, it would propagate into Diablo’s group meeting with a Demonic Being.
Diablo prepared his staff.
Those guys were the same as monsters. He understood that in his head, but he hesitated.
The bandits were about to leave the sandbank.
They stepped on the undergrowth......
At this rate, they would get away.
Diablo tightly gripped his staff.
「Gu......kuh......」
There was the sound of water splashing.
Edelgart pulled out the lance that was thrust into the riverbed. A black light dwelled in that horse riding lance.
「......《Darkness Slash》!」
Simultaneous with her shout, she swung the lance horizontally.
A jet black flash was fired off from the tip of the lance.
That became a large black blade, and flew out.
Diablo opened his eyes wide open.
──That move, isn’t that way too strong!?
It was a 《Martial Art》 that could be used by either a sword or a spear. It places SP onto the weapon, converts it into a blade and fires it.
It was able to make an attack to the far off distance.
Originally, it was a move with low power......but considering the Demonic Being Edelgart’s base parameters, just how much damage would that attack give to people of the Races.
The gigantic blade of the 《Darkness Slash》 cut up the escaping bandits.
「Gah......!?」
Five groans overlapped each other.
Their torsos, were split right in half.
It became something like a badly done horror movie.
Rem scowled, and Shera let out a small shriek.
Diablo bit down on his back teeth.
──She killed them, so easily.
Shera shouted at Edelgart.
「Th, there was no reason to kill them, was there!?」
「Would be, troubling to be seen by Races. That, why~, killed them. You guys too, being seen, meeting with Demonic Being is~, bad, shouldn’t it?」
「Th, that might be true......But!」
Rem controlled Shera.
「Even in the Races’ laws, at the time of being attacked by bandits, it doesn’t become a crime even if you kill them. They are the same as monsters. They, also know that they are treated like that. Even if we let them live, they would only kill, steal, or torment some weak person somewhere else.」
Her voice was trembling, but as expected of a skilled Adventurer.
「I know ......that bandits are bad but......」
Shera dropped her shoulders.
Diablo feigned tranquility, but he was in unrest on the inside.
──So they’re the same as monsters, huh.
In this world, it was probably like that. No, even in the world that Diablo was in, people that would kill other people and steal their money and goods would have a very high probability of getting the death penalty, and even if someone were to kill them at the time of being attacked, it would be recognized as legitimate self-defense.
Whether the opponent be a monster or a bandit, killing the enemy for the sake of protecting oneself was something that is only natural as a living being.
For him who had hesitated, it might have been due to him being a peace idiot that practiced a peaceful lifestyle of a peaceful country. He breathed a sigh.
「......Doing something so unnecessary.」
Edelgart shrugged her shoulders.
「Can’t~, calm down here? That, why~......Three days later......on night of full moon, will wait at 《Starfall Tower》. Ritual, happen there.」
Diablo nodded.
Certainly, it would be troubling if an obstruction were to come in during the ritual.
Also, when fighting an enemy with high fire power, a place with cover was desirable. An open place like this is something he wanted to avoid if possible.
Edelgart walked towards the middle of the river. It would seem that she wasn’t poor at being underwater either.
When the Demonic Being’s figure disappeared, Rem and Shera let out their tensed up breaths.
They started to hurriedly put their clothes on.
Diablo sent his gaze towards the corpses of the bandits that were laying on the grass-covered plain──It was this kind of world. You’ll be killed if you don’t kill, is what he told himself.