Chapter 174
Open Hostility
Translator : PolterGlast
It felt like they might attack at any moment, but I wanted
to talk for now. Even though I could suppress them without causing injury,
resolving this peacefully would be best.
"Greg. Did you perhaps hear from Veronica
and the others and come to provide backup?"
"No, that's incorrect. I judged that you were making
suspicious movements and came to stop you from approaching Klingark."
I knew it before I even asked, but so these armed
adventurers were gathered against us after all. Despite defeating the Dragon
Zombie, this was quite the treatment.
"Please stop viewing us with hostility. We have already
subjugated the source of the trouble."
"In that case, what is that black mass you are holding?
It is clearly suspicious."
"I just brought it back thinking it might be related to
the Dragon Zombie. If you wish, Greg, I'll hand it over."
"...I apologize, but as long as you are involved with Guanza,
I cannot trust you. Please, leave."
He really won't listen, huh. If even Veronica and the
others couldn't persuade him, then nothing I say will make a difference.
There are still many unknown points, but we did manage to
defeat the Dragon Zombie, so rather than fighting, let's just return to Biodasdal.
Seeing Greg's unshakeable resolve, I made that decision, but...
"...I've been listening silently since the other day,
but what is wrong with you?! Every time you open your mouth it's
'involved with Guanza' this and that—you were way more involved with him
than we ever were! I mean, you were close by, so you should have stopped Guanza
sooner! Don't blame your own failures on us!"
Reaching the limit of her patience, Aoi shouted back
at Greg. Honestly, I think she has a valid point, but I've seen many
times since leaving the village that human relationships aren't that simple.
Without fighting power like ours, I think it would have been impossible to stop
Guanza when he was being that tyrannical, so blaming Greg
entirely is a bit harsh.
"...I see. So you have no intention of leaving. Understood."
"No, wait. If you just let us buy some supplies, we'll
leave immedi—"
"Please be very careful of the black mass, and capture
those people. However, killing them is strictly prohibited, of course. In
addition, please avoid injuring them as much as possible."
"Yeah, yeah. We don't want to hurt girls either."
"That is good to hear. We have gathered this many
people, so please make it quick."
I knew immediately from his narrowed eyes opening wide that Aoi's
remark had struck a nerve. I tried to say we would leave in a hurry, but given
the flow of things, battle is probably unavoidable now.
The fact that he strictly prohibited killing and warned
against causing injury shows his fundamentally good nature, but I can't just
stand by and let this many people attack us. I'll suppress them and force them
to talk.
"Aoi, Ginia, stay back. I'll suppress
them alone."
"Ehh! I can fight too!"
"Me too. I don't want to just be protected by you, Graham-san."
"No, this time I'm protecting the other party. I know you two got stronger from the fight with the Dragon
Zombie. You might cause serious injuries, so I'll fight here."
"Mumumu... Being praised like that doesn't feel too
bad, I guess!"
"If it's out of concern for them, then I understand.
We'll leave it to you, Graham-san."
Grinning slightly, the two accepted my proposal. Now, all
that's left is to suppress the adventurers.
It's very fortunate that Greg seems like the type who
can fight too. He's probably smart, so if I suppress this many adventurers, he
should be able to discern the difference in power.
In the end, if it comes to force, I can't help but think I
should have done this from the start... but it's not like we started
this. We can claim self-defense, so I'll suppress them without hesitation.
"If you're up for it, come at me anytime. I promise not
to injure you."
"Hah? Why is the old man looking down on us! We won't
hurt the girls, but we don't mind roughing up the old guy a bit!"
With that line, a hot-blooded guy with spiky blond hair
charged at me. From the way he kept his center of gravity low and used footwork
to prevent me from narrowing down a target, I think he's actually quite
skilled.
However, Aoi is several levels above this kind of
clever movement, and in terms of speed and sharpness, he doesn't even come
close to her feet. Thinking about it that way, perhaps Aoi really has
become considerably stronger in a short period of time.
While unintentionally raising my evaluation of Aoi, I
calmly blocked the attacks of the spiky blond guy who had initiated the
assault. Then, I grabbed his arm, hooked his leg, and tripped him so he spun
once in the air. As he fell, I dropped my fist toward his face, stopping just
inches away.
"Still want to go?"
When I asked gently, the man shook his head violently from
side to side. Seeing the spiky blond guy taken down in an instant, the other
adventurers who were about to follow up stopped in their tracks.
"What are you doing? If everyone attacks at once, you
can definitely capture him."
Panic-stricken by Greg's voice, they started moving
again, but from here on, I'll use magic to clean this up all at once.
"Gravity Magic: Decrease."
First, I reduce gravity, making their bodies lighter.
Although bewildered by the sudden change in their bodies, they used the lightness
to charge with increased momentum. At that exact moment—
"Gravity Magic: Increase."
This time, I increase gravity, making their bodies heavy.
Since their bodies were light just a moment ago, everyone face-planted into the
ground as if crawling. After that, I gradually increased the gravity to
restrain them so they couldn't move.
"Now no one can move. Greg, only you remains...
Do you want to try and see if you can defeat me?"
"M-Monster...! Who on earth are you..."
"For now, order these adventurers not to attack. It's
pitiful for them to stay like this, right?"
I told Greg that and had him order the adventurers to
stop attacking us. Well, even without Greg's order, the adventurers were
completely terrified, so I don't think they would have attacked anyway.
Anyway... suppression complete. Greg is suitably frightened too, so now we can finally talk calmly.
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