Traitor
During our post-dinner break, the silver haired ponytail young man, Nakramurada came by.
Telling us to leave the town right away if we want to avoid joining the army. It's kinda out of the blue.
"W-what are you going on about this late at night...?"
"...I'm sorry. I plead captain to put your recruitment on hold but he wouldn't listen to a word I said."
"So what's up with that captain?"
"Unit Five, which is the unit I belong to will be garrisoned in this town by tonight. It consists of around 30 people, and captain believes he can make you guys join through forces."
"...That's, an abuse of power."
Alma murmured with a mix of contempt and shock in her voice.
I was sure that old captain was the brain of the unit seeing as he was lower leveled than his subordinates. Guess he's not even a good boss at that huh?
Kinda reminds me of that factory boss I got stuck with in Japan. No, I guess that man was still comparatively better cause he was sterner on himself. I still won't forgive him for all the unpaid overtime he made us do though.
"Why would you tell us though? Won't this be bad for you considering your position..."
"...All I ever wanted was protecting people from demons. I wish to liberate us all from the terror of demons. That's the reason I joined Anti-Demon Army, but the way we're doing is far from protecting, we're pushing people to do our bidding. I cannot condone such actions."
My impression on ponytail went up inwardly.
I'll call him Silver-san (Gin-san) from now on. No, not that handyman.
"All personnel should arrive in about two hours. You should go get ready to leave before--"
"No, it's too late."
"...What?"
"Combat Job people are congregating around this inn already. There's more than 30 of them, they must be your unit. It started around the time you went in this inn."
"W-what...!?"
...He looks genuinely surprised, not acting.
Apparently, the other side had anticipated him tattling to us.
This guy had been stalking me for days yet he overlooked someone else doing the same to him. Well, guess this is unavoidable.
"Alma, Reina, pack up your things now. Don't worry about sorting them, just take everything with you."
"Got it."
"Yessire!"
I told them to go get their belongings in their room.
Most of our luggage is inside my Item Screen, so they only have stuff they need close by.
"Forgive me...! I cannot believe me warning you only served to accelerate this...! I-I'll be the decoy head-on, you three should exit from the backdoor--"
"No, we'll be fine. We're going to leave through the front door."
"T-that's madness! I'm aware of your party's capability but you're up against more than 30 people at nearing Lv40!? There's no way you could escape them..."
"Hikaru, I'm done packing."
"I'm all OK too!"
"Heave-ho. Lemme just put them away for you."
I stored their stuff inside Item Screen via a mock item bag and said my goodbye to Silver-san.
"This is goodbye then. If you have doubts about the army, this might be a good time to think long and hard about what you wish to do instead of what you ought to."
"O-oy!"
"Farewell."
"H-Hikaru? Why are you holding me and Reina?"
"W-what are you planning!? Y-you can't be, wait, no, stop...!!"
『...Pipi.』
I opened the front entrance, and the moment I stepped outside, I moved at high speed with super low altitude Mana Flight made to look like Ground Shrink.
"Uuaaaaaaaa!!?"
"Niyaaaakneewwwwwwwwiiiiitt!!!"
I made sure to not crash into passerby as I zoomed my way out of town!
The direction is to the opposite of Nyushina.
I won't use Fast Travel yet. First, we gotta get somewhere with nobody around.
Bear with it, you two. Fighto.
...I'm already fearing for my life for what comes after.
~~~~~~~~Silver-san's POV~~~~~~~~~~
The moment that man stepped outside, he carried the two girls under his arms and ran off at unbelievable speed.
Was that 'Ground Shrink'? No, he shouldn't be able to use Skills, meaning he must have a way to conceal his Status.
...Regardless, there is no pursuing them with that speed. They should manage.
"Nakramuradaa!! How dare you give them intel!"
Captain's jarring shout resounded in the inn.
Other guests are looking at us dubiously. I'm sorry for this ruckus.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you dare play dumb! You told that party our unit's arrival!"
"What proof do you have to accuse me that?"
"I have installed a magic tool to wiretap traitors such as you on your sword's sheath! I have all your words recorded, there is no getting out!"
I have to look really closely at my sword's sheath to find a very small sphere shaped object attached to it.
Must be the magic tool in question... I never noticed.
"That's a breach of privacy you know? Going this far without basis is a violation of military code."
"Yet you did betray me and let that party escape! That's everything! This is a felony!"
Disgusting.
That was the only thing that came up on my mind looking at this man as I resigned myself to getting punished.
Never doubting that he is in the right without realizing all the mistakes he's making.
That description might apply to me too.
"What're you standing around for! Restrain this man at once!"
Captain gave his order to two personnel standing next to him while flinging his saliva everywhere.
His shouting figure looked majestic to me just yesterday, yet the only impression I have now is how shallow he seems.
...I'm a shallow man myself for missing that.
As the two personnel violently restrained my arms, someone walked up to the captain from behind.
...Is that...?
"Ah, there you are. Captain, shouting so loud with your foul mouth this late at night is gonna get you complaints from neighbors, y'know."
The former adventurer, Jangrajima.
His long hair fluttered as he spoke to captain with his usual carefree tone.
"Shut up! Where have you been fooling around all this time! Go after them with 'Ground Shrink', now!"
"Naw, my stamina won't last. 'Sides, ain't no way I could catch up to them if I started now."
"Eey, every single one of you! Traitor and incompetent lot, not a single usable bone! And that's why we need that party!"
"Hmm, I've gathered around 20 people to arrest a traitor though. I am working hard, see?"
"Are you a fool! We don't need all those people to arrest this traitor, no, it's to make that party--"
"Not at all, we do."
"What, are you...!?"
Captain's yell stopped short.
Jangrajima's spear is thrust in front of his throat.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"I'm saying you're the traitor here, Captain Heigerdara-dono."
Jangrajima put up a serious expression he never showed even once before.
His voice was so cold completely unlike what he usually sounded.
"W-w-what are you...!?"
"...Do you recall my reason for joining the army? I failed to protect a town under demon's attack because I lacked the manpower, hence, this army was made to prevent another tragedy like that again, remember?"
"I-I do! That's precisely why we're scouting people from all over the place to amass our numbers!"
"Then why did you refuse personnel relocation from Unit Three?"
"!?"
Personnel relocation, from Unit Three?
That's the first time I heard of it.
Every unit is barely scraping by to protect areas under their jurisdiction, there's no room for reallocation.
That's, what, captain told us.
"Ah by the way, for some reason part of Unit Five got relocated to Unit Two, got any clue about that?"
"I-I know nothing."
"Eeeh? Personnel from Unit Three that should have moved to our Unit went to Unit Two instead, heck we even shouldered all the associated expense, you telling me you don't know? Even I found out with just a little investigation, how can you not know?"
"Wha...! Guh...!?"
What's going on.
What's he talking about.
"You were bribed by Unit Two's captain and sent people that should have been assigned to our unit their way, weren't you?"
"W-what proof do you have for that accusation!!"
"Mind taking a good look of your sword's sheath?"
"Wha...!? Y-you can't be...!!"
Captain looked shocked as he stared at his sword's sheath.
His face went pale after noticing a speck of dust-like sphere attached to the bottom of the sheath.
"It's a trick you love so much. You're not gonna tell me it's a violation of military code, are you?"
"Y-you bastaaaaaaaaaaard!!! How dare you, how dare!! You traitooooor!!!"
"Correction, you, are, the traitor here. You got no right to accuse anyone with your pocket full of embezzled dough, you dumbarse."
"Unforgivable!! Die, you hatchliiiing!"
Captain slashed at Jangrajima with an enraged reddened face.
"Aah~, and I woulda stopped at arrest if only you admitted your sin too."
Jangrajima easily dodged captain's sword while staring at him like he was garbage while looking bored.
"You're the only deadmeat here, darned geezer."
"Ga... Hyu...?"
A spear lodged in captain's forehead.
He fell down while looking like he couldn't understand what happened.
...It may have been a legitimate act of self-defense, but dying just because of bribery, I have a mixed feeling about this.
"Welp there you have it, the villainous captain who made an unjust attempt to to kill a team member has up and died. Oh yeah, I'll have you know that I have already been given the permission from the main office."
He powerfully stabbed his spear on the ground and spoke out loud.
"I, Jangrajima will now serve as the captain of Unit Five. State your objection if you have any. Otherwise, all personnel, pay attention!!"
At his order, all members of the forces present here including the two that restrained me earlier stood upright.
His thundering voice made even the former captain's voice sounded like a baby's. This must be how a true captain should look like.
I was among the members standing upright before I realized what happened.
"Welp, now that's done and dusted, guess I gotta start reorganizing our forces and get all those fellas reassigned back here, man so many things to do. All a pain in the arse, but gotta what you gotta do."
Was his usual frivolous behavior an act?
He easily gathered information, unveiled the old captain's wrongdoings and took his place in one fell swoop.
Truly a brilliant play... Total opposite of me who couldn't even discern old captain's trap.
If it's him, we can surely.
Surely we can finally become a unit befitting to be called Anti-Demon, I'm convinced.
"Nakram, what're you spacing out for. Get this body outta the way, pronto."
"Y-yes sir...!"
"...Why're you crying? Gross."
I couldn't stop my tears of joy for finally finding someone I can get behind.
No more hesitation now. I will follow this captain and defeat those demons.
A moment after I steeled my resolve, the innlady came out of the back with the look of an ogre as she glared at us.
"Hey you! Keep it down! Make any more noise and I'll bring the guards here!"
"Ah~ We're sorry~! We're going home right now, give me a break, for real!"
Captain ran away at full speed, leaving his dignity in tatter.
...H-he's gonna do all right, surely. Yup... Probably.
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