Chapter 73

Chapter 73. Cut Him Off at Once

Seeing the tips of more than ten spearheads surround him as though they were about to stab him, Balun thought impulsively,

‘Should I just flip everything over and run? I do not think it would even take me a minute to clean up all these bastards.’

However, that lasted only for a moment. Balun soon controlled his boiling irritation. He knew nothing good would come from acting impulsively.

If he killed all the soldiers, he would inevitably become a fugitive.

Of course, since he had the Rotenfeld Family’s protection, it did not seem as though becoming a fugitive here would be that serious a problem.

Even so, he did not want to run away.

Why should he run when he had not committed any crime?

“What are you all doing? Bind him at once!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the commander’s order, the soldiers in the rear answered loudly and aimed something like a large harpoon gun. As soon as Balun saw it, he knew it was a harpoon that fired a capture net.

He had seen the exact same thing in Milford.

“Put that harpoon away. I will follow quietly.”

“What?”

“I told you to put it away.”

When Balun spoke in a low voice to the soldier holding the harpoon gun, the soldier flinched and froze. He had instinctively become frightened of Balun for a moment.

However, that too lasted only briefly. The soldier’s face turned red and blue with anger.

“This bastard dares threaten me……!”

“I am saying I will follow nicely. If I cooperate, there is no need to bind me.”

“Shut up, you barbarian bastard!”

FWOOSH!

In the end, the soldier could not hold himself back and fired the harpoon with trembling hands. The sharp harpoon shot through the air, and the net connected to it spread wide and covered Balun. Balun did not bother moving.

The soldiers’ faces brightened when they confirmed that Balun had been trapped in the net, but that look did not last long.

Riiiip!

Balun had torn the net apart with his bare hands.

The soldiers’ eyes grew round when they saw the thick net tear so easily.

“I-insane! How did he tear apart an anti-monster capture harpoon……!”

“That is why I told you not to shoot it. Commander. Let us go.”

“Wh-what?”

“Let us go. Were you not trying to take me with you? Or are we going to keep standing here?”

The commander who had been singled out felt his eyes tremble. A dilemma flashed through his mind for an instant.

Should he listen to this monster, or ignore him and attack?

The answer came quickly. If they tried to subdue that monster by force, the losses would likely be enormous. With the city already in chaos from the goblin attack, wasting their strength was something they had to avoid.

“F-fine. Drop your weapons.”

“That will not do. Would you abandon your own child?”

“What?”

“Instead, I will put them away for a while. Wait a moment.”

Balun placed his three axes into his Subspace Pouch. The soldiers could not hide their shock when they saw those enormous axes enter a leather pouch the size of a small backpack.

“A Subspace Pouch!”

“Is that enough now? Let us go. I have no weapons now.”

“Hand that over. I will confiscate it.”

Balun laughed inwardly. Their intentions were so obvious that it was actually funny. No, you bastards. Wipe the drool off your mouths. Or at least hide what you are thinking.

“That will not do. This is like my life. I will not hand it over to anyone. Even if a king or an emperor asked for it.”

When Balun shook his head, the commander shouted angrily.

“Are you playing games with me? How do I know you will not suddenly change your attitude, take out your weapons, and attack?”

“Are you an idiot? If I had any intention of attacking, do you not think I would have attacked all of you long ago?”

“Wh-what?”

“If Balun wanted to, he could kill all of you with his bare hands right now. But Balun is holding back because he does not want to cause a commotion.”

“You insolent……!”

“It is not insolence. It is the truth. Try it if you are curious.”

“Grr!”

The commander trembled with surging humiliation. However, he could not take any violent action. His instincts told him that the barbarian before him was not bluffing.

“Phew, fine. Follow me as you are. However, if you take out your weapons, I will kill you immediately.”

“Good!”

“But there are procedures, so I must bind you. I will not take your Subspace Pouch, so I would appreciate it if you cooperated quietly.”

“Can we not just go as we are? Even if you tie me up, I can tear apart mere rope if I feel like it.”

“Th-that is true, but there are procedures after all…….”

Even after saying that, the commander could not decide easily. Balun roughly guessed why he was acting that way and approached him, then whispered into his ear.

“I know this is not your will. Your superior told you to do it, so you are doing it. You are stuck in the middle too. Am I wrong?”

“A-ahem. What would a barbarian know……?”

“It must be damn frustrating. Your superior ordered you to move out, but this barbarian bastard refuses to listen at all. If you try to subdue him, you do not want to die. Since you cannot do this or that, how painful must it be? Am I right?”

“Th-that is.”

“That is why I am helping you.”

At the same time as he spoke, Balun slipped one gold coin into the commander’s hand without anyone noticing. The commander’s eyes immediately trembled.

“You subdued me and brought me in. There was no need to bind me. You carried out your orders well.”

“W-will it really work out that way?”

“Why would it not? Surely your superior will not beat you or punish you just because you did not bind me, will he? The mission was accomplished, was it not?”

‘Ha, he is stubborn. Let us go while I am still asking nicely. I will go and settle this with the higher-ups.’

He wanted to beat him up outright.

Well, he understood. That was simply how exhausting the life of a public official was.

The higher-ups gave orders, and the complainants were a pain in the ass…….

“Honestly, what reason do we have to fight among ourselves? We are not on friendly terms, but we are not enemies either.”

“But you are an impostor pretending to be a noble.”

“I am not an impostor pretending to be a noble, but even if I were, the person who should deal with me is your superior, not you. You only need to take me there. Right?”

“Th-that is true.”

After hesitating for a while, the commander eventually nodded reluctantly. Balun smiled in satisfaction and stepped back.

“It is settled. Let us go.”

“…….”

“What are you doing? Are we not going?”

Soon, the soldiers took Balun toward the guard station.

The soldiers aimed their spears at Balun, and Balun appeared to be caught within the encirclement. The funny thing was that the soldiers were tense, while Balun looked relaxed.

It was truly a bizarre sight.

“By the way, can I ask one thing?”

“What are you curious about?”

“Do you have the leisure for this? The city is under attack by monsters right now, yet instead of going out and fighting together, you are wasting time on something pointless. What will you do if the city gate is breached by any chance?”

“Th-that is because you dared impersonate a noble…….”

“Are you saying that protecting the honor of a noble is more important than preventing an enemy invasion and protecting the people?”

At Balun’s continued questions, neither the soldiers nor the commander could offer any rebuttal. They only moved in silence.

***

After arriving at the guard station, Balun was killing time for a while in a daze when he saw a group of people approaching. Among them, he recognized only one person.

A middle-aged man with a shiny bald patch in the center of his crown: Councilor Elliot.

When Elliot saw Balun lying on his side on the bare ground in front of the guard station, propping his head up with one arm while lazily swinging his legs, his eyes grew round. Then he shouted to the fat man beside him.

“Mr. Mayor! That is him! That man is the barbarian who impersonated Rotenfeld!”

‘So that bastard really did snitch on me.’

He had thought as much. The only person who would try to drag Balun down with the word “impersonation” was Councilor Elliot, who had treated him with such extreme courtesy.

“Hmm. He looks extremely arrogant.”

As the mayor stroked the thick flesh under his chin and looked Balun up and down, Elliot nodded eagerly and chimed in.

“Exactly! To think a barbarian dared order me around. It was utterly detestable…….”

“That is strange. When did I ever order you around? I never did that even once.”

Unable to keep listening, Balun cut in, and Elliot burst out in anger.

“What! Did you not do it yourself?”

“I did?”

“That is right!”

“What order did I give you?”

“Th-that is. You…… Mm.”

Elliot started to speak, then stopped. Now that he thought about it, nothing came to mind.

“You lie quite well. I merely asked a few things I was curious about.”

“Hmph! Did you not throw your weight around by daring to act as though you were a Knight of Rotenfeld and make me serve you?”

“I did? To you?”

“That is what I am saying! Mr. Mayor. That fellow is looking down on me terribly. He needs to be taught a sharp lesson!”

Balun chuckled.

Where did this bastard think he was going, fabricating things like that?

“Was it not you who bowed and scraped to me on your own?”

“What? When did I!”

“That man bowed and scraped to me on his own and treated me with courtesy. I never once threw my weight around. I never said I was a noble, nor did I say I was a Knight. To begin with, I never even said who I was.”

“Do not make me laugh! Did you not swagger around while holding the symbol of Rotenfeld?”

“I only showed it. Like this. I held it up so it could be seen clearly.”

Balun took out the token and raised it high, just as he had done in front of the city gate.

“I only said that I had this. I never said anything else. Yet you served me on your own. Am I wrong?”

“Th-that is.”

“Hey, Mayor. You mages in red hats. Soldiers. If you have heads on your shoulders, think about it.”

The people who were suddenly mentioned focused on him. The mages in red robes, who had been watching from behind the mayor with interested expressions, seemed somewhat dumbfounded.

That was only natural. They had never expected that barbarian to point them out directly.

“Would that fellow, who is red-faced and fidgeting, be the one lying? Or would I, who am speaking confidently, be the one lying? Whose words seem correct?”

At Balun’s calm words, Elliot’s face turned pale. He whipped around and clung to the mayor.

“M-Mr. Mayor! Are you going to listen to a man like that? He is a stinking barbarian! There is no way he could be a Knight of Rotenfeld! You said so yourself, did you not, Mr. Mayor?”

“I did say that, which is why I told them to bring him here. But now that I have heard him speak, his words seem to have a point too. If what he said is true, that is.”

“Mr. Mayor!”

“However, we do not know whether what he said is true. How can we tell whether he is calmly spewing lies or not?”

“That is right! That is exactly it!”

“Then we can determine it. Whether that token is real or not.”

“Of course it must be false…….”

“That is genuine.”

At the sudden voice that cut in, everyone’s gaze turned toward it. It was one of the mages in red robes.

“Pardon? Mage Oskal?”

At the mage’s sudden intervention, the mayor’s eyes grew round.

He had not expected him to step in like this.

When Balun looked at the mage, he saw that the man’s eyes had been dyed blue. He was clearly observing the token necklace.

“That distinctive and complex wave-patterned mana array is unmistakably the Blue Magic Tower’s craftsmanship. This is most certainly a token symbolizing Rotenfeld. I will guarantee it.”

“I-is that so?”

Both the mayor and Elliot fell silent, as though they had swallowed honey. It was not anyone else but a mage of the Red Tower who had given them confirmation, so how could they say otherwise? He even said he would guarantee it.

“But even if the token is real, that does not mean his crime disappears! How do we know whether that fellow killed someone and stole it, or robbed someone of it?”

At Elliot’s desperate words, suspicious gazes turned toward Balun. Receiving those gazes all at once, Balun chuckled.

‘Hehe. Thank you, Baldy. Thanks to you, the buildup is coming together perfectly.’

The irritation and sense of injustice he had felt had already disappeared without a trace.

Instead, his heart was swelling with intense anticipation.

His grand plan was to prove his innocence, then squeeze a huge amount of compensation money out of these people.

It was something he had thought of while idling at the guard station, but it was starting to look truly possible.

‘How much compensation do I have to squeeze out for people to say I squeezed them properly?’

With his heart pounding, Balun asked, “So, you are saying I killed a noble and took this? Or that I stole it and have it in my possession?”

“Th-that is right!”

“How can you be so sure? You have no evidence.”

“Hmph! Barbarian bastards are all like that! Fools who only know how to kill and fight!”

‘Why is that bald bastard doing this to me?’

Separate from the fact that things were going according to plan, Balun was genuinely curious.

Had it been so humiliating for him to bow and scrape to a barbarian?

‘Or is it because I said I wanted to sprinkle hair powder on him?’

But how would people here know what hair powder was?

“Then what will you do if you are wrong? I am asking what you will do if someone from the Rotenfeld Family comes and guarantees my identity.”

“That is obviously…….”

“Obviously what?”

Elliot flinched. The faint smile blooming on Balun’s lips somehow looked ominous.

‘Surely that fellow is not truly connected to Rotenfeld…… No, that cannot be. Why would that proud great noble house ever accept a barbarian like him……? It makes no sense.’

Having quickly strengthened his resolve, Elliot clenched his fist.

“If that is true, I will kneel before you! Is that enough?”

Balun let out a hollow laugh. Was he joking right now?

“Come on, that is not enough. Would you kill an innocent person and then end it by saying you are sorry? Was Elliot, a councilor of the Mirehal City Council, only that kind of person?”

“F-fine! I will even strip naked and dance! I will bark like a dog! I will compensate you too!”

“Is that true?”

“It is true!”

Balun struggled to suppress his laughter.

‘You are dead.’

I will make you run a lap around Mirehal naked while barking like a dog.

“On the honor of the Mirehal City Council? With your honor and the mayor’s honor on the line too? Completely all in?”

“I will do so!”

“And you will write a contract? Including a clause that says you will pay a massive amount of compensation?”

“Of course!”

“Good!”

At those words, the mayor looked dumbfounded.

“You madman. Why are you putting my honor on the line? And what nonsense is this about a contract?”

“Mr. Mayor, please do not worry. It is obviously a bluff. There is no way that proud Rotenfeld would accept someone like him, is there? He must have done something. He either killed someone of Rotenfeld blood and took it, or if not that, he picked it up or stole it.”

“That is true, but still.”

“In any case, I am merely speaking on your behalf, Mr. Mayor. You were the angriest of all, were you not? You said this was an opportunity to gain favor with the Rotenfeld Family. Why are you backing out now?”

“You fool, why are you saying that?”

“It is fine. He is going to die anyway.”

“Even so! What will you do if he is not?”

“Come now, trust me.”

“I-is that so?”

Listening to the back-and-forth comedy routine between the two of them, Balun offered the mayor one piece of advice.

“Mayor. Cut that fellow off at once later. You are much better off without a subordinate like that.”

“What?”

“And I am being generous. Mayor, I will let you off. I will exempt you from stripping naked and barking like a dog. After all, you have the dignity of a mayor to consider. Of course, you still have to pay money. A lot of it.”