Arc-7 Ch-25

It was already quite late at night, yet the men continued onward toward their destination, moving through city streets where the distinctive bustle of a tourist district was beginning to ebb.

To an outside observer, the men appeared peculiar.

The clothing they wore was unmistakably that of officials tasked with maintaining public order in this entertainment quarter.

Anyone holding a position related to upholding order, even in a provisional capacity, would normally remain attentive to their surroundings and attempt to suppress disturbances.

They might issue warnings to adventurers who had drunk themselves unconscious and collapsed along the roadside, or reprimand tourists harassing shop employees, but these men displayed not the slightest inclination to do so.

Without casting so much as a sideways glance, they pressed straight ahead, inevitably conveying to those around them that they were acting under some form of mission.

City residents would glance in their direction, then promptly avert their eyes, behaving as though the men had nothing to do with them.

Dealing with intoxicated customers directly in front of them was far easier than becoming unnecessarily involved and risking unpleasant repercussions.

The unease surrounding the men stemmed from the fact that they were all elves, and moreover, it was obvious from any angle that they weren’t the sort who belonged on the side of maintaining order. They possessed the unmistakable darkness of those tied to the underworld.

Although the place was known as the Elf Village, elves generally disliked interacting with humans, and that attitude hadn’t changed even after the Holfort Kingdom implemented its policy of integration with subhumans.

When the plan was conceived to convert the village into a tourist attraction to generate revenue and squeeze money from foolish humans, deciding who would handle the village’s maintenance and administration became a serious issue.

They already had to tolerate foolish humans. Did they truly need to resolve the disturbances those humans caused as well?

The most rational solution to such dissatisfaction was to hire humans with money.

The Holfort Kingdom had been founded by adventurers, so a significant portion of its citizens held admiration for them, regardless of social standing, gender, or even age.

Many adventurers chased the boundless blue sky, yet only a select few ever succeeded as those who conquered it.

The rest either returned to the soil of the dungeon, abandoned their dreams to become ordinary citizens, or survived as rogues with no remaining path.

Hiring the majority of these impoverished former adventurers with money was simple, and if they spent their earnings within the village, the economy would flourish all the more.

At present, the Elf Village was exerting a form of control over humans through economics rather than sheer force.

This arrangement soothed the elves’ vanity, and within the village’s bustling streets, not only shop laborers and airport workers but even those handling negotiations with the kingdom were hired humans.

In such a village, elves wearing the uniforms of officials charged with maintaining public order was enough to arouse suspicion.

However, no one voiced that suspicion. Anyone sharp enough to work in this entertainment district could easily infer what it meant.

In other words, a problem had emerged that couldn’t be entrusted to humans, requiring the elves themselves to intervene.

Wearing official uniforms was merely the bare minimum justification that their actions were lawful responses to an incident.

In truth, the expressions of the elves carrying out this clandestine mission were cold and ruthless, and many of them openly despised humans.

They nominally belonged to the current village chief’s faction, but only because they wished to once again savor the extravagant lifestyle they’d enjoyed when employed as exclusive servants to nobles.

In reality, their sympathies aligned more closely with the former village chief’s desire to expel humans, and at times they even accepted requests from elf extremists to conceal incidents while relieving their own boredom.

Tonight was no exception. If they captured the pitiful prey and handed it over to the former village chief and his allies, the task would be complete. They treated it lightly, assuming it was merely another routine assignment as they headed toward their destination.

The elves made no effort to hide their irritation at having to clean up the incident from yesterday’s dungeon, where monsters had attacked adventurers, and they’d accepted this request partly to vent that frustration.

Incidents involving monsters appearing in the dungeon or visitors to the floating islands going missing had occurred many times before, yet none had escalated into major issues because elves had quietly suppressed them behind the scenes.

The current village chief, who’d worked tirelessly to transform the Elf Village into a tourist destination, believed that the spread of negative rumors would ruin everything, so he hastened to cover matters up.

The former village chief, who was plotting something involving the ruins beneath the dungeon, likewise didn’t want anyone discovering the truth.

From the standpoint of the elf race’s prosperity and survival, the interests of both sides coincided.

As a result, it wasn’t unusual for them to cooperate when problems arose. Yesterday’s disturbance was one such instance.

Upon reaching their destination, they paused to observe the building they were about to infiltrate. Its well maintained exterior reflected the architectural style favored by the wealthy elite of the Holfort Kingdom.

Many elves harbored resentment toward the village’s transformation into a tourist spot. Luxurious buildings in the royal capital were tolerable precisely because they existed outside the village.

In the capital, they could enjoy lavish lives by feigning deference to dim witted nobles, then return to the village to live lazily after earning enough.

Those days would never return, and even if they did, it was unclear how distant that future might be.

This situation had come about entirely because of humans. It was the consequence of short lived species, scarcely better than beasts, engaging in petty internal strife.

The current nobles of the Holfort Kingdom despised demihumans and rarely employed them. The cause lay in the past, when demihumans hired as exclusive servants had collectively betrayed their lords and leaked information.

As a result, demihumans and the role of exclusive servant came to be viewed as dangerous, and revised laws restricted the occupations demihumans could hold, forcing the abolition of the exclusive servant profession.

Stripped of their opulent lifestyles, these demihumans accumulated resentment toward the Holfort Kingdom, human society, the royal family, and the nobility, all without a trace of remorse.

When informed that this time’s target was a noble of the kingdom, the resident elves participating in the secret mission trembled with dark delight.

They’d never intended to hold back against humans in the first place, and now their opponent was a noble.

For the time being, after kidnapping the entire family, it would likely be framed as a robbery in the dead of night or an attack by monsters during dungeon exploration.

They’d leave the final decision to the ruler of the village. As for themselves, they only needed to indulge their boredom however they pleased.

Being nobles, the family likely possessed valuable ornaments and ample cash. Selling those goods to underworld residents beyond the reach of investigations would allow them to live comfortably for a while.

The ten elves split into three groups, planning to reach the inn at staggered times through separate entry routes in order to assault their targets.

One group would pose as officials and enter through the front, another would infiltrate through the employees’ rear entrance, and the last would break in via the emergency exit. Each group would carry out its role to abduct the noble family.

The group approaching from the front under the guise of officials was tasked with neutralizing the guards.

According to their information, the noble family consisted of a husband and wife, their children, and several guards, a standard arrangement for nobles on sightseeing trips.

The troublesome part was the well trained guards. They needed to be dealt with first to eliminate any chance of escape.

Few parents could abandon their beloved children and flee. If necessary, the children could be used effectively as hostages.

They would complete their assignment swiftly, abduct the noble family through the emergency exit, and conclude the operation.

For contingencies like this, several human employees at the inn had already been bribed and conditioned.

Arrangements had been made to mix sleeping drugs into the food and drinks delivered to the rooms, leave the back entrance unlocked, ignore intruders, and provide prepared testimony afterward.

In case of unexpected resistance, this group had been reinforced with one additional member compared to the others and equipped with weapons, though it was still considered an easy task.

The fact that they were permitted to take the guards’ lives was especially appealing. Being paid to torment humans was ideal.

Suppressing the excitement surging through their blood, the elves advanced toward the room where the guards were said to be staying.

When they reached the door, they halted and slowly grasped the knob, turning it carefully.

After confirming the faint metallic sound of contact, they peered through the narrow opening of the door. The lights were off, and there was no sign of movement inside.

Amateurs, the elves mocked inwardly, ridiculing the foolish guards.

Guards are supposed to rotate shifts while standing watch, or at the very least assign someone to remain awake through the night to protect their master.

Even if they had been drugged with sleeping pills, for all of them to fall asleep without sensing anything amiss in their bodies means every last one of them was just as foolish as the others. As expected, humans truly are nothing more than creatures ranked several tiers below elves.

They slowly opened the door and slipped into the dimly lit room, advancing step by step while taking care not to let my feet make a sound.

The guards they were targeting were in the bedroom. Once those troublesome sentries were dealt with, the rest would be easy enough.

No, actually, after eliminating the guards, restraining the nobles before the other teams arrived wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

The elf at the very front, fully convinced he was the hunter, failed to notice it.

The fact that the elf at the very rear had already collapsed silently onto the floor.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Amateurs, huh. I couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

After crouching near the entrance and waiting for some time, my body had blended perfectly into the surroundings, becoming nothing more than part of the scenery itself.

Thanks to the invisible light emitted by the small floating orb hovering above my head, the scene behind me was projected onto the surface of my body, making me appear transparent.

Of course, if I moved violently in a brightly lit place, the inconsistency would become obvious at once. I had to remain completely still, like a statue, or I’d be discovered immediately, so overconfidence was strictly forbidden.

Still, in a room with the lights turned off, it was the ideal tool for lying in wait. Even when intruders passed right beside my body, they didn’t notice me at all.

The ones who had entered the room were four elves dressed in the uniforms worn by the officials commonly seen throughout this city.

The hats they wore were mismatched in size and sat awkwardly on their heads, failing to conceal their characteristically long, pointed elf ears.

To begin with, their levels of physical maturity varied, and there was no sense of unity among them. The fact that all of them were facing forward while neglecting to watch their sides or rear already revealed just how inadequate their training was.

Well, fine. If my opponents were no different from the ordinary thugs roaming this place, then handling them alone would be more than enough.

It had been the correct decision to assign guards to Angie and the children and have them escape.

The moment the rearmost elf passed directly beside me, I quietly closed and locked the door without making a sound.

The two fundamental elements of hunting are preventing the prey from escaping and ensuring the kill is carried out without fail.

I chose to begin by targeting the rearmost elf. A surprise attack from invisibility would likely only work once, so I intended to eliminate him for certain.

It’s an undeniable fact that demihumans possess sturdier physiques than humans or excel in the use of magic, but that doesn’t mean humans can never defeat demihumans.

Humans may have short lifespans, but their superior reproductive capacity and advanced technology have allowed them to expand their influence. Demihumans, on the other hand, believe themselves superior in individual strength.

That belief isn’t entirely wrong. Superior physical ability does provide an advantage in combat. Still, the world isn’t so simple that victory and defeat are decided by that alone, and tales of the weak overcoming the strong aren’t mere fantasy.

Now that I’m approaching my mid thirties and beginning to feel my body’s decline, the techniques I’ve honed through relentless training and countless life and death struggles have granted me the wisdom and efficiency to take lives far more effectively than I could in my youth.

Even someone like me, a human lacking innate talent, has managed to reach this level. Yet the elves who infiltrated this room were in such a pitiful state.

Longevity may be convenient for mastering a craft, but without purpose, it seems to do nothing more than let natural talent rot away.

When I closed the distance until I was practically pressed against the rearmost elf, I clamped my left hand over his mouth. Startled, the elf struggled desperately to cry out, but not a sound reached his companions.

I then forced him against the wall and drove my fist into his abdomen, putting my entire body behind the blow.

The abdomen, unprotected by bone, is certainly a vital point of the body. Still, incapacitating someone with a single strike to the stomach is far more difficult than most people imagine.

The reason lies in its softness. The body’s flexibility allows it to change shape and disperse impact.

If you attack the abdomen with a blade, a blunt weapon, or a firearm, killing is easy. But even if you strike with all your strength using a human fist, the result is usually nothing more than overwhelming pain.

In cases of monstrous strength, internal organs may be destroyed by a single blow, but it doesn’t leave an external wound. So for someone like me, neither overwhelmingly strong nor a martial arts prodigy, was there any way to knock an opponent unconscious with a strike to the abdomen?

There was.

If the impact tends to disperse, then all I had to do was restrain the opponent so the force would transmit fully.

By pinning them against a wall or the floor, the shock has nowhere to escape. In that state, I drive my fist into the abdomen with the momentum of my entire body surging forward.

It’s more accurate to think of the body as a massive hammer and the arm, including the fist, as a stake being driven in. The technique itself is simple and direct. Anyone with talent would grasp it easily after experiencing it once.

That simplicity is its greatest strength. It’s quick to learn and highly adaptable.

What I seek isn’t a flashy secret art meant to impress others, but combat techniques that reliably end a fight on the battlefield.

Even if people call me cowardly, despicable, or villainous, I care only about winning.

“…!!”

With his mouth covered, the elf couldn’t scream as his eyes rolled back and his body convulsed in agony.

To him, it must’ve felt as if his abdomen had suddenly burst apart, while crushing pain from within made even breathing impossible.

Through my right fist, which had sunk in so deeply it could no longer be seen, I felt the distinctive give of flesh even through my glove.

Warm liquid touched the palm of my left hand covering his mouth, and then his body went completely limp.

Perhaps his internal organs had ruptured. I felt no sympathy. I wasn’t soft hearted enough to show mercy to someone who attacked in the middle of the night.

The instant I caught sight of the elf ahead turning around after noticing something wrong behind him, I released the fallen one, planted my feet, and charged forward.

My vision sharpened, and I could clearly perceive the minute changes in the elf’s shocked expression. Annoyingly, everything around me seemed to slow down.

This sensation had plagued me since my teens whenever combat began. My five senses would sharpen unnaturally, and my body would respond instantly to an opponent’s movements.

It almost never happened in ordinary life, yet whenever a struggle between life and death erupted, this heightened state surged forth. Honestly, it was something I’d never grown fond of.

No matter how far I go, the greatest talent I possess is violence, and worse still, it’s a mediocre kind that will never reach the realm of a true master. Being forced to confront that reality again and again inevitably weighs on my spirit.

Even so, my body selected the most appropriate tactic for the situation and moved on its own.

I snapped my left hand forward, scattering several droplets of liquid toward the elf’s face. The true nature of that liquid was the blood spat out by the elf I had just finished off.

The elf reacted instinctively, trying to wipe the blood from his face, and in doing so, created an opening. It lasted only a few seconds at most, but that was more than enough time to deal with a single elf.

Carrying the momentum of my extended left arm forward, I drove it straight toward the lower part of the elf’s head.

It didn’t matter whether it struck his jaw or his throat. As long as it robbed him of his balance for a few seconds, the exact point of impact was irrelevant.

Fortunately, my palm heel strike landed squarely on his jaw. A blow to that area violently shakes the head, making it difficult to even remain standing.

I immediately clamped my left hand firmly around the elf’s throat while, at the same time, seizing his left hand with my right.

From there, the rest was simple. By lightly hooking my leg around his and synchronizing the motion of my entire body, the off-balance elf was easily dragged down to the floor.

During training within the Bartfort territory’s forces, we’re always taught to avoid letting people fall onto their backs or heads because it’s dangerous, so we deliberately restrain ourselves. But the opponents this time were clearly elves who had come to attack us.

Even as he slammed into the ground without being able to break his fall, not a shred of guilt surfaced in my heart.

THUDDD!!

With a sound loud enough to echo into the neighboring room and the bedroom, the elf was smashed into the floor.

Even though an expensive carpet had been laid out, it provided almost no cushioning against a fall from such a dangerous angle.

The elf rolled across the floor, groaning. Without mercy, I brought my foot down hard on his chest.

It was no different from how I finished off the rearmost elf. The impact that couldn’t disperse turned directly into destructive force and ravaged the body.

Even through the thick soles of boots designed for combat and adventuring, I felt the unmistakable sensation of the breastbone breaking. At the same moment, the elf’s groans stopped.

I shoved the unpleasant aftertaste, the possibility that I might have killed him, into a corner of my mind.

It’s far better to finish someone decisively and regret it afterward than to hesitate out of concern for their life and end up being counterattacked instead.

I could never show a side like this to Angie or the children. After all this, even the remaining elves couldn’t help but notice my presence.

When they entered the room, there had been four of them. Now, half of them, two, were sprawled across the floor, and it wasn’t even clear whether they were alive.

The moment I delivered the follow-up stomp to the elf I’d thrown down would’ve been a perfect opening if they’d taken advantage of it. Even so, the two remaining elves didn’t act at all.

Their faces were frozen in terror at the sight of something they clearly couldn’t comprehend.

If they weren’t going to move, then I would. I wasn’t soft-hearted enough to stand around politely waiting for them to attack.

Startled by my movement, the elves hurriedly tried to draw pistols from their chests, but their motions were clumsy and uncoordinated.

Thrown into panic by the unexpected situation, they couldn’t even assume a proper stance, much less aim accurately.

“Amateurs.”

The insult slipped from my mouth without thought, prompted by how utterly pathetic their display was.

You came to attack my entire family with skills like that?

Your training and experience are completely lacking. Even the half-trained recruits in our territory’s forces move far better than you do.

When an enemy falls into a trap, there’s a mix of guilt and superiority, but when the opponent is simply too foolish, irritation takes over instead.

At this rate, even the guards I brought along could’ve handled them without relying on the orb’s power. I should’ve left one or two of them behind.

There was absolutely no reason for me to wait courteously until the flustered elves managed to aim their pistols at me.

Sorry, but I’m going to push through unilaterally like this.

I charged forward at full speed while rushing into the room, which was spacious enough to suit high-priced noble accommodations.

If I’d remained in that narrow passageway, there would’ve been no room to evade, and I’d have made an easy target.

The moment I entered the excessively wide room, I grabbed the nearest object within reach. It was a chair placed there for the use of guests.

I’d picked it up purely by chance, but it seemed my usual good conduct had earned me a bit of luck.

Closing in on the elves with ferocious momentum, I gripped both legs of the chair firmly with both hands, swung it high overhead before they could finish readying their pistols, and then brought it down with all my strength.

CRACK!!

Even a cushioned chair with a backrest is no different from a club once it’s accelerated enough and real power is put behind it.

Amid the sound of destruction, one elf collapsed face-first onto the floor. Whether the blow landed perfectly or poorly, he didn’t even manage to scream.

I checked the feel of the chair still in my hands. As expected of furniture custom-made for nobles, it had bent considerably but hadn’t broken apart completely.

Only one intruder remained. In a one-on-one fight, as long as the opponent wasn’t an exceptional expert, I held the advantage.

Riding the momentum, I swung the chair at the elf again, but he stepped back quickly and evaded the attack.

Whether he’d regained his composure or had simply gotten lucky, I couldn’t tell, but he at least seemed capable of responding to my movements.

He thrust his right hand forward and aimed the pistol at me. Naturally, I had no technique that could dodge a bullet traveling faster than the speed of sound.

In that instant, I hurled the chair I was holding straight at the elf. My aim was rough, and the flying chair only grazed him before crashing into the wall and exploding into splintered wood.

Even as his posture collapsed, the elf pointed the pistol at me once more.

To finish an enemy with a firearm, the muzzle has to be aimed at the target. That means the target will inevitably be at the end of the arm holding the weapon.

The elf’s right hand, gripping the pistol, was extended straight toward me. I seized the sleeve covering that right arm with my left hand and yanked it hard.

At the same time, I dropped my hips to evade while disrupting his balance, turned my back toward him, and pressed my body in close. Before putting power into my hips and both legs to lift him, I made one deliberate adjustment.

Normally, I’d press my right arm against the opponent’s right side to weaken his resistance and make the lift easier, but this time, I intentionally altered the placement of my right arm.

CRACK!

“Gyaaah!?”

Joint locks are, at their core, applications of leverage. They’re a discipline bordering on science, one that seeks to produce maximum destructive force with minimal effort by treating the opponent’s joint as the fulcrum.

Using my shoulder as that fulcrum, I lifted him while simultaneously applying my body weight to snap his arm downward. The searing pain forced the pistol from his grasp, and it clattered to the floor.

Being subjected to a throw and a joint lock at the same time left him with no choice. His arm broke, and his body was hurled away.

I lifted him with my hips and slammed him down, but I deliberately chose where he would land. The impact point was the other elf who had already been struck by the chair and was lying face-down on the floor.

Even if he’d been knocked unconscious by the chair, there was a chance he’d wake up soon. So here, I let the two elves kindly collide with each other as a finishing touch.

Lowering my stance, I flipped him upward with my hips. In throwing techniques that slam an opponent into the ground, the opponent’s own body weight becomes pure destructive force.

Without even giving him the chance to perform a proper break-fall, I hurled the elf who’d been on my back downward with enough force to stop his breathing.

A shock ran through the floor. He was smashed face-first into it with full force and couldn’t even let out a sound.

Still, it was too early to relax. Even with his arm broken and having been thrown to the ground, he might still have the will to counterattack.

From behind, I wrapped my arm around his neck and applied pressure, strangling him. Compressing the thick blood vessels running from the torso to the head to forcibly induce unconsciousness is the fundamental stranglehold used in military close-quarters combat.

After faint convulsions, the elf spasmed once more before his body went limp. It seemed he’d completely lost consciousness.

For good measure, I applied the same chokehold to the other elf sprawled on the floor. Without offering any real resistance, both elves ended up motionless on the ground.

『Action initiated 156 seconds ago. Four targets have been completely neutralized. Spending approximately 40 seconds per individual does not appear efficient.』

[T/N- you can see I tried various way to demonstrate luxion's speech bubble sometime "..." Or 【.....】 but ultimately decided on『....』from now it will be standard.]

“Shut up. I was going all out from the start, and those guys were probably desperate too. In real combat, things going smoothly is the rare exception.”

『You chose to neutralize the opponents through unarmed combat. Given your skill level, the use of firearms or bladed weapons would likely have reduced the required time by more than half.』

“That’d end up killing them, wouldn’t it?”

『Would that not be preferable? They are the planners who mixed drugs into the food and drinking water prior to launching the attack. Sympathy is unwarranted.』

“…If I kill them, I can’t interrogate them, can I?”

『There is no need to keep all targets alive. The most efficient strategy is to secure the minimum required number and eliminate the remainder afterward.』

“A father doesn’t want to kill anyone, no matter the reason, in front of the family he loves.”

『If you fail, everything will be lost.』

While restraining the elves’ hands and feet with the rope I’d prepared in advance so they couldn’t move, I continued the casual exchange with the orb.

The guards who accompanied us on this trip also served as poison testers. After sending my family away with guards before nightfall, I had the orb investigate various areas of the inn.

The results were a jackpot.

Several suspicious locations and items were discovered, and drugs were detected in the dinner dishes. Being able to anticipate a nighttime assault could only be described as sheer luck.

And so, the pitiful elves, unaware that I was lying in wait, burst into the room and were neatly turned back on themselves. And they all lived happily ever after, or something like that.

『Report.』

“What is it now?”

『Additional elves have arrived on this floor. Three individuals.』

“Is this room their target?”

『Unclear. However, their movement speed shows no indication of urgency. It is estimated that the neighboring room is their objective.』

“I’ll intercept them.”

『Understood.』

I opened the window and stepped out onto the balcony. The cool night air brushed against my face.

Each room in this inn came with a fairly spacious balcony that offered a sweeping view of the city.

They weren’t directly connected, but the gap was short enough that a single jump would easily carry me to the neighboring balcony.

Leaving the bound elves behind, I leapt across and landed quietly on the adjacent balcony.

None of the windows were locked. I slowly peered inside and saw the intruders just as they were about to open the door.

“Orb, conceal yourself.”

『Understood. Stealth mode activated.』

Once again, my form blended into the surroundings. I quietly opened the window and slipped inside.

Just like before, the elves didn’t notice me. Sorry, but I’m going to have to beat you down.

Whether my stamina gives out first or the elves’ reinforcements do.

Thus began an unpredictable war of attrition within the midnight inn.

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Authors Note

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This chapter is a violence-focused installment unique to this work, featuring the villainous knight Leon. A father protecting his family is strong.

In the original story, Luxion often cooperates in combat, but in this version, such instances are fewer. As a result, this chapter depicts a tag-team between the villainous knight and the orb.

Compared to the original, this version of Leon is designed to be larger, older, and trained in martial arts, so he shows no mercy.

As a result, Angie has a difficult time serving as his nighttime partner.

The next chapter will focus on interrogation. Please be advised that further violence will occur.

P.S. At the requester’s request, moninora. has kindly drawn a manga adaptation for this work. Please enjoy the depiction of Angie and Leon’s meeting.

Thank you very much.

moninora: Pixiv

I’d greatly appreciate any opinions or impressions, as they’d serve as encouragement for future chapters.