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I, Cross, my sister Asha, and I had come to the Midogal Kingdom six months ago on a request from Toran-sama.
We’ve already accomplished what we were asked for, to some extent.
I secured four beastman women and two dwarf women, put on the slavery collars, and handed them over to Tran-sama’s messenger.
After that, we set out to find the elves and demons we hadn’t caught yet.
However, it was hard to find demons around here, and I gave up on them.
And we were only able to find a few elves…….
There were only those who were already slaves of the nobles of the Midogal Kingdom, or weaklings who were just elves and had no other distinguishing characteristics.
As expected, I can’t mess with a nobleman’s slave, and I don’t want a weakling, no matter how many elves there are.
Asha and I talked about what to do, but we couldn’t come up with any good ideas.
Since we hadn’t been to the bar for a while, Asha and I decided to head there for a change of pace.
In the tavern, there was Lisa, an elf with both beauty and strength.
To me and Asha’s eyes, it looked like prey that had finally been caught.
We have 〈acting〉 skills that make it easier to build trust. To gain even more credibility, I also have the easily recognizable status of an S rank adventurer.
Therefore, for Asha and I, it was far too easy to get at Lisa and her friend Airi.
However, my prey, Lisa, is an A-rank adventurer and is famous in this city.
And it seemed that she was only accepting requests that were close by and could be done in a day.
As expected, attacking such a woman out of the blue in the vicinity of Midoria would risk catching the attention of others.
Asha and I devised a plan to see if we could somehow make Lisa a slave.
My thought was to pretend we had a party member first, and then ask for help to rescue the elf from the bandits. The idea was to make it look like we were traveling to our destination and enslave the two of them along the way.
Airi, who was not the target, would also be a trump card in putting the slavery collar on Lisa. And when I’m done with her, I’ll go to …… and sell her to a slave trader somewhere.
We took less than a month to gain their trust. And then, just as we were about to launch the operation, ……
There was a guy in the guild sniffing around for Lisa and Airi, so I wondered if our operation had been discovered somehow?
So, I’m going to have to raise my voice.
―― and then Lisa and Airi arrived at an inopportune moment.
I had never let these two see me yell at anyone before, so I wasn’t sure what to do, but Airi spoke up.
「Cross-san, is there something wrong for you to shout so loudly?」
「No, because this guy was asking around about Lisa and Airi. You’re both beautiful, so I thought it would be too late if something happened to you. That’s why I yelled at him.」
I hurriedly answered with a random excuse.
Well, it’s true that they are both beautiful. And that’s why I’m going to enslave them.
I tried to frame this snooping guy as the suspicious one, but I couldn’t come up with a good idea.
As I was wondering what to do, the three of them started talking without knowing what I was thinking.
We’ll have to find out who this guy is first.
That’s what I thought, and I focused all my attention on listening to the conversation between the three of them.
And as it turns out, …… this is the guy Lisa and Airi had told me about before, the guy they separated from in Dallas.
A little calmer, I look at the man again.
And in that moment, a chill ran down my spine――.
Asha and I are both S-ranked and strong in our own way, but I instinctively felt that …… this man was even better than that.
My instincts sound the alarm.
This guy’s is trouble.
I guess I was in such a hurry that I didn’t notice it until now…….
I knew I couldn’t let this guy get too far into it, so I signaled Asha with my eyes.
Then I turned my mind to full speed and formulated a plan in an instant.
「Lisa, Airi, the plan was to leave tomorrow. But we’ll leave as soon as Airi’s exams are over. If we wait any longer, Lara will be …… and we’ll be ready to go sooner than we thought. That’s why we’ve been waiting for you two here.」
Well, actually, I’m not done preparing yet.
As soon as they partied with us, I tried not to be suspicious by making a good impression on the receptionist by completing requests and interacting with other adventurers so that the others would not be suspicious of their absence.
And it’s a long trip, so it takes time to prepare for it.
I had no choice but to cancel the request and try to make up for the accelerated schedule on the way.
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「Louis, we should get going.」
Lisa told me and tried to turn her back to me. My 〈Intuition〉tells me that’s a bad idea.
It would be a bad idea to let the two of them go with Cross and his sister.
Deciding that I was running out of time, I decided to speak straightforwardly.
「Airi, Lisa, It seems that we are short of time, I don’t think it’s possible for us to slowly discuss this. So I’ll just be blunt. You shouldn’t be thinking about going anywhere with them. They can’t be trusted. It’s obviously too suspicious.」
I spoke more impatiently.
「This advice is for both of your safety’s sake. The only reason I’m telling you this is because I’m warning you that my 〈Intuition〉 skill is flagging that he is dangerous and that he has an 〈Acting〉 skill.
They were just stunned, as if it was too sudden and they didn’t know what was said for a moment.
But I guess they soon understood the content of what I was saying.
Their expressions turned bitter – they seemed to be claiming that they didn’t understand or agree with what I was saying at all.
「What?! Louis, why do you say that? Cross and Asha are both good people. They’ve been a great help to both Airi and I. And now we’re in a party. The only reason I’m going out is because I’ve been asked to do a few things, and I’m going to the Stania Empire, but I’ll be back within a month. You can’t doubt every person who has 〈Acting〉 skills, people with those skills can’t do anything about it. I mean, can we really rely on Louis’ 〈Intuition〉 skills?
「I didn’t think Louis-sama …… would have been that rude to someone he just met. However, I remember Louis-sama when he was still very young. …… Skills are just skills, they do not represent the person. I want to believe in Louis’s 〈Intuition〉 skills, but I still believe in Cross and the others. I can’t believe that the two people who have been so kind to me are lying to me.」
「I’m saying this for both of your sakes. Can’t you just hear what I have to say?」
Cross and the others don’t have〈Dark Magic〉, and Airi and Lisa’s statuses indicate that they are not brainwashed. So I tried to talk them out of it for a while.
「I’ve misjudged. Or have you grown strong and arrogant? Louis ……, I’m disappointed in you.」
「Cross-san and Asha-san are s ranked……I’m still a little slow on the uptake, but he’s been training me without a hint of displeasure. In comparison, Louis-sama criticizes …… such a person at the first meeting? I think that is the worst thing a person can do. I’m disappointed too…….」
Airi and Lisa uttered such terrible words.
And their words became a blade that pierced my heart. I was rejected by both of them, I was so sad …… and I was quite shocked …….
I realize that these feelings seem to have shown on my face for a moment.
A moment later, the faces of the classmates I had helped but betrayed me in my previous life and the bullies who had been so good at getting under my skin came to mind.
But I shook my head and quickly relegated the memory to a corner of my mind.
However…… even though I was taken care of in the past……
When I’ve been told so much, too, slowly, gradually, I feel my emotions overtake my sadness and shock.
I come to fulfil a promise―― a reunion after a year and seven months―― and this is what I get……
Do they trust Cross instead of me? Airi and Lisa met Cross and the others after they came to Midoria, right? Was that the extent of their bond with me?
Especially after Airi and I spent our childhoods together.
Neither of them even listened to a word I said.
But I can’ t stop Airi and Lisa by force, and I can’t beat up those guys, Cross and Asha.
I also told them about my 〈Intuition〉 skills and their 〈Acting〉 skills.
What more should I do? For these two people now…
I guess there’s some jealousy in my feelings right now.
After all, you’d rather have your bond with them than mine?
Am I a fool for coming all this way to see you?
The moment I thought that…
Lisa and Airi’s value to me has gone from being my parents’ friend and maid to being something I don’t need to be a part of in the future.
I feel like I’ve become indifferent to them both.
Then a low, emotionless voice came out, surprising even me.
「Disappointed,huh …… You’re disappointed, oh I see?…… Oh, yeah…… I understand. Yeah, I’m done……. I’m done when you say that much. You guys can go ahead and do whatever you want. However, …… I don’t want to see you guys again. And if it goes the way I predicted, …… we’ll never see each other again. You and I are strangers from this day forward. What I’m about to tell you isn’t sarcastic or anything, okay?」
As a last act of kindness, I decided to teach them both a lesson.
「I’ll give you guys who knew me this one piece of advice. In the near future, both of your lives will be shrouded in darkness. At the very least, try not to despair and live life with a strong spirit. …… Let’s go! Eleanor!」
Airi and Lisa had no more words to speak.
Now I’ll have to say a few words to Cross, just in case.
「And one final thing. You’re Cross, aren’t you? I don’t care about those two anymore, but if you mess with me or this Eleanor in the future, I’m going to eliminate you, okay?」
I glared at Cross, then said with a deadly tone.
After giving the four of them a quick glance, I walked out of the guild with Eleanor and returned to the inn.
However, I was still having a hard time mentally. When I got back to the inn, I didn’t feel better at all.
Eleanor doesn’t ask me any questions. Just a gentle smile on her face.
And she gently hugs me when I’m not feeling so energetic.
I was touched by Eleanor’s warmth, and little by little, I felt myself calming down.