Chương 25: I Beat People Up

POV: The Dark Lord, Milo Miles The two mercenaries, or bandits, hired knives, whatever they were, stalked toward me. They probably had me pegged as the easy mark; young, no weapon, nothing to worry about. Easy, I thought. One punch each and they would be napping in the dirt. I stepped forward envisioning an epic fight where I could showcase my OP nature, but caught my foot on a rock half-buried in the path. I went down face-first. I'm fairly sure I yelped. What a great way to showcase my competence…

I planted both hands to push myself up, and that was when I saw the boot. It came in fast, straight at my face, and connected, snapping my head back up. That was all it did. The mercenary stared, plainly trying to work out why there wasn't a mark on me. Then the boot came down again, stamping my head into the ground. Back to kissing dirt. Goddamn it. Please tell me Lunessa isn't seeing this. The boot ground harder against the back of my skull, leaning real weight into it.

I reached back blind with my left hand, caught his ankle, and yanked it sideways. The strength behind it took his balance clean out from under him. He toppled with a grunt. I was up, but the second one was already on me, a knife in his fist, the blade glowing faint with some enchantment. He thrust low for my gut. I was about to grab his arm to stop the thrust, but at the last instant, he broke the motion, rolled his wrist, and brought the knife up and across instead. A feint.

The real cut landed high, dragging across my chest, splitting the cheap cloth of my shirt. It did not get through my skin, resulting in a nother stunned look, which was understandable. I closed my hand around his knife-arm. Then, borrowing wholesale from every action anime I had ever watched, I pivoted on my heel, hauled his arm down over my shoulder, and dropped, flipping him clean over my back. He hit the ground hard enough to rattle his teeth and went limp. A groan behind me. The first one was upright again.

He charged, s o I charged back. I just lowered my shoulder and drove it into his chest, took him straight off his feet, and rode him down to the dirt. One punch to the face from on top—not full force, just enough. He sagged, blood threading from his nose, a couple of teeth knocked loose. I hadn't even noticed the boss raise his arm. A blast of blue light caught me square in the face. It did nothing. I felt like walking past one of those misting fans outside a convenience store on a hot day.

An ice spell, probably, and a feeble one, nowhere near the kind of cold Ywain could throw. The boss read the room. He hauled his black horse around and kicked it into a run.

"Oh, no you don't," I murmured. I thought about Telekinesis, then thought better of it. If I used it, there would be too much to explain to Lunessa later. Easier to just run. And I was fast. Before the horse could hit full gallop I was on them, leaping, catching the boss by the back of his coat and dragging him clean out of the saddle. We hit the road together in a tangle and rolled. I punched his face too. I got to my feet and looked back. Margol was staring, eyes huge, mouth hanging open.

Behind him, Lunessa had her head out of the cab window. Our eyes met. She blinked once, then broke into a grin and threw me a thumbs-up. I gave her one right back. The rest of the trip went smoothly. Margol would not stop crowing about how brilliant I had been. In his telling, I had pretended to trip, luring the mercenaries in close so I would have the opening to discreetly cast some physical-enhancement spell on myself. A tactical genius, apparently. Lunessa seemed to buy it. Thanks, Margol.

I just had to pray Lunessa was not the type to probe the technical particulars of said spell, because my knowledge of how magic actually functioned began and ended at I think of it and it happens. Mercifully, she didn't ask. The road stayed quiet after that, save for one stretch where a stray monster came crashing out of the brush, a tall feathered thing that looked like someone had cursed a chicken to the size of a horse; something like a Chocobo.

Margol hauled the reins hard, the carriage jolted to a stop, and Lunessa pitched forward off her bench and into me, one hand catching my shoulder, her weight settling briefly against my chest before she righted herself. I didn't hate it, is the honest truth. It was just awkward. She apologized, waved it off, and dropped back into her seat like nothing had happened; not so much as a hint of color in her cheeks. Then again, fair enough.

There was nothing to get flustered over unless you happen to be an acute loner with the emotional maturity of a teenager. Which is to say, me. When Arkhay finally came into view, I caught myself looking at it differently than I had meant to. This was the town I had set out to wreck. Funny, arriving as the hired muscle protecting someone instead. Margol peeled off toward the stables to park the carriage.

Lunessa climbed down, stretched the ride out of her back, then caught my shoulder and tugged me a step closer, pointing across the square at a building in the distance.

"I'll be over at the Mayor's Office. That one there." Her hand was warm on my shoulder, and I felt my pulse trip over itself.

"O-okay. And I just... do what, exactly?"

"Whatever you like. See the sights? I won't be long. Just stay close by." A beat.

"And try not to get fleeced by any pretty girls." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"... What?" She leaned in, eyes glinting, and tapped the tip of my nose.

"You fluster very easily. And Arkhay's a good deal bigger than Eremiah; all sorts of people wandering around. Consider it a friendly warning." Then she winked. I flinched back.

"See?" She laughed, already turning to go, giving me a little wave over her shoulder.

"Be careful out here." Great. So I was a kid to her. The moment Lunessa was out of sight, I took stock of the place. Arkhay was far more commercialized than Eremiah. Shopfronts hemmed me in on every side — perfumeries, a clothier, a place selling nothing but candles and another that seemed to be entirely soaps and oils. Not a blacksmith, weapon rack, or inn in sight. A town this size apparently had the sense to sort itself into districts. The crowd was mostly human.

A few beast-folk threaded through, though I did not know what kind; cat, dog, wolf, fox, something else entirely; the ears and tails all blurred together to my untrained eye. Similar with Eremiah, there were no elves here. Arkhay was the bigger town by far, and yet I hadn't spotted a single elf. Maybe they were indeed rare in Lycora or maybe they kept to a country of their own somewhere.

I was drifting along, admiring the architecture and, admittedly, a few of the adventurer girls, when the mental link clicked open. Oh no. I ducked into the nearest gap between two shops, neither of which I could identify.

"WHERE ARE—""I'm in Arkhay!" I thought back, cutting her off before she could finish. A few seconds of silence.

"And? What are you doing there? Finished wrecking the place already?"

"Uh, no. I just got here. There's... a thing I need to take care of first."

"What thing?" Should I even tell her?

"Yes, you should tell me, idiot."

"Damn it."

"Spill it."

"It's a bodyguard sort of deal. An escort for a woman." Another stretch of silence, longer this time.

"Milo Miles. You, a Dark Lord, are out there squandering daylight playing errand boy for some girl? Pathetic, even by your standards."

"We just got a massive Terror Level jump! Can't I coast for, like, a day?"

"The Hero's party could arrive tomorrow or today, Milo."

"Nyx, can you just... help me out? Please?"

"Help? You mean do the terrorizing for you again?"

"Last time you pitched in was literally day one, so—""Last time, if not for me, you'd be a corpse."

"I know! I know! Look. I'll do whatever you say afterward, anything, if you just handle the terror quota. Only rule's no killing." Silence.

"Nyx. Please. I can't do this right now, I'm in the middle of something that matters to me. Just let me have what I want for one day. Two, maybe." The pause dragged.

"... Fine. But after this, you do exactly as I say. No arguments, no whining."

"Yes, yes. Deal." The link got cut off. I really needed to sit Nyx down and hash out how this partnership was supposed to function. Draft a system. A proper Terror-Level-farming workflow. I spent the next hour wandering and watching people. I wanted to try some of the food, but I got no coins. I thought about hunting down the guildhouse too, except it was a fair walk off, and if Lunessa came looking and couldn't find me, that was a fresh headache I didn't need.

So I made my way back toward the gate, and from the distance, I could see Lunessa already there waiting, a small bag of something tucked under one arm. She spotted me and waved with a smile. I was getting used to that smile, I realized. She had been giving it out freely. This past day on its own had felt like a different world entirely. Which was the problem, because soon enough I would have to go back and be the big bad again. The ride back was peaceful. No ambush, no monsters.

The little bag Lunessa had held turned out to be buns — a gift from the mayor. We ate them in the carriage as the road rolled by. They were good. I just quietly hoped she didn't count this as the meal she had promised. It was nearly evening when we reached Eremiah. Margol pulled up in front of The Clasped Hands inn and let us down.

"Want to come by my place?" Lunessa said. What? Did I hear that correctly? I looked at her.

"Uhh, you mean your house?"

"Where else? I promised you a proper meal, didn't I?" Oh. Right. That's what this was. Of course. What had I been thinking? She caught my expression and her mouth curved.

"I know I don't look like it. But I consider myself a rather good cook!"

"O-okay, then," I managed. My face must have gone red, because her curve sharpened into a smirk. Lunessa lived over toward the edge of town, though still an easy walk. The light was going gold and low, lamps just beginning to flicker awake in shop windows, the day's bustle thinning to a few people drifting home. Somewhere a vendor was calling the last of his bread.

"Say... why did you vouch for me back at the gate?" I asked as we went. It had been gnawing at me. She had every reason to be wary. I had no belongings, no horse, no proof of origin or whatever.

"Hmm." She tipped her face toward the darkening sky.

"A hunch, mostly. You didn't strike me as a bad sort." Oh, lady. You could not have been more wrong. I'm the worst there is. She lifted one shoulder, easy.

"I've always had a good nose for people. It's half of why I make the money I do." Though, I supposed she wasn't entirely wrong; I hadn't broken anything here. But the guilt sat there anyway, and I found myself looking down at the road. I could feel her watching me.

"I think I made the right call."

"Huh?" I glanced up.

"You saved Mr. Aldric and the inn. You saved me on the road to Arkhay." She grinned.

"And I didn't have to spend a single coin doing it." If that was her logic, then fair enough.

"Well. Guess so. Thanks." We made small talk the rest of the way. I brought up her little sister again; she'd been cut off the first time, back when the mercenaries hit, and Lunessa said the girl was meant to visit this week. A shame the timing was off, she added; her sister had always been fond of people with a strong sense of justice. I really didn't think I qualified.

"That's my house, there." She pointed to a two-storey house up ahead. So she really did do well for herself. Then she squinted.

"Hm? Isn't that..." I followed her gaze. Someone stood in front of the house; a figure in a hooded coat, the lower half of her face wrapped in a dark scarf. Lunessa broke into a run and threw her arms around the stranger. I jogged behind her.

"Eve! You said you would come sometime this week! You should've told me if you were to visit today." Lunessa exclaimed, releasing her before placing both hands on the hooded girl's shoulders. Wait... Did she just call her Eve? Lunessa tugged the hood back. Blue hair spilled loose, down to her mid-back. The woman's eyes found me and went wide.

"Milo?"

"... Evelisse?" Lunessa's gaze flicked between us, delighted and baffled in equal measure.

"You two know each other?" She beamed.

"Perfect! Come on, let's talk inside."