It's three in the morning, and the city is still shrouded in darkness. I decided it would be more suitable to be in my Ogre form rather than my human body. Together with me, are Dhammi-chan and Illusion Lord-kun. In front of us, is the figure of the Boy Knight who I helped yesterday. The story goes that when I took the boy to an inn, he was contacted by a mysterious individual.
Although he hadn't come back for an hour, he had requested that I would stay here and bring assistance for something important. With my curiosity piqued, I saw no reason not to, at the very least, see this point through. It was then that the boy made his request. Mercenary or not, what he needed was an arm for hire, and after I accepted his single term, he revealed that he was apparently on a mission to rescue the Tomboy Princess, whom he serves.
It seems that the Tomboy Princess had come incognito to ≪Trient≫, though during her stay in the city, she went missing. It seems that the abduction of the princess had been orchestrated by an organization led by a kidnapping leader. The ransom request had been sent, and that trade was what I had witnessed yesterday. The reason that the boy had left in a hurry was to drop off the ransom that he had on his person.
The reason that he had been arguing was because the thugs had claimed they wanted more gold for the princess than had previously been requested. Well, it looks like it might work out well after all, since I had already placed parasites within the thugs. If things go smoothly, I should be able to go directly to their base of operations.
Ah yes, and on the topic of calling the Boy Knight, well, "Boy Knight," I was quickly corrected that his name was Nomeshi. I'll ignore the rudeness, especially since if I slap him, he might die.
When I tracked the location, it seems that the thugs' hideout was a mansion of a former noble who had fallen from grace. It seems that more may be connected to this issue than a mere royal kidnapping, as humorous as saying that sounds.
Although the royal escort team was also with the Boy Knight, I wasn't keen on having them come along; stealth holds a major importance, so only a small elite force should go after the Princess. However, the employer is the Boy Knight, so I'll follow him, reluctantly, because of our contract.
Redhead was still sleeping along with the rest of the girls. The other two Lords are keeping guard, so there shouldn't be any need to worry about them. I also don't need to wake them for this matter. Three people should suffice. I am, of course, excluding the existence of the boy since his worth in battle is near zero compared to us.
As soon as we arrived at the hideout of the organization, I created ten Black Skeleton Assassins and sent them to slaughter any lookouts that might sound an alarm. After several minutes, there were ten human bodies.
After there was no further risk of being detected from the outside, I personally entered the enemy hideout. The result, to tell the truth, was that the entire organization was destroyed before the sun even rose. The leader of the Bandits had passed out after drinking too much, and after I easily killed him, the others all died without any difficulty. I didn't spare a single one. After all, I had to follow my contract to the letter. To this end, I had no complaints.
We safely rescued the Tomboy Princess. Contrary to my expectations, due to her nickname, she was quite the thin, fragile-looking girl who looked like she might break if I touched her. She looked to be around ten to twelve years old. Her hair was platinum, and she was quite beautiful, despite her age. In time, she would become the gem of the Kingdom.
She had been placed in iron restraints and had her mouth bound. Luckily for her, she spent most of the experience in a sleep-like state due to a mountain of drugs they had been injecting her with. The only part of her that was damaged was her clothes, which had become quite filthy and torn after being held hostage.
After the safe return of the princess, I requested that I might be given permission to take whatever I wanted from the organization's stash. Although I would have done so anyway, I thought I might as well ask first. I was given the OK and took several items, though most were of no use to me. The Boy Knight had discovered several documents within the Leader's personal study. If you look at the documents, it seems that the kidnapping of the Princess was planned. The details of her trip, her place of residence, and even her guard detail were in the documents we recovered. This certainly is becoming interesting.
Also, the boy forbid me from eating the men and insisted on cremation - What a bother.
The fact of this matter is that the kidnapping of the Princess was planned and that the Boy had to cooperate with a total stranger to retrieve the Princess. Now, the discoveries are being reported to the escort team. Sigh, this is losing it's worth quickly, though I'll tolerate it for now.
It seems that there will likely be a cover-up on the Princess' kidnapping.
Rather than there be calls for severe punishment and investigations for those responsible, it will be considered the mischief of the Tomboy Princess.
After this, I decided to do something I almost didn't want to do. I had the Illusion Lord use hypnosis on both the Boy Knight and the Tomboy Princess. I was interested in meeting the Royalty during the Boy Knight's report, and this was the easiest way to do so, as well as gain myself special privileges. Even so, its far too straight forward and I find it annoying.
After the process, the Boy Knight became as loyal to me as he was to the Princess, while the Princess thought of me as a special friend.
I also had their consciousness temporarily clouded while I ate all of the members of the organization.
Ability unlocked [Spider Yarn Web]
Ability unlocked [Poison Smoke Bomb]
Ability unlocked [Wiretapping]
Ability unlocked [Kidnap]
Well well, it looks like I managed to squeeze out even more from this mission. Before the sun rose in the morning sky, we withdrew from the hideout.
From the mansion, a torrent of flames rose up, destroying all of the evidence, including any truths that would be gained from the ashes.
and her escorts took me to the streets for a short stroll and to purchase some supplies for the return trip. I didn't mind the walk. Rather, I was glad for it.
It was late in the morning before we were ready for departure from the city. Well, that was our plan anyway.
I was ready to leave the inn for the convoy when the Boy Knight, followed by the Princess, stopped me for the purpose of another contract of some sort.
The beginnings of the discussion were pretty dry, so I'll spare the details, I'm not one for the pleasantries of nobility. The point was that the Princess was thanking me for saving her the previous day.
That said, the fact that I am an Ogre sitting next to a Princess holding a conversation is a pretty good ordeal if I had to say so. Thus, I decided to give this situation my utmost patience.
I looked over to see what the Boy Knight was carrying. In his arms was a bag half his size that rattled like the sound of gold coins. At that moment, I got a troubling premonition of what I was going to be asked to do for such a payment. I have to say that I was a bit on edge to hear what sort of mission they had for myself and my group.
Then, the Tomboy Princess stated what she wanted. She was worried about her safety, given that her escorts had previously failed to protect her, and wanted us to escort her back to the Royal Capital.
That idea sort of made me annoyed, given our current situation. There was quite a bit of gold, but several children were going to be born soon.
I was just about to leave when I was told that the bag of gold was only a down payment and that the reward would be a Gold Plate. Once I heard that it was worth one million gold coins, my mind was set to help.
According to Redhead, you can take plates, such as silver plates given as quest rewards, to the royal capital where it can be traded for ten thousand gold coins.
To put it into terms that can be understood. I put a gold coin at around ten yen, so a silver plate is worth one-hundred thousand yen whereas this quest to escort the princess had a reward of ten million yen. I don't even have the slightest concern about taking the money of Royalty, even if it is taxpayer's money. The nobility just spends it on indulgences anyway.
That said, since the balance for the risk and reward is quite generous even if you put the plot against the Princess into consideration, it isn't a bad excuse to get into the royal capital.
Since I could always train the children as they were born, there shouldn't be any problems. Since the objective of our visit has already been achieved, I contemplated if we would be able to convince the Princess to allow us to drop off the non-combatant women at our settlement.
We waited an hour at the Demuki Gate as per the arrangement. When they did arrive, it was only the Boy Knight and the Princess. The Carriage was filled with various luxury goods to accommodate the Princess during her travels.
When I asked what became of her bodyguards, I was merely informed that they were suspected of plotting to aid in the kidnappings and were sent away separately after our contract was made.
When I pressed for further explanation, it seems that the two flat out ditched the escort team to come with us. Hearing this, I broke out in a cold sweat.
Honestly, the logic of these two gives me a major headache, but the contract was already made so there isn't any pulling out on it now. From now on, I just need to be vigilant.
*Sigh* This mission just got far more unreasonable.
After hearing this, I decided it was necessary to head to the royal capital as fast as possible. With my future war chest in mind, we set forth. For this mission, I am going to keep [Luck] and [Golden