Chapter 125

"Sir Mercenary, is there something strange?"

"...A sound."

"What sound? Don't be so scary! I didn't hear anything!"

Leandros looked around, but the only people in the vicinity were Jen and himself.

Had he misheard?

When Leandros stopped walking, Jen made a fuss.

"If we get any later, we'll have to go back down. Hurry up!"

"Let's go."

Leandros followed the urging Jen, shaking off his uneasy feeling.

It seemed quite a while since they had parted from Amelia and the villager,

But there was no news from those two, let alone Arenheit.

Despite calling for Arenheit numerous times, there was no answer.

Surely he hadn't been devoured by some dangerous beast.

As Leandros glared into the darkness, Jen spoke as if trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"You climb the mountain well. Are mercenaries usually this physically fit?"

"You seem to have leisure for conversation other than searching."

"That's not what I meant. It just seemed too quiet."

"Rather than worrying about that, wouldn't it be better to pay attention to whether there are any sounds in the surroundings?"

Jen, embarrassed, tried to dispel the awkwardness by mumbling things like "I see, that's right."

Leandros stared blankly at Jen's back.

A talkative, lively, cheerful young man.

An ordinary person that could be seen anywhere,

"Besides, you've been circling around since earlier."

"..."

"If you have the energy to chatter, it would be better to find a proper path."

But even such an impression couldn't make this 'awkwardness' disappear.

Jen's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

"You knew? People unfamiliar with mountains usually don't notice."

"Unfortunately, I'm from a mountain valley."

"Is that so? I should have found that out beforehand. Is it because you're escorting the daughter of a merchant group leader? They hired a mercenary with an unusual background."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I had no other intention, you know, I was just..."

A dagger sprang out from the young man who had been speaking nonchalantly.

The orange light reflecting off the blade stung the eyes.

The dagger flew swiftly like lightning.

When Leandros didn't even draw his sword, Jen thought the mercenary was too surprised to react.

In a moment, the mercenary before his eyes would collapse, spilling blood.

If not that, he might fall down while trying to dodge!

But every single assumption was wrong.

Leandros caught Jen's dagger with his bare hand.

He asked, seemingly unconcerned that blood was dripping from his cut by the sharply honed dagger.

"What's the reason?"

"Ugh, let go!"

"I can't let go. And I clearly asked. What's the reason?"

"You bastard!"

"Don't make me ask twice."

The dagger in his grasp didn't budge an inch.

Jen, sweating profusely as he couldn't pull out or thrust the dagger while holding the hilt, shouted toward Leandros's back.

"Don't just stand there watching, help me, mister!"

Jen's angry voice echoed through the mountain night.

Leandros thought as he heard the sound of leaves breaking and what seemed to be a battle cry from behind him.

Why don't people know how to gratefully accept an opportunity when given?

The villager trying to ambush him from behind froze in movement from a sudden chilling sensation.

When he looked down to find the source of this sensation, he saw a white icicle that had pierced his abdomen.

No, was it a sword?

He was quite sure no sword had been drawn...

But he had no time to think further.

Because the sword made of white frost and ice surged upward while still embedded in his stomach.

The villager died without even letting out a scream, and Jen's mouth fell open at the sight.

Only dumb sounds like "uh, uh" came out of his mouth, not even pleas for mercy.

Leandros's gaze turned toward him.

"Organized,"

"Th-this..."

"But careless. Seems the statement that we're not climbing the mountain to search for someone is correct."

Before leaving the inn.

Amelia, who had secured time to be alone in the room under the pretext of preparation.

After confirming that no one was around, she opened her mouth.

"S-something is s-strange. Even if His G-Grace did act r-recklessly..."

"Is there something bothering you?"

"Jen s-said he was c-cleaning the s-stable, but his sh-shoes were c-covered in m-mud. Conversely, the b-broom had no m-moisture. Even though the b-bucket's opening was w-wet and e-empty."

"Are you saying Jen didn't go to the stable?"

"If he only w-went to the s-stable, his shoes w-wouldn't have been so m-muddy. If he had w-washed the floor with w-water, the b-broom should have been w-wet too."

"Then he might have visited places other than the stable. Do you think this is related to His Grace's disappearance?"

"The g-grass stuck to the h-hem of his sh-shirt. And the f-fact that there w-wasn't much d-dust smell."

Amelia's argument was logical.

In fact, Leandros had also felt a subtle sense of discomfort while gathering information from people in the village about the horse corpse.

Everyone seemed surprised that such an incident had occurred,

But not a single word was said about the alienness or cruelty revealed by the horse's corpse.

At most, they stopped at saying "Oh my, this is serious. That such a terrible thing happened."

Of course, it was better than fainting, being frightened, and running away.

But they were too... bold.

All the villagers were generally dulled in sensation.

As if they saw such situations regularly.

They didn't speak about who the culprit was, and only mentioned that it was a strange and cruel event before leaving.

Leandros continued to feel discomfort.

Even after leaving the room,

Even when they were divided into two groups,

Even when climbing the mountain,

Continually, continuously, constantly.

And when he looked into the eyes of the youngster holding the dagger's hilt, he realized the identity of that discomfort.

"Don't you want to answer?"

"Y-you bastard!"

"It doesn't matter if you don't answer. I'll make you want to answer."

Leandros had no intention of arguing here.

In a situation where Amelia had clearly been ambushed, he couldn't waste any more time.

The opponent was merely an immature youngster.

His force was fierce and he was quick, but that was all.

Even now, he was just lingering, unable to let go of the dagger or to attack.

Leandros, recalling what he knew to be the most efficient and quickest method, firmly clenched his undamaged hand.

* * *

-Screech, screech, screeeech...

The sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor.

A cold and hard sensation.

The smell of dust, the smell of grass, and an indescribable stench.

All sensations felt duller, as if a thick cover had been placed over his body.

His head was bent in various directions, making his neck stiffly painful.

Yet he couldn't straighten his head.

Something seemed broken.

Where was Sleigh?

He had climbed the mountain with Jen.

Come to think of it, where was he now?

By whom was he being dragged?

With none of the numerous questions resolved, his body being dragged suddenly stopped somewhere.

When he opened his eyes, only shoes entered his blurry vision.

"Is this r-really the end? Really?"

"Yes. Only then can those pigs not come up."

A woman's terrified voice asked, and a panting voice answered.

"Jen is really doing something annoying. He could have just attacked during sleep and dragged them here as we've always done."

"If we did that, it would all have been exposed by evening, and we would all have been dragged to the scaffold. It's better to do it this way, even if it takes time."

"Why are you so proactive? Did you get any favors from that bastard? Did you get attached because he came every day to feed the pigs instead?"

"That's enough!"

A familiar voice delivered a sharp rebuke.

"Do you really have to fight when we're in a hurry like this! Sofi, come out from there. You've worked hard. And Hoff, come and help with the carrying!"

"Auntie, why are you in such a rush? Jen and Uncle Jacob went, didn't they? They'll handle it well."

"I'm saying this because the two haven't returned yet! I don't know what might have happened, but first, the urgent thing is to give the pig fellows their last feed."

"Auntie, Auntie. This is the last feed, right? Now all the pigs will return to the ground, right? I can go home now, right?"

"Yes, of course."

Oomph, heave-ho!

The rumbling sound stopped, and his limbs were lifted.

His body floated in the air and moved.

From somewhere, the sound of pigs crying was heard.

Oink, squee-eek, squeak, squeek.

The excited screaming sounds gradually grew closer.

When it became loud enough to be heard right next to his ear.

His body suddenly dropped downward.

After tumbling in a mess, he raised his head to see people looking down, holding blazing torches.

And beside him, he saw several pairs of eyes staring at him.

Pigs.

Pigs.

Pig heads everywhere.

Strange people—no, pigs—with bodies entangled with muscle and fat, covered in mud and a foul smell, bearing protruding tusks.

Animal hooves and horns touching his face.

The rotting skeleton of a cow with only the skin intact.

In this pit where chicken entrails and dog tails were messily entangled and rotting, he discovered a familiar form.

Black, beautiful legs that could walk like the wind no matter how difficult the path.

A creature that always hid in shadows, waiting for him.

A monster that once carried him from a distant alien star.

His beautiful horse lay in this filthy place with a half-torn body.

At that moment, he realized.

This was the destiny of a supporting character.

Having decided to remain a mere supporting character, not a sidekick or protagonist,

He had been deprived of the right to possess the mysteries of this world.

This was how this world treated supporting characters who stepped out of line.

The pigs looked at him and let out frenzied shouts.

The saliva of excited pigs splattered, and they grabbed the weakest parts of his body that were easiest to hold.

A fight broke out among them to gain even one easy piece.

In the middle of the fight, as the greedy pigs tried to divide his limbs, he suddenly thought.

If the real supporting character, Arenheit, had been here,

What would he have done?

As his shoulder began to be torn, a bloody pain colored his vision.

Those outside all knelt and offered prayers.

Great God, please overlook our sin today, and we pray that these demonic beasts retreat to the ground and that we may return to our whole lives...