"That"s why I object"

Far west of the Imperial Capital Eltobourgh, Carlin City.

Behind the bushes along the road leading to the southern part of the city, a man with a black hair was inspecting the movement along the highway while constantly being bitten by thicket mosquitoes.

The man gives of a "sloppy at duty" atmosphere, but in spite of that, he is a legit Carlin Troop Strategist.

"Boss, please don"t say that. Wasn"t boss the one who drew up this plan from the very beginning?"

Beside Yui, the man with clean-shaved head shocked by his repraisal, Crary voiced his complaint.

"……well, yeah, it was me who made the plan. But, you see, you, Kains and Nanya are the one in charge of the plan. So, why is Nanya not here?"

From Crary who has the features of a bandit, to the muscle-toned archer Kains guarding their rear, Yui says so while switching his glance in that order.

"At this late night when the bar is fully opened, do you think that guy will work decently? That"s why boss" plan is bad in itself"

At this time she is probably drunk by now; when Crary spoke of the woman who would forget everything completely, including her work when drunk, Yui dropped both his shoulders while waving his head.

"Sigh… Even though I, to run away from the clamor of the royal capital, got myself demoted to this district with great efforts, one of my subordinates ran away, and the other subordinate makes the boss work…this wasn"t in my expectations at all. Tell me, my mind. Where did I go wrong?"

Yui who couldn"t use most magic at this age where magic is in its peak of glory, combined with his lack of motivation in doing work, it earned him the reputation of a failure and free food eater in the capital.

To make matters worse, he was rolled up in a dispute for promotion with a senior officer, and after some twists and turns it grew bigger and bigger, ending with him being relegated from the royal capital to this rural district of Carlin.

But to Yui who was given the relegation order accepted the transfer willingly, partly due to the fact that he has a hidden ambition of retiring to the countryside in peace.

After the relegation Yui worked as an administrative official in Carlin, but the subordinates working under him are a gathering of hard-to-deal-with people, thus he cannot yet carry out the comfortable retirement he is yearning for.

"Please don"t stress him so much. From the start, boss only works from noon, right? Thinking about the usual working hours, there is still some left, isn"t it?

"Well, you"re not wrong, but"

Yui is extremely weak at mornings and only goes to work after noon has pa.s.sed.

Therefore, when it was pointed out by Crary, Yui could do nothing but reveal an expression as if having given up while looking up at the sky and kept silent.

As he had nothing else to say, silence has begun to rule the place, then Kains watching the rear raised a cry toward Yui.

"Commander, the party has come"

Hearing the voice of Kains, Yui followed his line of sight.

A figure of a wagon being escorted by guards was revealed before their eyes.

"Details of the convoy?"

"Four hoodlums, armed with swords on their waist. Among them, only one is in the wagon"

Kains, who has a good eyesight and skills with the bow in the team and was appointed as the scout of this strategy, ascertained the const.i.tution of the party and reported it in an instant.

"Exactly on the intel I"ve got. Hmph… Well then, shall we go as scheduled? On my signal, Kains, first shoot at the lone one, then second on the same timing as our charge"

"Understood. Take care"

As he said so, Yui verified the plan once again, then Kains who was entrusted with the duty of supporting the rear replied with a big nod.

"Then, let"s begin. Three……Two……one……fire!"

Kains released the arrow on Yui"s signal.

And the next moment, the lone one operating the wagon fell in its place.

"Boss, I"ll go ahead"

Grasping his favored spear, Crary aimed at the guards confused by the sudden situation and charged at full speed.

Seeing the back of Crary, Yui began to run to the place unwillingly, too, dashing out of the bushes and jumping into the highway. Then, the figure of the fl.u.s.tered bodyguards came into his view.

"Wh-Who are you!"

Among the guards, the man who has a scar on the left cheek seemed to be the leader uttered those words towards Yui and company.

But at the next moment he was. .h.i.t by an arrow coming from a blind spot directly to his side and collapsed on the spot.

"Man, Kein"s skill is still great as ever"

To Kains who showed shooting skills not a single bit inferior in spite of the night, Yui speaks of praise on the spot.

"Boss! No time to admire, I"ll leave the one inside to you"

Crary plunged in the first guard at his back with an instant kill in the middle of confusion and then pranced towards the second guard. Then with a scream his favorite spear was extended, then went through the abdomen of the second guard at once.

"It can"t be helped…I"m sorry for you, but we want to borrow this load for a while. However, because I don"t want to move my body very much, if you like, could you surrender already?"

After Yui sent his eyes to the wagon in an instant, he confronted the last bodyguard who was the only one left, and told him while scratching his head.

Don"t f.u.c.k with me! d.a.m.nit, DIE!"

The man who lost his temper because his companions are done in, while giving off an aura of hatred from his whole body, brandished his sword and with a leap, he threw himself onto Yui.

Seeing that figure, Yui understood that his advice to surrender is ineffective, and closed his eyes partly. To correspond with the movement of the man before his eyes, Yui slightly lowered his center of gravity, and advanced the right foot with a half step.

He grasped the handle of the sword bound in his left waist by his right hand, and in a single breath, the sword was drawn from its sheath and produced afterimages of light. Yui who waved the sword in that form went through the man approaching him, and turned his back to the man as if nothing happened.

A moment later, the sound of the approaching man falling in place was heard in the surroundings.

Haah……physical labor isn"t really my nature"

Muttering in thin air, Yui looked up the night sky where innumerable stars twinkle in silence, then spat out a deep sigh.

He shook his head side to side to erase that feeling, then pa.s.sed instructions on his subordinates to start looking for the deed supporting the smuggling in the empire.