Foreigner’s Mistake
Book 6: Chapter 80: Shock ~ 20

　With a flap of her wings, Minerva landed beside Reine's house, carrying the three of them. Before they even landed on the ground, Liz jumped down lightly.

「Mother!」

　Although she was only out for a day, she was probably eager to see her mother, whom she had not seen for some time. Satoru, who had planned to go down first and lend a hand, watched on with a smile, feeling out of sorts.

　The next moment, however, Satoru senses a strange feeling in the vicinity of the house, which is supposed to be quiet and peaceful. There was no particular change in appearance, but something was wrong. It was a feeling that sent a chill down his spine.

『.......Something seems off.』

　Even Leia, lurking in the shadows, seemed to feel an inexpressible sense of discomfort.

「Liz, wait!」

　Satoru calls out to her as she rushes toward the house―but it was too late.

「Kyaaa!」

　The door to the house slammed open suddenly, but not fast enough, as a muscular man in leather armor grabbed Liz's hand, twisted it behind her back, and pulled her inside the house with a knife to her throat.

「!!」

　Quickly, Satoru dismounted Minerva and stood at the entrance of the open house after Liz. The scenery inside the house was clearly different from what it had been only a day and a half ago. Inside the house, which is not very large, are five men, one with a knife at Liz's throat, and another with a small sword at her neck, using the apparently unconscious Reine as a shield.

「Yo, are you Satoru?」

　A man in partial sheet metal armor, who appears to be the leader of the group, is pointing the tip of a long sword at Satoru. Although not as large as Satoru, he is a fairly large man. He has an air of being accustomed to the situation.

「What? You guys are....」

　Satoru stared at the man with a terrible look on his face. At first Satoru thought he might be some kind of a bandit, but that was impossible. Because? It's simple. He took the trouble to name Satoru.

「Are you sure you want to talk like that?」

　Satoru's gaze frightened the man for a moment, but the next moment he showed his composure. We have two hostages here. Even if he is so good that the High Mentor is wary of him, it would be impossible to take on two hostages at once ― if the other party is only one.

　Raymond realized after all this time that his plan was a bit of a mistake, but he assured himself that he would be fine. Satoru was just staring at him, not even touching the great sword on his back.

　Raymond's eyes are on Satoru, and beyond his shoulder is a part of the flying dragon's body and a brown-skinned girl straddling the base of its neck. Strange. I knew there was a tall, nice girl called Minerva or something with him, but I had never heard of such a girl. And I don't see Minerva or whatever she is.

「Mother......」

　Liz looked frightened, but still concerned for her mother, who seemed fainted. Reine's face palls and she goes limp. With a "humph," Raymond looked at Satoru again.

「Come inside by yourself. ...... The information is a little different, but keep that woman and the flying dragon away from here.」

「Satoru.」

「It's fine, Rico. Obey him.」

　Rico's impatient voice made Satoru hold up his hand to stop further resistance. It would be much more troublesome to provoke the men at this stage.

　Blood was rushing to his head, but that didn't mean he could go on a rampage. He looked at the situation inside as calmly as possible. The man in leather armor who is capturing Liz and the man who is capturing Reine are both very open. Besides the leader of the group, there is an elf and a man in sheet metal armor who are free. If you look closely, you can see a spray of blood around the entrance of the house, and the man who is pointing his sword at Reine is missing one of his arms. There are also blood stains.

「The great sword on your back should also be mounted on the flying dragon. That sword is the 【Giant Killer】, isn't it? You can sell it for a lot of money.」

　The leather man knows Satoru's name and the name of the great sword he carries on his back ― who or what is he, I wonders, but no answer comes immediately. But I have only the slightest idea.

　Satoru backs away, keeping his eyes fixed on the men in front of him, and places the great sword he asks for on Minerva's back. For Rico, the 【Giant Killer】 was too heavy for her to even hold. Levatein will be left with him.

「......I'm counting on you」

　Glancing back at Satoru, Rico nodded in response to Satoru's serious gaze. She doesn't think Satoru will be trouble to do anything against these bandit-like people. The only trouble is that Liz and Reine are being held hostage. If Liz' and Reine were somehow got hurt, perhaps Satoru's heart is also - that is Rico's concern.

　Rico, who understood Satoru's feelings, took Minerva's reins in her hands and sent her soaring high into the sky once again. Rico knows that the important thing now is not to provoke these bandit-like thieves.

　Satoru let go of the large sword on his back and the long sword at his waist, looked up at Minerva, and then entered into the house. At one point, he raises both hands to show that he has no hostile intentions.

「What the hell are you doing?」

　First and foremost, I need to get Liz and Reine released ― that's what Satoru is thinking. If there is a problem, it is when the man in front of him, who is probably the least skilled leader among the group, has a temper tantrum and slashes at him. Considering that Satoru's body unconsciously repels his opponent's attacks, there was no way he would allow his temper to flare.

　The first thing Satoru's need to do is to make sure that he have a good understanding of what he is doing and how to do it.

「I don't know who you are. But I do know that you are a very dangerous person.」

　He can only think of one group of people who seem to consider themselves dangerous.

　Academy of the Wise, after all―Satoru gritted his back teeth. Suddenly, his gaze fell on Raymond's right hand as he held his sword out toward him. A beautifully decorated ring glittered. Satoru's thoughts were caught. He remembered seeing a similar ring somewhere―.

「For the time being, Bro. If you want to spare the lives of this mother and daughter, why don't you just shut up and let me kill you?」

「.........」

　Satoru coldly glared at the man (Raymond). It is a strange thing to negotiate with a hostage and then ask him to be killed without saying a word. After being killed, there would be no guarantee that the hostage would be set free.

　But Raymond was confident in his statement.

「O-Onii-san!」

『...... what a thing to do.』

　Lies raises an impatient voice. She must be frustrated by the situation where they were being taken hostage and Satoru is in danger. As she continued, Leia's voice echoed in Satoru's brain - a little uncomfortable, as if she were lost.

　But in any case, her power is essential to break out of this situation. How to use the power that the opponent is unaware of ― first of all, what is necessary is to make the opponent let his guard down.

「For now. You can tie me up, so first let go of Reine-san and Liz.」

「Heh. ...... Oi!」

　With his arms raised above him and behind his back, Satoru let the approaching elf man do as he pleased with his bindings. An elf man who crosses his own wrists behind his back and tied around. The strings that bind Satoru appear to be leather straps. They may be sturdy, but in any case, if Satoru gets serious, this much will be shredded in no time.

(Leia, I'm counting on you.)

　Satoru, while tied up, turns his attention to Leia in the shadows. If these guys are caught off guard by being tied up himself, Leia will probably move right away.

『Noted. ...... Solor, go to Minerva's place just in case.』

『Understood』

　All right, nodded Satoru, trying not to be noticed. Speaking of himself being in danger, Minerva and Rico are certainly in danger as well. If Solor was nearby, she would be able to manage a few attacks with defensive sorcery.

「Bro you, what did you do? You're staring at me like that.」

「I didn't do anything」

　The elf man turned his lowly gaze on Satoru's face as he twirled around and tied Satoru's wrists in a small, clumsy motion. Compared to the elves I met in the village, they are too graceful. I wonder if the elves who go out of the village like this are so prone to abandon their pride when they come into contact with the world of others.

「...... heh, is this good enough?」

　The elf man, with his wrists tied around Satoru's wrists, pushed Satoru's shoulders with a jerk. The slim elf man's push honestly doesn't bother Satoru', but here he dared to step on his toes and act as if Satoru about to lose his balance.

「Onii-san ......」

　Satoru still turned a kind face to a worried Liz. She is a kind girl to worry about others instead of herself, even though there is still a knife at her neck.

　He can't let them hurt a girl who resembles his sister and the woman who resembles his late mother.

「Oi, girl, come here.」

　Pulling her hand twisted behind her back, the leather-armored man pulled Liz close to Reine. Liz's foot touched Reine's shoulder, causing Reine to lose her balance and fall down with a thud. The gesture was too strange, even if she was unconscious.

「Mother ....... Mother?」

　That's when Liz noticed that her mother was acting strangely. Her body was not moving even a little. She is not breathing...?

　Raymond clicked his tongue when he saw that Reine had fell, but the man without one arm who was holding a sword against Reine gave her a sneer.

「Too bad, girl. Your mother's already dead.」

「...... Huh?」

　Satoru's thoughts stopped for a moment at the unbelievable words. Liz shakes trembling and suddenly starts to lash out.

「Noooooo! Motheeeeeer!」

　The fact that Satoru, the most difficult opponent, was tied up must have caught the man in leather armor who was restraining Liz's off guard. He laughed and pushed Liz toward her mother's corpse.

　Liz's trembling hand touched Reine's face, which was unusually cold. What it means is her death. Realizing what was happening, Liz trembled.

　At the same moment, a translucent apparition of Reine suddenly appeared above her head. Not only Satoru, but also all the men turn their eyes to Liz's.

　The apparition slowly spun her words with a gentle expression on her face.

『Dear Liz. I'm sorry. Dear Satoru. Please take good care of Liz.』

『【Last Word】 ......』

　Leia's exclamatory voice echoed in Satoru's mind. The apparition is politely thanked and disappear. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ ɴøvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

　―A last word

　Hopelessness settled in Satoru's heart as he realized what those words meant.

「...... You fucking amateur, you're doing something unnecessary!」

　In frustration, Raymond thrust his sword into Reine's body. With a dull thud, a small amount of fresh blood sprays out.

「......!!」

「Mother!!」

　At that moment, the sound of something breaking into a thousand pieces echoed in Satoru's mind.

　Raymond pointed the tip of the cut back at Satoru as if he was proud of his victory.

「Bro, I'll have you following right behind her! The girl there is ...... Ah?」

　Raymond turned his eyes in surprise. A kind of shimmer is rising around Satoru, who is tied behind his back. It was a rush of pure magic he had never seen before. There is only one thing in Satoru's consciousness.

　Anger.

「This is bad!」

「Ahh!」

　At the moment Leia and Liz' short voices were heard, a torrent of magical energy rose up around Satoru with great force.

「You guys...... you guys are fucking DEEEEAAADDDDDDD!!!!!!!!」

　Satoru's angry shout echoed through the air. Raymond and his friends were obliterated without even a moment to think by the tremendously powerful explosion of magical power.

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