Chapter 347

#A31
“Didn’t you hear the old man tell you to stop right there!”
A booming laugh echoed through the valley.
Varen and Sekrit turned their heads at the same time.
On the cliffs rising on either side of us, a dozen or so thugs were positioned.
“All, you?”
Varen hesitated.
The mysterious group was composed entirely of humans.
It looked like some kind of organization, like the outfit was a print.
The crossbow slung across his back and his blood-dyed red coat were ominous.
The goggled man called out in a sneering voice.
“That’s none of your business, you pig. Fire!”
At the same time, two assailants aimed crossbows at him.
With a snap of string, two crossbows were fired at Varen and Sechrit.
It was not in broad daylight, but Varen was inwardly relieved to see it.
“Phew, that’s pretty good.
Thankfully, my fuselage vision was intact.
Wear Lion’s keen senses easily read the trajectory of the crossbow.
It seemed like he could parry anything aimed at him and lightly shove Sechrit.
Varen smirked as he stretched out his arms confidently.
“Hmm?”
Something wasn’t right.
My body didn’t move the way I thought it would.
My mind had long since caught the crossbow, but my arms were still in front of my thighs.
It was as if the human body couldn’t keep up with the senses of the wearable.
Well.
I can’t stop this.
Varen’s face went white as he realized the dire situation.
“Shut up!”
Death was at hand.
The arrowheads, which are many times larger than those typically used, seemed to be able to catch whales.
Varen realized that the crossbow was aimed squarely at his heart.
He was imagining a horrible ending.
Poof!
Suddenly, a series of crossbows exploded, unfurling a massive net.
“Kaboom!”
“Mmm–!”
It was a flash.
The net stretched out like a grasping hand and closed in on Varen and Sekrit.
Seeing that they were neutralized, the goons disappeared from view.
“Well, well, well—!”
“This is not good.”
Sekrit muttered.
I struggled, but the net only tightened.
It felt like a purpose-built object, like a caribolo’s lasso, given how little it weighed.
“Gotcha! Two for the price of one, how lucky are we today?”
“Kekeke, the boss is going to love this.”
The men descended from the cliff and surrounded them.
They were high-fiving each other, laughing and giggling.
What are they doing?
I don’t think it’s just a bunch of bandits.
Varen rolled his eyes, trying to make sense of the situation.
Sechrit, still lying on his stomach in the same position he’d been caught in the net, opened his mouth.
“Hey. Gentlemen.”
“What’s up, fox. Do you know us?”
“Aldamada. A native of the north. I didn’t realize you’d expanded your territory to the Alcalto Valley.”
Sechrit nodded.
They seemed to know who the bullies were.
The bullies didn’t like being called the boss, so they sat back and listened.
“My name is Sekrit. I’m here to gather materials to break the curse of Varka Turgung that still lingers in the north. If you need money, I’ll give you what I have, but would you mind letting me take only the materials in the valley?”
“Ho-ho–I’ve heard of the furry curmudgeon. I wonder if that was you.”
The man in the goggles shrugged.
Others began to stir.
After a moment’s consideration, the man turned and walked away.
“Okay, let me talk to my coworkers.”
“Thank you. I hope we can come to an amicable agreement.”
“Hmm, this could be it.”
Varen marveled at the flowing conversation.
I realized that Sekrit is a celebrity in the north.
I even know the names of these unknown bandits.
Soon enough, the man who finished the discussion stood in front of Sekrit.
“The story is over. As expected.”
Varen swallowed hard.
The cheerfulness in his voice gave me a little hope.
Pulling out a cigarette, he scratched his head and said.
“All rejected. If there was any hope left, you’re going to have to end it here.”
“I expected it. You still haven’t gotten over your hatred?”
“Yeah. We hate fur flying. Terribly.”
“What the—!”
It was a ridiculous reason.
It was the car that Varen had been trying to argue with on behalf of the disheartened Sechrit.
Kwazik!!!
The man who threw the cigarette kicked Sekrit in the stomach.
“How dare you, you brute, try to negotiate with a human!”
“Bang!”
It was a flash.
A small body floundered in the net.
Sechrit dropped his face to the floor, nauseated.
“Oh, my God, Professor!”
“Kuluk, calm down, Varen—it’s because I said something stupid.”
Sechrit calmed him down.
I felt like I was punched in the stomach harder than I thought.
Bloody saliva was dripping from its gaping maw.
“Things are bad—but there’s always a way to get out alive if you have hope and determination—and by the way, I haven’t tied a rope in a long time.”
“That’s what you call a horse, people, stop it!”
Varen cried out in desperation, but it didn’t work.
In unison, the assailants surrounded Sekrit.
The lack of hesitation in their hands made them look like professionals.
Impatient, Varen shouted again.
“I told you to stop!!”
“Holy shit, what a surprise!”
It was a voice that echoed through the valley.
The attention of the angry, startled thugs turned to Varen.
One of them frowned at the sight of his face.
“Wait a minute, this guy is human.”
“What, wasn’t that a fat weirdo?!”
“I thought I was a wearhog.”
The bullies’ eyes widened.
They undoubtedly thought Varen was a man.
He had been fooled by the strange flavor.
“Shit, what am I going to do, kill him?”
“What a waste of a skeleton–there’s no one to use it, but if we take it, we’ll find a way to use it somehow.”
“I agree. If he’s got a brain, he can be a warrior.”
Upon realizing that Varen was human, the goons called an emergency meeting.
Varen once again tried to shake off the net, but this time in vain.
The thin fibers only got tighter and tighter the more force you applied.
First, we need to save Professor Sekrit.
Varen appealed, his voice trembling.
“I’ll come with you if you need me, so let the professor go. Judging by the blood coming out of your mouth, you’re not going to—”
“Ew, you’re being a pain in the ass!”
But once again, negotiations broke down.
One of the women swung her club in irritation.
Bam!
Bam!
After about five dull thuds, Varen shook his head.
“Crap—!”
“Tsk, tsk, you’d be quieter.”
After that, it was smooth sailing.
After a colossal vote, the thugs decided to take Varen with them by a vote of 8:2.
The goggled man drew a sword from his waistband.
“Hey, big guy, if you don’t want to get fucked, stand still.”
“Ugh… Ughhh…”
Varen groaned.
I was dripping with blood from where I was beaten.
They untied the net that bound him while the man held Varen at gunpoint.
“You better not take my words as a joke, for this is a great sword that can cut through the flesh of a bear.”
“Sechrit—Professor—.”
“Well, what can a big coward like him do.”
The goggle man snorted.
The blade aimed at his throat flashed sharply.
It was a sword that made me proud every time I saw it, and it had claimed triple digits of lives so far.
Then the net fell away from Varen’s body.
“Good, now get up and walk away.”
The man said.
But Varen just stood in place.
I was beaten so hard on the head that I was dazed.
The man who laughed was the one who pointed the sword at my car.
Varen, unmoving, lunged at him.
“Crap—.”
“I knew it, you idiot!”
This was expected.
Without hesitation, he thrust out his sword.
The size of his torso and his thick clothing meant that he was more likely to be stabbed than slashed.
Poof!
The sword dug itself into Varen’s abdomen.
The sensation of the blade slicing through flesh traveled along the hilt.
“I’ll just have to kill it as it is.
The man with the evil grin twisted the blade.
And, it was frozen in place.
“Huh?”
The blade lodged in Varen’s stomach, immobilizing him.
It was my first time wielding this sword.
It cuts through even the thickest pelts like tofu.
The man frowned.
“Damn, what kind of body is this—”
He was about to say something to his coworkers.
Varen’s still body moved once more.
Kwazik!!!
His fist dropped like a meteorite and landed in the middle of the man’s face.
“Kuck—!”
Your vision is blacked out.
His head dropped to the ground as if someone had pulled his hair.
It was the greatest misfortune of my life that I happened to be sitting on a rock.
The skull shattered, spewing out its contents.
Fill up!
An eerie sound rang out.
“Jesus Christ, Randolph!”
“Woof—!”
The bullies were horrified.
The man’s face was so sunken in that it could have been used as a bowl.
A dozen white teeth sank into Varen’s fist.
“Krrr—.”
Varen growled.
A low, chilling sound froze the hordes.
It wasn’t quite as good as it was on Wear Lion, but it was good enough.
His gaze darted around, then settled on one place.
Sekrit was being carried, limp, on a woman’s shoulder.
“Monster, monster!”
He was the one who struck Varen with the club.
Their eyes met and she started running.
Varen staggered after her, swaying like a drunken man.
They stumbled every time he swung his arm.
“Ugh!”
“You bastard, what kind of power—!”
“Catch him! Don’t kill him!”
But if you ask me if things have gotten better, they haven’t.
One by one, the hardened thugs came to their senses.
They didn’t think to sneak up on them, instead opting to shoot at them from a distance.
The thugs, who had poisoned the arrowheads with anesthetic, fired crossbows in unison.
Pooh-bah!
In an instant, seven crossbows grew out of Varen’s back.
“—Professor.”
The effect of the paralyzing poison was quick.
Varen tried to manifest as an auror, even in death, but the power trapped in his human body could not be awakened.
Thud.
He collapsed to one knee.
“Don’t you dare move Randolph to—headquarters. I will surely show this swine hell.”
They didn’t creep up on Varen until about five minutes after he fell.
Binding Varen used up all the remaining rope and netting.
The men who had been assigned to carry him cursed.
“Urazil, why is he so heavy? What kind of stone is his body made of?”
“Hmmm, hmmm–that sounds like a real werewolf.”
It took a whopping five people.
After subduing Varen, the gang began moving deeper into the valley.
Along the way, a chunk of rock fell at Sechrit’s feet and shot up into the sky, but no one noticed.
****
“Ugh—.”
Varen groaned and opened his eyes.
I couldn’t tell how much time had passed.
I know I swung my fist, but I don’t remember what happened afterward.
“This is—.”
He looked around slowly.
Cages as thick as my forearms surrounded me on all sides.
The red lights glowing overhead reminded me of a slaughterhouse.
Where am I?
Is it their den?
The secrets were not visible.
Varen grabbed a handful of his own greasy hair.
“Are you awake.”
“What the—.”
“I’ve never seen a human captured before, did they bash someone’s head in?”
A cracked voice rang out from not far away.
Varen turned in the direction of the sound and stiffened.
In the cage next door, a dozen or so men were laid out in shackles.