Volume 5 Chapter 38 Do You Know？ Sometimes You Fall Asleep While Pretending To Be Asleep
While the dark side and the guards are busy investigating the truth behind the explosion that happened in the town... deep in a small forest outside the royal capital──
It looked like a forest management shed or something.
In the dim room's center, Randy was lying down, with restraints on his hands and feet.
One man, showing a smirk, threw a bucket of water on Randy, saying "Wake up."
The sound of water hitting the floor echoed, making Randy lift his face in surprise at the cold.
"Your nap is over."
The man who seemed to be the leader of the group that kidnapped Randy showed a confident smile.
He didn't look like an average person anymore, dressed entirely in black, which clearly suggested he was part of some organization.
In the chilly air of winter, Randy, who had been drenched, frowned at the leader and said, "It's so cold!"
"You're Randolph Victor, right?"
Randy silently met the gaze of the man in black who was peering at him.
Drops of water fell from his bangs, slightly blurring the man's figure.
"Who are you guys?"
Randy spoke with wet lips, and the man gave an exasperated smile, "Hmph."
"Do you think I'll say that?"
Randy looked frustrated at the man's mocking face and clicked his tongue.
"Think about it, kid. We ask the questions, you just answer the questions we're asked."
The man pulled out a chair and placed it so that the back was facing Randy.
The man sat in a chair with his arms resting on the backrest, his face tensed, and he spoke.
"What is the real reason for them going north?"
Randy frowned at the harsh voice and said, "Huh?".
"It seems you don't understand the situation"
The man snorted, stood up, and kicked Randy in the stomach.
Randy let out an unintentional sigh, and the man snorted again, "You're sturdy."
The man was probably not amused that the damage was not as great as he had expected.
But even so, the situation remains absolutely advantageous, the man thought, sitting back in his chair again.
"Even though he's only S-Rank in name, you defeated [Blood Tempest]"
The man dressed in black leaned back, resting his arms and body on the chair, and smirked at Randy, saying, "I know a lot about you."
"I'll ask you one more time. Why did Cedric von Braubelg take the Saint to the north?"
Randy decided to answer honestly in response to the man's intimidating voice.
He said they were going to request help with the new magic tool developed by Catherine.
There was no reason to hide it, and sharing this information posed no problem; it was public knowledge.
However, the man seemed displeased. He frowned and stood up.
Instead of kicking Randy again, the man turned his back and started to walk around the area.
The man was muttering to himself and seemed to be trying to gather his thoughts. Randy frowned and said, "Hey, it's cold, so give me a blanket."
The man, who frowned with a "tch" at Randy's voice, returned to his chair.
"Are you unwilling to talk, or is it that you're just too stupid and Cedric is not telling the truth?"
Randy snorted back at the glaring man, saying, "Who are you calling stupid?"
"Even though you're foolish, you can at least act as a messenger."
The man leaned closer to Randy again.
"Look. If it's just business, you can do as you like. But if you try to pry into anything more than that, we won't show you any mercy."
Randy's mouth turned up as he was met with the man's murderous gaze.
"No more prying, huh?"
Randy grinned, and the man frowned and asked, "What do you want to say?"
"No. I don't mean anything by it. I just thought it would be rude to make such a 'bold remark' in this situation where we are heading 'straight for an international issue'."
Randy shrugged, and the man replied with a fearless smile,
"Huff! It's an international issue. If you can, try it."
The man snorted and sat back, arrogantly saying, "I wish there was evidence linking the testimony to us."
He has the attitude of a triumphant man, but Randy doesn't frown at it.
Just laughing heartily at what the man says.
"What's wrong?"
He never thought he would be laughed at.
The man furrowed his brows and grabbed Randy's bangs.
"Of course I'll laugh. You are just too honest. You've focused only on skills and ignored the subtlety of the situation, haven't you?"
Randy gave the man a confident smile.
Although he didn't understand the man's background, his earlier words made it clear where he stood.
If Randy thought normally, the man must be connected to [North Wall].
However, the timing of his hint suggests a third party trying to disguise themselves.
Still, Randy couldn't confirm the third party because the hint might be a bluff and he couldn't completely rule out the fact that the man was really from [North Wall].
At that moment, the man made a slip of the tongue.
──An international issue, huh. If you can, go ahead and try.
By hinting at their existence and then saying "try it," he was most likely just a third party.
Do they want to bring down [North Wall], or is there another problem?
For now, just hearing that was enough for Randy to feel that the 'joy of being kidnapped on purpose' was worth it.
Now he only needed to make the man pay the price, so Randy opened his mouth with a smile still on his face.
"Who wants to make this an international issue? I'm the one you started this with, Victor. I'm the one who's gonna crush you."
The man's face distorted for the first time as he saw Randy smiling and said,
"You're being stubborn... See? It's written all over your face. 'Things didn't go as planned.'"
Randy laughed out loud and was convinced.
This definitely shows that another force is at work.
Randy, with his usual smile, said to the group's sloppy questioning, "You guys will be scolded by the boss."
The man's face distorted before his eyes, his molars clicking, and he opened his mouth.
"You seem to want to die"
"Stop it. You guys can't do it."
The man's face becomes even more distorted as Randy laughs.
"Very well. I'll kill you as you wish, take your head and cause a ruckus."
The man grabbed Randy by the front of his hair and brought his face even closer.
"Is there anything else you'd like to say?"
"Yeah. Anyway, it's cold so give me a blanket."
At this point, when Randy was joking around, the man clenched his teeth and said, "You──"
"Aaaah-CHOOO!"
But before he said something, with a huge sneeze, Randy sprayed various things onto the man's face and shrugged, laughing. "See? Right?"
The man's expression vanished from his face, now covered in spit and mucus.
The expressionless man wiped his face on Randy's clothes and slowly stepped away from him.
"I understand now. You want to die."
"That's why I've been saying it's 'cold' since earlier, you fool."
Randy's attitude, sniffling, seemed to annoy the man.
"If it's that cold," the man murmured, snapping his fingers, and several men and women appeared behind him.
"This is the new magic technique we have created. The magic used to put you to sleep is different from what we're about to use on you now──"
When the man raised his hand, those behind him turned their palms toward Randy.
"This is a magic technique called 'Multiple Chanting' recorded in ancient texts. You may think you are strong... but during tests, even with maximum defensive magic, the subjects were burned and could never live normally again."
The man tried to lean in again, but stopped midway, wary of the previous sneeze.
Instead, he showed Randy an ugly smile and opened his mouth.
"I wonder what will happen to you with that magic-sealing shackles on?"
The man turned his back on Randy and passed by the men and women who were ready to use magic, leaving a cold voice saying "Do it." At that moment, several of them cast magic on Randy without hesitation.
What everyone unleashed was a ball of pure blue flames, filled with murderous intent.
They attacked Randy, and at the moment of impact, an explosion blew up part of the room.
A thick cloud of dust rose into the air.
Beyond the blown-off roof, a pitch black sky covered with black trees was reflected.
Under the dark sky, the magic had blown out even the light in the hut, so it was pitch black all around.
But the rising dust only dyed the night sky even darker.
The power was unimaginable.
No one has ever been able to survive multiple direct hits of magic like that.
That is their perception──
"Ah! My uniform!"
──Randy's voice, moving about like a caterpillar, blew them away in an instant.
"Enough already! My uniform is custom-made and expensive!"
Randy, whose hands and feet were tied behind his back, lay on the ground and sighed.
As usual, Randy looked like a caterpillar, and the group crouched down, readying their weapons.
"The target can't move. Again!"
At the shout of the leader, even more people in black aimed magic at Randy.
Each attack was stronger than normal, but when they hit Randy, he just said "Ouch" with only minor burns.
"Well, it's warm now, so I guess I can be thankful for that."
Seeing Randy laughing while still restrained made cold sweat run down the man's cheek.
"Are you a monster...?"
"If you want to roast me, bring a dragon's breath. And make sure it's pure 100%, from a real dragon."
Randy smirked and stood up as if he were jumping up.
Even though he was still tied up, the men in black took a small step back.
They stepped back, realizing he was sturdier than they expected, or rather, too sturdy.
As soon as they realized they couldn't win or hurt him, retreating was the right action for trained soldiers.
They needed to take information back and come up with new plans.
This was a strategic retreat necessary for that...
"Hey, don't run away. Let's have fun."
Randy tore the shackles that bound his hands and feet with all his might.
"It's cheap"
Randy snorted, and the men in black gasped, "That's impossible... a custom-made magic sealing device."
"Sorry, but magic isn't my forte. I'm mostly into physics."
Randy was smiling, his crimson eyes glowing mysteriously.
One man turned his back on his sharp gaze and ran off...and in that moment, his head was blown away.
──Splash!
The sound that echoed was sickening──the splatter of blood and scattered brains hitting the walls and floor.
The men swallowed their saliva in an instant.
"Oh, lucky me. It's my magic bag."
Randy happily retrieved his equipment, tied it around his waist, and turned to face the men.
"I got most of the information I wanted... I'm sure you won't tell me anything more anyway. And even if you did, I don't know if it's true or not."
Randy snapped his fingers, and the leader shouted, "Hey, put him to sleep again! If it's Lunatia's breath..." At that moment, Randy was enveloped in the same pure white mist as before.
However, Randy's fist burst through and sent another man flying.
The blood and guts splattered around, causing the men to turn pale.
"Sorry about that. I've been hit by sleep spells, paralysis, and poison in Beast Forest... I guess I have a higher resistance than others."
Although Randy smiled weakly, this was not just a matter of having 'higher resistance.'
The new type of magic they used was several times stronger than an ordinary sleep-inducing spell.
It was powerful enough to bear the name of [Lunatia, the Goddess of Night].
But it didn't actually affect Randy.
Back then, he pretended to fall for their tricks, deciding to play dead... although he really had fallen asleep from the exhaustion of studying for exams, which was a secret.
Facing Randy, who was immune to all of their powerful magic, a man yelled, "Use maximum firepower!" to everyone.
The flames that would attack Randy were even hotter than the blue flames that had struck him earlier, but the faces of the men conjuring the fire looked strained.
"I see. Those new technique is like a double-edged sword."
Randy laughed as the man declared, "You fool. This will be the end!" and with his signal, flames surged towards Randy.
The impact cracked the surrounding bark, and an explosion of flames scorched the night sky... But from the flames emerged Randy, holding a greatsword made from a dragon's horn.
At the moment of impact, all the flames were cut off with one swing.
This feat was only possible thanks to Randy's strength and the use of the best material, dragon horn.
The men have completely lost their will to fight, as this is an illogical phenomenon.
Most of them were already drained, their magical energy spent, leaving them too exhausted to move. Before them stood a monstrous figure — something that resembled a dragon but had transformed into a human.
Several of them, their legs severed, slowly began to retreat in terror.
And then, with swift precision, Randy cut one of them in half, cleaving through the top of his head.
"You think you guys who broke into my house and even rummaged through Liz's dresser are going to get away with it?"
Everyone there froze under Randy's chilling gaze.
A frog stared at by a snake.
Randy, with greatsword on his shoulder, sat down in front of them.
"Everyone gets the death penalty."
With Randy's words and his fearless smile, the awareness of those dressed in black suddenly vanished (dead).
"It seems you guys really don't want us to befriend the North."
Randy looked down at the scattered pieces of flesh and murmured.
"For now, let's try to get along."
With a loud sigh, Randy put his greatsword back into his magic bag and looked up at the sky, framed by the trees.
"Seriously... I just wanted to make a kotatsu."
Randy's white breath was swept away by the cold northern wind and disappeared into the chilly air.
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