To Be a Power in the Shadows! - Chapter 144
In a back alley within the Oriana Kingdom, now occupied by the Doem Faction, I was surrounded by soldiers, low level grunts basically.
“He’s looks shifty. Kill him.” Said one of them while another pulled out his sword.
I immediately lowered my head submissively.
“P-please, spare me, mercy, please—!”
“—Begone.”
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My pleas were all but fruitless and a sword was already making its way to cull my life.
I sighed, and kicked it away.
The sword broke off in the middle flew off with a clang.
“—Wha!?”
“Come on, you could’ve at least gone “He looks shifty, capture him”.” I said to the grunts who only kept staring eyes wide.
“What in the fuck are you talking abo—!?”
“All I wanted to be was a no-name citizen getting rolled up in the domestic turmoil.”
An ordinary boy unjustly accused and captured.
However, soon after they captured him, the soldiers of the occupying forces began to disappear in the dark of the nights. Slowly at first, then more and more, until only that no-name boy and the leadership of the army remained.
Just who is this mysterious boy—? Sounds thrilling, right?
“On your guards, he might be trouble…”
The soldiers surrounding me all drew their swords now.
“Seriously, you guys are the 10 group already. This is getting bothersome.” I muttered.
One leader-seeming soldier came up front and said, “Am I supposed to believe you’re responsible for the recent assassinations of our men? A kid like you… no matter, we shall make sure now.”
“Too late. That won’t make me a ‘no-name’ boy.” I told the man as I sliced off his neck with my slime sword.
His gaze, that of a decapitated head, turned to the sky. The moonlit sky from a back alley tainted with blood splatter.
“F-fiend! Kill him!”
“Hey, maybe I’ll get lucky with the 11th…” I muttered after nonchalantly finishing off the grunts.
This kind of felt like being a secret assassin I guess.
The fight was over fast and the smell of blood permeated around me. I checked my clothes.
Good. Not a drop on them.
I had failed in my goal yet again, but I did manage to get some clues out of the exchange.
Currently, this royal capital was being occupied by some faction and men of this faction were being assassinated as of late.
That, might be mostly my doing.
Meaning, maybe I might get captured under suspicions that I’m a spy or assassin. Of course, I’ll still be a lowly falsely charged mob.
If that’s the case, maybe I should’ve gotten some blood on me after all. Then again, that itself could make it too obvious.
I was walking out of the alley while thinking, when I sensed multiple presences approaching.
I determined their number via sound and mana signatures… 7 of them, should be soldiers.
They might be looking for the bunch I left back there.
“Oh, this could work.”
I fell on my ass in front of the alley and waited.
Soon—
“D-dead, in the alley, they’re…!” I pointed down the alley and croaked in a terrified voice, making sure the soldiers were within earshot.
I took especial note to be on the verge of sobbing, like a helpless mob.
“What!? Dammit, don’t tell me—”
The soldiers rushed into the alley.
“Dammit! It keeps happening!”
“Fuck, once we catch him, I’m swear I’ll!”
“Oi, kid! You see who it was!?”
One of them screamed at me as I was pretending my knees had given out.
“I, I, no… I didn’t see, nothing…” I said, shaking like a frightened pup.
“You, you look like an outlander.” The soldier’s eyes turned sharp.
“I, yes. I’m a student from Midgar…”
“From Midgar eh. Why would someone like you be here now…?”
“I, I came to see if a friend was doing alright… I swear, please, please believe me!”
The soldier’s eyes remained sharp.
“Very well. One more thing— Why would you be walking the streets in the dead of the night?”
“I, uh, needed some air…”
“Some air eh. Do you expect me to believe someone would try to go out on a pleasure walk in the current state of this country? And here in the capital no less?”
“I-it’s true! Wait, please don’t tell me you suspect me of causing that!? I, I could never do something, so, so horrible!”
“Hmph…” After a final glance at me, the soldier turned his eyes towards the alley. “All 9 of them were killed by a single stroke… You’re right. You don’t look the type to have done all that but… show me your sword anyway.”
“Yes, of course.” I presented my blade. As a mob, I make sure to equip a normal sword at my hip.
“Cheap iron… and it’s clean.”
“D-do you believe me now…?”
“I will admit that the chances of you killing them all is very low.”
“T-thank you…”
“But you’re still a suspect, and the fact that you’re here itself doesn’t smell right at all.”
“Wait, no…!”
“Oi, capture him!”
“Come on, please believe me! I’m but a simple and plain, innocent civilian!”
Nice. I went the mob-but-kind-of-suspect route and it worked out like a charm!
I did a mental fist pump as I was tied up and dragged away.
