Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 165

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Chapter 165 – Hideout

Using Investigation, I carefully checked to see if there were any guards.

Even though I knew Ria was using Wide-Area Investigation, I couldn’t help but check for myself.

The entrance to a long, narrow cave was faintly visible through the trees.

There were no figures around it, and for some reason, two wagons without horses were parked there.

No, it would be more accurate to say that the grass covering the leaves hid the wagons.

“There’s no one standing guard, is there?”

“No.”

Normally, wouldn’t it be the custom to have one or two people standing guard at the entrance?

Thinking about this, I approached the entrance of the cave and quietly looked inside the hidden wagons.

“No cargo at all?”

“It’s not a wagon if there are no horses.”

“Yes, what is this?”

What on earth is this wagon for?

We both tilt our heads but can’t find an answer.

I lead the way, and we hurry inside to assess the situation.

As soon as we enter, I can detect the movement of many people within the range of my Presence Detection.

And the result makes me frown involuntarily.

The people’s reactions are divided into three groups, so it’s very likely that the interior is divided into several rooms.

If that’s the case, there’s no time to be extra cautious.

If the other party has Detection or Presence Detection, they’ll know immediately that there’s an intruder with no means of concealment.

If that happens, I may face the enemy before I can check what’s going on in the back.

I’d like to avoid that because it’s hard to judge whether they’re a clear enemy or not.

We walked along the only path in the cave, which was lit by a small amount of light, for about 20 meters and came to a room of reasonable height.

Several torches were lit on the walls so we could see the inside of the room, even in the dim light.

“(All men… most of them were asleep. Well, it’s still morning.)”

“…..!”

“W-what the hell are you doing?”

“What is it, so loud…”

The hall suddenly became hectic.

Looking at the scene from the side, I went to one of the three separate passageways.

I checked the situation in the room with the most signs of life.

There was no sign of anyone in one of them.

And in the other one, there were only three life signs, and they had been sleeping until now, but they started moving around restlessly because of the commotion.

Then I’ll leave it alone for now.

The problem is the room ahead, where there was movement from the beginning.

And after a few seconds…

I was speechless.

I must have been prepared for it, and I must have imagined it.

I had guessed that there were almost twenty women trapped in that room.

When I entered with Ria, the scene that met my eyes was far more extreme than I had imagined.

They looked no more than ten years old.

The girls, who were completely naked, were huddled together in the corner of the room, staring at the action in the center of the room as if they were one mass.

In the center of the room were two adult women, who looked as if they were barely breathing, with their hands bound in handcuffs and their arms pinned down by stakes driven into the floor.

Two men lay on top of them.

They seemed so absorbed in their work that they couldn’t hear the commotion in the room in front of them.

I felt the blood drain from my body.

What is this situation?

Whatever the circumstances, I didn’t think the men’s actions were justified in this situation.

Still, I took a deep, thin breath and loosened my grip on the sword hilt.

I felt like I was going to choke on the stench.

First of all, I have to deal with this guy.

“Who the hell are you? How did you find this place?”

Perhaps they were sensitive to the man’s deep voice because the men who had been moving in front of me stopped dead in their tracks and turned to look at me, looking confused.

There was no sign that the owner of the voice was about to attack me.

So I slowly turned around and replied.

“It was a coincidence.”

“Hmph. You’re wearing a mask. The fact that you came to this room first means that you’re probably here to rescue one of those girls, right? You arrived just before the girls were picked up.”

“What do you want to do with the people in this room?”

“You don’t need to know. Anyone who sees this place will be killed. There’s no point in explaining, is there?”

“B-Boss…? I don’t care about the guy, but isn’t the girl too good to kill?”

“A-ah… I’ve never seen a gem like her… I can’t stand it.”

“Thanks to the goddess, even if we kill her, let’s at least have some fun with her first.”

“Damn you idiots… there’s no way I’m going to kill a gem like that, is there? If I put her up for auction, I don’t know how many bids I’ll get… Haha… I thought something was wrong this morning, but I’m having the best day ever that you went to the trouble of bringing such a woman who makes my mouth water.”

The conversation continues as if my future with Ria has already been decided.

Ria listened to the conversation in silence while I listened half-heartedly, keeping an eye on the men talking happily in front of me.

Are they really that strong?

That’s the only thing that worries me.

According to the Investigation, it was definitely Amalie and Estelle who were pinned down behind them.

This means that these guys are strong enough to break up a D-rank party.

The body of the one called Boss is so big that I have to look up at it. Looking at his thick chest and biceps that seem to be bigger than my thighs, he looks strong at first glance, but…

“Are you okay?”

Ria calls to me, perhaps worried about me standing there.

What kind of face am I making right now?

The men in the first room didn’t seem to want to let Ria and me escape, and they all crowded around the boss, blocking the passage.

Even though I’m sure I’ve never met any of them before, their faces all look familiar.

I’m sure the two guys who thought they had me from behind and showed their asses are probably looking in the same direction right now.

Grinning mouths, lecherous looks.

Their attitude is one of complete confidence, and somehow, they don’t seem to give a thought to the possibility that they might be the ones to get beat up.

It’s a look that says, “I know I’ll never be on your side.

It’s probably the strength of numbers.

I take another deep breath, even though I know it stinks.

The many stares directed at me make me feel like I’m reliving old traumas, and I feel like my stomach is shrinking.

But now―yes, I’m fine.

After replying to Ria, “There’s no problem,” I opened my mouth to the men.

“Just to confirm with you, even considering the situation and the content of the conversation, you’re probably kidnappers, but do you have any intention of turning yourselves in now?”

This was a serious question for me.

I made a proposal with the intention of saving them.

That was my intention.

But…

“Buhah, buhahaha!”

“T-turn myself in… You said turn myself in! Gahaha!”

“H-huh? This masked guy must be serious!?”

“Are you trying to make us laugh? Even if we get caught by the military police, we’ll all be executed, so there’s no way anyone would go out of their way to get caught!”

Each of them sneers at me.

“I see. Then…”

――Body Strengthening――

“You’re a fool to say such a thing…”

“Huh? What――”

“You…!”

I may have used too much power to not be caught off guard.

The story was long, and I just felt bad for remembering the past.

As a result, the man who was hit first with an open hand flew sideways, spraying blood as if his lower jaw had slipped out of place.

Well, he probably won’t die.

After that, as if to test the strength of my blows, I hit the men who tried to speak one by one, missing their vital points and hitting them hard enough.

I had no knowledge or formality; I just relied on my status.

As long as they all took enough damage to keep them from dying, and they just lay there, that’s fine.

“I was being careful, you know.”

When I saw all the men on the ground groaning, I couldn’t help but let my true feelings slip out.

If they were hunters, they would be E-rank at best, and most of them would be F-rank.

I couldn’t understand why they were looking at me like that.

“Are you going to let them live?”

“…I don’t know anything about the law, so I thought I would take them to the city for now.”

“I see.”

It will take some time, but there’s nothing I can do.

Right now, it’s more important to concentrate on these girls.

I turn my attention to the huddled girls first.

It’s okay.

They’re scared, but they’re all alive.

“If you were captured, you can go home now, so don’t worry.”

I guess they still haven’t figured out the situation.

Immediately after I called out to them, none of them moved.

But when I quickly took off my mask, thinking, “Is this it?” some of the girls staggered over to us, looking weak and powerless.

“Is that true?”

“Yes, I already defeated the bad guys.”

“…Really? Really?”

“Don’t worry, just wait a little while. We also need to do something about those elder sisters.”

The girls’ expressions are still dark.

Their eyes are empty, and if they are shown such a scene at such a young age, there is a great possibility that they will suffer psychological damage.

However, I have no way to save these girls at the moment.

The only thing I could do was bring them back to the city, so I asked the two hunters in front of me if it was possible for these people, who were still in a daze, to return to the town.

“I don’t think you’re okay, but can you get up for now?”

“I’m… sorry…”

“I’m really… sorry…”

I thought these people were like the Japanese.

It’s okay to say sorry and thank you after we get out of this situation.

I can’t go back to the town of Lipsum with about 20 girls and women who have no clothes. If I go to the town guard to ask for help, the place will be lightly guarded, and I will have to rely on Ria again.

“(Hmm. It was easy until I beat up the bad guy, but it’s going to be unexpectedly difficult from here on out…)”

“――Stab him.”

“Eh?”

The moment I heard a man’s voice from somewhere, I felt a slight tingling pain in my back and thighs.

I quickly turned around to see what was going on, but all I could see were the children who had just walked up to me.

Without understanding the situation, my heart began to beat rapidly, and my vision began to distort as a dull pain spread through my entire body.

As if there was salvation there, my body was drawn to the ground…

Immediately after lying down, I spat out something that had been building up in the back of my throat, waiting to erupt.

“(W-what is it…?)”

I searched for Ria in my blurred vision.

However, I couldn’t find the person I was looking for…

Instead, what I saw was the figure of a thin man standing up from the middle of the girls.

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