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

Chapter 171

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Chapter 171 – Town Mayor

I look at the wagon I’ve thrown away and think to myself that I managed to get away with only two flights.

The men were tied to the top of the wooden box with ropes. Yeah, they seem to be okay.

I was flying at top speed, thinking it wouldn’t matter if one of them fell off, so I’m pretty pleased with my flying skills that I managed to get everyone back alive.

So, the gatekeeper…

I was looking around, thinking that, when I was approached by someone who stood out from the crowd of onlookers.

“Boy, is it true that you’re the one who saved them this time?

The person standing there with his arms folded was huge.

He looked like he was almost two meters tall, and with my height, I couldn’t even reach his chest.

His hair and beard, which neatly framed his mouth, were white. They didn’t look like the kind of white hair that comes with age; rather, they had a purity to them.

His skin was dark, perhaps from sunburn, and it was hard to tell his age. He had a strange aura about him that I had never encountered before.

So I couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes, but who are you?”

Then, while the surrounding people were making a commotion, he answered my question, although he seemed to be hesitating to say anything.

“I’m the mayor!”

I was stunned by his answer in many ways.

First, I had never seen anyone so confident as to say, “I am the mayor!” with such conviction.

It was hard to be proud of being the mayor with such a confident look on his face.

I wonder if being the mayor of this world is such a serious job?

But he’s such a big guy.

It seems better to think that it’s not a job that ordinary-looking men and women like the mayors and village chiefs of Japan could do.

He has to fight monsters and countries every day to protect the town and its people.

And there’s this atmosphere.

For some reason, some people’s eyes are squeezed together as if they’re holding their breath, others look panicked, and there are even people who are about to kneel down, unable to speak.

In general, everyone’s eyes are focused on the mayor, and you can feel the determination of the people around him to catch every single move he makes.

I never thought that just one word of introduction would create such an atmosphere… This mayor is really something.

I’m beginning to feel intimidated.

“I see… So is there something you want?”

“Yes. I heard that you rescued the people who were kidnapped. I’d like to offer you a reward, but can you spare the time tonight?”

I see, a reward, huh?

It didn’t sound bad, and I felt like my ears were ringing.

Come to think of it, I also remember receiving some sort of reward from Bezart regarding Zink-kun and the others.

I knew that the guild would pay for the two hunters, but this is how it is with the children.

It seems that not all of them are from this town, but there are over twenty of them, so it could be quite a lot of money.

Anyway, I can’t miss it tonight.

I have something important to tell Ria, so I would be in trouble if I did it today.

“I’m sorry, but I have an appointment today. Is tomorrow okay?”

I think I answered in a normal way… I think.

But the atmosphere seemed to freeze for a moment.

There were people here and there who were surprised and said things like, “He turned it down!” “He turned it down, didn’t he?” in a low voice.

No, no, really, how big is the role of a major?

Or is that the norm in this world?

“Well, it’s a sudden request. How about I give you your reward tomorrow night over dinner at my house? If you’re staying at an inn, I can pick you up, okay?”

“Oh, that’s fine. If I ask for the mayor’s house, the people of this town will know, right?”

When I asked, the mayor looked around, and the people he made eye contact with nodded their heads in quick succession.

“It looks like it’s going to be okay. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

As he said this, he walked past me to check the cargo one last time.

“I heard from Nillow, he’s on his way to the capital. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you out of pure interest.”

He muttered this as he put his big hand on my shoulder, and I thought to myself, so that’s what he means by ‘looking forward to it.’

When I thought about it like that, it suddenly became a bit annoying, but well, the mayor is probably in the same position as the guild masters of each city.

So if there’s a reward involved, I guess it’s okay, I thought as I watched the mayor’s back as he parted the crowd like Moses and left.

Then, the guards took the four men away in slave-like conditions.

The first slave, Alphiba, who seemed to have a strong desire, seemed to have more anger than fear toward me, and he shouted,

“Damn you! Where is the promise of food, drink and women for me? That is not what you promised!”

He was yelling like that, but the only thing I promised this man was to protect him from being killed by the girl.

I don’t know how he interprets things now that his memory has been manipulated, but it’s his problem that he expresses selfish desires and then mistakenly thinks they will come true.

In other words, it’s not my problem if the men are sentenced to death afterward.

The problem is that you made a rash decision to sign the contract without fully understanding it.

First of all, the slave contract that was given to these men,

It was just these two: “Do not harm the user” and “Do not lie to the user.”

I suppose it was a matter of cost, and it was not possible to impose any further restrictions on the men…

The men who killed Sefo-san and the others, who attacked Amalie-san and the others, and who stole money and worked hard as bandits.

After all, they did these things on their own, not because they were ordered to, so I don’t feel sorry for them, no matter how they are punished.

Nevertheless, I brought them back here on purpose.

When I looked at the man who looked like he might be the one, he also called out to me as if it was the right time.

“My name is Alback, and I am the chief guard of this town. I apologize, but would you be willing to accompany me to the guard house? I have heard some of the circumstances from the two hunters, but I would like to hear the details of what happened from the rescuer as well.”

Yes, I had hoped for this development.

I replied kindly to the man on horseback wearing armor.

“Of course. I can tell you where these men are and where they sell their slaves. Now, if you don’t mind, could you tell me more about the laws of this country?”

How far is it safe to go, and what is out of bounds?

Perhaps because she hears confessions every day as the Goddess of Sin, Ria knows a little about the law, but her knowledge is limited to the extent that there is a high probability of this happening in the broadest sense.

She doesn’t know the detailed laws of the country.

Even with this confiscated cargo, I don’t understand who the owner is, but I only collected it for now because it contains mementos.

If that’s the case, the quickest way to find out is to ask the people who deal with criminals like this.

It would be great if I could check information not only about Lagreath but also about neighboring countries.

The things I want to check are limited to a certain extent.

“Oh, I appreciate that. If there’s anything you don’t understand about the law, I’ll be happy to teach you. Judging by the color of your skin, you don’t seem to be from Lagreath.”

“I appreciate that. Now, what am I supposed to do with this confiscated cargo? I’ve recovered all the items, including some mementos.”

“This is a huge amount… Once we’ve interrogated the men, in most cases, if the items were stolen or taken, they will belong to the person who destroyed the organization. It is up to that person to return them to their owners. We want to check the contents as well, so let’s have them all brought to the guardhouse for now.”

As the guard captain, Alback-san, instructed the men behind him, several of his subordinates went back into town.

It seems that they are going to get some horses and use the empty wagon next to the cargo to bring the cargo in two wagons.

So we set off.

I leave the cargo with the gatekeeper and the remaining guards and follow the four men, who are tied up like in a period drama, to the guard house.

Would this be a police box in Japan?

Or is it a little bigger than a police station? While I was imagining this, we turned off the main road onto a side street.

We stopped in front of a two-story stone building that was slightly larger than a one-story house.

The double iron door made it look solid, but the building itself was smaller than I expected.

“Take the men to the basement cell. We’ll begin questioning them immediately.”

“(Ah, I see. So there’s a basement. Makes sense.)”

While I was thinking about Alback-san’s instructions, I went to a room near the entrance of the first floor.

There were four chairs arranged around a table, and while it didn’t have the atmosphere of a reception room, it was a small, clean room of about four tatami mats, with sunlight streaming in through a small window.

“Once again, I am Alback, the chief of the guards of Lipsum. I appreciate your cooperation.”

“I am Loki. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Now, about the beginning of this incident…”

From there, how did I get involved in this case?

It started with the Hunters’ Guild’s urgent search request and the existence of the receptionist, Reimi-san.

Using both Flying and Investigation, I searched for the ‘Axe’ and the ‘Names of the missing people’.

The results showed a response on the north side of the highway, and that was where the men lived.

And what was going on inside, and what I did――

I hid Ria’s existence and explained the situation from one to nine, substituting what Ria did for what I did.

During this time, Alback-san silently wrote down what I was saying on a wooden board, and I thought to myself that there didn’t seem to be anyone like an official scribe in this world.

Things were going so quietly that I found myself thinking about such unnecessary things.

“I see. So it’s slave magic… If that’s the case, it makes sense that the children were kidnapped. No wonder there were so many reports of missing children a while ago.” [T/n: Changed Slave Technique to Slave Magic.]

“I suppose the fact that they’re all girls is to the slaver’s liking. It seems the damage has spread to the neighboring villages, so please take good care of them.”

“Of course. But why are there hunters among them? Does Loki know about this?”

“Yes. Apparently, they were ordered from another country as slaves who could also act as guards.”

“Another country… By the way, do you remember which country it was?”

“No, I’m sorry. The men I delivered didn’t seem to know much either.”

Speaking of D-rank hunters, they are not weak in terms of public opinion either―they are probably in the mid-level class of hunters.

Still, they are young, good-looking, and can heal and detox if necessary, and they can even provide the sexual side.

Even from an objective point of view, they make excellent slaves.

That’s probably why they were traded for a reasonable amount of money, and that’s probably why they tried to get them, even if it meant eliminating the obstacle of the party members.

If they could get rid of them, they could also get the spoils of war called mementos.

Even if there was no chance of winning if they did it normally, if they used children as bait, and that bait could quickly turn into a weapon, the obstacle would suddenly disappear.

I also fell into that trap so easily…

I rummage in my pocket.

I laid out the ‘rings’ I had collected from the children on the desk.

“These are the weapons the children wore. There are two types: one is paralysis, and the other is poison, which they call Kazura Blood Poison.”

“Kazura blood poison…? Kazura… Kazura… Could it be that our allies… No, that can’t be…”

Alback-san covered his mouth with his hand and seemed to be trying to associate the name with something that came to mind.

When I told him that a delivery specialist would be visiting their hideout in a few days, his eyes lit up, and he thought for a moment.

From there, it was up to them to find out who was behind the incident.

The word ‘ally’ came up, and if it was discovered that they were kidnapping people in other countries, the relationship between the two countries might cool down considerably, just like on Earth.

Well… I don’t have to worry about that.

About an hour later.

I’ve said just about everything I can, and there are no more questions from Alback-san.

As I watched him nod his head while looking at the wooden board he had written on, I thought to myself, “Isn’t it time for my turn?”

I could feel that kind of atmosphere.

“Are you sure everything is okay here?”

This is what I really want to know.

I want him to tell me more about the laws that have been set.

“Ah, that was very helpful. I’ll tell the mayor about it, too, since he’s going to pay you for saving the children.”

“No problem. Now, about that law I wanted to know about…”

“Mm. What exactly do you want to know about?”

I asked Alback-san, who leaned forward with a serious expression on his face.

“Please tell me the conditions under which it is legally permissible to kill someone.”

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