24 - Marquis Maron
Episode 24
The assassin raised by wolves, the pinnacle of physical prowess in this world, and me, the neither-here-nor-there, managed to reach the wolves' habitat before sunset that day.
As Snowbeasts, they made their home in extremely high and rugged mountains. I collapsed, hugging a tree as soon as we arrived, unable to even take in the scenery that was supposedly breathtaking.
"Are you alright?"
Reikart asked. It was a rare moment of concern from him.
I never thought I'd miss Magical Energy so much.
I felt like I was going to die. When I was consuming Magical Energy, climbing a mountain like this was nothing, but without it, I was just an ordinary person.
It was only because I had been training while wandering the Contaminated Zone that I was able to make it this far. If I hadn't, my soul might have returned home alone while I was still climbing.
"Wow, you're pretty amazing, though? I thought you'd give up halfway and cancel the request. Just making it this far is top-notch. Client-nim."
"Thanks for the compliment."
"I'm not a man who's stingy with praise."
"Yeah, you're great."
"The poachers mainly come from that way. It's the closest to the Holt border, and there's a path used by herbalists in the valley beyond."
"How did you, alone in this vast mountain, stop so many poachers, or try to stop them?"
"I can't stop them. I'm not an iron man."
Rango said bitterly.
"I tried this and that, and if it didn't work, I was just going to kill that bastard, the Margrave of Holt."
Ah, right. That's what he was going to do.
"He's a high-ranking noble, so there'll be a bounty on my head, but it can't be helped."
It's not just a small bounty, it'll be huge.
Even after the Margrave dies, the poachers won't decrease, so you'll have to keep hiding in Grandis until our heroine arrives.
…But!
Now that I've stepped in, that won't happen.
"Reikart."
"Yeah?"
"Can you capture just two poachers? Without hurting them too much, and not too old or too young."
"No problem."
He nodded and told me to wait quietly here. He also told Rango to make sure nothing happened to me.
Entrusting my safety to an assassin, I felt chills crawling up and down my spine and moved away from Rango.
Reikart ran off like a warrior in a martial arts movie and disappeared from sight, leaving me and Rango alone to look around.
"Client-nim. Why did you ask to capture the poachers? Threats won't work. They know they can live off the skin of a well-grown Snowbeast for three years."
"Still, life is more important than money."
"That's just for a while."
He meant that even if you threaten them with their lives, it's only temporary, and they'll come back after time passes.
Rango's cynicism was a hundred times correct, but my threats will be a little different.
"Just shut up and watch. Anyway, if the request fails, they were going to kill us all, right?"
"Huh?"
Rango jumped up and moved away from me. After we both recoiled, we ended up looking at each other from a few steps away.
Rango grinned and said.
"Wow, I thought you were just a rich and foolish woman. What is it? Are you a noble? You don't seem to be from the Order, so were you dispatched from above?"
"Do I look like a noble to you?"
I asked with a bright smile. Then Rango replied, asking why I would ask such a question.
"Well, you're wearing such a clownish hat, what else could you be if not a noble? Real clowns wear plain and practical things usually. Only nobles wear such things."
Ah, is that so?
I thought I looked precious.
Rango subtly stroked the hilt of his sword with his fingers and asked.
"Do you know who I am?"
Should I say I don't?
In the original story, the heroine meets Rango, who is severely injured, as soon as she arrives in Grandis, and learns about the Snowbeast through the process of healing him.
She is actually an investigation team sent by Michelan, the King of Holt, and appeared to solve the problem when the two kingdoms were on the verge of war because of the poachers.
Since the cause is clear, our heroine resolutely decides to put the adulterous Margrave on trial, presided over by both kingdoms. She also designates the Snowbeast as a protected species, making it a symbol of reconciliation between the kingdoms.
"And you, moved by that, have a change of heart…."
"What?"
"Snowbeast Rango. An abandoned child who was thrown away in the mountains by ignorant parents because he was born with cursed white eyes and raised by wolves. Nieve's best assassin."
"How do you know me?"
He smiled whitely. His white eyes gleamed eerily. Until now, everyone must have trembled and begged for their lives whenever he did that.
But I'm different.
I'm not the old me.
"Hey, if you mess with me, I'll turn you into a demon."
"What are you talking about, seriously…."
Rango finally drew his sword. The slightly curved blade had small serrations like a bread knife, and it looked certain to cause excessive bleeding even with a graze.
Look at this guy?
I grinned.
You think you're the only one who can smile menacingly? I'm the best villain in this world, you know. I even leveled up recently.
I held up my index finger to him.
Magical Energy flowed from the tip of my finger. Like a drop of black ink falling into clear water, ominous Dark Mana rose and crept towards him.
Rango shouted with a pale face.
"W, w, w, what is this!"
Ma, ma, ma, Magical Energy.
After enjoying a mountain camping trip for half a day with Rango, who was cowering in fear, Reikart dragged two poachers, bound tightly with ropes.
They looked like poachers at first glance.
They were not only wearing ornaments made of wolf fangs dangling from their waists, but one of them was carrying a young wolf on his back.
A young wolf.
I felt the hackles on my neck stand on end as I felt the murderous intent crawling up my spine.
Rango had already drawn his sword.
"Wow, smart. To catch the mother, you have to let her hear the cub's cries. Right."
The young wolf looked like it hadn't been dead for long, and its leg was broken. They had tied the broken leg with a string and carried it around, so the young wolf must have writhed in pain, crying and desperately calling for its mother.
The wolves wouldn't have been able to leave the poachers' vicinity to save their crying cub.
Rango took a long fang ornament from the poacher's waist and shook it.
"You've caught a lot, haven't you? Did you catch them all like this? It's hard to track adults, so you target the cubs, huh? If the cubs die like this, you stuff them as a souvenir, and if they live, do you catch them and raise them? Or do you sell them?"
"Who are you… Who are you!?"
The poachers, sensing danger, shouted as they backpedaled.
"Who are you, why are you doing this! Are you the dogs of Grandis!"
"Snowbeast Rango."
Rango revealed his name. That meant he had no intention of letting them live.
"The human cub of the wolves you killed."
Rango's sword spun around. He held the hilt in reverse grip and rushed at the poachers.
Honestly, I didn't have the confidence to stop him.
I didn't think it would be any use to say he shouldn't kill them. Fortunately, Reikart stepped in and stopped Rango instead of me.
"Wait."
"Let go!"
"You know that killing them like this isn't a good way. Wait."
"These bastards deserve to die."
"Rango!"
"The request is canceled. I was wrong. I'll just hide here for the rest of my life and live with the pleasure of hunting these bastards."
Rango chuckled. His wide-open white eyes gleamed wildly.
"Ah! Right. I should run to your house and catch your family, break their legs, and drag them around. Then it'll be tit for tat. Right?"
