"Hey captain, are you sure this is the right way?"

 

"Yes, this is definitely the correct direction. Maps don't lie."

 

Leona is acting too paranoid for my liking. Yes, this is the first time I've ever gone to the eastern region, but there's no way I'll get lost as long as I stay on the road, so stop looking at me like that already! I'm getting nervous.

 

"I don't want to doubt you or anything, but haven't we passed this same boulder three times before?"

 

… Now that she mentioned it, I feel like the scenery has not changed at all for the last hour. Aaaah, this doesn't make any sense! This implies that we've walked in circles for a while now, yet I'm pretty sure we walked in a straight line.

 

"Look Leona, the map shows that there is only one road with no forks which has a boulder next to it. We never diverted off the path at all, so it is impossible for us to have been going in circles. If you're so worried about it, then just focus on our walking direction relative to the sun and tell me if you find anything weird."

 

I was a bit annoyed so I sounded a little stand-offish which caused Leona to panic a little then proceed to make the unwise decision of staring straight at the bright sun. Her sensitive eyes were instantly overwhelmed by the burning rays of light and the sudden pain made Leona squirm on the ground for a little while. I'm starting to regret giving a leadership position to this idiot.

 

"STOP RIGHT THERE FOOLS!"

 

What!? Were we found out already? I turned towards the direction of the grizzly voice where several barbaric-looking men began appearing from behind thick trees. Leona and several soldiers immediately responded by unsheathing their weapons and stood in front of me.

 

"Hoho! The prey is actually trying to resist, ey? Just pay a small toll of everything you have and my companions here might decide to let you go."

 

Hold on, these guys are bandits? There are, like, a total of 12 of them while my squad totals 34 excluding myself. I'm confused, we clearly outnumber them and have superior equipment, so what makes them think we look weak enough to ambush?

 

"Captain, there's no need for you to interfere, I'll show this pack of mongrels the power of the Soul Stabilizers."

 

"Granted. Make sure you put on a good show or this might get boring too quickly."

 

I have no idea why bandits are attacking us right now, though I won't complain. This is much better than being found out by Mark's men, plus I'll get to see how the chargers handle a fight without my support in case we get separated. Just look at Leona, I can clearly tell she's excited to show off her abilities since she's standing at the very front.

 

"Bahaha! Kitty, I admire your guts to stand in front of me with such a flimsy stance. How about I show you-"

 

"Haaaaaaa!"

 

"Gwah!?"

 

A half-naked young man jumped out of nowhere and punched the bandit leader while he was still monologuing. Now that's quite disrespectful and, more importantly, THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET MISSION SO WHY ARE PEOPLE COMING LEFT AND RIGHT AS IF THIS IS SOME SORT OF PARTY!?

 

"How dare you try to attack this cute cat girl! I won't stand aside while an ugly bald bastard like you does something so stereotypical as assaulting innocent people! Now stand up and fight me like a man!"

 

Contrary to what he just said, half-naked dude kicked the incapacitated bandit leader repeatedly before facing the remaining bandits who had full focus on him. Leona was pissed. She was prepared for a battle to prove her worth only to be denied by some random homeless man.

 

"Hmm… they are all level 3 bandits. Thunderbolt!"

 

"Argh!" "Guaaah!" "Aaaaagh!"

 

Level 3? This is the first time I've heard of a system using levels to determine a person's strength in this world. Moreover, his use of magic is extremely disturbing. Not in the normal way, mind you. It's more like the spell he cast used an unrecognizable magic formula which doesn't require entering a battle stance at all. This is giving me a headache already.

 

"Hah… Hah… This spell is really mana-intensive. At least I defeated all the bandits in one go. Ah! Hello, I'm sure this might seem a little weird, but can you tell me where the closest city or town is? I'm a bit lost after all, haha."

 

The suspicious clown surely didn't realize that I'm the leader since he faced Leona as he spoke. I'm not sure if I want to get involved with him, but we can't let him simply leave after finding out about us while we are trying to sneak into enemy territory. I was about to walk up to him and sort things out but Leona replied to the man with a wide smile.

 

"Why of course I can show you where the closest city is! Me and my friends here are quite grateful for saving us from this dangerous group of bandits. Just head directly East of here towards these mountains until you see the city walls. It's a little far from here but just keep walking until you find it."

 

East? According to my map, there is not even a single settlement in or beyond the mountain range. The only thing he'll find is the Far Eastern Sea and a bunch of monsters. Leona definitely knows this, which means that… Her evil grin is more than enough proof to tell me that this is intentional. Nice job, Leona! Now I don't have to worry about how to deal with this clown so he won't snitch on us… Hey, why is he staring at me so intently?

 

"Is there something on my face?"

 

"Ah! S-Sorry, it's just that… Miss cat girl, is this brown-haired guy also one of your friends?"

 

"This is my capt- I mean, yeah, he's one of us. Why do you ask?"

 

I lightly stomped on her foot before she could expose my identity and ruin the mission more than it already has. Unfortunately, the homeless man took notice of my action then took a vigilant stance.

 

"Then I suggest you keep your distance away from him as much as possible. These fingers… His data is pretty messed up too…"

 

!?

 

"Hey clown! Did you just use a spell on me? If you want a fight, then there's no need to use your flimsy tricks. Come at me and fight me like a man!"

 

I don't know what he tried to cast on me, but I'll definitely beat him up for it. Homeless clown retreated back in fear in contrast to his previous bravado with shock clearly visible on his face.

 

"You know about identification!? Dammit, I should have been more careful. You may have won for now, but I will come back later to defeat you and free Miss cat girl from slavery! Teleport!"

 

"... Let's go."

 

He quickly disappeared into thin air after shouting out some crazy proclamation to save Leona. Hmph, I have no time to search for a nameless nobody especially during a time-sensitive mission. What I'm more interested in is his bizarre magic formulas, which don't make much sense. Mana is supposed to come out of his soul, yet it felt like he had another source of mana that he uses instead.

 

"Captain?"

 

Leona tugged on my leather armor and spoke with a soft voice.

 

"Is there something bothering you, Leona? Did that clown cast a weird spell on you?"

 

"No, I'm fine… I can easily defeat him alone, you know?"

 

"Uhuh, I'm sure you wouldn't have much trouble against him."

 

"I can even beat him bare-handed; you know?"

 

"Of course, of course. Now how about-"

 

"I can also win blind-folded, you know?"

 

"... Yeah, sure. As I was saying though, I-"

 

"The bandits too. I can defeat them alone as well."

 

"..."

 

This is getting annoying. I really want to concentrate on where we're going without being repeatedly pestered about what Leona can do on her own. I mean, what does she want from me exactly? Do a little tap dance for her?

 

"You can depend on me to get the task done, just like how I deceived the despicable man who insulted you, ok?"

 

"Yeah ok, good for you."

 

I instinctively patted her head while saying that. More like whacked her head out of annoyance, but judging by how she purred, yes, purred, I can tell Leona liked it. It made me feel awkward though, so I immediately stopped and acted as if nothing happened. How was I supposed to know cat people actually like cat things? At least she appears to have piped down after petting her. Her tail is even wagging wildly as she energetically strolled by my side.

 

Bah! I'm getting side-tracked by all these weird incidents happening one after another. First of all, we get stuck in a spatial loop within a forest. Then a bunch of hoodlums who were severely outclassed decided it was a good idea to ambush my fully armed squad. And finally, a half-naked dude who may or may not be reincarnated came out of nowhere and proceeded to steal Leona's prey then insulted me for some unknown reason before doing the infuriating teleportation trick. Honestly, I'd rather hunt crab bandits than having to deal with this nonsense.

 

"I apologize for the 'nonsense' you speak of."

 

Huh!? Who's there? Oh come on, not again! Can this day end without any more events? I'm already tired of this.

 

"Worry not, for I have already undone the spell which trapped you in this land."

 

The voice… It's… It's not coming from anywhere… The voice is in my head… THE VOICE IS IN MY HEAD AAHHHH GO AWAY WITCH, BEGONE!

 

"Ah! Please calm do_n, I on_y w_s_ed __"

 

Phew, right after using anti-magic on my head, the auditory hallucination went away. I must stay vigilant to defend myself from any and all brainwashing attempts coming my way.

 

"Captain? You've been holding your head pretty tightly for a while now, do you have a headache? Maybe we should camp here for the night?"

 

"N-No, don't worry about it. I think it's better to hurry up and get as far as possible from this cursed place before the sun sets. Look! It looks like we are finally getting out of the forest, we can't be that far from our target now."

 

Just as the imaginary not to be trusted voice said, it felt like a seal was lifted off of us as grassy hills came into view. Now that the map is relevant again, I estimate that we are three days away from Fenrir's estate which is right in the middle of the eastern region. We'll have to pass through a couple of villages, but we should be fine as long as my face isn't revealed.

 

Our first stop was a small fishing village set up next to a river. To reduce our chances of getting caught, half of the squad hid away from the village and camped on top of a small hill. The rest of the squad will enter the village disguised as a mercenary group travelling for work. The reason for doing this instead of just ignoring the village altogether is because we didn't bring enough supplies to last us the entire journey since that would require bringing a carriage which would slow us down. Furthermore, I'd like to gather intelligence about the land from natives to make sure we don't come across more bandits and homeless clowns.

 

After greeting the locals and finding a place to spend the night in, I decided to pay a visit to the village elder and learn what I can from them. It took a while trying to find the aforementioned person, but I eventually found a kid who guided me to a tiny hut next to the river. An old lady who must be on her last leg got out from the hut as she supported her frail body using a walking stick.

 

"Excuse me, are you the village elder?"

 

"Mmm, yes, my child. I am the village fisher. Would you like some crab?"

 

"Uhh, no thanks. I actually asked if you were the village elder, but nevermind. I'm the leader of a mercenary group passing through here and I wanted to ask a couple of questions if you wouldn't mind."

 

"Mmm, yes *cough*, the merchandise caravan passed through here last week. If you want fish, you don't have to go after those merchants. There's plenty of seafood here! *cough*"

 

Is this old lady fine? Maybe her hearing sense is weak and I need to raise my voice a little.

 

"HI, I ACTUALLY WANTED TO ASK IF YOU KNOW OF A GOOD PATH TOWARDS THE FENRIR ESTATE. PLEASE."

 

" *cough* Fenrir! *cough* The new duke is a greedy good-for-nothing who sends thugs regularly to steal our fish and send it as gifts for Prince Bismuth! *cough* Don't believe the *cough* lies they tell you that these are taxes necessary for protection against demonic monsters. *cough* I haven't seen a single soldier helping against this disaster. Now I live in this miserable hut due to monster attacks! *cough* *cough*"

 

"A-Alright elder, there's no need to tire yourself out like this. How about we get you back in the hut for a short rest?"

 

" *cough* What did you say? I'm not a liar! *cough* A large horned beast flattened every building around here and we were only saved by a heroic elf woman who had younglings follow her *cough* Don't you *cough* call me a lia- *cough* *cough*"

 

"... Let's get you a place to lie down for now."

 

" *cough* *cough* I said *cough* I'm not a *cough* lia- AGH!"

 

Woah there! Good thing I caught this ancient pile of bones before she hit the ground. Now, I should probably put her on a bed to… umm, she isn't moving at all.

 

"Elder? Are you with me? HEY GRANNY, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

 

… She isn't breathing and there's no pulse… Did she seriously die because I accidentally got riled up for a moment? Nope, I am in no way responsible for any of this. Yeah, I was just unlucky to meet this poor old lady on her deathbed. Hey, look at that fishing boat over there! She said she was a fisher, right? I'll put her on the boat so people will know that she died while fishing and I'm completely innocent.

 

"Hey captain, I talked to some locals and found out that… What are you doing?"

 

A chill ran down my spine as I realized that I currently look like a murderer trying to hide the body. Leona literally came at the worst time possible to talk with me. She definitely won't believe me if I tell her that I didn't kill the old lady, so I better think of something else.

 

"Leona… this woman was able to recognize me and wanted to raise the alarm. I tried to reason with her, but she just wouldn't budge. I had no other option."

 

"I-I see. Yeah, this is for the best. I know captain wouldn't murder a defenseless granny in cold blood. She must've had a knife and attacked you, so you defended yourself, right?"

 

"...Yup, that's exactly what happened."

 

The look on Leona's face makes me feel so guilty even though I know I didn't do anything wrong. The elder literally dropped dead in front of me and I panicked.

 

Just as planned, the locals thought that their elder died while doing what they loved the most, fishing. There was, however, a rumor spreading around about a girl crying near the late elder's hut during the night.