No to Being the Suffering Heroine!

After a somewhat impulsive display of affection, we promptly headed deep into the slums.

To find and take down Lakan Krakel, the leader of the Bagest beastfolk, and send him packing.

Crrawwww…! Found him…!

Here! That eagle-eyed young punk is right here!

Well, the task at hand hadn’t changed much.

I had resolved to face Lakan directly to tidy up this mess, but just because we decided to do that, it didn’t mean we could confront him right away.

There was no longer a reason to scour every nook and cranny like before, but if those beastfolk decided to ambush us first, that was a different story.

“Guide me to Lakan. I’ll settle things with him as you wish.”

Heh heh heh… Where’s the need for that? You’ll be dying at my hands!

Even when I told them I had no intention of fighting, and just to guide me to Lakan, they blatantly ignored me and jumped in, leaving me without any options.

“…Seriously, no one listens.”

I had no choice but to fight as they wished.

“If I win, can I leave the slums peacefully? I swear I won’t kill you. How about it?”

Dream big, huh? That’s not gonna happen!

“No, that’s you with the wild dreams.”

I tried to strike a deal that I would spare their lives if they lost, but it was exceedingly rare for a beastfolk to accept such terms.

Since changing our goal, I had encountered five beastfolk in total.

Trying to subdue an opponent with regeneration without killing them was no small feat, but thanks to Friede’s help, I managed to immobilize them somehow.

After subduing them, I asked once more if they’d peacefully return if I spared their lives.

Unfortunately, the outcome wasn’t great.

“You’ll regret this…!”

“I already regret it, so how about just backing off peacefully?”

One beastfolk chose to retreat calmly while spewing threats, and it was just a single cat-eared, blonde beastfolk.

“Y-Yeah! I’ll retreat, just spare my life…!”

“Smart move. In that case….”

There was one more beastfolk who begged for his life, saying he’d follow my orders, but in the end, he had to be killed.

From the get-go, he wasn’t genuinely agreeing; he was just pretending to lower his guard to ambush me.

“Gotcha!”

As soon as I turned my back, he charged at me with claws bared!

Of course, I’d seen through such an obvious ploy. I’ve dealt with this type before.

In the early days of my possession, I was genuinely caught off guard and nearly got killed, but not anymore.

“I kneel because…!”

“To die, of course.”

Spinning halfway around, I sliced off his arm with my sword and then impaled him vertically, pinning him to the ground.

Gah…! H-How…?!

“If you’re going for an ambush, at least pretend to hide your intent. With that attitude, it’s much harder to fool me.”

While begging for his life, he kept eyeing my vital spots. There’s no way I’d fall for that.

I’d never heard that beastfolk were that dumb, but seeing these guys made me think that common sense just didn’t apply here.

Well, anyway, those beastfolk who tried to stab me in the back were mercilessly cut down.

While I was dealing with the beastfolk, Friede handled the riffraff, chasing them off or knocking them out.

Not all of them were spared; I had to cut down those who hurled obscenities or blatantly used poison and drugs.

◆◆

“Is that the eagle-eyed punk? Looks different from the ones I saw before. Is he really an eagle-eyed punk?”

“Well, if I said no, would you believe me?”

The fourth beastfolk was a dog beastfolk girl who had floppy ears covered in fur, and being a dog, her personality was just as dirty.

“Just tell me where Lakan is and get lost. I’ll spare you. He’s all I’m after.”

“Shut your trap!”

I merely said I might spare her if she backed off calmly, but I have no idea why she flipped her lid and rushed at me.

“…Aren’t you supposed to know better than to use such language?”

Can a dog beastfolk get away with cursing like that? As a non-beastfolk, it’s a baffling issue.

“You’ll get praised by the boss if you take me down!”

“No, I’m going to him myself. Why the fuss?!”

Anyway, she was tougher than I expected. Probably somewhere between a silver-ranked adventurer and a gold-ranked one? Considering the risk, she was a strong opponent, surpassing even trolls.

While she lacked strength and regeneration, she was more agile, and her equipment was definitely above troll level. She might even be a mid-tier officer in Bagest.

Boom!

But she was no match for me.

Gah…!

After smashing through several walls in a fierce battle, the dog beastfolk who charged at me finally collapsed from exhaustion.

“Phew… no need to waste my strength.”

I didn’t kill her, but both her arms were completely destroyed, leaving no trace, and she had five large scars on her thighs.

At this point… even with regeneration, she’d have to take it easy for a while. Probably.

Grr… kill me…!

The subdued dog beastfolk shouted with clenched teeth in frustration. It was a familiar phrase. I didn’t expect to hear it here, though.

“What are you talking about? If I were going to kill you, I’d have done it already.”

Kuh, kill me! What kind of woman says that? Are you some defeated warrior from an erotic comic or what?

The warrior here is me, okay? And not just any warrior, but an escapee warrior!

“You can’t fight in that state, can you? Once you’re able to move, head back to your territory. While you’re at it, tell me where Lakan is.”

“You want me to betray my boss and grovel for my life? How dare you…!”

“I’ll find out whether you know or not. Just tell me that, okay?”

“Like I’d give an answer!”

“So you don’t know. Useless. Then just get lost.”

Kyahhhhh!

The enraged dog beastfolk floundered like a fish out of water.

It appeared she still had some energy left. A few minutes from now, she might be able to walk again! Well, that’d be her limit though.

“Unless you want to stick around and be a punching bag for the poor, go ahead. I won’t stop you. It’s your choice.”

Staying means the moment she faces the remaining Abandon vermin, her rights as a sentient being will vanish, turning her from a female beastfolk into just a female dog.

Kuh… you mutt!

“No, ‘mutt’ is you… don’t you look in the mirror?”

Not having a retort herself, the flailing beastgirl scowled and spewed more insults.

It’s said that when humans run out of things to say, they curse. I guess being born with animal ears doesn’t change that fact at all.

◆◆

The fifth beastfolk was a bear beastfolk with white fur and round ears, who looked barely ten years old, stomping on a small child mercilessly.

Hah!

Hoorah!

“Eh? What’re you—Whaaaaaaaat!!”

I, along with Friede, charged at the jerk without wasting breath and tore him apart. No way a guy who enjoys kicking kids could be reasonable.

Whoosh!

After slicing him down, I dashed over to the small child lying there, checking their condition.

Small, thin frame. Worn yet well-tended patchwork clothing. Hair bundled up, covered in dirt and blood.

The girl, looking younger than Eleadra by a couple of years, was bleeding and trembling.

Huff, huff…

Her consciousness seemed long gone as she couldn’t even fully open her eyes, barely managing to produce faint whimpers from her slightly parted lips.

The situation was dire. All her limbs were broken, her ribs shattered, and a dagger was impaled in her back.

Literally on the brink of death… No, just the fact that she was still alive was a miracle in itself.

If a broken rib had pierced her organs or if that lodged dagger had nicked her lungs or heart, she would’ve been dead long ago.

Mad beastfolk. How could someone beat a child this badly? Good thing I sliced him to bits.

“Friede! Do you still have that healing potion we bought last time? Hand it over!”

“Here you go!”

I took the potion bottle Friede threw and poured it into the girl’s mouth without delay.

As the potion’s effects took hold, I also swiftly pulled the dagger from her back and poured the remaining potion into that wound for healing.

It was a costly potion, but it was quite effective.

Although it wasn’t painless, it could heal childhood fractures as swiftly as a priest’s miracle, at least.

Not painless, though.

Hiaaaaaaaah!

The girl opened her eyes wide and screamed, writhing in agony. She seemed ready to foam at the mouth!

Yeah, I knew that feeling. I had gone through it multiple times.

A potion without pain alleviation works great, but healing is awfully painful. Not enough to die from the pain, though.

“Yeah, I know it hurts a lot. But hang in there. A bit of pain is much better than dying, right?”

I spoke words of comfort or encouragement to the trembling girl, leaning against my arm.

Huff, huff…

After dozens of seconds,

As the tremors traveling through my arm started to fade gradually, the girl, with half-closed eyes, looked up at me and whispered weakly.

“Ugh… Knight…? Is that you…?”

“Yeah, for now.”

I nodded. I guess I could call myself a knight, even as a runaway knight.

Perhaps feeling reassured by my answer, the girl reached out weakly, grasping my forearm and pleading urgently.

“Knight…! Please, rescue my sister…!”

Her sister, she wanted me to save.

“Your sister? Uhh… who’s that?”

What a sudden and unexpected request!

Oh, of course, I intended to rescue her, but first, I needed to know who she was. That way, I can find and save her, right?

“Aspel…! My sister Aspel…! She has gray hair… wolf ears…. Over there…!”

…Whoever that is?

I was startled and turned to where the girl was pointing.

A narrow, dark, and long alley. I couldn’t see or sense what was going on in that dark alley beyond.

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