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After finishing dinner with Luna, I returned to the inn to get some rest for my tired body.

“Ah~ I’m full.”

Today, I had no income at all and just splurged all my money.

I bought wire ropes and pegs but couldn’t use them, paid for the round trip cart fare to Jobun Plain, and spent money on making weapons.

Since I wasn’t on a quest, there was no money coming back.

People don’t avoid taking jobs that don’t pay for no reason.

The good news is that the money I had from the last time I scrounged at the restaurant was enough to lounge around for a week.

Lying down, I was pondering what to do until I receive my weapons, when Luna quietly approached and called me.

“Luke.”

“Huh?”

“We’ve been followed.”

What do you mean followed all of a sudden?

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. At first, I heard noises following us from behind, and later, I heard sounds coming from the roof. The last noise I heard was from the roof of the inn where we’re staying.”

Why didn’t you say that sooner? And isn’t saying we were followed practically the same as stalking?

I’ve never understood the difference between following and stalking.

“Hmm… I haven’t done anything to be followed.”

Who would follow a person who lives as kindly and honestly as I do?

Oh! Perhaps!

“Is it an assassin sent by someone who likes me?!”

Like, if they can’t have me, they’ll kill me or something?

The world is really a scary place.

“I think you have a lot of enemies, Luke…”

“Luna. Just adding ‘sama’ to your name doesn’t make it work.”

Honestly, sometimes I think she acts more like a friend than a slave.

“Anyway, we don’t know the cause, right?”

I said while rolling around on the bed.

So Luna, raising one hand like she was making a vow, spoke cautiously.

“…I think it might be because of me.”

“You said that, and you’re telling me this now?”

“Aren’t you more curious about the reason…?”

“Not really.”

Why do I need a reason?

To be honest, I feel like thanking whoever it is.

They come all the way here, risking their life to give me experience points; how wonderful is that!

After confirming that experience points come from murder last time, I decided not to stop anyone who comes at me.

Killing monsters is less efficient, so I wouldn’t massacre everyone, but I don’t see the need to pass up free experience.

“So, what do you plan to do now?”

In response to Luna’s question, I grinned and asked back.

“What do you think I will do, Luna? Take a guess.”

“…I think you would lure them out.”

*

For that reason, I decided to lure them out.

No, more accurately, I waited for them.

If they came to kill me, they’d find me eventually, even if I did nothing.

I stuffed two pillows under the covers to cleverly disguise myself as if I were sleeping soundly and hid in a blind spot until they came in.

And as time passed and the light outside began to fade…

‘They really came.’

Was Luna’s claim of being followed true? Three dark figures slipped through the window while the room’s owner was watching.

Thinking I was the lump under the covers, they simultaneously stabbed the blanket with their knives, and I thought, “So this is what shadow boxing is about.”

‘These fools are like a circus act.’

The idiots seemed to sense something was off, reacting with confusion.

I calmly stepped forward and covered the eyes of the one closest to me with both hands.

“Guess who~?”

It’s a prank you might pull with a close friend.

But what if the target and the one playing don’t know each other?

“Wh-Who are you?!”

That would be the typical reaction.

Why are they asking who they are after coming here?

“The answer is: a person you don’t know~”

-Crack.

With a sickening cracking sound, I twisted the neck of the one whose eyes I covered in an impossible direction.

Upon witnessing his companion’s death right in front of them, the others charged at me, but between them, the man had transformed into a mere “guy” and couldn’t attack.

“Isn’t this a bit too easy?”

“That’s just how Luke is.”

Luna, who had been hiding on the ceiling, slashed the throat of the furthest guy from me, sending him to the afterlife.

Now there was just one left.

He was caught in an impossible situation.

I was in front, and Luna was behind him.

Running away wasn’t an option; turning his back meant certain death.

Faced with impending doom, the man, in a desperate last-ditch effort, decided I looked weaker and charged at me.

“Hah? Look at this little punk.”

How dare a petty thief like him challenge a manly man like me?

If he wanted to live, he should have better assessed the situation and recognized if he had a chance against his opponent.

That’s why pests should just die quickly.

He hurled a dagger at me, clearly intent on killing me and fleeing.

Given how much of a loser he was, he was quick, but I’ve dealt with plenty of monsters; there’s no way I’d get hit by a measly dagger like that.

The dagger had a short reach, so I merely took a slight step back to avoid it.

Of course, if I stood still, it would hit me, but no one is going to remain still like an idiot when they are about to get a hole in their chest.

“Here! A man’s weakness!”

I kicked his testicles.

“…..!”

“I don’t understand why you’d attack elsewhere when such a good weak point is in front of you.”

A man’s weakness is plainly visible; why choose a troublesome method?

Hitting his testicles squarely, he doubled over, clutching his belly.

Killing him cleanly for experience points is a good method, but since they don’t arrive all at once, and I don’t want to deal with them in a roundabout way, I decided to leave just one alive.

I needed to interrogate him for information about the one behind him.

With that in mind, I raised my fist and struck his face.

“Who sent you here!!!!!!”

-Smack!

“Gah!”

“Who sent you here!!!!!!”

-Smack!

“S-Stop it!”

“Who sent you here!!!!!!”

-Smack!

“…..”

“Who sent you here!!!!!!”

-Smack!

Isn’t it said a man should speak with his fists?

I was trying to communicate with my fists about who sent him when Luna quietly approached from behind and grabbed my arm.

“Um… Luke.”

“Don’t stop me, Luna. Can’t you see I’m having a conversation between men?”

“That man has already lost consciousness…”

At her words, I looked closely. The man I was talking to had his eyes closed, sleeping comfortably.

“Ah.”

He fell asleep after just a few conversations.

This is why weaklings can’t make it.

“Tch. Luna, tie him up for now.”

“Yes.”

Let’s save the rest of the fun for later.

*

“….Hmm.”

When I woke up, I saw walls painted white and, turning my gaze, I spotted a bed and a desk.

The odd thing was that despite having slept and awakened, my body felt sluggish, and my hands and feet felt like they were bound by something.

The discomfort triggered a hazy

 

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