“It’s been too long, Black Rabbit . ”

The voice was from the man who had mocked me to no end in Fhiraldo . The result of which was him and his gang being sent to the mines by Russell .

I decided not to answer him . We had nothing to do with each other anymore . Yes, there was a history . But, Russell had put an end to all of it . Only an idiot would get involved with them now .

“You’ve got some nerve, ignoring me like that…”

I could almost hear his teeth grinding . Nighteyes allowed me to see well in the dark, and so I could see his tight grip on the pickaxe, see that he was readying himself to swing .

We were at the highest point . There were no bonfires, nowhere to run . The only way to escape this was the stairs that he was now blocking . I would have to break through somehow . However, I could sense that several others were climbing the stairs . It seemed like the other Adventurers that had been with him were monitoring me . Quite free for forced laborers, no? Who was in charge here?

“This is where you die . ”

The pickaxe was raised and then swung down towards me . I didn’t have my equipment, which meant no AGI boost . But I could still dodge him . Thankfully, I didn’t survive all of this time by relying on equipment alone . General maneuvers were not a problem for me . I retreated to the side of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s pickaxe, then to his back . I had my opening, and I slipped away .

“You!”

I ignore him and run . With a vault, I fly over the heads of the former Adventurers who were hiding in the shadows . Then I kick the wall to turn around the corner . Shouts of rage come from behind me . But I don’t slow down for a second as I pa.s.s them, descend the stairs, and jump out into the main road . The sounds of hurried footsteps follow me as I dash back to the bar . I needed to ask the bar owner about the location of the guard house . They could take care of it from there .

“Where did he go? d.a.m.n it!”

I can hear their voices as they search, they were loud enough that I hoped someone would hear it and report this uprising . But I had to be sure, and so I would do it myself . And so I ran to the bar inn .

The door opens with my room 303 key . I don’t know how . The door swings open and the floor is empty . No sounds, no lights . Quiet . Had he gone to sleep? It was just as I was considering where to go and look for him when someone came down the stairs .

“Oh, it’s you, young man . What are you doing?”

“Busty broad!”

“Who are you calling busted!”

It was she who had come down the stairs . She was wearing very thin underwear and nothing else .

I was once again thankful to have the Nighteyes skill .

“I need to ask you something . ”

“How about you call me by my actual name first!”

“But, I don’t know it . ”

“Oh, I see . I am Lisa . And?”

“I’m Asagi . And uh, I need to ask you something . Where is the guard house?”

“Guard house?”

Busty Broad Lisa looked at me suspiciously .

“I’m being chased by slaves . ”

“Well, the thing is…no, I do not need to tell you . Nothing good will happen by getting involved . Yes, the guard house . Go straight to the north of this road and turn to the right on the third crossing . There is a big building there that is the guard house . ”

“Thank you!”

She was ultimately rather nice and helpful, and so I thanked her before rus.h.i.+ng right out of the door once again . I was just about to head for the guard house, but stopped .

“Ahh, Black Rabbit . We meet again . ”

“Tsk…”

“Get him!!”

The former Adventurers had surrounded the building . This was going to be hard to break through . They all came at me with their pickaxes . I could only dodge so many attacks . Without any choice, I create an ice sword and block the vicious attacks .

The former Adventurers had surrounded the building . This was going to be hard to break through . They all came at me with their pickaxes . I could only dodge so many attacks . Without any choice, I create an ice sword and block the vicious attacks .

“d.a.m.n… He is using magic now…”

“It’s nothing! Surround him!”

And with that, several of them move behind me . I can barely keep track of them as I push back at the pickaxe from the front . This was not going well… But I could make it, as long as I could break through this wall . And so I pushed the former Adventurer who was in front of me back and attempted to make a run for it .

“Asagi! Look out!”

“!?”

Someone had rammed into a former Adventurer who was behind me . I can see that he had his pickaxe raised as he rolls to the ground . I would have been hit . And I also see that it was none other than Lisa who had saved me .

“Who the h.e.l.l are you! Get out of our way!”

“Lisa!”

One of the former Adventurers throws his pickaxe at her . It would be more than a light scratch if it hit her . Her hands were covering her face, but she was not quick enough to move . I had to do something .

There were no other options . This had only happened because I was careless . I would use ‘Legs of the Forest Wolf’ and kick their heads in!

“GAAHH!!”

A violent wind of green and silver swirls around me, pus.h.i.+ng the former Adventurers back . The speed of the Forest Wolf is faster than the pickaxe, and it is knocked out of its trajectory by my ice sword .

“Are you hurt? Lisa!”

“You, you…!”

“Get inside!”

“Ohhh!”

I push her through the door and slam it shut . All would be fine if she locked the door . You needed the right key to enter, or the security measures would activate . She would be safe .

I push her through the door and slam it shut . All would be fine if she locked the door . You needed the right key to enter, or the security measures would activate . She would be safe .

“You… I would have taken it easy on you if it was just me . But if you harm other innocents, just like the first time, I won’t hold back!”

“Do you really think you can take on this number, Black Rabbit!?”

The slaves encircle me once again . I was almost sorry to say it, but their numbers meant nothing to me . It didn’t matter how numerous they were, this would end in a second . No one could stop the speed of the Forest Wolf . However, this skill wasn’t only about speed . There was a use that I had first discovered through Jack of all Trades, Master of None .

“If you’re in my way, I’ll break right through you!”

I throw a kick into the first slave who approaches . The wind cuts into him like a blade . This was the other thing that Legs of the Forest Wolf could do .

“Ggah! Aghh!!”

Blood sprayed over the ground as the wounded slave fell . Still, the others did not stop . They were like crazed boars . But their pickaxes would not reach me . There was no reason to even block anymore . With accelerated speed, I slip through them and cut at the tendons of their bare feet with my ice sword . Another falls to the ground, now immobile . Some seemed to have come to their senses by the time the fourth one fell . And they began to run .

But I wouldn’t let them go .

It was easy to catch up, easy to block their flailing attacks and move around them . And cut at their tendons like I did the others .

They scatter like the sp.a.w.n of spiders, but they can’t outrun me . I catch up to each one and make sure that they can no longer escape before going to the next . Some tried to hide in narrow pa.s.sageways, but I just kicked the air and searched from above . With my Nighteyes I search . Now, the last one . It was the b.a.s.t.a.r.d leader . Presence Detection tells me that he had run to the highest point on the east side . Legs of the Forest Wolf allow me to fly up, ignoring the steps .

And there was the leader . Somehow, he had found a double-edged sword .

“d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n-d.a.m.n it! What is he…he was just the Black Rabbit…d.a.m.n!”

He was glaring at the stairs and cursing . He had not noticed that I was right behind him . I just needed to put him down and it would all be over .

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this…! It was all his fault… His…!”

“It was entirely you and your men’s fault . This happened because you lay a hand on Daniela . ”

“!?”

“It was entirely you and your men’s fault . This happened because you lay a hand on Daniela . ”

“!?”

The b.a.s.t.a.r.d leader looked back in a panic . His shock at seeing me in the air is so strong that he cannot make a noise . His mouth opens and closes like a fish, but he is otherwise, frozen . It’s easy to strike the sword out of his hand . It flies away without resistance, bouncing off the wall and falling behind me . Which meant that it fell right out of the building .

“You, you…”

“The same fate awaits you . ”

I reach out and grab him by the collar . He tears at my arm and flails, but it’s not enough to best my raised STR . Well, it wasn’t as high as Daniela’s, but I knew it was more than enough here . It was enough for this b.a.s.t.a.r.d Adventurer .

I turned around in the opposite direction, my feet land on the rim of the building . Now there is nothing beneath the b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s feet .

“You would have been free in ten years if you just worked here quietly . But you wasted your chance . You all did . If you have to hate something, hate your own stupidity . ”

“Wwait . I was wrong! But…!”

“It’s too late . It’s all too late . ”

I said . And then I let go .

“No-no, nooooooooooooooooo…!!!!”

It was a bungee jump without a cord . His scream echoed throughout the city as he descended head first . It was fear itself . He would truly understand it . How thoughtless his actions had been .

And so I too shot down towards the ground . Even if I wanted to kill him, I had no intention of doing so . Legs of the Forest Wolf can accelerate faster than anyone . The boost from the silver and green wind allows me to reach the ground before him, and kick up into the falling b.a.s.t.a.r.d leader . But this time the wind around my feet acts as a cus.h.i.+on . He had fainted from the fear and the shock . His limp body rolls to the ground .

And now that was everyone . All of the former Adventurers that Russell had sent here by my request . They were all a hopeless bunch . I had hesitated when it came to execution at the time . If that could be avoided, then I preferred that they were sent to the mines . Russell had warned me of this softness being exploited . And I feel like that is exactly what had happened .

And so I think, as I gather the slaves in the public square and bind them with ice magic .

Had I been wrong to make that decision?

“It’s been too long, Black Rabbit . ”.

 .

The voice was from the man who had mocked me to no end in Fhiraldo . The result of which was him and his gang being sent to the mines by Russell

I decided not to answer him . We had nothing to do with each other anymore . Yes, there was a history . But, Russell had put an end to all of it . Only an idiot would get involved with them now

 .

“You’ve got some nerve, ignoring me like that…”.

 .

I could almost hear his teeth grinding . Nighteyes allowed me to see well in the dark, and so I could see his tight grip on the pickaxe, see that he was readying himself to swing

We were at the highest point . There were no bonfires, nowhere to run . The only way to escape this was the stairs that he was now blocking . I would have to break through somehow . However, I could sense that several others were climbing the stairs . It seemed like the other Adventurers that had been with him were monitoring me . Quite free for forced laborers, no? Who was in charge here?.

 .

“This is where you die . ”.

 .

The pickaxe was raised and then swung down towards me . I didn’t have my equipment, which meant no AGI boost . But I could still dodge him . Thankfully, I didn’t survive all of this time by relying on equipment alone . General maneuvers were not a problem for me . I retreated to the side of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s pickaxe, then to his back . I had my opening, and I slipped away

 .

“You!”.

 .

I ignore him and run . With a vault, I fly over the heads of the former Adventurers who were hiding in the shadows . Then I kick the wall to turn around the corner . Shouts of rage come from behind me . But I don’t slow down for a second as I pa.s.s them, descend the stairs, and jump out into the main road . The sounds of hurried footsteps follow me as I dash back to the bar . I needed to ask the bar owner about the location of the guard house . They could take care of it from there

 .

“Where did he go? d.a.m.n it!”.

 .

I can hear their voices as they search, they were loud enough that I hoped someone would hear it and report this uprising . But I had to be sure, and so I would do it myself . And so I ran to the bar inn

 .

The door opens with my room 303 key . I don’t know how . The door swings open and the floor is empty . No sounds, no lights . Quiet . Had he gone to sleep? It was just as I was considering where to go and look for him when someone came down the stairs

 .

“Oh, it’s you, young man . What are you doing?”.

“Busty broad!”.

“Who are you calling busted!”.

 .

It was she who had come down the stairs . She was wearing very thin underwear and nothing else

I was once again thankful to have the Nighteyes skill

 .

“I need to ask you something . ”.

“How about you call me by my actual name first!”.

“But, I don’t know it . ”.

“Oh, I see . I am Lisa . And?”.

“I’m Asagi . And uh, I need to ask you something . Where is the guard house?”.

“Guard house?”.

 .

Busty Broad Lisa looked at me suspiciously

 .

“I’m being chased by slaves . ”.

“Well, the thing is…no, I do not need to tell you . Nothing good will happen by getting involved . Yes, the guard house . Go straight to the north of this road and turn to the right on the third crossing . There is a big building there that is the guard house . ”.

“Thank you!”.

 .

She was ultimately rather nice and helpful, and so I thanked her before rus.h.i.+ng right out of the door once again . I was just about to head for the guard house, but stopped

 .

“Ahh, Black Rabbit . We meet again . ”.

“Tsk…”.

“Get him!!”.

 .

The former Adventurers had surrounded the building . This was going to be hard to break through . They all came at me with their pickaxes . I could only dodge so many attacks . Without any choice, I create an ice sword and block the vicious attacks

 .

“d.a.m.n… He is using magic now…”.

“It’s nothing! Surround him!”.

 .

And with that, several of them move behind me . I can barely keep track of them as I push back at the pickaxe from the front . This was not going well… But I could make it, as long as I could break through this wall . And so I pushed the former Adventurer who was in front of me back and attempted to make a run for it

“Asagi! Look out!”.

“!?”.

 .

Someone had rammed into a former Adventurer who was behind me . I can see that he had his pickaxe raised as he rolls to the ground . I would have been hit . And I also see that it was none other than Lisa who had saved me

 .

“Who the h.e.l.l are you! Get out of our way!”.

“Lisa!”.

 .

One of the former Adventurers throws his pickaxe at her . It would be more than a light scratch if it hit her . Her hands were covering her face, but she was not quick enough to move . I had to do something

There were no other options . This had only happened because I was careless . I would use ‘Legs of the Forest Wolf’ and kick their heads in!.

“GAAHH!!”.

 .

A violent wind of green and silver swirls around me, pus.h.i.+ng the former Adventurers back . The speed of the Forest Wolf is faster than the pickaxe, and it is knocked out of its trajectory by my ice sword

 .

“Are you hurt? Lisa!”.

“You, you…!”.

“Get inside!”.

“Ohhh!”.

 .

I push her through the door and slam it shut . All would be fine if she locked the door . You needed the right key to enter, or the security measures would activate . She would be safe

 .

“You… I would have taken it easy on you if it was just me . But if you harm other innocents, just like the first time, I won’t hold back!”.

“Do you really think you can take on this number, Black Rabbit!?”.

 .

The slaves encircle me once again . I was almost sorry to say it, but their numbers meant nothing to me . It didn’t matter how numerous they were, this would end in a second . No one could stop the speed of the Forest Wolf . However, this skill wasn’t only about speed . There was a use that I had first discovered through Jack of all Trades, Master of None

 .

“If you’re in my way, I’ll break right through you!”.

 .

I throw a kick into the first slave who approaches . The wind cuts into him like a blade . This was the other thing that Legs of the Forest Wolf could do

 .

“Ggah! Aghh!!”.

 .

Blood sprayed over the ground as the wounded slave fell . Still, the others did not stop . They were like crazed boars . But their pickaxes would not reach me . There was no reason to even block anymore . With accelerated speed, I slip through them and cut at the tendons of their bare feet with my ice sword . Another falls to the ground, now immobile . Some seemed to have come to their senses by the time the fourth one fell . And they began to run

But I wouldn’t let them go

It was easy to catch up, easy to block their flailing attacks and move around them . And cut at their tendons like I did the others

They scatter like the sp.a.w.n of spiders, but they can’t outrun me . I catch up to each one and make sure that they can no longer escape before going to the next . Some tried to hide in narrow pa.s.sageways, but I just kicked the air and searched from above . With my Nighteyes I search . Now, the last one . It was the b.a.s.t.a.r.d leader . Presence Detection tells me that he had run to the highest point on the east side . Legs of the Forest Wolf allow me to fly up, ignoring the steps

 .

And there was the leader . Somehow, he had found a double-edged sword

 .

“d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n-d.a.m.n it! What is he…he was just the Black Rabbit…d.a.m.n!”.

 .

He was glaring at the stairs and cursing . He had not noticed that I was right behind him . I just needed to put him down and it would all be over

 .

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this…! It was all his fault… His…!”.

“It was entirely you and your men’s fault . This happened because you lay a hand on Daniela . ”.

“!?”.

 .

The b.a.s.t.a.r.d leader looked back in a panic . His shock at seeing me in the air is so strong that he cannot make a noise . His mouth opens and closes like a fish, but he is otherwise, frozen . It’s easy to strike the sword out of his hand . It flies away without resistance, bouncing off the wall and falling behind me . Which meant that it fell right out of the building

 .

“You, you…”.

“The same fate awaits you . ”.

 .

I reach out and grab him by the collar . He tears at my arm and flails, but it’s not enough to best my raised STR . Well, it wasn’t as high as Daniela’s, but I knew it was more than enough here . It was enough for this b.a.s.t.a.r.d Adventurer

I turned around in the opposite direction, my feet land on the rim of the building . Now there is nothing beneath the b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s feet

 .

“You would have been free in ten years if you just worked here quietly . But you wasted your chance . You all did . If you have to hate something, hate your own stupidity . ”.

“Wwait . I was wrong! But…!”. “It’s too late . It’s all too late . ”.

 .

I said . And then I let go

 .

“No-no, nooooooooooooooooo…!!!!”.

It was a bungee jump without a cord . His scream echoed throughout the city as he descended head first . It was fear itself . He would truly understand it . How thoughtless his actions had been

 .

And so I too shot down towards the ground . Even if I wanted to kill him, I had no intention of doing so . Legs of the Forest Wolf can accelerate faster than anyone . The boost from the silver and green wind allows me to reach the ground before him, and kick up into the falling b.a.s.t.a.r.d leader . But this time the wind around my feet acts as a cus.h.i.+on . He had fainted from the fear and the shock . His limp body rolls to the ground

 .

And now that was everyone . All of the former Adventurers that Russell had sent here by my request . They were all a hopeless bunch . I had hesitated when it came to execution at the time . If that could be avoided, then I preferred that they were sent to the mines . Russell had warned me of this softness being exploited . And I feel like that is exactly what had happened

And so I think, as I gather the slaves in the public square and bind them with ice magic

 .

Had I been wrong to make that decision?.