Vol. 2 CH. 4 – The search...

The mountain air was cold. The blue sky and the clouds swimming across in it felt so near as Koizumi and the elven scouts tread over the rocky mountain.

Trees grew fewer in numbers as they slowly ascend through the mountain. The green leaves from below the mountain were slowly turning white the more close they got to the top of the mountains.

Snow was increasing and the temperature was going down as they went up.

With their breaths turned white as the coldness of the air blew in, Koizumi ascend the white shaded mountain with thick coats of fur over his body.

"This is harsh..."

Koizumi exclaimed as he breathe in the cold air. He felt a chill all over his skin as the temperature was well below zero degrees. Even though his clothes were thick enough to prevent the cold, it was not enough to prevent it all.

Even Koizumi hasn't even acquired the skill.

Koizumi looked over his right shoulder and gazed at the ten elves following behind him. Three of them were female wearing white coats of fur while the seven elven men were wearing brown colored furs and ear muffs. On their backs were crossbows and bows as well as bags of supplies to last them for a month.

Koizumi was the only one carrying nothing but his spear [Longinus] on his back.

The reason why Koizumi was carrying nothing was due to the special item he had won in the casino back in Ambrosia. It was a magical item that can store about 500 items inside a small size bag. It was the famed rare magical item that no one can procure, produce or even sell; the [Magic Bag].

In this world, an item that can store a number of objects regardless of their weight was rare enough to call it legendary. Because the item requires materials that can only be obtained through slaying high level monsters, stones that can bend space and thread that can circulate magic power were nearly impossible to find, most collectors and craftsmen gave up in searching for them.

Yet Ambrosia had multitudes of them in bulk. They were even selling them like they can be found in some stores or even in some bazaars in other countries.

Koizumi won his through a poker game inside the casino in one of Ambrosia's prided tourist spots. It was a day that really shocked Koizumi.

"Well, it is that guy after all" Koizumi thought as he walked on a snow pile and had his foot sunk in it, only to step on a Snow rabbit's tail. The Snow rabbit that was white in fur and had ice blue eyes ran in panic as it had its small fluffy tail stepped on.

Koizumi smiled as he watched such scene...

Koizumi thought of Kyoushiro as someone beyond amazing. In spite of all the things that already happened to him, Kyoushiro still founded the newly rebuilt country of Ambrosia. He used the old ruin settlement of Demon-Spawns and made it his base.

Kyoushiro created advance machinery for the comforts of the people of Ambrosia. He further improved the living environments inside Ambrosia despite it being a barren wasteland before.

Kyoushiro made weapons and armors strong enough to be compared with the armors of heroes, he made potions so potent that effects could take immediately and he had taught those techniques to the people that believed in him.

What's more, women had formed around him. Even more so, they were a future queen and a queen already. One of them was their classmate and a hero. Kyoushiro was truly a man that had gone against this world's karma. Koizumi was truly impressed by that...

However.....

"As expected... he is hard to trust..."

Koizumi halted his steps as he entered a grove of trees. Sensing that there were presence of monsters nearby, Koizumi chose to stay low for now in order to avoid monsters of this mountain. Encountering monsters in a snowy mountain was very dangerous. A simple noise could result in an avalanche of snow.

The elf scouts stopped their advance as they saw Koizumi hide behind a tree. Likewise, they did so as well and hide their presence. Being experts in forests, the instincts of elves were sharper than normal human.

Koizumi signaled the elf scouts with his right hand once the presence of monsters have disappeared. They resumed their advance after...

Kyoushiro had said that he didn't try to kill every one of his classmates back in that dungeon. He even got mad the moment Koizumi mentioned it back then. Even he was present in that Monster House when Kyoushiro rescued them and at that time Kyoushiro was prosecuted and branded as a Traitor amongst the heroes back in the palace.

But there was a part off Koizumi that feels that what Kyoushiro was showing felt off.

From the part where Kyoushiro mellowed out to the fact that he went out of his way to fight a Demon Lord; for Koizumi, that felt odd for someone like Kyoushiro, who bears a grudge against all the heroes and this world.

On top of getting a curse, he was betrayed and tortured. Not just that, he was seen as this part of this world's Demon-Spawn. Because of his black hair and eyes, Kyoushiro received much of this world's scorn; to the point that it wouldn't be surprising if he suddenly end up exploding.

Inside Koizumi's gut, Kyoushiro felt like he was hiding something. There was that terrible sensation eating him inside yet he can't figure out what kind of feeling it was...

Koizumi clenched his fist unconsciously as he led the elf scouts forward. The bright sun and the white sheet land, felt so uncomfortable all of a sudden. Koizumi quietly held [Longinus] in his hands as he walked outside the frozen forest....

-

Katsuto's group pursued a group of bandits that they had discovered dragging young elf girls to some cave. Being a hero as he was, Katsuto followed those bandits and rescued the young elf girls that had been obviously been bruised and raped.

Just from a glance, anyone could tell what happened to the young elf girls. Their shredded clothes, their dead pan eyes and the numerous lacerations and cuts on their bodies; followed by a foul odor, it as only natural to say that the girls were abused.

Katsuto chased the bandits, tied them up on a tree and interrogated them. One of the bandits was smiling at Katsuto as though ridiculing him...

"Hah!! Does being a hero give you that much authority to hound us down?! It's funny to see a guy like you act like a hero!!"

The bandit laughed, ridiculing Katsuto for being a hero.

Katsuto has no idea why the man was laughing but there was no used in comprehending the words of an insane criminal that would stoop so low to abuse young girls like that.

Katsuto clenched his fist but resisted the urge to pummel the bandit, because if he did so, then there was no point in asking for information on the missing princess of Bloomsmeir Kingdom...

"Shut up, I don't have any ears for some lowlife like you"

"Ah-AHAHAHA!? Low life?! Aren't you guys the lowlifes!? It's you guys fault that people like me lost their homes!!"

".........."

Katsuto's expression froze upon listening to the bandit's words. His heart wavered at the fact that most of the heroes were troublemakers rather than the one solving them. One hero was invading the 1st Demon Lord's land then ending up losing more troops, one hero goes around making a harem and many more.

Katsuto was not so different. Even he had given some trouble to the people of this world at some point, but he had grown from it. Instead of fighting monsters like crazy in one place, then making other monsters flee to a small village; killing people.

Katsuto had even accidentally brought an adventurer with a family to his death when Katsuto acted reckless against a wyvern.

Katsuto had many mistakes that had piled up and he expects more of it to come but he would always learn from it. No matter how tough it would be.

But the words the bandit had said cut deep inside Katsuto's heart...

"Because of you guys... my wife and daughters... they...."

The bandit's voice quivered as he spoke about his family. His wife and daughter stolen from him forcefully by Taiga's group, a means to satisfy the army that Taiga was leading. After that, Taiga's army would raze on an uncooperative town, killing the head and taking everything the town has.

From food to riches, from horses to women; everything that could be stolen would be taken and everything that can be used as quick sense of relief was used.

Many towns and villages had fallen for the sake of Taiga's goal. The hometown of the bandit was one of them...

"That guy made me watch my own wife and daughters used as toys for their own amusement!! They made me watch until my wife broke and my daughters die!! It's you guys fault that this world is in chaos!! You're the lowlifes here not us!!"

The bandit spat as he loudly conveyed his rage. The hatred seethed deep inside his heart was blowing intensely as he shouts at Katsuto. The other bandits were glaring all the same. For whatever reason they have, all of them were of the same origin.

All of them were merely parts of a tragic play the gods had written... The protagonists were the heroes.

"Even I...." Katsuto thought as he brood over the words that the bandit has told him. The reality of their existence and the price of their goals, all of them had consequences that would harm those around them. Even Katsuto had considered all of them...

"[Wind, form into blades and shred my enemies] - "

*Swoosh!!* Strong gale of winds passed by Katsuto's side and went towards the bandits. In a form of crescent blades, they cut through the bandits that were tied onto a tree.

Blood spurt and splattered, then a piece flew onto Katsuto's cheek. The warm sensation of blood quickly made Katsuto realized what had unfolded. In front of his eyes were reflected, the fountains of blood gushing out and flesh being cut apart. The tree where the bandits were tied to was shred to pieces...

What remained was a blank silence and a large pool of blood as well as dismembered corpses.

"They have said enough. Hero-sama, please do not mind what they have said. Come, there is much more to do in order to search for the missing princess"

An elven male, someone with swept back blonde hair and brown eyes, wearing a simple green tunic with a bow on his back, took a step forward and asked Katsuto to leave for now.

The elf's respecting bow and his calm words made Katsuto turn around. But compared to the paled young man, Katsuto, the elf male was calm and collected; even though most likely, it was him that killed the bandits.

"......."

"It would do you no good if you keep listening to such banters. Please completely forget what they have said and let us continue the search"

"Ah... this world is just...." At the moment Katsuto thought those words, his frightened face distorted to a maddening grin. "Yes... that's right" Katsuto replied as he slowly walked away from the pile of corpses that had formed behind him.

Just like how they had entered this world, everything was too sudden. They were forced to just accept the reality. That lives can be taken that easily and that the value of life amounts to nothing.

Truly, this world so chaotic, it is mad and is cruel... In its grasps, the heart of the noble young hero shattered...

-

Minami's route took her and the elf knights to a human settlement. Compared to the rich land of elves, the human settlement for more like a grim dead wasteland; trees were cut and most of the river flowing out of it was so dark it couldn't be seen as water anymore.

The settlement had smokes rising from its stacks of chimneys made out of bricks and stones, and the tall walls made of mud and stones made it feel that the human settlement as a fortress rather than a town or a village.

Minami through its rusted gates and entered the dreary land of humans.

"It stinks here..." Minami caught the wind of some dirty old socks nearby and covered her nose. The foul odor that was filling the air made the elven knights winced in displeasure. But still they continued, they went to the nearest most possible place to have any information, an old looking run down pub...

The pub was just a few ways around the gates of the settlement. Going from there, they had passed numerous pleasure houses that filled the surrounding with rough noises and women moans. There were such thin walls that it couldn't prevent the noise of men living out their wildest dreams.

Minami ignored those and continued.

The few female elf knights behind her were getting vulgar attention from rough looking, burly men. The mere sight of a beautiful elven female knight was enough to send those kinds of men in heat. Easy enough to tell, the female camp on Minami's side was looking uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, they had still some work to do. Minami entered the run down old pub...

"You have an unusual group there missy, care to have a drink?"

As Minami entered, human male wearing leather armor with three daggers kept safely on his waist suddenly came onto Minami and invited her for a drink. Minami rejected the offer by shaking her head left and right before showing an emblem stuck on her necklace.

".... It truly seems like you're in some business... I'll tell the boss that you're here for some goods"

The man suddenly turned meek and turned tail. It seems that the emblem of the royal family of Travestin had some effects in some country. The emblem had a shape of round shield with a dragon's head carved on its center.

It was a priceless piece that only a chosen few was allowed to hold. Because it has a mechanism to instantly kill a person with its curse inside, there was no one that would go against someone that holds such emblem.

Minami was glad that she holds such emblem... She sighed as she passed through the people drinking in the pub...

An hour later after waiting, a man in thick fur vest and fur shorts came out from the door behind the counter. The man was around four heads taller than Minami and was wide enough to bear hug a cow.

Such man was making his way towards the young girl Minami...

"Little miss, seems to me you have something important to discuss, Mind following me for a bit?"

"No, sorry but I still have plans so let me off with just this. I don't plan on staying here for too long so I'm going to cut to the chase"

Minami declined the man's offer to move to another location. Her brisk action made the man raise his brow. For him, Minami was acting a bit too rude but he was not someone that would never mistake a person's presence. Even he, who has been in the underworld business, knows that Minami was no ordinary girl...

The man snickered as he took a seat in front of Minami...

"As expected of one of the summoned heroes, your kind is one who doesn't cut corners"

The man quickly changed his tone and changed his posture as he talked to Minami. Minami showed a mischievous grin towards the man as he had said the words that most of the world uses to refer to Minami's group.

"My name is Grant, I worked for one of you guys before and if I must say... you're one that takes the ticket"

"Grant huh? I guess Iori-kun didn't give any lies when I contacted him through Elfianna-sama's private network"

Shimizumi Iori, one of the heroes that were sent to another country in order to defend against the Demon Lords. Iori's class was [Puppeteer] it was a job class that can control puppets and make anyone his puppets if he wants to.

Minami asked Elfianna's personal relay networks to ask for Iori's help for the search of the missing princess. Iori then used his connections to have one of his puppets to do his dirty work. Grant was one of those puppets that Iori was talking about.

Grant was referring to Iori when he said "I worked for one of you guys before­"...

"Yes... Shimizumi-sama had already sent me the details. I was only waiting for you to come by"

"My, that guy sure works fast if you offer a reward to him. I guess using his love for me was the right thing... Oh, I'm just rambling aren't I?"

Grant replied to Minami's arrogant words "No, it is fine" while showing a tired smile all of a sudden. Minami then stopped beating around the bush and asked for what she came for...

"Do you have any information about an elf princess being captured or seen around these parts?"

"Yes, a few days ago. A guy named Ernest Vern came to town with a large haul of freshly kidnapped slaves... They stayed here for a few days so I got some info on the one you're looking for"

A few days ago, a large band of mercenaries came by to the human settlement to resupply. They bought goods, booze, and slept in with one of the brothels within the settlement. One of Grant's men saw one particular elf that was wearing high quality clothes and in contrast to the other slave girls, she looked untouched.

Grant quickly got hold on one of their guys and used any means to extract information from him. Turns out, Ernest Vern's group was an old mercenary brigade that helped in the front lines alongside a hero. Only to get cast away and left unpaid due to the extreme expenditure the Hero's army was leading.

Ernest Vern's group made their way to the western regions in order to resupply and gather up new resources.

"The guy we interrogated is already dead so I can't give you someone useful. But as for the location of their hideout..."

Grant took a piece of paper from his breast pocket and placed it on the table. There, it was drawn about an old abandoned fortress just on the north side of the mountain near Caladium. Minami took the paper and passed it over to an elf knight. The elf knight then nodded and went behind Minami.

"Looks like the map is true, I won't hold it against you if you were lying-"

"But you would have this settlement destroyed if I did so right? Please spare me from losing one of my business trading routes; I don't have the man power to even go against one of your kind"

Grant showed his surrender to Minami's daring smile. Although Minami was often found cute and innocent, her true colors were just the opposite. She was cunning and scheming. Minami would always choose the path of victory no matter what kind of fight it was.

Using the love of a classmate for her personal gains... that was the kind of girl she was; different from the truly pure and innocent Aizawa Mikoto, her best friend.

"I got what I wanted, here's for the troubles"

Minami placed a large bag of coins on the table. The bag was heavy enough to make a loud thud and the sounds of metals clashing inside the bag as audible enough for Grant to know that what was inside was money.

Grant took the bag, no questions asked, then stood up.

"Thank you for doing business with me. I'll open sometime if you ever need my services again"

"I'm fine without it. Being in debt to one of your suitors isn't good for someone like me"

"I see..." Grant let out a troubled sigh before adding "I shall deliver the message to Iori-sama then. He would be pleased to hear about you"

"Humph, do what you want"

Minami and the group of elven knights quickly left the human settlement after that.