The Men of the Kingdom Part I

by Kugane Maruyama

  They were small handbells he’d received from Gagaran of the Blue Roses. “It’s dangerous to go adventuring without a thief, but sometimes you just have to. At times like those, having these will make a big difference,” she’d said to him. He considered the pictures drawn on the outer surfaces of the three bells and chose the one he needed. It was called the Bell of Secret Door Detection.

  As Brain watched him with intense interest, he rang it once. A clear tone audible to only the owner of the item echoed throughout the room.

  Responding to the bell, one corner of the floor began to glow a pale blue. It blinked as if to say, Here’s the trapdoor.

  “Wow, that’s a handy item. Everything I have is for making me stronger or to use in combat.”

  “Isn’t that normal for a warrior, though?”

  “A warrior…”

  Climb moved away from Brain and his wry grin, remembered the location of the reaction, and took a spin around the rest of the room. The effect of the item’s magic lasted only a set amount of time. He needed to investigate as thoroughly as possible before it wore off. He circled the area, but there was nothing besides the first spot.

  All they had to do now was open the trapdoor and sneak inside, but Climb squinted at it. Then he sighed and took his bells back out.

  This time he chose one with a different picture on it and rang it like the other one.

  The tone was similar to the first’s but different: the Bell of Trap Removal.

  He was being very careful. Climb didn’t have the ability to detect and disable traps, nor did he have any means to escape one were he to get caught. If they’d had a caster with them, they could treat him if he got hit with paralysis or poison, but he and Brain were only two warriors. Climb once heard that there was a martial art that granted temporary immunity to poison, but he didn’t know it, and he didn’t have an antidote. He had to consider himself out of commission if he got a bad status.

  A case like that called for using a magic item without hesitation, even if it could be used only a limited number of times per day.

  There came a heavy clunk from behind the trapdoor.

  Climb stuck his sword in the door’s gap and pried it open.

  One big corner of the wooden floor came up and clapped down onto the other side. There was a crossbow attached to the underside of the door. The tip of its quarrel shone in the light, reflecting it in a strange way different from the way plain metal would.

  Climb changed positions and stared at the crossbow.

  A highly viscous liquid was slathered on the tip of the bolt. It was almost certainly poisoned.

  If they had carelessly opened the door, they’d have been shot with poison.

  Exhaling with a bit of relief, Climb tried to see if he could take the crossbow off the door. Unfortunately, it was attached pretty well, and he would have needed tools to remove it.

  Giving up on that, he peered past the door.

  A fairly steep staircase led down, but he couldn’t see where, due to the angle. The stairs and their surroundings were solidly built out of stone.

  “So what are you going to do? Wait here?”

  “I’m not very good at indoor combat. If possible, I’d like to go down and take up a position in a more spacious area where it would be easier to fight, if there is one.”

  “In a one-on-one fight, it’s to your advantage to wait at the top of the stairs, but if you end up fighting here, I might not be able to hear the commotion from farther down. And if reinforcements show up… Yeah, maybe we should skip that idea. Wanna go together, then?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “I’ll go in front. Follow me, but keep a little distance.”

  “Understood. And about that item I used to remove the trap, I can use it up to three times per day but not in a row. I have to leave thirty minutes before I can use it again, so we can’t rely on it.”

  “Gotcha. We’ll be as careful as possible. If you notice anything, let me know.”

  With that, Brain stepped down into the staircase. Climb followed behind him.

  Brain descended step by step, tapping each one with his katana first, just in case. At the bottom of the stairs, the floor was well-laid with cobbles, and the walls were also fortified with stone.

  Several feet ahead they could see a wooden door with iron reinforcements. Brain didn’t really think there would be more than the crossbow booby-trapping this emergency escape route, but he’d heard too many stories about heavily armored warriors being rendered helpless by a single pitfall. He definitely had to avoid that.

  It was only a short distance, but Brain took his time, stepping cautiously, to reach the door.

  Climb stood by at the bottom of the stairs so he wouldn’t get caught up in an accident if there was one.

  First, Brain poked at the door with his sword. After a few times, he seemed to make up his mind, grabbed the doorknob…and turned it. Then he stopped moving.

  Climb was worried something had happened when Brain turned around and said pathetically, “…It’s locked.”

  Of course it was. It made sense for the door to be locked.

  “Do you have any way to open it? If not, we can break it down, but…”

  “I do, actually. One moment.”

  Climb rang the third handbell at the door.

  They heard the faint noise of the latch opening by the power of the Bell of Unlocking.

  Brain turned the knob and opened the door slightly to peek inside. “There’s no one here. I’ll go in first.”

  Climb entered after Brain.

  It was a large room.

  Around the edges along the walls were cages and wooden boxes big enough to fit a person inside. Was it a storage room? It seemed a little too big for what was there.

  Across the room was a door without a lock. Climb strained his ears and heard some noises like a faraway commotion.

  Brain turned around and asked Climb, “How about here? It fits the bill for space…but you might end up having to fight multiple enemies at once.”

  “If a group shows up, I’ll open the entrance door and fight near the stairs.”

  “Okay. I’m gonna take a quick look and be right back. Don’t die, Climb!”

  “I won’t. You be careful, too.”

  “Do you mind if I borrow those items?”

  “Of course not. I’m sorry I didn’t offer.” Climb handed all three bells over to Brain, and Brain tucked them into a pouch on his belt.

  Then with a proper warrior-like bravery on his face, Brain said, “Okay, I’m going in,” and advanced deeper into the brothel.

  Climb, on his own now, looked around the room. First, he checked to make sure there was no one hiding in the shadows of the wooden boxes and no secret passageways. It was only a warrior’s search in the end, but it didn’t seem like there were any hidden doors. Next, he examined the countless containers.

  If possible, he wanted to acquire some information about other Eight Fingers facilities besides this one. If there were smuggled or otherwise illegal goods here, that would be great. Of course, a general search would be done after they’d occupied the building, but he figured he should investigate as well as he could on his own first.

  There were large boxes and small ones, but he decided to approach the largest. It was probably almost seven feet to a side.

  He inspected it to make sure it wasn’t booby-trapped. Of course, like before, Climb had no searching abilities, so he couldn’t even begin to pretend to be a thief.

  He put his ear to the box and listened.

  He didn’t think anything was shut inside it, but there was no telling what could happen in an underworld place like this. It was possible they were smuggling some kind of animal.

  Unsurprisingly, he didn’t hear anything. Next, he moved to take off the lid.

  It didn’t open.

  It wouldn’t budge.

  He scanned for something like a crowbar or a poker, but from his cursory investigation, it didn’t seem
like there were any tools like that in the room.

  “Oh well…”

  He tried the next box, which was about three feet to a side.

  This one opened with no trouble. There were all sorts of clothes inside, from simple sack dresses to garments fit for the daughters of nobles.

  “What’s all this? Is there something hidden under all these clothes…? Doesn’t look like it. Is it spare clothing? This is like a laborer’s outfit, and here’s a maid uniform… What the heck is this?”

  Climb racked his brain, unable to figure out what all the clothes could be for. He picked up a piece, and it seemed utterly normal. If crime was involved in some way, the only thing he could think of was that they might be stolen, but that wasn’t evidence that would let them take out the brothel.

  Deciding to leave alone things he didn’t understand, he moved on to the next box, which was as big as the first. Then a loud bang suddenly echoed throughout the room.

  There was no way. He’d searched every corner and made sure there was no one. Then he came upon a realization: What if someone using Invisibility was here from the very start?

  Climb shivered at the thought and whirled to face the direction the noise had come from—the unopened seven-foot box. One side was flush against the wall. The side opposite that had come off.

  The exposed contents were not cargo but two men. In the back was a tunnel. What should have been a wall was actually a hole. The wooden box, of course, connected to a secret passageway.

  Climb blinked furiously in genuine surprise as the two men came out.

  An unpleasant sweat ran down his back.

  One of the men fit Sebas’s description perfectly. His name was Succuronte. He was their biggest obstacle in this infiltration mission as well as their prime candidate for capture.

  One of the Six Arms, who were equivalent to adamantite-rank adventurers… Grasping a drawn blade, the enemy Climb had no chance of defeating narrowed his eyes and said, “We knew from Alarm there was an invader, so we came through the secret passageway specifically to not bump into them… I guess we should have made some other way out?”

  “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now,” the man behind him answered in a high-pitched voice.

  “Hmm? I’ve seen this kid somewhere before.”

  “Considering our circumstances, I’m going to be angry if you tell me you slept with him.”

  “Oh, come on, Succuronte. That couldn’t be it. But I do believe he’s the little pet of the female who pisses me off more than any other in the world.”

  “Oh? So he serves the princess?”

  Succuronte flicked his eyes over Climb from top to bottom as if he were lapping him up.

  The eyes of the man behind him were filled with unsettling lust, but Succuronte was estimating Climb’s strength as a warrior or, perhaps, like a snake, trying to judge whether this prey would fit in his mouth.

  The man in back licked his lips and said to Succuronte, “I want to take him with us. What do you think?”

  A chill went up Climb’s spine, and he felt a twinge in his anus. Ugh, this guy’s…

  “It’ll cost extra.”

  Disregarding Climb’s mental screams, Succuronte turned to face him. There had never been any openings, but now Climb was beset by the feeling he was facing a solid fortress.

  Succuronte took a purposeful stride forward.

  Climb took a step back from the encroaching pressure.

  Perhaps this was obvious, but a fight between two clearly different powers never lasted very long. Still, Climb would have to make it happen.

  If I maintain a defensive posture and focus all my efforts on blocking, I should be able to buy time till one of the others gets here.

  But there was something he had to do first.

  He took a deep breath.

  “Heeeeelp!!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, using up every last bit of air inside them.

  Winning the battle on his own was not victory. Victory meant capturing both these men. Or to put it another way, losing either of these powerful men and their presumably ample intelligence ultimately meant a loss.

  So what reason could there be for hesitating to call for help?

  Succuronte’s face grew stern.

  The scream gave his opponents an urgent need to finish the battle in a short amount of time. It was extremely likely that they’d pull out the big guns.

  Climb continued observing their every movement.

  “Coccodor, it seems it will be a bit troublesome to bring him with us. We need to settle this before he gets backup.”

  “Huh? You’re one of the Six Arms, aren’t you? You can’t even knock out one little brat? The title ‘Illusion Maniac’ weeps!”

  “Well, if you’re going to put it that way… I’ll do what I can, but please remember that as long as you escape, we win.”

  Climb continued to stare down Succuronte, trying to figure out why he was called Illusion Maniac. He wouldn’t have a nickname that had nothing to do with his abilities. So if Climb could figure out the reason for the nickname, he might get a clue about what kind of abilities he could use. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could learn from his appearance or equipment.

  He knew he was at a disadvantage, but he roared to encourage himself. “I’m protecting this door with my life! As long as I’m still standing, neither of you will leave this room!”

  “We’ll know if that’s true or not soon enough—when you’re shamefully flat on the floor.”

  Succuronte slowly brought his sword up.

  Huh?! Climb did a double take—because the sword flickered. It wasn’t some kind of trick. The strange phenomenon ended right away, but he definitely hadn’t been seeing things.

  It must be some kind of martial art…

  Perhaps it had something to do with being an “illusion maniac.” In that case, he was probably already using some kind of power. Climb wasn’t off his guard, but he did need to bring it up a notch.

  Succuronte charged, brandishing his sword overhead.

  His technique didn’t seem worthy of an adamantite-rank adventurer. It was a little sloppier than Climb’s. Climb held his sword up to block, in line with the trajectory of the incoming blade, but a creeping sensation made him jump to the side.

  Suddenly a sharp pain ran across his flank, and he was knocked back.

  “Kha! Guh!”

  He staggered into the wall behind him. He didn’t have time to figure out what had happened. Succuronte was already right in front of him.

  He was raising his sword again like last time. Climb held his blade up to protect his head and did a diving roll to the left.

  A sharp pain ran across his upper right arm.

  Coming out of his nimble roll, he swung his sword behind him without bothering to look.

  He sliced air.

  Realizing there wouldn’t be a follow-up attack, he held his right arm and turned around. Succuronte was running for the door that led to the stairs while keeping one eye on him. Climb ignored the man’s attempt to open the door and instead focused on Coccodor. He had a hunch that this would be enough to stop Succuronte, who was responsible for Coccodor’s security—and he was right.

  Succuronte’s hands stopped. He took up a position between Coccodor and Climb and clicked his tongue in frustration. Then he looked at the exit, Climb, and Coccodor in turn and grimaced. “We’re trapped! You’ll have to excuse me. I’m killing this boy here.”

  “You can’t be serious! He’ll be a great asset against that little bitch if we keep him alive.”

  “He tricked me. Taking up a position to protect the door, saying he’d protect it with his life…that was all part of his plan. This little brat…messed with my head!”

  Yes! He bought it. So I guess they don’t know what’s going on outside this room. Now they can’t run.

  With only one escort, it was a bad plan to run while Climb was still alive and able to fight. And if Climb had friends upstairs, they’d be
caught in between. For the same reason, Succuronte couldn’t let Coccodor run on his own before finishing the boy off.

  When Climb had immediately abandoned the door he would supposedly protect with his life and made a move toward Coccodor, Succuronte fell for the bluff. Now he was probably convinced someone was waiting on the other side to catch them in a pincer attack and capture Coccodor.

  He had to have judged that the only way to escape safely was to take out Climb now. Of course, that was assuming he wasn’t aware of conditions outside the room. If he knew the truth, he would open the door and run away.

  Climb, having won his bet, raised his sword against Succuronte’s growing desire to kill. “Ngh!” He had to bear the pain in his side and right upper arm. He might have had a few broken bones, but he was lucky he could still move. No, if that pervert weren’t lusting after him, he probably would have been killed. Wearing a mail shirt wasn’t enough to completely block a slice.

  But what is that attack, anyway? Is he swinging again really fast? I don’t think that’s it, but then what could it be? Gazef’s face flickered across the back of Climb’s mind.

  Gazef Stronoff’s original martial art, Sixfold Slash of Light, was six attacks at once. So was this some lesser version of that, like a Twofold Slash of Light?

  But in that case, Succuronte’s art was a weird one where the first attack was normal speed and the second was superfast.

  It doesn’t match up. If I can figure out what kind of attack it is, I should be able to do something about it… All I know is that a defensive battle is not going to go very well. Guess I should attack?

  Climb swallowed hard and broke into a run. His gaze moved from Succuronte to Coccodor.

  Succuronte’s face warped like he’d bitten down on something bitter.

  When you’re acting as security, you hate it when the one under your protection gets targeted, even if it’s merely as a threat. I’m the same way, so I know how it goes. Executing a tactic he’d hate to have to deal with himself, he closed in. A maniac of illusions… I can imagine… Well, maybe his name is misleading…but it’s worth testing.