Chapter 34 (1/2)

Volume 1

Nidome no Yuusha Chapter 8

The Hero is both a Stalker and a Shinigami Part 2

I was chasing after the man who was running ahead of me .

I was well aware that the man had made an agreement with the hoodlums who assaulted me . Of course, I also knew about the contents of said agreement . If you want to know why, it’s because they did the exact same thing in my first life . I forcibly made him spit out everything he’s trying to conceal at that time, such as the management (trades inside) of the city . Through this, I also found the one behind everything .

That’s why I was well aware that this man was secretly watching the current situation from somewhere . I’ve already deduced that he’s going to report the situation to the man behind the scenes, Shitty Glasses . So I took the opportunity to use him, and followed him to the place where Shitty Glasses was residing .

Though I remembered the place where I first met the slum boss, but because it’s a position often targeted, he uses a magic tool to change the building’s location to various points inside the slums . That’s why, even if I were to go to the location of our first encounter, it wouldn’t necessarily lead me to his hideout .

While chasing him without letting him sense me, I confirmed my status, and I realized that I’d obtained two new skills: 『Stalking Lv2』 and 『Hide Presence Lv1』 . As I’d thought, it’s far easier for me to learn the skills I knew in my previous life . Although all my skill levels were reset, I already knew how to activate all the skills . Because of this, I think that I might be able to raise all my skill levels waaay faster than expected .

While I was chasing him and pondering about such things, I realized that he seemed to be rather anxious, as he was guiding me to the secret hideout using the shortest possible route .

In my first life, I was surprised about this spy’s level of wariness . After all, he was once an intelligence agent of some country long ago . I also had to acknowledge resourcefulness as an information broker . However, he was a coward; particularly, he was a man who prioritized his own survival, running away in the face of danger . He was even scared after sensing my blood lust when I killed those hoodlums, even though it wasn’t directed at him .

Killing each other is an everyday occurrence in these slums . Someone would even decapitate a kid just to obtain a piece of bread, even fighting to death over a rotten fruit . The psychopathic killers who frequently appeared in the slums were often killed by the ones who controlled the slums .

It’s an extremely rare case that a day in the slums ends without a single death . Even now, as I pursue the spy, there are people here in the slums fighting over some food .

Just like in my first life, the spy seemed unaffected by by the deaths of others . Perhaps he sensed danger encroaching upon him this time when he saw me slaughter those hoodlums . Maybe that’s why he thought he would lose his life if he were to be found .

After the man entered the compound, I waited a bit before entering myself .

There was a familiar looking gate made of steel, safeguarded by two enshrined gargoyle statues .

「「The password is?」」

「A~h, I had almost forgotten about these guys……」

I scratched my head, thinking for a moment that I had screwed it up . Last time the password wasn’t a problem since I’d forced the spy to guide me . I didn’t want to make a messy entrance this time, so I decided to follow him secretly, which meant I’d missed out on the password .

The one I’m going to meet now isn’t one of my revenge targets . In fact, he was neither my enemy, nor my ally . I repeat, he’s definitely not my ally . He’s the type of person who will nonchalantly do anything as long as there’s some profit . One who partners with someone only for the profits, and will partner with anyone as long as money is involved .

I only know that he will never tell lies . Aside from that, I have no idea of what methods he’s going to use . Since the very beginning, he was someone who declared openly that as long as there is gain, loyalties are not set in stone .

A relation only to use and be used .

Even so, he was the most decent one among the ones that I had a relationship with . In addition, he’s the one I want to sell the stolen necklace to . There’s no benefit for me if I were to appear as a hostile party at the start of sales negotiations with him . If I screw up my first impressions, then he’ll take advantage of it during the negotiations .

I needed to act extremely careful when contacting him . If I don’t, he would draw information out even without me noticing . This information would end up being bought by other people, mainly information brokers like the spy . I could always just pay a fee to keep it confidential, and he won’t talk about it ever again .

With a healthy body, battle wisdom, decency in alchemy, and his analysis comprehension,which is off the charts, Shitty Glasses is by no means an individual that I can neglect .

「Though it may be sudden, could you let me meet with your boss?」

「「The password, please?」」

It seems the gargoyles didn’t have any intention to hold a conversation . Though I didn’t think that Shitty Glasses would keep using the same password, I only knew of one . So without any other option, I try using a password from 3-5 years in the future .

「………『Inverse fur of the Nezulla Rabbit』」

「「Wrong, leave at once . You’re an uninvited guest . 」」

「Sigh-, if I knew at the beginning that it would end this way then I wouldn’t have even tried . 」