This is a story about Lizel and the others from the perspective of a minor character.
Reading this is not necessary to understand the main story.[1]
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Hello, I'm a bandit from the Forky gang.
By the way, this is a flashback, or rather, a life flashing before my eyes kind of thing.
I was talking to that noble (well, he's not really a noble) today, and after reporting back, I got a brutal kick from the boss—a kick that felt like a burst of anger—and I'm currently unconscious. I thought my internal organs had ruptured.
How can someone so thin, like a kid on drugs, be so strong? Though, he does have a pretty good physique when he takes his clothes off.
I told the noble this too, but I've known him since the boss joined the bandit gang.
I'm the senior one in terms of bandit experience. I've been a bandit since I was a kid, so I'm a real veteran. But that doesn't matter.
I'm one of the original bandits who attacked a kid wandering in the forest, only to be defeated and then have that kid become our leader. Even back then, the boss, despite his youth, was definitely not an ordinary person. I thought he was definitely a fellow bandit.
Anyway, since we're around the same age, we've spent a fair amount of time together, but I'm still afraid of him.
As a bandit leader, he's flawless, and I think he's doing a good job.
So, this is a story about the nobles group from my perspective.
My charm point is my bangs that cover my eyes; I'm Bandit A. Nice to meet you.
Why do I grow my bangs so long? Because I hate making eye contact with people.
Okay, let's start with Single-Stroke.
That guy is seriously a cheat. I thought our boss was a cheat too, but this is ridiculous.
When the boss was still attacking the noble, he was using some weaklings, but they were all getting killed by that guy.
I've never seen anything like a knife with a handle piercing a human skull, making a hole from the face to the back of the head.
No matter how well you conceal your presence and observe him, he always notices you. He's a real cheat. Scary.
I thought there was no one who could beat the boss in a one-on-one fight. Scary.
And his appearance is not just top-notch, but perhaps even exceptional.
He has a really rough demeanor, but he has a strikingly handsome face, is tall with long legs, and has an incredibly good physique. If he kicked me with those long legs, my internal organs would seriously rupture.
When he's leaning against a wall smoking, he attracts a lot of female attention. Even with his rough demeanor.
Also, he's surprisingly well-behaved towards the nobleman, whether consciously or unconsciously. He doesn't sit down until the nobleman does, and he opens doors for him – it seems unconscious. He performs gentlemanly actions without even realizing it.
Gentlemanly actions, or more like servant-like actions? I can understand the feeling.
Also, there's absolutely no information about him. I don't even know where he's from.
Next is the nobleman.
I really don't understand that person at all. I think it's a scam that he's not a nobleman.
I think everything he does is calculated, but then again, it also seems completely natural. He seems pure and innocent, but sometimes he's quite alluring. He seems intelligent, but then surprisingly ignorant in other areas. I can't figure him out at all.
However, I think that despite what he says, he's probably genuinely unaware of being watched. This person doesn't seem to notice or care about being watched. He doesn't mind even if he's being stared at.
According to my boss, he was almost killed by this person once, but he doesn't look like the kind of person who could fight at all.
He doesn't even notice pickpockets. In fact, I stopped someone from pickpocketing him while I was watching him.
He doesn't have any feminine qualities at all, but his gestures are refined and beautiful, and he seems to live in a completely different world.
Based on my conversations with him, he's even more eccentric than I initially thought. Thanks to him, I'm currently feeling completely out of it.
He wears clothes that don't show any skin at all, so he looks quite out of place next to my boss, who shows off his midriff. This kind of thing also makes him seem like a nobleman. Well, since he's that kind of person, he doesn't get openly approached by women, but he does get treated like an object of admiration. Like the other day, when he was reading on the terrace, people were staring at him with dreamy eyes, like they were looking at a painting.
There's absolutely no information about this person. Even less than about Single-Stroke.
Next is the guild employee.
This is an employee of the Parteda Royal Capital Guild, who is secretly nicknamed "Absolute Zero" among the adventurers.
You might think he's just a cold, bookish employee, but his abilities are completely unknown. All our surveillance was discovered.
As the saying goes, "a snake knows a snake's ways," and when we investigated his past, several people disappeared. Scary. He was probably the one who eliminated them.
The method of killing was like that of an assassin. Everyone had their throats slit, and absolutely no evidence was left behind.
He seemed to be solely dedicated to his work now, but it's like we've awakened a sleeping lion. It's all our fault.
He's overtly attached to the noble. He's acting spoiled. You can tell just by looking at him. But it's so blatant.
His facial muscles don't move at all, and when he opens his mouth, only business-related messages or contempt come out, but he also has a beautiful face.
Compared to Single-Stroke, he's more androgynous, but there's absolutely no femininity about him. This person is truly for admiration only. You wouldn't even think of trying to talk to him.
In a good way and a bad way, there's no difference in how he treats men and women, so he could probably easily punch a woman in the face. Scary.
So he has absolutely no relationships with women, but apparently there are some peculiar people who want to be looked down upon by that face.
Incidentally, the brave soul who tried to talk to him while he was with the noble received a gaze worthy of the name "Absolute Zero," and then immediately bowed and said, "Thank you!" Scary.
Finally, the shopkeeper at the general store.
He's a completely normal person. He doesn't even notice the surveillance. And information about him is easy to gather. I was used as bait for information, under the guise of a "gift of intellect," but I'm pretty sure they didn't even realize it. Though, the noble was probably making sure they didn't notice.
Their combat ability is probably non-existent. The fact that I noticed their intellectual facade on first sight was probably just a fluke; they're otherwise completely ordinary.
The only thing unusual about them is their height. They're incredibly tall. Definitely over two meters.
They try to mask it with a timid, hunched posture and a troubled expression, but they're so tall that they'd normally be intimidating.
The slight hunch when talking to the noble isn't out of consideration, but probably due to an ingrained subservient mentality. They probably think it's unthinkable to look down on someone.
However, this person is incredibly popular with us.
The boss assigned surveillance not only to the noble, but also to everyone mentioned above who is particularly close to the noble.
Single-Stroke was immediately discovered, of course, and when he gets annoyed enough, he sends out an incredibly intimidating killing intent.
The "Absolute Zero" employee was also immediately discovered and sends out a chilling aura. If you're unlucky, you might even have an ice knife pressed against your throat.
In that respect, the store employee's surveillance is peaceful. Almost too peaceful. Once, a surveillance agent who entered the store under the pretense of buying something, but without any intention of doing so, apparently found themselves standing outside the store without realizing it. Even the way they were rejected was peaceful.
It's wonderful that there's no danger to our lives.
And the most disliked surveillance is, surprisingly, the noble's surveillance. That is, me.
I've become a kind of surveillance/bodyguard because of the reason, "It pisses me off that anyone other than me can trouble that person." Why did they choose me?
Both Single-Stroke and the employee basically leave us alone. It seems the noble said something to them.
Something like, "Leave them alone unless they cause trouble." Even during the attack period, they could have dealt with the attacks and eliminated the surveillance beforehand, but they didn't.
Thanks to that, we're alive. Thank you, noble. But your surveillance is the most difficult to deal with.
There's no problem with the nobleman.
He doesn't notice me, he doesn't give off any killing intent, and he basically just reads books in his room, which is incredibly easy. However, the surveillance of the nobleman involves two people who are supposed to be ignoring their own surveillance of me.
Single-Stroke is constantly giving me warning glances. I wish he'd stop glaring at me every time I go out with the nobleman. That guy has such a menacing aura, even professionals would be intimidated; he's really scary.
The staff member occasionally gives me warnings. The terror of him suddenly appearing right behind me with zero presence is unbelievable.
I think the nobleman would stop them if he noticed, but these two are so good at acting without the nobleman noticing, so I'm the only one who suffers.
"Please."
That's why I was so relieved when the nobleman called out to me and there was no one else around.
If someone else were there, there's a two-thirds chance I'd be killed by their gaze. It's terrifying.
However, the fact that he's worried about my health instead of asking about what happened to the adventurers, even though it was the day after the interrogation, means he's not just a "nice guy." Normally, you'd ask what happened to the adventurers.
By the way, what did I do to the adventurers? It was incredibly messed up.
That person is incredibly skilled at digging into people's wounds.
He suggested bringing his wife and making her imitate a pig in front of them, or bringing his children and using them as dart targets, and he said all sorts of things, I don't even know where he came up with them. The adventurers were single despite being of a good age, so those suggestions were rejected.
But well, we brought their companions and did things like [censored] and [censored], and I remember something about [censored] and then [censored].
Well, we're thieves, so we're completely fine with that kind of thing.
Ultimately, we used a brain-melting poison to make their brains mushy, made them do whatever we wanted, and then dumped them at the commercial guild. The key is that they look perfectly normal at first glance. "Something like, 'I've become a slightly better person,' or something like that."
No way.
"Ow..."
"You're slow to wake up. So, did that person say anything else?"
"Uh, well... 'Tell him to come to my place tomorrow morning,' or something like that, he said."
Immediately afterward, the dagger the boss was handling fell from his hand.
He's always twirling it around like a fidget toy, and I've never seen him drop it before.
Unable to stand because of the pain in my guts, I sat on the floor and looked up at the boss, who had a strained expression on his face, as if he was forcibly suppressing various emotions.
The boss really loses his composure when it comes to that nobleman.
The last time I offered the boss a guy that tried to steal from a nobleman out of curiosity, things went completely crazy. On the surface, he seemed to be enjoying himself, but he was probably furious.
Well, I offered him the guy because I expected that to happen.
"Isn't this the first time you've been summoned by that person?"
"It seems like I'm going to be taken to that nobleman who's the head of the military police, so I'll probably be handed over."
"We'll deal with that when the time comes."
He picked up the dropped dagger and started twirling it again.
He seems to be in a good mood, maybe because he's happy that the nobleman told him to come.
Normally, he'd probably be saying "You come here!" and destroying the other person. Besides, the boss hates being ordered or even instructed by anyone.
He seemed to be enjoying himself when the nobleman brought up the topic of killing all the subordinates earlier, so the boss seems to know something.
Going along with someone's intentions without destroying them, that's something he'd only do for that nobleman.
"Besides, you should have told me something that important first!"
The hilt of the dagger hit my temple. He told me to recount the conversation word for word from the beginning, but he's being so unreasonable.
I thought, (My skull is intact, thank goodness,) and let myself drift into unconsciousness.
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.
.
.
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Currently dozing off at the reception desk; it's incredibly slow after lunchtime.
I'm practically dreaming. Let's start a recollection, a dream of sorts.
Hello, I'm a guild employee who occasionally appears. Please call me Employee A.
I'm the employee who mostly gets knocked off my chair by Studd or physically silenced. My hobby is napping.
My catchphrase is "Studd is seriously amazing!" I say it at least once a day.
By the way, I still think it's a dream that Studd is friendly with people.
Uh, I don't know much about Mr. Lizel and the others.
Because Studd keeps taking away my opportunities to talk to Mr. Lizel. And Mr. Gil is just plain scary.
Mr. Eleven, whom I've been seeing a lot lately, doesn't usually come to the guild much. He's been sticking with Mr. Lizel lately, though.
But I've heard them talking about forming a party. Honestly, I hope those three don't team up.
It was a mess when Mr. Lizel and Mr. Gil teamed up.
Rumors about those two were flying everywhere. The guild was overflowing with people, both adventurers and ordinary citizens, demanding confirmation of facts and information.
Studd got angry at the people crowding the guild. Thanks to that, the commotion died down.
Incidentally, when I was walking outside on my day off...
I was approached by a girl who was absolutely my type, and when she asked, "You're from the guild, right?" and then, "Are those two dating?", I almost cried. I don't know!
Apparently, she was the representative of the women, and the sheer number of women eavesdropping made me acutely aware of the disparity in attractiveness. I almost cried.
Those three stand out so much, even now.
People turn around to look at them when they walk down the street, and people stop to stare when they're sitting outside. Even Eleven, despite his eccentric appearance, is strikingly handsome.
They get attention from both men and women. It's an overflowing level of charisma. Amazing.
They have a kind of mysterious charm. Well, conversely, they don't have a conventional charm. There's no refreshing quality about them at all.
Even Lizel, with his calm and refined face, isn't refreshing. He has a noble charm.
If they were to form a party, I think it would be a repeat of that time.
Studd would get angry again. That Absolute Zero would become a real absolute zero.
Studd is seriously amazing.
And their abilities are overkill.
Gil alone is overkill. I don't know much about Lizel, but if he's keeping up with Gil so easily, then that's probably the case.
Eleven is overshadowed by Gil, but he's also a solo C-rank. That alone is unusual, but if he's easily completing C-rank quests and coming back, he probably has even greater abilities.
According to rumors secretly circulating in the guild, an A-rank adventurer who picked a fight with him was beaten to a pulp. A-rank parties are usually at the hero level.
What are those guys aiming for? Are they going to wage war against the country?
Since we're on the subject, let me tell you a secret story.
It was when I was crying my eyes out because my girlfriend cheated on me. Yes, I cried my eyes out. Of course, I openly sobbed at the guild reception, hoping for some comfort. I even got kicked by Studd.
Lizel, who was with Gil and Eleven at the time, seemed puzzled by my behavior.
"Don't worry about him. He's just annoyingly depressed because his girlfriend dumped him. He's mixing his personal and professional lives; it's so annoying."
Studd is seriously amazing.
He completely dismissed me before Lizel could even voice his question.
He seems to dislike it when other staff members show interest in Lizel. Once, when I teased him about it while laughing, he punched me in the stomach. I had blood in my urine, so I'm not going to say anything about it again.
"I didn't get dumped! She just cheated on me! We had a fight, and I yelled at her!"
After a huge fight, I managed to restrain myself from hitting her. A man who hits a woman is scum.
My heart almost broke when Studd looked at me, still crying, with more annoyance than he would show towards a stone on the side of the road. What's with that expressionless face that still manages to convey contempt?
Before Studd could physically silence me, Lizel's gentle voice reached me.
"Even just yelling at a woman can be considered violence. It's good that you're reflecting on it."
I thought...
But what solidified my thoughts was the sight of the two people standing behind Lizel like his attendants.
When Lizel addressed them, Gil looked puzzled, and Eleven expressed his displeasure with an "Eh?!"
"But she's the woman you love so much that you're crying over her, right? The one who cheated is the bad guy, so whatever you do isn't wrong, is it? Oh, if you only yelled at her, maybe you didn't really love her?"
"If it's someone you truly love, wouldn't you do more than just yell?"
"Oh, me?" "I'm gonna… ah, I'll use poison to turn them into a doll! They'll only do what I tell them to do, and nothing else! I'll take care of everything for them, from changing their clothes to feeding them! It'll be the best!"
I was completely taken aback.
"What about Gil?"
"Ah… I'll rape them until their brain is completely broken and they forget everyone except me. I might even rape them to death."
I was completely taken aback again.
"Then, what about Studd?"
"I'm pretty normal, too. I think it'll be either killing the other person, dying myself, or killing them and then dying."
I was completely taken aback a third time.
"Everyone's so dangerous! You have to respect the other person's feelings!"
"But it's cheating! That's the ultimate betrayal!"
It's terrifying that all three of them think they're normal.
And it's terrifying that none of them seem to be taken aback by each other's opinions.
One of the few female adventurers in the guild had a completely white face and was trembling, but I wonder if she was currently cheating on someone.
It's okay, not all men are this crazy. Probably.
Lizel's gentle and sensible opinion is a relief to my stomach.
"So, can you really bear it if someone you truly love leaves you?"
"Well… I might not be able to."
In response to Studd's question, Lizel smiled and tilted his head. So elegant.
I wanted to tell myself, who naively believed that the conversation would end neatly with words like "I'll step aside believing in their happiness," or "If they're happy, that's enough,"…
"Therefore, you should just replace the cheating partner. That way, the love you receive will be genuine, right?" "I'm confident I can completely and seamlessly impersonate and replace friends, acquaintances, family, and relatives," he said.
"Only you could do that," someone replied.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Are all these people sadists? What's going on? Why isn't anyone backing down?
Honestly, the shock of being cheated on has completely disappeared. It was just too shocking.
If you have to go to such lengths to prove you truly love someone, then I probably didn't truly love her. Because I can't do that. I don't even want to try. Hey, I'm normal, right?
Thinking that made me feel relieved, so I guess I did receive some comfort after all. Although I feel like I suffered even more damage.
"Ugh... so sleepy..."
My back creaked as I stretched.
As usual, there were hardly any adventurers in the guild. There are almost no adventurers who come back at this time of day.
Almost none, but not entirely none.
For example, extremely skilled adventurers who complete their requests in just the morning sometimes return from their missions.
Like Mr. Lizel and his group, who just came in.
Seeing Mr. Lizel reminded me of something.
That awkward conversation we had, and my colleague who's currently staring intently at them.
Mr. Lizel and his group are discussing something in front of the request board, so they won't be coming over for a while. Maybe I should ask him.
The moment I called out to him, the gaze he directed at me, as if to say "don't bother me," was absolutely freezing.
"Hey, when the topic of 'the person you truly love' came up the other day, didn't you look towards Mr. Lizel?"
At that moment, Studd's gaze briefly shifted towards Mr. Lizel.
But it wasn't just Studd. I think the two people standing next to Mr. Lizel did the same.
The absolutely freezing gaze directed at me warmed up slightly after it shifted towards Mr. Lizel. Or so I felt. I can't understand this guy's changes no matter how many years I've known him.
"There's only one person who's truly important to me right now."
"Will that number increase in the future?"
"I have no plans for that."
In other words, his previous words won't become reality until he finds a woman he prioritizes more than Lizel.
It's a relief that these three, who are unstoppable by anyone, don't have any plans to commit crimes.
Besides, I was just organizing documents behind the counter until a moment ago, but the moment Lizel came in, he was suddenly standing next to me. What's going on?
Studd is seriously amazing.
[1] This side story is more minor, but still has its funny moments. It shows how a bandit and guild employee view Eleven, Gil, Lizel, Judge, and Studd.