Chapter 176 - Hidden Talent?

To begin with, there was a child next to me. Namely, Elisse.

"Raon, cover me!" [Solace]

I covered Elisse with my body as Gwain rushed at me, which was quickly intercepted by Raon.

"I'm your opponent!" [Raon]

"Move it, boy!" [Gwain]

He swung down an ax just for it to be sidestepped. Little did Raon know that it was bait to hook his leg.

"Woah!" [Raon]

With a little yank, Raon fell flat on his back.

"What a fool." [Gwain]

Raising his free ax, Gwain tried to chop off Raon's head. Keyword: "tried". Thankfully, Wilharrow stepped in fast enough to block it with his sword.

"Damn brat…" [Gwain]

He quickly put some distance between us as Wilharrow tried to slash at his stomach.

"Raon, keep your guard up! Negligence was almost your downfall!" [Wilharrow]

"I know, damn it!" [Raon]

Shooting up to his feet, Raon went in for seconds.

"Round two you bastard!" [Raon]

He charged in blindly, literally. Gwain kicked up dirt into Raon's eyes as soon as Raon had come close.

"Argh! You coward!" [Raon]

Unable to see, Raon swung his arms around him as Gwain casually walked past him.

"Never have I ever seen someone so stupid. Even among the idiots I work with." [Gwain]

Hearing Gwain's voice revealed his location, causing Raon to spin around with a kick. I mean, it was good that he put 2 and 2 together… but all he did was miss as Gwain stepped out of the way.

"That's enough!" [Wilharrow]

He jumped into the fray. Slashing with his discount excalibur, he had Gwain on defense.

"Fancy sword! Where did you get this?!" [Gwain]

Hooking an ax on the sword, Gwain attempted to yank it out of Wilharrow's grasp. Too bad for him Wilharrow's grip strength was more than expected.

"You're going to have to do more than just kill me to take this." [Gwain]

He spun the sword out of the ax's lock and jabbed Gwain's ribs with the hilt.

"Urgh!" [Gwain]

He grit his teeth and headbutted Wilharrow in the nose.

"Agh!" [Wilharrow]

I think it was Wilharrow's first time getting headbutt because it took a second to recover. I saw his eyes roll before returning with a shocked expression.

"Awoken from your nap, eh? Don't worry and go back to sleep!" [Gwain]

He kicked the side of Wilharrow's knee to force him down before getting tackled by Raon.

"Why you little-" [Gwain]

"Get him! Now!" [Raon]

"Get off me!" [Gwain]

Everyone other than myself jumped him. It wasn't a fight fitting the image of a hero's party, but it was enough to get the job done. As I kept Elisse from watching, Fina, Raon, Leon, and Wilharrow pinned Gwain down.

"Do we have rope?" [Raon]

"I have it." [Fina]

We barely managed to tie him up as he tried to kick and punch us. It could've been worse if we didn't disarm him.

"Damn you!" [Gwain]

Raon sneered at his insults.

"Should've taken us seriously from the start." [Raon]

Gwain frowned.

"You want to hear a little something?" [Gwain]

"What?" [Raon]

"Come a little closer." [Gwain]

Now this is one of those cases where your hostage is being suspicious as hell. Raon did take a step forward, but I grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"That's not a good idea." [Solace]

"Why not?" [Raon]

"He'll probably just hit you or spit on you." [Solace]

Gwain clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

"See?" [Solace]

"...Disgusting peasant." [Raon]

"You have a lot to say for someone who can't beat this "disgusting peasant" alone." [Gwain]

At this point Raon ignored him.

"What do we do with him?" [Raon]

"He said that he's got more people. We should gather them up and turn them in at the nearest guard outpost." [Wilharrow]

"That settles it then." [Raon]

He kneeled down next to Gwain.

"Tell us where- Woah!" [Raon]

Gwain spat at Raon, who barely managed to dodge it.

"Told you." [Solace]

"...I should've known better." [Raon]

"Should we be a bit rougher to interrogate this guy?" [Solace]

Leon stepped in.

"Let me." [Leon]

I don't think any of us were expecting Leon to step up. At first it was a bit weird that she told us to leave, but we listened.

"What do you think she's-" [Raon]

Within seconds, Gwain was screaming. It was such a blood curdling cry that every one of us froze. Other than myself, of course. I was covering Elisse' ears. It wasn't until the screams stopped that Leon came to us.

"Finished." [Leon]

Was all she had to say.