It's been several days since our battle with the Destroyer. There were slight hiccups, though it was quickly dealt with a very, very large explosion courtesy of a certain frustrated loli and one million Eris worth of manatite mana bank.
Soon after that, we continued our daily life. Chary visited me every night teaching me actual skills of the succubus. Most of them has something to do with controlling mind, hearts, and emotions. I also learned telepathy and dream walking, so I can literally visit Megumin during my succubus dream.
You can imagine how that escalates…
Today we're on our usual spot inside the guild, plateful of fried frogs, glasses of neroid swish, the usual. Megumin sat beside me, happily munching on vegetable sticks without a care of the world. Aqua is drinking beer because of course she is. Darkness is lost in thought, just like I am right now.
To be honest, I still can't relax until I know where that coronite end up. Since it still hasn't make the news, I can safely deduce that the casualty is less than ten people. Some adventurers are on high spirits right now, thinking that the matter is over.
Others like me still couldn't rest easy until we knew exactly where that thing end up.
"Kazuma, are you still thinking about it?" Megumin said before swallowing her veggie sticks. "If it hits a city, we would know already, relax…"
I move my hand around her shoulder and moved her closer to me. "Still, I'm not ready to carry the weigh of numerous deaths due to coronite…" I muttered. "And some adventurers can't take the hint and keep their mouth shut, telling everyone about our feats of defeating the Destroyer…"
Aqua suddenly looked away and tried to whistle. She was one of the loudest when it comes to telling everyone that Megumin and I were the ones who killed the destroyer. Her aim? The billions of bounty on that bad boy.
"First of all, I'm the one who destroyed the Destroyer. Don't try to take credit of it, zoning-out-in-the-middle-of-dire-situation Kazuma. Second of all…" Megumin gazed at me flatly. "Do you think I'm guilty if the Coronite end up killing a thousand people?"
"No, you're not guilty, it's either that or the entire city…"
Megumin smirked and continued eating her veggie sticks. "Only your words mean anything to me. If a bunch of armed knights rushed into the guild with a very mad glasses lady demanded my arrest. I would think those guys are idiots."
The guild went silent when the door slammed open. A very mad glasses lady leading a band of armed knights entered the guild. She went straight to Luna and demanded audience with the one named Megumin.
"I'm sorry ma'am but charging rudely into this place and demanding audience isn't how you're supposed to meet someone," Luna said sternly. "Please state your name and your business with the heroes of Axel."
"My name is Sena, I was sent here from the kingdom to arrest Kazuma under the charges of treason and terrorism.
"Wait huh!?" Megumin stood up. "I was the one who-" Darkness grabbed her mouth and pulled her back to sit down.
A waitress came towards us, holding a very large tray of food. "Customer, please enjoy," she said while taking an unusually long time putting the dishes in front of us.
"On what evidence do you have regarding that claim?" I heard Luna pressing on.
"Teleporting the core of the Destroyer, Coronatite, was done at that man's instruction. And the place the ore was teleported to was the mansion of the Lord."
"How many died during that accident?"
"Coincidentally, the landlord had sent away all the household staff and was in the basement himself, so there were no casualties. But the mansion was destroyed."
Mumbles and whispering came from all across the guild. I, who heard that, couldn't help but sigh in relief.
I hugged Megumin who was closest to me and whispered my thanks to the goddess Eris. "We didn't kill anyone… Oh, thank goodness…"
Megumin pouted, but didn't resist. "Still… What do you mean you're the one getting arrested, it should've been me! I was the one who called the shots," she folded her arms. "Stupid Kazuma taking all the credits…"
"Why do you want to get arrested so bad?"
"Because it's cool! And awesome! Being the rebel that fought against the corrupt governor!!!"
Luna glared at the woman. "That party has done a lot more in one month than any of you pompous bigots has ever done to our city in the last ten years... If you want to arrest the heroes of Axel for something as petty as property damage, then think again…"
Sena glared back at Luna, her form seething in anger. "Ma'am if you don't tell me where he is, I will charge you under the suspicion of resisting arrest. Are you perhaps one of their compliance?"
Luna smirked in response. "Ma'am, you'd be surprised with how many of their compliance you can find in this building…"
As if on cue, every single adventurer in the guild including the staff member made their way in front of the knights. They surrounded the knights from all sides, forming a wall that stopped them from advancing even further.
The knights tried arming themselves, only to have all of their weapons disappear from their grip. Five resident thieves made a quick jab in the air before hiding away the weapons. Looks like my lesson on preemptive strike was put to a good use.
But still, resistance like this will only bring trouble to us…
With that, I stood up from my seat and walked towards the crowds. "Oi, oi, what's with all the commotion?" I said as the crowds wordlessly made way for me. I smiled at Sena and waved a little. "Yo, the name's Satou Kazuma, a lowly adventurer," I bowed a little at that.
Sena was speechless for a moment but she quickly regained her composure. "So you're Satou Kazuma," she glared at me with an unnatural amount of hate in her eyes. "You are under arrest for treason and terrorism."
I smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head. "You sure it's terrorism? This could be a huge misunderstanding you know? Would you mind if we talk this over a cold glass of Neroid?" I asked her before turning around and walking straight towards the bar.
Sena hurried after me, but when the knights tried to go with her, the adventurers stopped them in their tracks. She turned towards her knights, gritted her teeth, before hurriedly rushing towards me. "What games are you playing at?"
I cast a silent steal and she held an empty fist on my neck. "I'm not playing any games now, Sena chan. I'm actually quite serious," a waitress came towards us with two glasses of Neroid. "Thanks," I grabbed a random glass and took a sip.
The prosecutor who found herself disarmed and powerless, sit down obediently beside me.
"Well then, let's talk," I turned towards her and gave her a sweet smile. "First question, just what do you expect would happen when you tried to arrest 'The Hero of Axel' who has literally saved the entire city?"
Sena looked down and curled her hand into fist. "I expected resistance… from your teammates…"
I took a swig of the Neroid Swish. "You certainly did not think this through."
There was no response and I think I'm ready for the next plan.
"Now, Sena, I am also known as the 'Trainer of Heroes', around these parts. I trained all these adventurers you know? This novice town is actually filled with much more veterans than you might expect," I explained.
"So you have the entire city... within the palm of your hands…" Sena muttered.
"You could say that, that said however, there is a way you can detain me," I smirked at her. "Do you want to know how you could detain me? I could teach you, right here, right now, how to properly detain someone a hundred times stronger than you will ever be."
Sena took a deep breath before sighing in defeat. "T-tell me…"
"Repeat after me: Satou Kazuma san,"
"Satou Kazuma san,"
"My name is Sena and I came here from the kingdom,"
"My name is Sena and I came here from the kingdom,"
"We would like to talk to you about matters regarding the Coronite Ore that destroyed a noble's mansion."
"We would like to talk to you about matters regarding the Coronite Ore that destroyed a noble's mansion."
"Please come with us so we could discuss this matter in length…"
"Please come with us so we could discuss this matter in length…"
"You will be put in a fair trial and if we deem you not guilty, you will be released…"
"You will be put in a fair trial and if we deem you not guilty, you will be released…"
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
A slightly glazed look could be seen on Sena's eyes after she said everything. She slowly lowered her head before looking at me. "Satou Kazuma, my name is Sena, I'm here to talk to you about the matter concerning the coronite ore that destroyed a noble's mansion. You will be put on a fair trial, please do not resist."
Despite my depression over the coronite unknown whereabouts, I was still more than capable of thinking up contingency plans. One of them is a preparation to face this exact scenario, a heartless lawful neutral who thinks that law is above everything.
My plan? Learn the 'forced suggestion' skill from Chary to hypnotize people. Unlike other mind control skills, the forced suggestion skill uses magic to forcefully implant suggestion into the subject's brain before letting go. The suggestion will be deeply rooted inside the subject's consciousness but the magic will be released shortly after.
The result? Untraceable and virtually unbreakable mind control.
"Alright, I won't resist," I told her. Then I turned towards everyone else in the Axel guild. "Don't worry, a single trial has nothing against the smartest guy in Axel, I'll be back in a week," I said confidently.
Then I turned towards my party, the Fantastic Dreamers. Aqua looks like she has something to say but held herself back. Darkness looks like she wants to do something but just couldn't muster the will to do so. Megumin looks a little bit bored, as if she knew I'm just toying around.
Sena took out a pair of cuffs. "Please do not resist," she said.
I just watched as she cuffed both of my hands. It's an enchanted adamantite cuffs, strengthened by magic to make it impossible to break by even the strongest warrior. Heck, I don't think I can break it with sheer strength alone.
"Kazuma, want some?" Megumin asked, holding up a bag of fried toad. "For the road."
Sena was about the say something, only to have words cut short when the cuffs just shattered in my hands. I grabbed the paper bag and smiled at her. "Aww, thanks Megumin," I told her before snacking on a fried toad.
"Come on Sena," I noticed she's staring at my hand and I feigned a guilty expression. "Ah, sorry, sorry," I took out a fried toad. "Here, you must be hungry. I don't know if they serve fried toads in the kingdom, but it actually taste really good. The meat is hard but tender and very refreshing."
I watched with downright sadistic pleasure when Sena walked through the guild in fear and uncertainty. All around her, adventurers and guild staffs were chuckling evilly, like she's currently digging her own grave.
Soon enough, we made it in front of Sena's loyal knights. "Yo, want some fried toads?" I asked them.
The knights said nothing, they simply motioned me to follow them towards a large prisoner cage waiting for me. It's a bit similar to the one we used on Aqua during our lake purification mission, though I can tell it has slightly better quality.
"Kazuma!!!"
I turned around and saw Aqua running towards me with tears in her eyes. "Wh-why do you have to go?! Is it my fault again? Is it because I told everyone you're the one who transported the coronite?" she cried.
Aqua… Did you forget I can teleport? Did you forget I learned illusion? Did you forget I can use Drain Touch to disable any magical restraint? Can't you read the situation here? Aqua, I have the upper hand! Oh my god, you need to increase your intellect ASAP!
"Wait!" Megumin stood between me and Aqua. "YOU'RE the one who told everyone that Kazuma was the one to transport the coronite!?"
"Wasn't he?"
"It's me, I made the shots! Ugh…" she folded her arms, pissed. "I could've been arrested it'll be so cool… I could've been an outlaw and you ruined it…"
I still don't understand what's up with this girl now.
"Aqua," I gently pet her head. "I'll be back, okay? In the mean time, I want you to promise me one thing…"
The girl looked at me with teary eyes. "Wh-what is it Kazuma kun?"
"I want you to learn how to sing. I want you to learn the skills of a bard, okay?"
The girl nodded a little. "I, I will…"
"Good girl," I pet her head a little before walking towards the cage. "Don't worry, I won't be out here for long," I pulled one of the bars, knowing full well that it's still locked and that it's a push not a pull. The bar bent and snapped under my grip.
I gasped a little and looked at a very horrified Sena. "I am so, so sorry… I didn't know it was so fragile," I stepped into the cage, pushing aside more bars on my way. "Ah! I did it again! I'll pay for this cage, I promise, just…" I rubbed the back of my head. "Ahh, this is embarrassing…"
With that, knights started pulling me through the city of Axel. Even though it's supposed to be some sort of public shaming, the situation has flipped one eighty degrees.
"Going on vacation! See you later everyone!!!" I exclaimed, pushing aside the bars to wave at the townsfolk.
Seeing this, everyone just laughed at my antics and the knight's pathetic attempts at trying to arrest me. Even those who were really against my arrest just sighed to themselves before joining the crowds.
"See you later Kazuma!"
"Bring back gifts!"
"Break a leg!"
The laughter coming from all across the town was quite possibly the only thing scarier than my actions. It almost like the mocking of the devils themselves that kept following the knights as they paraded me through the city.
Seriously, where did that scared of hurting the innocent Kazuma went to?