"Let go."
Makoto's voice came from between the two full mounds of flesh. If Darkness's armor weren't so hard, he wouldn't have minded enjoying it a bit longer.
Only then did Darkness realize what she had done. Her two hands didn't know where to put themselves.
"Sit down."
Makoto spoke as if talking to a pet dog.
Darkness obediently sat down.
At Makoto's gestured signal, Yu and Beam put away their weapons.
Makoto tugged on the leash. Darkness was pulled forward, leaning in. The collar around her neck tightened, leaving a faint red mark.
Her breathing quickened, but she felt even better...
"You care a lot about that king?" Makoto asked.
Darkness nodded vigorously.
Makoto leaned back in his chair, thought for a moment, and said, "Since you oppose us taking action against the king, then you find me a replacement."
Darkness fell silent.
Under normal circumstances, she would never agree to such a request.
Although she was a perverted masochist, her sense of justice was no less than Yukino's, who might be currently in the real world.
But the problem was... if she didn't find a scapegoat for the king, these people really would go to the royal capital and exterminate the royal family.
She could tell from the way Yu and Beam had reacted just now that these two really would do it, and they were really strong.
She thought for a long time.
"Alexei Barnes Alderp."
"Who?" Makoto frowned.
For a Chinese transmigrator, this name was really...
"The current lord of Axel."
Shiho introduced for Makoto: "An obese, ugly man. Since taking office, he hasn't done a single good thing for this city."
Luna was walking from behind the counter with a tray, delivering tea to the various tables.
Hearing the name 'Alderp', she stopped in her tracks. The cup of tea on her tray wobbled, tea splashing on the rim.
She turned sideways to look at Makoto, her tone carrying a hint of probing and expectation. "Are you gentlemen thinking of taking action against Alderp?"
Makoto raised an eyebrow but didn't respond immediately.
The corner of Luna's mouth curled up. She held the tray to her chest and began to explain Alderp's various evil deeds to Makoto's group—
Skimming adventurers' rewards, taking most of the bounty earned from hunting monsters. Adventurers risked their lives to complete quests, and what they got in hand was barely enough to survive.
Turning a blind eye to the common people's plight. A few years ago, Axel suffered a natural disaster. Farmland was destroyed. The farmers knelt in front of the lord's mansion begging for tax relief. He didn't even open the door.
Seizing women. If he took a liking to a girl, he would send soldiers to take her.
Shiho put down her teacup and took over the conversation. "Once, after we returned from a quest, we happened to encounter that disgusting man at the city gate. He stared at us for a long time. It was that kind of look..."
More and more people joined the discussion, denouncing Alderp's various evil deeds.
Makoto looked at these people, just like he had looked at those facing ICE in his previous life.
'If you hate that lord so much, why not kill him yourselves? Don't you know magic?'
Makoto's gaze fell back on Darkness's face. After a few seconds, he asked with a smile:
"You're not trying to use my hand to kill him, are you?"
Darkness's head jerked up. Her eyes were red. Her voice was both urgent and aggrieved. "What are you saying! You're the one who asked—"
The worst person she could think of was Alderp.
She usually stayed in Axel and had basically only been to the royal capital. Plus, she had been well protected by her father. In her impression, the worst person was Alderp.
After a bout of commotion, Makoto made the final decision... Alderp it was.
Chairs scraped noisily. Makoto's group got up and left.
"Commander, wait for us, we're coming too!"
Hana also jumped up from her seat, pulling her mother's hand as she walked out.
Tsuki was pulled along, stumbling a step. Yanagi followed behind.
If it were someone else, they wouldn't have the nerve to join in the excitement like this. But with Makoto there, it was different.
No matter what, the sense of security that man gave was absolutely unparalleled.
"Everyone, come along." Hana stopped as she passed Shiho, tilting her head, her eyes sparkling.
Shiho was silent for a moment, then nodded.
Ever since being reunited with her sister, she had learned that during the time she had been under house arrest by the Black Organization, the outside world had undergone earth-shaking changes.
The US bombing Japan to kill Makoto, Makoto establishing his superpower nation, the explosive growth in the number of superpowered individuals and monsters... every one of those unbelievable events revolved around the same name.
She wanted to see for herself just how strong this current overlord of the real world really was.
More and more people followed.
Adventurers, including Luna, also followed suit.
But just as the group was about to set off in full force, the sound of horse hooves hit the stone pavement.
Everyone looked up and saw a large troop of guards entering the guild.
Luna's footsteps stopped abruptly. Her face turned pale.
'Alderp's men!'
'Had our plan been exposed? So soon?'
Akemi stepped out from the crowd. Her mind raced. She had already figured out how to help everyone get out of it.
The lead soldier captain reined in his horse, took a scroll of parchment from his horse, unrolled it, and read aloud: "A group of extremely vicious criminals has appeared in the neighboring country of Melromarc. By order of the Lord, wanted posters are to be posted everywhere."
His gaze swept past Akemi's face without stopping. He waved the parchment in his hand, then waved to the soldiers behind him.
The soldiers filed in, posting wanted posters one by one on the walls, pillars, and doors of the Adventurer's Guild.
Luna's gaze fell on the nearest wanted poster. Her pupils contracted sharply.
She had just seen those faces.
Makoto, Yu, Ace...
Luna's lips trembled. "What... what crimes did they commit?"
The soldier captain's Adam's apple bobbed. Fine beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.
He hesitated for a moment, as if choosing his words, then began to speak... massacring the royal family, slaughtering ministers, turning the king and princess into... dried human specimens.
His voice grew lower and lower. Finally, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and added, as if to himself, "These people... are simply insane."
No one spoke.
The adventurers who had just been raring to go, filled with righteous indignation, wishing they could rush into the lord's mansion themselves and drag Alderp out to flog his corpse... their faces looked as if someone had hit the pause button.
'Had we just been talking to people this ruthless?'
Even Akemi, who had been in the Black Organization, was quite shaken.
Her stomach churned. Her throat tightened. She nearly gagged.