Overlimit Skill Holder
Book 1: Chapter 19

「That person… is also a beastmen, the same as you, right?」

「Yeah. I can somewhat manage since I’m a party member of Silver Balance, but this country is too unforgiving for a beastmen to make a living. You saw it too, right? Even a half-beastmen woman can only get a job of pulling in customers. The position of beastmen in this country is low. If that woman stood out as a beastmen, human customers won’t even approach. Needless to say, a pure beastmen won’t even get that job.」

「Hmm…」

「Even for you, a hairy woman is a hard sell, right?」

「Uhh, y-yeah.」

「That is something that can’t be helped… but it’s also true that this country is bad for beastmen to live in.」

「Wouldn’t it be better to move to another country?」

「The road has been closed. You need a guild letter of recommendation to cross the border, and you need to take that to the government office and get a pass permit. I am just taking advantage of Dante-ossan’s treatment. That’s pretty much it.」

「S-So, you’re going to leave when we reach Saint Knight Kingdom?!」

「Well, most probably. Mimino and ossan already know this.」

「B-But…」

It’s only been a few days, but I feel like I’ve become a little more friendly with Mr. Macho Tsundere Beastmen. And he drops this on me…

「Does that mean you have some other purpose?」

「…Yeah.」

Raikira-san came to a halt and looked up at the night sky.

The moon, which was almost a full circle, was rising… Wow! There is a moon in this world, too. However, this moon had additional three satellite moons orbiting it.

「There is… someone I want to kill.」

Those matter-of-factly uttered words did not carry a sense of reality.

「I and the guy I gave money to just now, originally belonged to the same mercenary group. It was called “Dark Fang Mercenary” – a group made up of only beastmen. Employed by money, we moved around from place to place. From battlefields to monster hunting grounds as requested by our client. But we made a stupid mistake.」

I didn’t know what “mercenary group” meant.

「We destroyed an underworld business of a noble with great power and influence. It was a drug business. Rigura Kingdom, one of the kingdoms in the Keith Grand Federation – just next to Achenbach Dukedom. It is a small country, but they were making a killing by distributing drugs to every country. We knew that fact. However, when we were told to “kill the monsters that are nesting in the mountains of Rigura Kingdom”, we didn’t think those monsters were protecting the drug manufacturing plant.」

「What was that? Monsters? Protecting?」

「There seems to be a ridiculous skill called 【Monster Taming Technique】.」

…Are you serious?! Just how versatile are these skills?! As expected, the world of skills sure is deep… I mean, now’s not the time for that.

「So… what happened next?」

「When we reported to the client that we had subjugated the monsters, he excitedly charged into the factory with a suicide bomb magic tool. And blew up the factory with himself.」

「Wha?!」

「We found out later that the client’s only daughter was a drug addict and that cost her her life. We played a part in his revenge.」

I was dumbfounded. This world is full of violence. And so is desire…

「He died and it was over. But we were still alive, and were paid the full amount – that’s how we got tracked.」

Raikira-san explained that due to the movement of large amounts of money, the Rigura Kingdom kept a watchful eye on “Dark Fang Mercenaries” as a party involved in the destruction of the drug factory.

「Rigura Kingdom paid a fortune to the mayor of Valhalla, the top person at the capital of the federation. And the mayor moved the Adventurer’s Guild with the narration of, “Dark Fang Mercenary is the originator of the drug factory. Find and exterminate.”」

「EHHHH!?」

「You’re too loud.」

「B-But! That sort of thing is…」

「The death of a wealthy person is a big deal, and because of that the factory came into light. So when the question of “who made this drug factory” arose, Rigura Kingdom skillfully shifted it onto us.」

「……」

Raikira-san and the mercenary group were just victims.

「And the adventurer they sent after us was a…. Mithril-rank.」

Mithril rank.

The pinnacle of adventurers.

「A mercenary group of 50 was annihilated by that one guy. I barely escaped with my life and my friends were scattered.」

「The person from before was one of your friends?」

Raikira-san nodded.

「…We told the adventurer everything – that we were being framed and are the victims. He listened to us noddingly, and immediately fired a great spell. My friends burned and screamed. The whole place instantly turned into hell.」

I could only listen silently.

I wonder if the flame that burns in Raikira-san is as intense as the flames that he saw that day.

「He laughed while killing my friends… saying, “So what?”…! I could only pathetically run away with my life. And so I ran and ran till my legs could no longer carry me. When I was thinking it was the end for me, I was saved by Mimino.」

「…I don’t think desperate efforts to survive is pathetic.」

Raikira looked at me and laughed a little. It was a very sad laugh.

「Reiji… Even if I can’t destroy the Rigura Kingdom, I must still retaliate in some way. If that’s the case… then, I must definitely kill that cold-blooded bastard.」

There was a dripping sound.

Raikira-san’s fist was clenched so hard, that blood dripped from there.

「Crysta-la-Crysta, a half-elf Mithril-rank adventurer. I must kill him no matter what.」

* Magic Airship “Sky Princess Castle” *

The humming noise never stops. The magical airship “Sky Princess Castle” was flying 1,000 meters above the Geffert Kingdom.

It was shaped like a roundish boat rather than a huge ship, and was flying in the sky with dozens of huge propellers and small propellers rotating around.

The black body, which was a combination of special wood and iron plate, gave off a faint blue light even at night, making its presence widely known.

The large body with a capacity of up to 500 people was slowly but surely in a straight line, heading for Achenbach Dukedom.

「…It’s so boring when you get used to it.」

「Huh?」

「At first, I thought the magic airship was novel, but I got tired after riding it many times. Not enough entertainment on board.」

「W-We are very sorry.」

「Why is it called “Sky Princess”? It can’t even satisfy an adventurer like me, much less an actual princess.」

「Y-Yes…」

It was a staff member of the Adventurer’s Guild, with a huge body, putting up with the questions.

There is a lounge inside “Sky Princess Castle” where you can enjoy meals and alcohol.

In front of the staff, sat a man, with a slender build, slouching into a sofa, and enjoying wine, out of a transparent glass – which is incredibly rare in this world.

And he was tall, which made him seem more slender on the contrary.

His smooth blonde hair was trimmed just above his shoulders. The hair hides his ears, but it was slightly sharper than humans.

His red pupils were not aimed at the staff, but just staring at the glass.

The surface of the wine reflected a magic lamp hanging from a rugged ceiling with exposed pipes running across.

Tsk, the man clicked his tongue, and gulped the wine. The staff filled up the glass again by pouring from a decanter, knowing that this one cup was worth enough for the common people to survive for a week.

He also knew that this man can buy dozens of barrels of this wine with one request.

「What time will we arrive?」

「We’re scheduled to arrive next morning.」

「Can’t we go directly to the mine? It will take time if we move from the city.」

「Unfortunately we can’t leave without greeting His Excellency the New Duke… The takeoff and landing of the magic airship is fixed, thus we can’t fly freely.」

「…The human race has acquired wings, but limit themselves for nonsense?」

The man said, in a fed up manner. He left the glass of wine as is and stood up.

「Monsters are boring. They just get angry. They don’t cry or beg for their lives. In that respect, it was so much more fun when I killed a lot of those beastmen.」

「………」

The staff had already averted his gaze from the man. This was because the man’s nether region swelled as he licked his lips.

「I’m going to sleep. Wake me up when we get there.」

「……Understood.」

The man then picked up a robe of thin make on the sofa and left.

「…Because guys like those are made Mithril-rank adventurers, this world is beyond saving.」

The staff sighed deeply, but what he next thought was what to do about the glass of wine.

The “Sky Princess Castle” was steadily flying toward the Achenbach Dukedom.