The Regressed Demon Lord is Kind

way.
The running man was about to pass them when his eyes met Zich’s.

“Ah!”

The man suddenly stopped and approached Zich.
Then he gripped Zich’s shoulders tightly. 

“You were here! Thank goodness that I was able to find you!”

Was the man someone he knew? Zich scrutinized him.

‘Wait, he’s the miner who was with Sam.’

“Did something happen to Sam?”

That was the only reason why the man whom he had conversed once over some drinks would look so urgently for him.
Zich’s guess was spot-on.

“Yes! Sam ran to the Monster Exterminator Building first thing in the morning! He said he had to place a complaint on the guy who taught Snoc!”

“That’s foolish of him.”

Complaints didn’t work on people like adventurers.
Unless one possessed military might, wealth, or authority, adventurers would wield violence towards a person even if they were in the wrong.

“You didn’t try to stop him?”

“I did! But he didn’t listen to me! They really are brothers! Like Snoc, Sam is so stubborn once he puts his mind on something!”

“But what is the complaint about?”

“It seems like the guy threw away Snoc!”

Sponsored Content

“Are you saying that the adventurer isn’t keeping Snoc as his disciple anymore?”

“Yes!”

“Isn’t that good? I thought Sam didn’t like the idea of Snoc becoming an adventurer.”

“I don’t know what that guy said when kicking Snoc out, but Snoc shut himself inside his house.
It also seems like that guy took all of Snoc ’s savings while acting as his teacher! And that bastard won’t give it back!”

That was possible.
It wasn’t surprising that an adventurer would commit fraud.

“Because of that, Sam blew up and ran out!”

“So, you came to ask for my help?”

“Yes, aren’t you also strong enough to exterminate monsters? I thought you would at least be better than us, so I have been searching for you everywhere!”

It was by pure luck that the man found Zich and Hans.

“Please! Didn’t you say that you were Sam’s friend? I am so worried that something might happen to him!”

Zich became lost in thought.
He would have simply ignored the matter if the person involved was a complete stranger.
However, while he was in the city, he had maintained a considerably close relationship with Sam.

‘He is my friend, and I told him that I would avenge him if something happened to him.
I also think that this is within the boundaries of a kind act too.”

“I understand.
I will go.”

At Zich’s answer, the miner’s expression brightened up.

*    *    *

Zich, Hans, and the man who introduced himself as Crysin ran to the Monster Exterminator Building.
It was unlikely for Sam and Drew to meet each other.
Even if Sam came to the place in rage, Drew didn’t live or work in the Monster Exterminator Building.
The building was simply a place where people got money in exchange for monsters.
However, like the saying, ‘If you are lucky, you could get struck by lightning even under a clear sky and crack a nose from the fall,’ an incident occurred. 

“Ah, hey! You came right on time!”

After running out of the building, Paul Chenu spotted Zich and rejoiced.

“Priest! Please call a priest!”

“What happened?”

“A person might die at this rate!”

Zich’s expression hardened.
He pushed Paul Chenu aside and went inside the store.
After he opened the door and went inside, he caught a faint waft of blood.
That wasn’t strange.
In a place full of monster corpses, there would always be a thick smell of blood.
However, this smell wasn’t from a monster.

“…Sam.”

In the middle of the venue, Sam was lying on the floor.
He was in a dire state: his bloody face was so swollen that his features were ruined beyond recognition.
His nose was flattened so that it whistled every time he took a breath, and half of his teeth were gone.
His right arm and left leg were twisted in strange directions, and after lifting his top up, Zich saw that there were bruises all over his body.

‘His ribs are probably broken.’ 

“Sam! W-What happened!”

Crysin ran to Sam’s side in a hurry.
He was hesitant to place his hand on Sam’s body.
Sam’s body looked like such a mess that Crysin thought he might worsen the wounds by mistake.

“Hans.”

Sponsored Content

“Yes!” Hans answered, feeling nervous.
He also thought that the situation was serious.

“Go to our quarters right now.
There are potions in my bag.
Bring me the whole bag.”

“Yes!”

Hans disappeared like an arrow; his movements were extremely fast with the use of mana.

“P-Potions? Such a valuable thing?”

Crysin and even Paul Chenu, who stayed quiet, were surprised.

“They ’re not that valuable to me, so it doesn’t matter.
Anyways, is Drew the one who made Sam like this?”

“Ah, yes,” Paul Chenu answered.
“He came into the store enraged, saying he had something to settle with Drew.
I told him to go to the Magistrate instead since I knew what adventurers were like, especially guys like Drew.
Even though he was emotional, I could still talk sense into him.
After I kept persuading him, he understood and was about to leave.
So, I thought the matter was resolved until…”

“That bastard came in.”

After it was confirmed that Drew was the perpetrator, Zich immediately used the title, ‘bastard’ to describe Drew.
Paul Chenu didn’t deny it since he also thought that Drew was definitely a bastard.

“His ears must be sharp because he knew the situation before he came into the building.
I tried to let this man go, but Drew provoked him first.”

“What did he say?”

“Because of everything that went on, I don’t remember exactly what he said but it went something like this, ‘I just gave a piece of trash a taste of a hopeless dream.
Rather than getting insulted, I should be thanked.
Considering what I did, I should have gotten more than the pocket change I got from that piece of trash.
I actually suffered a loss.”

The ‘piece of trash’ must have meant Snoc, and in short, Drew claimed he didn’t do anything wrong.

“Hm.
Is that so?”

Unexpectedly, Zich’s voice was indifferent.
Paul Chenu, who thought Zich would jump up and down in anger, tilted his head in surprise.
He could also spot the slightly upturned corners on Zich’s lips.
If they had known Zich in his Demon Lord days, they would have definitely gotten on their knees or ran away with everything they had. 

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know.
He just left after making someone like this.” Paul Chenu complained, “I know how bad adventurers’ personalities are, but how can they leave a person in this state!”

Paul Chenu possessed common sense like normal people, but to Zich, this amount of violence was nothing to fuss over.
Although Sam’s body was broken, it wasn’t like he was split into two, and he was still alive.
The important part was not the level of the violence, but who the target was.

‘He dared to attack a person who I consider my friend?’

With this, the story changed; it made Zich highly involved in this case.
Before his regression, Zich would have picked fights for any reason, but things were different now.

‘Moreover, isn’t he a bad guy?’

He conned somebody, took someone’s fortune, and used violence on the person who tried to bring forth a complaint about him.

“In other words, it means that even if I beat him half-dead, I won’t be doing a bad deed.’

‘Beat him half-dead.’

An icy smile appeared on his lips.