Outlaw

“Unit 13 has been annihilated.”

I witnessed the complete obliteration of the unit through my telescope from the castle turret. It was over before I knew it.

I’d heard rumors of the outlaw. He was like some sort of hellish beast, tearing soldiers apart with ease as though he were shredding paper.

My hand shot up instinctively to cover my nose and mouth.

Even though I knew the smell wouldn’t reach us here, I couldn’t help imagining the stench of blood.

The desert landscape had turned crimson from soaking up the soldiers’ remains.

“Well? How many were you able to confirm?”

“I counted five.”

I replied to the woman in a black dress behind me.

Charlotte Charles Sharia den Chateaubriand XVIII.

This woman is nuts.

That was my first impression of Charlotte.

Very few people try to directly advise the Saviors from Earth, due to the high probability of being killed.

Either the Saviors kill you, or you get mauled to death by monsters. The chances of survival are slim to none.

Yet, Charlotte spent over a year living among 40 Saviors and survived unscathed.

Even more incredible was the fact that she simply bluffed her way through it.

This is not my real body, but merely a remote-controlled dummy.

There’s a powerful bomb inside my body. If I die, it’ll go off and kill us all.

Apparently, those two lies were all it took for her to survive.

In reality, there was no remote-controlled dummy, and we hadn’t even made such a bomb, let alone placed it inside her.

She’s insane. I would never dare do that, no matter how crazy I was.

“Hmm, five skills to take out one company-sized unit. Not bad.”

Charlotte looked pleased.

“You know what their skills were before they were turned into weapons, don’t you? Is there any point sacrificing so many people to do this?”

“You’re not very smart, are you? Their effects and power have changed. How long they last, how long you have to wait in between uses...they’re totally different now. These are entirely new skills.”

I possessed the ability to detect and assess skills in detail. That’s probably why Charlotte hired me.

“I’m going to dispatch Unit 11 and Unit 12. Stay here and continue to watch him.”

“...Roger.”

If I refuse, she’ll probably cast me out too.

I don’t think anyone can survive after being banished to the monster’s lair, save for that man.

The man who fights using weapons made from his comrades’ souls.

I looked at him through my telescope once more.

Clad in black armor, the man was heading straight toward us, kicking dead bodies out of the way as he did so.

He had a giant sword on his back and two red and blue twin blades at his hips. He also held a hand cannon and wore a half-face megaphone mask on his face. His red cape billowed in the wind.

“...Why?”

I asked Charlotte the question that had been bothering me for ages.

“Why did you let him live instead of killing him?”

I immediately regretted asking when I saw Charlotte beam gleefully.

Her face was more terrifying than any vile monster.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

The corners of Charlotte’s mouth turned upwards.

“I thought it’d be fun, that’s why.”

God. I hope she dies soon.

I cursed quietly, disgusted to my core.