Chapter 75 – Ghostbusters (Part 4)

There were several grounds for such a judgment.

"Hey, why don't you say anything?"

First of all, I never revealed my identity to anyone. In other words, this man could only speculate about me.

He didn't have any evidence to conclude that I was an evil spirit.

"I told you. I am originally from America. After all, we're here as aliens, shouldn't we stick together?

Therefore, this behavior was clearly irregular.

The player could figure me out if he also suspected that I was one, but to be so frank?

Logically, it didn't make sense. Maybe I'm really a local. What audacity would they have had to reveal their identity first?

In a city where a captured evil spirit is subject to the death penalty?

Well, maybe if he's only been here for a month, then it's time for naivety. But he had just said that it had been more than 3 years since he had arrived in the city. It was foolish to think that he had lived 3 years behaving like this.

— There is a kind of game association that we have created with each other. I'll recommend you in it.

First of all, the way he pronounced the noun "game" was silly, like a Korean character in a foreign movie.

If he wasn't going to hide his identity, he would have spoken to me in English.

Maybe if he had done so, it would have eased my doubts a bit, but that bastard was beating around the bush instead of acting in the simplest way possible. Therefore, I made a final conclusion based on the available evidence.

"Hey, can you trust me now?"

That bastard wasn't a gambler, but he pretended to be one to expose me. And I could think of only one reason why a local would hide his identity.

He's here to catch me.

Well, I guess I assumed that this would happen in a city where the existence of evil spirits was known to the general public. I couldn't find anything about it in any of the books in the library, but there must have been an institution that specialized in working only with evil spirits.

He must still be skeptical. Because there can be no physical evidence.

And now my task was solved. I must cast aside all his doubts. Right now, maybe he's just listening to me, but one day they might use magic to start investigating. I needed to nip it in the bud so that they wouldn't even consider it in the future.

But how?

What actions should I take to convince them that I am not an evil spirit?

The answer to this question was very simple.

*Step*

I took a big step forward.

— ... Why did you come up to me all of a sudden? It's too much...

"I have a question for you.

Silence answered my application. The guy paused for a moment, smiled as if he was happy, and nodded.

"Oh, yes, anything.

"Then I'll ask you directly." Are you an evil spirit?

"What am I going to hide now?" I do. That is why-...

Okay, I had the final answer.

"That's enough. You don't need to say anything else.

"What are you doing to them-...

"The chief said that the evil spirits should be killed on the spot.

— П-пардон...?

A face full of bewilderment.

I shouted loudly for the sound to reverberate throughout the square and rushed at him.

"Behella!"

Barbarians did not tolerate injustice. A fist landed exactly on his temple. Embarrassment, doubt, and fear froze in the man's eyes, which turned into pressed bread, but it was useless to look at me like that. I didn't do it because I had a personal grudge. And if you think about it, he asked for it himself.

*Blow!*

The man has openly revealed his identity to me, but if I pretend to know nothing and run away, he will only become more suspicious. A local barbarian, brought up correctly, would never have done this.

*Bach!*

So I grabbed the man who had lost his balance by the neck and threw him to the ground as a combined movement.

"Boom, boom, boom"

Climbing on top of him, I, without stopping, repeatedly struck him with fists the size of a watermelon. His Physical Resistance was quite high and his skin was hard, but still, it was useless since I had recently increased my strength stats.

"Wait...!"

His face was bloodied in just a few blows, but I didn't hesitate and did what I had to do. Of course, he shouted that it was unfair.

"I'm not like that!" I am not an evil spirit!

Yes, of course, you are not an evil spirit. But what can I do? I also want to live.

"Are you lying too?" You must really be an evil spirit.

"No, I mean...!" Agh! Aaa!!!

How many more blows did he receive after that?

A large crowd surrounded the sudden brawl, as well as the guards, as I wanted.

"Hey!" What are you doing? How dare you use violence in the middle of the city?

"Take him away!"

I immediately stopped hitting him and stood up. Was it because of the material of my Class 2 armor? Unlike when I was framed and arrested in the Guild, the guards were vigilant and cautious. There was no need for this.

*Tad!*

I picked up the unconscious man, threw him at the guards, and shouted loudly so that everyone around could hear:

"This man is an evil spirit!" He revealed it to me himself and tried to do something funny!

"What?" Demon?

The guards who approached the unconscious man, thinking that he was a victim, flinched at my words. The spectators watching what was happening also roared. Of course, most of them were suspicious.

"An evil spirit?" That barbarian must have misunderstood.

— ... Wrongly or not, this guy will have to pay dearly for turning a man into a chop like that.

Logically.

The barbarian's cries would not be so reliable.

But what about that?

"I am Bjorn, son of Yandel!" I swear on the honor of a warrior that I tell the truth!

Little Balkan, Bjorn, son of Yandel. It was hard to pronounce with your own lips, but it was the most popular name in town these days.

"A little Balkan?"

— ... Come to think of it, I've heard that he wears a breastplate made of lithium.

"Then this person really...?"

"If that's the case, then it's worth believing...

"Such a famous researcher wouldn't beat up an innocent person and say such nonsense.

The murmuring continued, and public opinion changed. Even the guards realized who I was and looked at what to do in confusion.

At that moment, a man who turned out to be the captain of the guard approached.

"Can I check your ID?"

It was a polite question that would have been unthinkable in the past. As soon as I handed him my ID, he looked at me with strange eyes.

"You really are the one. First, let me say thank you. My brother has returned from the labyrinth thanks to you.

"Is your brother from the Zarvi clan?"

"No, but he's one of the people who paid for the protection and followed you.

Hah, there must be less than ten of these people still alive. There could not have been a greater coincidence. But it was so.

"So when are you going to kill this evil spirit?" It's a pity he's still alive.

"This will be decided only after the end of the investigation. Looks like you'll have to accompany us to the police station, do you mind?"

"Hmm, I'm pretty hungry, though...

"Of course, we'll provide you with food." If what you're saying is true, you've just done us an outstanding favor.

"An outstanding service, isn't it?"

I thought everything over carefully, unlike what I usually did.

How would a barbarian respond to this?

As always, I didn't have to think long.

"What does that mean?"

It was a question that could not have been asked without touching the barbarian's psyche.

The captain of the guard grinned and answered:

"That means you've done something great.

"Something great?" Then Will I get meat as a side dish?

Perhaps this was too much even for a barbarian. Such an idea came to my mind, but looking into the captain's eyes, it did not seem so to me.

— ... If necessary, I will treat you with my own money, so I hope you will come with us.

"In that case, all right...

After that, I followed the guards to the exit from the central square.

But for some reason, this is exactly what I kept hearing from behind.

"Little Balkan has slain an evil spirit!"

"With this story, I won't have to pay for a drink today.

***

[Your reputation has been increased by +1.]

[Your reputation has been increased by +1.]

***

I was a little worried that this plan was completely improvised on the spot, but everything resolved smoothly after that. When security officers searched the clothes of the unconscious man, a token fell out of it.

"Oh, it's the mark of an evil spirit hunter.

At first, there was also a fuss in the security department. This was quite natural, since a person who was brought in after being suspected of being an evil spirit had the mark of a hunter of evil spirits. Therefore, the security department contacted their association, and soon a person arrived who seemed to be the boss of this person.

"So, this man... Our colleague...

At first, he had an absurd face, but after understanding the whole situation, he answered my question in a menacing voice.

"This man said with his own mouth that he was an evil spirit. How do you explain this?

"This... A common measure that is usually applied to those who have achieved fame in a short period of time or have performed an unusual feat.

"Stop. I can't understand if you're talking so complicated.

"We suspected you.

"What?" Do you mean that you suspected an evil spirit in me? Who was it? Who suspected me? Was it you!?

When I snorted furiously, as if I had been insulted, the boss was sweating profusely.

"As I said, it's a normal procedure...

"Say it simply!" Are you joking with me!?

"What is certain is that it will never happen again!" So please be quiet...

I was beginning to understand why the barbarians lived like this. It was simple. The bewildered reaction was also quite amusing.

"Hmm, what will happen to me then?" If he's not an evil spirit, shouldn't I be punished?

— Of course not.

"It's a relief. Then I'm sleepy, so I'm gone.

"And-excuse me?" Oh yes... Come on...

As soon as I had the opportunity to jump off, I left the building and returned to the inn. I behaved boldly in front of these people, but inwardly I wanted only one thing - to leave.

Deuce...

To be honest, I'm as tired as I am of the Lord Floor's chase.

I didn't think they would have such detailed information.

America, Europe, and all that. There was even a mention of the game, and the way he spoke was natural enough to think he was from Earth. Well, I was able to figure it out because of its terrible pronunciation, but still. What was this insane difficulty?

Yes. Not all the bastards here are stupid...

It is not surprising that Tarikan Rien got to the guillotine.

"America? Taiwan? Europe? Where are you from?"

"Wow, you almost fooled me. You're really good at playing. Aren't you in the 3rd month?"

"Ah, you don't need to be on your guard. I am from America. I shouldn't have even touched that damn game."

In a strange city, where there is no one to turn to, if someone suddenly comes up to you and says something like this, it is quite natural to give in to temptation.

Gosh darn...

The more I thought about it, the more filthy the world became. It was sad enough to be suddenly dragged here and seen as an evil spirit, but now these bastards were even throwing some kind of bait?

Monsters could just be beaten to death, but I couldn't do the same with these guys, which made them even worse.

"Phew...

I let out a sigh of relief that I was holding back.

But I think I've dealt with this problem so far.

Of course, I didn't know if the evil spirit hunters or some other bastards had really cleared their doubts about me, but I had done the best I could, so now all I had to do was wait carefully.

From now on, I must behave like a barbarian.

After reviewing my further actions, I went into my room. Then I lay down on the bed in my clothes. But... What is this?

An envelope lay on the bed. When I opened it and checked the contents, I found a letter and a pill the size of a thumbnail.

What is this? Was it Misha who wrote me a letter? No, she didn't have time.

As soon as I read the letter, I tensed.

This is a random email sent to an explorer who is believed to be a player.

If you can read it...

A letter written in English. I almost threw it in surprise, but remembering that there was no one else here, I crawled under the blanket and read it carefully. In a rough interpretation, the content was as follows.

[This is a random email sent to an explorer who is believed to be a player.]

[If you can read this, never tell anyone that you are a player.]

[Oh, and I ask you not to translate the contents of this letter, even if you are caught by an evil spirit hunter. In any case, I want to say this. We have a completely anonymous community, and you can join us by taking the pill attached. If you don't want to join, please throw the pill away. I sincerely hope for your survival.]

The more I read, the more difficult it became in my head.

Could it be the work of those same bastards?

Hell, it's too plausible to be from them...

The fact that only simple words were used here? Perhaps they showed concern for those who do not know English. This game initially only supported English. They might have thought I could understand enough.

If I were them, I would use this method to distinguish and invite players.

This was different from the evil spirit hunters who could only imitate us. This letter was carefully written from the players' point of view.

GHOSTBUSTERS

Just take a look at the community name in the top column. Isn't it too witty to be written by an evil spirit on the verge of death in an interrogation room?

But those bastards wrote something like that?

Of course, it could be like an intermediate attack: pretending to be careless and aiming when you were careless. So I was hoping that the sender of this email was a player. I didn't really need company, but... If it was a letter from evil spirit hunters, I wasn't sure if I could survive in this city.

[P.S. King Raphdonia gondon!]

How can you defeat the bastards who have dedicated themselves to hunting evil spirits?