The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases: Volume 3 [Parts 1 to 2] by Shin Kouduki

Author:Shin Kouduki
Language: eng
Format: epub

The Attack’s Motive

Having easily disposed of the monster, Allen felt nonplussed as he returned to the carriage. The monster itself didn’t trouble him; yes, he’d felt a strange sensation, but he’d slain the beast easily enough. The question was what that thing had been doing here. It wasn’t normal, obviously. He had a few theories on how that could happen, but there was no point keeping them to himself.

“We’ll save time if we put our heads together on this one,” he said as he climbed back into the carriage, greeted by three dumbfounded gazes. He didn’t have long to wonder why they were so taken aback before he noticed something.

“Oh. I just realized the driver’s seat was empty. When did you get into the back, Mylène?”

“It’s easier to talk to her here,” said Riese.

“Ah, I see.” Clearly they felt they needed to talk too. Leaving the driver’s seat unoccupied meant they couldn’t make quite as hasty a retreat if necessary, but the back of the carriage still offered a good view of their surroundings. If anything happened outside, they’d know, provided it was above ground level. It seemed unlikely that there’d be another monster hiding in the earth.

The town was within reach, but the circumstances gave Allen pause. “It’s probably safer to talk here rather than heading straight in.”

“Yes,” Riese agreed. “Now we have even more cause to be cautious.”

“There’s something fishy about this,” said Noel. “We were just ambushed by a monster within sight of an Empire town.”

“You think the Empire did this?” asked Mylène.

“It’s not impossible,” Allen replied. “But it’s only one possibility, and a pretty unlikely one.”

An unusual occurrence like this could either be a coincidence or an orchestrated act. Moving a monster to a specific place was difficult, but not impossible; countries with small armies had sometimes been forced to do so to defend themselves. Typically, though, the losses were not worth the benefits. It seemed unlikely that was the answer.

“It would be such a crude approach too,” said Noel. “That thing would attack anybody who came near town.”

“I’ve heard they roam a pretty expansive territory too,” Allen noted. “That could’ve included the town.”

Though the town itself was probably protected by a magical forcefield, anyone taking even one step outside that barrier would be at risk.

“Remember that the path we followed is the one route from the Kingdom to the Empire too,” said Riese. “If the Empire did this deliberately, the Kingdom would surely take it as a provocation.”

“You mean they’d declare a war?” asked Mylène.

“That would be a real possibility,” Riese replied. “It would certainly give them good reason to do so.”

There would be no justifying the beast’s proximity to the town. In fact, the Kingdom would interpret it as a cover for premeditated action. But if the Empire really wanted a war, they wouldn’t take such a roundabout route. A direct declaration would suffice.

Moreover, Allen hadn’t heard anything about strange monsters attacking travelers to the Empire when he had been gathering information. Nor had

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