Chapter 176 Departure ② 

Part 2

　Suddenly, the wind blew.
The grass swayed greatly, but that was not enough to expose the men who were crawling to hide themselves.

“Let’s wait until the latter half of the hour.
If the target doesn’t show up, we will bail out.
Even if something does happen, we won’t wait any longer.” (Mercenary Boss)

　If their client had been caught in some way, there was a possibility that the target could trace back to his men.
It would be one thing if they were killed in battle, but they couldn’t risk the entire group just because they followed through on one single request.
　Probably because he was tired of waiting, one of my companions, who was lying down nearby, made a big yawn.
He was so loosened up that you wouldn’t believe that he was on a mission.

　Maybe he noticed the line of sight of his boss, the man said with a vexed expression.

“Sorry, I feel quite sleepy.” (Sleepy mercenary)

“It’s just half an hour, brace yourself.” (Mercenary Boss)

“Heiii” (Sleepy mercenary)

　From his experience, it was rare for the target to come after such a time.
　The client this time was resourceful, but something must have happened.
It was also possible that the target changed their mind.
The route had been told only a few hours ago, but there were plenty of reasons for a change in plans.

　At that moment, he suddenly spotted a shadow coming towards him in the distance.
　There was only one person.
This person wasn’t the target of the mercenaries, but this place was too far off the road.
It wasn’t the scouts they had sent out, but if this person was coming straight to this place where they were hiding, it was possible that it was someone sent by the client.

’

　That person was a woman.
Her skin was tanned and her boots were black.
She was dressed in a revealing outfit that made her look like a “Thief (Tozoku)”.
　Her steps were heading straight toward them.
The boss stopped his companions with his hand and signaled them to be on standby while he drew his weapon and stood up.
　The woman’s feet stopped more than ten meters away.
Her eyes widen and she *jirojiro* stared at the boss’ green-painted face.

“Are you the messenger? Show me the sign.” (Mercenary Boss)

　There are more than 100 people hiding here, and if she was an enemy, she wouldn’t have come here alone.
　However, when the pink-blonde-haired woman with pink eyes heard what the boss said, she shouted back.

“Syyyyyyyyyyyyt~! Seems like there weren’t enough sleeping drugs~! Telling you wanted to economize――You were the one who told me to quickly get rid of them, no? If we don’t hurry, Cry-chan will be here~!” (Liz)

“!? Oi!” (Mercenary Boss)

　At the boss’ signal, his companions stood up at once.
The sight of people suddenly rising up from the almost flat grassland was like countless trees suddenly sprunging up.
　However, the unidentified woman’s expression didn’t change even when she saw that many people.

’

　And just like this, with gracious movement, she took a mask out of nowhere and put it on her face.
After seeing her doing this, the boss of the group took a step back.

　He knew of the fearsome Hunters who use a creepy laughing skeleton mask as their symbol.
　At one point in time, they took the initiative to crush criminal organizations and were feared by all organizations.
They are crazy guys who took out dozens of organizations with just a Party of six members.
There are no enemies of theirs who would mistake the mask of their Party.

“Impossible………… You are one of 《Strange Grief (Nageki no Borei)》!? I thought you had settled down lately.” (Mercenary Boss)

　The skeleton woman said in a casual voice at the boss who was calling them in a quivering voice.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know how many more groups there will be, and I’m not interested in your names, as I’m on a time attack right now.” (Liz)

　Suddenly there was an uproar behind him.
His companions, who rarely get upset, gasp and let out a stifled scream.
　There was a giant knight wearing a dull-colored armor, looking down at them.
He was more than twice as tall as the tall boss.

　As if someone was crawling on his right shoulder, another pink-blonde-haired woman appeared.

“Onee-chan~! Don’t kill them because it will be too much trouble to clean their corpses! As I will have to make sure to cover all the traces!” (Sytry)

’

　They are crazy.
They were being underestimated.
If the rumors were true, 《Strange Grief (Nageki no Borei)》 had six members, plus one new member――For a total of seven members.
For only a group of seven to take on a group of mercenaries, they must be mad.
　However, what the boss felt was intense fear.
When his opponent looked at the men who stood up, they didn’t even see them as enemies.

“Oi, Lizzz! I’ll take the strongest one, so I’ll let you take the rest.” (Luke)

　A red-haired man climbed onto his left shoulder and shouted in a high-pitched voice for a man.
　Without answering, the woman called Liz turned towards the woman with the same hair color as hers and yelled at her.
There wasn’t even a sign of her getting into fighting posture against the men who were already battle-ready.

“Hey, there is no one who fell asleep~! Didn’t you say you used sleeping drugs, no!? What do we do now! We can’t take our time, no!? Lucia-chan, frog them~!” (Liz)

“Lucia-chan, frog them, please! We will catch them all and set them free in a labyrinth!” (Sytry)

“??? Lucia, frog them!” (Luke)

“Umu, Umu.” (Anthem)

　As if to respond to those voices who have no sense of urgency, a voice that resembled a scream fell from the sky.
　Without thinking the boss looked up.

’

“Enough with that! Didn’t I tell you that, that move was very tiring!? (Lucia)

　As if it was a joke, a large kite was floating in the sky.

TL notes:

Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday!
Haha so Lucia succeeded to create the Ninpo Soraton! I wonder how many sleepless nights she spent doing that!
And RIP Mercenary group.
You took one too many job.
Tchao à plus!

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