A/N
Hi, I'm not dead yet, just lazy.
XXX
Late at night, a group of five suspicious individuals stood in front of the destroyed brothel. They seemed to blend into the darkness. All five were outfitted differently, but anyone in their presence could tell that they were dangerous.
Normally, this area would be swarming with guards, even with everything and everyone there seized, but there was nobody here. The five people had used their influence to remove the guards stationed here.
"This is too big to be a mere joke. I need to apologize to Cocco Doll. I can't believe Succulent was defeated so easily, and on the day I sent him over. What a farce."
The stout, muscular man at the front of the group, Zero spoke. Behind him, someone laughed.
"Ah, well, so what should we do now boss? Should we kill Succulent, since he got captured?"
"No, we still need him. I need to find out what happened here. I know how they destroyed the door, but how did they get the stairs?"
"Eh, how did they destroy the door, boss? I doubt they used a weapon, was it magic?
The effete-looking pretty boy standing in the middle of the group, Malmvist, asked Zero.
"It was a fist."
The other four looked at Zero in confusion. Zero repeated himself, confident in his analysis.
"Fists, well, that's quite something."
"... Don't be foolish, this is nothing"
Zero took a breath and punched the door. The fist went straight through the door, leaving a mark similar to the one the Solid Rock Golem had left, albeit much smaller.
Malmvist spoke up once more, somewhat in disbelief.
"Well, you're not a good comparison, boss. Still, our enemy can break down a steel-reinforced door with a giant fist and defeat one of the Six Arms. While Succulent was the weakest of us, he is still one of the Six Arms. Should we consider this person a dangerous enemy then?"
"The size of the fist means nothing. What matters is the power behind it. Also, Succulent is not very powerful once you see past his illusions. We cannot be sure that this enemy is powerful just from this. That said, someone has dared to oppose us. We must destroy them with all of our might, or our value will drop."
Snickers arose from the gathered people.
"Well then, boss, how should we handle this?"
"First, we'll get Succulent out and find out what happened here. Then we will make the ones responsible for this suffer."
XXX
The following day, Satoshi arrived at Gazef's residence late in the morning. It was much smaller than the noble residences, but it was more than enough for Gazef and his servants.
Early that morning, Satoshi had received a message from Brain that Gazef wish to meet him a little before noon. Satoshi had already mentioned that he knew where Gazef's house was located. Satoshi explained this as being well informed about the warrior-captain, but in reality, he had received this information from his shadows.
Once again, the information he was given when he arrived in this world lacked details.
"Ah, Satoshi-san, it is good to see you again. I trust you are doing well?"
Gazef greeted Satoshi as he entered the house. The two of them were alone in the house; Brain and Gazef's servants had gone out for some errands.
"Ah, yes, I am doing fine. Thank you for agreeing to see me Gazef-san, or would you prefer me to refer to you as Warrior-Captain-san?"
"Either is fine with me"
Gazef lead Satoshi to a wide room used to meet with guests. Both men took a seat.
"Very well, Stronoff-san, then, let us get to the reason that I am here. First, to get things straight, I believe you may have the wrong impression of me and my situation."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when I arrived at Bennir Village, I told the people there that I was a traveler who was just passing by and saved the village. While this is technically correct, there is much more to it than that."
"What more is there?"
"Well, to start, I am not from anywhere around this area. I doubt I am from the same world or plane of existence. To put it simply, I, and those I rule over were accidently teleported to this area. I would give you more details, but I'd prefer not to repeat this and would like to meet with an official with this country and tell all of you at the same time."
"Teleported you say?"
Gazef was surprised at this. Long distance teleportation was high tier magic that few could use in this world.
"Yes, I will go into more details later, but for now I wish to ensure that our people do not come into conflict with each other."
"I see."
Gazef was still somewhat in disbelief at what Satoshi was saying.
"Ah, to that extent, I would like to meet with a representative of this country, either its king or someone who can act on his behalf, do discuss several matters. Currently we, the Fortress City of Galahall, have no way to return to our original location and are unlikely to discover a way in the near future. Therefore, I would like to peacefully coexist with the people here instead of come into needless conflict. To that end, we should come to an agreement on what we expect from each other, what is acceptable, and what is not acceptable. Naturally, there are some things we cannot compromise on, but most issues we can negotiate on."
"Well, I will see what I can do, Satoshi-sama. I must say, that is quite the surprising tale you have told me."
"You believe me?"
"Well, there are many strange and unbelievable things in this world. Only a fool would refuse to believe something simply because it sounds unlikely."
Satoshi smiled at Gazef's answer.
"Well, you have quite the open mind. I had anticipated that you wouldn't believe me and ask for proof, but it seems that I've misjudged you. I trust you will arrange a proper meeting later, but for now, I believe we have more pressing matters. I trust Brain-san has informed you of the events that occurred yesterday?"
Satoshi had asked Brain to inform Gazef about their attack on the brothel, but to not tell anyone else.
"Yes, I was quite impressed at your actions. The Kingdom is a better place with the Eight Fingers weakened."
"Eight Fingers, is that the name of the organization that controlled that brothel?"
"Ah, yes, did you not know that, Satoshi-san?"
"I simply saw a shady establishment that was clearly breaking several of the laws of this country and took action against it."
Satoshi did know how the Eight Fingers and Six Arms were, but he didn't need to tell Gazef that.
"I see, in that case I believe I should inform you that you have attacked an establishment belonging to the strongest and most despicable criminal organization in Re-Estize."
"Yes, during my investigations, I did come across the name 'Eight Fingers' several times, but I don't have much information on them."
"Well, they are a criminal organization. It would be difficult to obtain detailed information about them. I will share what I know about them so you know more about the situation."
Gazef explained to Satoshi about the Eight Fingers. Most of this was information he already knew, but he did learn a few new things.
"I see, that is quite troublesome. So then, it will be impossible to defeat them without getting your hands dirty. Now then, Gazef-san, what are your thoughts on this matter? How do you think we should proceed? Will you ignore this problem, try to solve it yourself, ask for my assistance, or perhaps something else?"
Gazef looked slightly surprised at this.
"Oh, I thought I would have a hard time bringing it up. Indeed, you are correct, Satoshi-san, I would like to request your assistance in this matter. Would you be willing to assist me and several allies with handling this issue?"
Satoshi had a hunch that this was coming, so he had an answer ready.
"I see, unfortunately, I cannot assist you as a representative of Galahall until we have an agreement with your country."
Gazef looked slightly disappointed at that response, but before he could reply, Satoshi continued.
"That being said, while I am the leader of Galahall, I have the freedom to act on my own. If you wish, I am willing to lend my personal assistance to you."
At this, Gazef looked grateful.
"Very well, then. In that case, I hope you will assist us in defeating the scum of the Kingdom."
After reaching an accord, Gazef and Satoshi decided when to meet and then decided to share a drink and talk for a while longer, sharing stories of their past. The alcohol that Gazef brought out wasn't very good, but Satoshi didn't complain, wanting to try new things, although he didn't finish the entire cup. Naturally, Satoshi edited parts of his stories so that it would be believable to Gazef. He somehow even managed to convince Gazef that there were 'weak' versions of several monsters such as dragons, giants, and basilisk, all of which could be defeated by 2nd tier magic, that existed in his homeland. After an hour had passed the two of them then left Gazef's house, Gazef left to meet his allies and Satoshi stopped by his house.
XXX
Later that night, Satoshi approached the building that Gazef mentioned earlier. After giving the guards a password, he entered the building and found his way to a large meeting room. There were quite a few people in the room and one familiar figure with black armor and blonde-brown hair approached him.
"Ah, Satoshi-sama, it is good to see you here."
"Hello, Climb, I trust I am not late?"
"Yeah, we haven't started yet."
"Ah, is Brain-san here as well?"
"Yes, he's right there, talking with Gagaran-san."
Climb pointed toward one of the walls, where Satoshi saw Brain standing next to a large muscle-bound woman.
'Huh, so that's what she looks like.'
Satoshi was silently thankful that he knew Renner was in an adjacent room from his shadows. He had no interest in talking to her and wanted to avoid contact as long as possible.
As Satoshi was lost in thought, committing to memory the appearances of the important figures in the room, Lakyus spoke up to gat everyone's attention and explained the objectives of the night's mission. Once everyone had their orders, they set out. Satoshi was assigned to Climb's group, which actually worked out for him.
XXX
"Wait! Wait! It's me, I'm back."
The invisible thief identified himself in a panicked voice as Brain prepared to strike him down.
Things had gone exactly as Satoshi expected from there. They had approached their target and sent Lockmeyer the thief to scout ahead. After the incident with Brain, he explained what he saw.
"That's, well, it's terrible, but it's also pretty fortunate. Since they're all here, that means the others can easily take down the other locations. "
"Then, what should we do?"
"What can we do? We can't attack this place. Let's fall back."
After a bit of discussion, it was decided that they would fall back and inform the others of this development. They would take down the other areas first and come back to finish the Six Arms with their full strength. However, before they withdrew, Satoshi convinced them to at least scout out the area so they know the terrain. After a few minutes, Lockmeyer came back with surprising news.
"Leader, something's up!"
"What is it? Were you spotted?"
"No, it looks like a battle took place in there! I saw several guards knocked unconscious, so I checked inside. I think I saw several of the Six Arms either dead or unconscious and burn marks and other signs of battle!"
"What!"
Climb could barely contain his voice. He was shocked that there was a group that could defeat the Six Arms, individuals said to be on par with Adamantium class adventurers.
"Climb-san, we should probably investigate this."
"Yeah, let's be careful though. Lockmeyer, could you call the others?"
Obeying Climb's command, Lockmeyer went to call the people under Climb's command. They all cautiously approached the compound and found things exactly as Lockmeyer had described. The Six Arms were all found dead including Succulent, who should have been arrested under the orders of the royal family. Several important people were unconscious and easily apprehended and a large cache of documents and materials were seized.
During this time, everyone was so busy organizing things that no one saw Satoshi walk outside and teleport away.
XXX
I found it difficult to write a battle scene for the six arms this time, so I just did it off-screen. Yes, as I said before, I am lazy.