Secured

“That scream just now…”

Seeing me react to the scream that had come from some distance away, Lynferia tilted her head.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, I heard a scream. It’s probably not urgent, but…”

As I said that, a short scream reached my ears again.

“…”

“Fei? Are you all right?”

“Yeah… no problem.”

“I didn’t hear anything, but… if there is an issue, should I have Ururu deal with it?”

Lynferia asked, looking slightly tense.

Even though she hadn’t heard the scream herself, I could tell she felt frustrated that I’d noticed something she hadn’t.

“No, you don’t need to worry.”

But… it probably wasn’t that she couldn’t hear it—she just wasn’t recognizing it as a scream.

With the second cry, I got a rough sense of the direction it was coming from.

I couldn’t tell the distance, but it didn’t seem close… at the very least, it wasn’t inside the market plaza we were in.

There was no need to stick my nose in… but when I heard the scream again, I clicked my tongue.

“Lynferia… don’t interfere.”

“Yes!”

Because I was irritated, I reflexively called her Lynferia… and I didn’t feel like correcting it right now.

I hurried toward the direction of the cries.

The screams sounded like they weren’t moving… If it was an accident and the victim couldn’t move, that was one thing, but…

As I moved, I heard multiple people laughing mixed with the cries, and I broke into a run.

A few seconds later, after leaving the market and sprinting through a cramped back alley, I reached a dead end where several men stood with their backs to me, cheering as if they were having the time of their lives.

“Ah, damn it! Stop dodging!”

“Gyahaha! You suck! Only one point? That means you’re buying drinks tonight!”

“Shut up! You only got two—same difference! Besides, this thing’s still got some fight in it. Damn… if my turn had been a little later…”

“…You seem to be having fun.”

“Huh?”

I spoke to the men with their backs turned, irritation burning in my chest.

Over one man’s shoulder as he turned, I saw a filthy ball of fur collapsed on the ground.

A ball of fur lying on the ground… that was a puppy.

Because I’d owned a dog before, I was extremely sensitive to canine cries, and I recognized that sound as a scream. It wasn’t surprising that Lynferia couldn’t identify a dog’s cry as a scream.

“Hm? Oh, old man, you’ve got the wrong idea.”

“The wrong idea?”

With a sneering grin, the man furthest back turned toward me and spoke as if I were an idiot.

“Yeah. This thing’s a monster. A—what was it, a lesser wolf? Some rich guy brought it into town as a pet, and it probably escaped. It’s a real problem in the slums, you know?”

“Oh?”

“Sure, it’s still basically a kid… but once it grows up, even the guards will have trouble with it. Better to exterminate it early—for the good of the town, right?”

“I see… Your argument is correct. But… it doesn’t look to me like you’re properly exterminating it.”

A rope was tightened around the puppy’s neck so it couldn’t run away. And on top of that, they were tormenting it.

“Playing with it a little is fine, isn’t it? These things howl at night and it’s annoying. A little punishment is just ‘necessary expenses.’”

“…Isn’t that phrase kind of wrong?”

“That’s what you get when an idiot tries to use big words and screws it up.”

The others laughed at the guy I’d been talking to… but honestly, I didn’t care.

I wanted to smash them right now, but… I couldn’t.

If that puppy really was a monster and truly an extermination target… then no matter how sickening it was, I couldn’t punish them.

Even incognito, I was a ruler. I had to be rational and fair.

“I understand your argument. If it’s a monster, it may well be an extermination target… but it’s still a juvenile, isn’t it?”

“Hey, old man, weren’t you listening? Once it grows up, it’s bad news. You deal with it while it’s easy—that’s common sense.”

With a mocking shrug, the man waved his hand like he was shooing me away.

“Now get lost. We’re gonna kill it, claim the extermination reward, and go drink. Or what—old man, you trying to steal our prey?”

An extermination reward… so that existed too. That meant the town encouraged killing the monster itself.

My irritation didn’t fade, but I was glad I’d listened long enough to confirm that.

“…Then I’ll pay that extermination reward of yours. How much?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll pay you, and I’ll deal with it. It’s a nuisance to the town, and I won’t let it escape. How much?”

When I asked with force in my eyes, the man who’d been so talkative before took a step back as if pressured.

“T-Then copper—”

“Five gold coins.”

It wasn’t the man I’d been talking to, but another man behind him who answered with a sarcastic grin.

Five gold coins was ridiculous… That was enough for a family of five to live for five months, wasn’t it?

Charging that much over a single puppy was beyond outrageous. If such a high reward existed, some scum would start breeding them to rake in money.

It was obviously a lie.

…This was getting annoying. Should I just punch them? No—if I lost myself over small fry like this, I wouldn’t be much of an Overlord.

“What’s wrong? Can’t pay? Then get lost. We’re finishing the game and going drinking.”

“…Fine. I’ll pay. But five gold coins is too high. Cut it a little.”

“Hah? You dumb old man! I told you to get lost!”

Ignoring the man who raised his voice, I lifted the branch in my hand—the one with those dye fruits.

“Hey, you gonna fight with a tree branch? Don’t be stupid, old man! There are five of us and one of you. You wanna get seriously hurt over some monster?”

They laughed derisively, and the others followed suit.

I didn’t bother responding. Instead, I activated the skill “Slash” toward the building on the right, and swung the branch down.

The branch—supposedly slammed into the wall—met no resistance at all as it fell, and the stone wall that should have taken the hit was split open in a huge cut along the arc of my swing.

“…Oops. Looks like the dye fruits fell off.”

I murmured while holding the lowered branch in front of me.

The colorful fruits scattered across the wall and ground, splattering the area in a fairly gruesome way.

The alley had already been filthy… but I’d still done something regrettable to the locals.

“Now then. How about one copper coin?”

“……”

I spoke lightly to the five men, all staring with eyes wide in shock.

“Did you not hear me? One copper coin.”

I slowly raised the branch again as I asked.

“W-Wait! The extermination reward is three copper coins! I’m not lying!”

“I see. Then one copper coin is fine.”

I reached toward my pocket to take out my wallet… and remembered that after getting lectured by that older woman, I’d handed my wallet to Lynferia.

No way… after trying to look this cool, I didn’t even have a single copper coin on me?

That was beyond lame…

…Fine. This was where I showed the power of an Overlord.

“…What are you still doing here? Get out. Now.”

“Uh… um… the copper coin…?”

“Hm?”

When I spoke with a deep frown, the men flinched, fear on their faces.

“H-Hey… let’s go.”

“Yeah…”

All right… victory through overwhelming Overlord pressure.

“Lyn, pay them something.”

“Yes.”

I told Lynferia, who had been standing behind me, then slipped past the men and headed deeper into the dead end.

I heard them scrambling away behind me… but I didn’t care about them anymore.

The puppy on the ground… a lesser wolf, was it? The rope around its neck was tied to a weight, and there was no way a puppy could escape.

And its leg was injured… no, its whole body was covered in blood and wounds.

I wanted to heal it, but I couldn’t use holy magic… and neither could Lynferia or Ururu. I probably should’ve carried potions.

My people would get hurt too, sooner or later. I should distribute some of the surplus potions to those who couldn’t use holy magic… which meant I’d need to reconsider how many I could sell…

Right. That wasn’t the point right now.

I tore the rope off its neck and reached out to lift the puppy…

…and it bit down hard.

“…That doesn’t hurt at all.”

It wasn’t a playful bite—it was biting with everything it had… but it couldn’t pierce Fels’s defense. Too tough, Overlord. If I smashed my little toe into a dresser, the dresser might break instead.

Anyway…

Even if it looked like a puppy, it was apparently a monster… still, with this level of attack power, it seemed fine.

Keeping my right hand in its mouth, I lifted the puppy with my left arm. My right hand could serve as a substitute chew toy for now.

It was covered in blood and mud… I needed to heal the wounds and wash it… and when I held it, I could feel its ribs clearly… I needed to feed it too, but would regular dog food be fine?

And I hoped it didn’t have any diseases… Come to think of it, in the game there was a broad status ailment called “disease,” and there was magic that cured it.

I didn’t know what “disease” status actually represented… but if anyone got sick, I should test whether magic could cure it…

Or were there clinics or hospitals in this world? I should ask Karmos. If they existed, I could run experiments there… unless it was church territory.

Thinking that, I stood up with the puppy in my arms.

“Fei… what will you do with that monster?”

“…I’m taking it back.”

“It is biting you, though…”

“Well, that can’t be helped. It was being abused by people… honestly, I’m relieved it has enough strength left to bite.”

“I-Is that so…”

When I said it like it was nothing, Lynferia looked a little flustered.

In the game, you couldn’t make monsters into companions or pets… so it wasn’t surprising she’d react like that.

“Lynferia. Go pay the owner of the building I damaged. We’re returning to the castle, so you can hand over everything you have on you.”

“Understood. I will take care of it.”

After giving Lynferia instructions, I was about to start walking, when I looked down at the puppy in my arms.

It was still biting my right hand… but it didn’t seem to have energy to thrash around. It stayed still in my arms.

It was pretty adorable, but if it was a monster, taking it like this would draw attention.

“Ururu, get me some rags. I should cover it up.”

“…Here.”

Ururu appeared from nowhere and held out a clean cloth.

…How?

I asked for rags, and the next instant she offered a nice, clean cloth… Was this her “I anticipated you would say that” move?

Holding out the cloth, Ururu stared fixedly at the puppy in my arms.

She might be the most capable one among my people…

Thinking that, I let Ururu drape the cloth over it, and headed toward the mana collection device installed in the territorial capital.