This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Darius’ thoughts about his contract’s abilities were interrupted when the tickle-like ‘attacks’ of the henchmen came to a grinding halt.

At that moment, a large man—Reginald—grabbed Darius’s wet hair and tilted his head back. Although wet, his face was unbelievably clean for someone who had been punched. After scrutinizing his face carefully, the man smirked evilly, fat in his cheeks, trembling with anticipation.

“Hah, this bastard. He came in here so confidently. He must be relying on something, huh?”

“…”

“Hey, hey. It’s nothing to mess up your pretty face. Even if we’re busy, we can still throw you into a drain and drown you in feces, you trash.”

‘…You think I’m pretty?’ Darius had to admit he felt a little bashful, although the compliment came from another man, and a rather unattractive one at that. Likely due to his overbearing aura and serious demeanour, Darius had never really received compliments on his appearance.

“Fine, let’s make you want to talk. Hey, bring the tools. This guy seems to have some strange gift, so beat him with tools.”

“Yes, boss!”

Burly men wielding crowbars, baseball bats, and planks approached, cracking their necks and arms. Reginald stepped back and smirked.

“It’s gonna hurt a bit.”

The big guy at the front twisted his lips as he got closer. And then—

Crack!

The sound of bones breaking was clearer and more resonant than expected. The man who had kicked Darius froze, eyes wide open, before collapsing and clutching his shin, rolling around in pain.

“Ah! Ahhh!”

“Shit, what the hell?”

“That idiot bastard, why kick with his own leg instead of using the tool?”

“This guy’s weird! Use the tools to beat him!”

“That’s what I said, you moron!”

“Dammit!”

A big guy, henchman 3 (or was it 4? Darius lost track), squeezed his eyes shut and swung the nailed bat at Darius’s small head.

Thwack!! The dull sound was quite loud, but it wasn’t the head that broke. The bat hung loosely, broken in the middle! Darius, apart from his slightly tilted head, was unscathed.

‘Is this guy really made of stone?’

Kicking broke the kicker’s toes, punching broke the puncher’s knuckles. Crowbars, hammers, baseball bats, and planks— all tools broke. After gathering the injured in one spot, there was enough for a basketball team. The kidnappers finally noticed something was off. They clung to the wall, whispering among themselves in low voices.

“Dammit, does this make sense? Why does it seem like the attacker is in more pain than the guy getting hit?”

“Yeah, what’s this? We don’t have any healing contracts and healing elixirs are damn expensive these days due to the greater number of Abyssal attacks, and we’re gonna use them all up.”

“Boss, this really hurts.”

“Dammit, just hold on a bit.”

“Even with a dislocated bone?”

“My bone is broken, boss.”

“Ah, go lie down over there!”

“But wasn’t he supposed to be only 2-stars? Can the gift of a low-level beast-tamer be so overpowered? Is this according to the laws of physics? Does it make sense for one person to be so strong?”

Of course, Darius heard it all. Hearing his kidnappers beginning to doubt their reality was also not what he wanted, according to his original plan.

‘Why are these guys so weak?’

Trying to extract information by playing along was futile, as they kept not fulfilling their roles as ‘interrogators’. How did such weaklings have the nerve to mess with his new employer, Kain? Was there no point in Darius getting captured and soaked in this disgusting water?

Reginald, standing back, yelled angrily.

“Hey, you bastards, this won’t do! Finish up quickly and move before dawn! Why the hell can’t you handle a single 2-star beast-tamer?”

Although Darius hated to admit it, he also had to agree with Reginald. Having wasted precious time getting captured, these guys failed at both threatening him and allowing him to extract information. He was hoping that their tongues would loosen around the ‘prisoner’ they’d already sentenced to death. After all, dead men couldn’t talk. But…

‘What’s with these weaklings?’

Getting annoyed at the lack of valuable information and watching them tap dance around with broken legs was frustrating. Finally, Darius muttered with a sigh.

“Guys, this won’t do.”

It was clear to everyone that the words that should be spoken by the kidnapping gang’s leader, Reginald, were now coming from the kidnapped victim. The injured kidnappers, clinging to the wall, whispered in confusion.

“Why is he saying that?”

“I thought the boss said that.”

“I don’t know, I’m scared now.”

“…I wanted to play along, but you guys are too low-level.” Darrius finished like a teacher disappointed in the lacklustre performance of a student.

Ignoring the increasing distress of those watching him, Darius’ limbs became flexible with a jelly-like quality and slipped free from the layers of chains.

The kidnappers’ faces turned to shock as they watched dozens of cable ties get slipped out of and fall to the ground within a second.

Darius stood up from the metal chair, pushed back his wet hair, and then grabbed the chair…

And threw it at the biggest target—Reginald!

Crash!

“Ugh.”

The unprepared Reginald was hit squarely in the face with the metal chair before he could even summon a contract. He rolled his eyes and collapsed, blood streaming from his flaring nostrils.

Pushing his dishevelled, wet hair back again,

Darius strode toward the remaining henchmen and the Black Vine Consortium underling. Sharp murderous intent poured toward the kidnappers. His dark eyes gleamed menacingly.

“Come at me all at once, enough of my time has been wasted already.”

————

“Are you stupid or are you dumb?” Lira said while looking at Darius with an unimpressed expression upon hearing his story.

After Darius had beaten and tied up his opponents in a ‘kidnapping reversal,’ he’d called Lira, Miya, Jax and Garret.

Never would they have imagined that their normally stoic and dependable leader would have such a ridiculous ‘plan.’

Lira: “Let me get this straight… you chose to get captured on purpose—”

Garret: “—marinated in sewer soup—”

Miya: “—and then waited for them to monologue like villains in a cheap play?”

Lira: “—and when they didn’t say anything useful, you decided the plan was stupid?”

Jax: “—which it was. From the start. Obviously.”

All four stare at him in a judgmental silence.

Darius avoided eye-contact awkwardly; he also had to admit that this ‘plan’ was completely out of his normal character.

“Ahem… Honestly, I think the idea of finally getting to test my contract’s abilities made me lose my head a bit. But once you all have your own contracts, you will probably be no different!”

The other four looked unconvinced by his explanation.

“Let’s hope not…”

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