I'm Actually Not Overpowered!

Chapter 224 Spare The Mercenaries, Oh Demon!

"Well done, everyone." Heshu smiled warmly at his companions.

As Adu was still unconscious, he simply patted the young lad, laying him gently on the ground. Meanwhile, Hogun ran in his direction, huffing and puffing as he was out of breath .

With all three of them converging, they stared jointly at their assaulter—one whom it supposedly took all their strength and cunning to defeat.

"What now? Should we just—?" Hogun murmured.

"No. Not yet. Not until we're sure about… hold on…" Heshu suddenly glanced around, his face slowly morphing from a grin to something darker.

"Where are Asa and Dustinel?"

Suddenly, an immense wave of Miasma appeared, causing the two demons to jump back, bracing themselves for what was to come

>VWUUUUUUUSSSSHHHHHH<

Space distorted and warped. Waves of red and black energy crackled in the air. It revealed a wormhole, and a being proceeded from it.

"Well, this is unexpected." The lanky demon spoke as he stepped forward.

In his grasp were Asa and Dustinel—both of whom were unconscious. The mere sight of them being in the hands of yet another enemy caused Heshu and Hogun to gasp in shock.

"To think you defeated Red. Well, he must have underestimated your skill, but…" The tall, slim demon murmured.

His eyes observed the three parties, noticing how disheveled and worn-out they appeared—with one of their members even unconscious.

'It must have been a rough battle,' He thought to himself, trying to deduce what had happened.

He had to admit, for a group of three no-names to defeat Red—a Supervisor, albeit a weaker one—it was quite impressive. As a fleeting thought, he began to wonder what would happen if he engaged them.

"What are your names? My name is Jessop." He bowed as he spoke, maintaining his ethics as a cultured demon.

If they had any manners, Jessop knew they would reciprocate.

"Why do we have to tell you that? Hand those two over!" The lion-faced Hogun barked in defiance.

'So they're savages, eh? Did they not have proper education?' Jessop started to draw the conclusion that the three probably got lucky with Red.

Going any further would be a waste of time. Besides, he had his mission to complete.

"I could kill you three right now, but I still have a shred of respect for you, since you managed to defeat Red. Hence, I will spare your lives. We are fellow demons, after all." Jessop sighed, glancing once more at his small crimson colleague who had ended up disgracing their group.

'What am I even doing? Sigh…'

Quite frankly, the true reason he chose to spare the demons was because it was less of a complication. Even if he used a surefire attack, he would have to expend effort and that was something he wasn't too fond of.

"G-give us our Elves!"

"Your Elves? You mean these two? Why?" Jessop shrugged.

On second thought, perhaps he could capture one of the demons and interrogate him on how he laid hands on the Elves. Yes, that made sense.

"F-FORGIVE US! We're simple mercenaries. We were paid by that female Elf to transport Dustinel from this place. We don't know any more!" Heshu spoke quickly, bowing as low as he could.

"Hmmm…"

"It's true, I swear! We were just doing our job!"

"And who is this lady Elf? What is her identity?"

"W-we don't know! We were just doing our jobs!"

Jessop was familiar with liars, and this old demon didn't seem to be one. As one who was an expert at making-up excuses and seeing through the deceit of others, it didn't appear that the old demon was lying. Still, it irked him to see demons working as mercenaries.

'Well, that's the fate of lower end Mid-Demons. With no education or prestige, their career paths are limited.' It made Jessop all the more grateful for his talent which landed him his position among the Supervisors.

"I see. So it was just in the course of your everyday activities. I understand."

"Thanks man. It's really hard getting decent jobs these days."

"Tell me about it, brother." Jessop sighed.

He didn't really feel like taking any lives, so he would leave them be.

"I'll be taking your employer, though. Hope you have no problem with that."

"N-none at a—"

"Boss, you can't be serious! What would happen to our reputation if this came out? You're just gonna abandon our job?"

"S-shut up, brat! No job is worth more than your life, you hear me? What reputation? Zip it!"

Jessop shrugged at this interaction between the bandits. He couldn't imagine anyone questioning Zerci's decisions, but things were apparently different among ruffians.

'At the very least, the old one knows his place.'

With his job done and the retrieval of Dustinel guaranteed, Jessop decided to return. Red would explain, in great detail, how these mercenaries were able to defeat him. As for their intentions and activities, he would simply have to ask their employer.

He had tied up everything pretty nicely in his opinion.

"Well, then…"

>VWUUUUUSSSSHHHHHH<

The red and black portal flashed once more, causing space to distort.

Jessop kicked the unconscious Red through the door, going through shortly after him. He watched as the mercenaries gawked at his perfect use of Space Magic, noting Hogun's especially frustrated expression.

'There's no need to get worked up. They should be grateful he hadn't killed them.

Weaklings had no choice in the events that occurred to them. They had to accept whatever cards fate dealt them.

It was simply the way of the world.

'Well, I hope I never see them again. This has been pretty uneventful.'

>VUUUUUUUMMMMM<

The warp in space closed.

*

*

*

The group of three demons—one unconscious—sat in absolute silence. They didn't move a muscle, as though they were frozen in place.

Until—

"You can open your eyes now, Adu. Coast is clear."

—Heshu gave the signal.

"Urgh! Finally, this is freaking embarrassing." Adu grumbled, climbing off of Heshu's body. "Never speak of this to anyone!"

It was one thing for him to fall unconscious mid-fight, but it was even worse to be carried like a baby by an old guy. Adu felt like he'd never be able to live through such humiliation.

Then again, he was living his worst shame yet; a human's slave.

"Was all of this really necessary?" He grumbled, casting his gaze around him.

Just as Heshu had said, the coast was clear.

"Indeed. It's much better to let them assume we're harmless. It's also why I telepathically told you all to pull your punches with that Red fellow." The old demon gave a sly grin.

"Pull punches? Understatement of the century! You literally nerfed us. What the heck? I looked like an idiot, getting tired after a single teleportation!" Adu yelled, clenching his fists in anger.

"Y-yeah. It felt weird. I…"

Hogun had it worse, and his silence proved it. He had spent most of the fight running around like a dumb, scared animal. For a fearless demon like himself to be reduced to such a state. Hogun found it terribly distasteful.

"Well, I apologize for the inconvenience, gentlemen. It was necessary." It wasn't like Heshu had had it any better.

He was the strongest of the three, yet he had to act all stupid and flustered when faced with the enemy. Now, wasn't that uncool?

"I hope you have a good reason for pulling this stunt, though. Because of this little show, the enemies now have Asa and Dustinel. It's going to be even more difficult to rescue them, not to talk of completing the original mission. Argh, we're so fucked!"

Heshu's grin only widened. Despite all of Adu's whinings, he remained as composed as ever.

"Of course. It's even better now that they have both Asa and Dustinel. It removes the focus from us—at least, for now."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"It means, they'll be trying very hard to figure out what's going on, so they won't pay much mind to three 'weak' demon mercenaries."

"But Asa is in danger, isn't she? It's only a matter of time before she spills the truth." Hogun added, looking concerned.

One of their duties was protecting Asa at all costs. Not only were their current actions contradicting that directive, but it seemed Heshu thought everything was for the best.

"The Elf Chief is the proxy of the demons. Why do you think Asa's mother is still being kept alive? It's the same reason I think they won't harm Asa—at least, not too much."

None of his colleagues could answer, so Heshu answered his own question.

"They each have authority in this place. It's clear that these Supervisors like to operate using Indirect Rule. That's why they let the Elf Chief control the Sanctuary, while they control the Elf Chief."

Now, if the Elf Chief was indispensable, it would give them very little choice in the administration of their governance. However…

"With the former Elf Queen—Asa's mother—and now Asa herself, they have more options. I think they'd rather imprison Asa and use her as some sort of threat to the Elf King." Heshu grinned.

Both Adu and Hogun were as surprised as they were amazed.

Just when did Heshu figure everything out?