Ambush 3

Zero easily dodged by moving his head a bit before he caught the spear with both hands.

"Haa!" A guy behind Zero was slashing his sword at Zero's wide-open back but before his attack connected, Zero threw the guy towards the sword coming from behind him.

"Aagh!" The moment went through half of his body, he finally let go of the spear and Zero used it to pierce the guy's neck.

"How about keeping quiet when you attack...can't really say next time though..." Zero muttered before he had to block another incoming sword with his dagger.

*Clang!* This was the last mercenary who decided to approach Zero with the others, he was gritting his teeth as he was trying his best to overpower Zero who was only using one hand with a dagger but all he was capable of was trembling.

"Heh" 'It's always so easy to kill people when you swap their faces for faces of those fuckers from 9 years ago.' Zero smiled provocatively as his enemy was trying to overpower him.

"Hm?!" Zero noticed something from the corner of his eye and decided to grab the guy in front of him by his neck and hold him next to him.

*Whoosh!* *thud* An arrow came flying, piercing the back of the mercenary's head.

"Tch! Fuck the mission" The last standing mercenary who was waiting for the chance to take Zero out dropped the bow on the ground and started running.

"Oi, you just killed your friend and you want to run away without apologizing to him?!" Zero shouted at him and took out his hand crossbow, shooting the guy into the back of his knee.

"W-Wait a second, I can give you money. You guys like money, right?!" He immediately started pleading while sweating from the pain and nervousness.

"Sorry pal, I don't care about the money, still, you will tell me what you know later." Zero said before punching him, knocking him out for now.

Zero put him over his shoulder before jogging towards the place where the second officer was lying along with his enemy. He checked their status and confirmed all of them to be dead, he made sure to check every single person and if they were still breathing, he killed them "out of mercy".

After that, he approached the first officer who was still paralyzed but at least he was able to talk.

"H-How did...Are you really a common guard from Imperial Police?!" The officer asked while sitting with his back resting against the trunk of the tree.

"Take a guess, I have been sent to ensure the mission's success even if there are minor complications. I haven't been told the message we need to deliver though. Since there are only two of us left, how about you tell me the message now?" Zero explained before asking for information.

"...First promise you will help me please" The officer replied which caused Zero to narrow his eyes but he gave up after a few seconds of glaring.

"Fine, I promise to help you leave this place." Zero said and the officer immediately noticed something off about his words but he didn't dare to push his luck so he told him that the second guy is carrying the message. Zero went to search the second officer and he indeed found a small rolled-up paper inside the sealed vial.

'I won't be able to read it without destroying the vial itself...tch' Zero returned to the officer.

"I presume you don't know what is written in it, right?"

"T-That's...we weren't told what it is but why do you care? The messages like those are usually encoded"

Zero looked down at him before looking back at the vial in his hand.

"That means you are pretty much useless now..." Zero muttered.

"Huh?" The officer's eyes widened before he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"B- you promised" He said weakly before slowly closing his eyes.

"Indeed, I promised you to help you leave this wretched world... world, place, who cares about wording. At least you had it quick." Zero retrieved his dagger and wiped the blood off it with his prisoner's relatively clean clothes.

'As I thought, killing a defenseless man is much more different from killing for the sake of survival. It feels strange but I know it's necessary, not to mention he wasn't exactly a good person. Although there is no absolute white and black in this world. Even people who are considered "good" in this world murder others, the reason hardly matters.' Zero mentally prepared himself to deal with his prisoner in case he would decide to act tight-lipped. Anyway, he couldn't let anyone who has seen his face here leave alive.

Zero took what remained relatively edible from the burnt supplies. He tied up his prisoner and then quickly left the place since the fresh smell of blood could attract any danger beasts in the vicinity.

After running for a few minutes, he decided to stop by a stream. He used the relatively cold water to wake the mercenary up.

"*cough* *cough* Wha-?!" The guy took a few seconds to orientate himself before he recalled where he is.

"Yo, I will cut to the chase. I want to know anything you know, mainly things involving your mercenary group and if this was your main group."

"Tch...Why should I tell you? You won't let me live anyway...I wonder where is that paralyzed friend of yours." The guy said while gritting his teeth. He started looking around but he couldn't see any signs of the other person being nearby.

"That's right, I won't lie...you aren't getting out of here alive no matter what. As for the reason why you should tell me...I won't put you through some gruesome torture. I would rethink whether your information has such a high value for you to needlessly suffer." Zero crouched down next to him and said with a neutral expression.

"Hmph..." The guy just turned his head away from Zero.

"A such a young kid already talking about torture...that's the empire for you, ha-ha." The guy said before releasing a hollow laugh.

"Believe me...I don't want to do this either, however, I will do anything necessary to get as much information as I can. Not for the Empire but for myself." Zero grabbed him by his hair and forced him to look at his face. It was enough to convince the mercenary of Zero's resolve.

"..." The guy was silent but Zero could see his expression wavering.

"If it's the matter of pride then it is already too late when you previously begged for your life. Let's make it easier for both of us."

"Hell...what I know isn't even that valuable, to be honest, it is pretty worthless now. As for your previous question, no this was far from our main group, otherwise, you would hardly stand a chance. We split up and the main group was supposed to ambush our primary targets." The guy spat out with a hate-filled tone.

"Where?"

"Huh?"

"Where were they supposed to ambush them?! What else would I mean?" Zero explained with an annoyed tone.

"Hakurou river, don't waste your time, it's dozens of kilometers away from here and the ambush was supposed to take place a few days ago. That's all I know and am planning to tell you, now go to hell!" The guy replied, not forgetting to swear at Zero.

"Thanks! I hope you will have better reincarnation than me." Zero nodded his head and in a swift motion he has drawn his sword and cut off the prisoner's head.