NOVEL NEXT Chapter 73 – You’re dead.
Nahida picked up the old man. He carried him into the games room where Rimuru was and threw the old man down next to him. "WAAA! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Rimuru, who was distracted, shouted.
"It's the old man who was watching me. I found him near your house and caught him."
"Did you kill him?"
"Of course not. I've never killed anyone in my life... I just helped hide the bodies."
"... But what do you want me to do? Weren't you the one who said you wanted to question him? Take him back to your hotel and question him. Please don't get in my way. I'm about to finish an important mission!"
"You're playing this shitty game, and you say it's important?" Rimuru was playing a game from the Assassins Creed franchise that didn't get good reviews. However, he was enjoying it.
"What do you mean 'SHIT GAME'? This game is perfect!"
"Right, right. I'll get this old man and take him to my hotel, but don't blame me if anything happens to him."
"What, you intend to kill him and blame me if he's someone important?"
"If you don't know him, he's not someone important. But yes, I intend to blame his death on you."
"The people in Tempest saw you carrying him."
"Who cares?" Nahida replied with a calm smile and picked up the man again. He put him on his shoulder and walked outside. Nazuna was quite nervous, mainly because of the stares from the other residents.
They were probably thinking that the two of them were criminals who were kidnapping someone.
"There's no need to worry about them. Let's move on and not look around." Nahida said.
"You look nervous."
"... I'm fine."
Nahida and Nazuna arrived at the hotel a few minutes later. Nahida heard many people talking about him on the way, but he kept a smile and didn't mind any unnecessary comments people were making.
People and also monsters.
Rias was no longer at the hotel since lunchtime had passed. She had even stayed longer than expected. She probably wouldn't be back overnight because of that.
The only person in the hotel who saw Nahida enter with the old man and take him to his room was Joulan.
"It's all right, he just fainted." Nazuna tried to calm him down and explained the situation to him. She then went to Nahida's room, where he had entered with the old man.
'Luckily, there are no guests here. They'd probably get scared.' That's what Nazuna thought. Nahida was being very reckless. This could make him and his hotel's reputation look bad.
What if people started commenting that he was a murderer of the elderly? Things would get complicated.
"So you tied him..."
"I'm sure this old man will try to do something when he wakes up, so it's good to tie him up. After that, I need to splash some water on his face." Nahida went to the bathroom and got some water.
He splashed water on the man's face, but nothing happened.
"Yeah, I think I hit him too hard..." Nahida smiled bitterly.
"Are you sure he's not dead?"
"I'm sure. He's breathing, and his heart is beating. You can leave now. I'll stay here and wait for him to wake up. You need to take care of reception."
"Right, I'll go to reception. But if anything happens, I want you to call me."
"Sure, I'll do that."
Nazuna left the room, and Nahida stayed with the old man until he woke up. It took almost half an hour for this to happen. When the old man slowly opened his eyes, he saw Nahida's face and panicked.
"What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me? Please!" The man noticed that he was tied up and began to struggle.
"Just be quiet. You'll attract the guests' attention, and I don't want them to think I'm killing you. I want to talk."
"Then why did you tie me to this chair?!"
"Because I'm sure you'd run away as soon as you woke up. All right, start talking. Who are you, and why are you watching me?"
"I'm not watching you!"
"There's no point in lying. Rimuru has already investigated and knows what was going on."
"That Slime?"
"You're lucky he didn't do anything to you and just decided to warn me. If he'd caught you, I wouldn't have been able to guarantee your safety."
"Urgh..."
"So, who are you?"
"All right... I'll tell you." The man looked away and took a deep breath.
"If you lie." Nahida pointed at the man's throat, and his cold eyes stared at him. "I'll rip your head off."
Seeing Nahida's gaze, the man turned pale. He knew Nahida wasn't joking. He could be killed!
"I won't lie." The man took another deep breath. "My name is Johan, and I'm an envoy of the church."
"... That easy?"
"OF COURSE, YOU SAID YOU'D KILL ME IF I LIED!!! I may be old, but I don't want to die yet!"
"All right, all right. But what does the church want with me?"
"That's why." The man looked around.
"The inn?"
The man nodded.
"I see... But how did they find out about it?"
"It was a few days ago when the festival took place. One of the merchants who was in Tempest was a churchgoer. He noticed some strange things in your inn and sent a letter to the church."
"Why was a churchgoer in a city of monsters?"
"Although he hates them, he's a merchant... Tempest makes him a lot of profit."
"Ah, I see. So they sent you here to find out all about my inn."
"That's right."
"Right, I've made up my mind. You're dead."
"WHAT?!"
