I Became the Savior of the Academy’s Villains Chapter 99

"Stop! What do you think you're doing?"

A booming voice, as if someone had swallowed a steam engine.

But it was a voice Luca had heard before.

With a puzzled expression, Luca turned to where the voice had come from.

'The workshop owner?'

The owner of the workshop where they had bought the auto-carriage earlier was approaching them.

"Old man Guy?"

The man who appeared to be the leader of the Red Bandage gang also looked displeased when he saw the workshop owner.

The workshop owner, called Guy, glared at the Red Bandages.

"These people are my customers. Are you planning to bother my customers?"

"Huh? C-customer...?"

At the word 'my customers', the Red Bandage boss became flustered and hurriedly helped up the scam gang members.

"You idiots! What are you doing touching a customer from the Draw Workshop! Do you want to start a war with the Venom Guild?"

"S-sorry, boss."

"Old man Guy! Sorry! We'll retrain these guys!"

With that, they hurried away as if fleeing.

"Whew."

Luca let out a faint sigh at the situation suddenly being resolved.

"Tsk. I recognized you when you showed the exchange card, but I forgot to warn you."

Muttering this, guy walked up to Ottbo.

"Young master, there are a lot of lowlifes here like them, so please be careful in the future."

"Ah, th-thank you."

Ottbo replied with a reluctant expression.

Guy chuckled at Ottbo's awkward thanks and held out a bracelet he was carrying.

"This is a subspace bracelet containing the auto-carriage. The password is XXX."

"Okay."

"Please come again. Next time, I'll have something even more amazing prepared for you."

With a bright smile, guy turned and left at once.

Ottbo, holding the bracelet, had a sparkle in his eyes.

"Luca! Now we're auto-carriage owners!"

"That's good. Let's get out of this dreadful place quickly."

"Yeah!"

Luca replied blandly as he strapped his sword to his waist again.

'Looks like this place is managed by a criminal organization.'

For an illegal workshop, security seemed tight, but things also felt haphazard—a sign it was managed by a criminal group.

'I don't know who the Red Bandages are, but as for the Venom Guild... that was under Albino's factions.'

Venom Guild.

Luca remembered seeing the name among Albino's subordinates.

It made sense there would be related organizations here in the Hephville territory if Albino had a base here.

'If criminals run this place... is there an underground market here too?'

Usually, wherever criminal organizations manage things, there's an underground market.

There's no better place for illegal money to flow.

'I should've noticed when Bern Doyner said he was selling his goods.'

In the original, Bern Doyner's items were distributed through the underground market.

He should've realized there was an underground market here.

'It could get troublesome if I stay too long. I need to leave quickly.'

Fortunately, they hadn't attracted the attention of other criminal groups yet.

It would be fine as long as they left soon.

Luca turned to Bella.

"Bella, can you find out where Hav and Moula are?"

"Of course."

As if she had been waiting, Bella led them to a corner of the workshop district.

Hav and Moula were there, packing up their luggage.

"This should be enough."

"We bought way too much."

Thankfully, they seemed to be done as well.

As Luca approached them, he spoke.

"Are you finished?"

"Huh? You're back earlier than I thought?"

"They prepared things quickly over there. If you're done, let's go."

Hav tilted his head at Luca's words.

"Already? Shouldn't we look around a bit more?"

"It's better to leave quickly—looks like there'll be more trouble."

"Trouble? Oh~ those guys earlier."

Seeming to guess what Luca meant, Hav nodded and scratched his cheek.

"But what about the coachman? Did you get one?"

"Why do we need that?"

"Well... Don't you need a coachman to drive an unregistered auto-carriage?"

Registered auto-carriages can be driven on roads without a coachman.

But there's no way a carriage illegally modified or manufactured here would be registered.

"Don't worry about that."

As Luca said that, he gestured to the side.

"Isn't there a best driver right here?"

"Best driver...?"

With a dubious look, Hav looked where Luca pointed.

Ottbo was there, sporting a triumphant grin for some reason.

* * *

A remote road from Hephville territory to the neighboring Kototo territory.

It was here that the Heko bandit gang mugged travelers under the guise of a 'toll'.

Since so few people passed through, only one or two members would be left to watch for auto-carriages or travelers, while the rest either gathered food or lounged around.

"Ha-am. Another fruitless day..."

Tara, one of the bandits, was assigned to keep watch on the road.

It was easier work than foraging, but standing and staring at the road all day wasn't easy either.

Half-asleep with boredom, Tara suddenly opened her eyes wide at the dust cloud rising in the distance.

"No way...?!"

She immediately ran up to the hideout and rang the bell.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"B-boss! Boss! Automatic carriage! There's an auto-carriage!"

At the bell's sound, the gang members quickly gathered.

And then the bandit leader, murdoc—a man easily twice the size of an average person—came out.

"Is it real?"

"Yes! Hurry and get ready!"

"Kuhaha! Guys, let's go!"

Their way of looting was simple.

They just blocked the road the carriage traveled, and then demanded money from the travelers.

If they didn't pay, they'd just steal the carriage.

Whether they got money or sold the stolen carriage, it was an easy and profitable job.

Usually, people just paid up.

Traveling around without an auto-carriage here would be suicidal.

Since this area was far from the Empire's center and practically abandoned, no high-ranking nobles ever passed this way, and no one brought an armed escort.

In other words, only minor nobles barely holding titles or a few merchants passed through—perfect targets.

If only more people passed by...

"Come on, let's get this road blocked!"

Murdoc shouted in excitement at the unusual customer.

Following his order, the bandits began hauling rocks and logs to block the road.

And as they were setting up—

VROOOOOM!

"What the? Here already?"

"Hey, Tara! Were you spacing out?"

"N-no! At a normal auto-carriage speed, it'd be impossible to get here this fast..."

Tara was flustered at Murdoc's rebuke.

She was sure the dust cloud had been far away, yet it had already arrived.

She was at a loss.

"Damn it, it can't be helped. Tara, block them with your body!"

"Wh-what?!"

"If they spot someone ahead from a distance, they'll slow down! Use that time to block the road! Miss this and you're eating only potatoes for a month!"

At Murdoc's words, Tara reluctantly stood in the middle of the road.

She could see the auto-carriage approaching from afar.

"Ugh...!"

The carriage grew closer and closer.

The carriage driver must have seen Tara by now.

But it didn't slow down.

"Ah... ah...!"

Squeezing her eyes shut, Tara felt the terror of impending death.

SCREEEEEECH!

"?!"

Just then, the carriage spun, pivoting on its left front wheel and swerved past Tara.

At the same time, it breezed through the obstacle the bandits were setting up in the back.

"......?"

"What... was that...?"

All the bandits stood dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what had just happened before their eyes.

"... Was that... an illegal racing driver or something?"

"I-is that so...?"

It was an unbelievable situation otherwise.

After a moment of shock, the bandits began clearing the obstacles from the road with gloomy faces.

"Damn it. Guess dinner's potato porridge again."

"Argh!"

Tonight's dinner for the bandits was set to be watery potato porridge.

* * *

"You said you're the best driver! The best driver! Aaaaaaaagh!"

Hav was screaming from the back.

Luca responded dispassionately.

"Every time, I'm reminded of what a terrifying talent you have, Ottbo."

"Hi~ ha! Ahahahahaha!"

"Are you listening at all...?"

VROOOOOOM!

When it comes to anything related to drive magic, Ottbo had, indeed, a terrifying gift.

Even though this was only his second time at the wheel, he was showing unbelievable driving skills.

But his driving was violent.

He'd been pushing the carriage to its maximum speed for hours, careening through curves and rough patches with no sign of caution.

The fact there wasn't a single scratch on the carriage was astounding.

"By the way, Bella, do we really have to go this far?"

"Yes, young master. I think we must do this."

"..."

Bella spoke with grave determination.

She was holding Luca tightly in her arms.

More precisely, Luca was sitting on Bella's lap, wrapped in her embrace.

Roughly ten minutes after they started driving, Bella suddenly stopped the carriage and had Luca ride like this.

'I mean... we're touching, but...'

He felt Bella's soft body in all sorts of ways, making this awkward, but he couldn't refuse.

"Ahahaha! This speed! I can't stand it!"

With Ottbo half-crazed at the steering wheel, it truly felt like their lives were at risk.

'I wonder if Whistle can keep up...?'

He began to worry about whether Whistle, who should be somewhere in the sky above, was keeping up.

'If there was an issue, she would've said something.'

Just then, a group of people appeared in the middle of the road.

"... Ottbo! Look ahead!"

Luca shouted in alarm, but Ottbo didn't stop.

"Don't worry!"

"?!"

SCREEEEEECH!

Ottbo jerked the steering wheel.

The carriage spun in an impossible maneuver, slipping right past the people.

"Hhhhaaa...!"

Ottbo, intoxicated with his own driving, let out a sigh of ecstasy.

Luca blinked at the sight.

"... That's some truly terrifying talent."

It seemed Ottbo was destined to be a racing driver.

"Huh? I'm running low on magic power. I'll stop for a minute."

"Ugh... finally..."

A full five-hour drive finally ended.

Ottbo could still keep driving, but the carriage's magic power couldn't last any longer.

"Ah! That was refreshing!"

"Bleeeegh!"

Ottbo looked absolutely refreshed, while Hav couldn't hold back his nausea.

Watching the contrasting pair, Luca sighed.

Surprisingly, Moula standing beside them seemed fine, and was patting Hav's back with a sympathetic expression.

"How far did we get?"

"I saw a sign earlier—we're about halfway through Kototo territory. A two-day trip done in one day!"

"Huh... You even saw the sign in the middle of that ride?"

Luca was amazed by Ottbo's remarkable skills.

"We should eat in a nearby village. Let's wait here until the carriage's magic power refills."

"Let's do that."

"Man, five hours at top speed! This auto-carriage is amazing!"

Maybe the workshop owner was really skilled—Ottbo's eyes were sparkling with hearts as he gazed at the carriage.

He really looked like he was in love.

"Luca! I did the math—at this pace, we'll arrive at our destination in five days!"

"Didn't we calculate ten days originally? That's quite a cut."

"Yeah! This guy's incredible."

Ottbo looked at the carriage proudly.

Luca chuckled along.

"Not bad."

"Ugh... where are we...?"

Hav, finally regaining his senses, looked around with lifeless eyes.

Luca replied.

"Looks like we're in the middle of Kototo territory."

"Still a long way to go..."

Groaning in despair, Hav lay down again.

Bella approached Luca, who couldn't help chuckling at the sight.

"Young master. We have some uninvited guests."

"Uninvited guests?"

Luca looked puzzled.

His sixth sense hadn't picked up anyone.

But instinctively, he drew his sword.

CLANG!

"!"

A bolt flew in from somewhere.

Luca deflected it reflexively and frowned, staring into the darkness of the woods.

"Cutting that down, eh?"

A group of people emerged from the darkness.

At the front was a woman holding a crossbow.

With a red bandage around her neck, she smirked and said,

"You've entered our territory. Time to pay the toll, don't you think?"

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

It seems they really went to a crime infested region...

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】