Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

With the sound of breaking window glass, there was a noise as if someone was rampaging on the third floor. Then a woman’s scream echoed through the building.

(Cecile!)

Tossing the silverware I was taking care of, I, who was on the first floor, headed for the third floor.

I don’t know what came over me so suddenly. I knew that the scream was not Cecile’s. It sounded like a maid’s scream. Still, I ran up the stairs. There were maids and manservants in front of me, but I passed them with great speed.

The first thing that caught my eye was the maid standing in the corridor leading to Cecile’s room, shivering. Then, there was the manservant who was blown away from the door to the corridor and lying down. He had been blown away with such force that he had hit the wall of the corridor and was bleeding to death from his stomach.

I avoided the maid and entered the room.

(Seriously, they came in through the window!)

The window of Cecile’s room on the third floor was largely destroyed, and a hole larger than the window was made. Apparently, they had forced their way in through the window.

There were three men there. They did not have the appearance of Knights. They were lightly equipped with what looked like leather armor, but rather than being adventurers, they looked more like ruffians or bandits.

One of the three men was holding Cecile in his arms.

Just by looking at them, I knew what he had to do. I took out my Mithril sword from <Inventory>. I grabbed the sword and leaped at the man holding Cecile in his arms.

Another man with a sword intervened, parrying my sword, the biggest of the three.

“What a little f**ker!”

He parried all of my attacks while cursing at me.

(Oh, man. What the hell is wrong with these guys? They’re strong. I’ll have to swap cards.)

I figured out that the intruders were pretty good. I guessed that the other two were about the same, and I estimated the strength of the men with the weapons.

Currently, 30 of my 50 summons were Harami, D-rank Fish.

I swung my sword and at the same time took the [Mana Fruit] from <Inventory> to restore my mana. I did so because I didn’t have the mana needed to use <Create> or <Synthesis>.

After eating the [Mana Fruit], I looked backward for a moment, then made the Grimoire disappear once and reappear on top of the manservant, who was spurting blood and was about to die.

A blade of [Grass of Life] fell out from the Grimoire, which entered his opened mouth.

The injured manservant was recovering quickly, but I couldn’t afford to turn my back on the bandits forever. The bandits seem to be quite skilled. I haven’t been able to defeat any of them yet.

While fighting the intruders, I flipped the Grimoire in the air and began to change the composition of my cards, repeatedly deleting and creating them. My status changed, and I was filled with strength.

“Helgei! Why don’t you just kill that little shit!”

“Yeah, I know, I know. Die, you bastard!”

The men didn’t think that they wouldn’t be able to kill a child of ten or so. They seemed to be in a hurry, as if they didn’t have much time.

“Everyone, take up arms! Bandits have intruded! Call the Knights!”

In the corridor, the Butler was already aware of the situation and delivered the news of the bandits. The Baron was also giving instructions. The manservants had already begun to pack the corridor, arming themselves at the first shout of the maid.

“There are more Knights in the garden! Hey, Helgei, that’s enough. We’ve got the kid. Let’s get out of here.”

“You’re not getting away with this!

The intruders seemed to have given up trying to defeat me. The man with the dagger threw something from his waist bag to the ground, and smoke began to fill the area.

(Poison?)

I tried to hold my breath, but it was too late. I inhaled the smoke that spread all at once, lost consciousness and collapsed on the spot.

(Where am I? Did I lose consciousness?)

After how much time has passed, I regained consciousness. I tried to remember what I was doing before I lost consciousness.

(Did the bandits kidnap me alongside Cecile? Damn, sleep or paralysis. I didn’t have any countermeasures against abnormal conditions. Am I tied up?)

Realizing that I had been kidnapped, I checked the condition of my body without moving considering there might be bandits around. I tried standing up, but my arms and legs were not moving. I was tied up with a rope or something, and my mouth was also wrapped with something. I looked like a caterpillar.

(Is someone nearby?)

As I focused my attention, I could feel the presence of several people nearby. Could it be those bandits?

(I have to find Cecile first.)

I still don’t know if Cecile is safe or not. However, if killing her was their goal, they would have killed Cecile in her room. I know that after fighting against them that they were capable of doing so.

(The bandits screwed up or I am lucky. If they’d tied up my eyes, I’d be in trouble.)

I couldn’t move my arms or legs, and my mouth was sealed shut, so I couldn’t speak, but I could clearly see my surroundings.

 Summoners have one major weakness. Their eyes.

They have to specify the summoning location with their eyes if they want to summon anything. If there is an obstacle, I can’t summon beyond it. Of course, I can’t summon any of my summons with my eyes closed.

I opened my eyes slowly to check my surroundings.

(Where am I? A warehouse?)

I looked around with my dimmed eyes and saw what appeared to be a warehouse. In the warehouse-like room, I could see a number of large wooden boxes. 

I summoned Chappy on top of the crate. I used <Sharing> on Chappy immediately, and instructed it not to fly around.

(Okay, I should not summon more in this situation but I need one more view.)

I summoned a second Chappy and in its field of vision I saw three men sitting and resting in a thoughtful manner. In this warehouse-like room were the three bandits who had attacked the mansion.

And Cecile was lying quietly a little behind Allen.

(Cecile, can I assume that she’s okay?)

From Chappy’s view, I could see that she was tied up just like me. I assume that she is alive if she is tied up too.

“Hey!”

(Do they know?)

I regained consciousness and wondered if I had been exposed. From Chappy’s eyes, I saw another man entering the room.

A fourth man, whom I did not recognize, entered the room. Unlike the three present, he did not seem to be the bandit who had attacked the mansion.

He was a forty-plus man with skinny cheeks and bad eyesight. His appearance was not like that of the other bandits. But there was something about him that made him different from the other three.

“What is it? Big Brother Dagraha.”

One of the three bandits in the room replied.

(Oh? They didn’t find out that I summoned Chappy?)

“You are asking me? We had to kidnap one kid, but why are there two? One of them even looks like a manservant?”

He seemed to be asking why I was also here when they were supposed to kidnap Cecile only.

“This little kid seems to have learned how to use a sword. So, I thought we could make some good money by selling him as a slave.”

Before he could finish, the man with the skinny cheek slammed his fist into the side of the man who was talking. The man was wearing leather armor, but it didn’t seem to protect him from the blow.

“Hey, don’t do anything I don’t order you to. Don’t forget, I’m the leader this time. You will obey my orders. If you ever do anything I don’t like, I’ll kill you.”

“I… I am sorry.”

The man was holding his side and writhed with both elbows on the ground begging for forgiveness. The other two didn’t seem to want to help him. The man with the skinny cheeks walked out of the room, telling them not to do it again. It seems he only came to check on the kidnapping.

“Marcus, are you okay?”

Another man seemed to be worried about the man who got hit.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why did the boss hire that assassin? That’s some serious bullshit.”

The punched guy started cursing, as if he couldn’t contain his anger.

“Yeah, I heard that he was hired to fight Zenov.

“Seriously,” he said, holding his punched stomach.

(Shit, this is totally kidnapping.)

Allen and Cecile were kidnapped and locked up in what appeared to be a warehouse somewhere.