The Firestarters' Reckoning
I slipped behind one of the mercenaries and roughly wrapped my arm around her neck.
"Eek, heeek!"
Kim Soi glared at me in panic, frozen in place, unable to do a thing. I whispered to the mercenary in my grip.
"Come on, talk. No bullshit excuses. Why did you burn my base? Why did you break in?"
"I-I'm sorry. Please spare me. I swear I won't do it again—"
She was quick on the uptake. If she'd resisted half-assed, she might've ended up in a lot more pain.
"Wrong order. Apologizing matters, but first—why did you do it?"
"Well..."
"I'm really curious. Why'd you come into my base?"
"F-for money! Money!"
"Money?"
I tilted my head. There wasn't any cash in my base.
"There wasn't any, was there? Hell, how would you even get money from a safe zone in the first place..."
"Th-there's a way! That's why we were looking, but there wasn't any... so we started scavenging for other supplies!"
Still, my doubts lingered.
"Then why start the fire?"
"I don't know! We were rummaging through the warehouse, and suddenly flames just shot up..."
I kept staring at her, suspicion unyielding.
Not entirely impossible... right?
Could I rule out that someone else—or a zombie—started it by chance when they broke in? What cleared up my doubts was Kim Soi herself.
"...Me!"
"What?"
"Fuck, I was smoking and tossed the butt wrong—that's how the shitshow started! So what? Gonna bitch about it?"
I fixed her with a sharp glare.
"Explanation's over. Next up: apologies. Sincere ones—to me, and to everyone else who built that palisade and warehouse."
"Fuck that. You think grabbing one hostage makes you hot shit?"
"...Hostage?"
I shook my head coldly.
"I don't need hostages."
Even now, if I wanted, I could kill them all in a heartbeat.
"Next: apologies. Who's going first?"
"Quit the clown show and let her go. No idea how you pulled it off, but you used something like Agility Boost, right? One-and-done skill—can't spam it for a while."
"You think so?"
I replied to her with a faint smirk.
"Obviously! Whatever you're planning... we'll let it slide if you fuck off now. But keep holding that bitch and..."
The fierce glint in Soi's eyes was no joke. Still, I wasn't scared.
"...I'll burn that woman with you. Want that? Go ahead."
I calmly shook my head.
"Apologize. No volunteers? Guess I'll pick."
I shoved the mercenary in front of me hard. The instant I did, the others charged like they'd been waiting.
"Chance! Beat his ass!"
No weapons needed. No hostage meant no rush.
"Easy now."
My fist sank into the woman's gut. She wielded a massive hammer-like thing, but its tip never touched me. The gap in our levels was vast.
"Shoot! Damn it, take him down now!"
I wasn't moving at the invisible blur-speed I'd shown before. No need. But even at moderate pace, it was plenty.
My physical stats utterly dominated theirs. I dodged muzzles too fast for normal guns, outpacing their aim entirely.
"Shit, what the hell is this guy?!"
I weaved through them. If they fired or swung without aiming, they'd hit themselves, not me.
"Hmph."
Amid the chaos, I kept subduing the women without pause.
"Hngh!"
"Guh!"
"Kyaaah!"
Press the shoulder down firmly to pin. Tap the chest lightly to drop. Kick the legs out gently to trip.
Controlling my strength to avoid kills or permanent damage was the real challenge, but neutralizing them? Easy.
In seconds, all the mercenaries were down. Only Kim Soi remained.
"Hnnngh!"
I grabbed her collar tight as I approached.
"Now, apologize."
"F-fuck!"
"You will apologize. Tell me what you did wrong and how sorry you are."
"You blind? Think I look sorry to you?!"
"I know. That's why I'm teaching you. You should feel sorry right now."
But her eyes didn't break. Defiance burned on.
"Sorry you're gonna die..."
"Good. A bit lacking, but next—"
"Sorry I gotta kill you!"
Glancing down, I saw a lighter in her left hand. She flicked it on.
"Hahaha!"
A massive flame erupted from her—from the lighter—blasting out.
My body got shoved back slightly.
"Serves you right! Should've fucked off when we said go our separate ways! Your choice! You brought this on yourself! I didn't wanna kill you, but—"
Soi cackled maniacally. I was a little thrown. I knew levels and skills in this world were impressive, but turning into a real mage like this? Unexpected.
Unfortunately for her, I had no intention of fulfilling her hopes—or her expectation that I'd burn to death on the spot.
"Third time."
"...Huh?"
I strode through the flames, patting out the lingering fire on my body. Sadly, my clothes were far weaker than me and incinerated in seconds.
"Explain how you'll make reparations. Then, the cause of this mess and how to fix it."
"Wh-what? How... that flame should've melted a punk like you—"
"Answer."
I approached her casually.
"C-come closer... I'll do it again? That attack—I can spam it—"
"Next time, I won't bother educating you."
Fear flickered in her eyes.
"Reparations...? Ha. Fuck no! No way! No money, no supplies! Become some random guy's slave and get tortured forever? I'd rather die!"
"..."
"Cause? Merc life got too hard! Fuck, you think you're the only one struggling around here? What're you gonna do, tell me that and—?!"
I kept staring.
"You could've joined my group. You refused."
"That's..."
"You demanded special treatment. Refused to join properly. Can't buy 'had to raid you to survive' at that point."
"You ever actually been in a group? Oh right, guy's probably never been through the shit."
I listened openly. Separate from her crime, it was true—I was blind to this world's harsh realities.
"Without safeguards, who knows what the old crew'd do to us? Just slave life, taking all kinds of bullshit!"
"Fair concern. But doesn't erase what you did. If you were really scared of them treating you rough, you could've just left."
I slammed her to the ground hard.
"Guhk!"
The other mercenaries had guns and weapons trained on me, but none dared charge. They'd seen what I could do—resistance was pointless.
"Don't play saint. Quit fucking around and kill me! That's the plan anyway!"
I shook my head.
"No. Not killing you."
"Liar!"
"If I planned to kill, why waste breath yapping?"
"...What?"
"Prison. Until you repent and reflect."
Of course, I wasn't thrilled. But I wasn't so enraged I'd have to kill them.
Above all—
Now, I had the leeway.
Before, I'd given up reforming people once. Housing them, imprisoning long-term, keeping them alive—it seemed like a hassle. Wasn't a solo job. No time for guarding, feeding, watching.
But now? Different.
Base has a prison build option... and no one died or got hurt bad, so straight-up killing feels excessive.
Letting them go was too risky. They might've lied to my face, or come back with grudges. I could handle it, but my people might not. Too late for clean mercy.
If not killing, bind them.
Plus, short on hands anyway.
No harsh labor planned, but prison work details? Fine.
"L-lie... right?"
Kim Soi under me stared up, disbelieving. Like she knew I couldn't mean it—but desperately hoped I did.
"Dead serious."
I looked down at her with a bitter smile.