Chapter 383
Chapter 383
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 383
Chapter Title: Colors from Outer Space
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"Quaaack!!!"
The chef shot upright like a goose whose foie gras had been snatched away, letting out a piercing scream. As a warning, I silently carved up his thigh without a word.
"Quaaack!!! Keeek! You fucking bastard!!! What the hell! What the fuuuck!!!"
I didn't need both of them for the interrogation.
Once I killed the one on the side, the survivor would naturally spill everything he knew out of fear. Criminals were always weak to terror and pain, after all.
"Ugh... What's with all the noise? I finished up with the customers... Aaaargh!!! What the fuck is this guy!!!"
"What do you think?"
—Stab.
The moment the innkeeper woke up, he slit the chef's throat. "Gurgle!" Clutching his neck, the man spewed bloody foam as he collapsed. That was what happened when a chef like him slipped poison into food.
As a law-abiding citizen, I couldn't forgive anyone messing with food.
"Mosquito bastard."
Follow the food hygiene laws, you piece of shit.
"Wh-what the hell is...!"
"Stay still. Unless you want to die."
"Hup!"
Terror and confusion were etched across the innkeeper's face.
Still, the way he instantly shut his mouth the moment I pressed the knife to him suggested he was at least somewhat reasonable.
"Heh heh heh, innkeeper. That stew was damn tasty, wasn't it? Tasty enough that even if three of us keeled over from eating it, you wouldn't bat an eye."
His eyes flew wide open at my words.
"Heh, heh heh? C-customer? What are you...?"
"Cut the act, asshole. I know all about the poison in the stew."
"Poison in the stew? Customer, what is this... What have you done? Killing the chef—we did slip something in the bags, sure, but nothing lethal...!"
"Fucking bitch."
As expected, a guy who lived like trash wasn't going to be reasonable. Irritation surged through me, and I slammed the knife straight through the back of his hand.
—Splurt!
"Gaaaaah!!!"
"I won't forgive you pretending not to know! What the hell are you scum up to? Highway robbers preying on travelers, right?"
"Aaaah!!!"
"This fucker's still playing dumb!! Asura Blood Fist!!!"
"Grah!"
Interrogations worked better with violence than words. —Pow! I smashed an Asura Blood Fist into his face, sending shattered teeth and spraying blood everywhere.
I wasn't going to forgive him.
If he didn't cooperate, I'd just make him die in agony.
I unleashed a merciless barrage until he came to his senses. Scum like this robber only deserved the fires of hell! If Elise were here, she'd definitely say exactly that!
"Where do you get off playing dumb! I know everything, you worthless worm!!!!!"
Kim Katt, the great demon Heavenly Demon wanderer, never spared villains any mercy!
"Gaaaaah!! Stop! Please stooop, you bastaaaard!!!!"
"Why the poison!!!"
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, sir!!!"
After beating him for a good while, it seemed like conversation might finally flow, so I halted the assault.
The innkeeper, who had initially looked like a seasoned torturer, was now a blood-soaked mess, his face twisted into something straight out of a nightmare.
"Urgh...!"
"Good. Now we can interrogate you properly. You fuck, why the poison in the stew?"
"It was, well... ngh!"
"I've already peeled the two guys you sent upstairs, asshole. They've spilled everything. Lie now, and you're stew meat. You know, like that tasty stew over there. Heh heh heh."
"No way!"
"Don't want to be boiled alive? Tell the truth, and I'll let you live."
—Stab!
I stabbed his forearm with the knife again. He erupted in screams like he was seizing, spilling his guts in a frenzy.
"Gah...! S-sorry, sir!!! Just like you heard, we're robbers who prey on travelers!"
"So you tried to rob us too?"
"Yes! Tr-travellers sometimes wander this way... We'd rob them..."
"Hmm, I see. So that means the whole village is in on it?"
"Well... um..."
"Hesitate, and the stabbing punishment starts!!"
—Stab!
"GyaAAAAH!!! Yes! It's a village-wide operation!! Ngh!"
When answers stalled, it meant he had too much to say to spit it all out. Time to poke more holes and help him along.
"Heh heh heh, yeah? Is that right? Hey, why us, though? You could tell we were dangerous—should've steered clear, dumbass. We look easy to you?"
"Ngh...! Y-you were rare customers... and..."
"Pretty girls too, right? No carriage, hauling junk around like hobos to Quites, so easy pickings."
"...Yes."
"Got it. Fair enough. Now, here's what I really want to know."
This was the main point.
Killing them was easy anytime, but finding their hidden loot without cooperation would be a pain.
"Wh-what?"
"Where'd you stash all the money and stuff you've stolen so far?"
"..."
A moment of silence.
Thinking? Or faking ignorance? I bellowed right in his ear.
"Hole-punch city!!!!!!"
"Agh! No stabbing! I'll tell you everything!"
"Good. You catch on quick. Where?"
"Th-there. Outside... in the warehouse. That's where it's piled up. Really."
"Outside? Not at the inn?"
I stared into his eyes as I asked. They trembled violently.
"R-really, believe me! I want to live too!"
"Lying sack of shit!"
"Eugh!!"
This bastard, blatantly bullshitting!
Obvious lie, so I hurled the knife away and pummeled his face and torso with fists alone. I'd trained my fists for more than show. A merciless storm of blows hammered his softened middle-aged body.
"Guh! Gaaaaah...! Ngh! K-kill me! Just kill me, you fuck!!! You dog!!!"
"Fine by me, you're dying anyway!"
Tired of his defiance, I made up my mind. I gathered mana through my body and unleashed the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Grabbing his arm, I locked in an armbar.
"Wh-what now! Stop!"
"Joint locks reveal the truth."
No matter how tough, joint locks turned anyone into a crying kid. As I twisted his arm, the innkeeper begged for his life.
Too late.
—Crack!
"GAAAAAH!!"
His arm snapped, unleashing a scream.
Just answer truthfully, and it'd be easier for both of us—why always make it so damn complicated?
These cursed criminal scum just loved bothering people by nature. Guys who wouldn't talk deserved death.
"Next is the other arm! Legs too, as a bonus! Stew at the end!"
"Basement! It's in the inn's basement! Please! Stoooop!!!"
Pain always brought out the truth.
You couldn't learn this stuff through talk alone.
"Who the fuck said casual speech, you prick!"
"My bad! Sorry! Forgive me! It's in the basement, please stop!!!"
"Heh heh heh. Should've said that from the start. Don't make trouble, or this happens. Get up, asshole. To the basement."
"Ngh...!"
I hauled him to his feet. Luckily, his legs were fine, so he could stand. He wobbled, sobbing pitifully.
Crocodile tears...!
"Hic, sob... ngh... hic...!"
Seeing him cry just confirmed he was a creepy, selfish piece of shit. These vicious criminals never reflected on their crimes—just whined about their own grievances.
A murderous rage boiled up, but loot came first.
I tamped down the anger.
"Kuhuhu... hic!"
"Stop crying. I'm letting you live, why sob? Hurry and show me the basement. You can walk, right? I kill all the others, but the guy who leads me to the money gets mercy. Cut the waterworks."
Of course, no intention of sparing him.
"Y-yes, sir..."
My mind raced.
A whole village meant we'd recover more than enough for this trip if we looted it clean.
Suddenly, running into these robbers felt like huge luck. The gods truly watched over heroes.
Guiding them to good deeds and rewarding them handsomely.
"Katt, interrogation done?"
"Money's in the basement. Be right back—wait here."
"Hee hee, okay."
"No issues up there?"
"Nothing much."
Winia made me a torch since I was heading underground. I shoved the guy ahead and headed to a room in the corner of the first floor. The basement entrance was there, apparently.
"H-here it is, sir."
I pulled back the rug, and sure enough, a basement entrance appeared.
"Ho. Nice basement setup. Go in."
"..."
I followed him slowly into the basement.
Wary it might be a path to call allies, but no traps, just narrow stairs—seemed like a real basement.
—Thud.
We were fully down.
"H-here in the chests is the cash, and the rest... stolen goods from travelers we haven't sold yet."
"Haven't sold? You sell them in other cities?"
"...Yes."
Made sense—how would other cities know about this village's murderous secret? It probably passed as a foggy rural spot lost in the mist.
They lived normally otherwise.
But when travelers came, the whole village teamed up to rob, bury, and play dumb. No rumors, no one the wiser.
Even if someone went missing, the fog and monsters made it plausible.
Village never suspected.
If a traveler seemed tough, they'd just drug the bags and send them off. But they misjudged us, sealing their fate.
"What about the women you catch?"
"..."
"Yeah, hard to say. But a knife in the gut makes anyone talk."
"Agh! Wait! We catch the w-women and..."
"And?"
"Well... this village has only men, so we use them as... village toys until..."
As expected: kill the men, enslave and rape the women. If the whole village shared them, no innocents here.
Undead slayer Kim Katt, sortieing.
"Until?"
"When the time's right... we s-sell them. Or just k-kill them."
"You fuckers are pure evil."
No value in sparing scum like this.
Any pity would just breed more victims. No compromise—wipe them out.
...Hold up.
Sell them?
"Sell them? Who buys?"
"Strangers... guys who show up now and then."
Terror flashed across the middle-aged man's face mid-sentence. Women sold to unknown people?
Bandits?
Or plain human traffickers?
"Who? Hey, you've cooperated this far—I'll spare just you. Spill freely. I'm curious."
"D-don't know what they do. Always hooded, barely saw faces... Figured bandits or something, but we just took the money and didn't care. Sold the women, and that ch-child as a bonus."
"Crazy bastards. Die."
—Stab!
"Guh?!"
Heard all I needed—no reason to keep him alive. I gutted him with the knife; he vomited blood and dropped to his knees in spasms.
"Y-you said you'd spare me...?"
This naive fuck.
I'm shocked you believed that, you moron.
"Obviously a lie, you retarded shit. You tricked people all your life, but can't spot my bullshit? That's why you don't fear the tiger and rampage. Off to hell, asshole."
"You dog fu...!"
"Heh heh heh, complain to your dead whore mom."
—Slash!
I yanked the knife free and kicked his face; the innkeeper went rigid and flopped backward, dead. I'd just saved future victims.
"Fucking trash scum. What do you think human lives are worth?"
I shook the blood off the blade and sheathed it.
"Well, did some good today... Heh heh heh."
I immediately gathered the basement loot.
Gear, clothes, crates—piled high.
Nothing beat justice for profit.