Chapter 573
Chapter 573
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 573
Chapter Title: A Good Friend to Meet
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"Hoo... hee hee hee...!"
Just as I was glaring at the heretic-sympathizing villagers, Claudy's laughter echoed from behind me.
"What the hell? So this 'special interrogation' was just a threat?"
I turned around, wondering what was up, and there was Claudy hopping down from the box with a big grin, lightly patting my shoulder with her wrist as she approached.
"Katt, this is fun. Hee, hee hee hee...!"
"Heh, heh heh heh!!"
Seeing her so amused suddenly filled me with confidence and motivation. From this moment on, if these fuckers didn't talk, they were all dead meat.
"Hey, you fucking bastards!!! Get in the box if you wanna live! Spill everything you know!"
—Kwang!
"Meeeooowwww!!!!"
I kicked the box once, and it let out a grotesque scream like it thought I'd stabbed it with a knife. Damn, it really sounded like a cat.
"Schr—ooodinger, staaay awaaaay!!!!!!"
An uncontrollable impulse!
—Boing, boing!
I couldn't hold back the surging excitement any longer. I raised my sword high and danced a murderous blade dance, hopping like a rabbit through the crowd of villagers prostrated on the ground.
"Uwaaaah!!!"
"Kyaaaah!!!"
"P-please, nooooooo!!!!!!"
Immediately, screams erupted from the villagers as they tried to flee in droves.
"Don't move!!!"
Of course, Elise wasn't about to let that happen. She bellowed and kicked the backs of their heads as they tried to stand.
—Thwack!
"Kuhk!"
The kicked villagers slammed their foreheads back into the ground.
The scene was fully under control. Now it was time to extract the necessary information.
—Schrödinger's Interrogation.
This seemed pretty damn effective.
In truth, Schrödinger's was just a death box interrogation, but a plausible name was key. People get confused when faced with situations beyond common sense.
"Heh heh heh, you bastards. Not even afraid of God? Selling people to heretics and thinking you'd get away with it?"
Like I was in a mafia game, I strode among the prostrated villagers, condemning their wicked deeds and moral depravity.
"U-uuuh...!"
The villagers were trembling in utter terror, but one stood out especially. A guy bawling his eyes out.
—Crocodile tears.
The thing I hated most...!
"You bastard! Crying right now!!!"
I immediately yelled at the sniveling young man.
"Y-yes?! N-no, I'm not!"
"Like hell you're not, you fucking prick! You wanna get in this box?!"
"N-no!!! Absolutely not!!! I'm sorry!!!"
This audacious fucker!
"Keep it up! This won't do! Claudy!"
"Yeah?"
"Open the box!"
"Hee hee hee, sure."
—Creeeak.
"Eeeek!"
Claudi opened the lid, and the uncle inside shot up like a revived vampire. I rushed over and yanked him out of the box.
"K-kkh! P-please spare me! Please!"
He begged for his life, but that wasn't the point right now. I grabbed his nape and shouted loudly.
"Behold this heretic stabbed in the thigh!!!!!"
At my cry, the prostrated villagers lifted their heads to look.
—...!
—...!
All eyes filled with horror. In that state, I hoisted the bleeding heretic's body overhead like a barbell.
"The moment you come out of the box, your fate is sealed! No one knows the outcome until they see it!"
Blood from the heretic's punctured thigh soaked my arm and dripped to the ground.
—Schrödinger.
Inside the box, it was unknown, but once out, it was confirmed: stabbed by the sword.
"And so I've shown you!! What happens when stabbed!"
"O-ohhh...!"
"Kuh...! H-huhk!"
"Uh-heuk!"
The terrified villagers groaned.
It was utterly obvious.
"The box is empty. Time's on my side, and I'll stuff every one of you inside."
They needed to taste even greater fear.
"And when the box opens again... this is what awaits you."
"N-no!"
"We won't forgive you!"
Immediately, I hurled the elevated heretic down to the ground with all my might.
—Splat!
"Guhjaak!!!"
He let out a grotesque death rattle and passed out.
"...!"
A bizarre silence fell over the world.
Now they'd seen it clearly.
—The fate of those who served the heretics.
"Elise."
"Yes, Saint."
"...Heal this guy's thigh. Need him for more interrogation. Over there, secretly. Got it?"
"Secretly? Understood."
I whispered to Elise, who dragged the heretic away by the ankle.
Now the atmosphere for interrogation was perfect.
"You there! What the fuck's with your ugly mug?!"
I pointed randomly at one and picked a fight.
"W-what?!"
"You look like shit! Box for you!"
"Wh-what?! N-no! Please!!! I'm innocent!!!"
Sharp Claudy grabbed his nape and tossed him into the box. I held my sword to keep him from escaping and said,
"No will to talk? Fine! Just close the lid!"
"Heek!!!"
As I moved to shut it, he screamed hysterically.
"I-I'll talk!! I'll tell you everything!! Please spare me!!!"
Good.
"Oh? Gonna talk? What've you got?"
"First, get me out of the bo—"
"You think you're in a position to negotiate!!"
No need for cheeky bastards!
—Kwang!
I slammed the lid shut and stabbed my sword in.
"Kyaaaah!!!"
Reality wasn't a game, so no pirate roulette heretic popping out stabbed. The lid stayed shut, with Claudy sitting on top.
"Cheeky fucks. I ask, you answer. That's it."
"H-hek!"
"You there. You with the long fucking nose. You an elephant?"
I crooked my finger at the one prostrated right in front.
"M-me?!"
"Yeah. Come here."
He glanced around in terror, then slowly approached.
—Flash!
"U-uek!!"
I swiftly subdued him, drew my dagger, and pressed the tip to his eyeball. A silent promise: talk or lose it.
"What did the heretics offer you? Talk, and I'll show mercy just for you."
I whispered in his ear, and he burst out,
"P-people! They demanded we sell people!!"
"Demanded human trafficking?"
"Yes!! B-but...! Kuhk! We had no choice! They threatened to kill everyone in the village if we didn't comply!!"
So they were being blackmailed by heretics after all.
"H-heuk...! Kuhk, h-heung!"
Despite the blade at his eye, he broke into sobs.
"You fucking rat!!"
Jeers erupted around us.
"Snitch bastard!"
"You fucking traaaaitor!!"
"Betraying the village!!!"
...Have these fuckers lost their minds?
"Shut the fuck up already?"
"We're all dead anyway, so fuck that! Everyone! We gotta figh—ek!"
—Thud.
I lightly tossed my dagger into his forehead, and the instigator flopped over.
Instant judgment.
"Milden!!!"
"M-Milden’s dead!!"
"Heeeek!!!"
Milden, huh?
Whatever. Testimony secured.
I sat the interrogated guy aside. Then Elise returned.
"Saint, treatment complete."
"Good. Got a testimony too. They were blackmailed by heretics. Said they'd kill them if they didn't traffic people."
"Blackmailed... Saint. Even if blackmailed, we can't forgive such acts."
I agree.
"Exactly. Elise, grab 'em one by one and get testimonies. Don't kill any yet—need Captain Barkrel's permission first. No head-smashing."
"Understood."
We began full-scale testimony collection.
"You fucks! Cooperate, and I'll put in a good word! Who's the guiltiest among you?!"
I slammed my sword into the ground and bellowed.
I couldn't guarantee mercy, but whatever.
"Non-cooperators get executed on the spot! You! How many people have you sold so far!!!!"
"Th-there's ledgers at the chief's house! Money from heretics too! Chief orchestrated it all!"
One cracked, and it snowballed.
"We had no choice!!"
"Heretics come by cart! Give big money, take people!"
"Please spare us!! They said they'd kill us all if we didn't cooperate!! No choice!!!"
The promise of leniency made them spill everything.
"Good, good. Very good. Testified ones, sit over there."
Before opening Schrödinger's box, info was uncertain. Once opened, it became fact.
As expected, the village was blackmailed by heretics.
They got hefty payments, bought goods from outer Fog Plains cities.
But in bed with heretics, no backing out or reporting. For years, they lured and sold people as ordered.
Victims: countless.
I raided the chief's house, tore up floors, pillars, walls for ledgers and trafficking cash. Grabbed pen and paper to document.
"Still, nothing beats a good threat. So, gonna kill all those darkies? I say wipe 'em out."
Winia said irritably.
"Kill who needs killing."
Kill the guilty, ship the rest to Isvant.
Not my call anyway. Captain Barkrel's in charge.
I just interrogate, document, hand over.
"H-heuk... We're done for...!"
"Kuhk...! Knew it...!"
"Please spare us! We had no choice!!!"
Villagers wailed for mercy.
Even blackmailed, their crimes were blatant. Kidnap, sever ankles, fatten like pigs, sell to heretics for cash.
Sure, threats can cloud judgment.
But as a Fusion Confucian guru, deliberately cutting ankles meant...
They'd lost even their last shred of conscience, fully corrupted.
Cut ankles for easy containment. Pure convenience. Unforgivable. No matter the pleas or blackmail cries, their evil deeds remained.
"Heh heh heh, did you ever consider your victims' feelings when selling them?"
No one spoke.
—Thud, thud.
Then, a bizarre man strode from afar.
...Bizarre man?
It was Barkrel.
"..."
Captain Barkrel, face like a demon, dragged the chief by the head.
Like a hell warden hauling a sinner.
—Thump.
He tossed the chief aside like trash.
"Gek, gegek..."
Chief's limbs twisted unnaturally, eyes rolled back, foaming white.
What the fuck kind of interrogation turns a man into that?
Even tough me got chills.
"...Paladin. Interrogation results?"
Barkrel asked in an icy voice.
His feral demeanor radiated fury. True holy knight's quiet rage?
"Here's the report."
I handed documents, summarized testimonies.
"I see."
He nodded after hearing all.
"Guilty of aiding heretics, torturing and selling innocents."
—Crunch!
"Execution."
Barkrel crushed the chief's neck with a simple stomp. Just a step pulverized and tore it.
"Ch-chief!!!"
"Chief!!!!"
Villagers gasped.
"Looks like villagers cooperated. Noted the blackmail leading to atrocities. But... deliberately severing ankles? Only for easier management and sales."
Barkrel pointed out exactly what I thought.
"Execute ringleaders by severity, ship others to Isvant. Holy knights, overtime tonight. Paladin, lend a hand."
"Of course."
"And... superb interrogation and cleanup. As the Saint praised. Truly grateful."
Barkrel seemed wistful.
They looked insane, but at root, good folks.
That night was busy.
Priests documented captive testimonies; knights interrogated villagers all night for intel.
If they were heretics, instant execution.
But mere blackmail collaborators, not worshippers. Brass Celestial doctrine: due process for judgment and punishment, not summary execution.
Thus, as Captain Barkrel said: execute ringleaders, ship the rest to the city.