Chapter 33: Pursuit (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 33: Pursuit (2)
All kinds of people gathered in the Imperial Capital Black Market.
Thieves, swindlers, fences, thugs…
The abandoned. The forgotten. And the misfits who cast themselves out of society of their own free will.
If one were to ask where the darkest abyss lay—the most notoriously wretched place among them all—‘The Nest’ would undoubtedly top everyone’s list.
Alongside ‘The Valley,’ the worst drug den, and ‘The Furnace,’ a haven for arms dealers, it was counted as one of the Three Great Dens of Vice.
It was an employment agency that only those with blood on their hands could enter. A place where serial killers, hitmen, illegal mercenaries, and assassins gathered—those who made murder their trade in one way or another.
Beneath the dim lighting, the air was perpetually thick with the stench of drugs, cigarette smoke, stale alcohol, and the metallic tang of blood wafting from unmaintained, rusted weapons.
…In short.
No matter how you looked at it, this was no place for a well-dressed young lady.
It was no wonder everyone’s eyes snapped toward the door the moment it swung wide open. A girl wearing elegant clerical robes was the absolute last thing that belonged in such a scene.
The young woman, who had trotted inside with cheerful steps, spun around and scanned her surroundings. To any onlooker, she had the unmistakable air of a child out on a picnic.
“I’m looking for the one who’s done the worst things here. Raise your hand if you’ve got the guts.”
And to make matters worse, after stealing everyone’s attention, the very first question she threw out was far from ordinary.
As everyone in The Nest blinked at this incomprehensible sight, the young lady frowned slightly and looked around again.
“No one?”
“…”
“Is this really the best this place can do? You guys have weaker guts than the last two places.”
Though no one knew what she meant by ‘the last two places,’ hearing such insults was bound to bruise someone’s pride.
At the loud slam of a weapon hitting a table, everyone’s eyes shifted in unison.
“I won’t stop you if you’re eager to cut your life short.”
Upon seeing who had spoken, the crowd collectively flinched. He was a giant of a man, his bare torso covered in scars clearly carved by blades.
He was a famous hitman in the area. More than that, he was a madman known for carving a scar into his own flesh for every person he killed.
“If you keep poking around like that, they won’t even find your body intact, little lady. Hmm?”
As the man sneered, licking his lips with unfocused eyes, the onlookers shrank back. Even by the standards of the monsters gathered here, he was someone who would ruin your life if you crossed him. No one even wanted to make eye contact with him…
Except for one person.
The young lady tilted her head and trotted right up to him.
“Are you the worst guy here?”
“…Well, I doubt I’ll be getting a model citizen award anytime soon.”
“Is that so?”
“Why? If you want, I can prove it directly on your body.”
Hearing this, she nodded.
“Judging by the way you talk, you definitely are.”
Then, she gently placed her small hand over the man’s hand.
“What’s this? Did you decide to offer yourself up—”
And then, a knife plunged down without a shred of mercy.
The blade pierced straight through the back of the woman’s hand, skewering the man’s hand beneath it, before embedding itself into the wooden table with a sickening crunch.
“Aaaagh—!!”
Blood splattered in all directions. As the man let out an ear-splitting shriek, the surrounding thugs leaped to their feet, drawing their weapons.
“…You crazy bitch—!”
“I have a few questions to ask. I’d appreciate it if you answered honestly. A friend of mine asked me to look into this.”
The woman who had just impaled her own hand was still smiling, resting her chin on her free hand. She looked completely at ease.
“What the hell are you talking about, you bi—”
“If you’ve done a lot of bad things, it means you’ve had a lot of work here. Which means you know a lot. Right?”
Yet, none of the thugs in The Nest dared to rush her.
They recognized the nature of the ultra-high-temperature flames that flared up around her as she spoke, instantly turning the room into the depths of hell.
“…Divine Power?”
If she wielded such a supernatural ability… At the very least, she was a Paladin. At most, royalty of the Holy Kingdom. That was more than enough reason to make them reconsider attacking.
Meanwhile, the one who had created this suffocating atmosphere continued speaking without a hint of hesitation.
“Recently, there have been some guys poking around the black market. I’d like to know where they are.”
“Heep, gasp—”
“Hellfire bombs, suppression pillars, and spell formula roots. There must be guys who’ve had their hands on all of those. Since they aren’t exactly common items, rumors must have spread. Do you know anything about them? Tell me everything, and I’ll pull the knife out and let you go.”
“Cut the crap…! I’ll kill you, you goddamn…!”
“Mhm, right, right. That’s exactly what they said at the first two places, too.”
“…What?”
“Let’s see… The Valley? The Furnace? They had cute little names like that.”
“…”
“The guys there reacted the exact same way when I did this.”
Hearing the names of the most notorious organizations in the Imperial Capital Black Market—excluding The Nest—slip so casually from her mouth, the rest of the crowd stood dumbfounded.
Just from the way she spoke, it was glaringly obvious that she had already barged into the other places in the exact same manner.
Every single person who had drawn their weapon awkwardly exchanged glances.
Honestly, it made more sense to think she was bluffing. As expected of criminal syndicates, the Three Great Dens of Vice weren’t on friendly terms, but they would normally hear rumors immediately if one of them got hit. At most, it would take half a day for the news to spread everywhere.
In other words, this woman had completely decimated all Three Great Dens of Vice in the black market in less than half a day.
…Does that even make sense?
Everyone in the room likely shared the same thought.
But the problem was the woman’s demeanor.
“It’s fine. Everyone talked in the end anyway.”
So casually. Without any showing off, without even a threatening tone. As if she were merely stating a plain fact.
She continued to speak cheerfully, still wearing that bright smile.
“Usually, by the time I start with their hands and burn my way up to their arms, they start talking.”
With that, she immediately manipulated the flames swirling around her.
The man whose hand was pinned to the table turned pale with terror. Meanwhile, the woman’s face—cast in shadows by the colorless flames that seemed to swallow the surrounding light—maintained its cheerful grin.
Of course, by this point, that smile was beginning to look entirely different.
She was, for all intents and purposes, a demon.
“—You bitch—!”
The people here were all professional killers. When backed into a corner like this, they would inevitably lash out. With his free hand, the man drew a scimitar and swung it in a wide arc. In the blink of an eye, the blade sliced clean through the neck of the sitting woman.
And yet…
The woman merely snorted.
There was no scream, no blood, not even a reaction. It was as if he had sliced through empty air.
“—Hmm.”
Watching the severed edges slide back together and reattach, the thugs recoiled in sheer horror. Like a clay doll seamlessly fusing back together, the way her neck instantly sealed itself was deeply grotesque.
And still, she was smiling.
“If you were going to swing that, you should have cut off your own wrist instead of trying to slash me.”
Tapping the back of her pinned hand with her free hand, she continued.
“Because I have no intention of pulling this out until I hear what I want.”
“…”
“Are you going to talk or not?”
“…”
“Then I’m going to start burning you now. Let me know when it gets too much to bear, okay?”
Witnessing that sight, everyone present suddenly realized one thing.
—This woman.
Her claim of tearing through all Three Great Dens of Vice was no bluff.
She is a monster fully capable of doing exactly that…!
“I-I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”
Watching the flames creep toward him, the man broke into a cold sweat and shrieked in terror.
The moment she heard his answer, a look of disappointment crossed her face.
“…You really do have the weakest guts.”
Turning even paler at her words—which heavily implied she had indeed just finished burning people alive—the man quickly began to answer her questions submissively.
As she nodded along, continuing her brutal interrogation, the entrance door suddenly swung open once more.
The thugs, who had been frozen in place by the woman’s overwhelming presence, turned their eyes toward the door in unison.
Was it an accomplice of this monster? What if it was an even worse monster…?!
“Are you finished?”
Fortunately, contrary to their fears, the person who walked in was an incredibly ordinary-looking man.
The problem was…
“Ah, just now!”
…the monster’s attitude upon seeing him.
The woman, who had been exuding a terrifying, almost demonic aura just moments ago, instantly shed her eerie presence the second the man showed his face.
The man frowned as he scanned the room.
“You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“Ah, I only stabbed my own hand!”
“…Why on earth do you keep self-harming like that?”
“Because they find it way scarier when I do!”
They bickered back and forth as if it were the most natural thing in the world. As if they were close. As if a monster of her caliber considered this man her equal.
“Well, if you’re done, let’s go. This is the last place.”
“Why aren’t there more…?”
“…Unfortunately, there are only three places this wretched.”
Answering the woman, who was licking her lips in genuine disappointment, the man gave a slight nod to the room.
“Ah, have a nice day.”
Leaving them with that farewell, the man tucked the woman—who had immediately clung to his arm—under his side and trudged out of the building.
…Who the hell are those two?
Everyone left in the room likely shared the same sentiment. That crazy woman was one thing, but the man who could casually hang out with her like a ‘friend’ couldn’t possibly be sane either.
* * *
Aiden let out a sigh and crossed out the last name in his notebook.
…And that’s the last den of vice done.
If you wanted to find a needle on a sandy beach, you just brought in heavy machinery and cleared out the area with the most sand. Proving the efficiency of this method, the results of completely sweeping the most dangerous and filthy places in the Empire in less than half a day were spectacular.
Normally, one would have to camp out for weeks or months to meticulously gather information. But thanks to this aggressive approach, the identities of the lackeys had mostly taken shape.
It was a method they could never have pulled off if not for Katya, who thoroughly enjoyed acting violently. He couldn’t even remember how many people she had sent to the hospital in such a short span of time.
…This was exactly why he couldn’t bring Noel along.
As he was lost in thought, Katya stared intently at him from his side.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that when you cause trouble, you really don’t hold back.”
“…”
“Usually you seem like such a coward, but you really go all out when you actually do it, don’t you?”
Hearing this from her, of all people, stirred a complex mix of emotions within him. But sadly, he couldn’t refute it.
“You have to do what needs to be done. Speed is of the essence when it comes to catching those guys.”
The reason he had gone out of his way to stir things up so violently was because it would be troublesome if rumors spread and their targets went into hiding.
“…Though saying that is a bit inaccurate.”
“Hmm?”
“They’re probably already preparing to go into hiding. There’s no way guys who take direct orders from high-ranking officials would have poor intelligence networks.”
No matter how fast they had moved, they had already destroyed three organizations. Rumors were bound to start spreading by now, which meant the other side would have begun taking countermeasures.
He hadn’t spent his past career as a criminal for nothing; he understood the inner workings of these kinds of organizations reasonably well. They would be destroying evidence, dispersing, and preparing to withdraw and vanish.
“In that sense, our work isn’t quite finished yet. Will you be alright with that?”
“Of course I’m alright. This is the best.”
“…”
“No one complains when you torment bad guys. I get to enjoy my hobby and help a friend at the same time.”
As he stood speechless at the sight of Katya smiling and saying such things, a window suddenly popped up before his eyes.
— System Message
▶ Target ‘Katya’ is in an extremely good mood!
▶ This has been determined as the optimal action to increase the target’s ‘Affinity’! The related entry has been added to the encyclopedia!
▶ Repeating this action has an extremely high probability of raising the target’s Affinity level!
…Well.
It seemed it was true that people didn’t change easily. Even if she turned into a docile pet whenever she was with him, her personality—one that viewed beating, crushing, and destroying things to such a violent degree as mere stress relief—still seemed a long way from being corrected.
Still, he thought it was fortunate that this message had popped up at such a timely moment. Because what he was about to say to Katya had an extremely high chance of rubbing her the wrong way.
If she was in a good mood, she would at least listen to him.
“Well then, Katya.” Aiden scratched his head and spoke. “From here on, we’re going to need some help from Dame Noel.”
Sure enough, Katya’s smiling face instantly fell. It was a mood swing so rapid it felt like plummeting from heaven to hell in a single second.
“…Why her?”
“Now, now.”
“…”
“I told you to get along with Dame Noel, didn’t I?”
“…”
“Katya. You need to answer me.”
“…Fine.”
Seeing Katya pout as she answered, he couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. It felt a bit like being a father coaxing a rebellious teenage daughter.
“More importantly, I need an explanation. Why are you really calling that woman?”
“Ah, that?”
In truth, now that they knew the location, the real work was about to begin.
After all, catching the lackeys was ultimately a means to screw over the Imperial Prince and the Administrative Minister. To do that, securing ‘evidence’ linking them to the group was essential.
To achieve this, directly confronting those people was not an option, but a necessity. And the method he had chosen to do that was…
“…Well, first, Dame Noel needs to get absolutely furious.”
He couldn’t say for sure, but just hearing that Noel would be angry had clearly put Katya back in a good mood.