The Shadow of the Holy Kingdom (7)
"Hitting people isn't really my thing, you know☆!"
She said that, but she was doing a damn good job of beating the shit out of them. I let out a wry smile.
"If the Aura had been real or the Beast Regression buff had properly kicked in, this alley would've been a sea of blood."
"That's actually a relief! I don't have any confidence in controlling my strength as well as you, senior!"
I could understand where Larilura was coming from. This was a world where people's defensive capabilities varied wildly. You might think someone could take a punch like that and end up turning a human being into a flattened mess. To subdue someone properly, you also needed the skill to accurately read the gap in ability.
"Anyway, you did well. Still, don't go charging into the middle of enemy territory next time. Get hit wrong on the back of the head and even the Beast Regression buff won't save you from going down."
"Ahaha♡ But you'll come save me if that happens, won't you, senior?"
"I'm saying don't turn into a tragic heroine who loses her memories. If you started acting all prim and proper, the whiplash would be no joke."
"Senior, you're so shy! Hmph♡"
Don't pretend to be joking while secretly choking me for real. Ow, this actually hurts, fuck! Gwaaaak!! Our secret base is on the hill behind us!!
"Oh, right, senior? What should we do with these people?"
"Leave them. Break the waists of everyone except the last one we caught. If they're paralyzed from the waist down, their usual behavior can decide the rest of their lives for them."
"As expected! If no one helps them, it's a straight path to becoming a cripple!"
"Yeah. These bottom-feeders won't have the money to treat injuries that serious anyway."
I didn't say it out loud, but there was also the bonus side effect that ruining the spinal nerves would leave them impotent. In this medieval otherworld without wheelchairs, living as a cripple with a shattered jaw would require a lot of help from others. It was more than these rapist bastards could ever hope for. They'd probably all die of natural causes within a year.
"Eit, eit!!"
—Crack! Crunch!
Maybe it was because she realized she'd nearly been sliced apart by knife-wielding mafia dreamers. Larilura looked as disgusted as if she were stepping on filth, yet she diligently stomped every last thug into the ground.
I roughly sketched out a plan and sent her a telepathic message.
"I'll interrogate the one we captured alive. See any empty houses nearby?"
"Hmm, let's see... Oh! There is one! That shabby house over there!"
Larilura finished turning the rape brothers into half-cripples, then tossed the unconscious man into the rundown house. She left the area as if standing watch.
"Hmm."
—Sliiiither!
I landed while shifting back out of snake form. The arrival of Yesugei, the Kitai Great Hero, with his long ponytail, durumagi coat, and mask. I had even donned a black fur coat like the Mongol khan from movies so the charisma would radiate properly. The vector was a bit different from Arthur Wayne, but this was still one hell of a cool costume.
'Let's tie him up first.'
There was a moldy chair and some discarded rope nearby. I sat the man down and bound his arms and legs. If there hadn't been any, I would've made some, but these were probably tools other mafia members had used for interrogations and left behind.
—Whirr.
—Crackle!
"Ansuz."
⟨ Charge... Clear! ⟩
Ten thousand volts straight to the man's heart.
The man, who suffered a heart attack while unconscious, died instantly. His soul slipped out from his back like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.
—Huuuuuurgh!!
Huk, heok, heok...?!
I apathetically shot the words at the man who was gasping as if out of breath despite having no lungs. He shook his head in confusion before stammering.
—D-did I... die?
I casually threw out whatever came to mind and shocked the corpse with electricity again.
—Twitch! Flop, flop!!
I had meant to use this as a substitute for CPR, but even after the corpse rolled its eyes back and convulsed like a zombie, it wouldn't revive. The man, now aware of his corpse's horrific state and the condition of his own soul, screamed.
—B-black magician?! Y-you! Are you a black magician?!
<...Close enough.>
It was too much trouble to give a proper answer to someone who was going to die soon anyway. He was just a man covered in black fur clothes and a mask from head to toe, so why call him a black magician? The one flailing around like a zombie was his own corpse's fault.
'No, more importantly, why isn't he coming back to life?'
In manga and dramas, people came back with an electric shock, right? Was the current too strong? Was having a stopped heart revived by electricity the special privilege of someone who ate the rumbling-rumbling fruit? Or maybe the media had lied to me again. Just like how the idea that biting your tongue would kill you was nonsense, perhaps a heart stopped by electric shock simply didn't restart. This was a culture shock on the same level as learning Santa Claus was fake or that lions don't throw their cubs off cliffs. A heart stopped by electric shock does not beat again. Make sure to memorize that; it'll be on the test.
'Fuck. No choice then.'
One eye closed to reduce information overload. Comprehension of the rune begins.
I closed one eye and opened Odin's Eye. Closing one eye reduced the flood of information, which helped ease the brain-gargling sensation a little. The ᛒ (Berkanan) rune floating above my palm started to make sense.
'Kuuuurgh...!'
I endured it so the man wouldn't find it strange, raising my comprehension until I could manifest the rune's mandala. You could fill in for lacking talent with tricks like this. There was a quack's way of doing things, after all.
"...Huuu."
After concentrating for about a minute, I paid the price with a headache but gained better control over the ᛒ (Berkanan) rune.
'This should be enough.'
Kiiiing—!
I clicked my tongue, manifested the rune's mandala, and placed my hand on the man's chest. Even with a woman it would have been unpleasant, yet here I was having to touch a man's chest. I already missed my wives' breasts.
Shuuuuuu...
While I did so, my mana burrowed into the man's body in accordance with the shape-shifting properties of ᛒ (Berkanan). Then, still in the form of mana, it transformed once more inside him.
—Grab!
The mana, now shaped like an eagle's talon, seized the man's heart.
'I don't want to give artificial respiration or chest compressions to another dude.'
Wouldn't directly massaging the heart be more effective? That was the rough CPR born from the idea, but the effect was definite.
"Berkanan—manifest."
⟨ Heart Revival ⟩
As the stopped heart began beating again, the man—who had no other cause of death—had his soul sucked back into his body and woke up.
I pulled my hand from his chest and crossed my arms.
If this trick worked, there would be no need to kill before questioning. There would be times when prolonged interrogation was necessary, and there would be opponents I couldn't afford to kill. It felt like I'd acquired a very useful interrogation technique.
—Scraaape.
I sat on the remaining chair and looked him in the eyes as I spoke. Maybe because I'd been radiating killing intent the whole time, the man was terrified of even meeting my gaze.
No, I don't. I swallowed those words and continued.
—Gulp.
Gals swallowed hard. Since he had fainted and then woken up here, he probably assumed I had carried him after Larilura knocked him out. I looked forward to his reaction once I brought her over.
—Crackle.
When I sparked electricity around my finger, Gals immediately shook off his hesitation.
As quick-witted as he was, Gals immediately spilled the family name. His discipline was perfectly honed. I swept my bangs back.
'The Wolhyang Family.'
Wasn't that the mafia group Larilura and I needed to crush? There had been several reasons I could guess for why this bastard had chased after her, and it looked like one of them had hit the mark.
Still, with the intention of probing further, I muttered.
It hadn't even been ten minutes since Larilura left the tavern. At the time, I had focused every nerve on observing the reactions of everyone around us. So why had this guy lit up and started babbling about chasing after us the moment she showed a face 'like Tirsi noona'?
If it had been after the broker gave them a request, it would have made sense. Protecting the family. Even if it had been lust or sexual desire, that would have been understandable. Any man might. But this guy was neither.
Pupil earthquakes rattled in Gals' eyes. I let my masked gaze shine coldly. That was a reaction that wouldn't appear unless he had something to hide. Even if he didn't answer, I could turn him into a vegetable and ask his soul, but I wanted to avoid the annoying process. After all, I still needed this bastard to guide me to the Wolhyang Family.
—Whoosh!
I approached Gals, roughly grabbed a fistful of his hair, and shoved the portrait I'd pulled from my coat directly in front of his eyes. It was the portrait of Tirsi that Franc had drawn.