Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: To Meurso Mountain (1)
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Prisoners from the abyss had crawled their way up.
Destination: Meurso Mountain, where blizzards of near-absolute zero temperatures raged.
Mission: Pioneering the abandoned mine area teeming with dangerous monsters.
Reward: Pardon upon survival.
P.S.: Death means nothing.
I had heard the rough details through Rorschach.
Gnash... Crunch...
The former bosses who once dominated the region ground their teeth, chewing over their resentment and hatred toward Federback, the one who had toppled them in an instant.
'I'll kill him no matter what.'
'There are no eyes on Meurso Mountain.'
'Federback, that little brat... I'll assassinate him for sure.'
The venomous aura emanating from the prisoners made even the guards shrink back.
But then.
"...?"
The prisoners dragged out from the abyss were led to a rather peculiar place.
It was the slaughterhouse on the outskirts of the fortress.
"...!"
And this wasn't just any slaughterhouse.
Monster carcasses strung up on iron hooks dangling from the ceiling.
This was a facility specialized in butchering monsters.
The interior reeked of damp rot, with walls covered in old bloodstains and claw marks.
As if the final screams and death throes of the monsters still lingered in the air.
Soon, the prisoners faced a massive chopping board in the center of the slaughterhouse.
Atop it lay a gigantic black bear.
Frostback Black Bear.
A colossal beast with its upper and lower jaws sliced apart lengthwise lay on the board, tongue lolling out in death.
And standing before it was Federback.
"When butchering, as the saying goes..."
As the prisoners watched, Federback raised a sharply honed boning knife.
"Grab with your hand."
A firm hand gripped the bear's leg bone.
"Support with your shoulder."
Federback shoved his shoulder under the bear's body to lift it.
"Step with your foot."
Then he stomped hard on the bear's paw.
"Press with your knee."
Immediately after, pressing his knee between the bones produced a dull crack as the leg snapped.
Crack! Snap...
Federback slid the knife into the tender area connecting the leg to the torso.
...Stab! Sssshhh...
The boning knife's edge sliced cleanly through the hide.
"Extract the bones."
Federback calmly pulled the bone free from between the chunks of flesh.
"Let the meat fall away."
Thud... A slab of crimson flesh dropped to the floor.
Federback's boning knife carved through the bear's massive body without hesitation, slicing, severing, and dismembering.
Prying apart muscle gaps, wedging into bone joints, separating tendons and nerves fiber by fiber along their natural lines.
Drip... Drip... Drip...
No matter how cleanly you perform the bloodletting on a monster, you can never fully drain the blood remaining in its veins and muscles.
Fishy blood began pooling on the slaughterhouse floor.
Mixed with thick mana, the stench was even more overpowering.
"...">
"...">
"...">
The prisoners silently watched Federback butcher the bear.
Snow-white hair like piled frost, porcelain skin.
Both were now splattered and dyed red with fresh blood.
Could anything suit the infamous "Blood Lily" better than this?
At a glance, he looked like a delicate girl, yet how could he so cruelly jab and tear into a monster's body with a knife?
Finally.
...Thwack!
Federback brought down a large cleaver, severing the bear's neck.
Splatter!
The prisoners recoiled in horror as blood sprayed onto their faces.
Splash... Splash... Splash...
Federback walked forward.
In his hand, he held the bear's head, its mouth torn open.
"Welcome to my slaughterhouse."
The prisoners trembled before Federback's emotionless gaze.
Until moments ago, they had been ready to tear him apart at the sight of him, but now in this terrifying place, that resolve had been uprooted entirely.
"...">
"...">
"...">
The prisoners who had been gnashing their teeth were now all meek, lips quivering silently.
Regardless, Federback continued.
"You all gathered here are tough ones who didn't crack even under brutal torture."
"...">
"Feel proud. Of yourselves for not spilling the locations of your hidden treasures even now."
"...">
The prisoners began averting their eyes.
Federback suddenly stopped before one.
There stood a prisoner glaring straight at him, head held high.
A hulking brute of a man with a vicious face.
Even after long imprisonment in the abyss, his eyes still burned with unbroken fire.
Federback nodded.
"The guy who led a massive gang, extorting tribute from local merchants. Name's Luc Karel, right?"
"That's right."
The prisoner ground his teeth at Federback.
Then growled on.
"Butchering a mere bear won't scare me."
"...">
Federback nodded at the words.
"Good spirit. I was just needing sturdy workers like you."
"Hmph."
The prisoner snorted triumphantly, as if he'd seized the initiative.
Federback furrowed his brow slightly.
"But your manners toward your future superior are sorely lacking."
"What? Manners? Listen, I commanded every gang in this area. If you want to negotiate with me, show some respect first."
The prisoner glared again.
Federback wagged a finger at him.
"Worker. Lower your eyes."
"...">
The prisoner didn't obey.
Instead, he widened his bulging eyes even more at Federback.
The surrounding prisoners watched the standoff with bated breath.
Right then.
Federback snapped his fingers.
...Pop!
Finger snap. Aka "flick to the forehead."
A playful flick kids use on each other's foreheads.
But infused with mana, Federback's flick was a deadly weapon.
With a sound like a drum bursting, one of the prisoner's eyeballs exploded.
"Gaaahhh!?"
The prisoner clutched his burst eye and screamed.
Federback tilted his head.
"Worker? Feel like lowering your eyes now?"
"Ugh, you crazy bastard...!"
As the prisoner raised his blood-soaked face, Federback's finger moved again.
...Bang!
The other eyeball burst, and the socket caved in entirely.
"Hyyyaaaaahhh!?"
Blinded in both eyes, the prisoner pissed himself and collapsed.
Federback shrugged.
"Now you have no eyes to lower."
"...">
"Any other workers want to glare at me?"
"...">
The slaughterhouse fell deathly silent.
Only the blinded prisoner's faint sobs echoed.
Finally, Federback nodded.
"Good."
As if pleased with the quiet atmosphere, he continued.
"You seem to be under a slight misconception, so let me correct it carefully."
"...">
"I'm not here to negotiate."
"...">
"Everyone gathered here has been deemed 'beyond redemption' by society. Pedophiles, rapists, swindlers, thugs, kidnappers, human traffickers, white-collar criminals... quite the variety."
"...">
"The reason I gathered you is simple. I lack workers for the expedition to the remote wilderness."
The prisoners nodded at Federback's words.
They had heard as much on the way here.
But.
"...There's one more minor reason."
The prisoners looked up at Federback's words.
Then, in a cold tone, he continued.
"To draw blood from criminals the common folk despise—ones like you who deserve death—and make an example."
"...!"
The prisoners began to tremble.
Federback spoke calmly.
"As the old rule goes, when the head changes, you purge to crush the underlings' morale."
"...">
"To enforce discipline and refresh the mood? Rip apart some easy, disposable fool publicly. It's quick and cheap."
Straightforward and obvious.
And not one prisoner here failed to grasp the principle.
They had lived their lives by it.
Federback gazed at the prisoners lined up in the slaughterhouse and went on.
"And you lot are those easy, disposable fools."
"...">
"Clear criminal records, unrecovered illicit gains, still inciting public outrage among the commoners. Perfect."
The blood-soaked white ghost smiled.
Wide open.
"Just between us, I rather like ruling through fear."
Before that red, chilling smile, the prisoners felt a bone-deep chill freeze their marrow.
Finally, Federback plunged the bloodied boning knife into the center of the chopping board.
Clang! Rattle...
The flexible blade quivered repeatedly.
"From now on, we head out on expedition."
Then the slaughterhouse doors burst open with a racket as guards entered.
Splash... Splash... Splash...
Boots trampling through blood.
The guards dropped heavy manacles, shackles, and iron chains on the floor.
...Thud! ...Thud! ...Thud! ...Clank! ...Clank! ...Clank!
And finally.
Thoom!
Collars thicker than their necks, enough to seem like they'd rip the head from between the shoulders just by fastening.
Federback crooked a finger.
"Fasten these to your necks, wrists, and ankles now. Proceed."
No one dared dawdle.
The prisoners scrambled to grab the restraints.
Not out of eagerness, but because they'd just seen a half-hearted rebel lose both eyes and die.
Clank... Clank... Clank...
All the prisoners shackled themselves.
In the process, fierce competitions erupted to snag the lightest-looking or most worn ones.
"Quick on the uptake."
Federback nodded.
Then signaled the guards with his eyes.
The guards swiftly gathered the chains linked to the prisoners' necks into one bundle.
Soon, the iron chains extending from the prisoners' necks connected to a massive cart outside the slaughterhouse.
Only then did the prisoners realize why they'd been collared.
"N-No way...?"
"No way" always bites people.
This time too.
Federback raised a thick, long whip toward the chained prisoners.
"Pull the cart to Meurso Mountain, my horses."
Thrifty enough to save on horse feed too.