Chapter 276: Labyrinth of Change: Labyrinthos (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 276: Labyrinth of Change: Labyrinthos (5)
It’s a small tip, but while I use weapons in a fight, I prefer strangling someone with my bare hands when it comes to intimidation.
No, saying I “prefer” it makes me sound like a pervert. Anyway, it’s not a matter of taste; there’s a clear reason for it.
Threatening someone with a blade carries the risk of them choosing to take their own life in the worst-case scenario, or other unexpected variables might occur.
On the other hand, if you choke someone with your own hands, you can gauge their psychological state through their pulse. It also has the added effect of making you look like a complete lunatic compared to just holding a weapon, which makes people much more cooperative.
Just like right now.
“Wh-what do you want from me…? Please, let go…”
“Oh, so I have to be the one to tell you what I’m curious about? You really are slow on the uptake, aren’t you? Should I just go find the next guy? It was nice meeting you. Goodbye.”
Some might think I’m being a bit too harsh, but this blood-reeking bastard deserves it.
He’s a murderous piece of work belonging to the ‘Human Butchers,’ arguably the worst group inside this dungeon.
“No! No! I’ll talk! So, please! Please!”
I applied a bit more pressure to my fingers. It was a subtle increase, but enough for him to feel it clearly. The effect was immediate.
“W-we’re a group called the Human Butchers! We target rookies who look relatively clean or unfamiliar with the dungeon, lower their guard, and then… we kill them.”
“Hey, you little shit. Stop testing the waters and tell me everything straight.”
“Yes! After killing them, we eat their flesh, or in the case of women, we keep them alive to use as playthings!”
It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered them, but I still can’t stand these bastards.
Spending a long time in a dungeon like this is enough to drive anyone mad, but the leaders of the Human Butchers were the type of scum who were imprisoned for doing similar things on the outside anyway.
“But that’s not the information I was curious about, was it?”
“T-the food we’ve gathered is all in the storehouse, and the boss has the key!”
“Right, right. That’s the kind of thing you should be saying. But is that all?”
“That’s, I mean… please, just give me a hint…!”
“I have some business with your boss, and I figured I’d need something to meet him.”
“Th-that’s…! No, how did you even know about that…!”
Right, he probably can’t give it up. It’s a rule set by their boss to dispose of anyone who loses their mark.
But what does that have to do with me?
“Why? You can’t give it to me? Ah, I guess your boss is terrifying, but I’m not? Sure, that makes sense. Then let’s just die right now, shall we?”
As I tightened my grip, the struggling man realized he stood no chance against me in terms of strength. Finally, he reached into his shirt and pulled out an object that looked like a necklace.
It was a gruesome necklace adorned with fragments of human bone as if they were ornaments.
…As always, their taste was nothing short of revolting.
“There we go. That’s more like it. Good work, dumbass.”
“Huh?”
I tightened my grip and surged my mana. The man looked at me with a tearful, confused expression, wondering why I was doing this, but unfortunately, I didn’t feel a shred of pity for him.
There’s no reason to show mercy to bastards who prey on their own kind.
“Goodbye.”
“Aaaaaaaagh…!!!!!”
After letting the mana explode, I released my grip, and the unconscious man slumped to the ground.
Watching this, the Chairperson approached as if to ask if I was finished.
“…Did you kill him?”
“No, I just gave him a scare with an illusion. Just a scare. He’ll probably wake up on his own after being out for a few hours.”
Even if I didn’t kill him, there was no point in executing someone who would soon be busy running for his life anyway.
Honestly, I thought their perception of me would have changed quite a bit since I acted rather violently, but surprisingly, the expressions of those watching me were calmer than expected.
The Chairperson was looking at me with a bit of pity, Baek Seol was nodding as if intrigued, and Aisha and Master acted as if this were only natural.
Hmm, is it because the one I roughed up was a criminal?
“I might look a bit excessive right now, but the concept of ‘mercy’ doesn’t exist here. If you’re going to do something, you have to be thorough.”
I tried to offer an excuse just in case, but Aisha tilted her head as if I were stating the obvious.
“Who’s saying anything? It was obvious he was preparing for an ambush; it would be stupid to let him off easy. Anyway, are we done now?”
“Well, it’s a bit disappointing that there’s only one, but I’m sure more of them will show up as we continue hunting.”
And as we hunt the new Human Butchers that appear, we’ll naturally collect more bone necklaces, which will send a signal.
To the leader of the Human Butchers.
* * *
Meanwhile.
Around the time they were smoothly beginning their dungeon exploration.
Leilan Academy was, surprisingly, running quite normally.
“Aaaagh!!! Leilan!!! You never said there would be this much paperwork to process!? This is a scam!”
“…Move your hands, not your mouth.”
“My hands are moving!?”
Of course, the Doctor and Park A-ram were suffering quite a bit.
“…Yes, everyone. For today’s combat arts class, we will be having a session of meditation.”
Cathy, looking completely drained of energy, was conducting a class on meditation—something she usually wouldn’t even glance at.
“Next.”
“Ka… Cadet Kang Ha-ni! That’s enough! I said the demonstration is sufficient!?”
“…I feel like it’s still lacking. Why don’t you come up here yourself, Professor?”
“…You may continue.”
Kang Ha-ni, who had been singled out by a professor for daydreaming during intermediate swordsmanship class, was currently obliterating every opponent in the demonstration matches.
“Hmph, I don’t care anymore.”
And Kim Ga-eul was leaving a video titled ‘Drunken Kang So-hyun’ on the cafe forums, even though she would normally have deleted it instantly.
There were minor incidents here and there, but regardless, the place was functioning.
In fact, looking at the situation simply, it was only natural. Only a few cadets and the Chairperson had disappeared for a while; it would be stranger if a prestigious academy stopped functioning because of that.
However.
Unfortunately, as is always the case, the seeds of an incident are sown in these quiet moments when everyone is distracted.
“Yes, since the Chairperson is away, we’ve only proceeded with the document screening. However, there are almost no issues with the materials you provided. You can consider yourselves as good as passed.”
“Oh, really? That’s a relief.”
“No, we’re the ones who should be thanking you for applying. Alchemists are so rare, and most are too busy with private research, so we had no way to recruit them as professors even if we wanted to.”
“Haha, I’m glad to hear that. I actually don’t have any personal disciples, so I thought long and hard about whether I should try raising some students at the academy.”
“What about me?”
“Yes, we happened to be looking for someone qualified for sparring instruction. Since you have qualifications for both breathing techniques and combat coaching, you’re almost guaranteed to be hired as well. Though, you look a bit different from the photo you submitted…?”
“Ah, what was it? Great… ugh! Ah, right. I actually suffered severe facial burns during a rescue operation. I restored it with healing talents, so it changed a bit.”
“Ah, I see. I’m sorry. Looking at the documents you submitted, I see it now. You provided medical records, but I completely forgot. My apologies.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”
“Then, for both of you, you’ll likely be officially registered as academy professors by the middle of the second semester at the earliest, or the winter term at the latest.”
“Well, I hope so. Then, see you next time?”
“Yes, we look forward to working with you!”
After finishing their greetings with the academy staff with bright smiles, they turned around and maintained their pleasant expressions until they left the academy building.
“Seo Tae-ho.”
“…Ah, sorry. You know I’m not good at acting, Boss. But it ended well, didn’t it?”
“It’s thanks to the information Abel forged just in case and my artifact disguising our faces.”
“A-alright. I’ll work hard so we don’t get caught from now on. Boss.”
“Right. You know we didn’t just come here for a vacation, right?”
“Hmm? We didn’t…? Ah, just kidding. Stop trying to poke me with that invisible artifact. You have no idea how much you startled me earlier.”
“If you behave yourself, why would I poke you?”
“Ah, don’t worry. I’ve never had a hobby of picking fights with weaklings. I’ll handle myself appropriately.”
“Right, I certainly hope so. Let’s make sure we don’t get on our collaborator’s bad side.”
“Kaa… It was actually pretty decent when we were fighting tooth and nail against those devils. I wonder if another incident like that will happen?”
“Who knows? But even if we don’t know for sure, an incident of a similar scale will probably happen again, won’t it?”
“How do you know that, Boss?”
“Just, well. A hunch. A hunch.”
Releasing their disguises and returning to their original forms, they slowly activated their artifacts and prepared to return to their base.
“But say, Boss.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Does that collaborator fellow know we’re infiltrating the academy?”
“No?”
“…Won’t he be angry?”
“Well, he might be. But latecomers always have to put in more effort to get noticed.”
“What does that mean?”
“Someone who only does what they’re told is a subordinate, not a collaborator, right?”
“…And if we get on his bad side?”
“Well, that…”
Kalia, the leader of Arcadia, pondered for a moment before answering with a playful smile she rarely showed.
“We’ll worry about that when the time comes.”
“Oh, you sound like the bold Boss from the old days!”
* * *
“…Cadet Kang So-hyun.”
“Yes, Chairperson.”
The Chairperson, having just crushed the head of the last remaining Ox Demon, was looking at me with a rather displeased expression.
“I’m asking just in case, but are there no normal people in this place?”
“No, there aren’t. Well, there might be, but I’d say there are none.”
For the record, we’ve encountered humans seven times so far. Five of them were Human Butchers, one of the remaining two tried to get rid of us by aggroing a pack of monsters toward us.
The last one spotted us mid-battle and charged at us with eyes ablaze, demanding we hand over the women, only to be subdued by Master.
It got to the point where Aisha grumbled that the Ox Demons were more gentlemanly than the humans here.
“…Right, that was a foolish question.”
“Even the relatively sane ones are lunatics by the standards of the outside world. Honestly, it’s better not to expect anything.”
“So? How many more of those necklaces do we need to collect?”
Hmm, as expected of the Chairperson.
She hadn’t missed the fact that I was taking a necklace every time I dealt with the Human Butchers.
“We’re almost there. If my guess is right, if we deal with about one more, he’ll show up on his own.”
“Show up on his own?”
“Yes. Knowing his personality, it really won’t be long now.”
Actually, this isn’t the only way, but if we want to move around Labyrinthos comfortably, this is the fastest and most efficient method.
There’s a guy who has all the food and maps we need right now; why bother taking the long way when we can just take them from him?
Just as I was about to explain who I was waiting for, I saw someone approaching from a distance.
“You bastards…! Stop right there! Give that back right now…!”
It was the idiot I had taken the first necklace from. It seemed he had come back to reclaim it.
I wasn’t sure if I should be impressed that he managed to track us down or if he was just a complete moron.
He should have just run away, yet he crawled all the way back here.
It worked out for me, but unfortunately for him, he was as good as dead.
These disgusting bone necklaces weren’t just simple ornaments.
They were created using an artifact possessed by the leader of the Human Butchers. They didn’t just distinguish friend from foe; they also had a tracking function.
And they were also devices for a game he enjoyed.
For the record, the rules of that game were:
Find and kill the person who harmed his subordinate, and kill the subordinate who brought shame to his name. It was a very counterproductive way of doing things.
…Why would he do such a thing?
How should I know what goes on in the mind of a cannibalistic madman?
Though, from what I heard from the man himself, it was something about…
Proving something, I think?
“Don’t just stand there, give it back already…!”
I considered warning him for a brief moment, but it was already too late. A massive shadow was already looming over him from behind.