The Cleanup After the Caulose Square Terror
I watched the black mage, Abrada Shirobe, rampage like a madman, smashing everything he could get his hands on.
“Goddamn it, what the hell!”
It had been a perfect plan to get revenge on the Goddess’s slaves. He’d sown indiscriminate mental wedges into those two soft-hearted brats to drive them into a frenzy. To keep the margrave from interfering, he’d handed over the captured First Princess and Queen of the Cassandraite royal family as slaves. To the big shots of the underworld, he’d even offered direct trading opportunities with his master, Cassius. He’d poured out nearly all his hidden resources to eliminate every possible variable that could disrupt his grand scheme.
“All because of one crazy bastard… Fuck!!”
Abrada kicked away the naked red-haired woman he’d been using as a chair—the Second Princess of Cassandraite—then swept his bangs back and pressed hard on his temples. Investing so much into this operation made it impossible to calmly accept the ridiculous story that some nameless Expert, one practically at the Master level, had simply “happened” to help.
“Hoo… Hoo… Shit. For now… I need to run. Right now.”
Abrada wasn’t afraid of the Hero or the Saint. No matter how strong their divine powers were against black magic, they were still just Users—mere rookies. As an Expert-rank black mage, he wasn’t weak enough to automatically lose against the pair. At the very least, he had the skill to escape, and with proper preparation, he even had the ability to capture them instead.
The real problem was the Expert-rank centaur who’d been with them.
Just as a centaur turning to black magic became a headache, a centaur who had reached the pinnacle was equally troublesome for black mages. Since they handled demonic energy—the very foundation of black magic—the unique poison of that energy barely worked on them. Worse, they could roughly imitate black magic techniques just by watching, so fighting them was nothing but a loss. Therefore, unless he could kill them for certain, running was the only option.
The moment the plan fell apart, the situation had become dangerous. But he’d gotten too worked up and wasted time rampaging, leaving his escape window razor-thin. He had to hurry.
“Hoo… You bitch. Get up.”
“Ugh… Ngh…”
“Fuck, we don’t have time for this. Get the hell up right now!”
Black chains shot out from Abrada’s hand and pierced straight into the Second Princess’s heart.
“Aaaaaagh!!!”
Completely indifferent to the woman’s agonized convulsions, he forced her to her feet and made her clean up the surrounding luggage. There wasn’t enough time to take everything, so he swept up only what he needed. The instant he grabbed the doorknob to flee—
A spine-chilling sensation made him yank his body back.
Crunch.
The crude axe blade that split the door the moment he pulled away left Abrada’s mouth hanging open in disbelief.
“You’re… already… here?”
All the black magic traps he’d laid on the way here. The underworld criminal organizations he’d hired as escorts. None of them had reacted. Abrada’s eyes trembled violently.
“Oh, you’re already here.”
The tall, decadent-looking centaur kicked in the shattered door and stepped inside. Abrada’s Adam’s apple bobbed hard.
What kind of presence is this…?
An Expert deserved respect as a strong fighter, but that didn’t mean someone at the same level could suppress others with presence alone. Yet the centaur before him radiated a tingling pressure that only a Master should possess.
Abrada instinctively understood.
He couldn’t win. Not ever.
If he were a swordsman or warrior capable of close combat, he might have resisted. But as a mage, the moment he allowed a monster clearly stronger than himself to close this much distance, it was already over.
So Abrada quickly raised both hands, showing he had no hostile intent.
“Wait. How about we make a deal?”
At Abrada’s sudden proposal, the centaur—Cardnios—paused his movements and jerked his chin, as if to say, “Go on, talk.”
Sensing the clear will that any nonsense would result in immediate death from that small gesture, Abrada spilled everything he had.
“That woman over there is the second princess of Cassandraite, the kingdom that was destroyed three years ago. She’s my finest trophy, but I’ll hand her over to you.”
“Look at my face. Do I look like I’m short on women?”
“This woman is special. She’s a half-spirit, a masterpiece created with the full power of the magic nation Cassandraite. She carries a spirit core in her heart. She has high value as a sacrifice and tremendous potential as a mage. I planned to use her as a future offering, so I haven’t touched her—she’s still a virgin.”
“So? I can just kill you and take her.”
“That won’t work. Our souls are bound together. If I die, she dies too. If you want her, you have to let me live.”
“Why should I?”
The light, casual reply made Abrada grind his teeth. He could feel the mocking smile behind those words demanding he offer even more.
“Hoo… Fuck.”
The loss was already massive. There wasn’t much left he could give, and most of what remained were things the shameless centaur would simply kill him for and steal the moment he revealed them. To survive, he had to present something that couldn’t be taken lightly. With trembling hands, Abrada reached into his robe and pulled out a pitch-black book.
“Hoo… This is my grimoire of original research. I’ll give you this too.”
“Not bad. So how do you want to do this deal?”
“I’ll place a restraint on my heart—”
“Hey now, none of that dogshit.”
Rejected outright, Abrada bit his lower lip hard. The centaur casually swung his axe as if he had never intended a fair trade from the start. Gritting his teeth, Abrada spoke each word with deliberate force.
“Then… how… exactly… do you want to make this deal?”
“First, hand over the soul binding. I can see you’ve tampered with the magic book too, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Give me the binding. Then I’ll step away from the door. You leave everything here and get out with just your body. Put the book on the floor and run.”
“Why the hell should I trust you enough to accept a deal like that?”
“Come on, you don’t have any other choices anyway, do you? If you want to die, I’ll cleanly cut you in half starting from the waist.”
Abrada felt like his vision was turning white from rage. Just leave everything and go? The sheer robbery of it. The thought of fighting to the death and destroying everything flashed through his mind, but he bit his lip until it bled and held back. Even if he fought desperately, he might inflict a little damage, but that was all. He would definitely lose his life. Since living after losing everything was still better than dying, Abrada swallowed his fury and humiliation and nodded heavily.
“…Fine. I accept.”
Abrada wrapped pitch-black demonic energy around his heart and grasped at something. With a metallic clink, a black chain emerged in his hand, connected all the way to the Second Princess’s chest.
“Ugh…”
“Hoo… Take it. Connect this to your heart and her life will belong to you.”
The centaur caught the flying black chain, examined it briefly, then without hesitation stabbed it into his own heart. He frowned.
“Ptooey. Cassius’s demonic energy tastes even filthier than I expected. Leaves a nasty aftertaste too.”
“You… you insolent—!”
“Ah, whatever. Let me check if it’s properly connected before I let you go.”
Just like Abrada had done, a black chain appeared in the centaur’s palm and connected to the Second Princess. After confirming it, he gave an order.
“Come here.”
Staggering and swaying, the Second Princess struggled to walk over. The centaur looked her naked body up and down, then asked Abrada as if to confirm.
“She’ll obey any order I give?”
“That’s right. Even if you order her to die, she’ll kill herself.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
The centaur reached out, twisted the princess’s nipple, and commanded, “Don’t make a sound.”
“…! …!”
Even though her brows furrowed deeply in pain, her mouth stayed sealed as if glued shut. Satisfied, the centaur released her nipple and stepped back.
“Good. No mistakes. Now leave the book and get lost.”
Grinding his teeth so hard they creaked, Abrada cast the minimum defensive magic possible to avoid provoking the centaur and walked past him. He safely made it beyond the centaur, set the black book down, and was about to flee—
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
A vicious sound that crushed every building in the vicinity slammed into Abrada.
“Shit—!”
The defensive magic he had deployed activated, spewing dark-red light.
Boooom!!
The defensive barrier, struck by the shockwave, shattered with a deafening roar and split the dark-red light in half. But the shockwave didn’t stop there. Abrada felt it slice through his arm and burrow into his torso.
The instant he realized death was inevitable and tried to cast one final curse—
The axe that had swung horizontally twisted, redirecting the shockwave. A massive mountain seemed to rush toward him.
Crunch.
“Idiot. You actually fell for that?”
With his lower body severed at the waist and his upper body split vertically, Abrada breathed his last to the sound of mocking laughter.
-Ding.
-Ding.
Listening to the cheerful mission complete sound, I smiled with satisfaction.
“The harvest isn’t bad at all.”
The black magic traps I saw on the way here looked usable if I wanted. This woman’s appearance was exactly to my taste, and having her life literally in my hands was even better. The seal on this grimoire looked a bit difficult to break, but not impossible, so I’d gained a means of strengthening beyond the mission rewards.
I roughly stuffed the blood-splattered magic book into a heavy pouch lying on the floor and looked around. The walls destroyed by the axe strikes. The beggars running over from far away. And the two strong presences visible among them. Those must be the Experts from the underworld.
I also scanned the various treasures Abrada had possessed, the reagents and byproducts I had no idea how to use, along with the books and parchments. It would be a shame to abandon them. But could I kill all those guys? I wasn’t sure. After sending that black mage flying in one blow, it seemed possible… No. Charging in based on a rough guess wasn’t a good idea.
“What the hell is going on here!!!”
I briefly sized up the muscular giant with the booming voice and quickly made my decision.
“Hey there, friend.”
I jumped down through the hole in the wall and waved cheerfully at the giant. Maybe it was because I acted far too boldly. Or maybe he found it unexpected that an Expert-level fighter had appeared. The fierce momentum he’d shown a moment ago vanished as the giant looked me over with sly, rat-like eyes.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Hmm. The Hero’s friend?”
The giant snorted at my answer.
“A centaur? Don’t make me laugh.”
“Hey, can’t a centaur go to the temple? I just happened to get to know him.”
“Hmph. Fine. Let’s say that’s true. Then—”
The giant looked around, furrowed his brow deeply, and glared at me.
“Did you do this?”
“No way. That three-sectioned bastard over there did it.”
The giant’s face flickered with shock when he looked where I pointed. I’d expected that. Since this was practically his own backyard, of course he’d known about the nest.
“Wow, that evil son of a bitch suddenly attacked me, you know?”
“Ahem. So that’s how it is, huh?”
Crack. Pop.
The giant started loosening his fists while his underlings drew their weapons. I smirked at the sight.
“Hey, friend. How about we make a deal?”
The giant jerked his chin, urging me to continue.
“You and the friend watching from that building’s rooftop have done nothing wrong. Right?”
“Hm?”
The giant tilted his head, clearly not expecting this direction. Whether the brute understood or not, I kept talking.
“That black mage bastard caused all kinds of trouble in a peaceful and safe slum. Damn that parentless black mage son of a bitch.”
“…Hmm.”
When the giant crossed his arms as if telling me to say more, I almost laughed. So simple-minded that he’d reached Expert rank yet still rolled around in the slums.
“I need to submit the black mage’s books and research materials to the temple, so I was looking to hire someone to carry them for me. Oh, of course you can take all the money and byproducts.”
“Hmm…”
“Very well. Our Crimson Blood Society will accept this request.”
The moment I finished speaking, the kabuki-painted mage who had been watching from the rooftop landed beside the giant.
“Don’t make me laugh, Jin. The one this outsider requested is our Steel Bone Gang.”
“Hahaha, Ambola. Is there any need to take it separately?”
“What are you talking about?”
“We can negotiate the split later. All we need to do is help a temple collaborator in trouble and submit the wicked black mage’s research.”
At this point, even the brainless giant Ambola seemed to understand. He nodded heavily.
“Mm, mm. That’s right. Yeah. Damn, all this trouble because of that parentless black mage bastard. Bwahahaha!”
What a fucking idiot. His simplicity made the words pop out naturally.