The Natural Order
Ashel had been watching it all with eyes gone cold and still. She nodded once, then stepped forward.
The Valkylov men looked as if they couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"Young master... has your head perhaps come unscrewed all of a sudden?"
The long-haired man spun his sword in lazy circles, tilting his head from side to side.
"Even if you're itching to play the champion of justice, you really ought to pick your moment. We—"
I pointed at him, cutting him off.
"Leave that one breathing for now. I have questions."
"You son of a—"
The words had barely left his mouth when Ashel's blade left its sheath. A flash of blue light tore through the darkness — and then the blood came, a sudden, violent spray.
That was the end of it.
Headless bodies crumpled to the road one after another. The packed earth ran red, and in the space of a blink, dozens of corpses had been made. Once, I wouldn't even have been able to see what had happened. Now, thanks to Super Senses, every instant was crystal clear. Ashel had sent arcs of sword-ki scything out to either side of the long-haired man, taking every neck in a single stroke — and his sword arm with them.
"Gyaaaaah!"
He clutched the raw stump of his severed arm and screamed. His knees hit the ground with a thud. He gasped, choked, then frantically looked around — and when he saw what was left of his men, his pupils shook as if the earth itself had lurched beneath him.
"Th-this... what the hell is..."
He wouldn't even have been able to follow Ashel's blade. No matter that he was close to Level 60 — the gulf between him and Ashel, who stood above Level 80, was an unbridgeable chasm.
I walked toward him slowly, and looked down at the man trembling at my feet.
"Is a vampire going up at the auction in Domihawk City?"
He said nothing.
"The older of the vampire sisters you captured."
"...Y-yes. She is."
Politeness crashed over him in an instant. He nodded as if half his mind had already fled.
"Please spare me, young master. I'll tell you everything you want to know—"
"The location and the date."
"Ah — exactly two weeks from now. It'll be held in the basement of a mansion belonging to a man named Horton, on the outskirts of the city. From around sunset until midnight. Just bring an invitation."
The basement of a mansion, then.
"Who attends?"
"Mostly nobles from the nearby cities... and a few officials from the Lord's Castle as well."
"This doesn't sound like anything held in the light of day. They attend openly?"
"N-no, of course not. Everyone wears a mask."
"Does one invitation admit only one person?"
"...No. An invitation holder may bring one companion."
I nodded. That was all I needed.
He grew desperate and started rambling.
"Y-young master. I'll personally escort you to the auction house in Domihawk with the utmost care. These men were disposable tools anyway — don't trouble yourself over killing them. I'll make sure you can participate as a VIP—"
I stared down at him in silence. He must have read his future in my eyes, because despair washed over his face.
"I-if you kill me, you'll be in trouble too, sir! I'm an officer of Valkylov! High-ranking officials from the Lord's Castle all have their feet in our organization! And my older brother is the leader of Valkylov—!"
I shook my head and spoke quietly.
"Didn't you say the strong trample, and the weak get trampled?"
And with that, I turned away.
A desperate scream rose at my back.
"F-fuck you, you son of a bitch!"
He snatched the sword from the dirt and lunged at me. In the same instant, Ashel's figure flashed past my side.
A wet, heavy punch of steel through flesh — then the sound of a body hitting the ground.
I wasn't even startled. Even without Ashel, I could have stopped it with Immovable Barrier.
She flicked the blood from her blade, stepped close, and bowed her head.
A strange feeling stirred in me as I looked around at the corpses sprawled in their pools of blood. I had seen plenty of people die since falling into this world. But this was different. This time, the massacre had been mine.
My first kill in this life had been the Fist Saint, of course — but I hadn't felt much then. Honestly, it had been more like putting down a monster than a man, and since Instant Kill had done the work, there had been almost no sensation of having killed anything at all. As for the bandits we'd run into traveling through Calderic, Varos had slaughtered them all before I even had to lift a finger.
This time, too, I felt almost nothing. But I didn't think that was solely because of Emperor's Soul. The strange feeling I had now wasn't shock, or guilt. It was the opposite. My heart was far too calm — even if they had been garbage.
I didn't dwell on it. Apparently, this was simply the kind of person I had always been.
"Ugh..."
The fallen beastfolk staggered to their feet one by one. They looked around at the annihilated Valkylov men with bewildered eyes. Then their gazes gathered on us.
"...Did you help us, human?"
The beastfolk woman who had been under the long-haired man's boot until moments ago asked, wariness still in her voice. I nodded.
"Take your wagons and leave quickly. Given time, the organization those men belonged to may try to track you."
"Ah... understood."
She nodded and began directing the others, tending to the badly wounded and freeing those locked in the iron cages. The young beastfolk, released from their bonds, sobbed as they threw themselves into waiting arms.
I watched for a moment, then turned toward the carriage — and the woman called out.
"You have my deepest thanks, humans! I am Kagor, chieftain of the Solid Rock Tribe! On my tribe's honor, I will never forget this debt!"
Solid Rock? What a straightforward name for a tribe. The continent was lousy with savage clans like theirs. There was no reason to attach any special significance to this meeting.
"It's not as if we'll meet again. Be more careful of slave hunters from now on."
"...Even so, I will remember this debt! Tell me your name!"
"Ron."
With that, I climbed into the carriage. Rudika had already woken and was peeking out the window. I could see the fear still written on her face, so I reached out and smoothed her hair once.
"It seems your sister really is at the auction house. I'll get her back soon."
Once things were settled, the beastfolk departed first. I thought about what came next.
The auction house...
I had a rough picture of the auction in Domihawk City now. Two weeks from now, in the basement of a mansion owned by a man named Horton. That mansion was probably managed by Valkylov as well.
Should I just attend?
Two options presented themselves. The first: quietly participate in the auction and retrieve only Rudika's sister. I had more than enough money. Unless some vampire-obsessed degenerate noble decided to bid against me, I would take the lot without trouble.
The second: tear the whole auction apart. With Ashel here, I could even do that alone. It didn't matter how many Valkylov fighters were waiting at the auction house. Numbers meant nothing in the face of a level gap like ours. Or I could go find the mayor of Domihawk City and crush the whole affair with raw authority, blowing it wide open. There was no way the mayor wouldn't know about an auction being held in a city he administered. He'd be in on it, same as the rest.
I weighed it for a moment, then chose the quiet approach. I was reluctant to make a big scene in another Lord's territory. Get Rudika's sister without getting tangled in anything more troublesome, then head for Elrod Forest. That would be enough.
And as for the ones we just killed...
There were no witnesses, but there was still a chance the trail could be followed. Just because no one had seen it didn't mean they couldn't track us. Not that I particularly cared. If they found us, they found us. If there was another clash, we would deal with the pursuers too. And if they kept being a nuisance — well, at that point I could just overturn Valkylov entirely.
The thought was settled in no time. The carriage set off again, rolling down the road.
Time passed, and we arrived in Domihawk City. There was still some time before the auction, so we spent it sightseeing. Then came the night itself.
I left Varos and Rudika at the inn and went out into the streets with Ashel.
There they are.
A few people were already wandering the streets with masks in hand. The escorts clinging to their sides made it obvious they were nobles who had come to the city for the auction. I looked them over as I walked through the night market.
A stall selling masks happened to be there, so I stopped and looked over the ones hanging from the display. There were animal masks of every kind, and ridiculous ones that looked like something a jester would wear. I picked a fox mask more or less at random.
"Pick one for yourself."
Ashel scanned the masks. Given her personality, I had expected her to grab whatever was closest. She was being more careful than I thought.
"I'll take this one."
She lifted a mask from the rack — a rabbit, with long, slender ears. It suited her so poorly that I found myself staring, and she spoke with a touch of embarrassment.
"If it stands out too much, I'll choose another."
"No. It's fine."
We paid for the masks and headed straight for our destination. Horton's mansion sat on the outskirts of the city; I had already confirmed the location. We left the main road, cut through an alley, and came out onto a narrower path. The people around us grew fewer, and in the distance, the mansion slowly came into view.
The building itself wasn't particularly large, but since the auction was being held underground, that hardly mattered. Near the entrance, masked figures were filing in one by one.
"Put on your mask."
"Yes."
Ashel and I put on our masks and slipped in among them, entering the mansion. Past a short stretch of garden, an elderly elf stood at the door. He was inspecting the invitations of those ahead of us, so I drew mine from my coat. When my turn came, I showed it to him.
He looked over the two of us in our masks, took the invitation, and bowed his head.
"I hope you have a pleasant evening. Please go inside and take the stairs you see ahead — they will take you down directly."