8
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 8
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As soon as they heard the sound of a hand on the doorknob, the robbers began firing bullets like mad.
"Get out of the way!"
When one of the robbers smashed the doorknob with a hammer, the doorknob broke and the door opened with a scream.
In the opened doorway, they saw Caesar collapsed with blood flowing from his stomach.
"Kyaaa… Guns really are the best. Even a knight goes down with one bullet, right?!"
"Those Bloody Gold bastards were the only ones using these good things, huh?"
"Shut up and search thoroughly. They'll have heard the gunshots, so the guards will be coming."
The robbers passed by Caesar and quickly entered the hotel room.
Then they began throwing various fixtures around and sweeping up anything of value into their sacks.
"That guy was right. This bastard has a ton of cash."
"How much is all this? It must be over 100,000 Del?"
Creeeeak--
Just then, the sound of the door closing rang out loudly.
The men quickly pressed themselves against the living room wall.
"Wh-what, have the guards already come?"
"Did the guys we bribed betray us?"
"Someone quickly go check."
One of the robbers cautiously peeked his face out.
Then a brutal hand grabbed the robber's face, and the robber was dragged away helplessly.
Crack…Crunch
"Aaaaargh! Aaaagh!"
As a grotesque concerto of breaking bones and screams began, the robbers could only manage to point their gun barrels out towards the hallway and fire.
They simply didn't have the guts to see with their own eyes what was happening in that hallway.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Click! Click! Click!
"Da-damn it! The bullets...!"
At that moment, a blood demon with red hair and red eyes, reeking of a terrible smell of blood, leisurely walked into the living room.
"You're out of bullets."
"Aaaaargh!"
One of the robbers swung a hammer down at Caesar.
Caesar dodged the hammer with a very light movement and then threw a punch at a robber's head.
Thwack-!
The robber flew like a dandelion seed and crashed into the wall with a thunderous sound.
The remaining robbers trembled and backed away.
"H-how, when you were shot..."
"Right. I should explain why you're dying so you'll feel less wronged." Caesar picked up the fallen hammer. "Knights usually train in something called body strengthening. It's a technique that uses aura to reinforce the body, and it's really an unbelievable skill."
Caesar cracked the skull of the robber right next to him with the hammer.
But the robbers were too terrified to do anything.
"Among them, there are 'Classic Knights' who simply enhance their strength to wear ridiculously heavy armor."
Thwack!
"'Technique Knights' who strengthen their nervous system to increase reflexes and sensory abilities, honing speed and stylish swordsmanship."
Thwack!
"And lastly, 'Tank Knights' like me who enhance the durability of the muscles and skeleton itself."
Thwack!
Caesar shattered the ankle of the last remaining robber.
"Aaaaargh!"
Caesar grabbed the collar of the robber who was rolling his eyes back in pain.
"So you guys were just unlucky. If you'd met a Classic or Technique Knight, you'd have really died."
Caesar put his hand on his bleeding stomach to staunch the flow.
"What's even more unlucky is that among Tank Knights, I'm a Royder type who pushes through with elixir boosts. If I hadn't been taking elixirs for the past month, I wouldn't be this tough."
As Caesar's pupils turned blood-red, an intense madness pervaded the room.
"So I'll ask just once. Who are you and who sent you?"
Caesar used psychometry.
***
Caesar staggered out of the hotel.
"We-we'll call a doctor. Please rest, sir!"
"Shut up. If you don't want to die."
At Caesar's threat, the hoteliers stopped in their tracks.
"Just guard my luggage properly. If even one of my things is missing, I'll demolish this entire hotel."
Caesar climbed onto a carriage.
"Wh-where shall I take you, sir?"
"Take me to where there's a doctor named Finn Beckin."
"Finn Beckin... Ah! Understood. I'll go right away."
Caesar lay down in the carriage and began to staunch the blood flowing from his stomach with a cloth.
"...This really hurts like hell."
Caesar is indeed a Tank-type knight, but he's still not fully developed.
Originally, it would take at least another year of training to be able to block bullets at close range.
It's fortunate that Caesar had been consistently practicing body strengthening techniques while consuming magic herbs like fodder for the past month. If not, the bullet might have shattered his internal organs, killing him.
'Damn, it's hard to trust the surgical techniques of this era.'
Still, this is Homigraph.
He could only hope that surgical techniques had also advanced in this city where magic and technology were rapidly developing due to massive financial investments.
The carriage stopped.
"We-we've arrived."
"Then call the doctor."
Caesar kicked the carriage door open with his foot.
Meanwhile, the coachman was frantically knocking on the door of a wooden building.
"Doctor! It's an emergency patient! Doctor!"
"Move."
Bang!
Caesar broke down the door with his fist and went inside.
Inside, he was greeted by the characteristic scent of ethanol and walls lined with various medicines.
It felt more like entering a pharmacy than a hospital.
"Who is it! Who dares to...!"
At that moment, a man in pajamas holding a shotgun in one hand came running down from the second floor.
Just by looking, this weak-looking guy seemed to be Finn.
"What is it. A patient?"
"Yes."
Caesar plopped down on a suitable chair.
"Treat me."
"No matter how urgent, breaking down the door is..."
Caesar took out a 50-cent coin from his pocket, folded it with his fingers, and threw it at Finn.
"Treat me."
"...This way."
Caesar sat on the bed Finn prepared.
After that, Finn put down his gun, thoroughly washed his hands with alcohol, and examined Caesar's wound.
At least he doesn't seem to be ignorant about hygiene and health.
"...I've never seen a wound like this in my life. What on earth were you hit by?"
"A bullet."
"A-a bullet?"
"Just hurry up and treat it."
Finn brought medical tools and examined the wound more closely as he spoke.
"Damn, it really is a bullet wound. The bullet is lodged in the muscle. What the hell..."
The coachman standing nearby spoke up. "Sir Caesar is a knight."
"...I see."
Finn examined the affected area a bit more, then picked up sterilized forceps, scissors, and tweezers.
"I'm going to remove it. It's going to be extremely painful."
Finn put a piece of wood in Caesar's mouth for him to bite on, then extracted the bullet with the forceps.
But Caesar didn't even scream.
"Not even a scream. You're truly knight-like."
Caesar spat out the piece of wood and said, "You talk too much."
"It's all just a technique to help patients relax."
Finn examined the wound here and there, then spoke. "Fortunately, it seems your internal organs weren't damaged. But the muscle is severely injured. Luckily, it missed any major blood vessels..."
Finn examined Caesar's wound further and then spoke. "It's my first time treating a knight... But I happen to have some potions. If you want, I can use them."
Caesar shook his head. "No, that would heal it right away."
"...Isn't that a good thing?"
"Knights get tougher the more they're hit, you know."
It's true.
While it might not apply to other types of knights, Tank-type knights become stronger as long as they're injured just short of death and then recover.
Of course, Finn didn't believe it. "Do you think your body is made of steel or something?"
"As long as I'm not dying right now, just disinfect and stitch it up."
"Damn it. I won't be responsible if you die later."
Finn seems to be a more skilled doctor than Caesar had thought.
In no time, Finn sprayed medicine on Caesar's wound, stitched it up, and even wrapped it in bandages.
Caesar got up, brushing himself off.
The wound feels less painful, probably because he sprayed something similar to morphine.
"Don't you have something like antibiotics?"
"Antibiotics?"
"Never mind."
He'll probably suffer from a high fever later, but for now, it wasn't bad since he could move his body.
"For now, please rest. I'll provide a bed."
"The body heals faster when you move it, you know."
"No, please stop saying such ignorant things!"
It's true, really.
I don't know why this idiot's face reminds me of Raven.
"The wound on my stomach will heal, but to treat the wound in my heart, I need to meet someone."
"You have a lover, I see."
"No. The guy who put this bullet in my stomach. I think I'll feel better after I smash his head in."
"...Anyway, just pay me. You're not going to give me only 50 cents, right?"
"Of course not. That's for repairing the door."
"You think repairing my door costs only 50 cents?!"
Caesar handed over the letter given by the 31st Division Commander Milliu Beckin and said, "Well then, I'll be going now. We'll see each other again if needed."
"Wh-what is this?"
Caesar left the hospital just like that.
Following that, Finn's scream echoed.
"You son of a bitch cousin!!!"
Sorry, but I'm a nouveau riche, so I don't spend money carelessly on unnecessary things.
***
The carriage driver dropped off Caesar at the abandoned factory area located in a corner of South Line, as Caesar had instructed.
"Mr. Caesar, this place is really dangerous. It's controlled by those Kelvin Brothers guys."
"I know."
"No, you don't understand at all."
The driver said, spitting as he spoke.
"It's not because those guys are so great that they took over the abandoned factory district! It's because they're so cruel that no one dares to mess with them."
The driver kept looking around as he continued speaking.
"If anyone interferes with them, they go after their families first. It's well-known in these parts that the families of police officers who confronted them were massacred."
"Oh really?"
"I understand you're angry, but please reconsider..."
"But I don't have any family in Homigraph?"
"What?"
Caesar took out his axe.
"Then that means I'm the only one they can target, right?"
"Well... That's true?"
"So isn't that fine then?"
"What about me? I have a daughter and wife!"
"I gave you a life insurance payment. 1,000 Del. So cover that ugly face with your mask and stay put."
Caesar took a deep breath.
His physical condition wasn't great, but he could still move around.
Caesar opened the broken door and stepped out.
"The dawn air is terribly bad. Don't they know how many tuberculosis patients there were in England because of this damn smog?"
"Pardon?"
"Never mind. Someday Homigraph will perish because of fine dust. Oh, of course..."
Caesar walked towards the Kelvin Brothers' hideout.
"The guys who shot me will go to heaven first and be waiting."
Realizing he couldn't stop Caesar, the driver pulled his mask up higher over his face.
"Please come back quickly."
"I'll take my time. Get some sleep."
Caesar arrived in front of their hideout.
He saw some mafia thugs standing guard, with fires lit in oil drums.
Click-
The thugs pointed their guns at Caesar.
"Who are you!"
"The owner of those guns."
"What?"
Thwack!
Caesar threw both axes in his hands simultaneously.
Two axes were embedded neatly in the thugs' foreheads.
"Phew…My wounded heart is being healed."
Caesar slowly walked into the abandoned factory, pulling the axes out of their heads.
"But it's not enough."
***
The boss of the Kelvin Brothers.
Commonly known as Big Brother.
Peter Kelvin watched his younger brother fidgeting with a gun.
"James. Do you like it that much?"
"Of course, brother. With this, we're invincible."
The deputy boss of the Kelvin Brothers.
Commonly known as Small Brother.
James really liked the gun.
James had always been physically weak, so unlike his brother, he could only carry a dagger at most, but now that he had a gun, he felt invincible.
"Brother, South Line is ours now."
"I don't really like these guns. They look like toys that kids would use."
"We're using these toy-like things to shoot and kill those demon bastards. We might even be able to kill a devil if we do well."
"Come on, devils? They say bullets don't even work on those guys." Peter said, scratching his cheek."By the way, I wonder why Gordon suddenly decided to sell us these things? He never dealt with us before."
"Don't know. Maybe he needed quick cash."
"Hmm..."
It feels so fishy that the back of his head is tingling.
But these guns were too attractive to refuse just because something felt off.
The Kelvin Brothers were quickly taking over the South Line.
However, the number of new recruits was small, and even those who applied were mostly just kids between 12 and 15 years old.
Young kids can't collect money from tough laborers.
So they had no choice but to increase firepower, but that wasn't easy either.
Recent law changes made it impossible to purchase firearms in Homigraph without clear proof of identity.
So they had to buy through gun brokers, but the problem was that brokers only sold to reputable organizations like Bloody Gold or Anchor Family, and wouldn't even look at a new mafia organization like the Kelvin Brothers.
So they couldn't even think of getting guns, but then Gordon came along and sold them in bulk at just the right time...
It was good, but something felt very off.
"By the way, why aren't they back yet? They should be here by now."
"Who?"
"Oh, Gordon gave me a piece of information. A nouveau riche came to Homigraph and is staying at the Hilton Hotel. So I sent them to test out the guns too."
"What?"
Peter felt a chill down his spine.
"You didn't send the kids there, did you?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"When?"
"About 4 hours ago? They should be back soon..."
Just then, gunshots echoed through the air.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"What's that?"
-Arghhhh!
-Aaaaargh!
Following that, screams of the gang members filled the hideout.
Peter and James jumped to their feet.
Boom- Thud-
The whole abandoned factory shook, and dust fell everywhere.
Peter made a quick judgment.
"Run away now!"
"Brother! We have guns! We can shoot and kill whoever it is, guards or whatever!"
"You idiot! This isn't guards attacking!"
"Then what is it?"
"I don't know!"
Peter's instinct told him.
He didn't know what it was, but some kind of monster had come.
Thud-! Thud-!
Peter kicked open the door and ran out.
Through the flickering flames, he saw a man holding axes in both hands.
The man was slaughtering all the gang members like a wolf among sheep.
Then, the man's gaze cut through the dim moonlight and fixed directly on Peter.
"Found you."
Peter had never seen such a terrifying smile in his life.