I'm a Civil Servant, You Know (2)
In my previous life and even now, I'd never once gotten into a fistfight with anyone. Getting hit scared me, and hitting someone scared me even more. I just avoided conflicts altogether. If things looked like they might turn into a fight, apologizing and slipping away felt way better. Even if it wasn't my fault. And yet, the me who'd lived like that...
Thud, roll.
The pervert murderer's head came tumbling over and bumped right against my toe.
"Kyaa!"
Startled, I kicked it away like a soccer ball. The head flew high and landed right in Judka's arms.
"G-Gross...!"
I'd gone and committed my first murder in life.
Inside the now-quiet City Hall, Judka stared down at the face of his prison buddy cradled in his arms.
What the hell did I just see?
This bald bastard wasn't the type to go down that easily. He was a pleasure killer who'd made a name for himself for a while—draining blood from his victims and slurping it down like soda. The vampire, Pogus. Most of his crimes targeted women and kids. Sure, he preyed on the weak, but he knew his way around a blade. If this freak had been gay, he'd have killed men too. He had the skill for it. He just happened to prefer the opposite sex.
Shing!
And yet Pogus had his head lopped off without landing a single blow.
Does that even make sense?
Forget Pogus getting careless—that cut wasn't from a knife sharp or sturdy enough to cleave bone. And that motion he'd glimpsed in an instant... it was like watching someone else entirely. Clean as could be.
Gulp.
Judka checked the severed neck.
Smooth.
A perfect slice. Even a decent knight couldn't decapitate someone that cleanly with a tiny knife like that. You'd need at least aura mastery to pull it off.
"Um, ex-excuse me..."
The female clerk gripping the knife fidgeted as she spoke up.
"You lost, so... you'll let us go, right?"
Judka eyed the woman, deep in her cowardly act.
At this point, it's creepy.
She'd just offed Pogus like that, and she thought the act would still fool them? She had to be taking them for total idiots.
Or maybe...
She figured she could take everyone here with just that knife.
"Judka."
One of the escaped prisoners who'd been keeping watch outside approached.
"Word just came in. The knights are on their way."
"...Got it."
Judka tossed Pogus's head to the floor. No room for rash decisions here. His wild instincts were screaming at him.
She's the real deal.
Don't let the looks fool you. Judka signaled his crew to pull out. They started slipping out of City Hall one by one.
As he headed for the exit, Judka glanced back and glared at the clerk.
"You. What's your name?"
"I-I'm..."
She squeezed her eyes shut and whispered.
"Yufir..."
Judka committed the name to memory.
"If we cross paths again, I'll handle you myself."
With that, the prisoners vanished from City Hall.
Only then did the staff start helping the freed citizens, one by one.
Once everyone was safe, all eyes naturally turned to her—Yufir, collapsed on the floor, legs giving out.
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause for her.
"Yufir, you saved our lives!"
"Sniff, thank you! Big sis Yufir saved us!"
"That was awesome, miss!"
"Thanks, clerk sis!"
Meanwhile, with the tension gone, Yufir burst into uncontrollable sobs.
"It was... sooo freaking scaryyy!"
The little puddle beneath her was her secret.
After that, the knights arrived, and investigations began. They interviewed staff one by one, and I gave my account too. They just asked about the situation and who the ringleader was. Luckily, no one asked who killed the pervert murderer.
The next day, given the incident, I got three days off.
"Sis, no work today?"
"Yeah..."
"Why?"
"Something big happened."
My little brother Riki clung to me in the living room. Whenever I came home, the siblings always swarmed me. Our family had six kids—a testament to Mom and Dad's endless stamina. I usually lived alone, but with time off, it was routine to drop by the family house.
"What happened?"
"Bad guys broke in and..."
"You beat 'em?"
"Yeah, I cut their hea—"
Thwack. I nearly spilled the details and clamped my mouth shut.
"Sis?"
"N-nothing! The knights showed up right on time and wrapped it up."
"Oh... hehe, good thing! We can't eat yummy stuff without you, sis."
"You think I'm an ATM or something."
"ATM? What's that?"
"Never mind, you brat."
Thonk! I flicked his forehead. He stuck out his tongue with a "bleh" and bolted to the yard, where the other siblings were shrieking and playing.
Seira, Mira, Riki, Sizu, Tini.
Precious family I'd gained in this second life. A family I never had in the modern world, now here in this dark fantasy. What a twisted fate. Why did the harsh world have to give me even more to protect?
Dad ran the suit shop, and I chipped in with my civil servant pay, but we weren't well-off. Lots of kids played a part, but the biggest drain was Mom's illness. Hospitalized with mana sickness, she couldn't live normally. Treatment, meds, hospital fees—huge sums vanished from the household every month.
A civil servant's salary just isn't enough, huh.
We'd scraped by so far, but as the kids grew, costs would skyrocket. And medical bills weren't steady—they spiked unpredictably, leaving us scrambling.
"Sigh."
Watching the siblings romp in the yard tugged at my heart. As the eldest daughter, I had to step up. Seira was in the academy now, and the others were still little ones needing protection.
"Money, huh~"
I'd been terrified of dark fantasy stuff like monsters or demons killing us quietly. Turns out, the scariest thing was money. It strangled you without a sound. No escaping it.
"Any jobs that pay big?"
I flopped on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.
You have reaped death for the first time.
"...!"
I wanted to ignore it, but there it was, nagging in the corner of my vision.
"Hmm..."
You have planted the seed of the Heavenly Killing Star.
Death-Seeing Eye can be strengthened.
"Str-strengthen?"
Apparently, the eyes that let me see those red lines could get even stronger. Thinking back, the first time I entered that grayscale world, I could only spot one death line, and it lasted a measly 10 seconds. If the guy hadn't let his guard down against me—if I couldn't sever that line in 10 seconds—I probably wouldn't be here right now.
It was a total game UI. I'd downloaded Heavenly Killing Star mode on a whim because it promised easy, but I never expected it to be this useful.
But... doesn't this mean I get stronger by killing more people?
I'm a civil servant. Not the killing type. Was it okay for me to have a power like this?
Eh, can't hurt to upgrade.
Danger wouldn't just be a one-time thing from yesterday. It'd come in handy someday. I picked the recommended upgrade.
Applicable weapon size: 15cm
"Can't even swing just any weapon, huh."
Lucky it was a knife in my hand. With all these restrictions, it had to be seriously overpowered. The problem was my pathetic physical specs. Short height meant short arms. Sure, touching was winning, but it felt kinda hopeless.
Good thing I'm a civil servant.
As long as I didn't go looking for trouble, nothing worse than yesterday would happen. I'd keep living stably as a public servant.
City Hall was now littered with bodies draped in white sheets. Mostly guards, plus some citizens and staff who'd resisted.
"Gruesome."
The man with a cigarette in his mouth flipped the sheets, inspecting each corpse. The escapees had butchered them, and the perps' nasty crimes made it feel even more brutal. Probably some pleasure killers in the mix.
Not just one or two.
The world's gone mad. Demons stirring things up, and now prison breaks.
"End times, end times."
He pulled back the sheet on the last one.
"Hm?"
Body and head separated. Prison garb, bald, long tongue lolling out. Machete nearby—probably his.
The man's eyes narrowed.
Something's off.
The unease hit immediately. He picked up the severed head, checked front and back, then the stump.
"Ha."
A gasp of admiration escaped. By the time the knights arrived, the escapees had fled. Meaning someone inside did this.
Who?
No clue. He'd reviewed all the witness profiles—nobody seemed capable of a cut this clean.
"H-Hey! Don't touch that without permission."
A guard approached, but the man silently flashed a metal badge. The guard's eyes widened; he snapped to salute.
"Central Intelligence Agency... Wh-what brings you here?"
"Can't you tell? Terror attack."
"My apologies. Anything you need, just say."
"Then one thing right now."
"Yes?"
Whoosh. The man exhaled smoke. He needed someone who could explain the whole incident from start to finish.
"I'd like to interview the City Hall staff."
"The knights already..."
"What do muscleheads know? Hurry up—anyone will do, just bring 'em."
"Right away!"
The man set the head down. Anyone who knew blades could see it—that cut was a work of art.
"Gotta see the face."