Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Chapter 5. Intentionally Stirring Up Anger. (8)
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They frequently hurled insults at the prostitutes, including Matilda, and ruthlessly worked their frail bodies to the bone.
"Is that thing with the smashed face a customer by any chance?"
"Uh... I think so?"
"Whoa, what a lucky bastard?"
Among them, the eldest, Joseph, was particularly rough and violent. Whenever he got angry, his plump cheeks would tremble ferociously.
Each time that happened, Matilda would force a smile to avoid the violence directed at her. But right now, a hollow laugh escaped her lips out of sheer relief.
'I survived.'
No matter how nimble and strong that man was, he couldn't escape this place past those five.
Moreover, the thug brothers always carried clubs or swords. The man, who appeared to be empty-handed, couldn't possibly beat them.
A normal person would panic in this disadvantageous situation.
"Hmm."
But the man merely let out a low chuckle, as if intrigued. Amusement openly flickered in his eyes.
"Hey, look at this punk. He's grinning like he owns the place."
Joseph, at the front, folded his arms behind his back and shouted arrogantly.
"Come crawling out while I'm being nice. Then maybe I'll spare your life."
In truth, entering the narrow room one by one would not be advantageous for the thugs.
They would prefer a brawl where they could surround the man.
The man could surely predict that much. So holing up here and taking them out one by one in turn would be the wise choice.
'Of course he'll hold out inside.'
Matilda thought so too.
However,
"......"
The man actually began walking toward the doorway. Without the slightest flinch at Joseph's vicious threat, he moved slowly with a swaggering gait.
"Well, well? He's really coming?"
"That guy's totally insane."
The thugs scoffed in disbelief. Matilda was thinking the same—that the man had finally lost his mind.
"-!"
Suddenly, the man's figure blurred. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of the thugs.
"He's running! "
Joseph bellowed like thunder.
The next instant, a sword appeared in the man's hand. As if sprouting from his palm.
'He wasn't holding anything?'
Matilda's eyes widened. She watched as the man swung his arm in a single fluid drawing motion.
Slash!
Joseph's head flew toward the ceiling. The man's sword then changed direction, piercing the chest of the second brother standing beside him.
"Kkgh!"
The second brother died on the spot, and the man's body spun around once.
"Uwaaak!"
By the time the third and fourth realized what was happening and screamed, the man's sword had effortlessly severed their necks like watermelons.
"......!"
Matilda's mouth gaped open. She wondered if she was dreaming.
In the time it took to breathe in and out twice, four corpses lay there. And these weren't ordinary folk, but grown men who could handle themselves.
Even more bizarrely, despite their heads being severed, not a single drop of blood splattered.
It was the quietest, cleanest murder scene imaginable.
"U, uwaaa......"
The youngest, left alone, staggered backward,
"Aaack!"
then spun around and fled in panic. Having watched his four brothers die in an instant, he had lost all will to fight.
"Tch."
The man's indifferent mutter faded into the air. His complexion and voice remained utterly calm.
He wasn't even breathing hard. He showed no surprise at his own feat, not even a hint of emotion.
He seemed utterly desensitized to killing.
'H-How could a person...'
Do that? No, maybe he wasn't human at all.
Matilda stared blankly at the man, forgetting to breathe.
The chilling presence he exuded, the gruesome scene he had created, the faint smile crossing his face.
It felt utterly unreal, like encountering a supernatural being one would never meet in a lifetime. As if the blade of the Grim Reaper had slashed through the room.
"What a hassle."
The man's low murmur wrapped slowly around her ears.
He stepped over the fallen corpses and headed into the corridor. Then he walked steadily out of sight.
Tap, tap.
The god of death had left the room. He was moving his cold footsteps toward the next victim.
"......"
Matilda couldn't move for a long while.
If she moved now, it felt like the lingering blade would sever her neck too. She feared ending up like those corpses sprawled on the floor.
Ssssh—
"Hk!"
Suddenly, a creepy scraping sound against her ears snapped her back to reality. Matilda stiffly turned her rigid neck downward.
"......Hah!"
An unnatural change was occurring to the corpses.
The severed heads had already become skull-like. And the headless bodies were charring black starting from the necks.
"W-What the hell...?"
Matilda trembled, realizing her dream—no, her nightmare—wasn't over yet.
Ssssh—
As the sound continued, all traces of humanity faded from the corpses.
The hole in the second brother's chest widened, the flesh around it vanishing to expose bone.
"-!"
Only then did Matilda realize.
The energy lingering in the corpses was being sucked away. Soon, those bodies would look like they'd rotted in graves for decades.
"Aaack!"
Unable to bear it, Matilda jumped to her feet. She didn't want to stay in this tomb-like place any longer.
"Ugh."
She haphazardly covered herself with her clothes and staggered forward.
But she soon had to stop. To leave the room, she had to step over the half-rotted corpses.
"......"
Matilda gritted her teeth and swallowed her rising sob. She averted her eyes from the skull with no visible whites.
She squeezed her eyes shut and slowly lifted her leg.
Thud.
The sensation of the floor under her sole was so welcome she nearly teared up.
Matilda groped forward with her toes like that. The moment she caught the familiar scent of the corridor, she opened her eyes.
"......Haa."
The corridor was an utter mess. Doors to rooms this way and that stood open, furniture and decorations spilled across the floor.
And now, it was deathly silent, like an abandoned ruin.
"......"
Matilda swallowed hard. She never imagined this place, always crawling with watchful thugs and prostitutes, could become this quiet.
"Aaack!"
A horrific scream echoed from the far end of the corridor. It was the youngest's voice, one she knew well.
"-!"
Matilda whipped around in the opposite direction of the scream. Then she bolted for her life.
Just as she passed the next room, she saw it.
"Ah!"
A man with half his face smashed lay unconscious on the floor. That explained the woman's scream from the adjacent room.
As she hurried past other rooms in succession, Matilda witnessed similar scenes.
'Why on earth?'
She couldn't understand. The reason behind that mysterious man's rampage.
All she could do was be grateful to be alive and escape this place as fast as possible.
❖ ❖ ❖
Flip, flip.
The only sound in the office was the rustling of papers.
Thud.
I slammed the seal down hard with my left hand. There was a slight wobble, but I ignored it and said,
"Next."
"Yes, Young Master."
Philip approached and collected the stamped document.
He placed a new one in front of me, aligned neatly for easy reading.
"Hm."
I skimmed it slowly, one hand resting on the paper.
Philip stood silently by my side, ready to respond the moment I finished.
It was a change that came after my right wrist broke.
I glanced at my bandaged but intact right hand and swallowed a sigh.
'For the time being, I have to play the invalid, so no choice.'
Flip.
Papers turned, and turned again. Then suddenly, Philip's hand hesitated.
"What is it?"
I keenly noticed his pause and asked. Philip glanced between the paper and me before answering.
"It's nothing."
He placed the document before me obediently.
[Sick Leave Application]
Seeing the top of the page, I immediately dropped my gaze lower.
[Applicant: Pierre]
'Aha.'
The anticipated situation—one I had orchestrated—had arrived.
I pretended ignorance despite knowing all, and slowly scanned the document.
"Pierre's taking sick leave?"
Then, with my perfectly fine left hand, I pointed to one spot.
[Duration: October 31 to November 14]
"What kind of sick leave lasts this long? Isn't this basically a resignation?"
Philip tried to take his side at my curt tone.
"He says his condition is quite poor."
"What, did he catch a fatal disease? He's still young."
"W-Well, that is......"
Philip trailed off apologetically. I suppressed the sneer rising in my throat.
"What, he really has a fatal disease?"
"No, not that, but...... his jawbone is shattered, so he needs time to recuperate."
"What? Shattered jawbone? Did he chew on a dragon bone or something?"
Philip just shook his head helplessly, looking troubled.
"Anyway, his job doesn't require much talking, right?"
I dismissed him coldly.
"Two weeks is too long. One week."
His jawbone probably wouldn't heal even after two weeks. I'd smashed it thoroughly so no skilled doctor could fully restore it.
"Y-Young Master, actually......"
Philip swallowed dryly.
"......In truth, both wrists are broken too, so two weeks might be necessary."
It might not even be enough, but.
He mumbled the latter part and swallowed it down. I pretended not to hear and asked,
"What? Wrists too? What the hell does that guy do for fun?"
"H-He suffered an unfortunate incident recently in Cadère Territory."
"What incident? Robbed on the street?"
Sweat beaded on Philip's forehead.
"There was an attack on a brothel there...... and he got caught up in it."
"Passing by? What rotten luck."
Philip squeezed his eyes shut.
"No, he was there as a customer."
"Ha!"
I laughed openly in scorn.
"A mere servant with that kind of money? Ballsy guy."
In fact, I knew the source of his funds.
'From Diego, probably.'
Payment for reporting my movements.
And all he used it for was whoring. What a pathetic waste.
"Talk about a moron."
"Um...... Young Master, do you remember the dark swordsman I mentioned last time?"
Philip asked cautiously. I pretended to recall for a moment before replying.
"Oh, that time when corpses piled up like a mountain?"
"Yes. And rumors say this incident is that dark swordsman's doing too."
"You sure?"
"Five dead, several injured. Above all, the state of the bodies is similar to last time."
Philip lowered his voice as he added,
"They say they were charred pitch-black, flesh gone, just bones left."