Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: A Fiery Punishment
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A meal after a hard day's work is truly special.
Anyone who's experienced it can attest that there's a world of difference between a meal ordered with a few taps on a phone while lazing around in a room and one that satisfies hunger earned through sweat and labor.
Luke was no different.
The rumbling in his stomach, which had started back when he was hunting goblins, could finally be silenced now that evening had arrived.
Luke's jaw moved without a moment's rest.
"Delicious!"
His first meal here was a tomahawk steak.
It was a familiar sight from his time on Earth, but unlike back then, where it was too expensive to afford, here it was something he could eat anytime.
Luke was the type to save his favorite part for last.
So, he deliberately polished off the pesky vegetables around it first, then gripped the bone handle to finally enjoy the steak.
It seemed some commotion had broken out nearby, but to Luke, it was a trivial matter.
The meat before him was just too appetizing to spare any attention for anything else.
"Time to eat~"
In that moment.
*Thwack.*
Something struck Luke's arm, and the steak in his hand went flying through the air.
The scene unfolded in slow motion, as if played back on a high-speed camera, and then.
*Splat.*
The steak was sacrificed to the dust on the floor.
And next to him, Luna had watched the entire sequence of events unfold.
"Ah..."
She had tried to get away before something like this happened, but it was already too late.
The expression Luke had shown just a moment ago was one of pure bliss, but what about now?
Turning her gaze, she saw Luke kneeling on the floor next to the steak.
He was staring down at the fallen meat with a sorrowful expression, unsure of what to do.
"Ah... Aah..."
Luke sank to the floor, lamenting.
*My, my steak...*
In that instant, the events leading up to this moment flashed through Luke's mind like a panorama.
The goblins who had purely sacrificed their lives so he could have a delicious meal.
The golden goblin who, insisting that wasn't enough, had practically forced its bounty upon him.
And finally, the steak growing cold before his very eyes.
What did I do wrong for the world to screw me over like this?
*Plink. Plink.*
"L-Lord Luke?"
Luna was taken aback by Luke's sudden tears.
Was he really crying just because his food fell on the floor?
Or was there some backstory she wasn't aware of?
Frankly, Luna couldn't relate, so she could only stammer, unsure of what to do.
"You dirty swindler, you've got some nerve!"
"You're the one!"
But the ones responsible for this tragedy were still cluelessly trading blows right beside them.
They hadn't known each other long, and her feelings for him were still faint, but Luke was her savior. Luna couldn't just stand by and watch the men who had made her master so sad.
"Fuck."
Just as Luna was about to cast a spell, a voice from below sent a chill down her spine.
"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck."
Luke repeated the curse over and over.
Luna didn't know the man she'd met today very well, but having seen how he killed the mercenaries, his current state was terrifying.
She could have handled those men by herself, but Luke's demeanor gave her goosebumps. Shamelessly, Luna chose to take a step back.
The moment Luna retreated, Luke rose to his feet.
After standing up, he silently approached the men from behind.
To Luna's relief, he hadn't drawn his sword.
Reaching the brawling men, Luke placed his hands on their heads.
"Manners."
*CRASH!*
The head of the man on the left was slammed into the table.
"Wh-what are you!"
The man on the right was startled by the sudden attack, but.
"Maketh."
*CRASH!*
He was likewise slammed into the table.
"Man."
The reason Luke hadn't drawn his sword was simple.
*You need to feel as much pain as my steak did.*
The steak, now a cold, lifeless corpse.
It was already generously seasoned with dust, so the three-second rule was out of the question.
Death would be a luxury. Luke finally understood a concept he'd only read about in revenge novels and never grasped.
"You two have absolutely no respect for public spaces."
Luke grabbed the hair of the men in each hand and smashed their faces together.
"Urgh!"
"Gah!"
With a mere 16 points in Strength, it only resulted in bloody noses.
But after the first, second, and third time, their noses seemed to break, losing their original shape, and a few teeth could be seen flying out.
"Tell me. What do you think is the cruelest punishment for a man?"
He asked the two men he held, but.
"Nnghh..."
"Guehh..."
Ambushed and with their faces battered, there was no way they could answer.
What was the cruelest punishment for a man? Luke pondered and pondered.
A shot to the balls, the universal weak spot for all men. Crushing them would inflict immense pain.
But there was something worse.
"For bastards with no manners, the punishment is to have no hair."
Hair loss.
A man's life and confidence all stem from his hair.
The man in Luke's left hand had a full, thick head of hair.
It was naturally curly, and the soft, wavy locks felt good to grip.
The man in his right hand had a short, sporty haircut.
He probably kept it that way for convenience and easy maintenance, but soon he wouldn't need to maintain it at all. He should be thanking me.
"Luna. Bring me fire."
"Y-yes? Fire...?"
"That's right. Anything will do, as long as it's fire."
"Understood."
Following Luke's order, Luna asked a waiter if they had any fire.
"W-we... have matches."
"Then could you bring some oil as well?"
"We only have the oil we use for lighting lanterns..."
"Just bring that, quickly!"
"Y-yes!"
At Luna's sharp command, the waiter scurried off to the kitchen and returned in less than thirty seconds with matches and lantern oil.
"Lord Luke. Here are the matches and oil."
"Good thinking, Luna."
"Thank you."
*Pop.*
Without a moment's hesitation, Luke uncapped the oil and poured it directly onto the men's heads.
"P-pleashe shpare us..."
"P-pleashe..."
"Don't worry. You won't die."
With so many belligerent adventurers running around, the empire was vast, far too vast.
Because of that, the empire itself didn't interfere in minor squabbles between adventurers.
As long as no one was killed, that is.
"Still, if you're going to beg for forgiveness, I'll at least watch how you do it."
Was this Luke's final act of mercy?
Luna, who had been watching the enraged Luke from behind, wondered why he would show mercy to such men.
"We're shorry..."
"Forgib us..."
The two terrified men clutched at Luke's trousers, apologizing with slurred words, but.
"Wroooooooooooooooooong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
*SLAM!*
Luke slammed the two men's heads down in front of the fallen steak.
"You're apologizing to the wrong person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Can't you see the steak lying there, cold and dead?
I'm not the one who died, so why are you apologizing to me?
These bastards show no sign of repentance.
"Oh... God of Hair Loss. Forgive these great sinners."
I'm an atheist, but you're only supposed to call on gods when you need them anyway.
*Fwoosh.*
A lit match fell onto their heads, and two Super Saiyans were born right before his eyes.
"Hieeeeaaaaaaaaargh!!!!"
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!"
They began to struggle violently, as if their previous limpness from the pain had been a lie.
They tried to pat out the flames on their heads with their hands and roll around frantically, but.
"Not a chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
*Gush, gush, gush.* Luke poured more oil, not on a burning house... but on their burning heads.
Luna, watching this unfold, had never intended to defy him in the first place, but now she vowed to never, ever cross Luke.
***
"Hm-hm~♪"
Luke hummed a tune beside her.
He seemed to be in a good mood, the man from moments ago completely gone. The reason was that he'd gotten a new meal, free of charge.
The waiter had said it was a token of gratitude for stopping the men who were rampaging in the tavern, but Luna had clearly seen the fear in his eyes.
And the two men whose heads had been on fire.
They had survived, but their scalps were so badly burned that not even a handful of ash remained of their hair.
In the midst of it all, Luke had also looted the money from their pockets.
Thanks to that, he was now in high spirits as they arrived at an inn.
Luke looked around the inn with curiosity, as it was his first time in one.
"Welcome."
"One room, please."
Luna was flustered by his request for a single room.
"O-one?"
"What are you so flustered about?"
"N-no... It's nothing."
Why waste money by getting two rooms?
That was what Luke thought, but Luna's thoughts were different.
*Ugh... It's my first time...*
She was a slave. Luke was her master.
When a man and a woman are in the same room, *that sort of thing* is bound to happen. Moreover, given their master-slave relationship, wasn't it obvious what sharing a room meant?
*Nightly duties...*
And so, Luna and Luke went up to the room together.
A single phrase from Luke struck the ears of the tense and stiffened Luna.
"Good night."
Having said that, Luke fell asleep in less than a minute.
"......?"
For a moment, Luna was just baffled by the situation.
He's really sleeping?
He's not just pretending?
She moved closer to Luke and saw him breathing softly. He was really asleep.
She felt relieved, but for some reason, her pride was hurt.
Objectively speaking, even setting aside the fact that she was a Beastkin and he was human, Luna was an attractive woman.
Her figure, her looks—she lacked in neither department, which was why she had been captured as a slave.
If she had been ugly, she wouldn't have been captured; she would have been killed on the spot.
And because Luna was objectively aware of her own appearance, her pride was wounded even more.
"...Good night."
Her slightly sulky tone was Luna's way of expressing her dissatisfaction and defiance toward Luke.
*Could he actually be gay?*
With that thought, Luna crawled in beside Luke and tried to sleep.