Chapter 64: The Brand of Sin
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 64: The Brand of Sin
Thwack! Crack!
“Mmph! Urgh!”
Three people were bound in the center of Lukart’s square.
Yarismal, wearing Love and Peace, was currently hammering the Lord’s doctrines into their bodies.
Snap.
“Mmmph—!”
The Adventurer Guild Branch Manager’s bones were breaking in various places, the Carriage Station Manager’s face was swollen lopsided from a stray blow, and the Bank Manager was dazed, eyes half-open as blood trickled from her mouth.
“Whew…”
Yarismal caught her breath and turned around. Below the platform, every resident of Lukart had gathered, forced to witness this gruesome spectacle.
Taking off Love and Peace and wiping away the blood, Yarismal raised her voice to the crowd.
“You subhuman scum.”
She didn’t scream, yet her words rang clearly in everyone’s ears.
“I distinctly remember asking if you’d ever mistreated a war veteran, didn’t I? Did you really think this big sister asked because she didn’t know? If you’d used your brains for even a second to think about why I came here in the first place, wouldn’t the answer have been obvious?”
The three big shots of Lukart were dangling from the gallows, their hands tied.
Having witnessed the real-time destruction of their leaders’ bodies, the residents of Lukart didn’t dare look away.
“I’ll take this opportunity to tell you properly.”
Creeak. Her fists clenched instinctively.
“Alto, the supporter of Mirei’s Party, is Alto Bertrand—the No. 1 National Merit Recipient.”
Even though they already knew, hearing it officially announced sent shivers of dread down their spines. Sensing they had crossed a point of no return, the residents of Lukart all wore expressions of despair.
“During the Final War, Alto Bertrand was stationed on the right wing of the human front. As a member of the Bertrand Unit, he repelled an ambush by two of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings and cleared the path for the Four Heroes to reach the Demon King. He is the hero who single-handedly defeated Vulcanus of Mad Laughter.”
The more his achievements shone, the heavier the burden on the shoulders of Lukart’s citizens became.
Among them, some—like the guild receptionist—gasped as they learned the full truth for the first time.
“After the war ended, Alto Bertrand desired a quiet life, yet one that still contributed to humanity. That is why he devoted himself as the supporter of Mirei’s Party.”
Now then.
“But how did you lot treat that hero?”
From this moment on, it was time to brand them with their sins.
Yarismal pointed to two men kneeling and bound in a corner of the platform.
“The sluts of Mirei’s Party each crawled into bed with these lowlifes. How dare they commit adultery while having a hero by their side!”
Naturally, Claude and Gerend’s faces and bodies were covered in bruises.
Before they were even handed over to Yarismal, their own women had already trampled and beaten them.
“Even if he wasn’t a hero, do you realize that Mirei’s Party is the first recorded case in history of a party betraying their man like this here in Lukart!”
However, the women who had beaten those men were also bound and kneeling in a row. They were all the women Claude and Gerend had bedded.
“The Adventurer Guild headquarters! The Carriage Station headquarters! The Church Council! And even the Royal Palace have been informed of this!”
Yarismal unfurled a fresh royal decree that had arrived from the palace that morning.
“I, Biseric Lokan, Ruler of the Kingdom, cannot suppress my lamentation upon hearing the news of what has transpired in Lukart.”
It was time for the solemn royal decree; everyone bowed their heads and knelt. The residents of Lukart trembled under a pressure and fear far greater than before.
“While being with Alto Bertrand, the No. 1 National Merit Recipient, you committed adultery by engaging in affairs with other men. This is the conclusion reached after consulting the laws of the Church Council.”
Even though they weren’t married, the King defined the actions of Mirei’s Party as adultery.
And it was adultery officially recognized by the Church Council.
“Furthermore, you, the people of Lukart, knew of this adultery yet failed to inform him. Instead, you despised and persecuted Bertrand, eventually driving him into disappearance.”
The royal decree did not end there.
“Despite Alto Bertrand declaring his intent to disappear, the carriage station transported him out of Lukart.”
The Carriage Station Manager fell into despair.
“Even knowing that the priestess Krima took out a loan of 40 million Dalk in his name to give as a gift to a scoundrel named Gerend, the Bank of Lukart turned a blind eye.”
The Bank Manager collapsed in frustration.
“And what on earth was the head of the Lukart adventurers doing, failing to stop him despite being the first to realize Alto Bertrand’s true identity!”
A fluid—it was unclear if it was blood or tears—flowed from the Branch Manager’s one good eye. The price for acting as if they owned the world was catastrophic.
“Hear this! Let it be known that from the moment this royal decree is issued, you of Lukart are sinners!”
Yarismal beckoned to the receptionist.
Recognizing the signal, the receptionist rushed over, and Yarismal handed her the high-quality paper containing the royal decree.
Yarismal, wearing the knuckle named Love on her left hand, approached the hanging Adventurer Branch Manager.
“This is a warning and a preview.”
Her left fist, clad in the knuckle, was pressed against the lower part of the Branch Manager’s abdomen.
“A warning to Lukart for insulting a National Merit Recipient!”
Thwack!
“Mmph!”
Holding the manager’s shoulder down, she delivered a relentless series of upward uppercuts.
Thwack! Thwack!
A foul liquid trickled down between the manager’s legs, and the manager, lacking the strength even to scream, simply coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
“Bleegh—!”
Then,
CRACK!
The fist didn’t just strike the diaphragm; it kept pushing inward.
“Gah…! Urgh…!”
Her hand still gripped the shoulder tightly, holding the manager in place.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh—!!!!!!”
As she drove her fist upward into the mangled abdomen, applying horrific pressure—
Crunnnch—!!
“Hieeeeeegh, aaaaaaaagh!!!!!!”
The manager’s body jerked and thrashed until, unable to withstand the force, the abdominal wall tore open.
Yarismal’s fist smashed through obstructing organs and bones, driving deep until she gripped the manager’s heart.
Then, she ripped it out and held the pulsating organ aloft for everyone in the square to see.
“Hic…!”
No one could even open their mouths, except to gasp for air.
“I say it again. This is a warning, and…!”
Squish!
The Branch Manager’s heart exploded.
It sounded no different from a waterlogged ball bursting.
Limbs twitched intermittently.
The white of the manager’s single eye rolled back slowly.
Blood flowed not from seven, but eight orifices—the nose, eyes, ears, and the newly gouged hole in the belly.
“A preview of your fate.”
“Hieee… Hieeeeeegh!”
When the Carriage Station Manager screamed, Yarismal quickly turned and drove her fist into her mouth three or four times.
“Aguck! Cough! Ack!”
Only after half her teeth were gone did the Station Manager shut her mouth.
“However, His Majesty, following the mercy of the gods, intends to grant you an opportunity.”
Ah, I’m getting dizzy. Did I get too excited?
Yarismal shook her head and stared straight ahead.
“Find Mirei’s Party, the ones who committed adultery against the hero.”
She felt something squishy in her hand; it was the remains of the burst heart.
“Bring Alto Bertrand, whom you drove away, back to Lukart. Then, your brand of sin shall be seared away with a new branding iron.”
Tossing the remains aside, Yarismal slowly approached the receptionist.
“From now on, you are the Branch Manager of the Lukart Adventurer Guild.”
Poor thing, look how pale her face is.
“You can do a good job, right?”
As she patted the receptionist’s cheek, a glob of blood from the former manager smeared onto her face.
“Yes, this big sister trusts you. Now, shall I give you your first mission?”
Yarismal pointed at the two men.
“The King has decreed that these two shall be used as male prostitutes. However, since they seduced the hero’s women with their treacherous tongues, cut them out.”
She handed over a pair of razor-sharp scissors.
Without hesitation, the receptionist rushed over, grabbed Claude’s tongue, and snipped it off.
“-----!!!!!!!!!!”
It was a truly silent scream.
“Wait! Wait! If I had known he was Alto Bertrand, I wouldn’t have done it! I wouldn’t have!”
Gerend dragged his body backward, pleading.
Of course, there was no way the excuse would work, but Yarismal smirked and took the scissors back from the receptionist.
“For your information, I heard the women these two will be servicing are at least sixty years old. I suppose they live long because they eat well in the palace. Leave one of them his tongue; he’ll need it for the ‘service.’ Besides, he’s quite the talker.”
Instead, she handed the receptionist a pair of pliers.
“And since they were so reckless with their lower halves, His Majesty ordered that one testicle from each be crushed. The noblewomen of the palace said they want to play with the remaining ones before popping them themselves, so be careful.”
“……”
“Hey, stop joking around…! I’m Gerend! The most handsome man in Lukart, Gerend! You were busy wagging your tail at me with a smile too! Hieek! No…! No, no!!”
Unfortunately, Gerend, who had neglected his training and was exhausted from the beating, could offer no meaningful resistance when the receptionist pinned him down.
Crunch!
“Aaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!”
One testicle was crushed, and Gerend lost consciousness.
The receptionist—no, the new Branch Manager—stood up and approached Claude.
“Now then.”
Yarismal sighed as she put Love and Peace back on both hands.
This is surprisingly tiring.
Better finish this quickly.
“As for you lot, who failed to lead these two men onto the right path… your sentence is flogging followed by execution.”
“Why? Why?! I caught Claude! I caught him first and hit him the most, so why? Why…”
CRACK—!
The woman’s protest was cut short.
The sound of a human skull shattering was like a bomb going off.
CRACK—!
“P-please, spare…!”
CRACK—!
“Consider yourselves lucky,” Yarismal said, as if being generous. “I’m tired, so I’m sending you off without any pain.”
CRACK!
Soon, when the blood-soaked Yarismal and the receptionist stood tall on the platform, not a single soul in Lukart dreamed of escape.
“Let’s do better from now on, everyone, okay?”
Lukart had transformed from a Dungeon City into a City of Sin.