Chapter 19
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 19
“H-Hieek! Stay back! Get away from me! Spare me! What do you want? Why are you doing this to me?!”
“Good, you’re a reasonable man. I’ve always found that the ones holding pens are smarter than the ones holding swords. Asking what we want means you’re willing to give it, right? Cooperate, and we might just let you live. So, calm down.”
As the man stumbled backward, his hand brushed against something. An instant later, a dull thud echoed through the room, and a sharp pain shot through the back of his head.
He had hit a wall. When he came to his senses, he was already cornered. The shadows of the alcove cast a gloomy shroud over his face, as if patiently waiting for his death.
Were they human? Monsters? From where he stood, there was no way to know for sure.
But one thing was certain: the slender man possessed a monstrous strength that defied all common sense, and the pretty-faced woman behind him used magic. In truth, such details were meaningless. What mattered was that they were strong, they were intruders, and they were merciless. Judging by the way they killed without a single change in expression, they were undoubtedly professionals.
“Do you know anything about the Guillotine’s Tooth up for auction?”
The man’s soft voice, though he was splattered with grime, drifted over like a sweet temptation. It was a voice brimming with warmth—not at all what you’d expect from a cold-blooded killer.
Yes, that’s a voice laced with mercy, the manager thought. Maybe they really will let me live.
His mind began to race. Half of it was spewing resentment—Why in the world was that thing put up for auction to cause all this?—while the other half was consumed by the sheer terror of death. Images of his family waiting at home flashed through his mind, one after another.
He snapped back to reality when the man who had asked the gentle question widened his eyes.
He thought desperately. It was a literal struggle for survival. The moment he failed to give the right answer, he would die. There was no other way to describe it.
“I-I know a little! But not the exact details! I’m just an auction manager, so I only memorized the script the higher-ups gave me! Really, it’s the truth! Please believe me!”
“Recite the script. Now.”
“…Pardon?”
“You’re not going to tell me you’ve forgotten, are you?”
“N-No! Of course not! The… the Guillotine’s Tooth is one of the 36 Masterpieces, and it has reappeared for the first time in decades after vanishing, and…!”
“No, not that kind of stuff.”
The gentle voice suddenly shifted, now dripping with boredom.
“Not the things anyone could find out. Tell me something only you would know. For example, information about the seller who put the Guillotine’s Tooth up for auction. If possible, how they acquired it, where they found it—or maybe news about any monsters they encountered in the process. Things like that.”
“I… I don’t know anything like that…”
The moment the words left his mouth, the mana stone on the staff Melju held flared with light.
Low-tier magic: <Coward's Excuse>.
“Human, you lied.”
Hearing Melju’s words, Swallow grinned. A chilling aura filled the air.
It was a smile overflowing with hypocrisy. Swallow slowly placed a hand on the man’s head, stroking his hair as if petting a house cat. The man felt his insides churn with terror once again.
Extending his right hand as if starting a game, Swallow clasped the man’s hand. Their five fingers intertwined, palm to palm, as if they were about to clap.
Crack. Snap. Crunch.
The five interlocking fingers were bent backward toward the man’s own body—at an angle approaching 180 degrees.
“Ah… Ahhh… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! Aaagh!”
It took a mere 0.3 seconds after seeing his fingers, now mangled like tattered rags, for his body to react.
Heat surged through him, his physical reflexes kicking in before the pain. Then came the onslaught of agony. Shrieks and screams tore from his throat. Had he lost sensation in his fingers? No, quite the opposite—the sensation was excruciatingly vivid. His five grotesquely bent fingers flopped about like fish fins.
The maximum pain his nerves could register and the loudest scream his throat could produce erupted at once. Tears poured from his eyes, as if his body were being drained of all its moisture.
Saliva dripped from his mouth and snot ran from his nose. Though there was no blood, the joints of his broken fingers were turning pitch black as blood pooled beneath the skin. At this rate, they would rot. His right hand would never be the same.
Still, his body continued to tremble. Standing before the man, who was now experiencing a brush with death, the two killers wore expressionless faces that held neither joy, nor anger, nor any other emotion.
Their eyes looked as if nothing of consequence had happened.
“See? I told you. If you cooperated, we might let you live. Why bring this upon yourself?”
“Ah, ahhh… cough… I’m sorry… I-I’m… s-sorry… cough… S-Spare… spare me…”
“I’ll ask again. Do you know anything about the Guillotine’s Tooth?”
Only then did the man realize. The black mana the woman used, and the monstrous strength of the man with the serene expression.
They weren’t human. These two were not human. He had been a fool to expect any sort of humane behavior from them.
They were monsters. Not in a figurative sense, but real, living monsters.
“The Guillotine’s… Tooth… sob… it was… argh… Hastin’s… Magic Tower… Wing…”
“Look, I can barely understand you. Is it because your fingers hurt? But you know, other than your fingers, the rest of your body is perfectly fine. Did you seriously think we’d stop there? Take your time and answer. There are plenty more opportunities. Humans are surprisingly durable when you break them down slowly. You can still answer everything even if we break every part of you but your head, right?”
This man—no, this monster—was entirely serious. The flat, cold tone of his voice made that terrifyingly clear.
“…It was put up… by… ‘Wing’… of Hastin’s Magic Tower… I really don’t know… anything else… I swear… Please…”
He squeezed out every last ounce of strength to speak. His vision blurred from the ceaseless tears. Within that hazy view, two silhouettes wavered. They looked like a pair of grim reapers, black and formless.
At the man’s words, Melju’s staff flared once more. This time, her voice drifted over. “Lord Swald, that is the truth.”
“Wing of Hastin’s Magic Tower, huh…”
So it really is Hastin. The moment the thought crossed Swallow’s mind, his expression hardened.
Was there a human in Hastin strong enough to defeat Rene? He couldn’t remember any. However, this made one thing certain: there was an extremely high probability that the Guillotine’s Tooth in this auction was connected to Rene. And that a series of major disturbances must have occurred in Hastin.
“Thanks for telling the truth. I’ll let you live. I have to keep my promise.”
The gentle voice returned. Then came the sound of Melju and Swallow conversing, followed by a few footsteps.
Had they left? Even amidst the agony gnawing at his entire body, the man strained his ears.
He heard nothing more.
Only then did he let out a scream, releasing all his suppressed emotions.
“I… I survived… You bastards… What… what did I ever do to you… You goddamned bastards…”
His sobbing echoed through the room. His tears wouldn’t stop.
—And then, the sound of footsteps returned.
They were getting closer. They were coming back. The ominous clicking of dress shoes and the off-beat scuffing of another pair were unmistakably the footsteps of the two monsters who had just left.
“I came back because I thought you had something more to say, but it was just that?”
“Huh? Ah… N-No, I’m sorry! I didn’t say… No, I’m sorry for saying such useless things… Please spare me…”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
A few seconds of silence followed the unexpected response.
“Everyone always feels so wronged. So, since we’re at it, I’ll tell you. You didn’t do anything wrong. Really. Or is that too hasty? Ah, whatever. I don’t know much about you, but at least you haven’t done anything to us. Well, except for lying, of course.”
His tone was playful, yet entirely sincere.
“Hey, have you ever killed a monster?”
No answer came. Only when Swallow spread his right hand in a threatening gesture did the man finally nod his head up and down.
“Good. What did you kill?”
“A s-slime…”
“Fair enough. Now, how did you feel when you killed that slime?”
“Well… that is…”
“Did you feel any guilt?”
In the silence that followed, Swallow curled the corners of his mouth into a slight smile. Reacting to it, the hesitating man shook his head from side to side.
“Right. That’s normal.”
And then,
“It’s the same for me.”
“…”
“What do you people call it when you step into our territory? Do you call it a massacre? Slaughter? No, you use fancy words like ‘raid’ or ‘subjugation,’ don’t you? And I hear making things like homunculi and chimeras is all the rage these days. How many monsters did you kill for that? How many do you think have died? Did you ever feel sorry? Did you ever pity the dying? Do you think those creatures died because they did something wrong?”
Of course not.
He concluded his thoughts in a calm, level voice.
“It’s the exact same thing. The way you look at a slime is the way I look at you. You’re just an enemy. That’s all. You didn’t do anything wrong, and you have no reason to feel wronged. You were just unlucky enough to catch my eye.”
In short, it was the law of the jungle. Just the food chain, turning as it always does.
“Well, if not, whatever.”
Sighing as if venting centuries of grievances, Swallow slowly rose to his feet. The man, whose tears had half-dried, braved the pain to turn his head. He saw Swallow, who had already turned his back, and the woman, who was staring down at him with utter disdain.
“Foolish human.”
Having said her piece, the woman, Melju, also turned around. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked back at the man.
“However, in consideration for that mouth of yours finally speaking the truth, I shall grant you one more piece of knowledge. Soon, this building will collapse. You will be crushed under the ceiling and die a painful death.”
“…Ha, haha…”
He exhaled despair along with hollow laughter.
A flurry of thoughts crossed his mind. Why was he still alive? A vague curiosity about their true identities. Thoughts of his family at home. Ah, come to think of it, had his daughter finished her tutoring and returned home by now? What a relief. He was so glad he hadn’t brought his family to this auction. So glad his home was far away from this place. Thank goodness. Thank you so much.
The final thought that occurred to him was the intent behind the woman’s words. Perhaps because his senses had dulled, allowing him to concentrate, he felt he could faintly grasp her meaning.
It was a choice. A final opportunity.
“…Is there a spell that can grant a painless death?”
“I shall specially bestow it upon you.”
The manager closed his eyes. Melju’s staff flared with light once again.
“Melju, hurry up,” Swallow’s voice called out from a distance.
*
“Hey, Garot. Is that thing really that expensive?”
“It’s doubtful we could afford it even if we emptied our entire guild vault.”
“Isn’t that just because our guild is poor?”
“Everyone except you, Lady Uin, lives in abundance. You’re the only one who’s poor relative to your skill.”
Amidst the low buzz of the crowd, numbered paddles were raised here and there.
The price soared sky-high with no sign of stopping. It was as if the expensive jewels and rare items auctioned earlier were mere cheap opening acts; the digits of the current price were on an entirely different level.
The venue was packed to capacity. Most of the attendees were not individual buyers, but representatives of famous guilds or heads of prestigious families. Among them, a few familiar faces from the imperial family could also be seen.
The faces of everyone participating were lined with as much anxiety as anticipation.
Ten minutes passed.
The final bid had still not been settled, and the price continued to climb endlessly. The auctioneer didn’t even have time to raise his wooden gavel. This was not an item one could take home at a desired price by simply reading the room.
The 34th of the 36 Masterpieces.
The auction for the authentic ‘Guillotine’s Tooth’.
It was a fierce battle where everyone poured in their entire fortunes as if to boast of their wealth. From Uin’s perspective, it was a rather pathetic sight, but judging by the feverish atmosphere, everyone else was taking it with utmost gravity.
“I’m bored. Should we place a bid? Looking at how fast the price is rising, I think we could mess with them a few times.”
“Get a grip, Lady Uin. We didn’t come here to participate in the auction. You should know that better than anyone.”
“Ah, yes, yes. My mistake. Why don’t you just go ahead and call me the root of all evil?”
Her grumbling voice was androgynous, like that of a young boy whose voice had yet to break. Even among the elaborately dressed nobles, her long, sky-blue hair stood out, cascading down to her chest. The slight curls at the ends were somewhat cumbersome, but they suited her perfectly.
Her eyebrows were thin, sitting right beneath straight-cut bangs that looked as if they had been trimmed with a ruler. While her appearance was undeniably that of an exquisite beauty, it was difficult to call her elegant or graceful.
Instead, it was her adventurous eyes, which exuded a lively aura, that stood out.
Though her body was scrawny, as if she hadn’t fully grown into her average height, no one who saw the necklace peeking through her simple blue dress would dare look down on her.
Hanging from it was a platinum emblem proving her status as a ‘Hero’—a title held by only three people in the Empire until last week.
‘Iron Fist’, ‘Punisher’, ‘Hero of Sand Hell’, ‘Youngest Hero’.