Chapter 62
Chapter 62
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Soulmates
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Yes, thank you.”
I smiled and bid farewell to the departing guests who'd just paid for their stay. They were a fresh-faced young couple, and the woman glanced at me before asking,
“Where'd the grandma go yesterday?”
“Oh, she's taking a break, so I'm covering for her.”
“You must be her grandson. How thoughtful.”
The man added a bit extra as a tip, and I flashed an even brighter smile, thanking him profusely.
Once the two left the hotel, I counted the money—it was more substantial than I'd expected.
“Hey, forget guiding tours and just go into business?”
If I made enough to buy a building later, I could live this easily.
“Guess that's the way to go, then.”
I stepped behind the counter and placed the thick safe in front of me. I'd left it alone out of laziness, but figuring I'd take everything worth taking, I drew my sword and sliced the safe clean in two.
Then a man's voice came from behind me.
“You crazy bastard... I told you the key's right there...”
The three men who'd tumbled down the stairs and passed out yesterday.
They were bound up, sporting massive lumps on their heads—my handiwork.
“Oh, right? Sorry, this is just easier.”
What could I do? Swinging my sword once beat hunting for the key and fiddling with the lock.
Inside was a hefty stack of cash—enough to make even me whistle.
“Wow, these guys really raked it in.”
I knew this wasn't just from running a hotel. Some bills were stained and damp with faint blood, making my grip tighten again.
“Excuse me, ma'am? Have you seen our friend?”
“He's got black hair, a guy our age, and he's not in his room.”
Rin and Hayun's voices drifted in from outside.
With a smile curling my lips, I stepped out to greet the two.
“I'm the owner here now.”
“Huh? Why are you coming from in there?”
“...What did you do this time?”
Rin looked flustered, while Hayun eyed me suspiciously.
I explained everything, pointing to the three bound men and the one former spider-human behind the counter.
Its spider legs had all been severed, so it wasn't much of a spider-human anymore.
“They called it the Robber Hotel. Apparently, they weren't just targeting us—they planned to hit all the other guests too.”
“I thought that was just urban legend stuff.”
“...!”
Hayun stood speechless in shock, but Rin calmly tilted her head and asked me,
“So what now? You handing them over to the guards?”
“Nah, I've got some questions for these guys, so I'm digging deeper. But their lips are sealed tight—won't talk.”
I scratched the back of my head as I spoke, and excluding the fainted old woman, the thugs all piped up at once.
“We'll talk!”
“Yeah, we'll spill everything! Please!”
“Spare us!”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
I smashed fists into their faces, and silence fell once more. In the solemn atmosphere, I shrugged at the two girls.
“See? They won't talk.”
“...”
“I felt it during the Javalanco incident last time, but you can be kinda scary sometimes.”
“They're got some real backbone.”
If asked why, it was all the horrors I'd uncovered while scouting the hotel last night.
The basement was lined with corpses like some twisted lab. Their secret passages reeked of old blood.
Even the claw marks gouged into the walls from desperate pleas for mercy.
Forgiveness didn't come easy.
“All the guests are gone anyway, right? Close up shop today and watch the place. I'll be back soon.”
“Where you headed?”
I cracked my knuckles as I answered Hayun's question.
“The guards.”
I was off to find the one who'd recommended this hotel to us yesterday, stepping straight out the door.
*
After Daniel left the hotel, Rin and Hayun decided to whip up a simple breakfast.
With some bread on hand, they munched while poking around, but midway through, nausea hit and they spat it out.
“...”
Rin especially clamped her mouth shut and balled her fists after seeing the basement horrors, then headed upstairs.
Her eerie vibe made Hayun anxious, so she followed.
“Gonna chat with those guys a bit.”
“Oh? Uh, sure.”
Rin locked the counter door behind her.
Watching her go, Hayun thought, not childhood friends for nothing.
Inside, Rin glanced at the four who'd come to, muttered something about it being fortunate, and cast a healing spell.
That instant, they knew.
Winning her over was the key.
“Little miss, look at this old lady. We had our reasons—forced into this life, even getting modded against our will!”
“P-please spare us. We didn't want to do this!”
“Yeah! There's a real mastermind behind it. We had no choice!”
“Talk to your boyfriend for us! We're begging!”
“Boyfriend?”
Rin mulled over the last bit, a small smile forming. The four survivors, sensing the shift, piled on the praise.
“I know people, and you two are perfect together.”
“Right, your boyfriend! Total golden couple!”
“You two getting married? You'd be so happy!”
“Kids from that match? Adorable—both so pretty and handsome!”
Rin was stunning enough for "peerless beauty," no exaggeration. Daniel at 28 had scars from a rough life, exuding rugged masculinity. But at 18? Still that timid look.
His eyes had sharpened, sure, but he was averagely handsome at a glance.
“Y-you think so?”
Rin's cheeks flushed as she fidgeted.
From their side, hyping the guy who'd beaten and stabbed them twisted their guts.
But survival first.
Rin thanked them, healed all their wounds, then cast a spell at the counter entrance.
“What spell's that?”
“No idea—how should I know?”
The thugs whispered among themselves at Rin's casual magic. Still, thinking she'd bought it, they weren't too worried.
Then a fireball slammed into one man, setting him ablaze.
“Gaaahhh!”
His body burned.
As everyone knows, nothing hurts humans like fire.
He thrashed in agony, begging for mercy, but didn't die.
What the hell?
The smell of roasting flesh filled the air, yet the remaining three stared at Rin in confusion.
Dark, formless energy poured from the girl as she gazed down at them with dead eyes.
“I saw the basement.”
“...!”
“S-sorry! But we weren't gonna do it to you!”
“Yeah! We were forced!”
“Doesn't matter if you didn't want to, or if you targeted me. Irrelevant.”
Another fireball rained down.
A different man writhed in torment, screaming, but like the first, he lived.
Rin's chilling voice cut through the cries.
“What I can't forgive is trying that on Daniel.”
A third fireball struck the next man.
Only the old woman remained.
She sensed something off.
Why weren't they dying? Just screaming in pain.
Normally, they'd be ash by now. Their bodies burned, cries real, but no actual burns.
“You can't do that to Daniel, right?”
As the fireball hurtled toward her, the old woman knew.
Those two were a match made in hell.
*
While Rin tapped into her Army of Death powers, however faintly, Daniel had a man by the collar.
“Hey, asshole. Who are you? Why'd you recommend that hotel yesterday?”
The guard, late from night watch, panicked at the sudden assault.
What? This pressure...
A presence beyond even the captain's.
Could a kid really emit killing intent like this? No time to marvel.
I'm dead.
One wrong move, and he was gone. He spilled quickly.
“Guests who stayed there always raved about it—that's all!”
“...”
Daniel glared, gauging truth. Satisfied, he released the collar with a nod.
“Remember any guests' descriptions?”
“T-there were so many...”
“...”
“What's this about? Hotel trouble?”
“It's shut down. Don't recommend it anymore.”
A light warning given, he turned away.
The guard didn't seem to be lying.
That many people recommended it?
From what I saw, survivors were rare.
Guess I have to ask the thugs.
If my hunch was right, that hotel tied into the "pit dogs."
Like Hare's cockatrice illusion, or the man with the doppel slime body.
The old lady owner had a Death Spider body from the Demon Realm Forest too.
What the hell are they up to?
It was murky.
Made sense they'd exploit the forest's resources and beasts to expand.
If they could wield that power even a little.
But crucially, my past self knew nothing of this "pit dogs" group.
If they operated in the Demon Realm Forest, I'd have known.
Sure, first 3-4 years, maybe—I was barely surviving the outskirts.
But once I built a house mid-forest and roamed? No way I'd miss them.
So they vanished within five years?
If so, it fit. Gone before I knew.
Hm?
A flash of white hair from the rooftop.
“She never rests, huh.”
The Extermination Squad girl hunting pit dogs harder than anyone stared down from above.