The Price of Past Mercy
The man nodded frantically, pushing the absolute limit of what little movement he could manage.
When Rai loosened his grip at my signal, the man gasped and sucked in air like he was drowning. Even though his face was half-buried in mud.
“Right. Only answer what I ask.”
Why are you looking up at me with those terrified eyes?
You’re the ones who did wrong. I was just sitting there minding my own business.
“Where’s Einy?”
“……Who?”
“The girl you people kidnapped. My companion. Dark-skinned child with silver hair.”
“I…… don’t know. I just came on shift, I swear I don’t know anything!”
His eyes told me he was telling the truth.
“Damn it. Guess I have to grab another one.”
I was genuinely irritated now. The thought of repeating this process until I found someone who actually knew where Einy was made my temper flare.
I scowled and gave a careless wave of my hand.
“Rai, this guy……”
“Please spare me! I don’t have any rabbit-like brats or a fox-like wife!”
I was only planning to knock him out, but the underling had already panicked and screamed.
Do I really look like the kind of person who’d slaughter people without a second thought? How strange. I’m such an elegant, refined lady.
“Then I’ll change the question.”
“Ask me anything! I’ll tell you everything I know!”
“First, your boss is Grack, right? The disgusting bastard who lost his ears and nose and apparently his conscience along with them.”
“Yes! Exactly right!”
“Then where do you think my companion—the one your boss kidnapped—would be right now?”
“……The prison. It’d have to be the prison, right? If he brought her here by force, he would’ve thrown her in there.”
The underling standing in front of me must have taken a brief tour of the afterlife, because he answered every question with sincere devotion. I could see the desperate determination to flatter me and save his own skin.
“Where is this prison?”
“I can guide you there!”
“Good. Lead the way.”
“There are two locations, but……”
“The closest one first. Try anything stupid and you die. Understood?”
Rai was still coiled around the man’s neck, and he seemed to instinctively understand that his life rested in the palm of my hand.
I drew a thumb across my throat in a slicing motion. Kkik.
“Huh? Shouldn’t you be out on patrol right now?”
The guard stationed at the prison entrance seemed to recognize the underling I’d taken hostage. Not ideal.
“Ah, well, the thing is……”
“And who’s that behind you?”
The underling was so flustered by the guard’s question that he started acting suspiciously. I had Rai tighten around his throat.
That seemed to snap him back to his senses. He managed to sound halfway intelligent.
“Reinforcements!”
I stayed hidden in the shadow of my hood, only my lips visible. From the outside, it would be nearly impossible to tell if I was male or female.
Luckily the rain was pouring down in sheets, so wrapping myself completely in a cloak didn’t look suspicious at all.
“I see. The boss did order everyone to tighten security today, didn’t he? Guess that’s why they added more people.”
“Exactly!”
“Said someone might come attacking, right?”
“……Uh, y-yeah?”
Hello. Already inside.
And this idiot needs his neck squeezed tighter. If he wants to live, he’d better focus.
“Told us to mobilize everyone we could. Even dragged in the ones who were supposed to be resting. Thanks to that, I’m stuck working overtime too.”
The guard grumbled, but because they knew each other, he let his guard down quickly.
“But why are you here instead of working?”
“Uh…… well, I checked the duty log! It said I was supposed to patrol and take charge of this area!”
“What? No way. I’m the one pulling an all-nighter here tonight. You sure you read it right?”
Ugh. I’d grabbed an absolute moron. I should’ve taken the guard hostage instead.
“I’m telling you it’s right! So from now on, I’m guarding this spot!”
“Hmm?”
“Just hand over the keys and go!”
“Something feels off.”
It was such a pathetic lie that I could only sigh.
I gave up on the hope that my hostage could handle this situation quietly. As expected, peaceful solutions just weren’t my style.
I clicked my tongue and summoned a quicker solution.
“Adore.”
“Huh?”
“What the—urk!”
The moment the guard noticed the sparkling orb floating in the air, I pointed at him.
Boom!
With the crack of thunder, the guard collapsed to the ground.
The electric shock was enough to knock out the unsuspecting guard in less than a second. The terrible weather completely swallowed the sound of the attack. The rain seemed to make it even more effective than usual.
Huh. He’s foaming at the mouth.
“Is he dead?”
Uahaha! A bit strong, wasn’t it! Master! Today’s weather is absolutely perfect for me!
I nudged the guard—who had collapsed in a strange position—with my foot.
He was still breathing. Not that it would matter much if he died.
He’s part of a slave trading organization, after all.
Guard or underling, they were all members of the slave company. They all deserved to die. I should’ve done this from the beginning. It was so simple.
“S-spare me! Please! I’ll do better, I swear!”
When I turned around, the absolutely terrible actor of an underling was groveling with everything he had.
Every time our eyes met, this was what came out of his mouth.
“You do realize you’re useless, right?”
“No! I’ll do anything!”
“Then hide this guy somewhere. We can’t leave him here where someone might find him.”
“Yes! Leave it to me! Boss…… I mean, Mage!”
The underling probably had no idea why he kept getting hit.
I pulled off my leather glove and slapped his face with it several times.
Hitting him with my bare hand would only hurt me, so this was perfect.
Slap. Slap.
The crisp sound was strangely addictive.
“I was wrong—ugh! Please spare—hk!”
“Let’s try to live with some elegance! Elegance!”
I hadn’t bought these leather gloves for this purpose, but they were proving quite satisfying.
Once my irritation had died down a little, I slipped the glove back on and peered into the prison entrance where the guard had been standing.
Gray stairs descended deep into pitch-black underground.
They must have built the prison beneath the earth with no escape routes so the slaves couldn’t possibly run away.
As I was about to step inside, I glanced back. The underling—with bright red marks blooming across his face—was rummaging through the unconscious guard’s clothes.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you following?”
“I need to find the keys. For the prison cells.”
“I don’t need keys. Do you even know who I am?”
The universal key Rai is my contracted spirit! There isn’t a single lock in this world I can’t open.
“……Who are you, exactly?”
“None of your business. How dare a worm like you question me.”
From his expression, it was obvious that if he could, he would kill me on the spot.
But power dynamics always favored the strong. The right to mock was also a privilege of the strong.
“What? Angry because you’re being looked down on? If it’s so unfair, why don’t you bring a dragon?”
“N-no, I would never say something so terrifying.”
“Everyone knows at least one dragon, don’t they?”
“There’s no way……”
Of course I was joking.
“I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully.”
“My name is Extra……”
“I didn’t ask and I’m not interested, so shut up. I have no intention of remembering you and it’s a waste of brain space. The answer is already decided. You just need to respond.”
“……Yes.”
“I’m going to remove the snake currently wrapped around your neck. If you don’t have a death wish, don’t even think about running. Instead, I’ll be attaching this one to you.”
I needed Rai to open the locked doors. So I removed him from the underling—who was an open book—and gifted him Adore instead.
What? Master! I just have to stick to this human?
A beautiful star-like sparkling form, but the lightning spirit Adore possessed the strongest killing power.
On a rainy day like this, he was especially dangerous.
“As you saw earlier, getting hit by this one hurts quite a lot. You saw your friend foaming at the mouth and his eyes rolling back, didn’t you?”
“P-please show mercy! I’d rather have the snake……”
“No. I’ll do what I want.”
Did you just call me a vicious bitch with your eyes? Oh my, you actually know something.
I smiled sweetly.
“Having your neck broken would hurt less than burning to death, but I’m afraid that can’t be helped.”
With the sound of rain hammering the ground and my footsteps echoing off the walls, I descended the narrow, damp passageway.
It didn’t take long before a familiar space appeared before me.
This was my first time in this underground prison, yet it felt strangely familiar.
It was far too similar to the place I had been locked up in long ago. Maybe because the owner of the prison was the same scum.
A wave of disgust rose up on its own.
“I should have killed Grack back then.”
Grinding my teeth, I moved deeper inside. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I could now see large and small shadows crouching behind the iron bars.
It wasn’t just one or two people locked up.
The prison stretched out vertically. As I slowly walked down the central path, searching for Einy, I could sense the trapped figures holding their breath and curling up even smaller.
They were all praying I wouldn’t stop in front of their cell. That their turn would come as late as possible……
There are so many children here.
“I don’t see Einy.”
She must be in a different cell.
The prison showed no consideration for human beings. It was narrow, cold, wretched, and filthy. There wasn’t even a single blanket, let alone a toilet or window, so the stench was overwhelming.
Rats were openly scurrying about. Hygiene was clearly nonexistent.
I could confidently say this was the worst prison environment imaginable.
I wasn’t exactly overflowing with mercy or sympathy, but I couldn’t control the rage building inside me.
This wasn’t something one human should do to another.
It was easy to look away—but that was back when I wasn’t human.
Roughly counting, there were more than twenty prisoners.
“Rai.”
Yes! Master.
“Open every door.”
I stretched out my right hand—the one wrapped in Rai—and grabbed the iron cage door.
Starting with the ones closest to me, the doors began to open one after another. In the silent prison, the sound of iron doors clanging open rang out loudly in succession.
When every door had opened by itself, the only person who didn’t look surprised was me.
“And make sure they can never be locked again.”
Should I just devour all the iron bars completely?
“That works too. But only after I let everyone out.”
Watching the prisoners stumble out of their cells in a daze, I pulled my hood down even lower.
Then I called out to the underling standing behind me.
“You there.”