Chapter 65. Scum Can Be Found in Any Group.
Chapter 65. Scum Can Be Found in Any Group.
For a moment, my companions looked bewildered by what I'd done.
"Oppa, weren't you trying to let them live?"
"Hm? Why would you think that?"
"Oh, no... it's just the vibe you gave off was like, 'hurry up and get lost'... so I thought you were letting them go."
"They were going to cross over sooner or later anyway. It's easier to whittle their numbers down ahead of time."
Just then, my father-in-law, who had been frowning and swallowing a groan, spoke up.
"First, let's rest a bit. After dinner, we'll return to the assembly hall and discuss the rest."
After finishing a meal that barely qualified as one, we all went into the assembly hall. Noticing that the erosion was getting worse, my companions' faces had darkened a little. Then, Min-cheol raised his hand and asked me a question.
"Hyung-nim, you mentioned the beasts of the Demon Realm other than Leviathan. Are there more things like that dragon?"
"Yeah. There's a giant bird and something like a rhinoceros, similar in class and size."
"A, ah... a bird of that size flying through the sky, and a rhinoceros just rampaging around...?"
Those who had personally witnessed Leviathan looked horrified.
"They'll probably be stronger than Leviathan. Unlike purely created beings, Leviathan was something the Demon God made by blending it with the Demon King's bloodline, because he needed an entity to govern the sea."
The President pressed a hand to his forehead and asked with an even graver expression.
"Can humanity... survive?"
"Other humans and demihumans will certainly cross over. And on Titan, humans always found the answer."
They were failing to grasp the bigger picture. Just as that side developed mana, we developed science. The martial power of individuals might be weaker, but just looking at a missile shows power comparable to an 'Explosion' spell. More powerful missiles than that, to say nothing of nuclear missiles, carry utterly monstrous destructive force.
'Of course, we don't have nukes...'
Right now, the most important resource on Earth is manpower. If we have people, we can run social infrastructure and use weapons. The silver lining is that a lot of military personnel survived, so they can be deployed without much difficulty.
Still, looking at the whole of humanity, isn't the U.S. government still perfectly functional? If nukes were truly needed as a last resort, I'd have to grab them by the throat and make them launch them.
"By the way, Mr. Sihu, what do you intend to do about the remaining group at the hospital?"
Now that I thought about it, those people were still there. They probably wouldn't sense anything strange yet, but once days passed and their group's leader didn't return, they would find it odd. And the group would fall into chaos.
"Our position remains the same. We categorically reject anyone who would harm the group."
"Understood. So we'll allow only the ordinary survivors to join, and the ones who followed that bastard leader... will they have to be..."
Perhaps finding it awkward to ask directly if they should be eliminated, he trailed off vaguely.
"Let's accept those who followed out of necessity under special circumstances, and weed out the rest."
As an extreme example, someone who did it to protect their family would have ample grounds for leniency.
"Yes, we'll need to approach them quickly before they fall into disarray."
"It might not be to your taste, but bring me their severed heads."
Fear is an excellent tool for controlling people. The moment they realize their leader and officers—men they considered untouchable—have all been butchered, they won't dare resist. So we secured the heads of those bastards and put them in a box.
My companions, understanding my intent, nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"We'll depart tomorrow right after lunch."
Once the meeting concluded, I went back into the house, pondering a single concern. Somehow, Chaeyeon and Jia were sitting on either side of me.
"Sihu-ya, what are you worrying about?"
"I'm thinking about how to use that demon bastard's horn."
"Use the horn?"
"It's not on the level of a Demon King or the Demon God, but even a demon's horn is a high-quality material among demonkin."
"Oppa! Are you going to make a weapon out of it?"
"Huh? That's right. How did you know?"
"Oh, you know, in movies and novels, they always make arms out of stuff like that!"
"Haha, true. But the problem is, unless we use the dwarves' smelting methods, it's hard to refine with Earth's technology."
"Huh? Sihu-ya, then the reason you collected Leviathan's corpse last time was also because of that?"
"That's right."
Leviathan's corpse held a value incomparable to a mere demon's horn. It was a material rivaling that of a Dragon King or a Dragon Lord. Though, arguably, it was a tier lower.
I knew that Ahjussi still dabbled in smelting as a hobby and studied weaponry diligently. Occasionally, he'd ask me to examine a sword or dagger he made himself. Of course, my mother-in-law has been using the dagger as a pretty good kitchen knife(?).
"Then, Sihu-ya, what is the sword you're using now made of?"
"I don't know either."
"Huh?"
"Seriously. I came across it by chance, too. You two probably couldn't even lift it."
"I've been training, so I've gotten stronger, you know!"
With a snicker, I rested the sword on the floor as if to say, go ahead, give it a try. Chaeyeon confidently gripped the sword and tried to lift it.
"Nnnrrrghhh!!! Why is this thing so heavy!!!"
"Eonni, let me try!"
As if trying would make any difference. Jia was no different from Chaeyeon.
"What is this, some hammer out of a movie!!!"
"Oppa, I guess I'm not worthy of lifting it..."
I laughed at their grumbling, and then we went to sleep, preparing for the next day.
* * * * * * * *
The following day dawned, and our daily life flowed on as usual. After having a meal, doing our work, and then eating lunch, we all gathered in front of the helicopter to head for the hospital, just as we had planned yesterday.
"It's the same procedure as last time. Drop us off, and once you get the radio call, come back with the rest of the group."
"I won't worry. If it's Mr. Sihu, you'll handle things fine on your own. Haha."
The helicopter carrying the special forces soldiers and the combat squad, whom I hadn't seen in a while, took off toward the hospital. Having grown somewhat comfortable with me on the helicopter, the special forces captain cracked a joke.
"Anyway, a demon, you say... should I start believing in a religion now?"
"Heh heh, your jokes have improved a lot."
— Beep!
"We are now entering hospital airspace and will land on the rooftop."
Once again, hospital personnel came out and confirmed our presence. The difference from all the previous times was that we lowered altitude and headed directly for the parking lot for landing.
Once we landed, the helicopter's hatch opened and we strode out confidently. Rather, the people there were bewildered by this unfamiliar situation and were on alert. Just then, I saw a familiar face.
"Y-you...!"
"The boss is gone, why is that bastard...!"
I gestured behind me, and the soldiers brought the box over. Then, I opened the box right in front of them and spilled the contents forward. The severed heads of the leader and his officers rolled out onto the ground.
"...!"
"The b-boss..."
I confirmed that truly, not every last one of them was scum. There was a clear divide between those who wore expressions of despair and those who looked relieved.
"I won't make a long speech. If you want to live, drop your weapons and surrender."
Having already confirmed that their leader and officers had all been killed, they realized resistance meant death and laid down their weapons, surrendering.
Led by the special forces captain, the soldiers began tying them up one by one. Then I questioned the man I had seen last time.
"Is this all of your combat personnel?"
"Yes... since the boss and the officers were away, there are no personnel stationed outside right now..."
It seemed sparse, but if they truly made a contract with a demon, then to these people, they would have seemed like monsters. They probably never even conceived of rebellion. The ones who resisted early on would have been made an example of.
Subduing them was such an anticlimax that it would have been uneventful even if the entire group had come with me.
"That was nothing. Radio the group and have them get ready. Just in case, have a few medical staff come over, please."
Not long after, they arrived here too. The medical staff had even brought simple first-aid tools for any potential injured people in the area.
"First, we've only subdued the combat personnel and haven't gone inside, so we don't know the situation either. But there's no danger, so don't worry."
I heard from that bastard earlier that while he wasn't a combatant, the man who played the role of this group's Advisor was captured, and he told us everything. Apparently, they didn't live spread out in different places, but all lived in this one, largest building.
The ridiculous thing was, they'd created their own form of currency, and except for the minimum-calorie rations, everything else had to be purchased. If you worked, you were paid a set amount. That was why women with families were selling their bodies to the Awakened Ones.
In essence, everyone except the Awakened Ones was treated as a slave. What was even more absurd was that those who weren't Awakened but were good-looking were treated as lovers and lived in luxury, they said.
'Is this the paradise you were talking about?'
Aside from that, they claimed there was no murder, assault, or rape for sport. Of course, they probably had to sell their bodies just to eat and survive.
'Wait, it wasn't an ordinary demon, but a contract with a Devil. Where did they get sacrifices?'
I grabbed the Advisor by the head and spoke.
"You. You're hiding something from me."
"N-no...! I swear, I told you everything."
"Then where did you get the sacrifices?"
"H-how do you even know about that...!"
To get him talking, I put pressure on the Advisor's head, as if about to pop it, causing him pain.
"Gaaah!!! I'll talk...!!"
"Spill it."
"The people who didn't join our group, and the people who said they couldn't follow our rules... we used them as sacrifices...!"
"Every group has its scum, just as I thought."