Chapter 14
Chapter 14
"Four Gold Coins. Heh heh."
The Rat started by laughing first.
He looked relaxed, but it was obvious that he actually wasn't.
"Erion, Erion. I don't think I've ever treated you that poorly. Yet you're doing this to me?"
"I'm doing this precisely because you haven't treated me poorly. It's not like I'm stiffing you."
"That job you have, I'm the one who introduced you to it. What are you going to do once you're done with all this?"
I figured as much.
His attitude was oily, but you could tell from various signs that he wasn't used to this kind of work. He might have been skilled at treating people and extorting money, but it was obvious he was inexperienced with other things.
In that sense, there was actually a good side to it.
It meant he showed that kind of judgment and sense without having much experience.
"I'm quitting that job, too. I'm going to go do other work with these people."
"Looks like you've got some nonsense in your head again. Erion, stop with the foolishness. Just keep doing what you were doing and bring back the money."
Anyway, the bickering between The Rat and Erion continued.
At this rate, there would be no end to it.
I slammed my fist onto the desk with a loud *kwang*, making everyone except Hera flinch.
"Stop with the chatter and take it. Four Gold Coins."
"And if I refuse to take it?"
"It would be better if you did. Wouldn't it be better to consider the distance between us?"
At those words, The Rat fell silent.
I could feel the thugs cautiously approaching outside the open door, but it wasn't a big deal. For one thing, Hera was at the door.
Erion didn't seem to understand what I was saying, but The Rat sighed deeply as he looked at Erion and said.
"Four Gold Coins, huh. Tsk. Fine. I'll take it."
"If you brought any paperwork, take it out."
The Rat was about to take the Gold Coins.
After I placed my hand on top of them and spoke, Erion took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. The Rat sighed, saying, "You've prepared quite thoroughly."
"This is the end of it."
"Yeah."
"It's true that I was grateful to Cesar-ssi all this time. It's true, but I think I've paid back more than enough for what I received from Cesar-ssi."
"Well..."
An answer that left many meanings.
Once the contract was written up, I slid the four Gold Coins over.
The Rat picked up the Gold Coins, bit all four of them, clicked his tongue, and tucked them into his pocket.
"Then this is the end of it."
"Yeah."
"Please don't come looking for me anymore. I've already said everything I needed to."
The Rat nodded without a word.
As I followed Erion, who turned and walked out, the guys outside who were blocking the door scattered. Until we left, the only sound in the building was the creaking of the three of us walking.
And, as soon as we left the building and entered the alleyway.
"Ugh, huff—!"
Erion completely changed his attitude and gasped for air.
I don't know how long he had been holding his breath, but he panted for a long while before he finally calmed down. When I stared at him, Erion rubbed his face with his hand and joked.
"Man, I was really scared. Five coins instead of four! It's a good thing Lian-nunim handled it well..."
"Don't call me nunim."
"Ah, yes. Then what should I call you?"
"Just call me Leader or Party Leader."
"Yes, Leader-nunim."
What is this guy doing?
When I stared at him, Erion realized his mistake and bowed his head low.
"Are we leaving today?"
"Well."
"Wouldn't it be a bit tough today? We could travel for a few hours, but since the sun is setting, rather than camping out, maybe staying one more day..."
I raised my hand to cut Erion off.
It's good that he thinks for himself, but.
"You aren't allowed to give your opinion yet. At least not until you pay back the four Gold Coins I advanced you and show some results."
"Yes."
After shutting up the guy who kept talking.
I looked at Hera, and she shrugged.
It seemed like we were both thinking the same thing right now.
"Let's leave today. You go over there to where we bought the carriage and bring it here. I'll be packing the luggage."
"Got it."
Hera went to get the carriage.
Erion looked like he had a lot to say and opened his mouth, but when I looked at him, he shut it.
There was a positive side to it. At least the party wouldn't be boring with this guy around.
But Hera is the type to talk a lot too, so wouldn't that be pointless...
After checking out of the 「Blue Steam Pipe」 and packing our luggage, Hera had brought the carriage around. It was a wagon-type carriage with a canvas top over a wooden frame.
"You need to start with some physical training."
"No, I'm fine... Ugh."
"What do you mean you're fine."
Erion was carrying half of Hera's luggage, and he was struggling even with that amount of weight. He was still carrying the luggage until we threw everything into the carriage.
When I lifted it with one arm and threw it in, Erion looked at me with a surprised expression.
"No, how are you so..."
"You're just weak. Anyway, get inside."
When I climbed onto the driver's seat, Hera pushed Erion inside and took a spot at the entrance of the wagon. It didn't have a ton of equipment like super high-end carriages, but it did use leaf springs, so the ride was decent 'for a carriage'.
The carriage stopped once in front of the city gate.
It wasn't a big deal, they just wanted us to pay the tax.
"Here you go."
When I handed over a small silver coin, the guard nodded and opened the gate. As we came out, the sun was changing colors and disappearing to the west.
It wasn't a good time to be moving.
Which is exactly why we had to move at this time.
"I won't drive too fast."
"Yeah."
If I drove too fast, we might not achieve our goal.
It was necessary to drive a little slowly.
* * *
It didn't take long for the sun to set.
The sky, which had the color of 'shouldn't we not go outside right now?' from the moment we left, turned dark as if its own life had ended by the time the city disappeared from the horizon.
Since there was a stream nearby that was good for camping, we started preparing to camp.
"What should I do?"
"No, you just stay put."
"Yes?"
Perhaps because it was a different answer than he expected.
Erion asked back with his eyes slightly widened.
Hera, who looked like she was about to explain something, scratched the back of her head and gave up on explaining.
"Usually there's a lot to do, but today just stay holed up in the carriage."
"Ah, ah... yes..."
"It's just for today, so stay inside quietly. Don't try to come out and do anything. If you want to come out, tell me."
Erion, who was just rolling his eyes without knowing what was going on.
There was no need to explain, so I just picked up some branches from around the area, lit a campfire, and waited.
It was when Hera had brought the second bucket of water that I started hearing something.
The faint sound echoing from far away soon grew loud enough to clearly identify as the sound of horse hooves rushing toward us.
Erion, who was in the carriage, poked his head out but was stopped by Hera and pushed back inside.
The sound that had been rushing for a while stopped near us.
As the burning campfire flickered slightly, I threw a few more logs into it.
The flames didn't flare up like they did in games, cartoons, or other creative works.
The small branches were engulfed in flames and burned faintly.
"If you've come, why don't you show your face."
The answer from the darkness outside the campfire didn't come immediately after I finished speaking.
It was only after the sound of horses snorting was heard a few times that a voice flowed out.
"Did you know we were coming?"
"Should I not have known?"
"That's not it."
"If you've come, show your face quickly and state your business. If you're not going to, just leave."
Perhaps flustered by the unexpected reaction, the opponent walked in front of the campfire and showed his face to me.
It was a guy I didn't know.
No, had I seen him earlier? Maybe I had.
Anyway, it seemed like the business was what I suspected.
"I think you know why we came, so let's not make things ugly and do this easily."
"Shall we?"
"Yeah. Either die, or hand everything over. The boss is specifically saying he'll forgive you if you bring all the cash. That should be enough."
"Or you could just spread your pussy for me! Then I might let you off a little!"
Laughter bursting out in the darkness.
I chuckled and looked at the carriage.
Erion poked his head out, then hid inside at my gaze.
"Geez, everywhere you go, this kind of..."
"Huh?"
"It's cliché. Do you think I'll listen if you talk like that? I don't know how it happened, but even though you don't all live in the same place, somehow your actions are all similar."
As I said that and threw a log into the campfire.
Along with the sound of the wind splitting, someone fell over with a "Ugh!"
"Hey!"
While still sitting, I moved only my arm and threw the axe from my waist.
The guy who was standing in plain sight by the campfire was hit in the shoulder by the axe and grabbed it.
After getting up and kicking the guy in the side, I threw an axe at each of the two who were rushing at me, increasing the number of neutralized people to three.
No, with the guy who got hit by an arrow earlier...
"Ugh!"
Now it's increased to two.
Anyway, I picked up the sword of one guy groaning in pain, and then beat the guys rushing at me with the scabbard. The guys who came on horses, maybe there were less than ten of them, or maybe they ran away. The number of people and the number of horses didn't quite match up.
"What about the others?"
"This is it. I think there are two who ran away..."
Hera's answer came from the darkness.
I disarmed them and tied their wrists with rope. Erion poked his head out of the carriage once again.
He didn't say anything in particular.
Because the situation was over now.
"You can come out now."
"No, these people... they're Cesar-ssi's family/people, right?"
"Then who else would it be?"
Hera's voice sounded genuinely pathetic.
While Erion was blushing, I gathered the eight neutralized people in one place.
Some were groaning from being hit by an axe, some from being hit by a sword, it was a total mess. Someone shouted, "You fucking bitch, do you think you'll live after doing this!"
All talk, no bite.
"Uh... should I just pick anyone?"
I rubbed my forehead.
Whenever I had to do something like this, I worried about how to choose fairly.
Hera said indifferently, as if I should really just pick anyone.
"Just take one at a time. Wouldn't half be enough?"
"That's true."
"You fucking bitch! I'm really going to strip you naked, hang you in the square, and fucking..."
The unspeakable profanity continued, but there was no need to react.
Instead, I stroked my chin and chose one of their weapons. It was a sword that looked like it had been sharpened quite a bit to be used in actual combat.
When I drew it from its scabbard, the thugs suddenly went quiet. Instead, their faces were filled with anxious looks.
"Let's go with 1, 3, 5, 7. Help me get them into position."
"Got it."
Hera dragged the first one out and kicked him in the stomach.
The guy coughed and bent over, and Hera dragged him over, put him on a makeshift chair, and grabbed his neck.
It was a scene where everyone knew the intention.
"Hey, if you struggle, you won't die as easily, you know? So just stay still. Then you can die without as much pain."
"P-p-p-please spare me!!"
"What do you mean spare you. Don't talk nonsense."
"Please, please, please, please, please!!"
"Hey, make him quiet down a bit."
At my words, Hera kicked that guy in the head.
The thug's head lolled, but he kept muttering something. Please spare me, I have parents at home, blah blah blah.
Yeah. I had parents too, but I came to this world. I had parents in this world too, but they died. They weren't at an age to die, but after getting beaten up a few times for not paying back some money, there was no way to treat them in this world.
Anyway, that's not important.
Parents and children are originally meant to be born and die at different times.
They say it's unfilial if the child goes first.
Isn't it already unfilial to be a thug in the first place?
It's not a problem if you commit a little more unfilial acts.
Do you think black ink gets any blacker if you add it to black water?
"No, everyone..."
"Please, please, please..."
"Hut!"
Leaving behind Erion's voice and the thug's pleas, I lightly slit the guy's throat. What happened next wasn't exactly a beautiful sight.
"Uwaaaaah!!! Aaaaaah!!!"
"Please spare me!! Please spare me!"
Blood splattered, and the thugs (and one Healer) screamed.
With all that as a background, Hera and I chatted.
"Should we not slit their throats? It's a bit uncomfortable to watch."
"You're always like that. And yet, you end up slitting throats later anyway."
"That's just sending them off at once without pain."
I slit their throats like that out of consideration, trying to send them off humanely if I'm going to kill them. They say the guillotine was originally developed for humane purposes, too.
"No, why, why now... why are you killing them?"
"Why, you ask."
"There's no need to kill them, right? They're all tied up..."
"My friend. Do you think they didn't come here to kill people? It's only because we're strong. If this happens to normal people, they usually get killed, or if they're women, they get dragged off to a brothel to sell their bodies, just like they said earlier."
Erion's face was pale, which I could tell even by the campfire.
Hera's tone in answering his question was calm, as if it were nothing. And in reality, it was nothing.
Because it was something we had experienced a lot.
"We're still doing it humanely in our own way. We'll kill half and let the other half go."
"Then why are you killing them??"
"If we don't kill them, will they know that it's scary? They'll definitely come back for revenge, saying this and that. Doing it this way is also for your own sake."
"So just stay in the carriage if you don't want to see bad things. Even if you know it's happening, sometimes the psychological shock is less if you don't see it with your own eyes."
"Please spare me..."
The voice of some thug who was now completely hoarse.
Do you think I'd spare him just because of that... but that guy is number 2.
He seems to know he won't die, should I just kill him?
No, that's a bit much.
It doesn't seem like he's saying that out of such calculations.
Anyway, while Hera was dragging the second target over, Erion suddenly approached and knelt before me. He had an expression dominated by various emotions, especially fear and bewilderment.
"P-please don't do that, spare these people."
"Spare them?"
"Yes, yes. There's no need to kill them... there's absolutely no need to kill them all."
"I told you I'm not killing them all. I'm only killing half."
"Whether it's half or all, please don't kill them. Please... please, I beg you. Please..."
Erion was begging me as if he were clinging to me.
Hera tried to pull Erion away, but Erion kept clinging to me.
This is a bit embarrassing. Was he such a deeply philanthropic friend... to say that, hmm.
Actually, come to think of it, there was no need to kill them.
"Should we not kill them?"
"Why?"
"Come to think of it, there's no need to kill them. We just need to give them a warning anyway."
"Theoretically that's true, but..."
"Th-that's right!! Please!! I'll tell the boss, okay? Please! I'll tell him never to touch you guys!! Please!!"
Thinking they had found a way to live, voices suddenly burst out from the thugs.
Hera slapped one of them across the cheek. The night became quiet again, and I looked at Erion, who was shedding tears, and after some thought, I said.
"Shall we. Shall we not kill them."
"Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!!"
While various cries were bursting out, I called Hera.
When I gestured to Hera and told her what to do, she burst into a hollow laugh.
"How did you come up with that?"
"There are things like that."
I saw it in a movie in my previous life.
Hera grabbed the second guy who had been saying thank you and kicked him just like before. While the "Thank you!!" greeting changed back to "Please spare me!!", Hera threw a few punches to make the second guy woozy, then opened his mouth and stuck a rock between his back teeth. The rock was wedged tightly between his spread teeth.
And I placed my foot on the back of his head.
Everyone realized what I was going to do.
Erion looked at us, at me, with a face full of terror.
"It's better than dying, right? Since I didn't kill you. Instead of dying, I'll do the same thing to all of you, so I hope you go to your boss and tell him everything that happened, truthfully."
No, he might not be able to talk.
Well, speech isn't strictly necessary for communication.
As I stomped my foot down on the back of his head, blood splattered.
* * *
Nothing else happened after that.
It was like that all the way back to the Labyrinth City.
Erion spent about two days with a sour expression, acting like he was dead, but as we got closer to the Labyrinth City, his expression brightened.
It seemed like he was forgetting the events and emotions of that time as time passed, rather than it being about the magic of the Labyrinth City or anything like that.
And we arrived at our destination before lunch.
"Is this the place?"
"That's right. Labyrinth City Katabas."
There are some parts similar to Arcanum. For one, it was surrounded by city walls, and buildings were gathered in a circle around a single object, which was similar.
"Today, we're going to go register you with the 「Silver Needle Guild」 and go through various procedures. If things go well, starting tomorrow..."
"Are we going into the Labyrinth?"
"That's how it will be."
To think it's this hard to find one Healer.
I just hoped that the guy I went through all this trouble to recruit would be good.