TRSDICI 06

Chapter 6

Answer Carefully.

As soon as I went up to the second floor, I ran into the prostitutes.

Among them were women who had been on the first floor earlier. It seemed they had run up here during the fight.

They had nowhere else to go even if they left this place.

“P-Please spare us….”

The women knelt down and cried. I only asked a few simple questions.

“Who hired you? I already know everything, so if you lie, you die. Don’t forget how I found this place.”

“W-We don’t really know either. We were just told they would pay us a lot….”

“All of you?”

“Yes…. But the guide told us to ask the residents about the condition of the territory whenever they came.”

It seemed they were not directly connected to Baron Scalen.

If they were, they would have escaped during the fight and informed Baron Scalen already.

“Until I come back, stay inside this room.”

I pointed at one of the rooms.

“I’ll think about whether to kill you or not while I’m gone.”

“……”

“If you run away, you all die together. I’ll chase you to the end. Anyone want to play hide-and-seek with me?”

“…We understand.”

After all the women entered the room, I headed up to the third floor.

“Hm.”

There were several rooms here as well, but unlike the second floor, these looked more like offices than lodgings.

As I opened the empty rooms one by one, I finally met a man in the last room.

His black hair was neatly combed back, and he wore square glasses.

He sat at the desk, looking extremely exhausted.

“You again. Who are you?”

The man put down the pen he was holding and answered.

“I am the manager of this place under Baron Scalen’s orders. You could say I am the accountant.”

He answered more honestly than expected, so I continued questioning him.

“Why are you running this place?”

“To gather information about the Luminar territory and control the residents. The plan was to slowly eat away at the territory from the inside.”

“Looks like he trusted you quite a bit if you know so much.”

“Trusted me?”

The man slowly clenched and opened his hand.

“He is only holding my life in his hands and using me. Baron Scalen noticed my abilities and forced me into this position.”

He adjusted his glasses.

“As you can see, I have no combat ability. Even if I tried to escape, others would quickly catch me.”

“Hm. You’re calmer than I expected. Have you accepted death already?”

The man shook his head.

“No. I’m acting like this because I want to live.”

“And why should I spare you?”

“There is no reason yet. But I plan to create one.”

“What a strange bastard.”

I tilted my head slightly before asking,

“Then shouldn’t you start talking now?”

“Y-Young master….”

“Answer carefully.”

I pointed my sword at him.

“If you fail to create a reason right now, you die here.”

The man closed his eyes briefly.

Then he opened them and began speaking rapidly.

“The people monitoring the village will notice something is wrong and come here. There are six of them in total. They are strong, but judging from the fact that you reached the third floor without a single scratch, you should be able to handle them.”

At the same moment, I heard something like a crow landing on the outer wall.

When I did not move, a bead of sweat rolled down his sideburn.

“Ha.”

I let out a small laugh.

“You almost died just now.”

“……”

“Wait here.”

I left the office. Sharp wind once again wrapped around my sword.

“If you fail to create another reason before I return, you die.”

* * *

The man inside the office of Pleasure Village.

Sriven stared at the tightly closed door.

‘So it finally came to this.’

Everything until now had gone smoothly.

Following Baron Scalen’s orders, he ran Pleasure Village, gathered information about the Luminar territory, and trapped the residents in gambling debt.

But suddenly, the eldest son of the Luminar family, who was supposedly kidnapped, appeared and destroyed the entire place.

He had not seen the fight, but seeing Kael completely unharmed made it obvious it had been a one-sided slaughter.

‘Was he really this strong?’

He had heard Kael used a sword, but never imagined it was to this extent.

‘No, that’s not the problem right now. If I can’t find a reason for him to spare me, I’ll die here.’

He had crawled through hell just to survive until now.

He could not die meaninglessly like this.

Outside was terrifyingly silent.

It felt like a storm could burst out at any moment.

Creak… creak….

At that moment, the wooden floor twisted as Kael moved.

Then—

Crash!

The sound of weapons colliding echoed through Pleasure Village.

“Aaaagh!”

That was probably the scream of one of the watchers.

Kael was a beast.

A beast that could jump anywhere without warning.

It would not even be strange if he suddenly smashed the door open and cut off Sriven’s head while killing the watchers.

“Aaaagh!”

So he had to think quickly.

A reason why Kael absolutely had to keep him alive.

“……”

The noisy battle outside soon became quiet again.

The winner had already been decided.

Sriven kept a calm expression while his legs trembled beneath the desk.

Creak….

The door slowly opened.

The victor stepped inside.

Blood dripped from the tip of the sword.

A tall body. Sharp features.

From appearance alone, he looked noble and elegant.

But the madness within his eyes swallowed all of that dignity whole.

“Did you prepare a reason?”

Kael shook the blood from his sword as if preparing to stain it again.

Sriven swallowed dryly and stood up.

“You must be tired, Young Master. Please sit first.”

Kael grinned.

“You bought yourself another thirty seconds.”

* * *

I dragged over a chair and sat down before stabbing my sword into the floor.

The man with glasses was kneeling before me.

‘So there really were watchers.’

I had felt sticky gazes when entering the village, but since nobody followed me, I did not care much.

Still, none of them were dangerous enough to threaten me, so dealing with them was easy.

“What’s your name?”

“Sriven, Young Master.”

“Right. Sriven. Why should I spare you?”

Sriven answered immediately.

“You can use me as a witness to catch Baron Scalen. I know many details.”

“I don’t need that. I can catch him without you.”

“……”

“So that’s all? Three, two, one—”

Sriven hurriedly shouted out another answer.

“I will become the financial officer of the Luminar territory.”

“Financial officer?”

“Yes. The Luminar territory mostly has farmers. There are almost no talented people capable of managing the territory. Since the work here is simple, the Lord handles nearly everything alone.”

“……”

“So leave it to me. Managing the territory will become much easier.”

I crossed my arms and muttered,

“You know our territory’s situation very well. Makes me want to kill you.”

“……”

“I understand you’re capable. But why should I appoint you as financial officer?”

“Because I’ll work without pay. And people as talented as me are rare.”

“But there’s still the possibility you betray me.”

Sriven firmly shook his head.

“No. That won’t happen.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to escape from Baron Scalen. As I said before, he only used me while holding my life in his hands.”

“But if you work under me, your situation won’t really be different.”

“No. It will.”

“What’s different?”

Sriven looked at me with serious eyes.

“At least while I’m under you, I can survive.”

His confidence was absurd.

“This bastard is seriously talking about betrayal?”

“Ah, that’s not what I meant.”

“Shut up before you die.”

I smacked the back of his head.

“Anyway, there’s one reason I can’t forgive you.”

He lifted his head like someone already used to getting hit.

“What is it?”

“You killed an entire family.”

“An entire family?”

Sriven narrowed his eyes.

I could not tell if he was pretending not to know, so I explained.

“One resident tried to head to the estate to report this place. But he was caught on the way, and his whole family was slaughtered.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. Isn’t that enough reason for you to die?”

“Young Master.”

“Speak.”

Sriven answered seriously.

“I received the report that the man had been captured. But I said roughing him up a little would be enough.”

“So killing them was the guide’s personal decision?”

“Yes. Until just now, I didn’t even know they were dead. I cannot leave this office.”

“Hm.”

Sriven continued.

“More importantly, I originally agreed to this job only on the condition that innocent people would not be killed.”

“Then what about our residents?”

“Pardon?”

I smacked the back of his head again.

“Did you never think that innocent residents of the Luminar territory would eventually die because of this place? You’re the starting point of all this, bastard.”

“T-That….”

Sriven lowered his head deeply.

In truth, the attack on the Luminar territory really had started here.

The inside had already begun rotting, so collapse was inevitable.

After a long silence, Sriven finally spoke again.

“I admit that the death of that family is partly my responsibility. And I also admit that many people would have died if things continued like this.”

Sriven lifted his head and looked at me.

“So now I want to work for them instead. I want to repay my sins, even if only a little.”

“That’s not bad for words made up on the spot.”

“Whether they were made up or not is for you to decide, Young Master. Whatever decision you make, I will accept it.”

Sriven stood up.

“What are you doing?”

“Just a moment.”

He walked to the bookshelf and pushed it with both hands.

The shelf moved aside, revealing a hidden door.

“Please check this place, Young Master.”

After thinking briefly, I drew my sword and entered the room with him.

The room looked like a normal lodging room.

Surprisingly, a middle-aged man sat blankly on the bed inside.

“Y-Young Master?”

The worn-out man looked shocked, like he was seeing a ghost.

“Is this your boyfriend?”

“…No. He’s actually the original owner of this place.”

The owner quickly explained.

“Young Master, what he says is true. Other people tried to kill me and take over the place, but he kept me alive here under surveillance.”

Thinking about it, building such a large structure required massive materials and manpower.

But if that happened, the Lord would naturally hear about it.

Which meant this building had already existed here from the start.

“You’re a man who’s half bad and half decent.”

At least it seemed Sriven had no intention of returning to Baron Scalen’s side.

If nothing else, his hatred toward Baron Scalen seemed genuine.

“Do you really want to live that badly?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“Because I was born. My desire to survive is simply stronger than most people’s.”

“I see.”

I crossed my arms before speaking.

“I’ll keep you alive for one week. Until then, create more reasons for me to spare you. Can you do that?”

“Of course, Young Master.”

“But if Father refuses to accept you, it’s over.”

“Yes.”

Sriven nodded nervously.

‘Now that I think about it, what happened to him in my previous life? There’s no way I would forget someone like this.’

Maybe after the territory attack ended, they silenced Sriven as well.

If he truly had even a little conscience, what did he think when he saw the burning territory and all the corpses?

Right now, there was no way to know.

And no reason to ask him.

“Come out now. It’s over.”

“Y-Yes…. Thank you, Young Master.”

The dazed shop owner hurriedly stood up.

As we headed downstairs, Sriven looked at the corpses on the third floor and asked,

“What happened to the women?”

“Why? Was your wife among them?”

“No. They were simply doing their jobs faithfully.”

“I didn’t know that. But they attacked me, so I had no choice.”

“They did? That shouldn’t be possible….”

I ignored him and continued walking down the second-floor hallway.

Then I opened one of the doors.

The women were gathered together silently inside.

“Come out.”

“Yes….”

They nodded and stepped outside.

As I turned away, Sriven looked at me in confusion.

“What? Did you think I killed them?”

“Yes….”

“I only kill complete idiots. You’re just half an idiot, so be careful. You’re barely surviving.”

“…I’ll remember that.”

Sriven swallowed nervously while staring at my sword sheath.

Anyway, seeing his reaction confirmed that the women truly had no direct connection to Baron Scalen.

I gave Sriven an order.

“From now on, gather all the valuables earned from running this place and bring them outside with the girls. If you steal even a little, you die.”

“Yes.”

Sriven went upstairs with the others, and I headed outside.

There was a cart nearby.

We could probably load the valuables onto it.

Though considering this was only a small village Pleasure Village, there likely was not much treasure.

“Young Master, we brought everything.”

After waiting for a while, they finally came out carrying large bags and valuables.

“Load everything onto the cart.”

“Yes.”

“Young Master, we also brought a few unopened bottles of alcohol.”

The shop owner approached while carrying several bottles in his arms.

“Oh, good job. Give one to me and load the rest.”

“Yes.”

I took the alcohol from him and drank a mouthful.

Then I grabbed a pouch of money and handed it to him.

“Take it.”

“This is…?”

“You heard earlier. Because of circumstances, I need to burn this place down. And who would visit a blood-soaked establishment?”

“That’s true.”

“So use the money to open a new shop. Use good materials and hire honest workers. But if you waste the money, I’ll burn it down again.”

I looked directly at him.

“Along with you.”

“…Yes.”

The shop owner wiped his eyes with his sleeve and sniffled.

“Thank you, Young Master….”

He must have endured all this time trapped inside a room without sunlight.

Never knowing when he might be dragged out to slaughter.

The fact that he was still sane was impressive enough.

I drank another mouthful and pushed away my thoughts before pouring the remaining alcohol onto the door.

“Who has matches?”

“Ah, here….”

I stared at the woman handing me the matches before speaking.

“Quit this life. I spared you.”

“Yes….”

I lit the match and tossed it onto the door.

The flames quickly spread through the alcohol and began devouring everything.

Before long, the entire building was burning, creating a giant flame beneath the night sky.

“It burns well.”

We silently watched the scene.

Judging from everyone’s expressions, each person was lost in their own thoughts.

Then I heard murmuring nearby.

When I looked around, residents were slowly gathering.

“Young Master?”

“Why is he here…?”

“I heard he left on a pilgrimage….”

“And that building….”

I shouted toward them.

“Everyone, listen!”

All eyes instantly turned toward me.

“I dealt with the insects that were corrupting this place! From now on, walk the streets without fear and work honestly! If you do, I’ll overlook everything that happened until now!”

Even though it was night, the flames brightly illuminated the area.

Because of that, I could clearly see relief and joy appearing in the residents’ eyes.

The Holy Power inside my body also strengthened.

Because they now held at least a little awe toward me.

‘With this, I should be able to use new techniques as well.’

Anyway, this would greatly delay the attack on the territory.

But of course, I had no intention of stopping here.

It was better to cut off future problems quickly.

Especially since Baron Scalen was connected to the Evil Book Society.

“Sriven, we’re returning to the estate now.”

“Yes.”

Just as we were about to leave—

“Um, Young Master.”

One of the women called out to me.

“What?”

“What should we do from now on?”

The women looked at me pitifully while barely clothed.

“Help the farmers who are short on workers. Don’t try to earn easy money and ascend easily. You should repay the money you took from people.”

“Can we really do that?”

“You do it because you have to. If you don’t want to die, then work. I’ll visit sometimes.”

“Yes….”

I climbed onto the cart and looked back at Sriven.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

I had ridden here on horseback, but I planned to let the horse roam free now.

Because I had Sriven instead.

Sriven asked in confusion,

“Am I the one pulling this cart all the way to the estate?”

“Then should I pull it? I killed the men downstairs, burned the place, and even spared your life. How much more should I do for you? Want me to go to the bathroom with you too?”

“No….”

I tapped the cart.

“Then start moving. We need to arrive before morning, so pull like an ox.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Oh? The ox can talk too.”

Without further complaints, Sriven grabbed the cart handles.

“Moooooo….”

The cart slowly began moving along with the sound of his fake cow cry.

I sat on the cart and watched the building still burning behind us.

Crackle— Crackle—

Looking at it now, it felt like a grand festival banquet.

So I raised the alcohol beside me and drank.

‘Not a bad start for the first step.’

The alcohol finally loosened the stiffness around my lips.

(To be continued)