episode_0054

Kugugugung.

“Ah.”

After seeing the scene where dust clouds rose thickly rather than collapsing, I came to my senses. A sigh flowed through my open lips.

[Okay, then let’s move on to the next move…!]

“Wait, wait a minute!”

[What? Why?]

As soon as I tried to stop it, it immediately returned control of the body to me, just as it had spoken through its own mouth. I looked at the partially collapsed wall with the sword stretched out.

“What should I do with this…?”

The thought “It should be okay because it was made for training” collided with the thought “What if I ask and they say no?”

This kind of dilemma was something I had when playing baseball with friends in elementary school. Back then, I had also broken a 98-story high-rise building window (they said the house inside was a mess because the ball bounced everywhere) and even caused a UFO observing spaceship to crash by hitting it.

When I recalled how I had solved it back then, the answer came to me quickly.

“Gargandoa, just put your palm in for a moment.”

[I was having so much fun…]

While the sword whined, it obediently followed my words. The sword, which had turned blood-red, flowed like blood dripping down. The sword that had turned into blood was absorbed into the back of my hand. The seal that had been faintly shining became calm in an instant.

“Ugh..”

“W-what is that..”

I glanced around discreetly.

A slave sitting trembling on the floor, a slave with a gaping mouth and a vacant expression, a slave dropping the sword from their hand and only pouting their lips, and others.

Various slaves were looking at the collapsed wall. I cautiously took a step back while glancing around.

“Okay, let’s escape through this gap.”

In the comedy world, it was natural for the last person left to take the blame. It was a terrifying world where the clueless one bore all the responsibility.

Desperately trying to silence the sound of my footsteps, I escaped from the training ground.

“I leave the rest to you!”

After silently bidding farewell to the remaining slaves, I quickly distanced myself from the banquet hall.

***

“Ma, this is unbelievable. How can we kill such a man?”

A slave who had been crouching in the banquet hall couldn’t stop trembling and swallowed hard. He recalled the words of a prominent guest he had met not long ago.

“He’s just a braggart who trusts only his weapons despite having no real skill! How can someone rely solely on their weapon like that?! Oh, and aside from that, he said the weapon used to slaughter demons will be brought from the warehouse, so rest assured!”

The slave remembered the trajectory of Lian wielding his sword a while ago. The sharpness hidden within his graceful movements and clean strikes. If he had stood before him, it would have been himself split in half.

“Darn it, they were just talking nonsense…”

He thought of another slave he had met earlier, one who had received the “Lian disposal request” before him.

At that time, the sight of the guy who always walked around with an air of confidence, now half-crazed, shouting not to approach Lian, seemed merely comical.

But was he just a boastful guy obsessed with weapons?

He sneered inwardly but didn’t act immediately. There were more than one or two slaves showing less-than-stable reactions. So, the slave intended to confirm Lian’s skills with his own eyes before proceeding with the task.

“If I had known his skill was like that, I would never have taken the request! They paid a lot more than usual for some reason…”

While cursing internally, the slave rose from his seat, his legs trembling.

“No, I can’t do it. I absolutely can’t.”

Money was important, but the most crucial thing was his own life. Refusing the request of the prominent guest also meant putting his life at stake, but at least there was a slight chance of survival.

The slave staggered out of the banquet hall and headed towards the prominent guest.

***

“Tsk.”

Squinted eyes, a wrinkled face, and smooth hair.

The person who was called “big guest” by the slave was sitting on an elegant sofa, holding the round head of the cane with both hands, tapping the floor with the cane.

“It’s not that difficult to handle one slave. I shouldn’t have entrusted the request to the lower-class idiots!”

His voice was not pleasant, sounding like a hoarse old man. He stopped tapping the floor with the wooden cane after a few times, then savored his words, squinting his eyes. His appearance resembled a frog discovering its prey.

“Still, it seems like quite a usable prey -… It would be nice to play with it myself.”

He chuckled and abruptly stood up from the sofa. As the elderly man, shorter than the average woman, rose from his seat, his shadow swayed. Tapping the floor with his cane, he exited the room. His destination was his acquaintance’s room.

Having a room nearby, he quickly arrived at the front of his acquaintance Totojen’s room. His shadow stretched out behind him, and a person swiftly appeared.

As if it were obvious, the man stepped forward in front of the old man and knocked.

Knock, knock.

Before an answer came, the man returned to the old man’s shadow. Not long after the knock, Totojen’s servant opened the door.

After confirming the old man’s face, the servant quickly moved with a slightly pale face.

“Yes?”

“What’s the matter, Bansuk?”

Totojen greeted his acquaintance warmly after checking his face. The old man, Bansuk, tapped the floor with his cane as he approached the sofa in the living room and sat opposite Totojen.

“I heard you found an interesting slave these days?”

“Huh…”

In response to Bansuk’s words, Totojen sighed unexpectedly. Bansuk twisted his lips in an eerie manner, causing his deeply creased wrinkles to become even more pronounced.

“Coincidentally, I’m also interested in that fellow… Can I join in?”

“You?”

“Right. Someone with a strong mind is just my type.”

Bansuk chuckled and lightly tapped his cane on the ground. Totojen remained silent for a moment.

When two people desired the same slave, it was customary for the one who first noticed to play with them for a while and then give them as a gift to the other. However, such cases were rare.

It was unlikely that anyone who grew tired of playing with their possession would willingly give their toy to someone else just because they were desired by another.

Therefore, unless the person aiming for the slave was of high status, they had to obtain consent from the current possessor in advance, as it was now with Totojen.

Honestly, Totojen wanted to play with Lian until he died. But -…

‘There’s no solution.’

He was in a state where killing hundreds of monsters or engaging in a fight with the top-ranked slave had failed. Moreover, having failed even to directly torment him, there seemed to be no way for him to ruin Lian.

In such a situation, it wasn’t easy to refuse when Bansuk came to offer help.

“…Fine, since what I want is his despair anyway. Holding hands wouldn’t be so bad.”

Totojen looked at Bansuk, who wore an equally unpleasant expression.

Bansuk and Totojen shared similar tendencies. Totojen enjoyed breaking the spirit of a pure-hearted individual, while Bansuk liked to torture and break down strong-willed people.

The reason the two became friends so easily was due to these tendencies.

Bansuk’s method of breaking a slave’s spirit was too direct and not to Totojen’s taste, but if he could break Lian’s spirit, any method would do now.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

“Haha, good thinking.”

Totojen and Bansuk joined forces to break Lian’s spirit.

***

[When you defeat your enemy, how about using this line? “Ah, this is the difference in our levels.”]

Where does he pick up lines like that?

I carefully examined the raging Maekgeom that had emerged. The Maekgeom, now much more splendid than before, was exuding a vibrant red aura.

Or is it speaking from the place where the sword is held? “I won’t take a single step from here. That way, we’ll be on the same level!” How about that?

Later, I imagined the matured Maekgeom rolling on the ground in embarrassment at its own dark history and inserted lines into my head.

Why isn’t there a response? Oh, is my line too cool? Of course, since this body came up with the lines, it’s bound to be deeply moving. However! If you don’t practice properly, you won’t be able to shout your lines in important situations. Let’s practice quickly!

As I looked at the Maekgeom, I thought, “What on earth is wrong with this one?”

When that thought occurred to me, I found myself unintentionally looking down at my own body.

“…The Maekgeom only feeds on my blood, after all.”

So, is the fact that the Maekgeom seems to be becoming more and more like a middle schooler due to my blood?

“Nah, that can’t be it.”