Ch.11Chapter 11. If You Don’t Answer, I’ll Do It?

It’s a story many people truly overlook, but prosperous cities don’t just attract those who have wealth.

Rather, those who have nothing are more likely to yearn for wealthy places and desperately try to settle there.

This was evident even in Seoul, the capital of South Korea where I lived, where there was overwhelming demand for cramped rooms like attics or closets that were barely big enough for one person.

No matter how little you have, if you can just stay there, you can enjoy the benefits of infrastructure, markets, and jobs without needing a fortune.

And the slums on the outskirts of the Empire became a place crawling with rats who gathered for such reasons.

In places where such people gather, rules and morality naturally fade, and since management is difficult, troops like garrison soldiers who maintain public order aren’t deployed either.

In other words, this place is virtually a lawless zone with only traces of civilization remaining.

In some ways, it could be said to be a place seething with more evil than the lands occupied by the Demon Tribe under the Demon Lord’s army.

“It’s raining.”

Was this a warning that I shouldn’t take Vivian to such a place?

Dark clouds hung so low that it seemed dark despite being daytime, and cold rain began to soak the hood I was wearing.

Fortunately, I had prepared with durable, waterproof material for the long journey, but I was the only one benefiting from it.

Vivian, who had urgently been told to leave her residence, had come outside wearing nothing but the pajamas she usually wore at home.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yes. I’m fine.”

Despite this, Vivian pretended to be fine while hugging herself.

The clothes must have gotten wet and clung to her skin, bringing a chill, but the trembling of her body probably couldn’t be attributed to the cold alone.

“If it’s to meet my mother, I can endure this much, because the housekeeper said I need to do this to see my mother again…”

Mother.

For whatever reason, that was her motivation for beginning research with the support of the magic tower.

The reason I brought her here was to help her recover what she valued so much.

If I hadn’t given her a satisfactory answer back then, my life might have been forfeit on the spot.

“Here, wear this.”

But regardless of that, I didn’t want to leave this seemingly fragile woman alone.

Especially since she had successfully suppressed the madness that could have turned this city into a wasteland by remembering my existence.

“A-are you sure?”

“Yes, I have an extra one.”

I gave her the hood I was wearing and wrapped a cloak from my portable kit around my body.

This one wasn’t waterproof so my clothes would get quite wet, but it was better than nothing.

“He-hehe. It’s w-warm.”

As she pretended to be fine and wrapped the cloth around her body, she smiled while holding the hood I had given her.

She even brought it to her face as if feeling its texture.

“I can feel the h-housekeeper’s warmth.”

“Is that so?”

“Mmm. It’s warm and nice.”

Had her mood improved from enjoying that warmth?

I felt a bit uncomfortable that she was freely feeling my warmth, but I should consider it fortunate that her mood had improved.

“…We’re almost there, so please get ready.”

Hiding such feelings, I led the way and arrived at a shabby alley.

The conspicuously large building visible beyond it was probably where the criminal organization we were targeting had set up base.

There was no need to ask around or investigate.

This slum was a place even the Empire had given up on managing, so even large criminal organizations could operate openly without issue.

“Is this where the culprit is?”

“Yes, this is where Blood River is located.”

The key question was whether the person behind me could handle such an organization.

Even though she was a scholar affiliated with the magic tower where the Empire’s greatest wizards gathered, the opponent was a criminal group that even the Empire had given up trying to control.

I might not know their strength, but just counting their members down to the lowest ranks would rival a decent-sized army.

“Um, Vivian.”

And I couldn’t even pretend to be confident.

I had seen too many people in this world who did things they couldn’t handle and crossed rivers they couldn’t return from.

“I’m unfortunately not skilled in fighting. The most I can do is guide the way…”

“I-it’s okay.”

Despite my self-deprecation, she didn’t seem concerned.

She hugged the hood I had given her and spoke as if to reassure me.

“The housekeeper d-doesn’t need to do anything, j-just decide one thing for me.”

Her voice was trembling,

Yet there was a disconnect in how she showed no hesitation.

“…What do you mean?”

“W-who I should eliminate.”

Right.

She, as someone affiliated with the magic tower, probably also lacked ethical boundaries.

“…M-may I ask you?”

Vivian looked up at me with an anxious, precarious gaze.

Meeting that gaze, which seemed somewhat pitiful, I began to feel a slight chill.

Because despite her madness, she was showing dependence on me due to my ability.

Perhaps using this power, I could manipulate this mentally weakened woman… a powerful figure affiliated with the magic tower.

With just a few lies, sweet talk, and comfort.

“…Yes. Leave it to me.”

As soon as I uttered that answer, such awareness was suppressed, and self-loathing began to overwhelm me.

She had sincerely decided to rely on me when she had nowhere else to turn, yet I was thinking of exploiting that.

Was it because I was such a greedy person? Or was I that desperate since coming to this world?

“Hey, who’s there?”

While I was conflicted about this, a voice called out, and I quickly hid Vivian behind me while focusing on the approaching presence.

A man with a fierce expression patrolling the rainy street.

The fact that they openly carried daggers or nail-studded clubs even in the middle of the road was clear evidence that this was a lawless zone.

But what made me even more wary was the symbol of the river of blood on their chests.

“Who are you? Do you know whose territory this is?”

“If you came here, you need to pay a toll. Hey, hand over everything you’ve got… Wait a minute.”

Blood River.

The low-ranking members of that organization soon noticed Vivian hiding behind me, clutching my clothes, and began to smile vilely.

“Hehehe, there’s a woman over there?”

“Doesn’t look like some wandering prostitute… Hehehe, well, once we strip her, we’ll know if she’s fun or not.”

I had already anticipated such a reaction.

To villains devoid of ethics, a powerless woman is nothing more than a plaything.

“H-housekeeper.”

But her fragility was only on the surface.

I knew she was affiliated with the magic tower, and I had indirectly experienced her power in the basement.

The immense power that could crush her surroundings with just emotional turmoil.

“Can I kill these guys?”

So I knew.

That the whisper from behind me was neither bravado nor a lie.

“Th-they’re interfering with us. Right? They’re annoying, can I kill them?”

She gripped my clothes more tightly, asking me to draw that line for her.

The weight of it made my shoulders sink and tension washed over me. I held my breath and considered what answer I should give.

Since coming to this world, I had long stopped considering things within the realm of morality, except for what my heart dictated.

So what I should prioritize is always whether harm will come to me.

And the next consideration in this situation would be whether her eliminating these people would interfere with her purpose, which she depends on me for.

“…Yes.”

It didn’t take long to reach an answer.

“They’re people who can be disposed of without issue.”

After all, they’re people who sacrificed their humanity to adapt to a crumbling world.

Even if they die here, I won’t feel any guilt, and if we can easily clear them out, it’s better to do so and move on.

“…He-hehe.”

At my judgment, she laughed softly and reached out her hand from behind my shoulder.

“Th-then I’ll start right away.”

I don’t know what she was about to do, but I sensed that they would soon die.

While I was sweating coldly with that premonition, they were confidently stepping toward us.

“Kekeke, what are they saying?”

“Hey, enough talk. You there, hand over the woman and get lost. Otherwise…”

-Thud.

The man’s words were cut short by the sound of the man behind him collapsing.

With an eerie sensation, his footsteps stopped.

When he turned around in confusion and saw what happened, his eyes widened.

With eyes round with incomprehension.

“Huh…?”

Yes, I probably had the same expression on my face.

I had expected them to die, but what I felt now was closer to confusion than fear.

Because the head of the man she had pointed her finger at had disappeared on the spot.

It wasn’t cut off, burned, or anything like that.

In the brief moment I blinked because rainwater got in my eyes, his head vanished and his body collapsed.

-Splash!

A fountain of blood rose up, replacing the vanished head.

But even that was too natural.

It was simply that the part that had been blocked suddenly disappeared, and the things that needed to fill that empty space belatedly rushed out.

-Thud.

As the headless body fell to the ground and began to convulse, terror spread across the face of the other man who belatedly grasped the situation.

“Wh-what! What the hell…”

-Splash!

Another head disappeared.

And another fountain of blood rose.

-Thud.

The body that collapsed to the ground began to tremble like a worm stepped on by a human foot.

As if unaware that it was dead, its nerves and heart proved they were still alive by thrashing about…

“Heh.”

She who was watching this with me from behind.

“Hehe, killed them.”

The magician who had killed two people just by pointing her finger at them began to laugh in my ear.

No, what was that just now?

Magic should cause distortions of light or noise before casting… was that really magic?

Was she really a magician in the first place?

“N-now that there’s no one interfering, we c-can go forward, right?”

She gripped my body from behind and whispered in my ear.

“H-housekeeper. Answer me. C-can we go forward now?”

She had taken two lives in an instant.

And with an incomprehensible phenomenon at that, she was now whispering to me, urging me on.

I needed to answer her.

If I upset her, I might end up like those two people on the ground.

With my head suddenly disappearing, and that would be the end…

If I didn’t want to end up leaving just a body still twitching in the rain.

“There was a commotion here!”

Before I could answer, screams were heard, and people from outside the alley began to rush toward us.

Probably organization members stationed nearby. They all held vicious weapons, and their expressions hardened when they saw the organization’s symbol on the two fallen corpses.

“Did you kill them!?”

“Prepare to…”

Bodies collapsed before the warning could be completed.

Seeing the heads of those beside them disappear before their eyes and blood gushing from the empty space, their faces once again showed blank expressions.

They couldn’t understand the phenomenon of human heads vanishing without any warning signs.

“Annoying.”

But she didn’t give them time to understand.

“Dealing with them is annoying.”

She was just irritated.

At the fact that they were hindering her path to fulfill her purpose and return.

-Snap.

As her finger snapped to express that emotion, their eye levels suddenly lowered.

They hadn’t bent their knees. They hadn’t bowed their heads.

The ground where they stood had disappeared.

And so had the legs that had been standing on that ground.

“Aaaaargh!”

As their legs vanished simultaneously and blood gushed from the empty spaces, agonized screams echoed through the rain.

“Aaagh! Wh-what! Where did my legs…”

“Noisy.”

-Snap!

Her finger snapped again and the screams disappeared.

Like cutting off sunlight with a scythe and clearing it away.

The heads of all those who were raising their heads from the vanished ground and crying out in pain disappeared along a single line.

-Splash, swoosh!

Streams of blood gushed where the screams had been.

All of it was washed down by the rain pouring from the sky, beginning to stain the ground.

As the corpses without heads and legs began to twitch with post-mortem convulsions in the puddles full of mud soaked with blood and water.

“Um, housekeeper.”

She showed no interest in the scene that resembled maggots writhing.

Her gaze had already turned away from them, toward the huge building beyond…

Toward the headquarters of the criminal organization they had originally targeted.

“I-I don’t think it’s g-good to waste more time… can I do it?”

A soft voice reached me by then.

But events had unfolded so quickly that I couldn’t understand what she meant.

“Do it”? Do what?

What I’d seen so far was incomprehensible enough, but what was she trying to do now?

“If you don’t answer, I’ll do it…?”

Taking my silence born from confusion as affirmation, her finger snapped forward.

Yes, that was enough.

People, buildings, everything that existed where she aimed.

For everything to be erased from this world without a trace.