Ch.413Bait

“Whoa~look at this bitch’s tits. Walking around with ones the size of a baby’s head? Must be heavy, let us help you carry them.”

“Since we’re giving you the chance to enjoy dozens of goddesses, you’ll have to do us dozens of times in return, right? Don’t pass out and ruin the fun, okay?”

These thugs were spewing vulgar talk, promising drugs in exchange for her body.

From the way they spoke, they didn’t seem to be suppliers themselves but rather reselling drugs they’d acquired.

I approached them slowly with a hesitant demeanor, contemplating how to deal with them.

On the surface, it might look like neighborhood thugs approaching without much thought… but honestly, that possibility was low.

Criminal tactics are always predictable.

Obviously, these guys were just bait.

—-

Archbishop Gwynell had mentioned that whenever Paladins infiltrated or appeared, the suppliers would completely disappear, making them impossible to catch.

This meant an information network existed within this slum district.

A network to monitor sudden outsiders, investigate their identities, and quickly alert others if they were identified as Paladins.

Perhaps the entire slum district was in on it.

Among the addicts sprawled throughout the alleys, some might be pretending while monitoring the surroundings, and there might be slum dwellers watching me through the cracks of collapsing buildings.

These thugs must have appeared for the same reason.

A woman with a hidden face secretly visiting the slum district at night—they’d want to discover her identity.

Their next moves would depend on how I responded.

If I complied meekly, they’d consider me just a prostitute selling her body for drugs. If I tried to escape like an ordinary woman or trembled hesitantly, they’d become more aggressive.

If I tore these bastards in half, they’d be certain a Paladin or knight had arrived and would all go into hiding.

Probably, whoever was monitoring me would alert their superiors about a knight’s appearance.

So what should I do…

Honestly, the most secure infiltration method would be to comply with their demands, eliminate suspicion, and then move.

That’s how agents typically operate in these situations, enduring discomfort.

But am I crazy? Spreading my legs for scum like this?

So I had to choose the second-best option instead of the best.

“D-drugs…first…!”

I approached them with my head down, speaking like an addict desperate for drugs.

“This bitch’s throat is completely ruined! How much drugs have you been doing?”

My voice had a metallic quality due to the purification device, but they didn’t seem suspicious, perhaps thinking it was just a hoarse voice.

Things would change once they saw my face.

“Who cares. As long as her body tastes good, that’s all that matters. Hey miss, there’s a proper order to these things. If you want drugs, you need to take off those rags and stick out your ass first. Right?”

“Or should we stick it directly in your back hole? The drug effect will hit faster, sending you straight to heaven!”

They snickered while harassing me, but sweat dripped from their foreheads, and their hands rested near their knife handles.

They must know well.

If the person they were spewing vulgarities at turned out to be an infiltrating Paladin, it wouldn’t be strange if their throats were slit the next moment.

Enjoy or die. These guys lived life like a gamble.

“…N-not here…at least, over there…!”

After hesitating, I pointed to a secluded corner of the alley, acting like a drug addict who had decided to sell her body.

As if I was desperate enough for drugs to agree to prostitution, but couldn’t do it where everyone could see.

And before they could answer, I headed straight there.

It was obvious that if I got any closer, they’d try to remove my hood to see my face or touch my body.

“Ha, picky for a whore.”

The thugs followed me obediently despite their sneers.

If they had any caution, they wouldn’t have thought of going somewhere deserted. But with a little acting, they abandoned their suspicions and followed me stealthily.

This is why important tasks shouldn’t be outsourced.

Though I suppose they can’t waste proper employees on expendable canaries in a coal mine.

[Pretending to be a prostitute? Must we damage our dignity with such acts?]

‘It’s necessary. Sorry, but please bear with it a little.’

I moved toward the alley corner, heightening my senses to scan the surroundings.

Since I was moving to a place out of sight, anyone monitoring me would likely react.

From now on, I could consider anyone who moved to be involved.

Three addicts sprawled in the alley, one inside a second-floor window of an abandoned house. Two men leaning against a fence, snickering.

Among these six, who would…

– Squish!

This fucking bastard, where does he think he’s touching…!

Sudden contact. My thoughts cut off abruptly.

A wave of heat rushed through me at the rising disgust.

Taking advantage of the brief moment when I was focused on the others’ movements, one of the thugs who had gotten close had firmly grabbed my ass!

“Hehe, your ass is so firm—”

I instinctively swung my left arm.

My hand, equipped with Frosting, sliced horizontally through the snickering thug, cutting through his elbow, torso, and even severing his opposite forearm.

“Huh…?”

The attack was so swift that he didn’t even seem to realize he’d been cut in half, just mumbling blankly.

His severed arms fell, spurting blood, and his upper body slowly slid down from his cut waist.

His mouth gaped open as he began to register the pain.

Just as a desperate scream was about to crawl up from his throat.

“Aaagh…!”

“Shut your mouth.”

I reached out with my left hand, grabbed his head, and crushed it.

His skull crumpled like clay with just a light squeeze, spilling its contents.

His eyeballs shot out like bullets from the pressure, and crushed brain matter flowed out through his eye sockets and nostrils.

[Ha, you told me to be patient, yet look what you did.]

‘Would you have tolerated that?’

Touching my ass crossed the line.

He was even wiggling his fingers.

[No, you did well. How dare this lowly thug touch my body—even dismembering him a thousand times wouldn’t be enough.]

Hersella’s words didn’t end with mere curses.

Using my arm as a base to create a blade of murder karma, Hersella shredded the convulsing thug’s body to pieces.

It took less than three seconds for a person to be completely dismembered.

As I dropped the head that had turned to meat pulp, I turned my attention to the other thug who had come with him.

He was frozen, unable to process the sudden change in situation, like a victim in a violent game.

“H-haaaa-!”

“Shhh. Everyone’s sleeping, we need to be quiet.”

I covered his mouth with my left hand as he tried to scream.

My hand, soaked with his friend’s brain matter. The man trembled as he tasted his comrade’s brain.

I kept his mouth covered to prevent any sound from escaping while quickly scanning the surroundings.

Although I’d acted a beat earlier than planned, I’d already identified who was around.

Now it was time to find which ones showed suspicious movements.

The addicts were still rolling on the ground, drooling.

Despite someone being torn in half nearby, they showed no reaction, as if completely uninterested. They were just trash, it seemed.

The men leaning against the fence. They were still snickering while chatting.

No suspicious movements like sending signals or one of them hurriedly leaving—nothing like that.

Due to the pitch-black darkness and the distance, they didn’t seem to have noticed what was happening here.

Then, what about the last one?

The one who had been glancing at me from inside the second-floor window.

Focusing my heightened senses on him, I began to vaguely sense what he was doing.

Instead of screaming at the brutal murder scene or trembling and hiding, he was moving somewhere quietly.

His reaction was completely different from someone fleeing a murderer.

Rather than running with a pounding heart, he was moving very calmly. Like a trained soldier or professional thief.

Found him.

That guy was definitely the lookout responsible for reporting the appearance of Paladins to his superiors.

Now I just needed to follow him or capture and interrogate him.

“You’re lucky. I’d like to play with you more, but I’m a bit busy. Give me the drugs and I’ll spare your life.”

I leaned toward the thug I was holding and smiled.

Though my expression wouldn’t be visible behind the mask.

“M-monster…!”

The thug mumbled something with slurred pronunciation while wetting himself.

Well, he was probably trying to say “monster.” A familiar reaction by now.

“Drugs.”

I didn’t have time to play with him. Even now, the lookout was gradually moving away.

Not very quickly, but still.

When I slightly increased the pressure on his mouth with my left hand, the thug’s eyeballs convulsed as he hurriedly pulled something out of his pocket.

I was ready to cut him to pieces if it was a dagger, but what he produced was something like a small paper envelope.

Obedient fellow. This must be that LSD or whatever drug.

I took the packet from him and put it in my pocket.

Not planning to try it myself, but to have it analyzed later.

For a new drug this effective, the manufacturing method must be unusual.

There might be clues about the creator hidden in the formula itself.

Of course, if I eradicated their organization tonight, it wouldn’t be necessary.

“Thanks for cooperating. As promised, I’ll spare your life.”

He trembled but shed tears of relief.

That relief was premature.

The next moment, the blade of murder karma tore his limbs apart.

“Nnnnnnggghhh!”

The man, now resembling an insect with only a head attached to a torso, flapped like a carp pulled onto land.

Fountains of blood sprayed everywhere, painting the alley red.

I picked up the head of the man I’d dismembered earlier, compressed it to the size of a fist, and removed my hand from the thug’s mouth.

Then, before he could release his pent-up scream, I stuffed his friend’s head into his mouth.

“Guhk!”

His face contorted horribly.

An expression mixing disgust, shock, and pain. A rather pleasing face.

“What’s wrong? I spared your life, didn’t I?”

This was my intention from the beginning.

Even if I spared his life, if his mouth and limbs remained intact, he would obviously cause a commotion to alert others about my presence after I left.

As a finishing touch, I used scraps of clothing from the ground to tightly bind his mouth.

To prevent him from spitting out his friend’s head and screaming.

Left like this in the alley, he would quiet down soon.

His eyes were already half-closed, as if drowsiness was overtaking him.

Now it was time to follow that lookout.

After crushing and bursting the caterpillar-like thug’s crotch under my foot, I launched myself toward the direction the lookout was moving.