Killing is the answer (2)

Killing is the answer (2)

“Stop shaking and get a grip!”

As my attacks continued to kill his subordinates, he seemed to have decided to turn the tables.

He shouted loudly and rushed at me, apparently trying to buy time until his subordinates could regain their composure.

‘As if I’d give him that time.’

There was no reason to let him have his way when his intentions were so obvious.

I unleashed an electric spell towards the man rapidly approaching me, forcing him to take a defensive stance for a moment.

Then I threw my mace, making it collide directly with his body.

“Urghh! Is that all you’ve got!”

It’s somewhat amusing to see him pretending to be fine and trying to change the situation, even though it’s obvious he’s enduring the pain.

Looking at him, I sneered and gave a brief reply.

“As if.”

From the beginning, the mace was just a weapon for keeping him in check, not my main weapon.

A weapon for restraint that didn’t matter whether it succeeded or failed.

With such thoughts, I finally manifested the mana I had been compressing outside my body.

“Lightning Strike.”

A magic spell created by countless modifications to electric magic.

The electric magic, containing enormous mana, exploded on its own, shocking everything around it.

Then it struck down forcefully on the things below, spreading electricity in all directions.

Kwaaaaaang!

Suddenly, the entire surroundings flashed white due to electric magic.

The lightning, shot so intensely that it momentarily blinded everyone, transformed its target into something that had a human form but was not human.

It forcibly instilled fear in those around.

‘Now that there’s no one left to try and turn the tables.’

It should be possible to deal with the remaining ones without much difficulty.

I decided to take care of everyone except for the one person I had thought about earlier who had been agitated, and once again manifested my mana.

* * *

“P-please. Please s-spare my life.”

It was worth killing them as cruelly as possible to make them cooperate willingly when extracting information.

I approached the one in front who was repeating only pleas to spare their life, terrified, while fidgeting with my mace.

“I’ll spare you if you answer my questions.”

Of course, it’s a lie.

Even if I spare them, it’s obvious they’ll come looking for revenge later, so there’s no reason to keep them alive, is there?

‘Moreover, it’s clear they’ll sell my information to the cult.’

Whatever the case, there’s no need to keep them alive at all.

With these thoughts, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Anyway, even if I don’t kill just one of you, it won’t make much of a difference.”

“… Gulp.”

At my carefully crafted lie, she quickly nodded, seeming to completely believe my words.

‘Or more precisely, she wants to believe them completely.’

I have no choice but to save her life, as there’s no other way for her to survive.

I glanced at the unconscious and battered Rumi, then slowly continued speaking.

“First, tell me everything you know. All of it.”

“I-I’m just a low-ranking member… I don’t really know anything.”

At those words, I clicked my tongue and immediately struck her leg with the mace.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Her scream, mixed with crying, echoed and spread around.

I looked at her with contempt and said.

“Then there’s no reason to keep you alive.”

Finally realizing how the situation was unfolding,

She began to spill various pieces of information, blubbering through tears.

“Th-there was a recent gathering. The Vice Abbot ordered us to torment Rumi as much as possible, so we all got together and…”

As expected, there wasn’t any particularly useful information.

It’s natural, if you think about Ariel’s case, they probably cast a taboo spell to prevent them from speaking about information.

This one was likely under a similar spell, or perhaps didn’t even need one because she only had such insignificant information.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. I only kept her alive just in case.’

I wasn’t expecting much to begin with, so I remained indifferent.

I looked at the now worthless person and casually brought down the mace, slowly turning my gaze away.

‘It seems I’ve caught them all, but how should I dispose of these bodies?’

Leaving them here could cause problems, so it would be better to deal with them if possible, but I can’t think of any good way to use them.

‘First, it would be best to take the strongest one to the Illusion Library.’

For the rest… Ah, there’s that method.

To warn the Heaven God Cult not to touch Rumi, and conversely, to provoke them.

I decided to play a little prank on their corpses and send them to the Heaven God Cult.

*

After roughly sorting out the situation, I lifted the fallen Rumi to assess her condition.

She doesn’t seem to have been stabbed by any blades, so there’s no excessive bleeding.

However, due to being trampled by many people for a long time, there are quite a few minor wounds and bruises.

I clicked my tongue while wiping Rumi’s face, which was dirty with tear stains and mud.

‘Those bastards.’

I don’t understand why they’re tormenting Rumi like this.

Even though I saw it in the story, I still can’t comprehend it. I sighed, pondering what to do with Rumi from now on.

‘I’d like to take her to the Lercier Family’s main house for protection if I could.’

But even if I took her there, she would try to run away with an IOU, saying she couldn’t impose on them.

Thinking that she’s even harder to keep than a feral cat, I was sighing when.

Rumi seemed to regain consciousness, slowly opening her eyes and staring at me blankly.

Because of this, a somewhat awkward atmosphere settles in.

Or to be more precise, since Rumi doesn’t seem to understand the situation, it would be more correct to say that I’m the only one feeling awkward.

Even though I’m acting as Deren, I find it hard to suppress the embarrassment I’m feeling. Thinking this, I slowly opened my mouth.

“You’re excessively dirty.”

“……”

That was the result of my contemplation on what Deren would say in this situation.

Just as I was thinking I couldn’t meet her eyes out of guilt for what I had said.

Rumi, who was being carried in my arms, spoke to me with a sob.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

Seeing her cry makes my heart feel quite complicated.

Whether it’s simple sympathy or frustration about what Rumi will have to go through in the future.

Just as I was thinking how strangely irritated I felt.

Rumi roughly rubbed her eyes and spoke to me.

“I’m sorry… for getting you involved.”

In fact, it was closer to me deliberately seeking this out rather than getting involved.

Even if I told the truth, she probably wouldn’t believe it, so I kept my mouth shut for a moment before slowly opening it.

“You’re noisy.”

“……”

This tone also came out considering Deren’s personality.

As I used this tone, I considered giving up the act, at least in front of Rumi, and going with my own personality.

But since changing it all at once would feel too strange, I decided to change my personality little by little.

‘If I change it bit by bit, she probably won’t notice much.’

Even if she does notice, she’ll already be used to it and won’t feel anything particularly strange.

So I judged that it was right to act like Deren rather than being nice to her yet, and slowly lowered Rumi to the ground.

As I carefully put her down on the floor like that.

Rumi seemed to want to hold onto me as if she felt somewhat regretful.

But then she shook her head, quickly hid her hands behind her back, and started to smile awkwardly.

“… Th-thank you for saving me.”

I didn’t know how to respond to those words, so I closed my mouth and turned my gaze away.

Then, as I was brushing off the mud and blood on my body, deciding to finish the practical assessment.

Rumi fidgeted in front of me and spoke to me in a small voice.

“Um, excuse me.”

Surprised that the usually passive Rumi was actively calling out to me, I met her eyes.

Rumi awkwardly touched her wounds and continued speaking to me.

“By any chance… um, do you like dogs?”

I thought, what is she talking about? An unexpected question that didn’t fit the situation suddenly popped out.

I frowned, unable to understand the intention behind the question.

But since I did like dogs, I nodded.

“Oh, I see… You do like them.”

She muttered to herself as if she had realized something and started nodding on her own.

Watching Rumi, I sensed that something was wrong, but I couldn’t take back my answer now, so I kept my mouth shut.

Rumi stared at me blankly and then uttered, “Woof…”

Surely she’s not trying to bark like a dog?

I had an ominous feeling that she might, so I deliberately turned my body and said to Rumi.

“Follow me. I’ll make sure you get treatment after we finish the assessment.”

I forcefully changed the subject to prevent her from speaking.

Rumi seemed to come to her senses and quickly closed her mouth, nodding rapidly.

I came to my senses and thought to myself that I was fortunate.

‘Is it trendy these days to be in a daze?’

Otherwise, there’s no way all these things would happen at once like this.

I sighed, thinking that all of this was because of Delia, and moved on to find the purification flower for treatment.