Chapter 45

Chapter 45

“Sis. Leave one of them alive. We need a guide.”

Whether she heard me or not, Lin Winterbell was mercilessly slaughtering the bald-headed bastards inside the tavern.

At first, the mercenaries had been all smug, but the moment they saw arms and legs getting hacked off every time Lin Winterbell swung her sword, they began dropping to their knees, begging for their lives.

But of course, Lin Winterbell had no mercy.

Would she be called a mad dog for nothing?

Begging for their lives or not, she just cut down anything in sight. Some of the mercenaries pissed themselves so badly that their pants were soaked, but there were no exceptions.

Before long, most of the mercenaries were dead, and only three were left. Covered in blood, Lin Winterbell grinned and asked. Even I, just watching, got chills—imagine what it must’ve been like for them. She was a complete lunatic.

“Raise your hand if you can guide us to the village where the Halla Clan lives.”

All three raised their hands.

Whatever loyalty they had to the Kilimanjaro Mercenary Group, they’d thrown it right out the window. The three of them shouted over each other like they were running in an election.

“Me! I know the way best. These two idiots next to me won’t have a clue. Please choose me!”

“Bullshit. Choose me. I’ll guide you.”

“Don’t listen to either of them—they’re both morons. I’m the best guide to the Halla Clan’s village in this entire world. So pick me—”

Slice!

The head of the third guy rolled across the floor. The two left standing recoiled in horror.

“Hiiik!”

Lin Winterbell spoke.

“Didn’t like his face.”

I agreed.

The third guy had shifty eyes, the kind that screamed betrayal. If we’d taken him along, he’d have stabbed us in the back for sure. The two remaining ones began pleading.

“Please take me! I’m the best guide in this area! You can trust me!”

“Don’t fall for it! He’s terrible with directions! I was the top guide in the Kilimanjaro Mercenary Group, I—”

Slice!

The second guy’s head also hit the floor. Blood spurted from his cleanly severed neck like a fountain. The last remaining guy trembled violently as Lin Winterbell leaned in close and asked,

“If you don’t want to die, guide us. Got it?”

“Y-Yes! Of course!”

From the back, Attica asked,

“Dad. Is it over?”

“Yeah. Just a little more. Almost done.”

Cecil had covered Attica’s eyes, so she hadn’t seen any of what happened. Not that it would’ve been a big problem if she had, but it probably wasn’t great for mental health, so Cecil had covered them anyway.

“She shouldn’t see stuff like that.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Stuff like people’s heads getting sliced off. Snip, snip.”

“Snip, snip is bad?”

“Hmm… It’s okay to slice off the bad guys.”

“Who are the bad guys?”

“The people who hurt Attica or Young Master.”

“Got it!”

The education was so direct, it made me wonder if covering her eyes even mattered.

“Damn it. I got blood on me. Gross. Hey, owner.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Get some hot water ready.”

“Ah, understood.”

After tying up the guide, we went up to the second floor. Since he might try to run away while we slept, we bound both his arms and legs. After bathing and eating dinner, we went to sleep.

Morning came.

I was the first to wake up and checked on the guide. He was sleeping while leaning against the wall.

After waking him, we left the inn together.

As expected, the Kilimanjaro Mercenary Group showed up again. Judging by how those guys, who didn’t have even a speck of loyalty, came crawling back on their own, it seemed they were tired of living.

“Was it you guys who messed up my men?”

Lin Winterbell ignored him and asked the guide beside her,

“What’s with that idiot? Hey, who are those bastards?”

“T-That’s our mercenary group’s captain!”

“Did he come to save you?”

“N-No, it looks like he came for revenge.”

“These pieces of trash keep throwing themselves at us. Don’t they have brains? Hey. Guide, choose right now. You siding with them, or with us?”

The guide answered without even hesitating.

“I-I’ll side with you!”

At least he wasn’t completely clueless.

The man who looked like the mercenary captain, with his hair tied back, shouted angrily.

“Do you bastards think we’re a joke?!”

“Yeah.”

Sching!

Lin Winterbell drew her sword.

But this time, I moved first.

“Guys. Kill every one of these bas—”

Slice!

“…Huh.”

The ponytailed man’s head dropped to the ground.

They were so weak it wasn’t even worth using a sword on them. Trash that I couldn’t even tell whether they were mercenaries or bandits. I slaughtered them indiscriminately.

“Kyaaaah!!”

“M-Monster! It’s a monster! Fuck, spare me!”

“R-Run!!! Run away you idiots!!!”

“Don’t leave me behind! Take me with you!”

As I severed arms, cut off heads, and tore out hearts, a refreshing feeling rose up inside me. More. More. I wanted to kill more. Cleaning up trash always felt good. I butchered every last one of them—those begging for their lives and those trying to run away alike.

In the end, the only one left from the Kilimanjaro Mercenary Group was the guide.

“……”

Looking down at my blood-soaked hands, I realized too late that the frenzy was rising again. The killing intent was still boiling inside me.

More. More. More.

I wanted to kill.

[Calm down. If you get completely consumed by madness, you’ll end up killing your own companions.]

“Haa… Let’s go.”

“You really went all out. You’re basically a slaughter demon.”

“Says the one to talk.”

Lin Winterbell kicked the guide in the butt and said,

“Guide properly. If you try anything funny, you die. Got it? You’ll be going to hell with your Kilimanjaro whatever-it-is.”

“Y-Yes! Leave it to me!”

Following the guide, we headed into the forest.

Just like he claimed, he was genuinely skilled. The way he navigated the winding forest paths like it was his own home showed he had plenty of experience.

After walking for about thirty minutes, a small village came into view. The guide spoke carefully.

“W-We’ve arrived.”

It seemed he was worried that now that he’d outlived his usefulness, he would be killed. He was trash just like the others, but killing him just because his role was over honestly felt a bit pitiful.

Sching!

When Lin Winterbell drew her sword, the guide jumped in fright.

“Hiiik! P-Please, spare my life!”

I spoke up.

“Sis. Won’t we need a guide on the way back too? How about we keep him alive at least until then?”

“Hm… That’s true. Consider yourself lucky. Take good care of that neck of yours until we return.”

When we reached the entrance of the village, two gatekeepers spoke.

“Who are you?”

“……We’re here on business.”

“If you want to enter the village, you must defeat us.”

Hearing that, Lin Winterbell shouted enthusiastically.

“Perfect!”

“Sis. I’ll handle this.”

Lin Winterbell replied with a dissatisfied expression.

“Why! I want to do it!”

“…Didn’t you say you’d follow my lead? I’ll take care of the gatekeepers, so once we’re inside, go fight the warriors to your heart’s content.”

“…Tch. Fine.”

The two gatekeepers, who had been listening, spoke with dumbfounded expressions.

“Boy. You’re saying you’ll take on both of us alone? You need to learn the difference between confidence and recklessness. Boy. You can’t beat us. You’ll die.”

“That’s right. You’ll die. We’re strong. You’re weak. Don’t be reckless and go back. We are the Halla Clan. Warriors among warriors.”

I calmly drew Behemoth.

“It’s fine.”

“We warned you, boy.”

“We warned you.”

Instead of answering, I swung my sword.

Whoosh!

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, one gatekeeper hurriedly swung his spear and knocked Behemoth aside.

‘About seven stars.’

The other gatekeeper also channeled mana and thrust his spear. I twisted my body to dodge lightly, then reinforced my entire body with magic.

‘Take one down quickly.’

There were two of them.

If I let them coordinate, a favorable fight could quickly turn disadvantageous. When fighting multiple opponents, reducing their numbers decisively was essential.

“Boy. You die.”

“You die. Boy.”

The two gatekeepers thrust their spears simultaneously with perfect coordination, as if they were one body. The spear tips, filled with powerful mana, aimed for my neck.

I swung my sword upward from below, knocking the spear aside. Without stopping, I charged the right-side gatekeeper and slashed exactly three times.

Upper.

Middle.

Lower.

It was a continuous sequence, but the upper and middle strikes were feints meant to set up the lower one.

“!”

The gatekeeper, his thigh deeply slashed, dropped to one knee. Not missing the opening, I coated my blade with energy and cut across his upper body. I held back, as I had no intention of killing him.

The other gatekeeper kept attacking persistently, but unless it was a truly dangerous strike, I ignored him and focused solely on this one.

“……”

Before long, the gatekeeper was covered in blood.

After confirming he could no longer fight, I turned toward the remaining one.

Just as I was about to swing my sword—

The remaining gatekeeper placed his spear on the ground and raised both hands.

“We lost. You are qualified, boy. You may enter.”

At the sudden declaration of surrender, I asked,

“You’re still fine. Why give up already?”

“The trial of the gatekeepers is originally one-on-one. Yet the two of us fought you together and still couldn’t win. That means you are qualified. This is our defeat.”

It didn’t leave the cleanest feeling, but there was no need to push further, so I nodded.

We passed through the gate and entered the Halla village.

As we walked, the eyes of the Halla Clan members all turned toward us.

Then, a woman stopped and stared straight at me.

“……”

“……”

Our gazes met.

After staring for a long while, she approached me. Then she gently touched my cheek and asked,

“Are you… Ran Winterbell?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, I nodded. Who was this woman to know my name?

It didn’t take long for the answer to become clear.

“I see. So you’re my sister’s son. Nice to meet you, nephew. My name is Arkina.”

She was my mother’s younger sister.

In other words, my aunt.

“The fact that you came here… it must be because of the madness, right?”