Chapter 309 : The Avenger of the Wasteland

I traveled through the wasteland, beating up the Dark Heaven Society guys.

They were hiding in rocky valleys and dark caves, causing trouble for the nearby territories and guilds.

But it wasn't difficult for me to find them because I had a very different search method from others.

I just had to solve the commission requests that I had grabbed from Hud's desk one by one.

I would spread my ki sense in the area specified in the commission request, find the guys who were hiding in the darkness like insects avoiding the light, and then just charge in.

In the process, I often found some pretty important-looking black mages.

Guys who were presumed to be executives of the Dark Heaven Society.

When I faced them directly, I realized that they were definitely different from Adrian, the monk who walked the path of black mana.

If Adrian was somewhat ominous and terrible, these guys were disgusting and reeked.

[Aren't they the same?]

"Similar, but not the same."

The grain was different.

I wanted to introduce these disgusting black mages to Sorrow, who was in the middle of his research, but since the distance was so far, it was more efficient for each of us to find and beat them up in our respective locations, so I just proceeded with the interrogation myself.

It wasn't anything special.

I just messed with their blood vessels and tormented them a bit, as I always did.

"Where is the main base?"

This was my question.

"I'll never tell you!"

"Kill me!"

"Hehehe! Do you think I'll tell a bastard like you!"

"When the day of the Dark Heaven comes, you will be the first to be punished by heaven!"

This was their answer.

But even the guys who had been glaring at me with determination at first, changed their tune when the interrogation began.

"Grrr! P-please stop!"

"Kill me!"

"Gah...! Please stop..."

"Dark Heaven...! Forgive your foolish tool!"

Most of them would end up on the floor at my feet, with tears and snot running down their faces.

There were often cases where they were so desperate to talk during the interrogation that they would try to reveal confidential information, saying, "I-I'll talk!"

"Keoheok...!"

"Cough!"

"Kuaaaak!"

They would invariably vomit blood and fail to finish their sentences properly.

"Hmm... what on earth is the principle behind this?"

Then I would just scratch my head and look down at the guys who had died with their eyes rolled back.

I had tried various things and tried to block it with pressure points, but since it didn't work, it seemed there was some kind of spell on them that I didn't know.

And a very high-level one at that.

[Hmm. Is it something like a solitary confinement or a prohibition.]

"What's that?"

[There's something similar.]

"Is there a way to undo it?"

[I don't know.]

"?"

[Do you think I would care about such a trivial thing?]

"..."

Magic is so difficult.

This is why mages are scary.

It wasn't for nothing that I was more afraid of Big Sister than the captain.

'Actually, it doesn't really matter.'

It was a waste to kill them comfortably, and I had just tried it once, so I wasn't too disappointed.

Sorrow, who was an expert in this field, would solve it well, so I just had to trust and wait.

I humbly admitted that it was something beyond my ability.

And I decided to be satisfied with watching them die in agony.

"Hehe."

"Ah, devil..."

I watched the light disappear from the eyes of the black mage who had attacked two healthy villages and dragged all the villagers as sacrifices for his terrible experiments, and then I got up.

Fwoosh

I raised the Blue Flame, threw it at him, and walked outside.

As I walked out, the blue flame danced and burned down the Dark Heaven Society's base.

The tragic scene of bloodshed was erased from the world.

* * *

The western city of Flura.

One of the larger cities in the desolate west.

It was a natural fortress surrounded by rocky mountains, with only one entrance and exit on the east and west sides.

So they could build a wall much more economically, and people naturally gathered to live there.

It was still a dirt floor for a city, and the dry wind blew fiercely.

But there was a large spring that gushed from the ground inside, so it was hard to find a better place to live.

The people here wore hats with long brims to avoid the sun.

Seeing that, I was reminded of Arthur, who had escorted the Saluki merchant group to Milgard with me.

Come to think of it, Arthur was from the west.

I went to the mercenary guild there without delay.

Because it was better to do commissions in a large place if possible.

Large places were systematically run to handle the influx of work quickly, and because they were systematically run, they were fast and accurate.

Some people said that the city people were heartless and unlucky.

But my thought was that they had become that way as they had become more efficient.

Thump!

When I opened the door and went in, all eyes were on me.

* * *

Thump!

The door opened.

Thump, thump.

The sound of leisurely footsteps followed.

The people in the mercenary guild all stopped what they were saying and looked at the man who had opened the door and come in.

Rough hair that seemed to have been grown out carelessly.

Blood-Red eyes that flashed.

A faint smile on his lips.

The sound of people quickly inhaling and whispering here and there followed.

"Blood-Red Eyes...! Is that him?"

"That's right. The new captain of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps, the Half-Sword Ashuban."

"I heard he's been beating up the Dark Heaven Society guys."

"Sniff, sniff. Judging by the smell of blood, it seems he's been on a rampage again."

"Wow... how does he find those damn guys so well when they're so hard to find?"

"Did you hear? They say those terrifying Dark Heaven Society guys who transform into magical beasts are scared to death just by hearing his name."

"A guy I know met the Dark Heaven Society while he was on a business trip, and when he shouted, 'The Red-Eyed Devil has appeared!', they ran away with their tails between their legs."

"They call him the bloody nightmare, the Red-Eyed Devil."

It was a very different gaze from when he had first visited this place.

Every time he came back, he would destroy three or four Dark Heaven Society bases, so it would have been strange if rumors hadn't spread.

Ashuban, who had walked straight to the reception desk, placed a pile of commission requests and a pouch on it.

Thump!

The man who had been chewing on a toothpick looked inside the pouch and clicked his tongue.

"You've done a lot again."

Inside the pouch, there were a lot of blood-soaked Dark Heaven Society badges.

A badge with a picture symbolizing the black sky.

Since all the believers of the Dark Heaven Society had one, it was used as proof for commissions related to the Dark Heaven Society.

The red eyed man yawned and said in an indifferent tone.

"Send the payment to Sherwood. And make sure to put my name on the list of completed commissions. Ashuban Sherwood. Got it? Don't just lump it in with the Sherwood Mercenary Corps. This is important."

The man with the toothpick grinned and said.

"I got it. My ears are going to fall off."

Ashuban said without even sitting down.

"Give me everything related to the Dark Heaven Society."

"What's the hurry?"

"I'm a little busy. I have something to do."

"Don't be like that. A big one came in, how about a drink? My treat."

"I don't need it. Just give me the Dark Heaven Society stuff. Big or small, it doesn't matter. All of it."

The man sitting at the reception desk smacked his lips as if he were disappointed.

"You don't take anything other than the Dark Heaven Society?"

"I don't. I only take the Dark Heaven Society."

"Anyone would think you're in love."

"It's a similar feeling. Love and hate are a fine line."

"Hehe... those damn monsters. I don't know what they did to you, but they've met their match."

The man said, taking out the commission requests that he had set aside.

"Ah, and. A magic communication came for you. They said to contact them when you came."

"Magic communication? From where?"

"From the Milestone branch."

"What for?"

"I don't know. It seemed pretty important. I'll contact them, so why don't you wait a bit instead of leaving right away?"

Ashuban nodded.

"Hmm... alright."

"Just wait a moment."

The man with the toothpick went inside, and Ashuban put the commission requests he had received in his bag and was about to get up.

"Hey, Pablo! Pablo!"

"Let go of me."

The sound of a scuffle was heard from one side, and then a man pushed away the hand that was trying to stop him and strode in front of Ashuban.

The man who had been trying to stop him was tearing his hair out, looking at the man who had finally pushed him away and gone.

The man called Pablo stood in front of Ashuban and glared at him.

"Hey, do you remember me?"

"? No."

Grit.

The man bit his lip.

"...You should remember."

Ashuban scratched his neck with an annoyed expression.

"I don't know."

The moment he was about to pass by.

"There was a village called El Paso, a day's ride west from here."

Pause.

"It's an abandoned village where no one lives now. Eight years ago. There was an incident where a silver-rank mercenary massacred all the villagers."

Ashuban, who had stopped, slowly turned his head and looked at Pablo.

"Still, don't you remember?"

"..."

Ashuban looked at the young man in front of him.

A flame of revenge was flickering in Pablo's eyes.

It had been burning without a moment's rest for eight years.

Pablo glared at Ashuban's red eyes and said, as if chewing his words.

"Come outside. I'll make you regret what you did."

* * *

In front of the guild, on the main street, where the sun was shining brightly.

A dry wind brushed past me and the avenger.

"...You've grown a lot."

I muttered softly, looking at the boy who had become a young man.

How could I forget?

The villagers who had falsely reported three C-rank magical beasts as two D-rank ones.

And not only that, but they had tried to kill me when I had returned, exhausted after fighting the magical beasts all night.

And me, who had killed every single one of them with my wounded and tired body.

And, the boy who had come back late, as if he had been on an errand since morning, and had witnessed the tragic scene.

His gaze at that time, it still sometimes appeared in my dreams.

That boy had become a young man and had come to find me.

With a flame of revenge lit in his heart.

"..."

My sin, which had returned after eight years.

It had taken the form of a flame.

The guy didn't avoid my eyes for a single moment.

Rather, he glared at me as if he would kill me.

My throat was dry.

—What's going on?

—It seems that kid has challenged him to a duel.

—To the captain of Sherwood? What a novel way to commit suicide.

Onlookers gathered.

People surrounded me and the guy and muttered.

The sound of sneering was heard from time to time.

But, the guy didn't pay any attention to the sneers.

Screech—

From about 10 meters away, the guy drew his sword.

"My name is Pablo! I have lived until now, without dying, to plunge a sword into your heart!"

Did that young man know that his parents had traded a person's life for a few silver coins?

Did he know that they had tried to poison me and then, when that failed, had tried to kill me, just because they were reluctant to part with those few silver coins?

No, it would be too cruel a reality for a young boy to accept.

"Draw your sword!"

Unless he was a fool, he would know that he couldn't win against me.

What was his plan?

"I said draw your sword!!!"

To me, that overflowing flame seemed to be a flame of revenge, and a flame of life.

If that flame went out, he would die too.

Then.

Screech

I drew my sword.

And then I beckoned with my hand.

"Come."

"Uaaaaah!"

The guy roared like a beast and charged with his sword.

(End of Chapter)