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 to find them because I had a very different search thod 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 so pretty important-looking black mages.
Guys who were presud 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 sowhat ominous and terrible, these guys were disgusting and reeked.
[Aren't they the sa?]
"Similar, but not the sa."
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 ssed with their blood vessels and tornted them a bit, as I always did.
"Where is the main base?"
This was my question.
"I'll never tell you!"
"Kill !"
"Hehehe! Do you think I'll tell a bastard like you!"
"When the day of the Dark Heaven cos, you will be the first to be punished by heaven!"
This was their answer.
But even the guys who had been glaring at with determination at first, changed their tune when the interrogation began.
"Grrr! P-please stop!"
"Kill !"
"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 seed there was so kind of spell on them that I didn't know.
And a very high-level one at that.
[Hmm. Is it sothing like a solitary confinent or a prohibition.]
"What's that?"
[There's sothing 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 sothing 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 experints, and then I got up.
Fwoosh
I raised the Blue Fla, threw it at him, and walked outside.
As I walked out, the blue fla 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 rchant group to Milgard with .
Co to think of it, Arthur was from the west.
I went to the rcenary 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.
So people said that the city people were heartless and unlucky.
But my thought was that they had beco that way as they had beco more efficient.
Thump!
When I opened the door and went in, all eyes were on .
* * *
Thump!
The door opened.
Thump, thump.
The sound of leisurely footsteps followed.
The people in the rcenary guild all stopped what they were saying and looked at the man who had opened the door and co in.
Rough hair that seed 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 rcenary Corps, the Half-Sword Ashuban."
"I heard he's been beating up the Dark Heaven Society guys."
"Sniff, sniff. Judging by the sll 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 na."
"A guy I know t 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 ti he ca 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 paynt to Sherwood. And make sure to put my na on the list of completed commissions. Ashuban Sherwood. Got it? Don't just lump it in with the Sherwood rcenary 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 everything related to the Dark Heaven Society."
"What's the hurry?"
"I'm a little busy. I have sothing to do."
"Don't be like that. A big one ca in, how about a drink? My treat."
"I don't need it. Just give 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 t their match."
The man said, taking out the commission requests that he had set aside.
"Ah, and. A magic communication ca for you. They said to contact them when you ca."
"Magic communication? From where?"
"From the Milestone branch."
"What for?"
"I don't know. It seed 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 mont."
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 ."
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 rember ?"
"? No."
Grit.
The man bit his lip.
"...You should rember."
Ashuban scratched his neck with an annoyed expression.
"I don't know."
The mont 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 rcenary massacred all the villagers."
Ashuban, who had stopped, slowly turned his head and looked at Pablo.
"Still, don't you rember?"
"..."
Ashuban looked at the young man in front of him.
A fla of revenge was flickering in Pablo's eyes.
It had been burning without a mont's rest for eight years.
Pablo glared at Ashuban's red eyes and said, as if chewing his words.
"Co 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 and the avenger.
"...You've grown a lot."
I muttered softly, looking at the boy who had beco 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 when I had returned, exhausted after fighting the magical beasts all night.
And , who had killed every single one of them with my wounded and tired body.
And, the boy who had co back late, as if he had been on an errand since morning, and had witnessed the tragic scene.
His gaze at that ti, it still sotis appeared in my dreams.
That boy had beco a young man and had co to find .
With a fla of revenge lit in his heart.
"..."
My sin, which had returned after eight years.
It had taken the form of a fla.
The guy didn't avoid my eyes for a single mont.
Rather, he glared at as if he would kill .
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 and the guy and muttered.
The sound of sneering was heard from ti to ti.
But, the guy didn't pay any attention to the sneers.
Screech—
From about 10 ters away, the guy drew his sword.
"My na 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 and then, when that failed, had tried to kill , 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 .
What was his plan?
"I said draw your sword!!!"
To , that overflowing fla seed to be a fla of revenge, and a fla of life.
If that fla went out, he would die too.
Then.
Screech
I drew my sword.
And then I beckoned with my hand.
"Co."
"Uaaaaah!"
The guy roared like a beast and charged with his sword.
(End of Chapter)
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