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Chapter 44: Purification (2)
As the sun sets and the sky darkens, it’s ti for all creatures to return to their shelters.
But this was not the case here.
With each passing mont, more and more people continued to flock together, many showing signs of having money in their pockets.
They gathered as if making so kind of appointnt, one after another, and entered the building in front of them.
“Even though it’s the first purification operation, you don’t seem particularly tense, do you?”
The leader asked, smiling at my perpetually calm deanor.
“Well, it’s just how it is. Where’s the point in sending a top-level operative for the first task?”
I replied.
“I don’t know… I think it’s an excellent stage to test your skills. After all, I’m the leader of the Mist. I’m not foolish enough to send mbers on missions with no chance of success.”
The leader raised her thumb, indicating that everything was fine.
This place was Brenu, a southern city in the Ushif Empire.
We were here to assassinate Zikermann Albas, an unscrupulous rchant operating a slave market for the empire.
There were five of us dispatched for the mission, including and the leader, Silica.
It was a smaller team than expected for a task of this caliber.
Naturally, assassinations should proceed quietly.
They should be carried out in the most inconspicuous and discreet manner possible, ensuring no one knows.
But what was this?
Assassinating soone who was the center of attention in such a bustling place?
We weren’t a terrorist organization, nor had we officially declared our na yet.
Honestly, it was an unusual mission, not quite in line with what the Mist usually did.
As if reading my thoughts, the leader smiled and said.
“In fact, besides Zikermann Albas’ assassination, there’s sothing else we need to investigate during today’s cleansing operation.”
“What is it?”
“According to the operatives’ information, there’s supposed to be an auction here today, under Zikermann’s leadership. Given his history with the slave market, it’s likely related to human trafficking.”
I nodded, understanding.
“However, this auction seems different from the usual. Rumor has it that the information hasn’t leaked to the empire officials to ensure secrecy.”
Was it sothing brought from another world like a hero or sothing?
“So, is the goal to steal the item?”
“Not exactly. But we need to find out what the item is. At least, it’s worth checking out if Aeru ntioned it specifically. If Aeru said it’s special, then there’s likely sothing extraordinary about it.”
Hmm, if that wretched Aeru ntioned it, it must be significant indeed.
If Aeru, with his enigmatic nature, specifically ntioned it, then the target must be hiding sothing very peculiar.
[……]
Unusually, Kaeram seed very quiet.
She gazed intensely at the building’s interior, as if drawn by sothing.
“Why? Do you sense sothing?”
[Hmm… it’s hard to describe, but there’s a very complex energy. It’s like two familiar energies rging to create a completely new one. Anyway, it’s a very alien energy. Whether you know it or not, the target seems to be hiding sothing very strange.]
I could see her perplexed thoughts in her furrowed brow.
At this point, I felt like I should muster so interest in what was happening.
Was there sothing wrong with for feeling nothing?
Following the leader’s instructions, we swiftly infiltrated the building.
* * *
The lavish party venue reminiscent of a noble’s gathering was decked out as a formal social gathering hosted by the Imperial rchant Guild.
However, it was rely a facade for a covert event.
Probably not everyone in that crowd was there for the auction.
If even the empire’s officials overseeing the affair weren’t inford, then the information was likely circulated among top-tier clients.
The four operatives, including Lady Silica, disguised themselves as party attendees and infiltrated the gathering.
With my petite fra, I couldn’t pull off being an adult, so I stayed by the railing, observing the situation.
Currently, Zikermann Albas, our target, was nowhere to be seen.
We’d reveal ourselves once the auction started, but so far, there were no signs of activity.
Suddenly, I locked eyes with the leader across the party hall.
In that brief mont, her eyes conveyed a ssage: I was to explore beneath the venue.
She sensed sothing down there.
Assassinating Zikermann wasn’t particularly difficult.
We hadn’t officially announced our intention to kill him, nor had he taken any special precautions.
But without locating him, our mission was aningless.
Leaving the party hall, I found the building smaller than expected.
Beyond the crowded reception area, there was little space.
It seed rather crude for a slave auction to be held here.
There were two possibilities: either the auction was elsewhere, or there were hidden spaces.
If the latter, those hidden spaces were likely right under my feet.
I had no visible stairs to descend, so I resorted to using my abilities.
“Shadow Shift: Spatial Transference.”
As mist enveloped , I effortlessly descended into the darkness below. Landing softly, the mist dissipated, leaving in utter darkness.
Activating my mana, I invoked “Shadow Adaption.”
When I reopened my eyes, the darkness receded, and my surroundings beca clear.
Silent, deserted underground chambers greeted .
Rusty iron bars and large canvas tents sporadically dotted the space, resembling cages for animals.
I lifted a tent flap nearby.
Inside lay loosely scattered shackles, emitting faint warmth, indicating recent occupancy.
Perhaps just a few hours ago, soone was here.
I checked another area cautiously.
As I lifted the tent flap, a pungent odor assailed my senses—corpses, decaying for quite so ti.
The nauseating stench hit hard, and I imdiately shifted my focus elsewhere.
There’s nothing more to see here.
This place is a prison for holding slaves.
They’ve probably been moved elsewhere for the auction.
As for the corpses, it seems they were left there, their value diminished in the eyes of their captors.
Perhaps it’s been so long since I’ve felt this way, but… these emotions, I thought I’d grown numb to them.
[Your face betrays a myriad of emotions.]
Kaeram remarked, sensing my turmoil.
“I still have a long way to go,” I replied, intent on focusing on the task at hand.
Clang!
Just as I was about to move, the sudden sound of tal opening made hastily conceal myself.
Creak…
A slender woman with long hair laboriously crawled out from the darkness, one foot restrained by heavy shackles.
Sohow, she managed to unlock the prison and escape.
“Oh… Oh…”
Even at first glance, it was evident she was in dire straits.
She couldn’t even muster a voice, only whimpering in agony.
If she remained in this condition, she wouldn’t last long.
“My… my child…”
Child?
The whimper was barely audible, but it was unmistakable.
A mother’s desperate plea to reach out to her child.
Like a whispering ghost in a eerie space, it echoed.
-Thunk!
In an instant, along with a fierce sound, a beam of light seeped from one side of the space.
The woman, struggling to stand, as if she had found a path to salvation, moved towards it.
Certainly, the beings appearing within that beam of light wouldn’t be the ones to save her.
“What… What’s happening?”
“Get her!”
Without hesitation, a group of n erged from the light, running madly to seize her.
“Argh!”
Those n rcilessly twisted her arm, which already had no strength left.
Tears of pain stread from her eyes.
“How the hell did she escape?”
“Does it matter now? Zikermann is about to arrive!”
“After all, we’re not going to put this woman up for sale as rchandise. Just dispose of her now!”
They threw her back into the cell and, without a word, grabbed the club tucked at their waist.
Dispose of her…
Anyone listening would think they were disposing of trash. Indeed, there was no shortage of derogatory words for people.
Perhaps what I’m doing now is just disposing of those who can’t be of use like you humans.
-Swish
As I steeled my heart, I pulled out Kaeram.
With each step I took, the distance shrank,
With two strides, I was at the bars,
With three, I was close enough to hear their heartbeats.
Three steps taken within a second.
As they sensed sothing was amiss and turned back,
-Crack
I severed the leader’s throat.
“Heii…!”
Not even a chance for a scream.
In the frenzy within the bars, five severed heads thudded to the ground.
“W-Who…?”
As she slowly lifted her head and our eyes t, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Ridiculous…
Swollen eyes, crushed nose, shattered teeth.
It was ironic… swollen eyes, a battered nose, shattered teeth — such a pitiful sight, yet it was all too familiar to .
Every piece of trash that had passed through my hands ended up like this.
“My child… My child…”
Even in the midst of this, her call to find her child continued.
Well, I had prolonged her life for now, but even that seed unlikely to last long.
With her external appearance like this, one could only imagine the internal state.
She must have contracted several incurable diseases by now.
Even if she were to breathe her last breath right now, it wouldn’t be surprising.
-Thud, thud
As I t her eyes, a wry smile involuntarily crossed my lips.
Amidst the light beam, footsteps were heard once again, this ti, not a crowd but a single person.
Judging by the simple steps, he didn’t seem particularly threatening.
“Oh…”
Sensing another presence, the woman rose again.
[Did you leave a gold nugget with the child?]
It was such an overwhelming obsession that even Kaeram stuck her tongue out.
However, before she could even reach the bars, the owner of the footsteps reached them first.
“W-What’s this?”
Stunned by the grueso scene before him, the man sat down.
-Thud
“…!”
Simultaneously, the golden box the man was holding clattered to the ground with a loud noise.
“Aaargh!”
At that mont, the woman, who had been lying like a corpse, scread inexplicably.
With a crazed look in her eyes, unseen before, she dashed forward as if possessed.
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