Chapter 99

### The Capital at Noon

On the cobblestone street, a man with messy hair pulled a cart. On top of it, many bound men were loaded. Behind the cart, a middle-aged man with a downcast appearance pushed it.

One of the bound men, gagged and only able to groan, thought to himself: This wasn't supposed to happen...

◇ ◇ ◇

The man had always wanted to live an easy life. He thought working hard was ridiculous. Despite this, he had a good build and strong arms.

If he lashed out, he could get his way with anything. Most people would listen if he hit them. The world was easy to navigate.

However, he had to flee his village after going too far. He thought he could get by with violence in the capital, but it turned out to be more troublesome. There were territories and turf to consider. He found it all too bothersome.

That's when he joined the current organization. They told him who to hit to make the most money.

He hit and made money, living lavishly. Drinking, women, and food. It was a good life.

Recently, the rival organization had collapsed on its own, allowing him to wreak havoc even more. The boss had handled things well.

Today, he was supposed to mix poison into the puchi-eri in the warehouse and get gold coins for it. It was supposed to be easy.

But when he tried to add the poison, two men appeared and attacked him without warning. One was a lanky, thin man, and the other was a middle-aged man with a downcast appearance. Their attacks were faster than he could imagine, and each hit was heavy.

He was beaten to a pulp without a chance to fight back. Still, he tried to fight. He kept getting up even after being knocked down. His comrades had already cowered and lost their will to fight.

At least I need to land one hit to feel satisfied!

But even that was impossible. The two men thoroughly beat him up until he couldn't stand from the pain.

When he kept cursing, they systematically destroyed his elbows, knees, shoulders, and hip joints. A different kind of pain, one that made him fear he would never move again.

He found himself crawling on the ground like a grub, crying and begging for mercy.

While being bound carelessly, he thought: What the hell are these guys... They're too strong...

With only violence as his confidence, he lost it in a direct confrontation. The fear of not being able to move again shattered his heart. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he trembled like a baby rabbit.

After that, he was bound and loaded onto a cart, taken somewhere. The bound men were carried through the streets in broad daylight.

—It's an abnormal situation, but strangely, no one noticed.

Why is this happening? It hurts so much.

My life... This wasn't supposed to happen.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the back alleys of the capital, I was pushing the cart from behind. Edgar was pulling it from the front.

The cart stopped in front of a staircase leading to an underground area. Edgar came to the front of the cart and pointed to the stairs.

"Here it is."

"Got it."

With Edgar leading the way, I followed. The dimly lit stairs had a pungent smell.

At the bottom of the stairs, a man stood in front of a door. He frowned when he saw us.

"What do you want?"

"We're the garbage collectors."

"Your comrades are already inside."

"What! —Oof!"

The man clutched his stomach and crouched. Edgar must have hit him, but I didn't see it. He quickly bound the man and opened the door.

Inside was a bar with a counter and tables. Men with bad reputations were scattered around. They stood up when they saw us enter.

"What's going on? Who are you? Are you looking for trouble?"

About seven men surrounded us. So I said, secretly compressing holy energy. Two hundred meters should be enough.

"I'm Alex, the owner of the puchi-eri shop. You seem to have some business with me, so I came. You should be grateful."

"What! You!"

The men became agitated. A man in the back of the bar shouted in a loud voice.

"Perfect timing. Boys, get serious!"

"Roger!"

The men, now holding knives and axes, surrounded us. Edgar and I stood unarmed.

—Damn, I should have brought a regular sword. I only had my usual black single-edged sword.

I inwardly cursed but it was too late. The men attacked.

The narrow space made it hard to fight with two opponents.

At that moment, a man Edgar had knocked down fell in front of me. He was holding a slightly longer short sword.

—Good, this will do.

I quickly picked it up and readied the sword. It was shorter than usual, but I infused it with holy energy and activated the holy sword technique.

"Ha!"

The sword's path glowed, and I slashed the two men in front of me in a cross. Holy sword technique—Holy Cross Slash!

I slashed at their chests and necks.

"Ugh! It hurts!"

The men dropped their knives and clutched their wounds. But—

There was no blood, no wounds.

"Huh?"

"Holy Guided Slash—Ha!"

I stepped forward and split a man from head to toe.

"Ah!"

The man screamed, spraying blood, but he fell to the ground without any injuries.

The men watching from the side opened their eyes wide and trembled.

"What the hell is this? What's going on?"

"What? You didn't hurt them, so you didn't use violence, right?"

"Huh? What are you—!?"

"—Ha!"

I cut the man diagonally without hesitation. He crouched in pain, but only blood came out, no injuries.

—That's right. Using a cheap sword, the holy energy I infused into the sword leaked out, and the wounds healed immediately. It was a healing slash.

This made it very difficult to deal with animal-type monsters and bandits. But it might have been just right for inflicting pain without killing. Especially with the recent increase in my holy energy, the wounds healed instantly.

Meanwhile, Edgar easily took down the third man. He was skilled at taking out consciousness, which was impressive. I wondered what kind of training he had undergone.

After taking down the remaining two men, I left the binding to Edgar and headed to the back of the bar.

A man with an eye patch and a tough appearance stood up.

"Hey, do you know who we are? We can let you go if you leave now..."

I turned to Edgar and asked.

"What are his crimes?"

"That's Gadwin, the boss of the organization. He's responsible for murder, kidnapping, and illegal drug trafficking."

"I see. —Then, Gadwin, it's time to pay for your crimes."

"Shut up! —Take this!"

Gadwin threw a small bag at me. I deflected it with my short sword, and white powder scattered around.

I tried to brush it off with my free hand, but it got into my eyes and mouth, causing a burning sensation.

"Damn! —It's a paralyzing drug!"

"Hehe, it's worse than that. You'll be crazy for a month!"

"I see—Ha!"

I compressed my holy energy and released it with a burst of energy. A bluish-white light flashed, blowing away the white powder. It hit Gadwin's face.

"Ugh! What did you do—Cough! Ugh!"

Gadwin collapsed and writhed like a snake. The drug must have taken effect.

I looked around the bar.

"Is that everyone?"

"No, there's one more. The strategist—there he is."

Edgar's figure wavered like a mirage, and he appeared behind the counter, grabbing a small man by the neck.

The man trembled and whimpered.

"Please, spare me! I only followed orders—"

"You were the one who handled the disposal of the slaves Thomas killed, right?"

"That, that was the boss who—"

"You were the one who gleefully dismembered the still-living slaves, weren't you?"

"Wh—Why do you—"

"The weaker someone is, the more they like to hurt the weak."

Edgar bound the small man so tightly that his bones creaked. The man screamed in pain and was thrown to the floor with the others.

Edgar asked.

"What do we do with them?"

"Hmm? They tried to make Lillisha suffer, not just me. I can't forgive them for this. If the puchi-eri forgery and poisoning had succeeded, it would have caused massive damage. We need to teach their bodies a lesson so they never rebel again."

I infused my raised sword with holy energy and said. Edgar nodded, his messy hair swaying.

"That's the right answer. These kinds of people need to have their hearts broken, or they'll cause trouble later."

Edgar, with a calm voice, cracked his knuckles and walked forward. The bound men trembled in fear.

"What are you going to do! Hey, stop! Help!"

I swung my sword, and Edgar's fists roared.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible! If you let us go, we'll give you money! We'll give you the beautiful women we forced into slavery! We'll tell you everything, all the blackmail material, just spare our lives—"

The men cried and begged pitifully. I stopped my sword and asked in a low voice.

"If we had submitted without resistance and cried and begged, would you have let us go? —What do you say?"

"Of course, we would have let you go! We would have helped you—"

The other men, hesitating, said in fake voices, "We would have let you go" and "We would have helped you."

Edgar, with a cold gaze from under his messy hair, looked down at them.

"I can speak many languages, but I don't know the language of scum. I don't understand what you're saying."

"Such—It hurts! Please—Ah! Help—Ugh!"

After that, even as the men cried and apologized, I swung my sword, and Edgar punched.

"Ah! It hurts! It's terrible