I first hid and hid my body. Then, I unlocked the lock just in case. Waited for a moment.
"Just break the door down and go in? If we stay still and go back, the boss will strangle us."
"Hey… !"
"Fuck! If you're going to stop me, at least come up with an alternative. You're just mumbling on the sidelines."
"That's not it, you idiot. Look over there. The door looks open? "
"Oh… . Really."
These thieves, who had been muttering for a while, opened the door abruptly. Judging from the fact that they acted like this even though I told them to go back, they definitely weren't ordinary people.
Should I kill them right away? It won't take even a second. Judging from their equipment and strength, they aren't that strong.
In other words, if we fight, I will win. It won't be that hard, and I will easily remove all three of their balls with a snap of my fingers, like hiding something in my pocket.
But I didn't do that right away because I was curious about what purpose these women had come in for.
"What? It's not inside? Did it go out the window?"
"Why are you talking so loudly…! You little punk."
"No, the window didn't open? What the? There's no place to hide in this small room."
Hmm. I see. First of all, it seems like he didn't come in with pure intentions. It's almost certain because he's holding an axe or a club.
Well then, I can kill them. I walked confidently in front of them. And slurp. I stabbed the blade into the eye socket of the woman who was holding the axe.
"Huh?! Huh… ."
Time slows down. Not physically because of magic, but because my senses are heightened and everything around me appears to be slowing down.
He slashed the vocal cords of the woman with the blade stuck in her eyeball with a dagger, then pulled out another one and stuck it in her lung so she wouldn't dare make a sound. Until then, the woman next to her had not moved her expression at all. So he did the same to her.
"Huh?"
As the two of them died in an instant, the remaining years seemed to be unable to believe this situation. The dizzying murderous desire unique to the race rose to its peak.
Is this how Sloan wields his power? It's really cool.
"Shh."
"Uh… ."
"Don't say anything. What happened to you just now? And what you witnessed."
"People, people… ."
You don't listen. I'm willing to be patient.
I pulled out my dagger and threw it forward. The light iron piece flew away, ripping off the ear of the woman who was about to scream.
"Ugh! Ugh… ."
"I don't know about patience, but you're pretty quick at recognizing situations. That's great. I guess you won't die wherever you go."
As I had hoped, the girl didn't scream. She just grabbed her torn ear and screamed silently.
"Then you know what I'm going to ask next, right?"
"Keuuuk… . Keuuup… ! Yes, yes."
"Say it."
Honestly, I was a little surprised. I thought they were a group of thieves at first glance. How can they not act stupidly? Wouldn't a normal person start by yelling?
I want to applaud her patience, but first I have a question.
"First of all, let me tell you who we are. We are the Dark Shield. You've probably heard of us before, right? We are a group of chivalrous men who value justice and chivalry… ."
"Write. I don't think so. What kind of thieves would come into someone's room with an axe and a club? And in a house where there's only a man. If you keep lying, I'll cut off one of your ears too?"
"Ah, I see! We are a bunch of thieves! We usually wander around, and when we come across an abandoned village like this, we live there for a while as villagers… and then we go down to the border to pillage."
I've heard several times that the world these days is full of thieves.
Most of them are defeated by the military, but some survive with their experience and equipment intact. They are said to be even more troublesome.
'Did you come in to avoid the punitive force? That was a great decision.'
It's like trying to escape a tiger and crawl into a lion's mouth.
Of course, the punitive force won't dare enter the Demon King's territory. If you're lucky, there won't be a better hideout than this.
"Wouldn't it be more dangerous if we stayed here? There would be cannibalistic monsters running around."
"Well… . That's true. The boss has a map… . The monsters inside have a territory. You just have to avoid that area. Plus, there's a really strong monster called the Poisonous Serpent King around here."
The more creatures a monster kills, the more its strength and intelligence grows by leaps and bounds.
Of course, it will vary depending on the soul vessel and other capabilities each individual possesses.
'I heard that some of the monsters inside have escaped our control and are forming their own forces.'
I think this is the first time I've heard of the Poisonous Snake King. Hmm…
"What is this guy called the Poisonous Snake King? I'm hearing about it for the first time."
"A giant basilisk entity that has recently expanded its territory. Rumor has it that it has defeated the 43rd rank Demon King's army."
"You repelled the army?"
"Yes, it is said that he has power as strong as the Demon King."
A mere monster has become as strong as us? That's ridiculous. Aren't monsters created by our own power? What are you talking about, a lowly creature… .
It's not that scary. There are many ways to deal with him. However, I don't think Sloan should know. The goal is to catch the Demon King, and if you go off track, it'll be annoying.
"Uh… . I think I told you everything I know. H, maybe… ."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, yes… ."
"No, right? You forgot to tell me one important thing… What were you planning to do with me?"
As he said this, the light of hope that had been shining in the thief's eyes suddenly went out.
"To dedicate to the boss… ."
"You're giving it to me? Ah… . That's what it was."
"Sa, save me… ."
There is no reason to spare your life. How dare you try to violate me, the Demon King?
This is unforgivable. No one can touch me. This is a serious crime. I plunged the blade into my neck. But since you worked hard, I let you go without any pain.
Now let's go to Sloan. We have to kill the rest of them.
***
Humans, you could say, are beings who live in an unreasonable environment.
However, life is a great law in that it brightens one's life by overcoming small, unreasonable fates.
I respect humans. Not in vain, really. Even though they are like insects wriggling in the forest trying to survive.
"There are more of these than I thought."
But it seems like they didn't really need to pay any respect.
As soon as I witnessed the absurdity of Sloan, I turned around and tried to run away.
Tsk tsk… I wish you would follow my example. Aren't I just struggling to overcome this absurd moment?
"By the way, it's a map…! It's like a treasure hunt or something!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah! There are strong monsters around here, right? But Elisa. Why didn't you tell me about this? Even the Demon King over there knows about it. "
"That's because the bet only covers the Demon King."
"Really? From now on, let's count the number of times you catch monsters!"
"… Besides, I don't like it when things go sideways like this, so I won't say anything."
I thought so too, so I didn't say anything.
There is a limit to how far you can go in a side road. If you keep hitting them one by one, you will never achieve your goal until you die of old age.
"What the heck!"
Sloan, who had piled his severed heads into a tower, kept wiping the blood off his gauntlets. Was it necessary to do that?
I was speechless at the sheer horror of this massacre.
"Then let's settle it now."
"Settlement? Oh, let's check how many thieves we caught?"
"Yeah. Well, I missed 12 out of 34. If I calculate from 22, I think I caught 6. Ugh… I caught less than I thought, right?"
"I caught 10 people!"
I think he's going to come back and eat me again with some weird rule.
I knew this would happen, so I worked hard and took the thieves' throats off.
"I probably burned about 5 of them. Elisha caught the other one."
"I have the most achievements… ."
"Hmm. So it's Sloan's turn then?"
"I can't help it. Tsk."
"… Yes? Why do you say that?"
"Isn't that obvious? You're a commodity. Your records are excluded."
No, a product! Why are you treating me like that!
As I was gaping in amazement, Sloan grabbed me by the waist from behind and lifted me up.
"This is better than I thought… . It's an addictive feeling. Excuse me, but can we sleep together tonight?"
"No! This is unreasonable!"
"Life is inherently unreasonable. Isn't overcoming that what makes a human life?
If you can overcome it, then fucking overcome it!
This is a disaster!!!
Suddenly, I felt so embarrassed for pretending to be joking.