Ch. 64
“Gah…! Help! This snake—!”
The overwhelming pressure choking his neck must’ve felt like inching toward death.
I knew a bit about that kind of fear.
That feeling of death creeping up on me, regardless of my will.
[Master, may I kill him?]
Rai was asking how far the freedom I’d granted him extended.
I had never once let Rai kill a person before.
Of course, he would eventually.
This world was built that way.
A world where you kill or be killed, where not killing means dying.
‘But is now the time for that?’
The small room was already filled with the stench of blood.
The only ones still conscious were Rai, the slave trader man, and me.
The others had long since collapsed, foaming at the mouth, overwhelmed by the pain Rai had “gifted” them. Iruze seemed to have fainted after being thrown against the wall.
Ash also wasn’t moving—unconscious, perhaps.
“Ash.”
I was worried about both of them, but I was especially concerned for Ash, who had taken the worst beating.
When Rai attacked the men, Ash had been tossed to the floor like a rag doll.
I turned over the small body lying face-down on the cold floor, and it was so limp I wondered if he might be dead.
Thankfully, he was still breathing.
But that relief didn’t last. The moment I brushed aside his bangs to check his breathing and touched his face, a wave of fury washed over me.
That neat and innocent boy I’d caught a glimpse of earlier was gone.
His face, grotesquely swollen and covered in blood, looked more like a corpse.
While I clenched my teeth and stayed still to avoid getting hit, these two had taken the brunt of it. That thought made me feel cold all over.
“P-please… spare me!”
Then the man, looking over his pitifully sprawled-out comrades, begged me for his life.
How absurd.
He had done this to Ash and Iruze—now he wanted to live?
He tried to sell people as slaves, yet he thought his own life mattered?
Was life really so precious?
The answer was obvious, but too many people ignored it.
Like those who sell people, it’s the wrong answer—but one that thrives.
“Rai.”
[Yes, Master.]
“Would it be better to kill him or smash his nose?”
The most badly injured part of Ash’s face was his nose.
It must’ve been crushed by a punch—he couldn’t breathe properly and was wheezing, so I reached out and gently opened his lips.
Only then could he take in the faintest of breaths.
[From his point of view, probably the latter?]
“Then do that.”
[Understood!]
I didn’t feel much of anything.
It was a sensation I’d felt before—my mind going cold and my heart turning to ice.
I’d felt the same way when I almost died from the Swarm.
That moment when I realized, plain and simple: if you can’t kill, you die.
“Wait! No! Sto—ugh!”
I didn’t even blink when I heard the sound of the man’s nasal bone shattering.
All I heard was a groan soaked in pain.
My eyes went from Ash to Iruze, and then to the other slave traders sprawled on the floor.
Looking at strangers felt different than looking at my friends.
Naturally, the pain of someone I knew hit closer to home.
It was the same with death.
Who cared about scum like them? It didn’t matter.
“Should I just kill him?”
[That works too!]
“Even if I let him live, he’s still a slave trader.”
His blood-filled eyes met mine in terror.
Realizing Rai was only moving under my command, the man suddenly dropped to his knees, clutching his destroyed nose as he pleaded.
He practically sobbed at me—just a small girl.
“I-I’m begging you… please!”
His voice was that of a complete victim.
Just minutes ago, he was trying to sell kids like us, and now look at him.
Rai must’ve thought I was still hesitating because he looked at me like he was waiting for a decision.
“Mm, yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Slave traders are hopelessly evil. Right, Rai?”
[Of course!]
“I hope you aren’t reborn human in your next life.”
It wasn’t a hard decision.
The knights would probably kill them all anyway.
Kidnapping nobles? That alone was enough for immediate execution.
This world wouldn’t miss a guy like him. If anything, it’d be better off.
Rai tensed his body, and the man’s eyes filled with despair and agony—
“Stop.”
[Master?]
Rai froze at my command, puzzled.
[Huh.]
Then he saw what I saw, and started flailing a bit.
A woman had picked up Iruze from where he’d been slumped against the wall and was now holding a dagger to his neck.
When had she come in?
I hadn’t sensed her at all.
Even if I didn’t notice, Rai should have.
“Rai.”
I called irritably, and Rai, still clinging to the man’s neck like a necktie, began rattling off excuses.
[W-well, the thing is, I was really focused on this situation…]
[No one asked for an excuse.]
[Sorry, Master! But seriously, that woman still barely has any presence. She must be an assassin or a thief!]
Did she come after hearing the screams?
I laid Ash’s head gently on the floor and slowly stood up.
The woman had a vicious look in her eyes.
“Kid.”
Unsurprisingly, her voice wasn’t friendly either.
She deliberately emphasized the dagger in her hand.
The polished blade gleamed white beneath Iruze’s neck.
“Let go of my brother while I’m asking nicely.”
“Pfft, you call that asking nicely?”
That’s totally a threat!
—
“I’m warning you. If you kill my brother, you’ll be watching your friend’s neck snap.”
Yeah, that’s a threat alright.
This situation just kept getting worse. Iruze was now a hostage, and on top of that, I could feel acidic bile creeping up my throat.
A sign of internal damage from overusing [Mana].
This is why I should always conserve some [Mana].
“Ptooey.”
I spat out the bitter bile pooling in my mouth and crossed my arms, pretending to be calm.
Undine must’ve gotten close—my [Mana] was no longer leaking as rapidly—but even so, what little remained wasn’t enough to last more than a few minutes.
I was already at my limit. If I kept pushing myself, I’d probably end up coughing blood.
I wasn’t confident.
I didn’t know if I could hold out until the knights arrived.
“What if I say no?”
“Ha, do you want to watch your friend die?”
“I’ll say the same back to you. If you don’t want to see your brother die, then let go of my friend. Right now.”
The woman had crimson hair and orange eyes—outwardly, she looked seductive and dangerously alluring, but to me, she was just a conniving hyena.
“I’ll say it again, kid. Slice a human here, and they die. No matter how tough they are—”
“That goes for your brother too, doesn’t it? Snap his neck and he’s dead.”
Crack.
“Sis..Sister…”
Threat for threat.
At my signal, Rai tightened his grip around the man’s neck and wagged his tail like a happy dog.
“I’ve seen people control snakes before, but never one like that.”
“My snake’s something else, isn’t he?”
We were both bluffing, acting like we had the upper hand.
The woman’s eyes lingered on the other slave traders, their limbs crushed and twisted.
It didn’t take her long to realize what Rai could do.
She made an offer.
“Let’s make a deal. If you let my brother go, I’ll let you all leave unharmed.”
She gestured toward the other slave traders who’d gathered near the door, acting like she held the better hand.
Does she take me for a fool?
“Who’d believe that?”
