Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 038. A New Destination (1)

“Uh, you’re alive?”

Three minutes after smashing the castle gate and throwing the log.

Anagin walked toward the little room at the top of the fortress—the place the log had landed. Or rather, what used to be a room before it was reduced to a pile of rubble.

There, Kigos was crawling out on all fours from between the collapsed stones.

“Y-you…!”

Kigos yelped in shock when he saw Anagin.

Anagin was just as surprised.

He hadn’t thrown the log with the express intent to kill him, but he definitely hadn’t cared if Kigos died either. Maybe because he’d lived a rough life, the bastard’s lifeline was surprisingly tough.

Though only to that extent…

Anagin looked down at Kigos, who’d been crushed under rubble and was now a wreck. No matter how he looked at it, Kigos didn’t seem capable of fighting anymore.

“Hff…! Huff…!”

Whether he’d exhausted himself crawling out or he was simply terrified, Kigos was gasping for breath.

But his eyes were darting around nonstop.

Swivel. Swivel. Clatter. Clatter.

Trying to assess the situation.

Reading his thoughts, Anagin spoke.

“Don’t get your hopes up. All your subordinates have their legs broken. All twenty‑three of them.”

Flinch.

Kigos jolted as if struck by lightning.

He didn’t know why—no, it was more accurate to say there were too many reasons.

Sure, Anagin smashing the gate and throwing a log showed monstrous strength, but him knowing their exact headcount? That was terrifying.

Were Gigants normally this meticulous?

Of course not.

Gigants tended to solve every problem with brute force because of their innate strength. But this one wasn’t like that.

The way he spoke showed he understood everything happening on their side.

Kigos had no idea how he had figured any of it out.

“Your subordinates were a big help. What were they called again… ah, those seven-whatever guys? I heard everything from them: your numbers, positions, roles, and gear. Made it way easier to take you down.”

It wasn’t a coincidence that the moment Anagin entered the fortress, he hurled the log directly toward the room Kigos was in.

He’d targeted the head first, using intel from the Seven Hunters.

When the head falls, the limbs can’t move properly.

His prediction was correct.

At Anagin’s sudden intrusion—and their commander’s room being crushed under a log—the Old Fortress Hunters collapsed without resistance.

Their attention scattered, their coordination fell apart, and they exposed countless openings. And Anagin already knew their positions.

All he had to do was run toward each target and swing his club.

“There were a few who used pretty amusing toys, though…”

Anagin mentioned the Old Fortress Hunters’ pride, their “man‑catching net.”

A handy and powerful magic tool that automatically tracked its target for a few steps and bound them the moment it was thrown.

But since Anagin already knew about it, he threw other guys into the nets instead, nullifying them, then snapped every catcher’s leg.

Kigos was listening in a half‑trance when his senses finally came rushing back.

‘Wait, what am I doing?!’

Defeat on the road meant death. If he wanted to live, he had to act.

“W-what is it that you want?!”

When a fisherman doesn’t slit the fish’s throat immediately and instead explains how he caught it, it usually means one of two things:

A fool consumed by the desire to brag, or someone cunning who wanted something.

Kigos bet on the latter.

“You talk fast. I like that.”

Correct!

Kigos quietly sighed in relief and shouted:

“Thank you! Please understand that we hold no hostility toward you!”

“…Really?”

Anagin asked in a voice full of suspicion.

Kigos screamed even more desperately. Hostility? When they’d already been wiped out?

“It must’ve been a mistake on our part! The Seven Hunters! Those idiots must’ve messed up! Right?!!”

He said it to survive, but it was also true.

He’d recruited them because they were skilled, but with their aggressive, glory‑seeking personalities, he had expected trouble.

If those idiots hadn’t fired their arrows, Anagin wouldn’t have had any reason to come this far.

“You had nothing to do with it?”

“Not completely, when we heard you were passing nearby, we told them to watch you, that’s all!” For more chapters visıt novel fire.net

Remembering how the Seven Hunters had betrayed him, Kigos spilled the truth without resistance. A sloppy lie would only shorten his life. What he needed now was a cleverly mixed lie—truth and falsehood blended just enough to sound believable.

“But we never ordered them to attack! Just to see if you were doing anything dangerous…! W-we, the Old Fortress Hunters, are protectors of the peace around here!!”

Kigos, absurdly enough, tried to argue their legitimacy.

They weren’t greedy criminals chasing money—they served a necessary role.

And he wasn’t entirely wrong.

Wanted criminals were one thing, but runaways and escaped slaves all eventually turned to banditry. Someone had to apprehend them.

Kigos emphasized that point.

It sounded ridiculous, but sometimes such arguments worked—especially on someone reasonable.

Anagin fell into thought, and Kigos cheered inwardly.

He’d expressed that they weren’t hostile or malicious, that they weren’t some evil threat. If Anagin truly intended to kill all of them, he would’ve crushed their heads, not just broken their legs.

So this Practitioner Killer might not be the insane murderer the rumors claimed… he might actually be soft…

Seeing a possible foothold, Kigos felt hope rising.

The damage was severe, but still recoverable. As long as he survived, he could rebuild.

“Who put a bounty on me?”

Whether his persuasion had worked or not, Anagin finally voiced what he wanted.

The first step toward removing the cause.

He demanded information on those who placed the bounty on him.

“Everyone around here put one on you. Io, Lakis, Neus…”

“And who are those?”

“Practitioner families in this region. The bounty amounts differ for each, though.”

They’d put up bounties, yet the amounts were different…

“Explain in a way I can understand.”

Since it was a matter of life and death, Kigos explained concisely and accurately.

The key point was that multiple people had placed bounties on Anagin’s head.

The important detail was that they hadn’t pooled their intentions or money—they did it individually.

When asked why such an inefficient approach, Kigos replied:

“People are many, but the head is one, isn’t it? Each placed a bounty separately to claim your head.”

In simple terms, they didn’t want to punish Anagin for destroying the Dolos Family—they wanted the head of the Practitioner Killer himself.

Bringing the head of a notorious villain to a temple was a considerable merit.

Anagin couldn’t help but snicker. Something about it struck him as amusing.

Sensing unease, Kigos reiterated his stance.

“We don’t really have any special intentions.”

"You seem to know a lot for someone who doesn't."

“Well… it’s just our job.”

“Then you must’ve recorded relevant info. Hand it over.”

Kigos looked at the collapsed rubble.

“It’s in there…”

“What are you waiting for? Get it.”

After a brief hesitation, Kigos forced himself up and began clearing the rubble.

If he had claimed he couldn’t reach it or asked for help, that club would probably have smashed his head.

Fortunately, the pile wasn’t too deep, and he found it faster than expected.

“L-leader…?”

“Quiet.”

Kigos muttered to the barely alive cook under the rubble, then retrieved a box and opened it.

Inside were a list of those who placed the bounty on Anagin and a custom-made map showing the locations of each practitioner family. Essential materials for bounty hunting.

Kigos handed it over to Anagin.

“Here… it’s here.”

Anagin reviewed the list and the map.

Only then did Kigos become curious about what he planned to do with them.

'Surely, he's not planning to strike first?'

It was a mad thought.

He knew Anagin wasn’t ordinary, but taking on all of them alone? That was the thinking of someone insane or someone desperate to die.

That's what it was like for an individual to challenge a collective.

Rationally, escaping to another area would’ve been much safer.

The title “Practitioner Killer” barely reached regional newspapers. The bounties had only been issued in this part of West of Anapik.

Simply leaving for another region could easily let it all fizzle out.

There were more than a few like that.

But what if he was a lunatic who wouldn't do that?

Suddenly, Kigos felt a chilling premonition. And it was correct.

Crack—!

Anagin, having grabbed what he wanted, unhesitatingly smashed one of Kigos’s legs with the club.

“Kuaack—!!”

Kigos screamed, clutching his leg.

“All right, let’s finish the other one…”

“W-wait! Taking us out doesn’t make it a lesson!!”

Kigos, his composure gone, spoke in short bursts.

Anagin, who didn't seem to care, ignored him.

“What are you talking about?”

“Killing all of us won’t set an example!! It might even make things more troublesome?!”

“Ah… I understand what you mean.”

“R-really?! Then…”

Before Kigos could continue, Anagin smashed the other leg.

“Damn it—!! Why?!”

Kigos yelled, frustrated and in pain.

He understood, but why break his legs? Was he crazy?!

“I do understand, but that’s not why I broke your legs. There’s another reason.”

“What reason—”

“-I heard you kidnap people and sell them.”

“…?!”

Kigos froze. The Seven Hunters… did they even tell him that?

Crack—!

Another bone snapped.

Anagin had broken Kigos’s arm.

“What does that have to do with you?!”

Kigos shouted, pain and injustice mixing.

He was the one who killed practitioners!

“It doesn’t. I broke it for another reason.”

Anagin swung again, breaking Kigos’s last arm.

Now all four limbs were broken.

“Kuaack…!! Damn it, what is the reason?!"

If it wasn’t because of kidnapping, why break his arms?

Anagin answered:

“You spilled my precious stew. The leader has to take responsibility.”

With that, Anagin left, leaving the scene cleanly, as if his business there was finished.

* * *

The abandoned fortress dining hall.

Having broken the legs of all the Old Fortress Hunters, including Kigos, Anagin entered the hall to eat the stew he had noticed earlier.

As expected, the stew he had seen before was still sitting in the pot.

Anagin naturally sat down and began scooping the stew into a bowl.

Slurp.

It wasn’t as refined as the Sphinx’s cooking, but it was still quite tasty.

The cook, crushed under the rubble earlier, had been left alone, which seemed wise in hindsight.

"Ah, you're here, just as I thought."

While Anagin was deep in his meal, Sphinx found him. Unlike Anagin, she wasn't empty-handed.

She had collected the money the Old Fortress Hunters had gathered, using her magic to detect valuables.

Placing the coins on the table, she spoke.

"They said they captured enough wanted criminals to improve the security in this area, and it doesn't seem to be a lie, does it? They've managed to accumulate quite a bit."

The 'Seven Hunters' also appealed to their legitimacy to survive, claiming they weren't villains but people who captured villains.

"Well, even so, the fact that they dabbled in human trafficking is undeniable. How did you know?"

Sphinx asked Anagin how he knew they were involved in human trafficking.

The scene where the bounty hunters revealed their dirty secret after Anagin tossed out a simple question was still memorable.

He looked simple, yet he had a strangely sharp side to him.

"Because there are too many of them for bounty hunters."

“Is that so?”

“Big bodies eat a lot. Naturally, that makes them greedy.”

“Heh… sounds like the words of a sage.”

Sphinx feigned sarcasm but was genuinely impressed. Though his tone seemed arrogant, his reasoning made sense. It conveyed not only knowledge but wisdom and experience.

Anagin agreed. It was something his master had taught him, a lesson he had long forgotten but suddenly recalled—though he didn’t know why it came to mind now.

“Anyway, everyone was released. The kidnapped people. But… are you sure it’s okay?”

“Okay? With what?”

“Among those you let go, there were kidnapped people, but I think there were also real wanted criminals?”

“Not my concern. Their failure to protect themselves is their problem.”

Anagin found it absurd to distinguish who to release and who not to, so he ignored it. Too much trouble.

Sphinx hadn’t pressed the question seriously, so she let it slide.

“Well, it doesn’t matter to me… oh, I kept only half the money. The rest I left behind. For them to use as travel funds if they run away.”

“Why?”

“Just… running away empty-handed is hard, right?”

Sphinx shrugged, giving a casual answer.

It was a haphazard way of handling things, but it was enough. Anagin didn’t argue.

“Anything else?”

“No.”

“Then eat as well.”

Anagin ladled some stew into a bowl and handed it to Sphinx. Both of them were equally hungry.

Sphinx smiled faintly at the offered bowl.

“Mmm~ not bad. Eating food someone else made.”

“This might be the last chance, so enjoy it.”

“You really should learn to talk a little less.”

Sphinx criticized Anagin’s tone while sitting across from him, happily eating the stew.

It was decent enough.

“Um…”

While they were eating, a voice came from the corridor.

Looking over, they saw eight girls. A black-haired girl, who seemed to be the representative, stepped forward.

“Who are you?”

"They're the children who were captured."

“Oh. Want some?”

Anagin naturally offered the stew.

Honestly, there wasn’t much, but seeing how thin they were, he felt they needed to eat.

The girl shook her head.

“No. But… we’d like to ask a favor.”

“A favor from the ones who saved you?”

The girl flinched at Anagin's sarcasm, but seeing her even more frightened younger siblings, she gathered her courage. She offered a few coins she had managed to secure from her clothes and made her request.

"This is all I have, but please, I beg you, Hero. Please take us to our village. Even if it takes a long time… please…”

Her hands shook as she begged.

Anagin paused, then unfolded the map he had received from Kigos.

“The village name?”

“Eh?”

“The village name.”

"I-It's called Pond Village."

Pond Village, huh…

Anagin quickly found Pond Village on the map. It was a bit distant, but the Io practitioner family was also there.

“Do you know anything about the Io family?”

“Not much… but our village elders should know.”

“Good.”

Anagin nodded. He had been wondering where to visit first, and this worked out well.

"We'll leave right after we eat... If you're hungry, eat with us."

The frozen girls hesitated briefly, then gathered around Anagin and began eating the stew.

“Pinku-Pinku, you’ll have to cook more stew.”

“Ah, please.”