Chapter 74 : Chapter 74
Chapter 074
I had always assumed that some of the bastards I faced might somehow manage to swat away a bullet or two. The world was wide, and there were plenty of masters in it.
On top of that, I had learned that the masters of this world used a power called Aura. Because of that, there was always a chance my bullets could be blocked.
That was why I had only used the pistol in single shots.
If someone blocked a single attack, he would let his guard down and stop fearing my weapon. If he blocked it once, why would he not think he could block it twice? Something like that.
But what was the true charm of a gun?
Automatic fire.
As long as the Magazine was full, I could keep firing as much as I wanted.
That Butcher bastard lying in front of me now had probably felt triumphant when he blocked my attack the first time. Just as expected, he let his guard down, and in the end, he collapsed under a barrage of repeated shots.
That was why hiding your strength was so important.
“It feels like the deeper I go, the stronger the bastards keep getting. Whew.”
After catching my breath, I tucked the pistol back into my waistband. Right then, Kalmond and Eluna came in covered in blood. I raised a hand in greeting.
“Did it end well?”
“Yes! Everything has been cleaned up. This place is now completely under our control. My apologies for being late. Are you injured anywhere?”
“I’m fine. Go take care of our people instead.”
Maybe it was because the tension had finally left me, or maybe because I had burned through too much stamina, but my legs trembled. I sank down where I stood. Then I felt Eluna’s touch unexpectedly.
“Master. Are you all right?”
“Yeah. I told you, I’m fine.”
Eluna wrapped herself around me as though embracing me. The unexpected contact caught me off guard. Even as she did, I felt a faint trickle of Mana flowing into my body.
Ah, right. Come to think of it, Eluna was a Mana User too. She had Magical Power among her Traits.
And it was B-rank, at that.
It felt as refreshing as standing in an open field with the wind blowing over me. It seemed to be some sort of restorative power. It felt good enough that a groan escaped me on its own.
“So you could use Mana too?”
“I thought you would already know that, Master.”
“I suspected it, but I could not be certain. It’s hard to know for sure if someone hides it.”
I grinned. Eluna kept letting her Mana flow into me, smiling shyly as she did.
“You don’t have that much Mana. Are you controlling it on purpose?”
“No. This is the maximum amount of Mana I can produce.”
“Then you need training.”
At that, Eluna looked slightly surprised.
“You can use Mana too, Master?”
“Is that so surprising?”
“After the Twilight of Mana, most humans lost the ability to use Mana.”
Twilight of Mana.
It was a term I had heard before. I had once asked Stewart about it in the mansion library out of curiosity.
I thought back on what I had heard then. If I remembered right, something had gone wrong with the source of Magical Power, so mages had changed the place where they condensed Mana from the heart to the Dantian.
After that, knights, who had relatively low Mana sensitivity, began using a power called Aura instead of Mana, and countless training methods for developing Aura started appearing.
Mana and Aura were different kinds of power, but they were said to branch from the same root. Aura was the less refined side of it, perhaps.
“When you say most humans, does that mean the other races can use Mana freely?”
“Not exactly, but they were affected less than humans. I heard they were somewhat freer from the Mana turbulence phenomenon. I do not know the details myself, though.”
“I see.”
At some point, Eluna’s Mana had completely washed away the fatigue from my body, and I felt much lighter. Letting out a low groan, I pushed myself to my feet.
“Anyway, this doesn’t feel like the place for a conversation like this. Let’s talk about it properly next time. And I know a little about Mana Cultivation Methods too, so let’s train together sometime.”
“Thank you, Master.”
“There’s no need to thank me. I’m only teaching you so I can work you even harder for the sake of our organization.”
Eluna smiled and lowered her head.
I had said it as a joke, and she had taken it as one. The fact that she could tell which of my words were serious and which were not meant our relationship had grown a little closer.
With that in mind, I took Eluna’s hand.
She was startled.
○ Eluna
Rank: ★★★★★
Level: 20 (+2)
Trait: Archery S, Instrument Performance A, Agility A, Wisdom A, Affinity with Nature A, Bow Mastery A, Magical Power B, Blessing of the World Tree C, Magic Resistance C, Healing D, ???
Status: Captivated
[Not Unlocked]
[Not Unlocked]
......
For one thing, her Level had risen by 2. That proved once again that there was nothing better for leveling up than real combat experience.
Another thing worth noticing was that her Bow Mastery Trait had risen to A-rank, and she had gained the Healing Trait. Bow Mastery was one thing, but the appearance of Healing was a little unexpected. Her Magical Power Trait was still B-rank, but that would probably rise if I passed my cultivation method on to her.
Finally, the Status toward me had changed to Captivated. That was another status message I was seeing for the first time.
In the dictionary sense, captivated meant an extremely strong sense of favor.
But from experience, I knew that expressions with qualifiers in front of them were much stronger.
For example, Arwen’s status message, which all but confirmed that she had feelings for me, was Spring Breeze’s Flutter. The modifier spring breeze clearly suggested romantic feelings.
Eluna had not fully opened her heart to me yet, so I guessed it had changed like this because she had received such a strong impression.
Something like a half-and-half blend of loyalty and personal affection?
Well, either way, it was a good thing.
“It would be good for you to learn Healing Arts too. That’s not something I can teach myself, so find a book and read up on it.”
“Yes, Master.”
Or maybe it would be better if I went to the mansion library and brought her some information on Healing Arts.
Just then, Kalmond came in with a few of the men. Judging by how drenched in sweat he was, he had clearly worked hard.
“Boss. All the cleanup is finished.”
“Casualties on our side?”
“Four injured, no dead.”
“No dead is good news. How badly are the injured hurt?”
“Two stab wounds, one fracture, and one case of poisoning. The poison has already been neutralized, and the rest have received first aid.”
Kalmond had definitely proven his competence in actual combat. It made me think back to the time he had aimed for my throat.
“Well done. Any of them surrender?”
“Of course. Hey! Bring them all in!”
At Kalmond’s signal, the men dragged in a line of bound captives. There were exactly ten of them. They knelt with their heads hanging low.
I asked,
“What should we do with these bastards?”
“It would be best not to leave future trouble behind.”
“You mean kill them?”
Kalmond nodded as if asking why I was bothering to ask something so obvious. This time, I turned to look at Eluna. She reacted much the same way.
“Maybe killing them really is the answer.”
At that, the bastards who had been slumped over suddenly began to wail all at once, as though they had sensed the end coming.
“Please spare us! Please! We were only following orders......”
“Shut up.”
At the killing intent in that single word, they all clamped their mouths shut. I walked closer, sat down in front of them, and looked down at them as I spoke.
“Following orders is a crime too. You followed orders to torment people, and I’m sure you enjoyed the benefits when things were good, didn’t you? So what kind of rotten mindset says you want the good parts to count, but the bad parts overlooked?”
“T-That’s unfair! Please spare us!”
“There’s nothing unfair about it.”
“Please! I’ll give my life for the Boss!”
“What kind of bullshit is that? You were trying to take my head just moments ago.”
I was already tired of bickering with these bastards.
I fell into thought for a moment.
Then I happened to glance behind me and saw Kalmond binding up the Butcher. Since he was not leaving him alone, it seemed the bastard had survived.
“How’s that one?”
“He’s badly injured. How exactly did you fight him? He doesn’t have a single cut wound, but his internal injuries look severe.”
“I just beat the hell out of him.”
“He seems to have blacked out for the moment, but he may wake soon.”
“Keep a close watch on him. Don’t let him escape. We need to hand that bastard over to the Village Guard. He’s a violent one, so tie him up with chains or something.”
“Understood.”
Judging by the Butcher’s temperament, he did not seem like the type who would spill the organization’s information easily. He was the kind who would curse us to the end and lose his head for it.
I needed information on the Black Pig Gang. I had already handed Young Master Hamel the enormous sum of 3,500 Gold, but I still needed to provide some level of information about the organization so that I would not come under suspicion myself.
I did not care in the slightest whether the Black Pig Gang was entangled with the Delfino Merchant Company or not. I just needed some plausible materials.
Then, all at once, a good idea came to me.
Smiling brightly at the prisoners, I put that thought into words.
“I’ll give you one chance. Whoever here knows the most about the Black Pig Gang, bark nice and loud.”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t understand? If anyone knows where the safe is or where the secret businesses are, bark like a dog.”
Everyone went mute as a clam.
But one of them suddenly jumped to his feet.
“I-I know!”
“......”
“I know where the safe is! And I even know every business that escaped the Tax Audit this time!”
Oh? So there were businesses that avoided the Tax Audit?
Now that was interesting. Though a follow-up Tax Audit did not have much appeal. We had already taken over the Black Pig Gang, so why bother with one? Taking everything for free was best.
When I stared at him with a flat expression, the bastard only blinked in confusion.
“What did I just say? I told you to bark. Bark.”
“Woof woof! Woof woof woof! Grrr! Woof!”
“Hahahaha! You bastard, I told you to bark and you actually barked? I was joking, you idiot!”
Kalmond and Eluna laughed, and so did the rest of the men. Grinning, I personally untied the prisoner who had barked so earnestly.
“Take care of the rest yourselves. Ah, Mond.”
Kalmond turned back from the prisoners he was dragging away by force.
“I didn’t call you Almond. That was just an exclamation. You know that, right?”
“......”
“Don’t kill those bastards. Leave them alive. I think they might be useful.”
“Understood.”
They dragged the others away, and I patted the freed prisoner on the shoulder as I said,
“Now then, it’s time for you to prove your worth. You’re going to spill absolutely everything to your big brother here. Understood?”
The bastard knew more than I expected. From what I heard, he had once been the adjutant favored by the former boss, Blackship. Then Deputy Pig betrayed him, and he got demoted.
In any case, we secured the location of the Hidden Safe, and Kalmond splendidly proved why his Lockpicking Trait was A-rank. Armed with nothing but a small piece of wire and an awl, he cracked the safe in under ten minutes.
A cry of delight burst out of me on its own.
“Hoo!”
Inside were piles of gold and treasures, along with all sorts of documents tied to various business interests and a list of officials who had been taking kickbacks from the Underworld.
This was a bigger catch than I expected.
I felt an even greater thrill than when I had ransacked former Training Officer Cornel’s office.