abcnovels
Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Chapter 9 – Mask of Night (1)
“Master! What is this?”
Harun grabbed something from the pile of gold and silver treasures in the corner of the tent and shook it.
It was a small vial, cloudy gray in color.
When the lid was opened, it emitted a foul stench.
The color of its contents was an ominous yellow.
“Hmm…….”
After thinking for a moment, I shook out a drop without hesitation and ran the tip of my tongue over it.
Ptoo!
“……This is a paralyzing poison from the Hart Kingdom.”
My whole mouth tingled even though I only touched it with my tongue.
The Hart Kingdom had long been famous for its poison.
Perhaps because it is on the edge of the continent, it was home to all sorts of rare poisonous herbs and poisonous insects that were rarely found in more fertile lands.
“I think we’ll find a use for it soon.”
Suddenly a good plan came to mind, and I quickly tucked the paralyzing poison into my arms.
“H-How could you just put something like that into your mouth?”
“How could you let something like this scare you? If you become a high-ranking person, which is your goal, you’ll be subject to all sorts of assassination threats. Including poison, of course.”
“Huh……?”
“Haven’t you heard of this story at least once? A high-ranking person is found cold and dead at the break of day. That’s usually the result of being poisoned.”
Prevention is better than any antidote.
However, what if it’s already inside your body?
And what if you’re about to be attacked by assassins, and you can’t even use your mana to flush it out?
“You need to build up your resistance to poison for cases like those. But you can’t build that resistance unless you experience it firsthand.”
It’s like medicine.
You have to take medicine to develop resistance and immunity to disease, right?
In the first place, poison is also a kind of medicine.
In my previous life, I was quite resistant to this poison.
However, I cannot expect this body to have such resistance, so from now on, I must diligently cultivate it at every opportunity.
Even if the process is excruciatingly painful and difficult.
“Besides that, where’s the minion boss?”
“Uh……?”
Harun paused for a moment.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him since earlier……? Well, I think he did say he was going to the restroom.”
The corner of my eye twitched.
I’d expected him to wait until at least night to move, but I didn’t expect him to act so boldly in a moment of distraction.
“In about ten minutes, meet me in that corner with the oil. I’ll leave a mark on the tree, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
“Huh? Ah, okay, Master.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I left the tent alone.
***
How much further into the forest did I walk?
Finally, I arrived at a place that would have been easy to miss if I didn’t look closely enough.
The tall trees were densely packed, providing camouflage in their own right.
Flutter!
I barged into another tent that had been set up there.
“……!”
I didn’t even bother to hide my presence.
Captain Ben-Hur, the leader of the minions, turned around in surprise.
He was dangling the letter he had just finished on the leg of the black hawk perched on his shoulder.
“H-How did you……?”
“Well, I just tailed you.”
“Tailed…… me? Th-That’s impossible! I even checked my surroundings multiple times……!”
“Touch the back of your neck if you want to know.”
Ben-Hur immediately reached for the back of his neck.
“What is this……?”
His fingertips were soon tinged with a faint blue color.
A mana reverberation.
This technique of using one’s mana to leave a trace mark on an enemy was created by none other than me.
“A pitch black hawk……. Is that a letter for the ‘Mask of Night?’”
“……!”
Immediately, Ben-Hur’s dilated pupils quivered.
“H-How do you know about……?”
That reaction made it clear.
The Mask of the Night, the largest intelligence organization on the continent, was still alive and well.
“I thought you might have more money stashed away.”
My gaze flicked to the corner, right next to the entrance I’d entered.
A wooden cage of some sort sat there.
“……but I didn’t expect it to be humans.”
Kids the same age as me and I were inside the cage.
And they were all girls, at that.
“W-Well, since you didn’t say anything about bringing in people…….”
Ben-Hur continued to make pointless excuses.
When I showed up, the kids didn’t give me any of their attention.
At most, one or two of them gave me a glance.
“That’s not right. Weren’t people commodities to you guys?”
“That’s…….”
“Are they commodities when you need them to be, and people when you feel convenient?”
“…….”
Ben-Hur fell silent, as if at a loss for words.
I clicked my tongue at the sight of him.
“Piece of shit.”
“You asshole! You were planning on breaking your promise all along, weren’t you!”
“Nope. Unlike you, I’m a man of my word. I was simply going to cut all your tendons before leaving, and set you free after I made sure you wouldn’t be able to be a slave trader ever again.”
Grind.
Ben-Hur grit his teeth as he heard my plan.
“Did you know from the start that I was going to do this?”
“Of course. People don’t change, you know. But forget about that…….”
I indicated the letter with my gaze.
“What’d you write in there?”
Shiiiing!
Instead of answering, Ben-Hur drew his sword.
“I won’t just take this lying down. If you want to kill me, you’ll have to forfeit at least one of your limbs!”
Had he gained confidence after surviving among the minions?
Ben-Hur’s energy seemed to radiate pride.
There are always people like him.
People that don’t know shit until they get a taste of it.
“Well, I suppose it’s kind of obvious.”
“What?”
“You were probably sending a message to the county that had agreed to buy us through the Mask of Night, right? And in exchange, you would have entrusted these children to them.”
“……!”
The Mask of Night didn’t just deal with information.
They also sold drugs, wares, slaves, and other things banned on the continent, either directly or through commission.
The entire organization functioned as a black market.
Slice!
I cut through the bars of the cage on the spot.
Since what I’m about to do wouldn’t be a pleasant view for these kids.
“Everybody out.”
“…….”
The rest of them lifted their unfocused eyes to stare in my direction.
“You, and you. Take charge and get your friends out. I’m here to save you.”
“……!”
The kids who glanced at me at the start.
I pointed to the few who were still sane, and their eyes came into focus.
“L-Let’s go.”
Eventually, a few of them stumbled to their feet and led the way.
Some of them even stumbled a few times as their legs gave out.
Of course, with my back to the cage, Ben-Hur didn’t even darw to move.
Step, step, step.
After all the kids were out.
Slip.
I quickly reached into my arms and pulled out the paralyzing poison I had packed earlier.
“That’s…… paralyzing poison?”
“You recognized it right away.”
Maybe it was because he had brought it with his own two hands, but he recognized it at a glance.
“Didn’t you tell me? That you would cut my flesh off, piece by piece, sprinkle salt on my wounds, and feed my flesh to wild dogs.”
Tremble.
Had he foreseen his fate?
Ben-Hur’s teeth began to chatter.
“Don’t be so worried. I’m going to deal with you a little differently.”
“What……?”
Flash!
In an instant, I closed the distance between me and Ben-Hur.
Had he expected me to be this fast?
“Ugh!”
Clang!
He flailed his sword in the air out of surprise— I lightly parried his attack and grabbed his chin with my other hand.
“Wh-what are you……?”
I shoved the paralyzing poison into the bastard’s mouth.
Bam!
“Kek!”
I struck his throat, and the contents of his mouth gulped down.
“You’re a piece of trash and more, but I’ll keep my word.”
Thud!
With a hook to his leg, Ben-Hur crumbles to the ground.
He struggled to get back up, but things didn’t go as he planned.
The paralyzing poison had taken effect.
“Wh-Wha…… deedyu…… doo……”
Ben-Hur seemed to be unable to move his tongue according to his will anymore, and instead of continuing to speak, his lips trembled.
I stared at him for a moment.
Slice, slice, slice.
And then, as if on cue, I began to scrape off Ben-Hur’s flesh.
“Uh, uh……?”
“Isn’t it interesting? The sight of your flesh being peeled off with your own eyes.”
“……!”
Without feeling any pain, his flesh was being peeled off.
Captain Ben-Hur was having a strange experience.
Moreover, because of the paralyzing poison, he couldn’t even faint.
Soon, his entire body turned red in an instant.
Slice!
When I finally cut off his lower body, the loss in his eyes made me laugh out loud.
“You’re not going to use it anymore, so what’s the point of being sad about it?”
“Sonnuv…… a……!”
His eyes filled with energy, and I was reminded of my iron rules.
People can’t be fixed.
Don’t leave loose ends.
Follow the iron rules, no matter what.
When I finally severed all the tendons in his limbs, he wriggled on the ground like a worm.
“As promised, I won’t kill you. Now, you can start your new life on your own.”
“……!”
Ben-Hur’s whole body trembled, not moving.
No, unable to move would be more accurate.
“You’ll be free from your paralysis in the next three hours or so.”
I turned and stared at the now-empty cage.
“M-Master! I’ve got the oil!”
Harun arrived just in time.
Immediately, I reached for the torch that sat on one side of the tent.
“Give it here.”
“Wh-What are you trying to do?”
Spplaaaash!
I began to pour the oil Harun had brought all over the tent.
Soon after.
Fwoooosh!
I threw the torch in my hand into the center of it all.
The flames quickly covered the empty cage.
Then, it began to lick around with its red tongue, threatening to devour the rest of the tent.
“H-Help, help me……!”
Ben-Hur was now begging and pleading.
“All those children have suffered at your hands in the name of education.”
What’s done is done, and there’s nothing I could do to undo it.
So, at the very least, I’m going to try to burn off some of that resentment.
As an adult, I wanted to wipe away their unpleasant memories and pain.
“Give me that…….”
Before the flames could spread further, I snatched the letter from Ben-Hur’s hand.
It was the one he had intended to send to the Mask of Night.
“We’ll be on our way, then. With any luck, maybe you’ll survive.”
“Y-You, crazy, bas…… tard! Help, me……!”
“Harun here struggled to the death for a week to survive you.”
I slung an arm around Harun’s shoulders, who remained stiff, blank-eyed.
A comfortable death was a luxury for these scum.
“At the very least, I gave you a chance to live. So, try it for yourself— struggle to your death.”
I turned away.
May this scum feel even a fraction of despair the children here must have felt.
In that fiery furnace, may the resentments of the children burn along with his corpse.