## Chapter 328 – The Martial Artist Bastards
“KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEKㅡ!!!!!!!!!!!”
A scream erupted from the rage that felt like my brain was burning. My heart pounded. I was breathless. Was this, was this really happening?
This wasn’t just some petty issue of swindling a kid out of their pocket change.
「This is about you stealing the condolence money that I, the Heavenly Demon Kim Katteu, gave.」
That was the crucial point.
In other words, this was a challenge to me, no different from stealing my 5 silver without me even knowing. It was like being sucker-punched while happily napping.
And by some beggar-like slum thugs, no less.
The thought of my money being stolen sent me into a frenzy of rage, and I began to feel inhuman. This… this cruel reality?
This was a lie.
No.
ㅡIt had to be a lie.
“You goddamn, motherfucking bastards!!!!!! How dare you steal my 5 silver!!!!!!!!!!!”
Then I would just have to make that fact a lie.
To make the fact that the money was stolen a lie, I just had to take that money back. That way, this whole incident would become a lie.
The crime of touching my money was greater than anything else.
Don’t think you can bash the Heavenly Demon over the head with a sledgehammer while he’s sleeping and still live to breathe, you pieces of trash.
ㅡGooooo.
Fueled by the raging hatred, the mana permeating my entire body began to spin violently. More cold and rational than ever, I could only think about getting my stuff back as soon as possible.
ㅡThese fucking bastards.
ㅡWithout me even knowing.
ㅡSteal my money?
“Kkeuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
ㅡSwish!
As if answering my scream, a fierce flame erupted from the mouth of the scabbard. The sword, drawn in an instant, slashed through the air.
ㅡWhoosh!
ㅡPapat!
ㅡBoong-jjeuk boong-jjeuk!
I performed an impromptu Practical Sword Dance to calm my anger even a little.
The blade, sharper and more violent than ever, created and severed imaginary enemies. This was about my money. And some shitty bastards had touched what was mine.
There was no forgiveness, no understanding.
It was too surreal.
That was why the rage poured out in an equally surreal manner.
ㅡNow, there’s no other way but to bathe in blood.
Simply getting the 5 silver back wouldn’t be enough to quell my anger, nor would it be worth it. Even if it meant selling their mothers into brothels, I would make up for this loss.
“O, Oppa. It was my money that was stolen…”
“It’s my condolence money, you little shit!!!!!!”
Stealing from a poor girl who had to hold her grandmother’s funeral alone because she had nothing else to steal? And my condolence money, at that? This was unacceptable.
It was wrong. It was wrong, and it was misguided.
As a chivalrous man, I could never laugh this off.
ㅡSreung.
I stopped the sword dance I had been performing and sheathed the sword.
ㅡClear Mirror, Still Water (明鏡止水).
The rage that had surpassed its limits had instead calmed my mind to an extreme degree. I felt as if I had fallen alone into a clear, deep sea.
Senses sharpened to the limit organized the murderous intent.
I took a deep breath to calm myself and asked Lina.
“…Lina. Just who are these bastards? Which bastards stole the money I gave you?”
“O, Oppa, calm down. That’s… well…”
Lina, pale, avoided answering, not knowing what to do.
“Speak.”
Was she thinking of protecting the criminals?
If so, I couldn’t forgive her, even if she was Lina.
“If you don’t tell me, I won’t forgive you either. Are you thinking of siding with criminals?”
“Oppa, n, no, it’s not that…”
“Lina… don’t make me think that you’re… in league with them!”
ㅡKkyaaaaaaaak!!!
As I shouted, Lina, covering her head and taking a defensive stance, answered reflexively.
“Hiiiik!!! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you, Oppa!! Just calm down! I’m scared…!”
Judging by her attitude, it didn’t seem like she was in league with them.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, so calm down. I was just too fucking pissed.”
“Hoo, hoo… I, I… Oppa, I’m a little scared of loud noises.”
“Yeah, you just said that. Sorry.”
“…”
“Let’s get out of here first. This isn’t a place to talk, is it? Don’t worry, you little shit. Do you think I’m going to kidnap you or something? We’re comrades, comrades. Remember when we killed the giant, you little punk.”
“A, I understand.”
It wasn’t long before we were able to escape the slums. I was wondering where to talk when ㅡGrumble. I suddenly felt extremely hungry.
Right.
There’s nothing better than talking over a meal.
“Let’s go get something to eat.”
“Eat… you said?”
I immediately dragged Lina to a nearby restaurant. I’d just get some stew with meat and bread or something.
“Um, Oppa, I don’t have enough money to eat right now…”
“I’ll buy it for you, you little shit. Shut up and follow me.”
I wasn’t such a heartless man that I couldn’t even feed a kid a meal. This was practically a business expense.
“Ah, yes.”
Lina, sitting down in the restaurant, looked around anxiously. I just ordered a large stew for 3 copper and bread for 1 copper. That should be enough for the two of us to eat our fill.
“Alright, Lina. Tell me the truth. Which fucking bitches are they?”
I had invested a whopping 4 copper to hear this story.
It would be a problem if she didn’t tell me properly.
“That’s…”
Lina, watching my reaction, carefully opened her mouth.
“It’s a common… slum gang… So, that day, the day you gave me the money…”
“The day I gave you the money?”
“They ran into me… and just took it all. T, to be honest, they’ve been extorting money from me every time they see me. So I tried to hide it somehow, but I couldn’t…”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
So she had all 5 silver stolen in one go.
To summarize, when we defeated the evil cult’s giant and offered that victory to the gods, creating a festive atmosphere, Lina not only lost her grandmother but also had all her possessions stolen.
So.
The price we paid for risking our lives to seize the heretics’ relics.
By some shitty bastards I didn’t even know.
Just taken away in one fell swoop.
ㅡThrob, throb.
…I barely managed to resist the urge to smash the table.
This was an insult to my friendship with Elise, a contempt for my and Elise’s efforts, and no different from throwing our heroic achievements into the trash.
Going one step further, it was a desecration of not only the order god Ijzermart that Elise believed in, but also Buddha, King David, and even Hwanung.
…A cruel atrocity on par with a world war that had carved away the joy and pleasure of mankind.
What? A challenge to me?
This wasn’t on that level.
Just come out.
ㅡKilling and being killed.
ㅡOnly one of us can survive,
ㅡAn absolute bloodbath where life and death are at stake.
ㅡLet’s have such a cruel and dirty war.
That’s how they sent me a challenge.
I don’t know who it is, but they’ve got some nerve.
Having their liver hanging out of their belly button wasn’t even close. Their liver was so big, so big that they did this kind of thing.
Then shouldn’t I cut it off whole?
“Heu, heu heu… Heu heu, heu heu…”
It was so shocking that I could only laugh.
“O, Oppa? D, did I tell you something funny…?”
“No.”
A funny story… I guess you could see it that way.
This was truly no lie, no different from desecrating the very foundation of humanity. Even if you searched through the history of the Earth, there probably wouldn’t be many things more heinous than this.
“Lina.”
I looked into Lina’s eyes and asked.
Lina, who had shrunk back for a moment, looked at me with trembling shoulders.
“That story. It’s true, right.”
“…”
“I’m the person who hates lies the most in this world… If what you say is true, I have to wage a war with them, risking my life.”
Rather, I wished it was a lie, I prayed for it. How much better would it have been if Lina had lied to me?
Anyway, I had to verify the truth.
I couldn’t trust Lina 100%.
“You’re not thinking of deceiving me with a lie to get revenge, are you?”
Lina was silent for a moment at that question.
ㅡGulp.
The sound of swallowing saliva.
I quietly waited for the girl’s words.
“N, no way… I don’t lie to Oppa… Because I know what kind of person Oppa is…”
“I see…”
Honestly, it was hard to believe.
The story I heard from Lina far exceeded my common sense, and it was such a bizarre thing that I couldn’t even imagine it happening in the real world. I wondered if the bastards who had extorted Lina’s money might be heretics.
That strange conviction… felt like it was definitely the truth.
I had a lot to think about.
It was so painful that Elise wasn’t here at times like this.
ㅡThud.
Anyway, as I was seriously thinking about what to do in the future, the meal I had ordered finally came out. A large stew with bread to dip in it. I just ordered it to have a quick meal, but the smell was better than I thought.
“O, Oppa…”
“Hmm? Why?”
Looking at her, she was practically drooling with completely sparkling eyes.
Was she very hungry?
“C, can I… eat this? Really? O, Oppa, you’re not going to do something violent again, are you?”
“Why would I do something like that?”
“Can I really eat it? Me? You’re really buying it for me, right?”
“You little shit… just hurry up and eat, you little punk. How long have you been starving?”
“Heu, heuek…! Thank you, Oppa!”
As soon as my permission was given, Lina began to gobble up the stew. It seemed like the kid had been starving a lot because she didn’t have any money. Maybe it was the first time she had ever eaten something like this.
…To extort money from a kid like this.
I watched her eat and picked up a piece of bread, soaked it in the stew, and shoved it into my mouth with a piece of meat.
Well, it wasn’t a bad taste.
I ate moderately and watched Lina.
“Really… Oppa, thank you so much…!”
“Eat slowly, you little shit. You’ll have to throw it all up if you get indigestion.”
“Yes. I understand.”
ㅡCrunch, crunch.
Perhaps because she was eating so heartily, I vaguely thought that I had done well to buy it for her. It wasn’t for nothing that adults liked kids who ate well.
“Tsk tsk tsk, you poor thing. Yeah. Eat a lot and live hard.”
I just adjusted my eating speed so that Lina could eat it all. Lina, who had almost emptied the large stew by herself, smiled momentarily with a happy expression.
“I’m, I’m full…”
That, combined with Lina’s pretty face, felt quite refreshing.
There were a few things that had to be protected in this world, and one of them was the smiles of children.
Looking back, I had made various donations and contributions when I was on Earth.
There was the Community Chest and those piggy banks shaped like rice cookers, wasn’t there?
There was also UNICEF.
Anyway, at that time, I had no idea that the money I donated didn’t go to the poor children, but to the salaries of the adults who got jobs at the donation foundations.
In other words, I had spent half of it on useless things.
At the same time, it was a terrible betrayal.
So I remember not donating after I realized that fact.
“But still…”
Still, seeing Lina eating so well made me think that I had done well to make those donations and contributions back then.
