## Chapter 226 – Holy Knights
“Hey, Blackie, stop with the theatrics. Aren’t you going to stop her, Sis?”
“Why? It’s good to see her so energetic, isn’t it?”
“You’re not exactly normal either, Unni.”
Has my dance reached the heavens?
Sweat trickled down my forehead. I don’t know for sure, but I’m sure this has honored the souls of the victims. I felt incredibly good about doing a good deed for once… Is there salvation?
Definitely.
“Elise. That’s enough, take a break. I’ll take over.”
“Haa… Haa… No, I can do more.”
“It’s okay. You’ve worked too hard, ya know? Go sit down.”
“…Understood. Then I’ll rest for a bit.”
Elise, drenched in sweat and holding her iron mace, was panting but wore a refreshing expression, unlike her exhausted appearance. It was the look of someone who firmly believed that what they were doing was absolutely right.
It’s a bit violent, but it’s actually a good thing.
These bandit bastards not only kill and pillage but also eat human flesh, making them truly evil. Using violence against such people was as righteous as a Doctors Without Borders medical mission.
Torturing evil people is something to be proud of. Elise went to sit next to Winia, opened her canteen, and drank some water.
I squatted next to the half-dead bandit and looked down at him.
“Hey. You eat people? Do you think that’s something a person should do? Huh?”
“…I was hungry, I ate because I was hungry… Please, stop. Please stop…”
He had hardly any teeth left and had lost so much blood that he was pale.
He opened his mouth with difficulty.
“Bullshit.”
Humans can never withstand torture. Even a super macho agent who has undergone extreme training his entire life will cry like a baby if subjected to proper torture.
This isn’t a matter of mental strength.
It’s just the limit of human endurance.
“You’re the kind of guy who’d eat human flesh as a hobby even if you weren’t hungry. Seeing you still making excuses, I guess the torture wasn’t intense enough. Let’s go again.”
“Ugh, ughaaaaaa!!! Don’t do it!!! Please!!!”
“Shut up, you bastard. I’m just kidding. Hehehe… Funny, right?”
“…”
“Not answering?”
“Fu, funny!”
“Right?”
In this state, he would answer anything honestly.
I thought for a moment and then opened my mouth.
“Why did you get the tattoo on your face?”
“Hii, hii… Th, that is…”
“Why did you get the tattoo!”
“A blessing! To receive the blessing of Ejaths-nim…”
“So did you receive it?”
“N, no. I didn’t receive it…”
“Really? Then how many people have received it?”
“I don’t know the exact number… But there are quite a few…”
“I see…”
He answered all my questions willingly, like someone who had become completely honest. Facing death, he had become an honest man. If he had lived that way from the start, he wouldn’t have ended up like this.
Foolish bastard.
This is all karma.
I invested some time and violence to ask him everything I was curious about.
Before long, the completely exhausted bandit was begging with tears in his eyes.
“Please… stop… kill me…”
In conclusion, there was nothing to gain from interrogating him.
He really didn’t know much. All we could learn were just terrible stories. Unpleasant information such as the brutal massacres that took place in the occupied villages and the inhuman menus they had eaten since yesterday for lunch.
They seemed to have deserted and attacked people because they were starving.
No matter how hard they tried, the blessing wouldn’t come down, so they got pissed off and deserted, or something like that. In the first place, consuming human flesh is said to be one of the ways to receive the blessing.
Crazy bastards.
It’s no wonder religious people like Elise hate heretics so much. They plunge humanity into fear and despair with their false beliefs and evil practices.
They must all be killed.
“Alright. Live happily in hell.”
“Ah, Katt. Are you going to kill him now?”
Claudia approached as I was about to kill him.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Can I do it?”
“Hehe, come here.”
“Thank you.”
She really loves this kind of thing.
“Hic… Mommy…”
“Hehehe. Mommy, my ass. Does a guy like you even have a mom?”
“Hic, sob…!”
The bandit had become weak as he finally faced death.
I didn’t feel any sympathy. I just felt amused and disgusted, wanting to mock him. I made a face at him with as much contempt as possible. And I shook my tongue with utmost seriousness for the sake of ridicule.
“Ah, aah…”
Those were the last words he heard.
If you know your own life is precious, you should know that others feel the same.
ㅡSwoosh!
Claudia, who had drawn her curved sword, smiled provocatively and beheaded the bandit in one stroke. Like a guillotine, the head soared with an unexpected force as the blade fell.
ㅡThwack!
Claudia kicked the head high into the sky and then caught it as it fell. “Hel-Kan be with us.” She muttered quietly and placed the head neatly in the place where the heads were stored.
“Five heads is 5 silver, right? Hmm, should I just take it to Isbanth? I shouldn’t submit it right away, but rather collect them and act in a way that will be more profitable.”
Claudia, looking at the displayed heads with satisfaction, said. It’s a bit cumbersome, but it’s better to take them to the city after all.
“Hmm… That’s right. Then let’s do that, and let’s get the spoils. It seems like these guys have more than I thought.”
“Understood.”
Even though these guys are like monsters, they are still people at their core. And as people, and as guys who killed others and stole their wealth, they seemed to have a lot.
So, together with Elise, we searched the corpses and dragged out all the items inside the tent.
We found quite a few accessories, equipment, and cash on the corpses. These bandit guys don’t hide their entire fortune anywhere, they only carry it on their person.
Because there is nothing to trust in this world, they manage it themselves.
As proof of that, we found quite a few valuable things on their corpses, but we only found trash inside the tent and elsewhere.
“Hehehe, after all, hunting heretics pays well.”
How much would it all be if we sold the weapons and accessories alone?
Thinking that we were taking the items that the bandits had plundered from innocent people, the truth of the food chain came to my mind.
By killing five, we could expect a profit of about 10 silver, excluding the heads.
These treasure goblin bastards.
“That’s right. It is the reward for righteous service and a sacred spoil.”
“Yes. It’s a sacred spoil.”
It’s profitable even if we split it four ways. So, we scraped together everything we could get and put it in our backpacks, and put the heads in the sack we had already brought.
We selected the clothes that could be sold and rolled them up as much as possible. But the shoes were generally in bad condition, so we couldn’t take them. As for the weapons, well, we put them on top of the backpack and tied them up. Two axes and three swords.
With the war in full swing, these supplies could be easily sold.
“Blackie, are you done?”
“Yeah. Ah, Winia. Do you want this necklace?”
“The design is awful. I don’t need it. Just sell it.”
They look like cheap accessories, but if we take them to the city and sell them, we should get at least the metal value. Anyway, I put on my backpack and grabbed the sack. Let’s go back now.
That’s enough for today.
“Katt. Isn’t it heavy? Give me the sack.”
“No. I’ll carry it. How heavy can it be.”
“Hehe, you’re so manly.”
“I’m a super macho man.”
A super macho man never makes his woman carry his luggage.
“Saint. Even so, it is not in my nature to let you carry it alone. I would be uncomfortable, so you can hand over the sack to me.”
“No, it’s okay. This is also part of the training to reach the path of macho.”
“Still…”
“Well, I guess I can’t help it if Elise is thinking of me. Thanks.”
Elise took the sack.
In fact, Elise is probably stronger than me. I haven’t tried it yet, but if we arm wrestle, I’m sure I’ll lose. The same goes for Winia. She freely manipulates Strength magic, so I’m usually pushed back by her strength.
As for Claudia, yeah.
I probably couldn’t beat her even if I used my whole body.
But maybe she would smile and let me win.
“Hum, hum hum. Hum.”
Claudia was humming, as if she was in a good mood.
It seemed like her tension had risen after seeing blood for the first time in a while.
“Claudia. Are you happy?”
“Yes. I’m happy. It’s refreshing. I feel like I’ve been too comfortable lately. A warrior should live with blood on their sword.”
“As expected of Hel-Kan.”
“Hehe. Hey, Katt, do you want to become a Hel-Kan follower too?”
“I’ll be your follower.”
“Aww, I’m embarrassed.”
After walking for about two hours, we encountered a patrol. Were they the ones who went out in the morning? Their commander came out and greeted us.
“Adventurers. Did you have any success?”
“Yes. Well. We destroyed a heretic camp.”
Elise untied the sack and showed them the heads of the bandits.
“Oh, oh! You did a really good job! If you bring this to the guild, they will exchange it for money! Thank you so much! Are you returning to the village now? Then let’s go together! We are also returning!”
“Is it okay to follow you?”
“Of course!”
So, we followed behind the patrol. Since they were returning anyway, they wouldn’t go anywhere else. It would be rude to refuse to go with them on the same path, so we decided to go together.
“Blackie. We made some decent money today. Are we going to stay here? Or somewhere else?”
“Hmm… What’s better? What do you think?”
“I think it would be good to stay here.”
“Then let’s do that.”
We returned to the village around sunset. The patrol commander thanked us and told us the direction of the guild. Well, I already know, and I don’t plan to take it there now. Isn’t 10 silver for these five heads if we take them to Isbanth?
For now, I plan to collect them and, if it’s too much trouble, dispose of them here, and if it’s okay, go to the city and dispose of them.
If we stay here for a few days and extract some money from these heretics and are satisfied, we can just go to the city, and if we’re a little short, we can exchange the heads for money here and go to another village.
It wouldn’t be bad to ride along with the subjugation force when it starts to advance in earnest.
Then let’s go to bed early today for tomorrow.
“Go in first. I’ll go exchange the spoils for money.”
“Can Blackie do it alone?”
“What do you take me for?”
“Okay. Then, Sis. Let’s go wash up. You too, Nun.”
Winia pushed Claudia’s waist and called Elise.
Elise shook her head.
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving all the burden on the Saint. I will go with you.”
“…Is that so? Okay.”
“Katt. Have a good trip.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Claudia, who had received the sack containing the heads of the heretics, waved her hand. So, the two of them went in first, and only Elise and I were left.
“It won’t take long. Just go in.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then, let’s go sell them together.”
Shall we go sell the items?
