A young voice was heard from outside the guild.
With a loud noise the doors of the guild burst open and in came a tall lad clad in golden armor followed by two beautiful women. One of the women was robbed, had red hair, and a staff taller than her. The other girl carried a bow and had green hair.
「Lesh-san! What the hell is going on?!」
The lad ignored Hifumi and called out to Lesh.
「We were out hunting monsters and suddenly the city is filled with Orsongrande troops. What’s going on?」
The robed woman followed up on the lad’s comment. The woman with the bow was silent, but then noticed the head on the counter and quickly turned away.
The lad then noticed the head on the counter.
「W-what abomination・・・! Those Orsongrande bastards! Guys, we can just treat them as enemies now, right?! Now that I have returned let’s launch a counter attack! We’ll free the city from these invaders!」
(You’re the only one who’s so fired up, though)
After looking coldly at the lad’s fiery speech, Hifumi addressed Lesh.
「Who’s this bloody idiot?」
「He is the top adventurer at this guild, Calikoff. He is strong but lacks a composure」
「Oh, and can I take his words as the official stance of the guild?」
Lesh met Hifumi’s gaze, and shook his head.
「No, all of our staff will serve you, Hifumi-sama. As for the other adventurers, it is their choice. We pray for your leniency・・・」
「Probably not going to happen」
Lesh closed his eyes at the response, and bowed his head as if praying.
A few adventurers decided to oppose Orsognrande’s rule after hearing Calikoff’s speech. As for Calikoff, after hearing about Hifumi from a nearby comrade, he faced Hifumi.
「So you are Orsongrande’s representative, huh・・・taking the city by cowardly tricks and killing the representative are heavy sins. Withdraw your troops at once and pay for your crimes!」
He shouted with a serious face; Hifumi looked at Lesh incredulously and asked,
「Is this guy for real?」
Lesh sighed and addressed Calikoff,
「Calikoff, it has been decided that the guild with serve Orsongrande and Hifumi-sama. The city has already fallen, can you please no cause any more problems?」
「What rubbish!」
Calikoff replied engraged.
Little by little Hifumi grew annoyed.
「Ignoring all laws of war—who would yield to such tricks! Such actions could not possible be forgiven!」
「Forgiven by whom?」
「By justice!」
Calikoff replied to Hifumi’s question.
「In that case, who decides that justice?」
「Justice isn’t something someone decides!」
「And yet our definitions of justice differ. But this has gotten annoying. Hey, those who will follow this old man’s command go over there. You’re in the way.」
At Hifumi’s command about half of the adventurer’s went behind the counter. They were those who were completely unaffected by Calikoff’s fiery speech.
「You guys, do you not love this city?!」
「Maybe they just hate how you force your views on everybody? Or they just hate you?」
Hifumi retorted and a few people reflexively nodded,
「Guh・・・ Very well, I will just have to show my justice with my actions! Now then, that’s a sword on your hip, isn’t it, draw it already・・・」
Without waiting for him to finish, Hifumi had already rapidly lunged at the robed woman behind him.
「Eh?!」
She did not doubt Calikoff’s imminent victory so merely observed it as a sport, so she couldn’t even react when Hifumi grabbed her head and crashed it hard into a wall.
Her body fell limply on the floor, her head clearly cracked. No one doubted that she was dead.
「F-Furiae」
While he was still muttering the name of his fallen comrade, the other girl just reached for her bow but lost her head in the process.
Her head rolled up to Calikoff’s feet and stared blankly at him.
「Y-you bastard are・・・!!」
He never had the chance to finish the sentence.
The hand that was supposed to be grabbing his sword now ended at the wrist.
「Ueh・・・?」
Calikoff watched dumbfounded as blood flowed from his wrist, and Hifumi used the opportunity to stab him through the eye.
His brain thus damaged, he fell a corpse.
Hifumi’s eyes darkened and he looked intensely at his blad.
「Hmph・・・it truly is more durable than a normal blade. Though I aimed at an opening, I still had to cut through armor, and yet not even a nick in the blade」
「C-Calikoff has・・・」
The other adventurers had now stood motionless, but Hifumi did not intend to let them off. If he did, they could go around causing problems, and, most importantly, they have already made their choice.
As if to check the quality of his sword, he continued slaughtering every single adventurer around him. Some were groaning without hands, some had their guts spilled onto the floor, some women were cut right in half, and some men now turned into bleeding daruma (limbless).
And surrounded by corpses Hifumi wiped his katana and again inspected the blade. Though he has caused such terrible carnage, he was not at all moved.
As for those watching this unfold, many lost consciousness. But every single one of them now felt nothing but fear towards Hifumi.
Lesh included.
Even Lesh who has led a long life of pure combat had never seen anyone so specialized at killing people. And one who could do it so naturally.
「And thus we got that out of the way」
Hifumi said and turned towards Lesh’s group with a bright smile on his face.
「You won’t be able to leave the city for a few days, but afterwards everything will return to normal」
「Umm, how should we pay the adventurer’s from now on?」
「Do it as you have before. The only thing that has changed is the head of state. The city will run as it always has」
Saying that he’ll send help to clean the guild up, they watched Hifumi leave; and not one understood for what purpose Calikoff and the rest had to die.
And thus even when Hifumi-dono’s dominion would stabilize without many civilian casualties, and life returns to normal, there will probably be those who call Calikoff a hero and revolt.
「That’s a darn shame・・・」
But looking at Calikoff’s face, which stared back with only one eye, Lesh realized that he was not allowed to feel pity.
Chapter 29: There She Goes
Hifumi occupied the cities and villages by the Orsongrande-Arosel border one by one.
Basically, the reason they captured Arosel the way they did was only for the soldiers to gain experience. In the other cases, he just had a small number of people infiltrating, where they either seized, or killed the representatives. The places that seemed to be able to offer some resistance were pinpointed and suppressed. The only matter where Hifumi personally moved were in regards to the guilds, where he had each of the guild masters swear allegiance to him.
After killing many of Vichy’s soldiers and adventurers, Hifumi’s side also had some casualties, but the difference in losses were overwhelming. Their raids were performed in such a way that most of the populace didn’t notice anything. But even if they did, the only thing that changed was the name of the governor.
Except the ones resisting, the rest were let live. It was also made known that the only change in the administrative body was that Hifumi was now the chief. Except that, there were no changes, so nothing really went out of hand. At the moment there simply wasn’t enough time for a complete restructure of the administrative system.
Except putting the central government’s spies and liaisons on h
ouse arrest, Hifumi didn’t really take any actions towards them. In time, they were to divulge the state of affairs within the their area of control.
In the meantime, three city states and ten of the surrounding villages were put under their control.
In each of the cities, the opposing parties were generally killed, and passage through the city gates was restricted. The soldiers left behind were the bare minimum for upholding those restrictions, so in the villages there could be as few as three of them.
“It’s about time. Pajou. According to plan, after occupying this area, we are to establish a new national border. You should send for soldiers from Orsongrande to defend it.”
Hifumi pointed his finger at the map they took from the representative of Arosel’s mansion.
The place he pointed at was just a small-scale city named Rhone, but to get to one of the major cities in Vichy, you would have to pass by here. If they could set up a blockade here, one of Vichy’s five major cities would be whittled away.
“Understood.”
Until now, when the city they were aiming for was right in front of them, Pajou had been following Hifumi’s orders.
Looking at the size conquered territory, the military gains were unprecedented in the history of Orsongrande. Furthermore, occupying these cities and villages in a relatively unscathed condition, the tax revenue would barely need to be reduced at all.
But doing it in this manner, which was a first for the knights, Pajou didn’t think the aristocrats could possibly agree to it. If the head of the campaign wasn’t Hifumi, and rather someone else, he would’ve been replaced long ago.
“Well then, I guess I’ll go have a ‘talk’ with them in Rhone.”
Seeing Hifumi straddling the horse and riding off on the highway alone, leaving the troops behind, Pajou was thinking about the future of Orsongrande.
Imeraria probably doesn’t have the notion to invade other countries herself. If that’s the case and Vichy wants to enter negotiations with us, offering Orsongrande an apology, it should all conclude there, but…
Would Hifumi agree to stopping at this point?
Would he listen to anyone’s opinion, and change the way he’s thinking?
…… In the end, would it all be over with Vichy as the only victim?
Pajou looked at the troops participating in the campaign.
They were all showing signs of fatigue. Having no experience with these methods until now, they were performing silent invasions, and engaging in one-sided slaughter. Sure, they had signs of physical exhaustion, but what had really exhausted them was the repeated killing of enemies, including many who couldn’t even resist.
They were primarily concentrating on performing night raids and surprise attacks. Although they were operations in which the masses weren’t hurt, in the end their purpose was still having others killed.
Exposing the Orsongrande knights and soldiers to this to the extent they were, what would become of them?
If they didn’t stop soon, perhaps Orsongrande would crumble from within.
Origa couldn’t understand Hifumi’s real intentions, but didn’t voice any opinions towards him. Alyssa didn’t understand him either, but decided to keep following orders.
Perhaps if Hifumi was thinking about stopping…
Pajou was observing Kasha ordering the first unit around, preparing for the next assault. Among Hifumi’s followers participating in the campaign, Kasha was the only one having shown uneasy expressions a couple of times.
“Sorry, do you have some time?”
When Kasha seemed free for a little while, Pajou quietly asked her.
Closing in on Rhone, Hifumi frowned.
The smell of blood drifted over from the wind. The town’s entrance came into sight, but there were still no presence of people.
“What’s all this about…?”
Speeding up the horse, Hifumi tightly held onto his katana fixed on his waist. The left hand was propping up the scabbard, making him able to draw at a moment’s notice.
Steadily closing in on the city, a bizarre mud wall covering the entrance came into view.
Carefully approaching, he confirmed that a mud wall that was as hard as rock was completely covering the city entrance. Making sure that no one was around, he swung his katana, destroying the wall.
A stench of blood and decay burst forth the moment the entrance was cleared.
“So they were completely annihilated.”
Looking around within the city, decomposed bodies were scattered all over the place, no living things to be found. Not even cats or dogs. Whether it be the stores, the inns, or even the regular houses, blood and dead bodies could be found everywhere.
Hifumi had an uncomfortable feeling. He judged that they had been dead from anywhere between a few hours and a day, but several patches on the corpses were extremely decomposed.
“A disease? …No, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
There were several bodies that hadn’t decomposed yet, seemingly having died due to blood loss from the wounds on their necks and various other places. But these corpses looked suspicious as well. Their fingers and fingernails looked too clean. They should obviously have ‘been killed’, but there were no indications of resistance, and their faces were anything but warped in horror or pain. They were completely expressionless.
He didn’t understand the circumstances of the deaths of the decomposed bodies, but there were numerous cases of their throats having being clamped down upon, and clawing their own chests.
Most likely, something made them unable to breathe, and as a result, they ended up dying.
Hifumi abruptly withdrew his katana, as the stomach of one of the decomposed bodied opened. Some gas emerged, and the content gushed out with a splashing sound.
“The intestines are also extremely decomposed, but it seems that what’s inside the stomach is still fine.”
As Hifumi guessed that for some reason, they all started quickly decomposing at around the same time, he caught a quick glance of something through one of the bodies’ split clothes.
“Isn’t this the same magic tool that Gorilla-like guy was wearing?”
Wouldn’t that indicate that this incident was orchestrated on the orders of Horant?
“… For the time being, we can’t use the city unless we clean up.”
Not being able to conclude anything more than that, Hifumi let out a sigh and returned to the where the campaign’s forces were stationed.
When the soldiers first saw the city with the corpses spread all around, they were speechless. ‘You took it this far?’ their gazes seemingly tried to convey, as they concentrated on Hifumi.
“In that short amount of time, he killed this many?”, someone muttered.
In order to avoid diseases from breaking out, Hifumi had them dispose of the corpses by burning them, and then burying the bones.
“What is actually going on here?”
Having surveyed the surroundings, Origa asked Hifumi.
“No idea. The decayed guys were wearing that body strengthening magic tool we encountered before. Perhaps they were made to wear them by someone. The other ones had no facial expressions, so it appears to be the same kind of magic tool as the soldiers in Arosel were using. The low levels of resistance would indicate that this should be a strengthened version.”
Having said that, he had now seen the strengthening magic tool a few times by now, but this time he had noticed a few things he hadn’t back in Arosel.
He turned to Pajou who was situated a small bit away.
“Pajou. The soldiers from Arosel were using some kind of magic tool on the orders from their government, do you know what kind of tool it was?”
“No. I didn’t think they were having a uniform magic tool they were equipped with…”
“But when you heard about it in Arosel, didn’t you think that… Hmm?”
“Is there something wrong?”
“I feel a strange smell.”
/> Hifumi turned around, and walked towards one of the city’s wells. Origa and the rest followed him to take a peek into the well and sniffed to check the smell. It was an acidic smell that slightly stung the eyes.
Throwing in the bucket and withdrawing some water, there was nothing wrong with the color of it, but it was undoubtedly the source of that smell.
“…… Are there any magic tools that display an effect when you’re drinking, for example?”
“I haven’t seen one myself, but I’ve heard others talks about them existing. What about it?”
“For example, let’s assume we have a magic tool creating a substance that spreads throughout the body. If that substance could dissolve in water, what would happen when you drink water?”
“I don’t know if you could get the same result or not, but…”
“That’s why they needed to experiment with it, right?”
Both Origa and Pajou turned quiet.
Destroying a while city just for that purpose. That kind of deranged thinking made them shiver in a different way than when they were facing Hifumi.
“It’s probably the same kind of strengthening magic tool the border guards used. The ones we smashed. While they were doing experiments all over the place, it seems like they migrated somewhere else.”
Possibly because of Beirevra, Hifumi thought, but he had no positive proof that was actually the case.
“Tell everyone to not use the water from the well. Send someone from the third unit to make sure the water from the river close by is okay. Pajou, send a report back to Orsongrande. I don’t mind if you’re using one of the soldiers to do that.”
If, after the messenger delivered the report, everyone hearing became spineless, it wouldn’t be a laughing matter, Hifumi sighed.
Staying in Rhone for three days, they were steadily coming along with the preparations for fortifying the new national border.
The entrance on Vichy’s side of the city was changed slightly. Only on the inside of the gate was a guard room prepared. The guards who had previous experience in guarding a border were put in charge of the central positions.
Furthermore, the second unit made a simple moat on Vichy’s side of the city. Closing in on horse, they would have to to take a long detour.
Summoned Slaughterer - Book 2 Page 9