NOVEL WEB Chapter 79
Damn those black-haired thugs… Well, not all of them are black-haired, some are bald, but still.
I slowly looked around at the 14 pickpockets bowing their heads in front of me.
It took me less than 3 minutes to subdue all of them. I didn’t kill anyone. There were some who nearly died from broken spines and ribs puncturing their lungs, but…
I opened all their airways, roughly set their broken bones straight, fed them the potions I had prepared, and brought them all back to life.
Yup, that’s what I call subduing.
“What’s your name?”
I stared at the man next to me who was writhing on the counter.
“Cough… hack, cough…”
“I’ll only ask once. What’s your name?”
“Grrr…”
Thud!
I hit the back of his head hard.
His slightly lifted head slammed back down, and the shock made it bounce back up again.
“Name.”
“Cugh…”
Thud!
I hit him again.
“Name.”
“Grrr…”
Thud!
Hit again.
“Name.”
Crack!
“Name.”
Crack!
“Name.”
“Ugh!”
“L-Losli! It’s Losli!”
“Losli?”
“N-No! It’s Los-Losli!”
“That’s still Losli.”
“N-No, it’s not, Ro-Ros—”
Crack!
“It’s Ro-Rosli!”
“Alright. Losli. You know how to talk, so quit whining, you little shit.”
Crack! I gave him one last hit and poured a potion on his broken jaw.
Fizz, fizz! Bubbles began to rise from the potion as it touched his skin, starting to regenerate the broken bone.
Leaving him behind, I looked at the guys still banging their heads against the ground.
“So, Ophelia Bloomin. Where is she?”
Flinch-flinch! The guys with their heads stuck in the ground flinched, unsure of what to do.
“Hmm, I distinctly said I’d only ask once.”
I sighed and slapped Losli, who was crying blood next to me.
Smack!
“Ophelia Bloomin. Where is she?”
Slap!
“Where is she?”
Crack!
“Answer.”
“Gah, gasp! She’s… underground, she’s underground…!”
Losli, who was getting slapped instead of his subordinates, answered.
“I know that already.”
Not the answer I wanted. I hit him again.
“Gah! Then! Why the hell did you ask… me…?”
“Don’t speak out of turn. Only answer what I ask.”
Crack! I hit him on the back of the head again.
Losli’s body trembled and lost consciousness.
Should I wake him or not?
His tongue’s all twisted, and his jaw’s broken, he can’t even pronounce properly. Should I find someone else?
Brushing the blood off my hands, I looked at the guys shaking in fear.
None of them caught my interest.
I slammed my palm into Losli’s face.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
Losli regained consciousness all at once.
I shoved a potion bottle into his mouth, lightly lifted his jaw up.
Crash. The bottle shattered in his mouth, and the potion mixed with glass shards seeped down his throat.
Cough, cough! As Losli wheezed in pain, I poked his throat with my finger to clear his airway and asked again.
“Ophelia Bloomin. Where is she?”
As he exhaled blood and gasped for air, Losli struggled to open his mouth.
“Under… underground…”
Slap! I hit him again.
“Ophelia Bloomin. Where is she?”
Losli’s eyes shook uncontrollably.
He spread three fingers.
“One.”
“U-um…”
“Two.”
“O-Ophelia is…”
“‘Lady’?”
I slapped him again.
“Grrr! I’m sorry! I’ll bring O-Ophelia!”
Finally, I got the answer I wanted.
A smile crept onto my face.
“Good.”
Losli quickly stood up.
I kicked his shins and broke his bones.
“Hurry back!”
Gah!
He didn’t reply quickly enough, so I stomped on his left hand.
Crack! Along with the sound of crunching radish, Losli’s left hand shattered.
“Answer.”
“Yes! Yes! I… understand…!”
This time I stomped on his right hand.
It shattered just like the left.
“Keep your answers short and concise.”
“Yes! Four!”
He was stuttering; I thought about stomping on his arms, but figured he might just pop and die if I pressed any harder.
Thus, Losli, who was now flopping around like a jellyfish with broken hands and legs, slowly crawled away, creating a red carpet behind him.
*
“…Who are you?”
“Your guest.”
“Crazy bastard.”
“The guest treatment here is fucking terrible.”
I slapped Losli, who was trembling beside me.
At that moment, I saw a woman with blue hair in front of me.
She looked like Ophelia Bloomin.
“I clearly said I came to buy information. I’ve got plenty of money and I spoke politely. But that guy Losli over there insulted me, right?”
“Y-yes!”
“But I let it slide once. No, I let it slide twice. Then he tried to tease me by giving me contraceptives and painkillers, right?”
“Yes! Yes!”
“It wasn’t just teasing either. He shoved his filthy face at me, reeking of shit-breath! I was terrified! So I quickly tossed him aside, and then those guys back there came at me?”
Sorry! the head-banging thugs shouted in unison.
“A small, frail student like me, and they’re coming at me, what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just sit back and watch, could I?”
I chuckled and looked at the woman in front of me.
Her trembling eyes spelled out one thing:
‘What kind of crazy woman is this?’
“But the leader of this place… without saying a word of apology, calls me a crazy bastard. That’s just so hurtful, sad, and disappointing. I’m so sad, I could almost cry.”
I pouted my lips downwards.
Seeing that, the woman clicked her tongue, exasperated.
I shook my head, looking at Losli, who was still shaking beside me.
“How am I supposed to get rid of this sorrow?”
“Uh, um… I don’t… know what you mean…”
“If you don’t know, you should get slapped.”
Crack! I slapped Losli again.
At that, Losli’s already hazy eyes went completely blank. His body slumped, and his pants became soaked.
“Ugh, gross.”
I shoved Losli aside and faced forward again.
“How am I supposed to alleviate this sorrow?”
“…If you touch us, the ‘Cartel’ will move.”
“I can hit girls too. Particularly those who talk shit and blabber nonsensically. So, answer my question. How should I alleviate this sorrow?”
Hearing my words, the woman bit her lower lip and spoke each word as if chewing them out.
“…What do you want?”
I stepped forward, splashing through the puddles of blood.
Squish-squish!
Standing directly in front of the woman with blue hair, it looked like I might be slightly taller, but I could tell she was glaring at me.
“Your main body.”
This cunning woman had come in a puppet form.
Puppet? Doll? Servant? I don’t know what it is, but she’s definitely not the main body.
“When a guest arrives, they should appear in their main form. What kind of nonsense is this?”
“…What?”
“Is this how young folks conduct business nowadays? Man, back in my day, we just captured everyone and ripped them apart. Tsk tsk.”
I took off the hood I had been wearing.
“I’ll give you five minutes. If you’re not in your main body in five minutes, I’ll come looking for you.”
Her pink hair, flowing like cherry blossoms in full bloom, cascaded down her shoulders.
The stench from the hood, mixed with the odors of alcohol and sweat, hit my nose.
Not bad. It’s nostalgic in a good way.
A smile spread across my face.
“Let’s say it’s my family that’ll be coming for you?”
“…Y-Yustetia.”
Her sky-blue eyes began to tremble uncontrollably.
I met those trembling eyes directly and extended my fist.
“Start!”
Boom! The puppet’s head exploded.
It was quite the well-crafted puppet; as the skull burst, the brain and eyeballs splattered across the floor.
Horrified screams erupted from behind.
Do those bastards not realize their master is puppeteering this?
Tsk tsk.
I clicked my tongue and leaned back against the nearby couch.
Exactly five minutes passed after that.
Huff, huff…
The main body of Ophelia rushed into the bar without even catching her breath.
Then she gazed at her puppet which she had painstakingly crafted and bit her lip.
“…Why did you break it?”
“Because I was scared.”
“Do you know how much this costs—”
“Hey.”
I interrupted Ophelia.
“Polite language.”
“…What?”
“Polite language, first.”
“Crazy woman…”
“I’m your friend. Ophelia. Do you think I’m not hitting you because I don’t want to? Do you know why I’m letting you off? To save face in front of your subordinates. Do you want to be like that pathetic guy behind there, shitting and pissing himself? If that’s what you want, just say it. I’d actually prefer it.”
Looking behind me, she saw all her subordinates plastered in filth, hiding their heads, and trembled.
“…What… information do you… want?”
I stared at Ophelia for a while before finally speaking.
“The underground of the system.”
Her eyes sparkled with surprise.
The thought that she had come to the right place lit a smile on my face.
“What’s down in the underground of the system?”
“…What will you give me in exchange for this information?”
“Something in return?”
A smirk escaped my lips.
“I’ll let you live.”