Episode 14 - Behemoth Rises 6

“…It’s about consuming the creature most similar to, or indeed the very form I seek to assume.”
“You can’t be serious…!”
“Yes. When there’s no other alternative to alleviate the extreme hunger and burden of maintaining form immediately after transformation…cannibalism becomes necessary.”
“…….”


With a soft crack, he bent his fingers, and his bone claws retracted swiftly, sliding back into his fingertips.
Witnessing this, Whispermere stared at his body, utterly speechless.


“So, what about your information?”
“...Ah.”
“Hey, snap out of it. You can't just space out like that in front of me, okay?”
“…….”


He swiftly moved right up to her, lightly blocking the wall by the door with his hand, trapping her completely in the corner.


“...Keep your guard up properly. I'm not as kind as you might think.”
“…I… know that very well.”


She swallowed dryly, pulling her momentarily lax guard back up.


While most people usually tried to build goodwill towards each other, he was instead encouraging the other’s distrust and wariness.


“Alright. Now it’s your turn. Speak.”
“…The Four Gang Lords are alive.”


Crack.


The chilling sound of fingers that had been propped against the wall instantly digging into it echoed in her ears.
He was undoubtedly holding back the rage boiling up inside him.


“…So?”
“He headed to the temple to receive treatment.”
“…….”


She carefully grabbed the hem of his clothes as he lunged to his feet, stopping him.


“Wait a moment…!”
“Let go. There's no time. Once the treatment ends, those bastards will scatter their minions and hide. If we don't kill them now, we never will.”
“…A large contingent of bribed City Guard forces is stationed around the temple.”


Kaftin merely snorted at her pleas.
The City Guard? What difference did that make?
He'd kill every last one of those meddling bastards anyway.


Whether they were his men or not, whether they were his men's families or not, everything in a straight line from here to the temple would die.


Leave not a speck of dust in your wake.
That was one of the ironclad principles he lived by.
Only then would he never need to look back.


“I couldn't care less about that.”
“No. It matters. At least to me.”
“That's your problem. Not mine.”
“……!”


He had expected it to some extent, but as expected, it didn't work on him.
If he couldn't stop him now, it was certain an unprecedented tragedy in history would unfold on this street.


And rightly so, because currently, there was nothing on this street that could stop him.


A body impervious to injury except by Aura Blade, immunity to all magic below 6th Circle... and monstrous strength beyond comprehension.


If his personality were decent, it might be different, but his personality... was insane.


“How exactly does my problem become your problem?”
“...Ha. Figure that out yourself. I'm leaving.”
“Guh...!”


Kaftin flicked away the hand clutching his sleeve and opened the door.
His body wasn't fully recovered yet, but two bottles of Drink should tide him over for now.


Just as he pulled out two more bamboo bottles filled with drink and turned back toward the newly opened door, he saw her standing there, having closed the door again and blocking his way.


“...Don't bother me. Move.”
“No.”
“Oh? Well, I guess I have no choice.”


Just as he began to doubt her unexpected willingness to give up, she turned as if she'd been waiting, walked to the window, and started prying it open.


“Wait, just a moment!?”
“You stay and guard that door. I'll be back.”
“W-wait! At least tell me why!”
“No.”
“Ugh...!”


She had to stop him somehow.
Seeing him just about to step onto the window sill, she panicked and blurted out.


“Do you hate talking to me now?!”
“......”


His body, poised to leap, faltered.
He turned his head, expression impassive,


“Why is this conversation going like this?”
“Well, it is. I'm desperately trying to talk to you, and you just rush off, intent on killing everyone.”
“…….”
“So you're no different from any other man after all. I'm just a convenient woman who brings you information, right?”


She wasn't entirely sure what she was saying, but at least it had stopped Kaftin's movement, which was encouraging.


Feeling like it was all over now, she kept firing off questions, and Kaftin's body slowly began to turn back toward her.


“So, why did the conversation suddenly jump to that? It wasn't going in that direction at all.”
“...I just felt like it.”
“......”


After scratching his head in thought for a moment, he finally sighed softly and sat back down on the bed.


“...Fine. I'll at least hear your reason.”
“I know that talk about the Guard Officers being innocent people won't work on you.”
“Did you know that and still try to use that argument?”
“No. It's a more realistic argument.”


She composed her voice for a moment before speaking calmly, yet with a troubled tone.


“Killing the Guard Officers guarding the temple grounds right now isn't the problem itself.”
“…….”
“First, if they're all wiped out, the government will start moving.”
“Ha. What good will those armchair theorists do?”
“...They'll send the army.”
“......”
“Of course, the kingdom's regular army isn't particularly formidable. But if the massive mercenary group currently operating as a contracted force for the government comes looking...”
“The streets will be razed to the ground.”


Those bastards didn't have much discernment about the laws of war or anything like that.
They just carried out the mission they were contracted for.
Any collateral damage that occurred in the process was handled by the government anyway, so they didn't bother distinguishing between right and wrong.


“If that happens, our information guilds will be the first ones grabbed by the scruff of the neck, so that's a problem.”
“...I suppose so. Suppressing you lot, who know the state of the streets, first would be best for their operation planning, to make everything burn.”
“Right. Is it what you want, for me to be surrounded by such scoundrels?”


Kaftin let out a low groan and fell into deep thought.
Frankly, if he had to weigh her fate against his immediate revenge, the latter naturally carried more weight.


But he had resolved to ignore the world's ethics and rules entirely, while strictly adhering to the principles he had set for himself.


One of those principles was never to lay a hand on women or children, and never to make them cry.


While not directly related, he was concerned that charging straight ahead with his revenge would put Whispermeer, whom he had finally grown close to, in an awkward position.


“...Understood. So for now, I just watch?”
“That's a relief. You get it.”
“Then what's the second one?”
“Obviously, the temple.”
“...Guh. Who cares. I despise religion.”


Snapping his fingers, baring his fangs, and grinning—for some reason, it seemed he disliked religion intensely.


“Even if it's the temple of a declining ancient god sect, it's still an extraterritorial zone under the Sacred Empire. If you cause a disturbance there and spill a priest's blood...”
“An international incident?”
“Yes. It becomes a problem on a completely different level from the Kingdom's army. You'd become an internationally wanted criminal.”
“I don't care. There's no human who can capture or kill me.”
“……!”


That smirk she flashed didn't feel like a joke, sending a chill down Whispermere's spine.


“Well then, since I've decided to watch for now, I have something to confirm with you too.”
“Huh?”


Suddenly shifting his stance, Kaftin moved close to her again. Slowly, he gently swept his finger along the edge of the veil covering her face.


“……!”
“Whose side are you on…?”
“Th-that is….”


Her organization was unquestionably one of the intelligence guilds under the Four Gang Lords, specifically a subordinate group of the organization led by the Four Gang Lords' Phantom Fang Lord, Bizeth.


If it were discovered that she was secretly meeting with Kaftin, who intended to wipe them all out, her life would end that very day.
Naturally, the annihilation of her entire organization would follow.


“......”
“I've been suspicious since the first time I saw you. What exactly are you after? Knowing my purpose yet still informing me about the Four Gang Lords, and then having the audacity to come find me like this...”
“...I can't say.”
“Huh. Personal matters, is that it?”
“Something like that.”


Kaftin swiftly created distance again and let out a hollow chuckle.


“...So that means what you desire is similar to mine.”
“......!”
“The destruction of the Four Gang Lords. Right?”


After a moment's hesitation at Kaftin's words, she finally nodded.


Though it was a goal she had nearly given up on, lacking both strength and means, the appearance of the variable known as Kaftin had turned everything upside down.


With his formidable physique and that vicious temperament, he could surely kill even the Four Gang Lords who ruled this entire street.


But only if she herself failed to handle this ferocious, beast-like man...
She sensed he might turn this entire district into a wasteland where no one could live.


“But if that's the case, there's one thing you must remember.”
“……?”
“I don't take ‘orders’. Never.”
“……!”
“You'd be wise to abandon any notion of using me as you please.”
“That… I already know.”


He was the sort who scoffed at the world's laws and ethics.
Naturally, he wouldn't meekly obey someone else's orders.


“Then, if I bring down the Four Gang Lord, what can you give me?”
“……!!”


Her eyebrows twitched at his bold demand for payment.
Even though he intended to kill the Four Gang Lords for his own purpose, he brazenly demanded a price from her.


“If I don't offer something appealing, you won't kill the Four Gang Lords?”
“...Kch-.”


Kaftin smiled with a mischievous look and nodded.


“I like you after all. You don't fall for things easily.”
“…….”


Enjoying Whispermere's reaction, he swiftly changed his expression back to cold and lowered his voice.


“Since we're in this together anyway, if you find out where the ones who escaped after their treatment ended up... tell me...?”
“...I understand.”


He slid the torn window back into place, then gestured toward the entrance door, signaling she could leave now.
Since there was no point in rushing out now, she could finally relax and return.


But she shook her head and slowly sat down at the tea table, settling in for a long chat.


“...Hey. It's awkward for me to say this, but I'm a pretty dangerous person, you know? Is it really okay for me to stay here this long?”
“Because there are still so many things I really want to know. I've become more curious to dig deeper.”
“Tsk, this side of you isn't cute at all.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.”


-To be continued-