Episode 18 - Branch Pruning 4

“Ugh... What the hell do you want?!”
“First off, as I asked earlier, the location of the safe. Spill it.”
“Guhhh...!”


That was absolutely out of the question.
The items in the safe were all entrusted to him, a low-ranking officer, by the Four Gang Lords for safekeeping.


If he told some unknown bastard and they were stolen, his future would be utterly bleak.


“Th-that is absolutely out of the question! Do you even know what those items inside mean before you spout off like that!?”
“Yeah. I know. Money to be offered to the Four Gang Lords, right?”
“……!”
“I came here to intercept it. So spill it. Or else I'll use your body as a toy for my amusement, and I guarantee you won't survive unscathed.”


The officer gritted his teeth and shook his head.
Even if he died, he had to protect the vault.


The Four Gang Lords were merciless to traitors, but they generously compensated the families of gang members who died upholding their loyalty.


Though technically a low-ranking member, he had shouldered an officer's responsibilities and felt a certain sense of duty.


“I... absolutely... even if I die here, I can't tell you that much...!”
“Is that so...? Then I'll change the question.”
“Hmph... Surprisingly quick to give up...”
“Your home address. Spit it out.”
"What...?!


For a moment, the officer's mouth froze.
He'd almost answered without thinking.


“You... you bastard...! You're going to hit my family with such a cheap trick?!”
“Of course. It's one of my favorite things. Making someone scream while I chop their family to pieces right in front of them.”
“You crazy bastard...! Do you think I'd cave to such threats?!”


Suddenly, Kaftin began to make a jagged cackle.
Then, turning his head slightly to the side,


“Hey. You, do you know this gentleman's address?”
“Wh-wh-what?!”


An underling who had been assisting him staggered in, blood streaming from one eye.


“You bastard! Where the hell have you been!? Take care of this lunatic right now! Now!”
“Impossible. I surrendered.”
“What?!”
“...That's how it happened. So you just shut up and stay put.”


A sharp slap across the executive's face silenced him, then a nod urged him to answer.


“...If I tell you everything...you'll really just let me go?”
“Not just letting you go. I'll even let you take some of the money from the vault.”
“What?! I can't accept that...!”


Smack.


After slapping him again to silence the officer, the gang member, seemingly resolved, began detailing the officer's home address.


Confirming it was a three-story house located in the heart of a middle-class district in a small city just a two-hour walk from this pioneer village, Kaftin nodded.


“Alright. You're useful... You can open the safe, right?”
“What?! Stop it! You think I'd tolerate that... Aaargh!!”
“I told you to shut up. I really hate repeating myself.”


While savoring the executive's screams again by grabbing his pinky finger and twisting it lightly until it snapped, the gang member staggered over and lightly pushed upward three times on the large portrait of a former politician hanging behind the executive's chair.


With a click, the portrait slid into the corner of the wall, revealing a steel vault door large enough to fit a person inside.


“Hoo. Quite a large safe... How much is inside? Huh?”
“Kkueeeh...! No! You bastard! Don't you fear the Four Gang Lords!?”
“Fear? Why should I? I'm doing this to hunt those bastards down...?”
“Uuuuuh...!”


The officer tried desperately to resist, wriggling the chair, but each time he was met with a slap or a punch to the stomach, only suffering more pain.


Soon, the Gang member who had cracked the safe's code slowly swung open the thick vault door. Inside lay heaps of gold coins, several ledgers detailing fund flows, and bundles of papers containing drug recipes.


“Hohoh... Quite a lot. How much did you sell off, exactly?”
“Guhh...! No! Absolutely not-!”
“I told you to shut up!”


Kaftin kicked the executive's face, sending him crashing sideways along with his chair.
With the vault verified, the bastard was no longer of any use.


The embezzled money was undoubtedly at his house anyway. While dealing with his family, he might as well grab it too.


“Hey! You!”
“Yes, sir!?”
“There are workers in the workshop, right? Get them all here.”
“Eh... Why suddenly...?”
“No questions asked. Get them here now.”
“Yes, sir!”


Watching him stagger and dash straight to the workshop, Kaftin silently entered the vault, picked up the sacks piled in the corner, and began filling them with gold coins.


*


“I've brought them all! Big Brother!”
“...I'm not your big brother. Don't use that title.”
“Ah, understood!”


Watching him finally coax the workers and bring them to the office entrance, Kaftin beckoned them in one by one with a gesture.


“Here. Take this.”


He began distributing gold coin pouches, each as big as a person's head, from the vault to the workers.
Seeing this, the officer began wailing and thrashing about.


"Wh-what are you doing-! Stop it! I said stop it-! You bastard, don't you fear the Veilslayer Lord-?!“
”……."


At the mention of the Veilslayer Lord's name, the workers receiving the money sacks flinched. But seeing the officer screaming in agony as Kaftin's boot stomped viciously on his head, they clutched their sacks tightly once more.


“I put 150 gold in each sack. Take 10 gold to the pharmacy I'll introduce you to and buy medicine for lung disease first. The rest is your escape fund—use it as you see fit.”
“……!”


Ignoring the murmuring workers, Kaftin promptly handed a sack even larger than the ones given to the workers to the Gang member with a thud.


“This one's yours.”
“……!”


The sheer weight of the sack, visibly heavier than the workers' share, brought a look of pure joy to his face.
With this, he could easily escape the Four Gang Lord's shadow and flee to some backwater of the Magic Kingdom.


“Heh... Workers? Care to hear something good?”
“......?”


Kaftin, who had been watching the grinning Gang member opening the money sack with a cruel smile, finally spoke.


“Now then! If any of you happen to think you need more money... you can beat that fellow Gang member over there to death and split the gold coins in his big sack nicely among yourselves.”

"……! 
Wait, hold on! You! Hey, that’s not what we agreed on?! I promised you I’d let you go safely!”

“Ah, of course. ‘I’ gave you escape money to let you go, right? What happens after that isn’t my concern…is it?”

“Wh-what…?! You, you guys…better not get any funny ideas…! I, I'm a mid-level manager here, you know?"


The workers, who had been hugging their sacks and rejoicing at Kaftin's words, suddenly changed their expressions.
They had just heard from Kaftin himself that they had contracted tuberculosis from their work.
Moreover, the size of that tempting money sack in the Gang member's arms...


Even divided among all the workers, it would make a significant contribution to their escape fund.


“S-stop it! I already promised that guy…! I finally resolved to become a new person…! H-hey! Please! I promised! Help me!?”


Cornered in the office in an instant, the gang member clutched the sack desperately, pleading for Kaftin's mercy. But he just made a *jagged* cackle and shook his index finger.


“Remember this well. ‘Sin is an arrow that never misses its mark’... No matter where you run, no matter how long you flee... It will find you and pierce you at a moment you never imagined.”


“......!”
“It's the retribution for the karma you've wrought upon the workers... But if you still want to survive... then kill every single worker who charges at you to kill you, and make your escape.”
"What...?!


Kaftin's explanation caused not only the organization members but even the workers' expressions to change completely.


“Life is struggle... violence itself. To live, you must kill someone and get blood on your hands....”

“Wait, wait a minute! I don't want that! I've told you countless times I just want to live quietly!”

“*A jagged cackle*... Right... If you want to live quietly, you'll have to get your hands dirty again to clear the karma that's come for you now... So, what will you do?”


The officer watching this scene found himself wetting his pants without realizing it.


That man who instantly transformed ordinary workers into murderers...


...was smiling with an expression of pure delight.
He was smiling as if anticipating the horrific scene about to unfold before his eyes.


"Please! Guys! I beg you! Just let me go! I swear I'll wash my hands of it! Please! Give me a chance to atone…!“


Seeing the workers' eyes as they strode closer, the terrified gang member finally flung the money sack he'd been clutching to the floor.


”Alright, alright! I don't need the money! See? That's enough now?! Just let me go! I'm begging you!"


Seeing the heavy sack of gold coins hit the floor, the workers' expressions softened again.


“Hey, hey, are you really okay with just that? Think about how those Gang members have treated you all this time...? Do you think that sack of gold will make them forget their grudge...?”

“…Y-you! You really think this is…?!”

“*A low, throaty chuckle*… What’s the matter? I’m not doing anything, am I? I’m just asking a question because I’m a little curious.”

“You… you evil bastard…!”


Finally, spurred on by Kaftin, the workers, eyes bloodshot, began beating and trampling the cornered gang member like a dog.


For about ten minutes, horrific screams and cries of agony filled the air. After leaving the bloodied gang member in the corner, the workers busied themselves dividing the gold coins they'd pulled from his sack with their blood-stained hands.


“Alright, now that you've all divided the gold coins, you may leave.”
“......”


But the workers seemed reluctant to leave, their eyes fixed on the executive, who was soaked through his pants, pinned to the chair.


“Heeek…?! You, you lot! D-don't look at me like that! D-dare you, you lot…!”
“*A low, throaty chuckle*… That was fucking great, huh?”
“H-hey! What the hell are you thinking?!”


The workers, now swarming closer, were grabbing the officer by the hair, trying to drag him out.


Kaftin watched the scene unfold, then raised his index finger.


“Ah, there were definitely various chemicals in the workshop, right? As far as I know, there was alcohol and oil among them...”

“......?”

“...Workers, do you happen to know...? The most representative way for a human to die in the most painful manner...”

“H-hey... wait... you can't possibly mean...!”


The manager, realizing what Kaftin was hinting at, began trembling violently and thrashing about.
But Kaftin's tongue showed no sign of stopping.


“...was probably burning to death...?”


“...No, no! Please! Just beat me to death like that bastard! Anything but that...! Anything but that, please...!”

“*A low, throaty chuckle*...! Perfect timing! If the scene burns down, the evidence vanishes, making it harder to track your whereabouts, workers!”

“......!”

“Ah, ahh... aaaah...! Wait-! You, workers! Listen to me...! I'll tell you where I hid the money! I'll tell you! Please...!”


Watching the captured executive, still clinging to the safe doorframe, being dragged away pinned to the chair, Kaftin smiled with satisfaction.


The workers didn't notice, but inside the vault remained a massive pile of cash—enough to make the sacks they'd received look like mere trifles—and the ledgers and recipes had already been hidden away in Kaftin's own pockets.


His decision to spare the workers and even hand them money wasn't born of any kindness.


He had deliberately distributed it to motivate the workers, simply because he wanted to witness a tragedy like this one.


When the expected outcome materialized, he laughed heartily for a long while, then hauled a huge sack from the vault, larger than his own torso.


He planned to slip away before the workers gathered again to check the vault.


-To be continued-